Category: football

STOCK MARKET: WEEK NINE

On By MikeIn football, navy football5 Comments

STOCK DOWN: The state of Maryland. Both of the Old Line State’s I-A schools were 9-4 a year ago. Both of them are 2-6 now. Navy, you might have heard, had a mudhole stomped in them by Notre Dame. As for the Terps, they lost 28-17 to a Boston College team whose only other win this year was against UMass. BC running back Rolandan Finch got the start after Montel Harris’ season-ending injury and ran for 243 yards, nearly doubling his total yardage for the season. This might be Randy Edsall’s dream, but it’s Maryland fans’ nightmare. Somewhere, Mike Leach is pouring lighter fluid on Ralph Friedgen’s burning diploma.

STOCK UP: Turning your season around. Well at least we know it’s possible. WKU, who followed up their loss to Navy with a 44-16 loss to I-AA Indiana State, has won four in a row. Their winning streak includes a shutout of Florida Atlantic, a 42-23 win over conference front-runner Louisiana-Lafayette, and Saturday’s overtime win over the team formerly known as the Fighting Weatherbies. WKU is now 4-1 in the Sun Belt and in the running for the conference championship. GUIDE US TO THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY, HILLTOPPERS.

STOCK DOWN: Sportsmanship.

Uh, yeah.

STOCK DOWN: SMU. Since going on a 5-game winning streak that included victories over UCF and TCU, SMU has lost two straight. Now there’s no shame in losing to Southern Miss and Tulsa. Both are good football teams and could very well meet in the Conference-USA title game. The problem is in how SMU lost. June Jones’ run & shoot offense has been held to 10 combined points over this losing streak (LOL YOU CALL THAT A LOSING STREAK?), and against Tulsa the Mustangs gave up 3 sacks, threw 4 interceptions, and were held to 180 yards passing. Fortunately for SMU, the cure for what ails most football teams is a game against Tulane, and the Green Wave head to Dallas next week. That’ll be a good tuneup for the all-important Gansz Trophy showdown with future Big East rival Navy. THROW OUT THE RECORDS WHEN THOSE TWO STORIED RIVALS MEET.

(Please?)

STOCK UP: Case Keenum. Of course, Tulsa probably won’t win their division unless Case Keenum is injured. Keenum threw for 534 yards and NINE TOUCHDOWNS against Rice. NINE.

NINE.

IX.

(9)

He set the record for most career TD passes in I-A history after he threw his fifth, but what kind of slacker stops at 5 TD passes?

STOCK UP: Georgia Tech. Paul Johnson’s team had a losing streak of their own cooking before unscrewing themselves in a 31-17 thumping of previously unbeaten Clemson. The Jackets just steamrolled the #5 team in the BCS while running for 383 yards, but I guarantee the next time they lose someone will say that the spread option offense has been “solved.” Whatever.

STOCK DOWN: Football games being 60 minutes long. There’s been a lot of talk lately about the welfare of NCAA student-athletes, from protecting their health by eliminating dangerous hits, to approving a $2,000 stipend for football and basketball players to cover the “full cost of attendance.” I fully support these measures. In fact, I would do more. We need to consider the long-term effects of playing football on athlete health. If we shortened the length of the game from 60 minutes to 58 minutes, we could save 24 minutes a year in a 12-game season. That’s a solid hour and a half over the course of a 4-year career, saving players’ bodies from additional wear and tear and reducing the chance of a serious injury that might have occurred in all of that extra time. We’ve taken great steps toward taking care of our players, and when the rules committee looks at changes for next year, I hope they go one step further and consider 58-minute games. For the players.

(This post written by special guest commentator Bret Bielema.)

STOCK UP. WAY, WAY UP: This.

First-time starting QBs for Navy against Notre Dame

On By christianswezeyIn football, navy football, Paul Johnson12 Comments

Now that it’s official that sophomore Trey Miller will start at quarterback for Navy on Saturday in place of injured Kriss Proctor — it will be Miller’s first career start — it’s time to look back on a few other first-time starting QBs who began their careers against Notre Dame.

Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, Notre Dame vs Navy in Baltimore, 2006

How he got there: Kaheaku-Enhada was named the starter after senior Brian Hampton sustained a season-ending knee injury in the previous game, against Rutgers on homecoming.

How he did: Kaheaku-Enhada had 19 carries for 42 yards and 2 touchdowns. His second touchdown closed Navy’s deficit to 17-14 just before halftime. But the Irish responded with a touchdown before the half, and another to start the second half, etc. Notre Dame won, 38-14, though Navy rushed for 271 yards.

Aaron Polanco, Notre Dame vs Navy in Baltimore, 2002

How he got there:  Starter Craig Candeto sustained a serious ankle injury on the opening drive against the fifth-ranked Irish. So not technically a start for Polanco, though he did start the following week.

How he did: Polanco played the rest of the way and guided Navy to a 23-15 lead with 5 minutes left. Notre Dame scored twice, however, to win, 30-23.

Brian Madden, Navy at Notre Dame, 1999

How he got there: Starter Brian Broadwater sustained a broken clavicle, also on homecoming, in the previous game.

How he did: Fairly well by anyone’s standards. Madden rushed for 168 yards and a touchdown; Navy led 24-21 with around 1 minute 40 seconds left when the Irish converted a 4th-and-10, then scored the winning touchdown soon after.

Ben Fay, Navy at Notre Dame, 1995

How he got there: Fay made his first career start in place of Chris McCoy.

How he did: Behind Fay, Navy led at halftime, 17-14; Notre Dame came back to win, 35-17. Fay played quite well: He threw for 231 yards and rushed for 53.

STOCK MARKET: WEEK SEVEN

On By MikeIn football14 Comments

Mike

STOCK DOWN: The Service Academies. Navy’s lost four in a row, Air Force has lost two straight and is in last place in the Mountain West, and Army turns into 22 adorable golden retriever puppies whenever they play away from Michie Stadium (which they do in 4 of their last 6 games). Yay shared misery! :fingergun:

STOCK UP: Kansas State. The Wildcats are 6-0 and up to #12 in the AP poll. Did you chuckle when K-State brought Bill Snyder back? I did a little, but nobody’s laughing anymore.  Snyder was the architect of the original resurgence of Kansas State football from their nightmare decade in the ’80s– I mean, they re-named the stadium after him– so maybe he just needed someone to run the program into the ground just to make the job interesting again. Kansas is up next week, and then the Wildcats get to host Oklahoma for the inside track at the Big 12 title.

STOCK DOWN: Georgia Tech. It’s gotta suck to come this far only to lose to Virginia.

STOCK DOWN: South Carolina. The Stephen Garcia drama made things hard enough for the offense, but now Marcus Lattimore is out for the year? The only hope for the Gamecocks at this point is to become the football equivalent of Big Ten basketball and win games 7-3. That’s pretty much what they’ve done all year anyway, and that was WITH Lattimore.

STOCK UP: Riley Nelson. After a 1-2 start that included a 54-10 embarrassment at the hands of Utah, BYU has won 4 straight to move to 5-2. The catalyst has been quarterback Riley Nelson, who led a comeback against Utah State two weeks ago and threw 3 TD passes in a 38-28 win over Oregon State that saw BYU rack up almost 500 yards of total offense.  The 5 games left on the schedule include only two tough matchups for BYU: TCU and Hawaii in Honolulu. The Cougars are well on their way to 8 wins, with 10 being a real possibility. Not a bad start for your first season on your own as an independent.

NOT SURE IF STOCK UP OR STOCK DOWN: San Jose State or Hawaii. Hawaii is always a different team on the mainland, a phenomenon that manifested itself earlier this season in a 40-20 loss to UNLV. I shouldn’t be surprised when they pull a stinker like this, yet somehow I always am. San Jose State does deserve credit, though, for gutting out a win in a crazy– some might say ugly– game.

