Sunday, October 18, 2009

"Almost" Saturday: Week 7 Recap

How many times do you wake up on Sunday morning, look at SportCenter and realize that it was upset Saturday or blow out Saturday or even, disappointment Saturday? There always seems to be a theme, in hindsight, when it comes to college football.

Yesterday was, without a doubt, Almost Saturday.

In the Swamp, Arkansas almost pulled off the upset of the year yesterday by upsetting the Gators. A late field goal miss for the Hogs and a game winning field goal for Florida meant that the Gators survived, but after watching the game, I think Florida has some real problems. Obviously, Brandon Spikes didn't play, and he is the anchor of the defense, but my worries are with the offense. They just don't seem to be clicking on all cylinders. Next week they play Mississippi State against Dan Meyer an old Florida coach. Two weeks until the annual Bulldog Beat down in Jacksonville, but if Florida wants to hang with Alabama, they better get right on offense.

In Southbend, Notre Dame almost ended their losing streak to USC. The Trojans took a big lead at the end of the third quarter, and Notre Dame battled back to get within 7. Jimmy Clausen had a couple of shots at the end zone at the end of the game, but couldn't get the job done, and USC survived. The Irish believed that this was their season to beat USC, but they will have to wait at least one more year. Charlie Weiss just hopes he gets another shot at USC.

Ohio State almost got out of Purdue yesterday without a very disappointing loss. However, the highly hyped second year quarterback Terrelle Pryor turned the ball over all day and couldn't lead a fourth quarter drive to win the game. Pryor and the Buckeyes are now in serious trouble in the Big 10. They stand third in the conference behind undefeated Penn State and Iowa. Ohio State plays both of them in the next few weeks, however, if Pryor keeps turning the ball over, Ohio State will be playing in the Alamo Bowl instead of the Rose Bowl.

Virginia Tech almost escaped Atlanta with their national title hopes last night, but Georgia Tech managed to end the Hokies outside shot at the BCS's big game. Tyrod Taylor had a pretty good game, but just couldn't make the big play down the stretch to win it for Virginia Tech. For Georgia Tech, they are right back in the ACC title hunt with their first win versus a top 5 team at home in almost 50 years. Paul Johnson's Jackets just need to win out in the ACC and then everyone in Atlanta will be trying to figure out the ACC's tie breaker rules. Miami beat GT, VT beat Miami, and GT beat VT. Hmm, sounds like a crap shoot. Funny how Georgia Tech needs Virginia Tech to win out, because they lose a tie breaker if it comes down to just the Jackets and the Canes.

Finally, Georgia almost looked good yesterday against a terrible Vanderbilt team. Almost because Joe Cox was still ineffective for most of the game. He made some good passes, but he still didn't show the ability to lead the team with the passing game. The running game carried the offense yesterday, which is good. However, the Dawgs won't be able to be one dimensional against the Gators in two weeks.

Since the BCS Rankings will be released for the first time today, I'll give you version one of my Bowl Projections:

Music City Bowl: Georgia v. Clemson
CFA Bowl: Georgia Tech v. South Carolina

Orange Bowl: Miami v. Cincinnati
Sugar Bowl: Florida v. Iowa
Fiesta Bowl: Iowa v. Boise State
Rose Bowl: USC v. Penn State

BCS National Championship Game: Alabama v. Texas

No comments:

Post a Comment