jones Top Ten - Week Ten - 2011

10. Texas/Kansas State

Well, who else has lost to two games, both to Top 10 teams?

Good column. My favorite lines:
“He has also forgotten his car keys, where he put his reading glasses and the day of the week.

“The Aggies got clobbered in the second half (what else is new?) by Oklahoma, 41-25. With the loss to Missouri last week, the Aggies are now 3-3 in the Big 12…and 0-2 in the SEC.

“The game recap makes a big deal of three Husky turnovers. I make a bigger deal over Oregon having better players at almost every position than Washington.”

I would drop Alabama below #2 (though I must admit I did not see the entire game) because I did see the overtime and Alabama’s was the worst I can remember. And where did they get their kicker? He is a few minus points by himself.

great read, jones. also, awesome tag wizardry.

When you said “Australian punters will be accorded value equal to Polynesian linebackers and West African defensive linemen” I immediately thought of a time when soccer style kickers were a rarity. It didn’t take too many years for the complete overhaul of the place kicking game.

I don’t think those misses were totally on the Bama kicker. The offense was stymied quite far back and the kicks were really long bombs. Plus, the final one in addition to being a long shot was bobbled by the placer.

Watching the new GOC last night, I believe a spread offense with a good Oline and a strong short-to-intermediate passing game would play well against either LSU or Bama.

Why Oregon over OSU? OU has to be top 10 but you gotta wonder how strong they will be without Broyles. I mean, they won’t be as strong, that should be clear.

Always enjoy these, Jones. Texas should be 9 or 10, imo, they are 8 in Sagarin, and we are highly under rated in the human polls. 55-17 will do that, but we have come a long way since that game. Mizzou will be tough on the road, but if we win that game handily, I will be convinced that we are a top 10 team. No where near top five, but there is a huge dropoff after the top 6 or 7.

These last 4 games are going to be real interesting. I haven’t been this excited about watching Texas football since a certain #10 roamed the field.

Jerryw – they got the kicker, Cade Foster, the same place they got the QB of their last MNC team. SL Carroll

Nickel—

Because I think Oregon is better than Oklahoma State. I also think they will beat Stanford this weekend. Of course, I have been wrong before…

To top it all off, I was out last week and missed this season’s Clemson Moment. Damn the luck.

I have to toot my own horn on this one. I called the Georgia Tech win over Clemson on this column a couple of weeks ago despite naysayers telling me it wouldn’t happen.

Never in my experience has such a compelling football game—to hell with the touchdowns, I loved every minute of this one—come to such an unsatisfying end.

I won’t argue that these two teams are anything but outstanding. However, the game itself was an abomination. If it was just a matter of good defenses that would be one thing, but there was sojme bad special teams, and the QBs were clearly mediocre making much of the offensive talent around them useless.

I will agree that the end was unsatisfying. However, in my view it was because this thing didn’t end in regulation and dragged into overtime where we could see more of the same stuff that made regulation nearly unwatchable.

No way I want to see a rematch of that garbage in the National Championship. I’d rather give someone else a chance that has more versatile offense and good QB even if I think the team as a whole isn’t as good as Bama. That said though I still think there’s a good chance LSU trips up before then.

Maybe I was too hard on the kicker. I didn’t see all the misses. I’m used to kickers in the Big 12 and most of them are good. Most tie games are with high scoring teams that score several times in overtime. Alabama backed up then missed a field goal. Maybe I should say, “They couldn’t score but 6 points in a whole game. Why would I think they could score in overtime?” But then I have to answer: Because you start on the opponent’s 25 yard line? Because 2 for 6 tries at field goals in pitiful for high schools?

ps: I didn’t think the Alabama QB in the MNC game with us was all that good.

I think Harsin would be offended by characterizing his offense as an SEC offense. Harsin runs the ball, but he does it with an amount of creativity that the SEC can only dream of. If Harsin had Trent Richardson and Bama’s Oline, I bet he scores more than 6 points.

As far as the rankings, I’ve seen Oregon several times this year, and they are good, but their best QB is second string for some odd reason and they just don’t feel real to me, maybe its just the day-glo colors.

I suppose Oregon Stanford will tell the tale in the PAC this year.

spider read that first line the same way that i did.

i feel dirty.

I was in the middle of a Californication Season 4 marathon when I read your first line. Have to admit, I took it’s meanng differently than you intended.

Oregon is good. A little too good for their own good. Like so many teams before them, the media manlove and video-game numbers seem to have lead to some “phoning it in.” Teams are doing a much better job of playing Oregon close until the Ducks decide to make an effort in the second half. It’ll be a team like Washington that jumps up and upsets them before you know it.

As a Horn fan in the world of Washington Huskies, Sarkisian has his team on the right track and they’re building up their program the right way. I, for one, can’t wait to see Oregon and their wardrobe of ridiculous uniforms slide back into obscurity.

Jones:

Count me amongst those that really want to see OSU vs. LSU for the national championship. Stanford runs the pro-style offense as well as anyone since Carrol’s USC teams but we already know LSU and Bama are well designed to stop that even if no one in the SEC is doing it as well as the Cardinal.

On the other hand, LSU and bama haven’t been truly tested by an elite Big 12 spread-passing game yet. I wanna see it.

Nickel—

No argument there, like I said above, I don’t ascribe to the theory that the SEC champ is an unbeatable squad, nor do I believe LSU/Bama are heads and shoulders above the rest of the country.

I didn’t believe this in 2009, either, when a Big 12 spread passing attack had Alabama in all kinds of early trouble. Damn the luck ;-).

NWHorn—

I think Sarkisian is a very good coach. On the Oregon front, I think they will slide back into obscurity about the time Nike’s money runs out…

Bradford-OU-2008 was about as solid a B12 spread as you will ever see. And while they moved against Florida, they ended up 40 below their season average. I would not put Florida’s 2008 defense on the same level as LSU/Bama this year. Way too transitive, I know, but it’s not like we haven’t seen this drama play out before with different actors. (And Oklahoma had a defense.)

I personally would like to see LSU-Ok State and Alabama-Boise State. Stanford would be great against both SEC teams, but they aren’t getting past Oregon this weekend, I’m afraid.

Interesting tidbit — that prospective second BCS bid for some conference keeps jumping around, and for some reason most pundits have it allocated to the ACC (?!), sending both VaTech and Clemson. If Oklahoma loses to Ok State with a narrative of getting worse (more injured) over the course of the season, and Texas keeps improving week to week… I can see a path to a BCS bid. Or did I just curse it?