Football Wrap Week 10: Return of the Wrap (and the Ducky Boys/Boise State Blues)

Took a week off from the Wrap due to the Penn State scandal and processing all the information. Everything else felt trivial and even though I had a wrap ready to go, I scrapped it. Starting fresh this week.

Raise your hands if you expected to see Oregon back in the BCS picture. Okay, maybe they weren’t totally dead but I wasn’t exactly ready to ride for them after LSU became the second SEC team to beat them in a calendar year.

But here we are, a month later and guess who’s back? The Ducky Boys after steamrolling Stanford on the road just like they did last year. Back up to No. 4 in the BCS and suddenly the Rose Bowl isn’t the only thing in their picture. I crowned them that nickname last year after they mauled Stanford so I'm bringing it back.

I’m surprised but I shouldn’t be. I should’ve remembered 2 years ago when Oregon lost to Boise State in their season opener and still wound up in the Rose Bowl. Their strength is getting better as the season goes on and wearing down teams with their speed as their offense clicks into gear. The Pac-10 hasn’t been able to stop them and it’s to their credit that they aren’t afraid to play anybody.

Oregon hosts USC, ranked No. 18 but somehow not in the BCS Top 25 and their Civil War game with Oregon State. Then there’s the Pac-12 title game vs. Arizona State or UCLA. Arizona State just lost to Washington State so there’s a good chance they could lose to Arizona or Cal. Meanwhile, my Bruins only have to win one to get into the Pac-12 game, which I still can’t fathom.

Anyways, Oregon could face SC, Oregon State or UCLA. Not a strong schedule. Let’s compare to Alabama and Oklahoma State.

OK State’s schedule = Iowa State, home vs. Oklahoma minus Ryan Broyles and a couple others. Blast you, Big 12 for no title game. Cowboys could win out without a problem.

Alabama’s schedule = Georgia Southern and the Iron Bowl with Auburn.  Alabama’s hungry to avenge last year’s Iron Bowl so I like their chances to win out a bit more than OK State.

Of course, the trap could be if Oklahoma wins and leapfrogs everybody. Not to mention if LSU somehow finds a way to lose to Arkansas, which I doubt. But I’m playing it safe and just assuming LSU is straight while 2-4 could be shaken up.

I’m not opposed to rematch games because if a team loses early, they should be able to get another crack at the title. And if the 2 best teams already faced each other, let’s do it again like Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby. Yet my problem is if a team loses in the final month yet somehow leapfrogs teams who win out, even if the game was pretty even.

So Oregon has a tough road back still but it’s not entirely impossible. Now all they need to do is actually win a BCS Bowl Game since Ohio State and Auburn got em....

Quick NCAA Tidbits

1. Boise State – Barely an hour or so after Georgia helped their cause with a win, the Broncos saw déjà vu. Dan Goodale, meet Kyle Brotzman, he’ll be escorting you to your new home in Witness Protection. (To be fair, Boise State’s been shaky all year and I could see where Kellen Moore missed having some help at WR)

Speaking of Deja Vu, I had dang near the same pic of K. Moore on the blog last year after the loss.

2. Kansas State sure loves drama – last week vs. OSU and this week, 4 OT vs. A&M. At least they won this time.

3. Robert Griffin The Great strikes again – a 4^th quarter, 21-point comeback. Not bad for the Baylor legend.

Virgo’s Top 10: 1) LSU, 2) Oklahoma State, 3) Oregon 4) Alabama, 5) Arkansas, 6) Oklahoma, 7) Clemson 8) Stanford, 9) Virginia Tech, 10) Houston

NFL Top 5

1. It can be the Super Bowl, it can be regular season but to paraphrase Chris Berman, nobody….circles the Buffalo Bills like the Dallas Cowboys. How’d that Beat Em Down taste!!!! Only thing Buffalo did right was Nelson giving his touchdown ball to his girlfriend, a Cowboys cheerleader. Dallas stayed winning on and off the field.

Don Juan DeMarco almost looks a lil like Emmitt Smith right here. 

2. San Francisco had their national test and passed it. They stopped Eli Manning on a 4^th quarter drive. One more reason why I have faith in them and Jim Harbaugh is your Coach of the Year. (Speaking of surprises, anybody notice Buffalo and Detroit are coming back to Earth hard?)

