Another good Saturday of college football, with of course those bizarre Thursday and Friday games thrown in as well. Rather than goof around, might as well just get into what we learned from the games.
1. LSU has a weakness, and his name is Matt Flynn. It may sound weird, but it's true. LSU's offense looked stagnant at times and watching Flynn for the second time in a complete game I wasn't real impressed. He's slow and not particularly accurate. Yes I know he has a bad ankle, but he's not suddenly going to transform into Vince Young, plus his lack of passing accuracy has nothing to do with his damn ankle. Also, anyone who watched this game from start to finish knows this game was closer than the score indicated. Plus, in the third quarter Flynn threw a duck into the middle of the field that Emanuel Cook dropped that would have been an automatic TD, and would have made the score 21-14. Instead there was the punt, and Spurrier going for it on 4th down (a call I totally agreed with) and then LSU going up 28-7. Flynn did run the best play in college football so far this year, with that blind over the shoulder flip to the kicker, but he's really this team's Achilles heel. The announcers for the game even talked about if Flynn was capable of winning a game for LSU if need be - and they weren't sure he could do it. If LSU loses a game this year, and I now really think they will, it'll be because of Flynn - without question.
2. USC is clearly the best team in football. They have no weaknesses whatsoever. The one question about this team was Booty. Forget it. Booty let it fly tonight and was unreal with the exception of one INT. The simple truth is this. USC's defense is unreal. Their O-line is the best in college football and they have a backfield that's like something out of a fantasy league on steroids. Their QB can win games for them and they collectively know how to win and play in big games - both home and away. They are simply awesome to watch play. In reality, their only weakness may be themselves. As an announcer said during their game against Wash St., the only thing that will stop USC is if they lose their focus. And I agree. But the danger for opponents is this. USC let its guard down twice last year, and they should have won both those games. I seriously doubt they'll let that happen again. If this team stays focused, they should beat every team they play by a decent margin, including LSU, Florida, Oklahoma, Cal, and the Philadelphia Eagles. That said, the one game to keep your eye on is the USC/Cal game. Cal has consistently played USC close these past few years.
3. The Irish have had their worst start in their 119 year history. I know you know that, but I just enjoy writing it.
4. Michigan is back, sort of. I'm sure you all noticed Michigan came alive on the same day that Appalachian St. lost for the first time in like 8 years. Karma? Coincidence? I don't know. But Michigan managed to get those two bad losses out of their heads and they're now starting to do some serious work in the Big-10. Which is clearly an overrated conference by the way. I think Michigan will get absolutely crushed by Ohio St., but it's good to see them back. Although they can't go to the national championship, they can win the Big-10, and they're playing like that's exactly what they plan on doing.
5. Unlike Salty D, I have nothing against the SEC. The SEC is the best conference in college. Ole Miss put up quite the fight against Florida proving again that the conference is stacked and there are no easy games. Any team that makes it through this conference undefeated should be playing in the national championship.
6. Oklahoma needs to play some real fucking team. They schedule cupcakes and play in a weak conference. Then they put up 80 points against Loserville University and bitch and moan that they aren't ranked higher. Fuck you. LSU and Florida are likely to have played 5 ranked teams by the end of the regular season. For USC it'll likely be 4. For Oklahoma it'll be one big game at Texas, and 2 bottom top-25 teams at home. That just isn't the same as what the other three teams have to go through. LSU and Florida have to play each other and USC plays at Cal, and already demolished Nebraska on the road. Oklahoma may be real good, but they should play more than just Texas every year to prove that. Otherwise, Oklahoma will be just like they were in 2004 - a smoke and mirrors team that gets seriously violated when invited to the national championship game.
7. Brian Brohm and Graham Harrell need some defensive help. How can two guys combined throw for 1,100 yards and both lose?! Harrell's stat line was insane - 45/65, 645 yds, 5 TD, 0 INT. And he fucking lost! Brohm didn't exactly have a bad day either, throwing for 555 yds and 4 TDs. I feel bad for Brohm, seeing as his Heisman hopes are shot due to a defense that's worse than the Bengals D on a bad day. But I really feel for Harrell. I mean, there's almost no way you can play better than he did today. Get that man some defensive help.
8. There is a God, because Nick Satan lost at home.
-WCK
It's well known that English soccer fans are a bit nuts. And this post will do nothing to change that. A group of perpetually horrible soccer players who play for the Lynam Athletic club in the Birmingham Coronation League Alliance Division 3 (translation: a pub league) have decided to try something interesting to change their fortunes since they were the worst team in the league last year. Here's what they did:
