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Calling an audible
Oct 25, 2007Quick audible ... now that Matt Ryan’s Heisman hopes haven’t yet faded in the Blacksburg rain. All you can say about his last four minutes is wow. Who knew he had that kind of scrambling ability to get away from defensive linemen and make plays?
The big arm’s never been a question and his stats going into this game couldn’t be doubted. But when you bring a team back from certain defeat against a really good defense on the road, that creates a lasting memory with the voters.
Too many tailbacks?
Oct 25, 2007Long-time Virginia Tech running backs coach Billy Hite is fond of saying that you never have too many tailbacks.
If Kurt Roper feels differently, there’s a good reason.
Roper, the running backs coach at Tennessee, has three SEC-quality veteran tailbacks and a freshman who could take snaps at several places now. What he doesn’t have are enough snaps to accommodate them all.
That leads to situations like last week, when backup Montario Hardesty was none too pleased with never seeing the field in a 41-17 loss at Alabama.
You couldn’t blame Hardesty, who had rushed for 146 yards on 30 carries in the previous two games—wins over Georgia and Mississippi State. And to an extent, Roper couldn’t blame him.
“I’m OK with him being unhappy [about not playing],” Roper said. “He should have played.”
It became more of an issue when Hardesty missed a rare Sunday practice and at first, didn’t appear to tell anyone. But he had left a text message with Roper before the 7:30 p.m. workout started and Roper didn’t check his messages until after practice.
Count on Hardesty getting at least one play from scrimmage Saturday night against South Carolina. The Gamecocks allow more than 177 yards per game on the ground and the Volunteers have been running the ball well for a month.
But Roper isn’t changing his rotation to appease Hardesty. Arian Foster, who is quietly having a terrific season, will start, with LaMarcus Coker first off the bench. Then it will be Hardesty, with maybe a dose of freshman Lennon Creer.
“Arian, Coker and Hardesty could all start and play a whole game if they were healthy and fresh,” Roper said. “Lennon’s behind those guys, but I’m very pleased with what he’s done. We have good football players in that room.”
Unless an injury or two strikes, you could almost say there are too many. Certainly more there than in any of the defensive rooms.
The Weekly Guessing Game
Time for another week of SEC picks, always a risky proposition in any year but especially this crazy season.
We were 4-2 last week, missing on Alabama’s dumptrucking of the Vols and Vanderbilt’s stunning domination of South Carolina. It would have been 3-3 were it not for Les Miles’ brassy play call in the last seconds that enabled LSU to survive Auburn.
Mississippi State at Kentucky
If the Wildcats have a letdown after consecutive games against South Carolina, LSU and Florida, it’s understandable. But even though the Bulldogs were good enough to win at Auburn, they’re lacking in offensive firepower even if Kentucky is a little flat. Hard as it is to believe, the start of Billy Gillespie’s basketball era at UK might fly as under the radar as hoops ever flies in Lexington. Andre Woodson’s Heisman chances look better with Matt Ryan’s predictable fadeout in the Blacksburg rain. Kentucky 34, Mississippi State 20.
Florida International at Arkansas
The less said about this one, the better. Just suffice it to say Darren McFadden and Felix Jones should have a field day—for however long they stay on the field—against perhaps the worst team in Division I-A. Arkansas 49, Florida International 7.
Miami (Ohio) at Vanderbilt
Impartiality aside, you had to feel good for Vandy coach Bobby Johnson, a nice guy who is two wins away from taking the Commodores to their first bowl game in 25 years. Not only did Vandy beat South Carolina, it controlled the game wire-to-wire. While there will be somewhat of a letdown this week, the Commodores should still have enough to beat their Mid-American Conference foe and get to five wins. Vanderbilt 24, Miami (Ohio) 7.
Florida vs. Georgia
On paper, the Bulldogs don’t look like a good bet against the explosive Gators. But Florida has a lot of injuries, including QB Tim Tebow, who will play despite a sore shoulder. What’s more, Georgia has had a week off to recharge. An open date before a big game worked pretty well for Tennessee and Florida earlier this month. Why can’t it work as well for a solid coach like Mark Richt? Besides, why not one more crazy upset in the craziest division in college football? Georgia 23, Florida 21.