3. So what’s more shocking: Kansas City couldn’t beat a Denver team that threw only 8 passes? Or Baltimore airing it out and only letting Ray Rice rush 5 times. Embarrassing and stupid and before you cue the Tim Tebow praise, read Kordell Stewart airing out some truth. 

4. Tom Brady can’t beat Mark Sanchez in the postseason but he can definitely embarrass him in the regular season. But is Rob Gronkowski about to be the NFL’s best tight end now? He’s definitely Top 3 at this point.

5. As somebody pointed out, we haven’t had too many great nationally televised games since that New Orleans-Green Bay opener. Mainly I think because there aren’t more than 6 great teams. Green Bay, San Francisco, New England, Houston, Chicago and New Orleans and maybe Pittsburgh at 7.

If you can tell me the 3^rd best team in the AFC with a straight face, go ahead. Houston’s a sleeper cause they have the best 1-2 RB combo in the league. But everyone else is potentially shaky. The NFC’s definitely top heavy but shaky as well.

I’m wondering if this has anything to do with the lockout and of course it does. There’s enough evidence to see that certain teams aren’t sharp and the best teams just happen to be able to mask it better than most. Let’s call it lockout parity – parity created by lack of practice and conditioning. We’ll see what happens after a month from now.

Finally some closing words on Penn State, after which I will say no more on here until recapping it in my Year in Review. I was burned out on the coverage because I’ve been discussing this for over a week while some have been on it since Tuesday. But as the details unfolded and things happened, I realized something.

The ultimate danger in this story is that when a brand or entity becomes important, protecting it at all costs trumps common sense. This applies to celebrities as well as sports and we had a failure here of administrative levels only comparable to the SMU pay-for-play scandal and still worse.

For once, a major sports scandal has nothing to do with players and I hope they and the student body persevere yet realize they can be great by rallying around each other and the victims. They can be great by stepping up where older adults did not and I in turn will not judge the whole body by a few idiots who I know litter every college campus.

Joe Paterno’s legacy takes a huge hit yet I won’t demonize him nor have I. He has to live with what he didn’t do enough of for 9 years. Same with Mike McQueary, who will probably be resigning at some point under pressure. Living with guilt sometimes is just as bad as anything criminal, ask Arthur Dimmesdale from my favorite novel.

I’ve been extra sensitive being around my kids lately at Sylvan and church. I look out for them even more now because should something happen to them, I’d risk my career to save them or never forgive myself.

One can hope that the victims of this tragedy will find some closure in Jerry Sandusky’s eventual conviction. One can hope that like Barack Obama said, we all do some soul searching, As more information comes out, I also hope we continue to see good, thorough reporting to make sure something well fleshed out for the record.

Football Wrap Week 0 (Pac-12 Blues, Robert Griffin's the Truth and Laughing at Notre Dame)

Football is back!!! Rejoice and get ready for a month of easy walkover games with a few good ones mixed in there. NFL comes back next Sunday so let's dive head first into the return of college football.

Baylor's Robert Griffin’s the truth (350+ passing yards, 5 TD's) but boy, is he going to suffer from Shoelace Robinson syndrome. Great individual help but his numbers will come due to poor defense holding him back. It's a shame because he showed why he'll be everyone's under-the-radar Heisman candidate.

Speaking of which, Russell Wilson looked sharp for Wisconsin. The Big 10 is going to be pretty tough if Wisconsin builds off last year's hype and Wilson played pretty good.

Oregon looks like they’re not sharp. Turnovers crippled them and I felt bad for DeAnthony Thomas. He hasn't struggled like that since his sophomore year in HS in 2008 and he's going to learn from those two fumbles. But him aside, Darron Thomas didn't look crisp and if they're going to rely heavily on LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner, they're going to struggle. I praised their defense last year but minus Cliff Harris, they looked average now.

LSU, however, got great offensive line play. They won SEC style with power running, speed and defense. Jared Lee played the same role that Mark Sanchez plays with the Jets. Game management, no mistakes, hand the ball off. They’re better than I thought and if Jefferson comes back, Les Miles and Co. will be good position in the conference (although I still Alabama and South Carolina are the leads)/

USC’s Robert Woods: 17 receptions (school record), 177 yards and 3 TD’s. Wearing his old HS number 2.  One step closer to proving he’s the best wide receiver in the country. And USC’s defense is still far from great so he might be putting up even bigger numbers.

Utah and Spergon Wynn will have a field day against them next week. Expect a shootout for the Utes in their Pac-12 opener but Matt Barkley (school record 34 completions) looked like he is indeed going out with a bang, if he’s gone.

