10:13 AMLike I said, as soon as I start talking about the Braves, they'll lose, and the Mets will win. So now we're 5.5 back with 8 to play, even though Tim Hudson was on fire thru 7 and change last night, but the bats and the bullpen couldn't back him in an eventual 5-1 loss. And yet again, they're challenging my college football passion by playing at 3:55 in the afternoon today. But maybe LSU will already be up 2 touchdowns by then.
GameDay's in Tuscaloosa, where it's already been pointed out that the Tide lose everytime that happens (0-4). Early favorites for signs today: "SABAN DIED FOR YOUR SINS" from Alabama, and "KNO LIMIT SOLDIER" from Georgia. Ah, SEC football.
10:21 AMThey just ran a feature on Boston College, and that's the first time I've seen Matt Ryan with his helmet off. He looks 12. He also dresses and smiles like he should be on staff at a church. But at least those road whites looked good last week for the Eagles.
10:39 AMRandy Sanders is getting love now on a GameDay piece on Andre Woodson. And good for him - no matter what anyone else says unintelligently, Tennessee fans should be pulling for Sanders. Then Corso turned around and said Arkansas will win tonight by at least two touchdowns.
And people must be tired or slow or whatever in Tuscaloosa, because it's unnervingly quiet there when the guys aren't talking about Alabama.
2:53 PMEverytime you have one of those weeks like this one, where you look at the schedule and think that nothing good's going to happen until 3:30, the morning always proves you wrong.
In the false hope department, Ole Miss trails Florida 21-9 midway thru the 4th quarter, though they've probably missed too many opportunities in the red zone already to even think they've got a real chance. In the holy crap department, Syracuse - earlier described as the worst BCS conference team in college football, which I would've stood by going into today - continues to do anything they want to Louisville, MTSU style, leading 31-21 in the 4th quarter and currently driving for more, which is stunning. Steve Kragthorpe is on the list of people I wouldn't want to be right now. I mean, Syracuse is terrible,
especially on offense. And they're looking at the short end of 40 right now.
The 3:30 battle for my remote control will go to LSU and South Carolina, as long as the Cocks are in the game. If that gets ugly, I'll check on Michigan/Penn State and Notre Dame/Michigan State, but I'm also looking forward to Oklahoma State/Texas Tech for instant offense.
Bruce Pearl's orange-painted man chest keeps showing up, including in one of those Mike & Mike commercials on the pages of an ESPN The Magazine. We're one more loss away from Knoxville turning its attention to men's basketball. Seriously.
False hope indeed: Florida scores again. But at least they missed the extra point.
4:08 PMFlorida wins 30-24 over Ole Miss, which will make some Vol fans glad to see that the Gators appear vulnerable, but most continue to shake their heads that the team that beat the Vols by 39 struggled with the "worst team in the SEC" today, and the Gators didn't even play all that terribly.
South Carolina has first and goal against LSU in the first quarter, and absolutely has to score a touchdown. If the Cocks can keep it close and be in it late, that's all Spurrier wants...and they do score on second down with a toss sweep. 7-0 Carolina on a 13 play drive, including a key 3rd and 16 conversion and a helpful 15 yard facemask penalty. Impressive, though it's still too early to tell if Carolina can go step for step with what everyone assumes is a far superior LSU team. We'll see.
We're two for two on upset picks this week already, getting Miami over A&M (don't go back and read the unconvincing reasons why from Thursday), and then Virginia at home over Georgia Tech earlier today.
Hey look, a new Peyton Manning commercial. That means I'll be buying a Sony HDTV soon.
And oh man, the music of Nirvana on the Cold Case season premier? It's going to be a good year. (Seriously) The Office comes back Thursday, so all is well.
Notre Dame scored a touchdown, though I'm waiting for verification that it was of the offensive variety in a 7-7 ballgame with the Spartans. Michigan leads early as well, and if they do beat Penn State, I'll still say that anyone who votes for a team that lost to a FCS team and lost by 32 at home to Oregon should have their privileges revoked. Again, we'll see.
