Posts Tagged ‘Boise State Broncos’

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports BlogPoll Top 25 hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 10

Through 01 November 2009

Well, it appears that silly season has begun as there were multiple losses among the Top 25, some near the top.  As a result, there are a few substantial changes in my BlogPoll Top 25 ballot after the past week in the world of college football.  Most of these should be fairly obvious.  Either way, here it is:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	–
2	Texas	–
3	Florida	–
4	TCU	1
5	Penn State	2
6	LSU	2
7	Oregon	7
8	Cincinnati	1
9	Iowa	3
10	Boise State	–
11	Georgia Tech	2
12	Ohio State	4
13	Southern Cal	9
14	Pittsburgh	1
15	Houston	3
16	Oklahoma	4
17	Miami (Florida)	2
18	Utah	3
19	Notre Dame	4
20	Oklahoma State	9
21	Arizona	3
22	California	NR
23	Wisconsin	NR
24	Brigham Young	NR
25	South Florida	NR
Last week’s ballot

Explanations after the jump…

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It’s been a bumpy couple of weeks for the Tennessee Volunteers and their fans, on that there is little room for debate.

First, the Vols lost to Florida in a “moral victory” which amounts to losing gallantly.  The Vols then went on to beat a scrappy Ohio Bobcats team in less than runaway style, but as I said at the time: “a win is a win.”  Then, this past weekend, the men in orange were bested by the Auburn Tigers and Gus Malzahn’s semi-deranged (but highly effective) form of offense.  Finally, Lane Kiffin gave Brandon Warren his walking papers as a result of what Kiffin described as “conduct detrimental to our team.”

For my part, I have had little to offer on these issues due to my ridiculously overloaded schedule.  Trust me when I say that it was not for lack of desire or lack of observations that I have been so quiet.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective) I now have a little time to pontificate, so here we go…

Auburn and “Johnnie Cochran” Offense

Gus Malzahn is either a genius or a madman depending on whether you are a fan of the Tigers or are their opponent.  His offensive sets are as entropy-filled and outlandish as they are effective.  One of the keys to its function is to make an opposing defense deal with the constant distraction of the seemingly endless arsenal of quasi-trick plays that it includes.  This bevy of distractions vying for the attention of opposing defenses, reminds me of pretty much every argument ever made to a jury by Johnnie Cochran—focusing on the distraction rather than the fact.

Still, there is a lot of fact to Malzahn’s ability to mask his plays and to run unconventional sets regularly and successfully.  I personally cannot remember seeing a game which featured as many reverses and double-reverses as the Tennessee — Auburn contest.  I know that I have never seen a true pooch punt (seemingly taken right out of General Neyland’s own playbook from the 1930s) in person.  To Malzahn’s credit, he has taken a lackluster unit that barely produced anything other than narcolepsy in 2008 and transformed them into a machine which scores tons of points and gives defenses fits.

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Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports BlogPoll Top 25 hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 5

Through 26 September 2009

This was one screwed-up week for my ballot.  I suppose this is my proverbial “adjustment week” wherein I re-align everything now that I’ve had a chance to actually see how teams are going to play.  That said, some the weeks changes are the result of nothing other than the unexpected highs and lows for the teams across the country.  Lots of movement this week in my BlogPoll Top 25 ballot.  Most of these should be fairly obvious.  Either way, here’s my ballot:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida	–
2	Texas	–
3	Alabama	1
4	LSU	3
5	Boise State	4
6	Southern Cal	5
7	TCU	5
8	Ohio State	5
9	Oklahoma	1
10	Iowa	4
11	Penn State	8
12	Virginia Tech	7
13	Mississippi	7
14	Cincinnati	9
15	Georgia	2
16	UCLA	–
17	Notre Dame	1
18	Houston	NR
19	Miami (Florida)	11
20	Kansas	–
21	Oklahoma State	–
22	Nebraska	–
23	California	18
24	Pittsburgh	9
25	Michigan	–
Last week’s ballot

Explanations after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports BlogPoll Top 25 hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 4

Through 19 September 2009

First things first…

No, I have not abandoned the Gate.  No, I am not dead.  No, I have not defected and become a Florida Gators fan.  I have, however, had more on my plate the last few weeks than I really could possibly hope to keep up with.  Thus, I have had to make concessions here and there.  Regular posting on the Gate (as well as commenting across the web) has been one of those areas.  Between trials, funerals, and trips from one end of the State of North Carolina to the other, I have simply been trying to keep my head above water.  To both of you out there who regularly read the Gate, my apologies.  To those of you who accidentally stumbled upon Gate 21 while searching the web for a place from which you could purchase Viagra, well, you’re in the wrong place, but I’ll apologize nonetheless.