My UCLA Bruins nearly came back from a shootout with Case Keenum (310 yards and 2 TD’s) and Houston. They actually outgained the Cougars by 85 yards and it looks like they’re going to use tight end Joseph Fauria (110 yards, 6 receptions and a TD) a bit more. But they're still the same old Bruins for now.

Richard Brehaut made his best case why he should be the starter while Kevin “The Golden” Prince got knocked out with a concussion. I don’t need any more proof. Brehaut should be starting after going 17-for-26, 264 yards, 2 TD’s.

As for that Bruin defense, they played better in the 2^nd half. Still shaky in my opinion but they’ll get a nice confidence boost against San Jose State next week.

That said, it wasn't a great day for the Pac-12 overall. Oregon State losing to Sacramento State just makes it worse and with this talk of expanding the conference to a Pac-16, it's even more disheartening (that's another story for another day).

Auburn made miracles happen in the final 2 minutes. Great on-side kick, great plays, and Michael Dyer/Onterrio Caleb are great tailbacks. But big ups to Utah State putting the fear of God in them at home behind a true freshman QB in Chuckie Keeton. Them boys are gonna miss Cam Newton/Nick Fairley bad.

Boise State to everyone in Division I-A: You don’t wanna come to our house? We’ll come to yours and put a beat em down on you! Georgia – you’re the next victim on that Broncos list. As overrated as they are, Georgia was no match for Boise State who made a statement for BCS respect.

That boy Kellen Moore’s pretty good huh?

Notre Dame lost in South Bend to USF? Hahahahahahahaha. Nothing is sweeter than seeing the Irish and their hype get stomped for all to see. Who ranked them so high with a new QB and nothing to back it up? 

To all the Top 25 teams that won easy against easy competition, I have one word. Yawwwwwwn. Landry Jones, Andrew Luck and Taylor Martinez looked good but let’s not fire up the Heisman talk til October okay?

Football Wrap Week 12 - Boise State Blues, Cam's Revenge, TCU Love

Nothing like a lil shake up to see things more clearly. Except Kyle Brotzman might still be the loneliest man in America outside of Buffalo Bills WR Stevie Johnson and Boise State feels like the rebel who got dethroned.

Black Friday provided one of the best days in college football in recent memory. Probably the best since 1998 when UCLA and Kansas State lost in the final minute to shake up the first BCS poll and put Florida State in the title game with Tennessee.

Auburn was down 24-0. I left home thinking Auburn would wake up at some point. Came back to them 24-14. Then Cam Newton took over and showed that leadership that'll earn him that Heisman in a few weeks. Biggest comeback vs. Bama ever. 28-27 and Killa Cam all but sewed up that trophy.

(Sidenote: I'd love to be a NFL GM and have to decide between Andrew Luck or Cam Newton. Love both of their styles, their pocket presence and mobility. Luck will probably get more "Golden Boy" love but Cam got a combo of Vince Young's gifts with Donovan McNabb's head)

Oregon was down to Arizona late and then the Ducky Boys exploded as usual. Like I've said, both Auburn and Oregon have defenses that can flip on a switch better than anybody else and go into shutdown mode to give their offense a chance to move.

Then there's Boise State. Y'all remember that Fiesta Bowl where Boise won on miracle plays? Their game vs. Nevada was karma coming back. After one of the best passes of the season from Kellen Moore to Titus Young to set up a chip shot game winner, Kyle Brotzman shanked it. Brotzman proceeded to out-do himself by missing another gimmie a few minutes later in OT.

Nevada wins. Boise sees their BCS dream go bye bye. Somebody go comfort Kellen Moore and the Broncos.

Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State all won so the Badgers are headed to a BCS bowl. Throw in Stanford's and TCU's dual demolition and we got a clear-cut BCS ranking.

What does that mean for this weekend? TCU has to root for Oregon State and South Carolina to upset the Ducky Boys and Cam's Crew to have any chance of the national title. Stanford QB Andrew Luck needs to root for South Carolina to make Cam look average in defeat so he can earn some Heisman love.

Guess all the Boise St. haters got their wish as Ohio State president Gordon Gee looks vindicated for being an elitist. Good ole America squeezing out the little guy - capitalists everywhere rejoice while us workers continue to scream for a playoff.

