SLAYER’S SPORTS AND STUFF!
Patrick N’s Fate this week. Whipped and down ten bucks!
Hi Everybody! Welcome to Week VII of Slayer’s College Football and Stuff! We got Scores, unbeatens, and games of the week. Plus a special segment focusing on the fact there is no Cinderella story this year. I was also on the Radio Show. I thought I sucked, but everyone else says I was good. But, I prefer Steve Price. I must be completely unmesmerized by myself at this point in my life I guess. Ah well..let’s get to…..
SCORES OF THE WEEK!
GEORGIA 27
TENNESSEE 14
The Vols are officially out of the Championship race and the Bulldogs have now solidified themselves. Many accused Georgia of an easy schedule and there is some truth to that but if they can stay afloat throughout the season, they ‘may’ have a shot at the championship. They don’t control their own destiny though as once again the SEC could get the flim-flam.
PENN ST. 17
OHIO ST. 10
They’re back. One of the best defenses in college football held Ohio St. to ten measly first half points and shut them down completely in the second half. The Lions are now a top ten team, in the championship race, and while I make those observations in a completely subjective manner, what I say objectively is that writers and pundits all around the country get to eat shit and die. And nothing makes me happier then an asshole eating shit and dying.
UCLA 47
CALIFORNIA 40
After being down 40-28 with 12:55 to go, UCLA scored three touchdowns to win the West Coast shootout of unbeaten. Maurice Drew scored FIVE (5!) touchdowns, which included three rushing TDs, one receiving TD, and a punt return TD. Can UCLA stay undefeated until their matchup with USC? It’s not likely, but they should make it interesting along the way.
OREGON 31
ARIZONA ST. 17
Evidence that once again, a duck can defeat a satanic entity. Arizona St. is just simply not as good as people thought they were, period. It’s ok.. These things happen. And Oregon with their rushing game (please don’t make me call it Duck Domination) has quietly snuck into the Pac-10 race…for the Holiday Bowl I mean.
TEXAS TECH 34
NEBRASKA 31
A battle of the not so respected unbeatens: the winner would receive…a little bit of respect. And that dubious honor goes to the Red Raiders which came behind and won the game with 12 seconds left on a field goal. The offense can score the best with them but the jury is out until they face the meat of the Big 12 South.
BOSTON 28
VIRGINIA 17
The Cavs have quickly fallen from grace with their second loss in a row and somehow the Eagles stay atop of the rankings by beating the mediocrities of the ACC. One of those weird games, where neither team looked too hot but Boston was able to win out despite 111 yards of penalties.
MINNESOTA 23
MICHIGAN 20
It was really cool at the end to see the Gophers run into Michgian’s sideline and get the Little Brown Jug! A great win by Minnesota which has a tendency not to show this much grit in these types of games. Perhaps they are making the next step? As for the Wolvies, it’s a down year. They can try to rectify it by running the tables, but unless they win against Ohio State as well, it will be a disappointing year.
N.C. STATE 17
GEORGIA TECH 14
Well, the Jackets were supposed to finally make the big step forward this year, and instead went backwards. This is the State’s first ACC win in six tries going back to last season and they showed a lot of good defense on a national Thursday stage. Not much of an offense though with only 56 rushing yards.
NORTHWESTERN 51
WISCONSIN 48
Not an old fashioned Big Ten shootout. But like I told everybody (yes, me, me, me) Northwestern always catches a few Big Ten teams off guard with their ACC like offence. Wisconsin gave them a game, but the Cats scored on seven straight possessions. At the end the winner was the last team that had the ball and it happened to be the Cats whom made an interception and ran out the clock.
COLORADO 41
TEXAS A&M 20
As stated last week, one of those double whammy games where the winner gets a Top 25 spot and the loser goes into oblivion. Aggies couldn’t keep up with Joel Klatt and his 398 yards of passing.
AND THEN THERE WERE 9…
ALABAMA
Death List: Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida
After a week’s off rest, The Tide faces off a wheeling Mississippi. Wheeling as an adjective, not Wheeling, MS per se. I should just say Old Miss.
CAL-LOS ANGELES
Death List: San Diego St., Rice, Oklahoma, Washington, California
They passed a BIG test and should roll along for awhile. However unpredictable Washington St. would loooove to spoil their season.