4:18 PMAnd one quick note: I want to take Trindon Holliday home with me, put him in my room and raise him as my own. Giving new meaning to the phrase "midget football", the 5'5" Holliday just went one up on West Virginia's Devine, going about 50 yards in two plays thru the South Carolina defense like a jackrabbit. What's really funny about this is that when the LSU players come up to congratulate him after both runs, they almost knock him over because he's so wee. 7-7, and Gary Danielson - who was really great last year, and I'll give him a pass last week because the Vols were getting smoked - says "South Carolina's still in the game." You think so, in a tie game in the first quarter, really?
5:18 PMHalftime at all the 3:30s, except in Stillwater, where it's been as advertised - 28-28 between Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, with the Red Raiders looking for more on what'll be the last drive of the half. Fox Sports Net tells me that Texas Tech scores on 2/3 of its possessions. Those who'll call for Fulmer's job and scream for Mike Leach are sure to love that.
Now that the Gators have been tested, and since there's halftime all over the place, let's toss around the "will Florida lose twice?" question. For the uninformed, now that the Gators have beaten Tennessee, the Vols would need the Gators to lose twice against SEC foes in order to pass them in the SEC East standings. The Gators' win today makes them 2-0 in the SEC with six conference games to play...so you tell me, are there two losses in these six games?
FLORIDA'S REMAINING SEC SCHEDULE
09/29 - vs Auburn
10/06 - at LSU
10/13 - off week
10/20 - at Kentucky
10/27 - vs Georgia (at Jacksonville)
11/03 - vs Vanderbilt
11/10 - at South Carolina
Couple things here...the LSU game is a night affair, which is big advantage Tigers. The fact that LSU always self-destructs against Florida is, of course, big advantage Gators. Kentucky and Vanderbilt haven't beaten Florida in recent memory, Georgia has beaten them twice since the divisional format was instituted 15 years ago...but there's always Spurrier's Gamecocks. So again, it's a week by week contest, and as soon as Florida actually loses a game, you can use that "marathon not a sprint" analogy with more effectiveness. As for the Vols...they need to start winning.
Texas Tech used a fake spike and a terrible pass that was still caught to score at the end of the first half. Graham Harrell's
first half numbers: 28 of 35, 388 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs. That's a nice day at the office, don't you think? Red Raiders lead 35-28 in a game that's currently scheduled to end around 8:00 PM.
The rains continue to fall in Baton Rouge, where the Ballcoach talked about pulling Blake Mitchell for Chris Smelley in the second half. South Carolina almost can't afford to give up any more points, even field goals, if they want a chance to win, currently trailing 21-7. And hey, with Hootie doing this week's Moment of Character, I'm sure the Gamecocks will be ready to roll in the second half. Hootie & The Blowfish are almost as good as Huey Lewis & The News. That's not a joke - Huey Lewis took my concert virginity.
Michigan's only TD drive came off a fumble in their 7-3 lead over Penn State, but the defense appears to play well when not faced with the spread offense (so there's hope for the Vols, eh?!) But Penn State just got a big stand on the opening drive of the second half, and Brad Nessler tells me Michigan has had 3rd and more than 10 six times already today. That's not how you win games.
Back to the television...
5:46 PMAll those - including me - who scream "run it up the middle" on third/fourth and short just got visual evidence why sometimes teams do spread it out: facing 3rd and 1, South Carolina tried Cory Boyd up the middle twice, and got absolutely stuffed by seven man fronts twice. Glenn Dorsey is a man.
We talked about it earlier, but let's not underestimate the importance of the 38-35 win Syracuse picked up
at Louisville today. Bobby Petrino may not have Michael Vick, and may be trying to figure it out between Joey Harrington and Byron Leftwich, but he's gotta be happier in the ATL than he'd be in the Bluegrass State right now, where the Cards have now lost two straight, will be out of the Top 25, and have given up around 40 a game the last three weeks. And for Syracuse, this is a huge win - ESPN.com tells me that their numbers
at halftime for points and total yards were season highs, and maybe the Orange can take this one and spring for some Big East momentum in an attempt to move forward under Greg Robinson. Well done.
