Football Wrap Week 8 - False Gods, Overtime Luck and CLEMSON!!!! (Told Ya So)

Welcome to Week 8 where Philadelphia gave my Boys tricks and the Ravens rose from the grave behind Ray Rice. Here's hoping San Diego doesn't ruin my Halloween in the land of Kansas City.

1. How in the world did the Rams beat the Saints? I still can't believe reading that - no Sam Bradford, the Saints fresh off a 62-7 curbstomping one winless team and the Saints STILL lost?? The Saints were down 24-0 at some point. To paraphrase my dear friend LeAnn, maybe they unloaded too much and had nothing left.

2. It's a shame Cam Newton can't play defense or kick field goals. Nearly 300 yards, 3 TDs, no interceptions, one last minute drive and all for naught.

3. Somebody explain to me how the Bengals are 5-2?????? Did they play Youngstown State, Akron in addition to their NFL schedule.

4. Saw Tony Romo had 52 passing yards at one point in the 4th Quarter. That leash around my quarterback is getting shorter. *looks at Robert Griffin, Kellen Moore's stats a lil closer*

5. I'd like to end the Top 5 by thanking the Detroit Lions for reenacting the 1st century when they destroyed all in the Coliseum. In 60 minutes, they destroyed the Church of Tim Tebow in glorious fashion. For all the fans praying for their false god, they saw once again why he's not ready to be an NFL QB.

These heathens tried to create a trend out of Tebow praying after his comeback win yesterday. Sorry folks, I have no patience for making a trend out of someone praying and not acknowledge what I'm actually doing or who I'm honoring.

The Church of Tim Tebow will continue to be destroyed and disappointed until they come to their senses. Let Tim Tebow be a nice guy but until he becomes a good QB, he'll continue to be overhyped and ripe for the pickings. When you heathens wake up and see this, we'll accept you.

NCAA Tidbits

1. While I was busy covering a rare Saturday night HS football game, apparently USC and Stanford decided to keep their tradition of exciting games at the Coliseum. 2007 - Stanford's great upset while I was across town at the Rose Bowl. 2009 - Andrew Luck, Toby Gerhart and that Stanford D destroying USC in spectacular fashion.

And now, we had Triple OT with Stanford's good Luck transcending USC's mistakes. Forget Heisman moment, that was his NFL audition in showing that he could play from behind and lead his team to victory. Andrew Luck added one more notch to his legend and a week after the Game of the Year in East Lansing, the Coliseum just hosted another.

USC had a couple of brain farts in the end and I blame their head coach Lane Kiffin. It's his job to make sure his players know the timeout situation. It's his job to make sure his QB at least knows so he can relay it to his team. That loss is squarely on his shoulders.

2. DOWN GOES CLEMSON! Thank you Georgia Tech for reminding everyone why you can never trust Clemson after a hot start and for ripping a huge hole that's been waiting to tear.

Big ups to Tevin Washington keying Georgia Tech running wild (383 team rushing yards). And Clemson, your basketball team proved me wrong a few times. You may have a couple of ballers in Tajh Boyd and Slammin Sammy Watkins but your program is destined to disappoint until proven otherwise.

3. I've been having fun ripping Ohio State this year because of their karma in handling Terrelle Pryor. It's not personal to my Twitter folks who are diehard Buckeye fans, it's strictly business (c) EPMD. Yet I give them props for beating Wisconsin and proving the Badgers benefited too much from their home cooking.

(Speaking of letdown, Ummm Michigan State. Did you have to let Nebraska hurt you like that???)

4. Oklahoma State did something I hadn't seen before. Destroy a team's spirit after scoring two touchdowns. Went like this. Touchdown, forced turnover, Touchdown called back, touchdown on the next play. Game was over for Baylor before the 1st quarter was halfway over and all that mattered was how bad they'd be beaten.

5. Pac-10 news. Oregon's DeAnthony Thomas is really good and really fast. Happy to hear that Crenshaw HS' Black Mamba has 11 TD's already and is running away with the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year race. If you thought Andrew Luck had a big game vs. USC, wait til Thomas comes homes against his friends.

Virgo's Top 10: LSU, Alabama, OK State, Stanford, Boise State, Oregon, Arkansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech

Top 5 for this weekend

1. LSU-Alabama. Do I really need to explain more? No. 1 vs. No. 2. Two best defenses in the country and I give the edge to LSU because of QB play. Trent Richardson is going to have fits vs. that LSU front 7. This is the most hyped non-bowl game* since Alabama-Florida in 2009 and Ohio State-Michigan in 2006 and I'm sure it'll be a great one.

