It’s Just Bad Football

Look, I can’t really be the guy complaining too plainly about having to watch a bunch of uncompetitive games. I willfully watched 15 of the 16 Detroit Lions games this season, including one attended live and in-person.

However, I do really, really feel like, in a way, I’ve earned the right to expect more out of my playoff weekends than what I’ve gotten thus far. There has been only one truly competitive game of the seven played as of yet and that game suffered from the completely lack of competent defensive play. I enjoy some offensive fireworks as much as anyone, but it’d be nice if it appeared the defense was capable.

The Arizona vs. Green Bay game definitely did not have any such component to it.

I’m watching the end of the Dallas vs. Minnesota game. It’s not been a particularly well-played game. Some of the coaching decisions have been…let’s just call them suspect. Much like the Indianapolis game last night, I don’t get the feeling Minnesota really has put all that much effort into winning the game, mostly because Dallas hasn’t required them to.

So, what is this? These are the weekends when we’re meant to see the elite teams of the NFL fight for their playoff lives. While there have been moments of spark for most of the teams, there’s not been a lot of full-on battle.

It’s been BORING!

Certainly, if it’s your favorite team doing the winning, you’re probably happier with a decisive, if not too-easy, victory. Who needs the stress?

For those of us who enter fandom free agency the moment the match-ups have all been determined, we want to see two sides gut it out. I’m on the Saints bandwagon, but there was no amount of effort that was going to allow me to get all geared up about them romping all over the Cardinals yesterday.

There’s one game left today. I don’t know that the Jets really even belong in the playoffs, having benefited more than any other team from elite teams resting players having already secured their spots. They obviously played well last week, but can they make a game out of it in San Diego?

I hope so. It’ll make me feel a little better about killing the weekend in front of the television.

Buffalo 30, Temple 28 – Thank you, boys!

That is, thank you for delivering what four traditional national powers could not in their two big match-ups today: an exciting football game.

I mean, it was really, really exciting and I feel like I have to tell you this because it’s unlikely you saw it or were even able to have seen it.

The game was decided on a last-play heave to the end zone by Buffalo QB Drew Willy that came down into the arms of receiver Naaman Roosevelt, which is exciting enough, no doubt. Granted, it was only a 35-yard TD toss, which doesn’t really compare in distance to some of the more-memorable such moments in the game, but it was great nonetheless.

I had a feeling we were in for a good game when Temple first approached the end zone, starting a new series inside the one-yard line, but were stopped short of the goal on four consecutive plays.

Now, Temple head coach Al Golden might have considered something other than four runs right into the middle of the line, but it still takes some doing to stop an offense from managing less than three feet in four tries.

The first half saw five touchdowns after that, including the one Temple managed to take the seven-point lead into the locker room on a 59-yard drive in the last minute of the first half.

The second half saw a bit more defense, saving the offense for an explosive final three minutes.

The teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 21. After Temple missed a field goal attempt, the Bulls put together a solid 67-yard drive while milking over seven minutes from the clock, leading to a 25-yard field goal to take the lead and leaving Temple with 2:25 on the clock to start what would seem like a vital, final drive.

And boy did they respond.

Owl QB Adam Dimichele was fairly impressive all day, but never more than he was in the final minutes of the game. He drove his team calmly and confidently down the field, finishing with an 11-yard touchdown pass to TE Bruce Francis.

Even bigger, however, was a play on fourth down when the Owls were within range of a long field goal. Opting to attempt to convert rather than bank on the kicker being able to tie the game for them, Dimichele kept the ball on an option play and managed twelve yards.

On the ensuing kickoff, the ball went out of bounds, giving Buffalo a little bit of hope, starting them out on their 40-yard line.

Willey took the field and completed but two passes, but they were two big passes. One went for 20 yards and the other is going to be remembered at Buffalo for a long time.

I would say that I feel sorry for the people who left the University of Buffalo stadium after Temple’s TD and missed it, but that’s what you get for trying to sneak out to beat traffic. It’s a harsh lesson to have learned, as you missed a once-in-a-lifetime kind of finish.

I do, however, feel sorry for anyone who had the chance to catch this game and instead banked their TV football time for either of the big games later in the day. I can’t blame you as Temple v Buffalo doesn’t really sound like must-see TV.

Oh, but it was.

Michigan State 17, FAU 0 – Ringer and Rain

I think when the weather is especially adverse, it’s really hard to get a read on the teams playing in a football game.

