Thursday, October 25, 2012

NCAA College Football 2012: Week Nine Australian TV Guide

Hard to believe it's Week Nine already! Championship Weekend and the Bowl season will be upon us. Strangely, this week, ESPN in Australia/New Zealand is not showing College GameDay - at least, not at the time of original publishing; things change quickly - from Norman, Oklahoma nor one of the usual two 3.00am AEDT games. Even so, two of the best games of the weekend, being Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma and Penn State vs. Ohio State, are live here on Sunday. Also, ESPN shows Goal Line coverage on ESPN Sunday morning.

All times AEDT

Friday 26 October

College Football Live (10.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
No. 14 Clemson vs. Wake Forest (10.30am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)

Saturday 27 October

College Football Live (10.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Cincinnati vs. No. 16 Louisville (11.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Sunday 29 October

Tennessee vs. No. 17 South Carolina (3.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
No. 10 USC vs. Arizona (6.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
ESPN Goal Line (6.30am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
No. 9 Ohio State vs. Penn State (8.30am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
No. 5 Notre Dame vs. No. 8 Oklahoma (11.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
No. 13 Mississippi State vs. No. 1 Alabama (11.30am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
College Football Final (7.00pm; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)

Sunday, October 21, 2012

NCAA Football 2012 - Week Eight Review

Pretty interesting eighth week of the 2012 season. It certainly has helped us work out which teams - and Heisman contenders, for that matter - are for real, and which ones were masquerading as being for real. Interestingly, Notre Dame are clearly brilliant defensively, and South Carolina have work to do on both sides against A-grade teams. So, without further ado, my thoughts and observations from another Saturday (and Thursday night) on the gridiron!

Nebraska vs. Northwestern


An important 29-28 win for the Huskers, and a good comeback from the team's oft-maligned QB Taylor Martinez but something of a loss for the Big Ten, also oft-maligned, particularly of late. It's no secret that the conference has been on the outer looking in this year - for a variety of reasons, one of which is that there aren't many teams playing good football in 2012 - there were no Big Ten teams in the initial BCS standings released last Sunday and there might not be any this week, either. 


This game in Evanston was pretty much a microcosm of what's wrong with the Big Ten currently. From the opening kick, it was an ugly contest but, in some strange manner, the rampant ugliness of the game, filled with disastrous mental errors, and unforgivable execution breakdowns that had to frustrate the life out of coaches on both sidelines made it a strangely appealing game to watch. And it went right down to the wire.

In the end, it was the T-Magic Show. When it's good, it's really good for Nebraska and in the same vein as Michigan with Denard Robinson running the offense, this is a football team that either lives or dies - and, often, looking absolutely unstoppable one week and, the next, unable to get out of their own way - with the play of it's enigmatic signal caller. This week, Martinez stepped up, throwing for 342 yards and 3 TDs, the crucial play being a 7-yard TD pass to give the Cornhuskers the lead with just over two minutes to play. 

A barely-missed field goal attempt of 53 yards for the Wildcats sailed mere inches wide, and, with star RB Rex Burkhead watching from the sidelines after leaving with an undisclosed injury in the first quarter, Nebraska seem somewhat back on track in the after being thumped 63-38 by Ohio State in their last outing. Of course, with the way the Big Ten seems to be going, it'll probably be all turned upside down again next week.

Rutgers

Sneaking along nicely under the radar is the No.19 Rutgers Scarlet Knights, whose new head coach Kyle Flood has stepped into the shoes of the departed Greg Schiano and the team from Piscataway, New Jersey is 7-0 (4-0 Big East) for the first time since 2006. 

It was a 35-10 victory against Temple in Philadelphia this afternoon, in a game that was viewed by many as a potential trap game for the Scarlet Knights, who have relied on smothering turnover-generating defense and grinding, usually low-scoring offense, to get their first six wins. Indeed, Rutgers were down 10-0 and scored on their first four second-half possessions to storm back into the game, silencing any thought of a loss to the team kicked out of the Big East in 2004.

QB Gary Nova threw four TD passes in something of a break-out game for a signal caller who's taken a back seat to rising star RB Jawan Jamison (113 yards on 19 carries today) and the Knights completely outdid Temple on the ground, a lopsided total yardage count of 368-186 along with three turnovers - including a 19-yard fumble return in the fourth to completely ice the game - the deciding factor in getting over the hump and getting out of the City of Brotherly Love with an important win.

Now the Scarlet Knights figure to get a little more press than they've previously gotten. The Big East is still teetering on the brink, as far as who might win it, but you've gotta like the way Rutgers force turnovers with regularity and Kyle Flood must be right up in contention for Coach of the Year? Oh, and all that talk about how bad the Big East were last year - it was warranted, mind you - should be silenced because, as far as I'm concerned, the Big East is outplaying the Big Ten just at the moment.

