Auburn...
- Not sold on the QB. Todd threw a lot of ducks and was lucky they weren't picked off. During the game last night, I can remember three occasions where my friend and I looked at each other and said, "LSU would have picked that off."
- Running game has vastly improved. Even if we're slowed down, we're still going to run the ball efficiently enough to win the ball game.
- Defense needs to work on fundamentals. Why was the tackling so piss poor? This was evident on kickoff coverage as well.
- This offense is exciting. From long passes down the field to Lee Ziemba waving his arms like a 8 year old girl in a backyard football game, Gus Malzahn is going to be a blast for the next two years.
It was nice to see us run the ball effectively somewhere other than just to the outside. Against La Tech I wasn't too excited about the rushing yards because so many were simply McCalebb beating slower defenders to the corner...not much between the tackles. And when we did get 5 yards up the middle, four of the yards were simply our line pushing them back. That wasn't the case with MSU....we ran on them in every way possible, around, through, over, etc, and we did it everywhere...between the tackles, off tackle, and to the edge.
USC...
- It's been a while since USC won a close game. They usually blow a team out or lose to a lesser team by a few points.
- Barkley is the real deal. Give him a few more weeks to get used to the speed of the game, and he'll be one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. I said this before the season - in three years, Barkley will be the #1 pick in the draft as long as the first pick needs a QB.
Barkley may replace Charles as the most well known Barkley 15 years from now. He grew up in the Mater Dei program in LA (a national high school power). If you're really good, you may play as a junior, and every blue moon as a sophomore). To give an idea of his talent, he started there as a freshman too, which is equally unheard of...maybe more unheard of than starting as a freshman in the Pac 10. I agree, he will be a good one, maybe the best they've had if they have the right pieces around him.
Ohio St...
- Jim Tressel will be the most difficult coach to fire/force to resign. They might not want him gone, though. I think Ohio St fans believe winning the Big 10+1 is a respectable feat.
They may have another John Cooper on their hands. In 13 years Cooper was 109-33-3 at Ohio State against teams not named Michigan. That's a .762 winning %. 2-0 against Notre Dame. 9-1-1 against Iowa. 5-3 against Penn State. 8-2-1 against Wisconsin. But he was 2-10-1 against Michigan, and 3-7 in bowl games. So 5-17-1 in his biggest games.
Essentially he won everything but the ones that counted the most.
Tressel is currently 84-20, a .807 winning %, and he's a stellar 7-1 against Michigan. But 1-6 against Florida, LSU, USC, and Texas is a big fat .142 winning %, and like Cooper losing to Michigan, those are the games Tressel is becoming known for.
West Virginia...
- Struggled with Liberty. Struggled with East Carolina. Struggled on defense. I'm excited about this week.
I think "struggle" may be too strong of a word here. Liberty's QB Beecher is not a bad player at all, and they did outgain them 438 to 299, with Liberty scoring once with less than a minute to go. For a first game without Pat White, it wasn't too bad.
The second, against a better opponent, they looked a lot better, with Brown looking much more comfortable. He was 24/31 for 334 yds and 4 TDs. He also ran for about 75 yards on 10 carries. WVU put up 509 yards and allowed only 237 to a veteran offense. ECu only had 69 yards in the second half, and zero points.
Anyway, I think Brown, a 5th year senior, is comfortable in there running things now, and if we give him as much time as we gave the MSU QBs, he'll make some plays and they'll score some points.
I'm not trembling, but I think they are worthy of respect.
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