The rain was coming down hard in East Lansing today, which had to greatly hinder the hopes of the Florida Atlantic football team’s offense in what I’m sure they had hoped would be a big game for them.

Having watched FAU last year in a bowl game against Memphis, I knew they could move the ball, especially at the hands of quarterback Rusty Smith.

There was no way he was going to be able to pass too much in today’s game conditions.

Hence, all you really got to see was a large program simply overpowering a smaller program. Michigan State had the size and the athletes, allowing them to focus on the running game.

And, when you have a stud like Javon Ringer who will take the ball 42 times and turn those carries into 282 yards and a pair of touchdowns, you really have little motivation to try to pass the ball in weather that demands that you won’t.

That’s about it. FAU didn’t really get a chance to play their game and will have to wait only until next week to try to knock off a Big Ten team when they travel to Minneapolis to face the Golden Gophers where the weather will be no factor in the Homerdome.

They still play at the Homerdome, right?

Anyhow, I did keep thinking that Michigan State should be putting up more numbers on the scoreboard, despite all the snaps that escaped the hands of Spartan quarterback Brian Hoyer. This is a good year to be on the upswing in the Big Ten with Michigan in a shambles and Ohio State showing signs of weakness, but the rest of the conference needs to be sharp if they want to take advantage of the situation. Again, with better weather, who knows how things would have gone, but I definitely got the impression that it caused the Owls more grief than it did the Spartans.

And, to end with a commentator annoyance…

First, I like Ray Bentley as he’s a fellow Central Michigan alum, so that’s that.

However, his partner, Pam Ward pulled one of those broadcaster stunts that just make me want to turn the sound off entirely.

So, Pam, to you I wish to inform you that when a play is called back due to a holding penalty, that’s not a bad break just because the play otherwise went for a touchdown, unless you would consider it a ‘bad break’ that the officials were paying attention. Hence, it’s a little ridiculous to continue to assert that FAU could have been holding a 10-0 lead when the score was 0-0. The touchdown probably doesn’t happen without the hold and the fumbled snap on the field-goal attempt is an execution+weather equation. Leave it for the fans to sit and wonder about ‘what could have been.’

Besides, any little thing that would have happened differently in the game would likely have changed everything else that happened after it. Haven’t we all seen Jurassic Park? Has Jeff Goldblum and his explanation of chaos theory taught us nothing?

So leave the unicorns out of our football please. The 10-0 FAU lead was nothing more than a fantastical bit of imagination and whimsy, so let’s not have that, please.

Thanks.

Packers 24, Vikings 19 – I know…I’ve been busy

The beauty of the DVR is that I can go back and watch a game several days after it’s played.

Of course, the curse with the NFL is that’s it’s unlikely that I’ll get to watch it without having learned the result. The score of this game would have lead one to believe that it was a pretty close, well-contested game and that the nightcap of the Monday night doubleheader was just horrible.

I’m still not sure about the Denver vs. Oakland debacle, but this game really wasn’t anywhere near as close as the score seems to indicate.

First, I don’t wish to credit Aaron Rodgers with having overcome playing in the shadow of the Brett Favre legacy a mere one game into his career as Green Bay’s starter, but he definitely played well enough Monday. He definitely made some nice plays and looked like an NFL quarterback, for the most part. He certainly didn’t look out of place

It certainly didn’t make him look any worse to be compared to the only other quarterback taking snaps in the game that evening: Tavares Jackson.

Simply put, Jackson might be the least-capable quarterback I’ve ever seen given the starter’s job, unless you count his 2007 version. Without looking at the statistics, I doubt he completed even 50% of his attempts and several of the completions he did have were thrown so poorly that he kept the receiver from being able to get any yards after the catch.

Now, he did have a few nice runs and made a couple of decent passes, but that simply isn’t enough in the NFL for a starting quarterback, especially in an offense that has such a strong ground game. With teams stacking the box in seemingly-futile attempts to stop Adrian Peterson, Jackson should have things at least slightly easier than some of his peers, but it never looks that way.

My favorite play was one where Jackson was rolling to his left while being pursued by a Packer defender. He had a receiver maybe five yards in front of him, where he could have just flicked the ball in the air to be caught. Instead, he inexplicably jumped up and backwards while slinging the ball sort of sidearm.

If you guessed it was an incompletion, you’d be correct.