Mississippi at Auburn
Even the Tigers’ pedestrian offense should rack up some big numbers against this sorry Rebels defense. Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron is probably in the last month of his three years in Oxford. Think they’d like David Cutcliffe back there about now? Auburn 38, Mississippi 17.
South Carolina at Tennessee
Think ESPN would like to have a mulligan on its choice for the prime-time game after the tank jobs these teams pulled a week ago? The loser is pretty much out of the East race and if that loser is Tennessee, you think the fire under Phillip Fulmer’s chair will be hotter than Memphis in August? However, the trends point to a Vols win. They’ve played much better at home and the Gamecocks have issues on offense. Tennessee 27, South Carolina 20.
Elephant stampede
Oct 20, 2007TUSCALOOSA, Ala.—Tennessee could have sat atop first place by itself in the SEC East Division as of tonight.
Instead, every other team in the division now has two losses and Florida is again in control of its destiny after another wild Saturday in the SEC.
The Volunteers’ 41-17 loss at Alabama was pretty much what they deserved, considering how the Crimson Tide controlled most of the last three quarters.
UT’s defense may have reached a new low today. While Alabama is good offensively, it also played without two starters on its line and a solid running back (Glen Coffee) due to violating school policy.
Yet the Vols couldn’t mount any kind of consistent pass rush or stop the running game, resulting in 510 total yards and 27 first downs for the Tide.
“It definitely wasn’t the game we expected,” linebacker Jerod Mayo said. “Today we came out expecting to play as good as any game in the past. The defense takes this loss on our shoulders.”
While that unit should take the biggest chunk of the blame, save some for the offense, too, which pitched a second half shutout against a defense which entered the day a mediocre ninth in the SEC.
That only heats up coach Phillip Fulmer’s seat, which had cooled down for a short time. Next week’s home game with South Carolina might determine the rest of the season’s course, as well as Fulmer’s future.
Athletic director Mike Hamilton’s frown in the post-game interview room told quite a story. It was the look of a man who knows he might be one more loss away from making a decision he’d just as soon not make.
Extra Points
1. Who had the worst Saturday, Fulmer or Steve Spurrier? Losing at home to Vandy and scoring just six points isn’t quite what the South Carolina “ball coach” had in mind. Bet Spurrier perks up after looking at UT’s pass defense today, though.
2. Where were the adjustments on Alabama receiver D.J. Hall? He caught at least four passes when he would motion across the formation and get a clean break off the scrimmage line. It was almost as if the Vols didn’t believe he could keep making plays.
3. You have to wonder about the condition of Lucas Taylor’s toe. He grabbed a season-low two passes and didn’t play in the fourth quarter. If he’s out for any length of time, UT’s passing game is a whole lot worse.
4. So much for the improvement of the defensive line. Not only were they pushed around all game, they also made some horrid penalties which helped lead to Alabama points. I’m not a big grade guy but I’d say a D or F is in order for this unit.
5. While the Vols didn’t have a lot of plays from scrimmage, it’s clear Arian Foster is this team’s top tailback. That’s why he should have had more than five carries after the first quarter. Foster never touched the ball one time in the second quarter. Inexcusable.
Bridgewater 17, Emory & Henry 14
Oct 20, 2007Check Sunday’s BHC for the official write-up. Here’s some quick notes:
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Tough loss for the Wasps on Saturday afternoon at Fullerton Field. The definition of a heartbreaker in the sports world.
Down 14-0 with 12 minutes, 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Wasps looked done for.
Their defense had been run ragged by Bridgewater’s slow-rolling offensive train. E&H quarterback Daniel Booher was having his roughest game of the season. And Fullerton Field was buzzing with disappointment and frustration.
Then, suddenly, everything changed. Booher found a groove as the Wasps returnded to the spread offense that had been so successful in their win over Hampden-Sydney. And two Booher-Jonathan Hawkins touchdown connections made it 14-14 with 1:59 left in the final period.