STOCK UP: San Diego State. The team looked like it was in disarray after back-to-back losses to Michigan and TCU, but they righted the ship with a decisive 41-27 win over Air Force. Ronnie Hillman slashed his way for 172 yards, reminding everyone that he’s the best player in the conference not named Kellen Moore. The win solidified the Aztecs’ standing as the leader of the second tier in the MWC behind Boise State and TCU. The Frogs are Big 12-bound and Boise has one foot out the door, making the future pretty bright on Montezuma Mesa for a change.

Adam

STOCK UP: Southern Methodist. I’ve always held that defense wins the day in Conference-USA, and because of that mantra, I figured Southern Methodist would have dropped a league game by this point. But June Jones has the Ponies playing inspired football through the first half of the season, and after dispatching the conference’s traditional defensive powerhouse in UCF on Saturday, the Mustangs are primed for a huge showdown with Southern Miss. And now that Texas A&M has recovered from a two-game skid, that week one loss is starting to look a lot more explainable…

STOCK DOWN: Northwestern. As a Navy fan, please feel free to take solace in Northwestern’s 2-4 record. The Wildcats were talked up by some as a darkhorse in the Big 10, but have folded on defense down the stretch in games, and remained frustratingly inconsistent on offense. Sound familiar?

STOCK UP: Eastern Michigan. Granted, two of the team’s four wins have come over FCS teams, but give Ron English credit for having the Eagles at 4-3 through the first half of the year. With a win over Central Michigan last weekend they’re halfway home to winning Michigan’s highly coveted Direction Trophy, and although they’ll be underdogs against Western Michigan this Saturday, they will be at home.

STOCK DOWN: South Florida. Yikes. After starting out 4-0 ,the Bulls have dropped the last two. I’m not sure what is worse at this point – losing to Pittsburgh (which then turned around and lost to Utah) or losing to (gulp) Connecticut.

STOCK MARKET: WEEK FIVE

On By MikeIn football10 Comments

Mike

STOCK DOWN: Navy. We have all week to talk about the other impacts from Saturday’s loss, but right now let’s just look at what it means for this season. At 2-0 everyone was all sunshine and puppy dogs. Now Navy is 2-2, and the schedule isn’t getting any easier. The next 6 games include matchups with Southern Miss, Rutgers, Troy, Notre Dame, and SMU. And who knows what Army team will show up in December? Getting to bowl eligibility is never a given, something a lot of people have forgotten. Remember all the bitching and whining there was after going friggin’ 9-4 last year? Looks pretty good right now, doesn’t it?

STOCK DOWN: Independence. Chet said that we were waiting for the Big East to show some solidarity before Navy would commit to joining the conference. Is this what he was talking about?

STOCK UP: Andrew Luck. Dude might as well print his own money.

STOCK UP: Georgia Tech. Their defense still stinks, but the spread option is a juggernaut that has pushed them to their best start since the 1990 national championship season. They should get to 7-0 with Maryland and Virginia next on the schedule, setting up a challenging-but-not impossible 3-game stretch against Miami, Clemson and Virginia Tech that could turn the Jackets into national title contenders once again. I should know better than to get ahead of myself, though, especially since Clemson is looking pretty damn great right now. Can’t wait for that game.

STOCK UP: Wisconsin. Nebraska, you’re not in Kansas anymore. On multiple levels.

NOT SURE IF STOCK UP OR STOCK DOWN: Baylor blew a 35-26 lead to Kansas State and lost 36-35 for their first defeat of the year. Meanwhile, Kansas State is 4-0. I’m not sure if that says more about Baylor or Kansas State.

Adam

STOCK UP: My Italian cooking skills. Not gonna lie, when 1 p.m. rolled around – and when Navy’s players were just starting to get out of bed – I had already made several forays over to Food Network. Can you blame me? Watching Giada was a helluva lot prettier than watching the gridiron equivalent of Shock-and-Awe we saw on Saturday.