FLORIDA ST.
Death List: Miami (FL), The Citadel, Boston, Syracuse, Wake Forest
Their pestilence moves up the Atlantic into Virginia…Even with the revamped ACC, this is becoming a typical Seminole regular season.
GEORGIA
Death List: Boise St., South Carolina, Monroe, Mississippi St., Tennessee
A huge notch on their death list actually made them jump Florida State in the ‘overall’ rankings.
PENNSYLVANIA ST.
Death List: South Florida, Cincinnati, Central Michigan, Northwestern, Minnesota, Michigan
At this point in the season, it’s the most impressive death list in all off College Football. They are back. Yes, I’ve said that like 73 times in the past two weeks. Just rubbing it in for those who are dying from eating shit.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Death List: Hawaii, Arkansas, Oregon, Arizona St., Arizona
Yeah, yeah, shooting ducks and exorcising sun devils is nice..but let’s see if they can slaughter some Irish and have a bloody satNOOOOOOOOOO SLAYER! NO! NO! NO!
TEXAS
Death List: Lafayette, Ohio St., Rice, Missouri, Oklahoma
They did it! They got thorugh the Red River. But, let’s face it. The Sooners didn’t live up to their end of the bargain. And the Buckeyes are tailspinning. And as unfair as it seems, their death list is…unexciting and won’t get Strength points…uh oh…
TEXAS TECH
Death List: Fla Int., Sam Houston St., Indiana St., Kansas, Nebraska
Ok, I’ve been very hard on the Red Raiders for their pitiful NCS. But I said we can talk when if they’re here this week and they are. They beat the Huskers in a fast paced exciting game and flexed their strengths. KSU is next. One or two more of these types of kills should get them in the Top 10. However, they are on a very loose string.
VIRGINIA TECH
Death List: N.C. St., Duke, Ohio, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Marshall
And now, the Hokies get the honors of the most unimpressive death list in Football, despite their 60 spots they like to thrown on the scoreboard. They take a nice little break and things really don’t get interesting when they play Maryland in two weeks. But after that, things will.
THE MID MAJORS
Let’s skip the conference reviews this week and focus on the Mid-Majors for a bit. Unfortunately, there is NO Cinderella this year. No team to cause a BCS controversy (though the big conferences may take care of that), no ‘little guy’ to root for, no party crashers, and other clichés I can’t think of at the moment. So, what happened? Well, if you followed my bowl coverage last year, you would have noticed as I did that the mid-majors when facing against the Big Six (or Big 5 and a half), they usually didn’t fare too well. Even Big Six newcomer Connecticut beat MAC powerhouse Toledo. The truth is most of these teams lost their genious managers and the best players will still go to the best schools. Mediocre players and mediocre coaches make for mediocre teams. It’s a harsh theory but true. The MAC is a mess. Northern Illinois, Miami (OH) and Bowling Green were supposed to do something special this year. So what happened? Let’s take them one at time. The Huskies of Northern Illinois showed nothing against Michigan (they should have showed something), lost a one point heartbreaker to Northwestern, and have already lost in the MAC to Akron. Miami (OH) got killed by Ohio State and have already lost to Northern Illinois and Central Michigan of all teams. It’s too late for Bowling Green, they were expected to go 2-1 in their NCS and went 1-2 losing to Wisconsin and Boise St. With their win being a thrashing on defunct Temple. Toledo got killed by Fresno St. 44-14. Could they make a run and go 10-1. Sure! But what happens when they play a Rutgers or South Florida in a bowl game. And they will have no pressure on the BCS. In all Air Mac went 0-7 against Top 25 teams.
Nothing is coming out of the sty known as C-USA. As I stated in the preview, they subtracted through addition and now are in danger of becoming a very instable conference. Not to mention that any of the upset regulars didn’t come through this year and went 1-7 against the Top 25. With the one win being SMU’s rivalry success against TCU. In the WAC, Boise St. laid an egg and Fresno St. which started in the Top 25 and may end up back in their lost any chance of being a BCS spoiler when they lost to Oregon. As for the Mountain West, despite some good programs, they are 0-10 vs. the Top 25. That’s nothing and ten.