Michigan


The Spartans had won four straight against their "big brother" - a few years ago, Michigan RB Mike Hart once called the MSU team the Wolverines' "little brother" to stoke the flames of the rivalry - but the run came to an end in the Big House, handing Michigan QB Denard Robinson his first victory against the Wolverines' in-state rival in his last chance to notch a W.


It wasn't pretty, with one total TD in sixty minutes of football played, but it was strangely compelling - see: Nebraska vs. Northwestern - and the Michigan hero was kicker Brandon Gibbons, who did all his team's scoring, and calmly slotted a 38-yard field goal with 0:05 seconds to play. Robinson had been shut down completely by the Spartans in his previous starts, and he wasn't the shining superstar that he can sometimes be in this game, but he did enough, made enough plays, particularly late in the game on a 20-yard strike to Drew Dileo to get the Wolverines in field goal range, to help his team get what is probably the most satisfying win of the Brady Hoke era after their triumph over Ohio State last year.

It was Michigan's 900th all-time win, an incredible mark no matter which way you look at it!

USC

Yes, it happened against lowly Colorado, but USC's star senior QB Matt Barkley put on one heck of a show inside the LA Memorial Coliseum as the Trojans, beginning a very important home stand that features games vs. Arizona State and Oregon, put the Buffaloes to the sword, a 50-6 whipping of the hapless Buffs.

Before taking a seat in the third quarter, Barkley was like a surgeon, slicing and cutting at the Buffaloes defense. His numbers, quite remarkable despite Colorado's inability to stop anyone this year, were: 19-20 for 298 yards and 6 TDs. His QB Rating was 319.2. Barkley has had some incredible performances during his career, but this might have been the very best of all. Barkley set the school record for career TD passes while WR Robert Woods overtook Dwayne Jarrett, sliding into first place on USC's career reception list and set a school record for TD receptions in a single game.


After weeks of Lane Kiffin leaning on his running game, led by Penn State transfer RB Silas Redd, the USC coach opened up the playbook and let Barkley take control. The Trojan offense, looking like the Trojan offense of old, with Lee and running mate WR Marqise Lee dominating, knocked Colorado's defense around, rolling up  313 yards and 33 points on from 27 first half plays. Barkley led from the front, hitting pay dirt on throws of 39, 29, 17 and 3 yards in the first 35, all in the first 35 minutes of the game. Clearly, Kiffin understands that he'll need to lean on his star quarterback - and rely on the Trojan D to get some key stops - against the opponents to come: Arizona, Oregon, UCLA, Notre Dame.


Kansas State

For anyone who doubted that the Kansas State Wildcats weren't the real deal, watch this game and understand that they are. In a performance that just about mirrored what Matt Barkley was doing for USC, K-State QB Collin Klein lit up the porous West Virginia defense to the tune of 17-19 for 321 yards and 3 TDs passing and 43 yards/4 TDs on the ground.


Then, the Wildcat defense smothered QB Geno Smith, whose Heisman hopes have now well and truly gone up in smoke, restricting that high-powered offense to 7 points - one of the two WVU touchdowns came on a kick return - and 244 yards while forcing two turnovers in front of a stunned Morgantown crowd. It's what Kansas State do. They suffocate and grind and Klein, now surely the unrivaled Heisman favourite, led the offense over and through the 50-point barrier. This was a major statement win.


For the second week in a row, the West Virginia offense was shut down - not just shut down, but rendered completely anemic for 90% of the game - by a fundamentally sound defense and their offense just couldn't keep up. We all knew it was coming. I just never expected it to be such a wide margin of victory. Believe the Kansas State hype, people, because it's all real.


Quick Screens

The
Oregon offense is scary good. This from a USC fan who's pretty concerned about having to play them in a couple of weeks. On Friday night, the Ducks faced a pretty good Arizona State team and completely blew them off the park. I mean, decimated the Sun Devil defense in every way imaginable. When it mattered, even the Oregon defense looked good. It was 43-7 at half time and Oregon let their foot off the pedal. The Ducks are 7-0 and about the only team I can see challenging the SEC for college football supremacy.

Another shootout, this one in Dallas, where Southern Methodist, capitalising on some crucial momentum-killing turnovers, two each by three Houston QBs featuring in the game, beat the Cougars 72-42. The Mustangs did it in style, piling on the points - primarily, thanks to three Pick-6 plays and a special teams fumble that led to a score - avenging, along the way, their 37-7 loss to record-setting QB Case Keenum and the Cougars last year. Texas transfer QB Garrett Gilbert had a 4-TD game for SMU. Houston, who have fallen quite considerably after losing Keenum to graduation and former coach Kevin Sumlin to Texas A&M, pretty much beat themselves.