Also, I don’t how when the last time when Peterson played an entire season of football, but he does seem to be a little fragile. He runs upright a lot, which always seems to end up being a bad thing, health-wise.

Reminds me…’All Day’ seems a funny choice of nickname for a guy who gets injured annually. I guess it’s better than ‘Every Day,’ but still.

On the other side, moving the ball seemed to come with relative ease for the Packers. I still don’t get how Ryan Grant is a legit running back, be he seems to have a good time running the ball. Apparently, he was also running on a bit of a bum leg and may not even play against the Lions Sunday, so he must be pretty good to have had a decent day against Minnesota, who is meant to be able to defend the run fairly ably.

I had predicted a rather bad season for the NFC North, with only the Vikings finishing above .500 and only just. After week one, I see the potential for having underestimated Green Bay and Chicago and overestimating Minnesota, but it’s always easy to overreact to week one. We’ll see if things don’t even out a little bit this weekend.

Bears 29, Colts 13 – What the hell is going on?

I don’t have much to say about this game.

The score tells it all.

Okay, I do have one thing to say, “Lucas Oil Field?!!!” Is that what we need rubbed in our faces every weekend? It’s not enough you have all our money your fucking criminals? Now you have to have a stadium sponsorship?

In fairness, I don’t know who Lucas Oil actually is, but pretty much everyone involved in the current oil scam that’s crippling a middle class already long-suffering enough should consider themselves lucky they aren’t yet the target of a revolution!

But seriously, get your name outta our Sunday enjoyment. It’s completely unreasonable.

So, as far as the game goes, I can say also that Payton Manning didn’t quite look himself and neither did Kyle Orton. Manning seemed just really ordinary, while so did Orton. How that threw the entire Sunday night thing out of whack far enough for the Bears to beat the Colts somewhat handily, is beyond me.

The Bears defense certainly looked to be closer to their 2006 form than the atrocity that was their 2007 edition. But, if you didn’t see the game, it wasn’t that Devin Hester worked his magic and put the Bears in great situations. In fact, his most-notable play caused the Bears to start from their own 3-yard line, which resulted in a three-and-out and a punt.

When Manning and the Colts were similarly backed-up to their own goal line, they ended up taking a safety when Joseph Addai was dragged down in his own end zone.

It was an odd way to kick off the Sunday Night Football schedule. I don’t presume to know everything about football by any means, nor can you really know what’s going to happen from year to year entirely based on the prior season, but it seemed like a good bet that the Bears offense would cripple their team’s chances and the Colts would continue to be the Colts who have scored in buckets.

We’ll have to wait and see, but it sure seemed like the Bears made a pretty strong statement tonight and the Colts really looked unimpressive overall. With Tom Brady rumored to be out for the season and the Chargers getting off on the wrong foot, could there be a new group of powers in the AFC this season?

Atlanta 34, Detroit 21 – It looks like it could be a long year…

What am I meant to say?

If you credited any weight to the four preseason games, you came into the first game of the season with at least a modicum of optimism for the Lions this season. I don’t think you’d necessarily have thought they would contend, but with the Atlanta Falcons appearing first on the schedule, it wasn’t necessarily a stretch to think Detroit could against start off 1-0 on the season.

However, if you really watched last season and realized the 6-2 start was due more to a soft first half of the schedule and also that the 1-7 season was definitely a more-realistic picture of the apparent talent level on the roster, well, you’d STILL have thought the Lions could win their first game against a team coming off a horrible year and featuring a new head coach and rookie starting quarterback.

Man, but if you’re a long-time Lions fan, you surely should have known better.

And, if you didn’t this morning, you surely do tonight.

The increasingly-irritating Jon Kitna experiment continued in its typical dull fashion. He put up some numbers, to be sure, but failed to make key plays you hope to get from your quarterback. That is, he’s a perfectly acceptable and serviceable NFL backup who should be coming in as a back-up for a team with more talent. He’s never shown he has the physical or mental tools to be the sort of leader the team needs. I know the players love and respect him, but these are also players who also seem to be fine with getting embarrassed on a semi-regular basis, so I’m not sure how much value to invest in that.

Certainly, I would put less in it than do the coaches and Matt Millen appear to do. We’ll see how long before they realize this team is not going to be a win-now proposition and maybe take a chance with Dan Orlovsky or Drew Stanton (if he’s ever healthy). Kitna is not the future, so why is he the present? Even the Packers realize you eventually have to turn the page at that position and they were divorcing someone with a slightly-better track record than has Kitna and are coming off a great season.