Moving right along…

There were a few surprises over the past week in the world of college football, some which I simply did not see coming and others which, while not expected can hardly be said to be earth shattering.  Bearing this in mind, here’s is my BlogPoll Top 25 ballot for the week.  Most of these should be fairly obvious.  Either way, here’s my preliminary ballot:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida	–
2	Texas	1
3	Penn State	1
4	Alabama	1
5	California	2
6	Mississippi	–
7	LSU	2
8	Miami (Florida)	2
9	Boise State	1
10	Oklahoma	1
11	Southern Cal	9
12	TCU	–
13	Ohio State	2
14	Iowa	2
15	Pittsburgh	2
16	UCLA	3
17	Georgia	1
18	Notre Dame	2
19	Virginia Tech	4
20	Kansas	1
21	Oklahoma State	1
22	Nebraska	8
23	Cincinnati	1
24	Florida State	NR
25	Michigan	NR
Last week’s ballot

Explanations after the jump…

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Football season is officially upon us and last night we got a chance to get our first look at one of the Tennessee Volunteers’ upcoming opponents: the South Carolina Gamecocks.  If last night was any indication, South Carolina’s offense has a long way to go.  In their lackluster 7-3 win over the NC State Wolfpack, the Gamecocks looked fairly anemic when they had the ball and had it not been for their defense, they probably don’t win the game (considering their only touchdown came as a result of a recovered fumble in the red zone).  That is some good news for the Vols.  You can read plenty more on this game from the Thunder Chicken perspective over at Garnet and Black Attack.

Meanwhile, out in the hinterland, the Boise State Broncos managed to beat the Oregon Ducks 19-8 in a battle of fisticuffs on the Smurf Turf. Even more exciting than the game was Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount’s right hook to the jaw of Boise State defensive end Byron Hout after the game was over. CBS Sports is now reporting that Blount has been suspended for the remainder of the season by the University of Oregon.

Tisk, Tisk…

Here’s a little look at the fun that was had by Blount and Hout at the game.

Video: Smurf Punchin’

Oh yeah, and Utah beat Utah State 35-17 (if any of you cared).

Thus, we have but one day before the Vols get it going against the Western Kentucky Weird-Grimace-Looking-Walking-Amoeba-or-is-it-an-Eggplant-Guys (Hilltoppers) at Neyland Stadium.  After all these months of waiting, we finally get a chance to see Lane Kiffin’s Vols in action.  Let’s just hope no one punches anyone afterwards.

Ahh, college football, I’ve missed you…

– So it goes…

The boys over at 3SIB have posted an absolutely priceless (a/k/a hilarious) look at some of the improvements made in EA Sports NCAA Football 2010.  A few of the best include:

• In addition to Dynasty, there is now an “Alternate Reality” mode where the season ends in a playoff that still doesn’t include Utah or Boise State.
• If you don’t edit Auburn’s schedule at the start of the season, the only team on the schedule will be Alabama.
• If you play as the Volunteers in Dynasty mode, during the recruiting phase of the game the volume on the TV goes way up to the point that your neighbors complain.

• via: New features in EA Sports’ NCAA 2010 | 3rd Saturday in Blogtober

Considering that I am all about riding the coattails of others, I added a few of my own suggestions in the comments, which include:

• New Gameplay Settings:

  • When playing as Tennessee, there is a special post-play celebration code (Easter Egg Code “CRUNK”) which leads to the entire coaching staff ripping off their shirts.
  • When playing as Florida, there is a special code which can pump-up the team, when entered, the head coach transforms into a giant monster and eats three of the Florida players.  This results in an increase in speed and accuracy of 10% for the next 8 plays for the Gators, but if overused can result in a forfeit due to having fewer than 11 players.
  • When playing as LSU, with each touchdown the coach’s hat grows by 1 foot.  If you score enough for his hat to reach the moon, then the team automatically advances to the National Championship.
  • When playing as Tennessee and the player is controlling No. 14 on defense, there are special “fatality” codes (a’la Mortal Kombat) which result in massive bloodletting and mayhem after open field tackles.