Texas Tech survived the hype of seven days' worth of national coverage for it's dominant victory vs. West Virginia in Lubbock, outlasting a tough Texas Christian outfit in Fort Worth, escaping with a 56-53 3OT victory. The Red Raiders were out-gained 516-387 by the Horn Frogs, but it was a 7-TD game from QB Seth Doege - fresh off of a big game last week against the Mountaineers - that was the difference in this one. That's 13 TDs to just one interception in the last two games for Doege. 

The dream of SEC glory is over the South Carolina. Steve Spurrier's team were soundly beaten by Florida today, going down 44-11 to the Gators, who look like they're back to their championship-winning ways. It was an impressive victory by the Gators, who took advantage of Gamecock turnovers - QB Jeff Driskell threw three of his four TD passes after his defense made a takeaway - and can clinch their spot in the SEC Championship Game with a victory against Georgia next week.

Concern for
Ohio State with their star QB Braxton Miller, the greatest beneficiary of the spread system new coach Urban Meyer has been running, knocked out of the game vs. Purdue. It was left to backup QB Kenny Guiton to lead a Buckeye comeback that resulted in a 29-22 OT victory over the Boilermakers. It will be an interesting week in Columbus. Absolutely, OSU are nowhere near the same team without Miller. And the meat of the Big Ten schedule is still to come.

Watch out, because
Wisconsin might be getting their once-explosive - and, this year, disappointing - offense on track. In their 38-13 pounding of Minnesota today, the Badgers ran up 337 yards on the ground: 15 carries, 175 yards and 3 TDs for James White + 24 carries, 166 yards and 2 TDs for Montee Ball. If they can produce that week after week, Wisconsin might be right back in the Big Ten hunt.

A week after being comprehensively scored upon by Oklahoma in Dallas, Texas did some scoring of their own, beating Baylor 56-50 and though the Longhorn defense really has to do some work to get better - last week, it was 63, this week 51 points given up - the same does not need to be said of RB Joe Bergeron, who ran the ball 18 times for 114 yards and 5 TDs. He was the difference in a wild night in Austin. Just as well the Longhorns won, after last week's clunker.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

NCAA College Football 2012: Week Eight Australian TV Guide

A big week that features a rare glimpse of the undisputed best team in the nation, the Alabama Crimson Tide, who figure to have a pretty easy run against a reeling Tennessee and, on Friday, a look at #2 Oregon vs. Arizona State. A couple of interesting games in the 6.30am time slot on Sunday morning, featuring surprising Texas Tech and Northwestern against, respectively, the disappointing, TCU and Nebraska. ESPN's A-team is in Miami for the Hurricanes vs. Florida State from 11.00am on Sunday morning. GameDay is in Gainesville, FL for the SEC tilt between Florida and South Carolina. Enjoy!!

All times AEDT

Friday October 19

College Football Live (11.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
No. 2 Oregon vs. Arizona State (12.00pm; ESPN2/ESPN-HD)

Saturday October 20

College Football Live (10.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Connecticut vs. Syracuse (11.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Sunday October 21

ESPNU College GameDay - Gainesville, FL (12.01am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
ESPN College GameDay- Gainesville, FL (1.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
No. 6 Louisiana State vs. No. 20 Texas A&M (3.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Purdue vs. No. 7 Ohio State (3.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
No. 18 Texas Tech vs. Texas Christian (6.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Nebraska vs. Northwestern (6.30am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
No. 1 Alabama vs. Tennessee (10.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
No. 12 Florida State vs. Miami (11.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
College Football Final (4.30pm; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Sunday, October 14, 2012

NCAA Football 2012 - Week Seven Review

Colorado

Granted, there's some stiff competition - from, amongst others, Kansas - but if the CU Buffaloes aren't the worst program in all of FBS football, then I'd be very surprised. It seems that the team from Boulder, CO, who have been in the wilderness for a long time, even before their move to the Pac-12, just cannot conjure up a win. They started the season with a disastrous loss to in-state rival Colorado State (who haven't won since), and have notched just the one victory since then. That says very little good about CU.

Coming off the bye week on Thursday night against Arizona State, the Buffs scored ten points in the final 24 seconds of the first half to trail by just three points, but whatever momentum they'd gained late in the second quarter was crushed by ASU's Rashad Ross returning the opening kickoff of the second half an even one hundred yards. Colorado didn't score again, with ASU piling on 31 unanswered for a 51-17 rout. What that means for already-embattled head coach Jon Embree (nothing good, I'm sure) remains to be seen, but the entire CU program is in dire straits, the laughing stock of the Pac-12. 

This is a program that needs to be ripped down and, literally, started from scratch before serious, long-term damage is done. And Buffs fans thought it was bad when Dan Hawkins was head coach!! At least they had something of a pulse back then, despite inconsistent offense - a lot of it from the coach's son, QB Cody Hawkins - but whoever thought that the firing of Hawkins would turn the program around was sorely mistaken. It's becoming embarrassing now.