In fairness, however, quarterback play was far from the main problem today and is also not the thing that should be giving Lions fans cause to get an early start on their 2009 draft wish list.

In case you hadn’t heard, the Falcons amassed 313 yards on the ground with Michael Turner and Jerrious Norwood. Turner, who racked 220 yards on 22 carries, is the new Atlanta franchise record-holder for rush yards in a single game.

By contrast, the Lions ran the ball 19 times for 62 yards on the entire day.

I guess that “pound the rock” thing sorta takes a back seat when you’re down 21 points before you’ve even needed to find the Gatorade, eh?

Mysteriously, rookie Kevin Smith appeared to be running pretty well, but when his stats came up (16 rushes for 48 yards) it was hard to figure what we thought we had seen. I have hope for the kid, regardless of the numbers. He simply did look good.

Of course, a large part of that problem was that the Lions couldn’t really afford to go to the running game because they were always behind.

Literally, ALWAYS!

Rookie QB Matt Ryan’s first NFL pass found teammate Michael Jenkins a good five steps beyond the guy who could say he was covering Jenkins in only the loosest sense of the term, allowing him to cruise into the end zone for a 62-yard score.

On the following Atlanta possession, Turner scored on a 66-yard run and…yeah…

Oddly enough, the best stretch of the game for the Lions came once they were down 21-0 and started focusing on the passing game.

As anyone who follows football knows, the most-dangerous weapons on the Lions roster are Calvin Johnson and Roy Williams, both of whom are among the league’s most-talented receivers.

This might make some wonder, “Then, why have the Lions decided to concentrate on the run as their primary attack?”

All I can say is, “because it’s the Lions.”

That might not be much of an answer to you, but Lions fans know exactly how that’s the best, if not only, answer.

So, what we’re left with is a defense seemingly incapable of imposing their will on either the passing or running game of even what seemed to be a weak and inexperienced opponent and an offense determined to try to beat you with the weakest part of their game.

Fifteen more weeks of this nonsense and then our only worry will be whether Matt Millen finds a wide receiver he cannot pass up with the number one pick.

I need a drink.

ECU 24, West Virginia 3 – Take that Fowler!

Confession.

I really, really have a problem with ESPN Gameday’s Chris Fowler.

College Gameday is not something I watch all that often, nor do I listen to the talking heads that closely, but somehow, I often manage to hear Fowler make a snide little comment meant to degrade the mid-major football programs. I can’t remember when I first realized it, but it was several years ago I first noticed a remark that seemed a little smug and condescending in reference to the chances of a smaller program in an upcoming game with a traditional power.

Sorry I cannot provide more details.

This morning, however, I realized there was a chance there would be a segment about the Central Michigan Chippewas as they prepared to face the #2 Georgia Bulldogs, so I tuned in. Unfortunately, it turns out I had tuned in entirely too late, but I didn’t bother to turn it off.

Of course, the East Carolina Pirates are enough of a story in the wake of their “upset” of Virginia Tech last week to gain notice for their game today with West Virginia. I’ve already forgotten what all was said about the game, as I really don’t really pay that much attention to the show, as I’ve said.

Oh, but Fowler just could not let it get by without taking a shot.

Before moving on to the next game to be discussed, he says, in a VERY dismissive tone just dripping with condescension, “I’m not buying into the whole East Carolina ’shock the world’ thing.” I missed the expression on his face, but I though I heard his eyes roll at the mere idea that big shot Chris was being forced to address this little piddly program on his big important show that really ought to be reserved for important football programs (apparently).

Listen Fowler. We, the fans and alumni of the mid-major schools, know full well our position in the grand scheme of big-time NCAA football, especially with the BCS making things even tougher for smaller programs.

WE KNOW WHO WE ARE!

So, is it really that much to ask that you treat these programs with just a modicum of respect? Hell, can’t you even just pretend you like the sport enough to be a little intrigued by the story line? I mean, it IS your job.

No. You just have to take your digs.

Well, guess what. East Carolina didn’t have to ’shock the world’ today because they were, again, simply the better team. They seemed to have a bit of fortune to win that game last week, which might lead one to believe they just got lucky, but if you watched the game (and, Chris, I DO watch a lot of the games) you might have seen that ECU was actually the superior team for the most part.

