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Most Dominating Performance in the Big 12

The Big 12 is obviously one of the two best conferences in the country this season.  Solely based on quarterback play, the Big 12 is head and shoulders above any other conference.  This week, the five best quarterbacks in the league had to all go on the road and each came away with a victory.  That being said, there were some teams that were much more dominate than others.  Texas and Missouri were the most dominate, but I have to pick a single most dominating team.  To choose the most dominating, let’s analyze the games by the Tigers and the Longhorns.  

The Missouri Tigers travelled to Lincoln, Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers.  While the Cornhuskers are not a walk-over, they are definitely not a premium team, yet.  Winning in Lincoln is no easy task, but Missouri sure made it look so.  Chase Daniel is a sure fire Heisman candidate at quarterback, but what was more impressive was the fact that Missouri out rushed Nebraska 201 to 79 yards in Lincoln!  The Tigers only had one penalty for 15 yards and did not commit a turnover.

The Texas Longhorns, lead by Colt McCoy, travelled to Boulder, Colorado to play the fighting Dan Hawkins’.  Playing in Boulder is always a tricky situation and if you doubt that, ask the 2007 Oklahoma Sooners.  Texas went into Colorado and totally controlled the game by rushing for 169 yards while only giving up 49 yards.  Texas committed two turnovers for 20 yards and committed two turnovers.  

When deciding which team was more dominate, two statistics jump out at me.  Texas turned the ball over twice while Missouri did not turn the ball over at all and the Tigers forced Nebraska into 14 penalties while Texas only force Nebraska into 3 penalties.  Therefore, the most dominating performance in the Big 12 this week was by the Missouri Tigers.

On a side note, the Oklahoma score, 49-17, looked dominate but they gave up 194 rushing yards to the Baylor Bears!  Definitely not what Bob Stoops wants to see going into the Red River Shootout.

Much more college football analysis at www.ibetyoufivebucks.com 

Colin Cowherd UVa Rant

“UVA is the softest bunch of creampuff, bowtie wearing, brie cheese eating, ascot wearing wussies I’ve ever seen in my life. There is not a softer bunch of cookie doe eating weinees than the UVA football program. Those guys wear makeup to games. That is the biggest bunch of fru fru, daiquiri drinking, non alcoholic beer chugging weinees I’ve ever seen in my life. Want to know the most popular drink at tailgating at UVA football? Zima! Under soft, they have a Cavalier football logo in the dictionary. They wear suits to games! That’s absurd!”

Youtube Video

Much more on Colin and sports analysis at www.ibetyoufivebucks.com

Most Dominating Performance in the Pac-10

While the top 25 matchup between USC and Oregon was the spotlight game of the Pac-10 this week, the most dominating performance goes to the Arizona Wildcats.  What most college football fans probably do not realize is that Arizona is 4-1 and tied for first place in the Pac-10.  While this is not likely to continue, it is impressive thus far.  

Rushing yards versus opponents rushing yards is the first thing I notice when analyzing games.  If a team can run the ball successfully and stop the run, it is very highly likely they will win the game in college football; just look at the top 5 rush defenses: TCU, Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Florida State.  The combined record of those five teams, 24-3!  That being said, on Saturday, Arizona manhandled the Washington Huskies.  

The Wildcats ran for 256 yards while holding the Huskies to 63 yards rushing.  While controlling the game on the ground, Arizona only commited one penalty for 10 yards and had no turnovers.  Having the ability to run the ball makes the game so much easier in college football; everything seems to work much more smoothly when the offensive line is dictating the pace of the game.  

On a side note, Washington State is extremely bad!  They only gained 26 yards on the ground to a UCLA team that got beat 59-0 against BYU.  USC is currently the only Pac-10 team in the Top 25.

Much more college football analysis and links at www.ibetyoufivebucks.com

Paul Johnson Georgia Tech

When Paul Johnson was hired at Georgia Tech before the 2008 season, I knew the ACC was in for a rude awakening.  My alma mater, NC State had a coaching position open the year prior and I longed for them to hire Johnson.  Not only did they not hire him, they did not even interview him.  Instead they hired Tom O’Brien from Boston College.  While I do not feel that O’Brien is a horrible coach, he definitely does not compare to Paul Johnson.

Johnson has won at every level he has coached including two NCAA 1-AA Championships.  He most recently lead Navy to five consecutive winning season including five bowl births.  While this isn’t impressive at a major institute, it is extremely impressive when you are given players who are in a military academy!

The hire by Georgia Tech is already paying dividends as they are 4-1 with the only loss coming to Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium.  They are currently fifth in the country in rushing offense averaging 290 yards rushing a game.  

While I am not sure that they can win the ACC championship this year; I am quite confident that they will win it in the near future.  I will be very surprised id Georgia Tech does not break the Top 25 this week or following next week after they beat Gardner Webb.  Johnson has a great state to recruit and the ability to coach an option offense that is almost unstop-able when run to perfection.  Sadly, I am left with Tom O’Brien who will continue mediocrity at NC State which we have become accustom to.  While Johnson’s Wrambling Wreck rushing attack is top 5 in the nation, the NC State Wolfpack have the 116th ranked rushing offense with 80 yards a game.  One day my alma mater will pull it together and hire a desirable coach, just not anytime soon.

 

Current Records:

Paul Johnson 4-1 (1st season)

Tom O’Brien  7-11 (2nd season)

I would like to hear the opinions of the fans on these two coaches; please feel free to comment.

Much more college football analysis available at www.ibetyoufivebucks.com

Week 6 Wrap Up

It was nice going into the weekend 1-0 and I had already talked smack to some friends while gameday was on, so I was hoping for a big week, maybe even getting on the doorstep of 40 wins in just 6 weeks (10 games a week)!

The day did not start out on a good note as Penn State covered 12.5 against Purdue.

Then the classic week after a big win letdown unfolded in Oxford as South Carolina covered and won as expected. Illinois was down early, but whipped up on Michigan to put me at 3-1 for the weekend.

At this point, I was hoping for at least a 6-4 or 7-3 weekend.

Florida State and Miami played a crazy game that I am sure Miami Mitch did not enjoy, which put me at 3-2. The Commodores and Tar Heels gave me 2 home victories which guaranteed me a .500 or better weekend.

Sitting at 5-2 with three games left; just one more win to be in the money! Colorado did not show up and got blasted and Ohio State made a late comeback to cover the 2.5 spread, so my hopes of a winning week sat on USC’s shoulders. The Trojans came through for me, as they often do, and a 6-4 week was culminated.

For the year, that puts me at 35-23-2 (60.34%).  For a detailed list of the games I have picked, go to www.ibetyoufivebucks.com