Red River Rivalry

Like others, I hadn't been completely sold on Texas' re-emergence this year, mostly because their defense had been gashed - particularly on the ground - a lot, especially over the last two weeks. And sophomore QB David Ash, starting without any competition from other signal-callers, really hadn't faced a good defense. Nor had Ash felt much pressure from a pass rush, the pocket that his O-line had provided pretty much stood up allowing the second-year quarterback to make some plays.

That's why I was hesitant about the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma. The Sooners can rush the passer like few others, especially in the Big XII. Despite their loss to Kansas State, which featured ill-timed turnovers and, quite frankly, was against probably the best tesam in the conference, Oklahoma still looked like a team who could challenge for the conference title. QB Landry Jones holds a lot of OU records for a reason - he's a good quarterback - and he's developing a nice cache of weapons. Oh yeah, and the Sooners have a pretty good defense going, too.

Heading into the classic match-up in Dallas, generally, across the field, Oklahoma were the best defense that Texas had seen in 2012. I wanted to reserve my judgement. Just as well, because the Longhorns were completely murdered from the outset. As far as insipid, uninspired, ill-disciplined and generally lacking-in-fundamental-football-skill goes, this was as bad as I've seen from any elite-level college football team in a long time. When they weren't tackling, they were giving away bad penalties. Or both. The offense sputtered and died, snuffed out by a ferocious OU defense that barely let up all day. Ash, so good in two previous starts, looked like he had in the Cotton Bowl a year ago: woefully out of his depth. The injury he sustained late might have major ramifications for the Longhorns' season. Backup Case McCoy may well be carrying this team on his shoulders now.

It was 36-2 at half-time - game over, effectively - and Oklahoma led 56-8 with half the fourth quarter to play. Coach Bob Stoops took the foot off the accelerator then, and Texas, against mostly OU back-ups, managed to put on 13 points, with QB Case McCoy in the game in relief of Ash, but it was little more than window dressing. The tale of the tape will say thus: on the biggest regular-season day in Big XII football, the Longhorns were outclassed, outplayed and horribly embarrassed by a motivated, passionate Oklahoma Sooners outfit. They were red-hot today, the boys from Norman, and they deserve all the credit in the world.

For Texas fans...well, that's two years in a row OU's put a beating on your team. And QB Landry Jones (20-36, 319 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT), for all those who marginalised him (particularly those in predominantly burnt orange), as 3 straight wins vs. Texas at the State Fair in Dallas.

Michigan

It's fair to say that, when on song, there is a certain electric, undeniable quality about Michigan football and Denard Robinson. The record-setting quarterback had another brilliant outing vs. Illinois on Saturday - it was a rarity in that he threw for more yards than he notched up on the ground - despite a momentary injury scare where the hearts of everyone associated with U of M football would have nearly flipped over. Yet, Robinson returned to the fray, and he had the Wolverine offense humming. He has an uncanny ability to make good players look terrible when it comes to missing tackles, a fact referenced by Illini head coach Tim Beckman after the 45-0 loss.
 
The defense was on fire, too. Led by the feisty linebacker Jake Ryan - whom head coach Brady Hoke described as one of the most unorthodox football players he's ever known - they shut out the Illini, completely blanketing sophomore QB Riley O'Toole who entered the game after starting QB Nathan Scheelhaase was knocked out with concussion-like symptoms in the second half. The Big Blue defense held Illinois to a measly 134 yards of total offense. Illinois had a pitiful 13 yards to half time. Even on special times, Michigan dominated. They were A+ in all three phases of the game, and it showed.

What seemed like a disastrous season - a hammering by Alabama in Arlington and an ugly loss to Notre Dame in South Bend that was marred by turnovers left, right and centre - is now looking up, because the Wolverines are 2-0 in the Big Ten and have a chance to go 3-0 with cross-state rivals Michigan State coming into Ann Arbor next Saturday. Michigan will be looking to break a 4-year losing streak against the Spartans. 

Play next week like they played this week and the Wolverines will be tough to beat. And that's the rub with this Michigan team, led so charismatically by Robinson, and Robinson's big issue is consistency. The team go as he goes; he's their beating heart. When he struggles, they struggle. When he's playing lights-out, so is everyone else. But the big guess each week is whether the Good Denard or the Bad Denard comes out to play. For all those on Michigan's Big Ten schedule down the stretch, if it so happens that Good Denard makes an appearance, watch out!