STOCK DOWN: Texas teams, as in those not located in Austin. Sure, the Longhorns may be a surprise so far this year, but it was a tough weekend for the Lone Star State’s “other” programs. Three Top 25 teams from Texas (SMU TCU, Baylor, and Texas A&M) all lost on Saturday, while two of the state’s undefeated programs – Houston and Texas Tech – had to overcome anemic first halves to hold off what were considered lesser conference opponents.

STOCK UP: WAZOOOO. If you’re one of those college football fans who likes to “adopt” a perennial loser (and seriously, who doesn’t?) than you should start following what’s been going on in Pullman. Beating Colorado might not seem like a big deal for most football teams, but in overcoming a 10-point, 4th-quarter hole, Paul Wulff’s team proved it doesn’t just have big play talent, but also a will to win. Is it too early to jump on the Marshall Lobbesteal for Pac-10 Offensive Player-of-the-Year bandwagon?

STOCK DOWN: Temple. Granted, we knew Toledo was one of the best 1-3 teams in the country coming into the game, but a week after hammering Maryland, Temple proved one-dimensional in a 36-13 loss to the Rockets. Probably not the best note to pitch coming back to the Big East on.

STOCK UP: Dan Persa. I know Northwestern ultimately lost, but it was apparent from watching the Wildcats take on the Illini that the preseason hype generated for Northwestern might have been justified had the starting quarterback come into the year healthy. Kain Colter isn’t a bad quarterback, but he just doesn’t have the same field presence as Persa, nor does he have the senior’s on-field chemistry with Jeremy Ebert, who uncloaked himself this weekend by catching three touchdown passes – all from Persa.

STOCK DOWN: The city of Logan. Unless you’ve ever spent a considerable amount of time there and unless you experienced the transfer of Riley Nelson – Logan High’s onetime hero – than you just can’t understand. I’ll leave it at that.

STOCK MARKET, WEEK FOUR

On By MikeIn football23 Comments

Mike

STOCK DOWN: Army. I’m done writing about you people. Just let us all know when you decide to be whatever kind of team you’re going to be this season.

STOCK MARKET CRASH: Big East officiating. Our future conference, ladies and gentlemen.

STOCK UP: South Carolina’s defense. Vanderbilt came into yesterday’s game 3-0, including wins over UConn and Ole Miss. Against the Gamecocks, they were held to only 77 total yards while going 1-of-14 on 3rd down conversions and committing 3 turnovers. South Carolina had 6 sacks, all coming from the defensive line.

STOCK DOWN: South Carolina’s offense. Marcus Lattimore can only do so much. Stephen Garcia doesn’t have to be a world-beater, but he can’t throw 4 interceptions, either.

STOCK UP: Arizona State. USC isn’t eligible to play in the Pac 12 championship game as part of its NCAA postseason ban, so it would have felt cheesy to see them win their division but have someone else get the chance to play for the title. Arizona State took an important step towards ensuring that doesn’t happen with their 43-22 win over the Trojans. Cameron Marshall ran for 141 yards and 3 TDs.

STOCK UP (SORT OF): Robert Griffin III. His stock can’t really get any higher than it already is, seeing as how he was sent down from heaven and all, but it should be mentioned that Griffin has 13 TD passes so far this year. He has 12 incompletions.

STOCK DOWN: The Mountain West. Boise State and TCU are good enough to beat anyone. The problem is that New Mexico and UNLV are bad enough to lose to anyone, as demonstrated by the former’s 48-45 loss to Sam Houston State and the latter’s 41-16 faceplant at the hands of Southern Utah. New Mexico’s got a few other problems to deal with, too.

ALONG THOSE LINES…: Minnesota has the most gorgeous stadium in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, they fill it with the worst team.