Hence, I had picked the Pirates to win today because I saw they are actually a team with some talent and good coaching going up against an overrated West Virginia team from an overrated Big East Conference (don’t get me started on these jokers), who had made a rash and emotional decision when they made their decision on a replacement for departing head coach Rich Rodriguez, who you had to figure was taking some of the magic with him.

By the way, you West Virginia fans really showed the most-ludicrous absence of tact or even reason in the wake of the Rodriguez thing, so you’ll really just have to accept there are probably a LOT of people who are happy to see your team come crashing back to earth, whereas otherwise, we might have been pulling for continued success.

So, it should also be noted that Fowler (yes, we’re back to Fowler) in the same morning he completely dismissed the ECU team, had made a prediction that Oregon State would keep their game with Penn State close, but wouldn’t predict an upset.

I wonder if it’s just beyond his limited football understanding to go against “chalk.”

Eh…I don’t know. It’s just very annoying that one of the guys discussing college football in what has become the premier pre-game show for Saturdays has such little regard for the idea that sometimes talent and reputation doesn’t get it done in the game of football and, hence, treats the mid-majors as I would a non-alcoholic beer (i.e. What the fuck is this? Get this out of my face. Bring me a real beer!

Ultimately, Chris, it is YOU who loses because ECU was, again, a blast to watch today. They played like champions. Really. That is the sort of football fans like to see because they don’t have the ability to just cruise along on their talent (see Michigan and Ohio State today), rather they have to play with passion, discipline and smarts. If you can’t get behind that, I feel sorry for you.

Rather, I would feel sorry for you, but you’ve been given a great work environment and coworkers who should be able to help you see the err of your stubborn ways.

By the way…how was that Penn State game? I hope you enjoyed it.

And, thank you East Carolina, from a fan of a mid-major program. You’re doing great work for the game of football. We appreciate you.

Big day for the Chippewas?

And…game. The time has thankfully elapsed. I’m glad to not have needed to go out to a bar to watch the game. Looking forward teh the beginning of the MAC season next week with Ohio. They clearly gave Ohio State fits, but they really didn’t impress me much today, but we’ll just have to see how it all shakes out on the field. Go Chips!

3:13 – Thank you Joe Cox. In what looked like a gift, the younger QB just pulled away from center without the ball and the Chips recovered. Barring a disaster, the Dawgs will not go over 60 points today. Thank heavens for small victories and leaving Athens as healthy as when they arrived.

5:26 – I can’t help but sit here and really hope and hope with all that I have that the defense does not yield yet another touchdown. 56 points is really enough for one weekend.

6:40 – A graphic tells me LeFevour finishes the day 23-43 for 250 yards, 2 TDs and a pick, adding another 19 yards on four runs. That’s a pretty productive day, especially against an SEC defense, but the team was clearly over-matched for the most part.

7:10 – Brian Brunner is relieving LeFevour. I guess that’s the thing to do. Still, I can’t turn it off! Help!

7:20 – I have to appreciate that the game commentators just pointed out that the Chips are “not a cupcake” and mentioned the consecutive conference championships after Georgia’s back-ups add to the pile, even if their motivation is probably more to puff up the Bulldogs’ day than it is to pay tribute to the team taking the beating. UGA 56, CMU 17

8:19 – Backup QB for Georgia Joe Cox just delivered a dart for 24 yards and to set up first-and-goal at the Chippewa six-yard line. It would appear they aren’t done scoring quite yet. They clearly want the clock to run, but aren’t afraid to put on a little show for the voters.

11:24 – Where is the white flag? Georgia still looks lively for their part and are just finishing the job. The Chips took a chance (and, yes, a paycheck) to visit Sanford against the pre-season number one and got handled pretty fairly. I guess this is where the relief of being a MAC school comes in. This game really meant little to nothing to the season, other than the attention that would have followed if they’d been able to pull off the huge upset. Now, the team has to really focus on next week at Ohio, as that is a game that actually counts. It puts in in perspective where a team like Georgia cannot afford to lose any games out of conference as their stakes are simply higher. Still, would have been nice for it to have been more competitive.