West Virginia vs. Texas Tech

I've long suspected than when the Mountaineers come up against an offense just as good as theirs that goes hand-in-hand with a unit on the other side of the football who can actually make a proper defensive stop. They ran into that combination today, in the Texas Tech Red Raiders, and the result was a highly-authoritative 49-14 victory for Tommy Tuberville's men behind a career day for QB Seth Doege, who shredded a Mountaineer defense that's been shredded often this year, going 32-42 for 499 yards with 6 TDs and 1 (very unlucky; deflection) INT.

So, a team inside the AP Top Five falls to an unranked opponent for the second week in a row - it was Florida State losing to North Carolina State last week, in a close game - but this one was a rout. The Mountaineers were hardly in it from the outset, giving up a whopping 676 yards and failing to score a solitary point between 4:44 gone in the first quarter and 3:14 to play in the last. In that stretch, the Red Raiders scored 35 points. 

It was a rout on a windy in Lubbock, where WVU head coach Dana Holgerson apparently had a problem with punting - he rarely did it, even going for it on long fourth down yardage - and where QB Geno Smith's Heisman chances likely took a beating. Smith, the focal point of the Mountaineer offense for all of this season, and absolutely the country's favourite for the Heisman, finished a disappointing 29-55 for 256 yards and one TD. Not Heisman numbers at all. Until they can get some proper defensive play, West Virginia won't win a Big XII championship or anything else. Basic tackling would be a start. The rest of the season should be interesting, particularly if their defense doesn't get any better.

Quick Screens

LSU took some of the starch out of South Carolina's ambitions of an SEC championship in 2012, but the Tigers offense still lacks a whole lot of punch. On the flip-side, the defense did wonderfully to contain an offense led by QB Connor Shaw and RB Marcus Lattimore that ran roughshod over Georgia seven days before.

Still yet to trail in a football game this season, Notre Dame continued their remarkable resurgence with a gritty, at times ugly 20-13 OT win against Stanford in South Bend. despite being without QB Everett Gohlston for the end of the fourth quarter and all of the overtime frame. At all of coach Brian Kelly's previous stops, it's taken 3-4 years for him to really start getting results that make the fan base and alumni happy. This happens to be Kelly's third season in South Bend. Notre Dame are for real. Their defense is red-hot.

Alabama keep on rolling, and are clearly the very best football team in FBS at the moment. They showed it against Missouri. The SEC newcomers were no match for the rolling Tide, who were up 28-0 early in the second quarter, and by that stage the contest was well and truly over. 'Bama triumphed easily, 42-10, out-gaining the hapless Tigers 524-163 in total yardage. A lot of that was thanks to RB Eddie Lacy, who helped himself to 180 yards and 3 TDs on eighteen carries.  Good luck beating the Tide in 2012.

No starting QB Sean Mannion? No worries, or so it seems for Oregon State who survived what many - myself included - thought might be a trap game against Brigham Young. Not so; the Beavers left Provo, UT 42-24 winners. Mike Riley might be in line for Coach of the Year at this rate.

Texas A&M just beat Louisiana Tech, 59-57. Know why? QB sensation Johnny Manziel. His work on the night: 24-40 for 396 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT through the air. Oh, and he managed a 179 yards and 3 TDs on 19 rushes, too. My goodness, Kevin Sumlin and the Aggies have unearthed a good one in College Station!

Not looking like the National Title contenders they were purported to be - and I was hoping they would be - in 2012 are USC. Some strange play calling from Lane Kiffin, who seemed to want to avoid QB Matt Barkley throwing the football deep to his star WRs Marqise Lee and Robert Woods, saw RB Silas Redd, the Penn State transfer, do most of the work, and the Trojans eeked out a strange 24-14 win vs. Washington in Seattle. Barkley was just 10-20 for 167 yards, a TD and an INT. Redd, on the other hand, toted the rock 26 times for 154 yards and a TD.

Kitch's Beast of the Week: Seth Doege and Johnny Manziel were right up there in contention, as were Denard Robinson and Eddy Lacy, but for impact on a football game, you can't go past Oklahoma's back-up QB Blake Bell. They call him the Belldozer, and he specialises in goal-line situations while Landry Jones finishes out his senior season as starter under centre. Bell scored 4 TDs in the red zone in the first half in Dallas, the major reason why Texas were well and truly of the contest before the second half began. Bell's numbers: 11 rush, 31 yards, 4 TDs and a pass of 13 yards. How's that for devastating, quick-strike effort?

Thursday, October 11, 2012

NCAA College Football 2012: Week Seven Australian TV Times

This is the second of two weekends in the regular season where ABC doesn't show a prime time game on broadcast TV - due to NASCAR Sprint Cup commitments - so the big game is on ESPN, a very interesting SEC game between South Carolina and LSU in Baton Rouge, LA. Earlier on Sunday is one of the always-exciting games: the Red River Rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas from the Cotton Bowl at the Dallas State Fair. College GameDay is in South Bend, Indiana for the Notre Dame vs. Stanford game, which is on Eurosport in Australia.