Adam

STOCK UP: Harvard’s football recruiting. I don’t really care if you hate the NFL (normally, I do too) but you’ve got to appreciate the Buffalo Bills and their fearless leader, Ryan Fitzpatrick. I come from a long line of Bills fans, but through the years I’ve had to watch replays of the 1991 AFC Championship Game just to keep me going. Amazingly, the Bills actually got to say “take that” to Tom Brady on Sunday, moving to 3-0 and giving the down-on-its-luck town a glimmer of hope before hockey season starts.

STOCK DOWN: Non-BCS pretenders. Several non-BCS conference teams had the chance to get to 4-0 on Saturday, and everyone but Boise State laid an egg. A week after winning arguably the biggest game in program history, FIU fell in-conference, while the MAC’s best hope for national exposure (Ohio) lost to Rutgers. Good thing for fans of conference parody parity, bad for fans looking for their conference to bust the BCS.

STOCK UP: Rex Burkhead. For anyone thinking Nebraska’s offense was a one trick pony, think again. Wyoming might have contained Taylor Martinez on Saturday, but the former Plano, Texas prep star Burkhead couldn’t be stopped. 170 yards and two touchdowns ain’t too shaby for only 15 carries.

STOCK DOWN: The ACC. For anyone thinking the ACC was finally going to come around this year, think again. Maryland showed its win over Miami wasn’t a precursor to anything, getting spanked by Temple while flashing their god-awful uniforms. Miami fell to Kansas State, while Virginia and North Carolina State also lost in non-conference games. Hey, at least Boston College won, I guess.

STOCK UP: Football. It sure was nice to enjoy a few hours on Saturday without having to hear the words “expansion” in every other sentance.

STOCK DOWN: The WAC. You think the MWC had a bad weekend, Mike? A week after adding non-football powerhouses Dallas Baptist and UC Bakersfield to its future members list, Karl Benson’s failing conference dropped the ball in three potential upsets. My Aggies lost another heartbreaker, while Nevada narrowly missed surprising Texas Tech in a 35-34 loss. Lousiana Tech — which has been oh so close this year — fell in overtime to Mississippi.

STOCK MARKET, WEEK THREE

On By MikeIn football15 Comments

Mike

STOCK DOWN: Internet connectivity inside Williams-Brice Stadium. Apologies to those of you expecting posts and tweets from the game. I had it all planned out, honest. Plenty of plans, but no bars. My sightline wasn’t quite as good as Adam’s, anyway.

STOCK UP: Most other things about the place. South Carolina puts on a good show. The southern phenomenon of girls dressing up to go to football games is one of the very few things that make me question my own choice in colleges.

STOCK UP: Army. I didn’t think they could beat Northwestern. I was wrong. This wasn’t a fluke, either. Army dominated possession, 40:19-19:41, while rushing for 381 yards. This is the biggest win of Rich Ellerson’s short tenure, and the biggest win of any service academy so far this year. An 0-3 start would have been tough to recover from. At 1-2, with a win over a pretty good Big Ten team under their belt, the rest of the season looks a lot better.

STOCK DOWN: WKU. Dude.

STOCK UP: Georgia Tech. Dude.

(If you had to guess how Kansas lined up on defense, what would you think? Here’s  a  hint).

STOCK UP: Notre Dame. You didn’t think they were going to turn the ball over in every game the way they did in their first two, did you?

STOCK MARKET CRASH: The Big East. The conference might be able to survive in name if it can pick up what remains of the Big 12, but it won’t survive in spirit without Pitt and Syracuse. The days of the Eastern Independent were already long gone, but the Big East preserved our legacy as best it could. Now, as the game continues to evolve, what were once inter-sectional matchups are becoming conference games. The tradition of Eastern college football is officially dead.

STOCK DOWN: Thinking this means that the ACC is now immune from being pillaged by the Big Ten or SEC. It doesn’t.

