Last night left me speechless. Not because the games were so out of this world that I couldn't get a hold on them, but more because of the underwhelming quality of play on display. Basically, I had the opportunity to flip between SC/NC State, North Texas/Ball State, and Eastern Kentucky/Indiana for the early session, followed by the sole 10pm east game of Oregon/Boise St. I can't speak for the North Texas game because I saw less of that game than the others, but SC, NC State, Indiana, Oregon, and Boise State all failed to impress. Boise should have won by 3 or 4 scores. Oregon looked pathetic and had the feeling that they weren't aware the season had started yet, as if the game were a scrimmage or tune up game before next weekend. Indiana could very well have lost to Eastern Kentucky, who turned in a gritty performance before time expired on their final drive. As for the Gamecocks & Wolfpack, they too have some wrinkles to iron out over the next few weeks on offense in the form of fumbled balls, missed assignments, etc.
So as we put Day 1 behind us I am letting out a sigh of relief- this weekend cannot be as ugly as last night turned out to be. The only way to go is up. Sure, we'll see a fair amount of games where teams come out rusty, unorganized, poorly prepared. But rest assured there will be some gems mixed into the first full Saturday of ball games. Thankfully this will allow us all to tune into another game if the one you're watching is crap. But man, I tell you, last night was tough to sit through. Thank God there will be more options tomorrow. I don't think I can sit through another round of Boise State not being able to seal the deal, or South Carolina special teams leaving points on the field.
On a lighter note the Philly Bowl between Villanova and Temple (which we told you to keep an eye on) turned out to be a dandy. To borrow a line from Rocky V, the Cats "put some hustle behind that muscle," giving some authenticity to their preseason top 5 ranking in the FCS polls.
Tonight's lone matchup in FBS features Tulsa and Tulane, which should be a blowout by my estimation. Fortunately I'll be domeward bound tonight for the Salt City, however that will prevent me from reviewing the "Tulsane" game for you guys. Hopefully you weren't banking on me. If you were, my bad. I'm sure I can make it up to you at some point this season.
Suspension?
Lastly, I wanted to chime in on the post-game skirmish from the Oregon/Boise State game. Here's my take: NCAA should suspend Blount for 1 game and place him on probation for the remainder of the season. Thanks to the numerous references ESPN gave us last night, it was obvious to all who viewed that there is currently some bad blood flowing between these two schools. The video of a helmeted Blount waiting for a Boise State player whom he'd been jawing with (forgive me for not having the name ready off the top of my head- I haven't watched any sports shows today though I'm sure its widespread by now) to turn his head, then sucker punching him in the jaw is grounds for a suspension, in my opinion. If the NCAA does nothing, it sends the wrong message. If they defer to Oregon to discipline Blount, they send the wrong message. The NCAA has a chance to make a statement after this incident- it will be interesting to find out what kind of statement they make.
That's all for now. Enjoy the long weekend.
Beav
No comments:
Post a Comment