As always, all times AEDT


Friday October 12

College Football Live (11.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
Arizona State vs. Colorado (12.00pm; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)

Saturday October 13

College Football Live (6.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Navy vs. Central Michigan (9.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Sunday October 14

College GameDay - South Bend, IN (12.01am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
College GameDay - South Bend, IN (1.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
No. 15 Texas vs. No. 13 Oklahoma (3.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Iowa vs. Michigan State (3.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
No. 5 West Virginia vs. Texas Tech (6.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Illinois vs. No. 25 Michigan (6.30am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
No. 17 Stanford vs. No. 7 Notre Dame (6.30am; Eurosport)
No. 3 South Carolina vs. No. 9 Louisiana State (11.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Tennessee vs. No. 19 Mississippi State (12.00pm; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)

Sunday, October 7, 2012

NCAA Football 2012 - Week Six Review

An interesting week of match-ups between ranked/unbeaten opponents - and, by default, losses in the AP Top 25, some unexpected - that has helped the season to take shape ahead of the first BCS rankings, just over a week away. There's no drama quite like college football drama, and a little Saturday night chaos has enlivened this season.

It was a horror start for USC, but the Trojans got their high-powered offense - Barkley, Woods, Lee, Redd, Grimble, Telfer - rolling nicely after trailing 14-0 to Utah with less than 3:00 played. Two USC fumbles set up the Utes with two scoring opportunities, which they gleefully accepted. Then, everything changed. The Trojans, destined to rise in tomorrow's AP Poll, outscored the Utes 38-14 in the last 57:00 minutes of football. It was all over midway through the fourth quarter, a Pick-6 for USC's Nickell Robey after QB Matt Barkley connected with WR Marqise Lee for an 83-yard TD bomb. The late Utah score made the score more respectable than it otherwise would have been, but the 38-28 final didn't accurately reflect Southern California's overall dominance of the football game.

Absolutely major statement game for South Carolina against the highly-fancied - and, until tonight's non-effort game, SEC title contenders - Georgia Bulldogs. From the opening moment at Williams-Brice Stadium, it was apparent that the Gamecocks had come to play. And play they did, with intensity on both sides of the football, to give Steve Spurrier his biggest win since 2010's victory against Alabama, then the number one team in the nation. The 'Cocks jumped all over the Dawgs early, and suffocated the high-powered UGA offense led by QB Aaron Murray. For the second week in a row, the Bulldogs defense was left wanting. It was South Carolina QB Connor Shaw who was the marquee QB in this one, going 6-10 for 162 yards and 2 TDs. But, as is often the case, RB Marcus Lattimore was over 100 yards - 109 and 2 TDs - against a Georgia defense that let South Carolina score 35 today after giving up 44 vs. Tennessee last week. The Gamecocks are 6-0, and looking good. Conference play really begins now; a huge test next week, with the Gamecocks headed to Baton Rouge to play LSU.

For the second week in a row, West Virginia's ultra-hot offense scored more points than their porous (and concerning) defense, beating No. 11 Texas in Austin. Last week's victory vs. Baylor was impressive for the back-and-forth nature of the game, but the Mountaineers made a real statement, beating a good Texas team, and, particularly, the Geno Smith-led West Virginia offense conquering a pretty solid Longhorn defense. The Heisman Trophy favourite went 25-35 for 268 yards and 4 TDs, but it was RB Andrew Buie who starred: 207 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. The combination of Smith's arm and the West Virginia running game is seriously scary.

Definitely the biggest of the weekend was North Carolina State beating No. 3 Florida State 17-16 on a game-winning TD toss by Wolfpack QB Mike Glennon with 0:33 seconds to play. The score was 3 yards to Bryan Underwood, and, at home, NC State recorded their biggest win in recent history. It is a win that leaves the highly-fancied Seminoles on the outside looking in on the race for the BCS National Championship Game. It brings the 'Noles back to the ACC field, too. Crucially, after going up 16-0 at the end of the first half, Florida State didn't score again, instead letting NC State score 16 points - including 2 TDs from Glennon - in the second half. Quite a performance, particularly considering NC State didn't have any sort of running game to speak of. Glennon had to throw the football 56 times, to make up for a measly 58-yard total rushing performance on the night.

Don't look now, but the unheralded Rutgers Scarlet Knights might be the best team in the Big East. The team from Piscataway, New Jersey do it with grinding offense - RB Jawan Jamison leads the way - and a defense that forces turnovers for first-year head coach Kyle Flood. The Knights forced a whopping 5 turnovers against Connecticut (4 of those were INTs; one was a Pick-6 in the fourth quarter) and Jamison went for 110 yards on the ground. Rutgers are off to their best start since 2006, 5-0 (2-0 in the Big East) after a famous win vs. Arkansas two weeks ago. Today, the Scarlet Knights defense held UConn to a measly 53 yards rushing.