STOCK UP: FIU. With all the big games in Florida over the weekend, Florida International’s 17-10 win over defending Conference-USA champion UCF should not be overlooked. The Panthers are 3-0 and have a real shot at going undefeated, with a home game against Duke probably being the toughest test they have left. Bonus points for beating George O’Leary, because I hate George O’Leary.

Adam

STOCK UP: Duke’s future bowl hopes. Well, the ACC is at it again. You can talk all you want about how great a basketball conference it’s going to be, but when you look at the football side of things, there’s just no getting around how the most underachieving AQ conference just added two shining examples of underachieving football programs in Pittsburgh and Syracuse. Heck, they’re only the addition of Connecticut and Rutgers away from giving Duke all the conference wins it needs for bowl eligibility.

STOCK DOWN: Karl Benson’s Master Plan. I’ve yet to find an administrator in college athletics who seems as genuine and as good of a guy as Karl, but even I’m starting to lose faith in his plan for the WAC. We keep hearing that the conference is going to target schools with football in their futures, but with the latest additions of Dallas Baptist and Cal State-Bakersfield being made for baseball, is it time to concede that the WAC’s football programs are doomed to sink below Sun Belt status? What’s next? Targeting competitive golf programs?

STOCK UP: Zaxby’s. I found many things overrated on my trip to cover Navy play South Carolina. The football IQ of SEC beat writers left a lot to be desired, as did the apparent scrambling ability of Stephen Garcia. But one thing which was not overrated is the southeast-based fast casual concept. Get you some chicken fingerz and crinkle fries, son.

STOCK DOWN: Western Kentucky. Really, losing to Indiana State? And getting blown out too? Sometimes, I think an actual Sycamore tree might put up more of a fight than the perennial FCS bottom feeder.

STOCK UP: The other McCoy boy. Just in case you didn’t get the memo, they apparently cloned Colt and named the slightly younger version of him Case. Not only did he hit two touchdown passes in Texas’ win at UCLA, he also managed to NOT screw up, something his predecessor, Garret Gilbert, tended to struggle with. With the Red River Rivalry looming in a few weeks and an undefeated Iowa State team on the docket for Saturday, he’s got his work cut out for him.

STOCK DOWN: Luke Kuechly’s long-term health. 25 straight games with double-digit tackles. That cannot be healthy.

STOCK MARKET, WEEK TWO

On By MikeIn football, navy football11 Comments

Mike

STOCK DOWN: Navy’s special teams. Two missed extra points, a fumbled punt return, a couple of long kickoff returns given up, and a less-than-impressive punting average. Did I miss anything? The schedule isn’t going to get any easier. Maybe WKU wasn’t good enough to take advantage of Navy’s miscues, but I’m pretty sure South Carolina is. They’re supposed to be SEC. That will never get old to me. I don’t care what you think.

STOCK UP: Auburn. We should know better than to write anyone off after one week. Maybe they aren’t what they were a year ago, but they’re still good enough to beat one of the favorites in the SEC West. Michael Dyer is good at the footballing.

STOCK DOWN: Army. This might be a little harsh, since they played a lot better than they did against Northern Illinois even with their nine (!) fumbles. Yes, I know San Diego State had sort of a crazy time getting to West Point, but Army at least looked like the team that got to a bowl game last year. The problem is that 1) Trent Steelman appeared to re-injure his shoulder, which is the same injury that kept him out most of the spring, and 2) they still lost. They aren’t going to beat Northwestern, which means they’re looking at 0-3 to start the year. That means they pretty much have to go on a 5-game winning streak before stealing one from Air Force, Rutgers, Temple, or Navy at the end of the year to get to 6-6. Not impossible. Also not likely.

STOCK DOWN: Air Force. Rumors of a shift in Mountain West power have been greatly exaggerated. In fairness, plenty of teams are going to lose to TCU. This doesn’t mean that Air Force is a bad team. This just means that they aren’t all that different than they have been for the last few years. All of the “Mountain West will come down to the Boise St.-Air Force game” talk can now be retired. Oh, and I’m going to assume that a quarterback controversy is too much to ask for and won’t make a big deal about Tim Jefferson being benched in the second half.