*Oregon/Stanford and Oklahoma/OK State are still two big games to watch as well.

2. Honestly, nothing else matters this week. Forget the rest of the Top 5. Watch Oregon vs. Washington, Oklahoma State probably expose Kansas State. But there's only 1 game to care about.

3. Ravens vs. Steelers. Once again. Nothing else matters. Sunday Night Football is going to be awesome.

4. The Colts march to 0-16 sees them hosting Atlanta. Taking bets now for a 30 point execution.

5. A shoutout to HS games. The annual Crenshaw vs. Dorsey game is Thursday. One of the great rivalries in Los Angeles where a divided neighborhood comes together. At my old paper, this game was the game that mattered and I loved coming up with different angles for it. Also a quick shoutout to the East LA Classic on Friday - 25,000 come out to support Garfield vs. Roosevelt and it's always one of the biggest games in the city.

Football Wrap Week 11: Bengals' Blues, Josh Freeman and the Iron Bowl

No lead story this week. Just quick hits since I was distracted by my choir's concert on Sunday. Let's start with the NFL and the new laughingstock of the league

- You're up 35-14 at halftime. At home. You're supposed to win. Carson Palmer and the Cincinnati D are the GOAT's of the year for not only losing that lead but giving up 35 UNANSWERED POINTS to Buffalo. Oh yeah, Terrell Owens isn't to blame for that.

He's having a great season and he's been giving his all in every game. I blame Carson looking like an average QB and their defense being terrible before I blame TO or OchoCinco.

- Peyton Manning can only do so much with a patchwork group of RB's and WR's - nevertheless, Brady won that game. I almost feel bad for PM but I'm impressed with how he manages to stay close in every game. Do y'all realize how many careers he's helped? Reggie Wayne, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison, Joseph Addai, Dallas Clark, Brandon Stokley...

- I haven't talked much about Josh Freeman or Tampa Bay's 7-3 record. If there's a Pro Bowl caliber more under the radar than him, I want their name pronto. I may be biased because he's starting above my fellow USD alum Josh Johnson but game recognizes game and Freeman's showing leadership/decision-making and a knack for winning.

- Vince Young needs counseling. He needs somebody who'll keep him in check. Physically he's a great QB but he's reminding me of where Michael Vick used to be. A great arm, great feet, but mentally he's soft. I root for him to get it together because he's still one of the best QB/athletes I've ever seen.

Long story short, Titans owner Bud Adams needs to release him and let him get a fresh start. It's not your fault, it's best for both of y'all in the long run.

- Dallas won two games in a row? STOP THE PRESSES. My 'Boys finally got some pride in them! And San Diego won too? Fire up some bottle rockets and let's celebrate this glorious moment of both my teams winning.

NCAA Preview

The Iron Bowl on Friday is the biggest college football game of the season. It's bigger than just Alabama-Auburn and their great rivalry because there's more at stake. If Alabama wins this, all heck will break loose in the BCS.

If Bama wins, TCU or Boise State would rejoice because they're going into the title game. Auburn still has to win this game and beat South Carolina again on a neutral site for the SEC title. Oregon's gotta be rooting for Auburn because they don't want to see Boise State again after last year.

Speaking of the Ducky Boys, they got Arizona Friday night. Oregon hasn't been slowed down and I don't think Arizona's got the horses to do it. But will it be a great game? You bet. The Ducky Boys have been tested by Cal and Arizona knows they have a better QB who can test that defense.

But this game is one more test before the ultimate test. The Civil War with Oregon State next week - that weekend deserves its own crazy blog but we can't go there yet til this one is done.

Saturday's crazy action keeps coming with Ohio State-Michigan. Michigan State needs to root for Michigan to win because should there be a 3-way tie for the Big 10, they'd be screwed because the tie is broken by BS (i mean BCS) standings.

The Spartans beat Wisconsin and by some bad scheduling, don't get to play Ohio State. They need to hope that Terrelle Pryor doesn't decide to end his rivalry with Michigan with a bang.

(Even madder than Sparty if Ohio State wins? Iowa, who not only beat Michigan State but lost to Ohio State and Wisconsin by only 4 points. These. Are. The Breaks.)

My predictions? Auburn wins the Iron Bowl by 9 or less. Ohio State wins by 14 and Shoelace Robinson has to miss part of the 2nd half again. Oregon beats Arizona by 15.

Oh yeah, went 3-1 in fantasy this week. Still alive in the playoffs for 3 of my teams with winning records. But it's time to wonder how I'm gonna survive without Hakeem Nicks for 3 weeks.