The suspension of QB Casey Pachall for TCU cost the Horned Frogs big-time, suffering a 37-23 loss to Iowa State in Fort Worth that ended a 12-game winning streak - the longest in major college football - and gave Iowa State, master of the landscape-changing upset in recent years, another notch on their belt. The killer for Texas Christian, despite out-gaining Iowa State 455-348 was five turnovers, including the game-ending interception return for the Cyclones, the third pick thrown by TCU's QB Trevone Boykin. The incredible worth of a veteran, poised senior signal-caller was proven today in Fort Worth.

After an ugly INT-filled loss to Notre Dame and a week off to think about it, Michigan returned to Big Ten play with a vengeance, defeating Purdue 44-13, thanks largely to QB Denard Robinson, who carried the football 24 times for 235 yards and added a TD through the air as the Wolverines routed the Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Indiana. In the process, Robinson overtook former Indiana QB Antwaan Randle El as the all-time leading QB rusher in Big Ten history. The new mark is 3,905 and, at the same time, Robinson broke a tie with Kent State's Josh Cribbs to move into fifth place in NCAA history. Impressive effort after a mistake-riddled effort against the Irish, which left Robinson apologising to Wolverine fans.

After a few years in the wilderness, Florida are back with a vengeance, ousting the fourth-ranked LSU Tigers in Gainesville today. It was a powerful defensive effort, admittedly against an offensively-challenged Tigers offense, and RB Mike Gillislee ran for a career-high 146 yards and 2 TDs as the Gators sent a message that the old spread-offense version of themselves is gone. This is now a tough football team, pounding the rock on the ground, and playing smash mouth defense, too. The only concern, for mine, is their continued inability to get a really consistent passing attack going.

Kitch's Beast of the Week: Some excellent performances, but it's West Virginia RB Andrew Buie who had a coming-of-age day like his QB Geno Smith did last week. The featured back for the Mountaineers carried the football 31 times in the 48-45 victory vs. Texas in Austin, ripping off 207 yards and 2 TDs, with an average of 6.7 yards per carry. An amazing performance in a pivotal Big XII game.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

NCAA College Football 2012: Week Six Australian TV Times

Six weeks into the season and it seems like Alabama is first and daylight second. Time will tell if LSU or Oregon, Florida State or Georgia can challenge the Crimson Tide or will Nick Saban's men make it two National Championships in a row, and extend the incredible title-winning dominance of the SEC for yet another year.

Still no FOX games in Australia, but the weekend starts with a Pac-12 game and ends with a game from the same league. The marquee SEC clash in Columbia, SC between Georgia and South Carolina is where College GameDay will be, and this week's destination for ESPN's A-team of Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Heather Cox.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone! As per usual, all times AEST and then AEDT on Sunday. Don't forget the time change: one hour forward for the beginning of daylight saving!

5 September 2012

College Football Live (10.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
Utah vs. No. 13 Southern California (11.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)

6 September 2012

Pittsburgh vs. Syracuse (9.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
College GameDay - Columbia, SC (11.00pm; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)

7 September 2012

College GameDay - Columbia, SC (12.30am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)

Clocks Forward One Hour at 2.00am

No. 24 Northwestern vs. Penn State (3.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
Arkansas vs. Auburn (3.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
Georgia Tech vs. No. 15 Clemson (6.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
No. 17 Oklahoma vs. Texas Tech (6.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 6 South Carolina (10.00am; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)
No. 21 Nebraska vs. No. 12 Ohio State (11.00am; ESPN/ESPN-HD)
No. 23 Washington vs. No. 2 Oregon (1.30pm; ESPN2/ESPN2-HD)

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

NCAA College Football 2012 - Week Five Review

Though there were not as many marquee match-ups as last week, this was a wild and exciting weekend of College Football, as we, somewhat unbelievably, near the halfway-mark of the 2012 season. I guess we'll forever remember this one at Shootout Saturday 2012, thanks to the offensive fireworks that seemed to spread across all conferences and all corners of the United States.

Apparently this was the week of shoot-outs. It was also the week that the nation - well, a large part of it, anyway - who hadn't yet been exposed to the talent of West Virginia's QB Geno Smith got a first-hand lesson on exactly why the Mountaineer is the current favourite for the Heisman Trophy. In the barn-burning 70-63 win vs. Baylor, Smith was an incredible 45-51 for 656 yards and 8 TDs. He took just the one sack (a loss of three yards) threw zero interceptions and had a completion percentage of 88.2 to go with a QB Rating of 248.0. It's been a long time since I've seen a quarterback throw such a consistently beautiful deep ball. This was a heck of a performance. WVU, if they play every week like they did on Saturday, are a serious Big XII contender.