STOCK UP: Reports that Jerry Kill is doing ok after his seizure during the Minnesota-New Mexico State game. Apparently this has happened before. Doesn’t make it any less scary.

STOCK UP: UCF. They won 11 games last year, won Conference USA, and beat Georgia in the Liberty Bowl. Beating Boston College as badly as they did shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise. Somehow it still feels like one, though. For me, I think it’s because of how they won– with defense. UCF hasn’t given up a touchdown in their last three games, which include Georgia and Boston College. Usually, when non-BCS teams win it’s because they have some offensive innovation that their BCS-conference counterparts aren’t prepared for. This was different. This was UCF absolutely manhandling BC. That isn’t supposed to happen.

STOCK DOWN: Me saying anything nice about a team coached by George O’Leary.

Adam

STOCK UP: John Howell’s Facebook friend requests. Don’t get me wrong; losing Aaron Santiago, perhaps Navy’s best all-around slotback,  is a huge blow. But when it comes to big-play ability, Howell should have the offense covered. He’s not quite as shifty as Santiago but his straight-line speed was on full display Saturday night. It should be fun to watch his progress in the offense the rest of the way.

STOCK DOWN: Southern Miss. Each week I join the In The Bleachers podcast to keep tabs on possible BCS-buster teams, and at the start of the season I pegged the Eagles as one of my favorites to run the table. Six turnovers and a medicore-looking loss to Marshall later, and I join the other Phil Steele readers who are now scratching their heads saying, “what was I thinking?”

STOCK UP: Central Florida. I expected the Golden Knights to beat Boston College. I didn’t expect them to drub the Eagles 30-3 and outgain them by nearly 300 yards. Is this the new CUSA favorite? I’m thinking yes.

STOCK DOWN: Missouri. Wait a second, did I hear those preseason reports of James Franklin being the second coming of, well, who was he supposed to be the second coming of, exactly? The Tigers still have a long way to go, and Franklin IS one of the best young quarterbacks in the country, but no way this team should have been as hyped as they were.

STOCK UP: Steele Jantz. Freshman quarterback throwing for 67% completion and 4 TDs in an early season showdown against an in-state rival? I don’t care what the trophy looks like, I’m jumping on the Cyclone bandwagon.

STOCK DOWN: Air Force. No, it was not as close as the final score indicated. I just feel the world needs to be reminded of that. K thanks.

Business As Usual

On By AdamIn football, naval academy, navy football8 Comments

Take a look at the scoreboard from week one around college football. You’ll find plenty of close calls and near upsets (Eastern Washington’s 30-27 loss to Washington comes to mind) and you’ll also find plenty of games with misleading final scores. You’ll see blowouts and nail biters, traditional powerhouses running roughshod and FCS punching bags getting, well, punched. Somewhere in there, you’ll see Navy’s  40-17 win over Delaware.

It wasn’t the first time Navy beat an FCS team, and it was far from the most impressive from a production standpoint (anyone remember Shun White?). But with so many questions entering the year, and so many defensive players breaking into the fold for the first time, Navy’s win over the 5th-ranked Blue Hens is something to feel good about after an offseason of turbulence.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not here to play cheerleader, and I’m not here to start making predictions or begin starting chants to see the proverbial “gravy” everyone always talks about. But at the same time I’m not coach Niumatalolo, and I’m not going to nitpick when Navy’s win was in fact a very solid performance for week one, especially given what some other college teams were dealing with against lesser foes this past weekend. As Bruce Feldman reminded everyone during the halftime break, KC Keeler’s Blue Hens aren’t exactly the Little Sisters of the Poor, and Delaware’s  number five ranking was well deserved.  Considering Oregon State – a BCS team – fell to 24th-ranked Sacramento State, and that Duke – another BCS team – lost to 16th-ranked Richmond, Navy’s win looks like the kind the kind of business-as-usual game you’d expect a perennial bowl team to have over an FCS team.