Q4 14:18 – And…that might do it for the UGA first team offense. Have I mentioned this Moreno kid. He caps the 99-yard drive with a gorgeous run and dive into the end zone. I’m a believer. Sign me up! Could he be good enough to keep the Dawgs from their perennial early-season disappointment where they drop a game you didn’t really think they could? UGA 49, CMU 17

0:44 – Moreno decides to hurdle a defender on his 29-yard run on third and long-ish, just in case Sportscenter didn’t have enough of his clips from which to choose. I remember at some point last season some sportscaster saying he didn’t think Tim Tebow would win the Heisman again this season because Moreno was going to be a star. He definitely looks at least good enough to challenge for the headlines this season. Again, Central isn’t really known to have a studly run defense, but you can see the kid is good. I’m now mostly glad I didn’t realize I could have gone to Georgia for Central on Saturday and the Lions on Sunday…though not really. I could go for some Fat Matt’s and Flying Biscuit while in the ATL.

4:11 – Are you effing serious?! Third and ten from your own one and Stafford just scrambles for 22 yards. Effortlessly scrambles, that is.

4:23 – Oh Nick Bellore! I can’t call you out for not catching that ball. You’re no receiver, but that was almost a sure TD going the other way. Good tip, though.

5:06 – At this point, it’s all about taking away some positives. The offense stalls at midfield and Central has to punt. The rugby-style punt is touched inside the one-yard line and Eric Fraser manages to fall on it to kill it there without touching the goal line. So, the Bulldogs are pinned deep and I hope it doesn’t turn into a set-up for some ridiculous highlight for Moreno.

7:41 – 52-yard TD pass from Stafford to Massequoi could not have looked any easier. Again, it just seems like Georgia is trying to tell the Chips, “Don’t get your hopes up.” Central may keep scoring, but it wouldn’t appear that the Bulldogs are willing to stop scoring. Two consecutive easy touchdowns. Georgia 42, CMU 17

8:28 – Well, I guess you have to kick the field goal there. I thought it funny how the broadcast came back from commercial break to focus on a kid in the stands yelling “Number one!” surrounded by a bunch of other people yelling the same. Did they not read the paper this week? Number two 35, CMU 17

9:33 – The pocket collapses and FINALLY the Bulldogs get to see why the Chips are two-time defending champs. LeFevoure escapes and slides down at the 11 for a first down. Some dumbass tried to hit him as he was coming to a stop, but missed. Dan knew he did it though, so he gave him a Favre-like ass slap on the way back to the huddle.

10:16 – Gorgeous pass from LeFevour to Bryan Anderson along the sideline, down to the Georgia 23. The QB is shouting encouragement to me through the TV! Okay, it’s to his teammates, but I LOVE what I’m seeing! Go Chips!

11:02 – The offense seems to be ready for the second half. Pitts just made a nice catch over the middle.

11:43 – And then Knowshon Moreno makes sure we don’t get too excited and just blasts his way to a 52-yard touchdown run. Impressive, but DAMNIT! UGA 35, CMU 21

12:45 – Jean Pitts with the TD catch! In case you can’t do the math, that was a two minute, fifteen second drive for a score. Pitts was at least three steps beyond his man and LeFevour hit him nearly perfectly in stride. Pitts did have to slow slightly for it allowing the safety to hit him as he fell forward into the end zone. That’s about 32 yards for the score. UGA 28, CMU 14

13:14 – “Is this the same quarterback…it looks like a different team.” They do look different. They look a lot more like the Chippewa team we are used to seeing.

Q3 14:53 – Antonio Brown with a reasonable kickoff return to the 32. The announcers are correct is talking about how LeFevour should be running the ball more. I don’t know if the game plan was to just stay healthy, but he’s a lot more dangerous when he runs a bit.

Halftime – I’m gonna go plug in the laptop and play with my wife. See you shortly!

0:27 – Hey! Joe Bockheim with the TD catch! He’s had a few balls thrown his way and made the plays. I know he was meant to have a larger role in the offense, but I wonder if it’s not similar to how I play NCAA on the Xbox 360. That is, I am always worried about my top receiver being covered, so I throw to the lower-rated guys, who end up being the offensive stars on my team. Well, I don’t guess that LeFevour, in a real-life game, is nearly as gutless as I am on a video game, so let’s just credit the fellas. Fire up, Chips! – UGA 28, CMU 7

0:52 – My wife just brought me a beer. How sweet is that?

1:02 – A short kickoff and decent return by Pitts has the Chips set up at the Bulldog 40. I’d accept even a field goal attempt at this point. I just want some points.