As LSU drives into field goal range, you begin to see once more that if you give up more than 21 points against this team, you're pretty much done. If you get behind more than one possession, you're on life support. If LSU doesn't beat themselves, I'm not sure who else will. Even when they're not spectacular, they're so brutally efficient on both sides of the ball - plus a fake FG for a touchdown in the first half that will probably have the word "backbreaking" attached to it in the postgame AP story - you simply have to make everything else go your way just to have a chance. See, there's a touchdown, it'll be 28-7 pending the PAT, and South Carolina is done. Brutal. Maybe Tulane will catch them looking ahead next week.
Michigan State is up 24-14 in the third quarter. It's smiles all around. And Maryland is looking to give me my first loss in the picks today, up 24-3 on Wake Forest in the third quarter. You'd hate to see a story like Jim Grobe and Wake be of the one year variety, but the two tough early losses plus the injury to Riley Skinner may be too much for the Deamon Deacs to overcome the rest of the year.
Meanwhile, Penn State's got first and goal at the end of the third quarter in a swift-moving ballgame, and still trails 7-3. A touchdown is a must. Maybe Russell Crowe isn't in attendance today - off fightin' round the world, I'm sure - so the Nittany Lions have a chance.
3:10 to Yuma is really good, by the way. And then here's another example of why it's stupid to call a toss sweep on 3rd and goal - not only does Penn State not get it, they get called for holding. Kicking field goals is not the way to win this one. Lloyd Carr did have an interesting call on the penalty - if you take the holding call, it's 3rd and goal at the 12. If you decline it, it's 4th and goal at the 2. Carr took 3rd and goal at the 12...and Penn State throws an incomplete pass that wouldn't have scored a TD even if he caught it. (sigh) So now it's 7-6, and Michigan still lives...
6:44 PMThe final look before the Vols go at 7:00...
Chris Smelley has played pretty well for a redshirt freshman, and credit South Carolina for not quitting, but Spurrier elected to kick a field goal with under eight to play, and now LSU leads 28-10. I doubt the potential TD would've made much difference. Michigan State leads Notre Dame 31-14 courtesy of 4 TD passes from Hoyer, and I wonder how many weeks we can talk about Notre Dame's struggles? They're just bad, period. The next four: at Purdue, at UCLA, vs Boston College, vs Southern Cal. Can you say 0-8?
Michigan is going to survive, and watching these players you feel like they're all reborn. Penn State simply had no offense, which was the question mark on their radar going in. That's nine straight wins for Michigan over Penn State, and I'm happy for Mike Hart, who is going down in the history books as one of the greatest RBs in Big 10 history. No matter what the obstacle, you can come back from anything, and winning always makes it better. Cue all the "Michigan for BCS" talk, but let me restate - if you vote for Michigan in either poll right now, you're an idiot.
Meanwhile, Arkansas was up 10-7 on Kentucky before I even remembered the game had started, and just as I typed that Felix Jones pulled out some 360 moves on the Kentucky defense in a 60+ yard run down inside the 10. And that fact about the Texas Tech offense having a tendency to disappear has come true - after scoring 35 in the first half, the Red Raiders got nothing in the 3rd quarter and now trail 42-35. The mascot for Okie State looks like he's going to show up on To Catch a Predator anyday now. And before I was finished with this update, the offense woke up - the Red Raiders score, and a WR named Amendola now has 14 catches for 233 yards (and his first touchdown), and Harrell is at 537 and 5 TDs. 42-42, 11:50 to play...good stuff.
For the Vols, it's time to see improvement, on both sides of the ball. Arkansas State can play, and the Vols need to respect that and bring the A game, lest we be sweating. Regardless, we're tired of excuses, and even if we can't make it all better until the Georgia game in two weeks, winning tonight would certainly help. Get it done.
7:15 PMOpening drive, and you already feel better.
Ainge goes 3 of 3 on the drive, the Vols catch a nice break on the pass interference call, and you like Lucas Taylor more and more every time you see him. 7-0 after one drive, and now it's time for the defense to respond.
