Desert Sapper's Blogistan

OU Football and my world

2007/11/6

Week 11

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@ 05:23 PM (11 months, 5 days ago)
Illinois, once the cinderella of the Big 10 (when this season started) is now tasked with the unenviable trip to the 'shoe to take on the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes.  Ohio State proved last week against Wisconsin that it has much more than just a powerful D.  The Bucks have a superior offense to balance it out, and QB Todd Boeckmann is doing more than just not making too many mistakes, throwing for nearly 2,000 yards and 23 TDs.  Chris Wells is living up to the expectations he set as a prep standout, and is a tough player for any D to game plan for.  The Illini, on the other hand, only lost to Iowa in a bad fashion (in the sense that they really should have won, but 6 points was not enough).  They lost to a good Michigan club and a good Mizzou club.  They beat Wisconsin and Penn State and buried everybody else they played, including Minnesota last week.  Rashard Mendenhall and Juice Williams are dangerous when they touch the football, not to mention Arrelious Benn.  Will the Illini bring enough firepower, or will the Buckeyes prove dominant yet again?
 
USC travels to Berkley in their annual clash with Cal.  Surprisingly, no Pac 10 title is on the line like everybody thought at the beginning of the season.  The Trojans have seemingly stumbled from their lofty perch, dropping the shocker at home to Stanford and a tough one in Autzen stadium to Oregon a couple weeks ago.  Similarly, Cal lost back-to-back-to-back games to Oregon State, at UCLA, and at Arizona State before overcoming their skid (barely) against Wazzu last week.  Will the Trojans reestabilish themselves, or will Cal hand them a third loss?
 
Florida State travels to Blacksburg a week after doing what the Hokies could not: beat BC.  Now the Hokies must fight to stay atop the ACC Coastal standings with hopes of potentially challenging BC to a rematch.  Will the Hokies reign supreme, or will the Noles turn out the lights in Blackburg?
 
In what may have been pegged as a fight for the Big East Title at the beginning of the season, Louisville travels down to Morgantown to take on West Virginia.  The Cardinals have suffered through 4 losses by a touchdown or less (and a few agonizingly close victories), disappointing many that pegged them as the class of the Big East.  Meanwhile the Mountaineers' only loss (and only close game this year) was in Tampa to a tough South Florida team.  Will Louisville regain some pride, or will Steve Slaton and Pat White run roughshod on the Cardinals D, or both?
 
Auburn travels to UGA in what always amounts to an entertaining slugfest between the hedges.  Both are trying to stay alive for the SEC Championship Game, with UGA leading the SEC East.  While Auburn's hopes for the SEC West title are slim, with LSU leading the pack, the Bulldogs are very much alive.  This is the last game for Auburn prior to a two-week break before the Iron Bowl.  Will the Bulldogs stay on top of the East, or will Auburn lay it all on the line and keep a small glimmer of hope alive?
 
Stay tuned, sports fans.  All these questions and more will find an answer this weekend.
 
My top 10:
1. the OSU - waiting for the battle in the Big House
2. LSU - Survived Tuscaloosa unscathed.  Anybody else?
3. KU - When will the Jayhawks lose?
4. Oregon - Great O, tough D
5. OU - Sooners blasted the Aggies
6. Mizzou - Looking toward showdown with KU
7. WV - Unstoppable running game
8. UH - Maybe the most dominant WAC team ever
9. ASU - Tough but close loss to Oregon
10. BC - At home loss to FSU

2007/10/8

Week 7

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@ 05:34 PM (12 months, 4 days ago)

SHAZAM!  Buster Douglas KO's Iron Mike Tyson...Oh, Wait, Wrong Sport... 

Well, well, well.  Another week of top 10 teams going down.  USC went down to a gutty Stanford club in the Coliseum, Wisconsin predictably lost to an upstart Illini team, and Florida came out on the short end of the stick in Baton Rouge.  South Florida struggled against FAU, while Ohio State and BC dominated Purdue and BG respectively.  The Stanford Cardinal's performance in LA is the stuff of legend, beating everybody's unbeatable team, in their house, on two amazing 4th down conversions.  Simply put, what college football is all about.

Oklahoma won the Red River Shootout last weekend, catapulting them up to #6 (and consequently dropping the Longhorns to #23), while Mizzou blasted the Cornhuskers to jump up to #11.  Mizzou is undefeated, and a bit of a surprise, while the Sooners were expected to be undefeated (granted the win in Dallas), and are a bit of a surprise the other way.  The loss in Boulder was painful for the Sooner nation, but the team bounced back against Texas and now faces a Mizzou team that put on an even bigger show against the depleted Husker D than did USC a few weeks ago.  Will the Tigers move on to 6-0, or will the Sooner Schooner triumph in Norman?

Purdue lost some legitimacy when they got trounced at home by the Ohio State University last week.  Michigan lost a lot of legitimacy when they lost at home to Appalachian State (a point of fact that has been beaten into the Big Blue fan base for weeks now).  Will Big Blue reclaim the big house, or will the Boilermakers step up?

LSU travels to Lexington to take on a surprisingly tough Wildcat team.  The Tigers have looked positively unbeatable this year, and manhandled the same Gamecocks that thrashed UK last week.  Andre Woodson has shown himself to be a legitimate candidate for the Heisman trophy (among other things).  Glenn Dorsey (LSU DT) has been spoken of as a potential candidate for the *gulp* Heisman trophy.  Dorsey is as dominant as any D-Lineman I've seen in years.  I doubt anybody will give him serious Heisman consideration down the stretch, but that doesn't mean he's not legitimate.  It just means the Heisman is an overinflated award that doesn't go to the BEST player in College football.  Will Woodson establish his claim to the Heisman in a game for the ages, or will Dorsey make another big statement on the national stage?

Colorado beat Oklahoma.  Yes, they lost big on the road to ASU, and yes, they lost close to a tough FSU D, but they did more to reestablish the Big XII North than any other team in the Big XII.  Except, that is, for the team they play this week: K-State.  K-State has beaten Texas two years straight.  These two teams combined to beat the two perennial National title contenders of the Big XII South.  Cody Hawkins has shown how well a freshman can play in his father's offense.  Big Josh Freeman and Ron Prince have reinvigorated what was once the best team in the Big XII North.  K-State stumbled against Kansas last week, while Colorado buried Baylor.  Will the Buffs step up, or will purple power prevail?

Georgia Tech's visit to Miami looked promising before the start of the season.  Now that Miami has lost twice and the Yellow Jackets thrice, it doesn't look as promising.  At the same time, Miami lost to Oklahoma in Norman (by a lot), and lost last week to former Miami head coach Butch Davis and North Carolina.  Time will tell, but Randy Shannon was a player and assistant under Davis and may take some time to adjust to playing his former mentor.  Georgia Tech, on the other hand, has lost two games by a total of 7 points, and got beat at home by Boston College, the current #4 team in the country.  Big wins at Notre Dame and against Clemson have been overshadowed by a muffed punt that led to a TD and a missed field goal last week against the Terps of Maryland.  Will the Canes get back into the ACC hunt, or will the Yellowjackets climb above .500?

Stay tuned, sports fans.  These questions and more will find their answers this weekend.

My Top 10 for this week:

1. LSU

2. The OSU

3. Cal

4. BC

5. USF

6. Mizzou

7. ASU

8. South Carolina

9. OU

10. USC