1:10: That really, really sucked. Second-and-five at the UGA 20. Dan LeFevour steps up into the pocket and rifles a pass into double coverage. Now, there appeared to be some early contact, but we’ve already established how the SEC officials are doing today. The ball bounces off someones chest and ends up in the hands of one of the linemen (did they say DeMarcus Dodge?) who “runs” all 78 yards in the time Usain Bolt would have run 200 yards. UGA 28, CMU 0.

2:35: Thank you Antonio Brown! Holding onto the ball is fun, see?

3:06: We are treated to a graphic that shows that Central is second in the FBS with seven consecutive games scoring at least 30 points, behind only Georgia with eight. The announcers seem impressed, despite the big ol’ goose egg on the scoreboard.

3:43: Another Georgia receiver stretches the ball forward only to have it come loose when it hits the ground, but this time the official actually blows the play dead. As a football official, I’m hating that I’m now hating on the SEC officials as opposed to focusing on the fact my team looks lost out there.

5:09: After yet another drop, we get a false start.

5:29: Nice work on the defensive line’s part for the first two plays down on the goal line, but you just know Moreno isn’t going to be stopped every time. Still, you have to think our defense looks a lot better than last year’s edition. UGA 21, CMU 0

7:04 left in the second: How did the official not call the runner down at the one? I hate to question officials, but he was standing right there.

I’m not so sure on that second touchdown. It’s impossible to really know where the ball when momentum was stopped in a pile like that, but it would be too easy to sneak the ball over the goal line in a pile up. I guess that’s the benefits of being at home and having your crew on the game.

Okay, I didn’t come into today’s game with anything but the feintest of hopes that the Chippewas could pull off a stunner, but can you guys at least make the plays that are there to be made?!

Three consecutive dropped passes to start a new series is not going to help the situation. Granted, the first down pass wasn’t entirely catchable, but the second and third passes were simple drops.

We come back from a commercial to see the Chips are now at 1.5 yards per play.

The defense has made a few stops, but if you can’t allow them to stay on the sidelines any longer than what it takes to drop three passes…well…we’ll have to be thankful that Mark Richt doesn’t feel the need to pour it on the way Clemson did last season.

First Quarter: UGA 7, Central Michigan 0

I gotta hand it to Georgia; they seem very content to just run the ball straight at the Chippewas and establish their dominance in the trenches.

Who can blame them with a back like Knowshon Moreno? He’s just really good. There’s not much more to say about that.

The Chips moved the ball a little bit on their first drive, but ultimately fizzled near mid-field. Since then, the Dawgs have just looked bigger and stronger.

Ohio State 26, Ohio 14 – Maybe it’s the entire Big Ten

You lucky Suckeye bastards!

Ohio came in there and played you even for most of the game, despite looking kinda bad for most of it. Your offense didn’t look any better than Michigan’s did and they looked AWFUL!

Granted, I expect you will absolutely demolish the Wolverines this year (again), but those fans of the team in Columbus who have been complaining about not getting enough respect, well…there you go.

I heard some Buckeye fans belittling the USC victory over Virginia, saying they simply ran up the score on a weak team.

Well, I think it’s safe to say that your team couldn’t have run anything up against Ohio if they had wanted to.

And, let’s not forget, USC had to travel all the way across the country to whip on Virginia. Ohio State was at home against a decent Mid-American Conference team.

So, I think we can ask for you all to quit your whining and to PLEASE not try to spin this game into seeming like it was something it was not. The go-ahead touchdown came due more to beneficial field position on a questionable call on the muffed fumble (it was pretty close, but a good play either way). I think if that is ruled the other way, well…I don’t know. I’m sure the Bucks would still have won the game.

Ohio, with their back-up quarterback having to come in early, should not have been able to hang so long with the third-best team in the country, especially as lack-luster as their play was in general. They came in there thinking they’d grind it out and see if they could stay close and it worked for far too long.

Though, I really, really got a kick out of Boo Jackson. He made some plays on third down by scrambling. If he could have completed a few extra passes, they could have made things a lot more interesting.

I just hope someone actually beats Ohio State. I guess Wisconsin and Illinois look like they could, but the last thing any football fan needs is for Jim Tressel and the boys to sneak into the national championship game, to make yet another boring cap to the college football season.

Oh, I forgot, “Beanie” was hurt.

Ugh. I’m just sick of the steady decline of Big Ten football on the national front.

OSU! Get your act together! Despite what your fans seem to think, USC is REALLY, REALLY good.