It's unfair that Boise State loses to a Top 20 team on the road in OT and tumbles out of the BCS top 10. People couldn't wait to say Boise was finally overrated yet they won't penalize another team that harshly who does the same thing.

I hope TCU wins just to make them crash the party and play a worthy opponent. I'll be watching this weekend to see how this all shakes down. It always come out clear even if it's not perfect but I'll never use this as an excuse to justify a flawed system.

Football Wrap Week 9 (Adios Wade!)

No matter what anybody tells you, pro sports is a coach's league. Players dominate it and make things go but teams usually thrive based on how their coach runs the ship. Case in point - this is what I noticed this week.

My Dallas Cowboys are 1-7 and looked like dog crap since Tony Romo went down and I wrote my eulogy. That's Wade Phillips' fault as players have stopped playing for him and just quit. Finally Jerry Jones put this dog out of its misery and clipped him. Next up - Jason Garrett, the failed Boy Wonder to Wade's Batman. Super Bowl faves to disappointment.

Minnesota's the worst organization in the NFL and why? Brad Childress over-reacting to Randy Moss, jawing with Percy Harvin, coddling Brett Favre. Tell me why he deserves to keep his job? The owner wants to fire him and had they not won Sunday, he'd be gone like Wade.

Buffalo's still winless but playing hard. Give their coach some credit for inspiring the troops because they're still fighting hard despite their record.

Washington's troubles are coming from Mike Shanahan overmanaging that team. He and his son did everything but call Donovan McNabb a waste of talent - out of shape, lazy, can't run a 2-minute drill. Hmmmm where I have heard his before? How about every old stereotype of a Black QB not able to cut it.

I mean what's worse than subbing him for the luckiest QB to reach the Super Bowl since Trent Dilfer. Rex Grossman? It's disrespect of the highest for a team that's still a Top 15 squad and a QB who got you there.

Coaching kills. Coaching wins. The winning teams this year? Jets, Ravens, Giants, Steelers, Packers - all excellent coaches along with great players and playcalling. That's why they're winning and why my teams are struggling.

Speaking of which, the Chargers finally won on the road this year. Two game winning streak means one thing - Houston may finally make the playoffs but Virgo's Teams are 2-0 against the Texans. Go head and chew on that.

Quick football hits.

- I don't care what Cam Newton allegedly did. I care about what he has actually done, which is nothing that he's been accused of. Auburn's checked him out and that's good enough for me. Guilty until proven innocent huh? Not in my book

Cam hasn't done anything wrong at Auburn. This is just smoke with no fire. I'm glad he went out and played well last week. They can't take that Heisman/redemption story away from you. I hope that these stories of youthful discretion are just another reminder of how you've grown since then.

- Illinois coach Ron Zook had a 4th and 1 with 6 minutes left. Up 7 on the road, he elected to punt to Michigan despite picking apart that terrible defense. Tate Forcier led the game-tying drive and set up the stage for that triple OT thriller they won. But Ron Zook made it all happen. Man Up! You on the road, you go for the kill! Die trying not settling.

- UCLA beating Oregon State may have sucked for Boise State and TCU (more on them later), but it's a great win that we needed. This team has no quit in it and the young players are showing why the future's in good hands. Jordan Zumwalt's (above) showing why he was the steal of the HS recruiting season last year.

- When's the last time a blocked PAT was the play of the game? USC-ASU made it all happen. The Trojans snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

- Anybody catch the Lions' new placekicker? That Ndamukong Suh guy has plenty of potential. First time I saw a brotha kick something since the World Cup.

- Peyton Hillis???? Peyton Hillis???? I haven't seen a white tailback have a pro day like that. 184 yards and 2 TD's on the Patriots??? Rub my eyes and let that settle. For the Record, the best rushing days for a White RB: John David Crow (203 yards - 1960), Norm Bulaich (198 yards - 1961)

- Terrell Owens is quietly having a resurgent year with the Bengals. For all that ruckus about him doing damage to the team, his stats (55 catches, 770 yards, 7 TD's) say that he's making it work.

- If Boise State can't crash the BCS title game, here's hoping TCU does after they destroyed Utah. I don't see Oregon or Auburn losing (although I'd bet more on Auburn losing to Alabama) but I want to see the best teams play in the final, not just the best teams from a power conference. The game is better when mid-majors play the big boys.

Bad Fantasy Week for me going 1-3. And my only win was by a score of 50-41. Ah well, next week will be better.