Meanwhile, Darren McFadden has 120 yards in the first half, plus Felix Jones' work, and the Razorbacks have built a 20-7 lead.
7:23 PMEight minutes later, and that didn't take long to come back to earth did it?
7-7, and Arkansas State made it look easy against the secondary. Add on the fact that we still regularly give the opposition the ball at the 35-40 on kick returns, and this isn't making anyone feel better. The defense has to stand up for itself. Period.
Texas Tech has gone back in front 45-42 in the 4th.
7:36 PMThat's what Tennessee teams used to do when they were at their best - make the other team pay for mistakes. So when Fulmer makes an aggressive nod in taking the field goal off the board, and then throws for the end zone on the next play, you like what you see. So again the offense does its job, and again the defense gets a chance to be accountable.
Arkansas leads 20-14 at halftime, and it should be much worse. Texas Tech had a wide receiver drop an open ball in the end zone on 4th down, and the Cowboys win it 49-45. That kid needs a hug.
8:10 PMThings are rolling right along at 17-7 and driving, and then Ainge has his first incredibly bad play of the year...mine and Pat Ryan's best guess is that the defender was hidden behind Lennon Creer, who then stepped out on the ball intended for Luke Stocker and runs it back to the house. So now it feels like we're still stuck in neutral, 17-14, and Arkansas State certainly feels like they're in it. The defense has been okay since the opening drive. Are the Vols rotating tailbacks on every drive, running four deep with Foster, Coker, Hardesty and Creer?
Elsewhere, Georgia came up huge on their first drive to take a 7-0 lead, and Arkansas' settling for field goals has come back to haunt them, as Kentucky has come back with two TDs to lead 21-20.
8:46 PMThe defense and kick coverage giving up the field goal at the end of the half leaves a little worse taste in your mouth, but the Vols still lead by 14. The first half stats show that Erik Ainge is currently on pace to come close to breaking several Tennessee records tonight: Ainge is 19 of 30 for 272 yards with 3 TDs and the one pick. He completed passes to eight different receivers in the first half. The Vols picked up 349 yards of total offense to 184 for ASU, which is still too much for the defense to be giving up. And as long as the Indians are in the game, Ainge will probably keep throwing. Nice to see LaMarcus Coker make positive contributions, nice to see Brent Vinson use his 6'2" frame for good in the secondary, making a pick. Robert Ayers has stepped up big, and Nevin McKenzie has become a human missle on the corner blitz. The kick coverage continues to be mostly horrible. But it's 31-17. If this keeps up, the Vols will be fine. At least for tonight.
Georgia has been taking what they can get in a crowd-quieting 10-0 lead. Arkansas, I think, picked up a safety somewhere, and then had Felix Jones take a punt to the house, and suddenly it's the Pigs back in front 29-21. Currently, McFadden has 161 (6.4 per) and Jones has 133 (only 11.1 per), plus Jones' punt return. Man, I'm glad we don't play these guys til November.
And while the USC-Wazzou game is on the radar at a 7-7 tie, flying under the radar currently is Auburn 21 - New Mexico State 20 at halftime. See, it can always be worse.
9:33 PMTennessee gets another pick and another score, and now at 38-20 you're breathing easier. Hope Xavier Mitchell is okay from his cup check moment earlier tonight.
I'll tell you this - the third most impressive team in the SEC so far this year has been Kentucky. If LSU and Florida are at the top, Kentucky right now is the best team on the next level. When they went down 29-21, and the Pigs had been running wild, you thought they were dead. When they scored but missed the 2 point conversion to make it 29-27 Arkansas, you thought they were dead. Instead, UK finishes the game on a 21-0 run in the last eleven minutes of the game. And so despite giving up over 300 yards rushing, the Cats get the win. Arkansas can't do anything but run, and now you've given up over 40 the last two weeks. Once again - it can always be worse.