But as soon as you could say “comeback,” it was over.
Bridgewater running back Phillip Carter (27 carries, 160 yards, one touchdown) cranked out a 56-yard sprint down the right sideline. And the Eagles walked out of Emory with a huge win when Kyle Beach’s 24-yard field goal from the middle of the field edged its way through the uprights.
The Eagles went berserk. The Wasps were stunned.
“You can’t win a game with the way we played the first three quarters,” said E&H coach Don Montgomery, red-faced and seething. “But they got nothing on us. The only thing they have on us is what we have on us. We made too many mistakes to play in a game of this magnitude.”
Extra quotes from Montgomery:
On Booher’s success in the fourth quarter:
We got spread out and Daniel got some confidence to throw the ball down the field. Daniel understood that the protection was holding up for him. As he matures and gets better as a quarterback, and gets more confidence in the people around him, we’re going to get pretty good. But until he gets that feeling, and our receivers run the right route and catch the ball when they’re supposed to catch it …
On Eagles running back Phillip Carter and Carter’s big 56-yard run in the final two minutes which set up Beach’s game-winning field goal:
Give him credit. He’s one of the top backs in the country, and he broke a big run at the end of the game to put them in a position to win it. Other than that, we’re in overtime.
On being disappointed:
Yes. What do you think? Of course I am.
Posted by Brian T. Smith Friday night on the road
Oct 19, 2007BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Really, there’s something to be said for a six-hour drive through two big-time traffic jams, one much-needed rain storm and lots of Alabama-Tennessee talk.
Life on the road usually agrees with me, even on trips like today’s. Maybe it’s because the payoff—covering my first game in one of the SEC’s storied venues --should be worth the long journey into western Alabama.
Covering the Atlantic Coast Conference the last three seasons, I’ve seen plenty of beautiful stadiums, such as Georgia Tech’s Grant Field and Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium.
(I kid you not. Duke’s football program may be lousy, but its stadium really is nice. As John Feinstein once said, it’s a beautiful place to watch bad football.)
Anyway, Alabama coach Nick Saban and I have one thing in common today—and it’s not the salary, trust me. It will be “our” first Alabama-Tennessee game.
Bryant-Denny Stadium holds 92,138 seats and is the seventh biggest on-campus facility in major college football. That just happened in the last decade, though, which is why Alabama used to play these games at Legion Field—a long punt from where I’m putting my head on the pillow.
I asked UT coach Phillip Fulmer Tuesday what the difference is between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.
“We had a number of great games in Birmingham,” Fulmer said. “But Tuscaloosa is a better college environment. It will be louder.”
It will be interesting to hear just how loud. Having worked the Virginia Tech and UT beats for our paper, it’s hard to think of two louder stadiums on a consistent basis than Lane Stadium or Neyland Stadium.
Of course, the crowd noise will depend in large part on what happens below them. That will depend on how the Alabama defense can perform against one of the SEC’s best offenses.
If Tennessee runs the ball as it has lately, it will be hard for the Tide to win this game. Give Erik Ainge a play-action game off which to work and he’ll thrive—and then some.
That can quiet a crowd down in a hurry.
Quick Kicks
1. I found no less than five different prep games in a 70-mile span between Fort Payne and Birmingham. Any doubt that high school football is king here on Friday night?
2. On at least two of those broadcasts, I heard announcers refer to the teams they cover every Friday as “we.” Can anyone say objectivity? I knew you could ...
3. Is there any doubt that Arkansas’ Houston Nutt is gone at season’s end unless his team wins out, including a bowl game? And what are the chances of that happening with a schedule which still includes trips to Tennessee and LSU?
4. It’s always fun to watch games like the Louisville-Connecticut clash Friday night, which was played in a driving rain. Let me amend that: it’s always fun to watch those games on TV.
5. Non-football observation: after ESPN’s saturation coverage of Joe Torre’s decision not to manage the Yankees next year, is there any question now that you can refer to the network as YES North?