• New Crowd / Stadium AI Settings:

  • When playing as Florida, in the stadium settings you can select “Jorts-out.”
  • When playing as South Carolina, you can control the volume of the “ThunderChicken” (rooster-crowing / being slaughtered / getting run over by a truck) noise played over the PA, allowing you to turn it up to the point that it actually blows the other team out of the stadium (and into the nearby Cow Palace) for one quarter.  This, however, results in a 10% loss in effectiveness for the Gamecocks as a team due to the fact the entire team is deafened for one quarter and unable to hear the signals from the sidelines.
  • When playing as Kentucky if, after leading by 3 at the half, the opposing team scores a touchdown in the first 2 minutes of the 3rd Quarter, 3/4 of the fans in the stadium leave immediately.
    • When playing as Vanderbilt if the same situation occurs as above, then the Vanderbilt fans begin pulling for the visiting team, giving the opponent a home field advantage.
  • When Playing as Florida, there is a special code which allows the quarterback to levitate above the line, walk on water, cure the blind, and results in Florida automatically being awarded 8 touchdowns.
    • For all other teams a slightly different code can be entered enabling “Tebow Mode” which results in the same result as above.

Go check it out, it’s some great stuff…

– So it goes

In case you hadn’t heard, the United States Congress has been hard at work lately—tackling the hard-hitting issues that our country is facing.  Our representatives in the House have been addressing monumental concerns impacting the daily lives of all Americans far and wide.  What, you might ask, is the single most important question in the minds of Representatives Joe Barton (R-TX), Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Mike Simpson (R-ID)?

Whether the BCS / Bowl system for determining NCAA football championships needs to be replaced by a playoff system.

As a result, these congressmen introduced a House Resolution in April seeking to have the United States Congress and the United States Department of Justice investigate the Bowl Championship Series.  In particular, this obscenely overstated meaningful legislation resolves that the House of Representatives:

(1) rejects the BCS system as an illegal restraint of trade that violates the Sherman Anti-Trust Act;

(2) demands the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division investigate and bring appropriate action to have the BCS system declared illegal and require a playoff to determine a national champion; and

(3) supports the establishment of an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Championship playoff system in the interest of fairness and to bring parity to all NCAA teams.

• 111th Congress, House Resolution 68

Heavy stuff, that…

As a result of the tireless grandstanding efforts of these shameless self-promoters champions of the common man, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held hearings this past week to look into the actions of the BCS in hopes of determining whether something nefarious is afoot.  This included taking testimony from: John Swofford (Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference and Coordinator of the Bowl Championship Series), Craig Thompson (Commissioner of the Mountain West Conference), Derrick Fox (President and CEO of the Valero Alamo Bowl), and Gene Bleymaier (Athletic Director of Boise State University).

For those of you out there that hate yourselves, you can view a streaming video of the entire hearing through the committee website.  Note: Apparently the Congressional muckety-mucks are too busy to hire someone schooled in the basic art of video editing.  Thus, you will want to fast forward to approximately 19:45 to view the hearing (that is, unless you just enjoy watching a blank screen for almost 20 minutes).

During the hearing, the Committee specifically looked into whether the BCS amounted to a monopoly, running afoul of federal anti-trust provisions.  With the great all-encompassing seriousness that can only come from the stuffed shirts of Congress and with the aire of the Watergate hearings, the committee set about digging deep into the bowels of college football’s deep dark secret.  Having watched some of the video of the hearing, it was obvious, in the minds of some of the assembled officials, that they felt the very sanctity of our American Republic hung precariously in the balance.

Right…

Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to the idea of a college football playoff, in fact I would gladly support such a system—so long as it is fair.  The disdain that is oozing from this article comes not from my opposition to the notion that college football needs a playoff, but rather from the nauseating belief by those in Congress that they are the answer to this problem.  Oh yeah, there is also the minor fact that the entire nation is passed out from the H1N1 flu in the economic toilet of the world with chunks of last night’s General Motors and Wall Street flavored hot dog still clinging to its mouth while these clueless egomaniacs are wasting their time trying to determine how we end our football seasons.

I’d love to sit around in a fancy conference room with hospitality service and get paid to talk football all day as much as the next guy, there’s no denying that.  The thought that our Congressional leaders have nothing better to do than just that, is more than a little bothersome.  The fact that they can do it with a straight face while purporting to represent the best interests of their constituents, makes me think of three words: “explosive projectile vomiting.”  I suppose that this sentiment is precisely what led CBS Sports.com’s Dennis Dodd to note that “Retching is common for these kinds of mundane Capitol Hill gatherings.”

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