And you know what, it was. The final stats– including Navy’s 437 yards to Delaware’s 363 – may not seem blowout-worthy, but the Mids did almost everything right.  From Kriss Proctor’s running of the option, to the defense stepping up in key moments and holding the Hens off the board, Navy kept the perennial FCS title contender at arm’s length for the entire game. Once more, Navy did it virtually mistake-free. I mean, how many week-one games do you see without a team committing a penalty or just turning the ball over a scant one time? How about having a kicker nail a 54-yard field goal, or a special teams unit – with a number of freshmen, mind you – giving up no big returns? Now that‘s something last year’s team didn’t manage to do in the opener, nor was it something Navy managed to do in its rout of Towson in the 2008 opener.

There’s a lot of season left to play, and a lot of games on the schedule that are going to challenge this team more than Delaware. For all we know, the Blue Hens might end up being the FCS’s biggest disappointment. But something tells me they won’t be, and something tells me that Navy’s business-as-usual win could be a welcome prelude to a season filled with many more.

STOCK MARKET, WEEK ONE

On By MikeIn football9 Comments

Mike

STOCK UP: It’s Sunday and there’s still more college football left to be played this weekend. Our cup runneth over.

STOCK UP: Tyree Barnes. The former Navy wideout was unfortunately released by the Patriots last week, but not before the Boston Herald got a hold of his story. This is a perfect example of real PR that brings credit and attention to the work our sailors and Marines do vs. what you get when you let guys go straight to the NFL.

STOCK DOWN: Army. NIU is good, but not so good that they should go up 49-6 before calling of the dogs. Holy cow. If  2002 brought us the Meadowlands Massacre, this was the DeKalb DeBacle. Hopefully we get at least a week off from all the “they’re catching up to Navy” talk.

STOCK DOWN: Lane Kiffin. This man was once a prized commodity in college head coaching searches. I have no idea why.

STOCK UP: Navy’s slotbacks. A’s make plays, and against Delaware they made some pretty great blocks, too.

Adam

STOCK UP: The amount of wearage I’ll be getting out of my collection of Utah State t-shirts and polo shirts this week. A defensive choke job for the ages, perhaps, but considering how the other perennial WAC bottom feeders made out this weekend, I’ll take my alma mater’s 32-28 loss to the defending National Champs.

STOCK DOWN: The entire state of Oregon. Between the Ducks not being able to take down an LSU team with multiple personnel losses and Oregon State laying an egg against Sacramento State, California’s colder and more progressive northern neighbor didn’t exactly flex its gridiron prowess on Saturday.

STOCK UP: Death by Tight End. A few years removed from listening to media commentators attempt to eulogize the position in the wake of the movement to spread-based offensive attacks, we saw several All-American candidates lead their teams to victory on Saturday. Jake Stoneburner proved a constant mismatch for Akron in Ohio State’s win, while Kyle Efaw (Boise State) and Coby Fleener (Stanford) should get plenty of action from their Heisman Trophy-candidate quarterbacks.

STOCK DOWN: Underdogs finishing upset bids. I don’t need to remind myself of Utah State’s late defensive collapse, but take a second to look around the country. Eastern Washington was picked off in the endzone on the game’s final play to lose to Washington, while Kansas State escaped Eastern Kentucky with a late touchdown and South Carolina roared back after a 17-0 deficit against East Carolina.

STOCK UP: Sticky Glue, for Notre Dame’s offense, that is. The Irish’s five turnovers – including a fumble that was returned 99 yards for a touchdown – were what led South Florida to an upset 23-20 win in South Bend. Not, you know, the 254 yards of total offense the Bulls managed.

STOCK DOWN: Expansion talk. Someone needs to tell Larry Scott (and preferably NOT on Twitter) that the season has officially started, and as such all talk of expansion, superconferences, and the implosion of the sport as we know it must cease and desist for the next three months. K thanks.