And October 6 is shaping up to be a monumental weekend in the SEC. In conference, there's nothing really big going on next week, relatively speaking - Auburn at Florida, Ole Miss at Georgia, Miss. State at Carolina. But the following weekend, there are three critical games - Kentucky at South Carolina on Thursday night, then the Vols and Georgia in a survivor game on Saturday afternoon, followed by the potential game of the year in Death Valley between the Gators and LSU Tigers. UK plays Florida Atlantic next week, then plays South Carolina, LSU and Florida in consecutive weeks. So there will crtainly be plenty of chances to prove they're worth it.
And if the Vols don't start tackling better, good grief...
10:35 PMTennessee wins 48-27 in a game that, as predicted, is going to make you feel better in the way that winning does, but nothing so much to make you feel super great about things as a whole. Those answers can come in two weeks, and an off week inbetween will be/should be great for an ailing defense that can't seem to make a tackle, but is getting close to finding the best 11 players to put on the field. The more playing time a guy like DeAngelo Willingham gets, the better he's going to get. So the defense can still improve.
The Vols win the total offense battle tonight 527-377, with Ainge going for a career high in yards at 27 of 39, 334 and 4 TDs (with the one pick). The Vols got 183 on the ground, including 104 on only 15 carries from a welcome sight in LaMarcus Coker, and another 49 from Arian Foster. Bob Kesling tells me that Daniel Lincoln's 8 for 8 start is the best in Tennessee history.
ASU's Reggie Arnold made the Vols hurt with 130 yards only 16 carries. When you look at the numbers as a whole, it helps put everything in perspective:
TENNESSEE vs. OPPONENTS TOTAL YARDAGE 2007
at CALIFORNIA (L 45-31)
Tennessee 382 (271 pass - 111 rush)
California 471 (241 pass - 230 rush)
vs SOUTHERN MISS (W 39-19)
Tennessee 469 (276 pass - 193 rush)
Southern Miss 354 (264 pass - 90 rush)
at FLORIDA (L 59-20)
Tennessee 298 (261 pass - 37 rush)
Florida 554 (299 pass - 255 rush)
vs ARKANSAS STATE (W 48-27)
Tennessee 523 (340 pass - 183 rush)
Arkansas State 377 (200 pass - 177 rush)
Tennessee Average to date: 418 (287 pass - 131 rush) - 34.5 PPG
Opponent Average to date: 439 (251 pass - 188 rush) - 37.5 PPG allowed
So yeah, there's room to improve. One of the questions as we go along will be how much of an exception or a rule the Cal and Florida performances were. Georgia's currently trying to hold off Alabama in the 4th quarter and hosts Ole Miss next week while the Vols are off, but they've got an offense capable of putting up points, and a defense that'll be better than what the Vols saw tonight and probably better than everything the Vols have seen except Florida, and maybe even better than them. It's 20-13 in Tuscaloosa right now, and the Dawgs have looked good.
For now, we'll take the W. From here, the Vols have to use the off week to simply get better. We'll talk about Georgia after they deal with the Tide and the Rebels. But for tonight, even if it's just a little bit, winning makes it better.
11:15 PMSEC Football is great.
Georgia misses a 48 yard field goal after Alabama drives 80 yards to tie it, and we're off to overtime in Tuscaloosa. And these are two teams who are living and dying out there, and both want and need this game badly. Good, good stuff.
11:21 PMAnd they're crying in Alabama. Literally.
After the Tide are held to a three and out field goal on their first OT possession, Georgia takes a play out of Tennessee's playbook and went for the throat on the opening OT play, and Matt Stafford went right to Mikey Henderson for a touchdown, and the ballgame. The Bama DB never saw the football. Richt credits OC Mike Bobo for the call...so now, after four weeks of football, we're down to three undefeated SEC teams, and one of them is Kentucky. Unreal.
So Nick Saban goes -1 on the divinity scale, and Mark Richt shows some of that old savior magic. It's a good thing these two schools, like the Vols and LSU, don't play each other every year, because it would be too violent.
And to cap off the day, we've got Ric Flair saying "Gentlemen, start your engines, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" from some race to open SportsCenter. Life is good.