The guy on the other side of that game, Baylor's QB Nick Florence, wasn't half bad, either. It seems a shame that there had to be a loser in what was a tremendous duel of quarterback-led offense - neither defense ever got a foothold in this wild contest - and Florence's stat line isn't usually that of a loser. I mean, if you go 29-47 for 581 yards and 5 TDs (there was one INT and three sacks) for a QB Rating of 196.4, usually, you've won the game. Not so for Florence. Still, he can hold his head high. It was a great performance by the guy who has the unenviable job of replacing reigning Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III under centre at Baylor.

Down in SEC country, in a league that prides itself on playing NFL-like defense, Georgia and Tennessee got themselves into a shootout, too. Okay, it wasn't quite Baylor vs. West Virginia, but the 51-44 win by the 'Dawgs in Athens. Georgia showed that they might be SEC contenders in 2012. QB Aaron Murray was pretty good - 2 TDs, only 6 incompletions and a QB Rating of 187.0 - but it was RB Todd Gurley who really lit up the Vols defense, carrying the rock a whopping 24 times for 130 yards and 3 TDs. Good luck stopping that kid.

In Stillwater, Oklahoma, Texas showed that they might be the real deal, outlasting Oklahoma State 41-36 in another wild, exciting Big XII contest, thanks in large part to their oft-maligned QB David Ash. The signal caller really came of age in this game, pulling out a huge road win for the Longhorns after a year or two of mediocrity in the Big XII after a National Championship run in 2009-10. Ash came up with all the big plays when he needed to, and led the 'Horns on a late drive, setting up the game-winning TD - a RB Joe Bergeron 2-yard run - with 0:36 seconds to play. Now Texas are 4-0 and once again look like one of the nation's most perennially successful programs. A lot of that is thanks to Ash.

Defense won the day for Urban Meyer's Ohio State Buckeyes in East Lansing against Michigan State. A year after being completely embarrassed offensively in Columbus by a swarming Sparty defense, the Buckeyes won on Meyer's first ever Big Ten game, and the national spotlight of duel-threat QB Braxton Miller, who has really blossomed in the offense that Meyer has brought to Columbus, and a stout defense, shows a team that, despite not being eligible for post-season play or the Big Ten Championship, is as good a football team as there is in that conference.


Week Five's big upset came early, on Thursday night at CenturyLink Field in Seattle - the scene of some serious football upheaval in recent days - where Steve Sarkisian's Washington Huskies pulled off a wonderful victory against Stanford, coming from eight points down to send the home crowd into raptures. The Cardinal came in ranked No. 8 in the country, and left on the wrong side of a 17-13 scoreboard. Defense was the difference in this one. The Huskies played amazingly on that side of the football and, when it mattered most, the offense managed to eek out enough big plays to win the game. This could well be a statement win for the Huskies, who looked horrible the last time they were on the national stage: a beat-down at the hands of LSU a couple Saturday nights ago.

Not that it's exactly BREAKING NEWS, but Texas A&M's QB Johnny Manziel has the potential to be something really special. He delivered big-time on that promise on Saturday against the suddenly-hapless Arkansas Razorbacks. The Aggies pounded the Hogs 58-10 and Manziel managed to go 29-38 for 453 yards and 3 TDs through the air, and he added 104 yards and a TD on 14 carries to be the best ground threat for the Aggies, too. They call the freshman signal-caller "Johnny Football" down there in Texas. I have a feeling the entire nation is going to find out well. If he progresses like USC's Matt Barkley did over a four-year starting career...watch out!

If there's a more improved team in Division One, and, specifically, offensively, than the Oregon State Beavers, I'd love to know who it is. After being absolutely dismal last year, losing to FCS opponents and being blown out by FBS foes, the Beavers are back, showing great signs of life. Following a 38-35 win - yeah, another shootout - against Arizona, QB Sean Mannion was named the Pac-12's Offensive Player of the Week, and the Beavers are ranked at No. 18. A very well deserved honour. Mannion threw for a career-high 433 yards with 3 TDs to spearhead a win in a game that ebbed and flowed all night. In the end, it was an important victory for the Beavers. Coach Mike Riley has really turned this team around, and Mannion in particular. If he's not in line for Coach of the Year at the moment, something's wrong. This is the rebuilding story of 2012.

Kitch's Beast of the Week: there are plenty of candidates, but I couldn't go past West Virginia's Geno Smith, perhaps the best QB currently tossing the football in FCS competition, and certainly the Heisman Trophy frontrunner/favourite. In a wild game, all offense and no defense, he was the difference. Let's revisit Smith's day in Morgantown: 45-51 for 656 yards and 8 TDs. One sack, zero interceptions and a completion percentage of 88.2 to go with a QB Rating of 248.0. Wow!