The sun belt is the sun belt so there is no point over-analyze that conference. But this year there no early September surprises, no mid-major teams in the list of undefeateds, and no Cinderella. It kinda sucks too. It’s as if a whole dimension of college football doesn’t exist this year. Will the mid-majors be back and make a spree like they did these past few years? Of course they may. But this year, they have become insignificant in the national picture.
And let’s not forget the Big East. 1-7 vs. the Top 25 this year. With the one win being South Florida’s conference upset against Louisville. Yes, even Louisville f*cked up and this was supposed to be their FREE TICKET IN. siggggggggghhhh
Let’s look at this week’s games.
GAME OF THE WEEK!
1) SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA vs. 9) NOTRE DAME 3:30/NBC
For the Jeweled Shillegah! This game is getting everyone’s panties into a twist. And why not? Notre Dame is blowing through any reasonable expectations people had of them (including myself, I can admit it) and many are believing through the power of Jesus, they can spoil the #1 team’s season. This game does have blowout potential, but hopefully it can give fans four exciting quarters.
OTHER GAME OF THE WEEK!
11) FLORIDA vs. 8) LOUISIANA ST. 3:30/CBS
Forget about Miami, LSU has the dibs over the one loss teams to get to a BCS bowl, possibly even a championship should a scenario approach itself. It may not be fair, but being the metaphoric pathos of those who survived a natural disaster gives strong brownie points. Florida is looking to creep back into the Top Ten after being ousted by Bama.
MORE GAMES OF THE WEEK!
24) COLORADO vs. 2) TEXAS 3:30/ABC-R
After a big win against A&M, the Buffaloes may be peaking. Texas better watch out because this has upset special written all over it. Or could be 70-3. One or the other.
16) MICHIGAN ST. vs. 15) OHIO ST. NOON/ABC-R
The Spartans had two weeks to dwell on their loss against the Wolverines. But the Buckeyes are pissed too after losing to Penn St. A huge Big Ten game with two teams rallying for Big Ten position. Both programs will reach crossroards with this one.
23) WISCONSIN vs. 22) MINNESOTA NOON/ESPN
The Paul Bunyon Bowl, the oldest rivalry in 1-A! A team that lost to Northwestern vs. a team that beat Michigan. That sounds backwards doesn’t it? Much like the above game, this win will help gain position and a bowl that gives more money. The Big Ten picture will be much clearer after this week. Or more chaotic.
19) LOUISVILLE vs. WEST VIRGINIA 3:30/ABC-R
Possibly, the two best teams in the Big East. Winner of this game will have a heads up on a BCS birth…whether you like it or not! Huge pressure on both teams. Should be a fun one, though the result won’t shake the football landscape.
RANKED TEAMS ON THE NATIONAL FEED
4) GEORGIA vs. VANDERBILT 7:15/ESPN2
Vandy seems to slowly be coming back down to Earth after a great start. They only need TWO more wins to get in a bowl, but I don’t think I’m being to controvertial by saying this isn’t one of them.
5) FLORIDA ST. vs. VIRGINIA 7:45/ESPN
This game was being looked foreward too by a lot of college football fans. Then Virginia collapsed. Doubtful they can get their act together now. Bowden will have fun exploiting it as he usually does.
6) MIAMI (FL) vs. TEMPLE 1:00/FSN
You gotta be kidding me….
7) ALABAMA vs. MISSISSIPPI NOON/CBS
Well, Alabama is for real. That’s bad news for Ole Miss looking to salvage something this season.
10) PENN ST. vs. MICHIGAN 3:30/ABC-R
Yup, this games makes THIS list. However, would anyone be surprised if Michigan made the ‘upset’. If Penn St. wins this, then they will officially be in the national title picture.
12) UCLA vs. WASHINGTON ST. 6:30/FSN
UCLA is ona nice roll, would suck for them to lose it now. Cougars are 0-2 in the Pac-10.
KANSAS ST. vs. 13) TEXAS TECH NOON/ABC-R
The 4-1 Panthers would love to re-enter the Top 25, and here’s the invitation to do it. For the Raiders, nothing to gain and lots to lose here.
OREGON ST. vs. 17) CALIFORNIA 3:30/ABC-R
Somewhat descent Beavers will be looking to take advantage of a depressed Golden Bear. Will be tough at Berkeley though with their crowd to cheer them up.
AND ALL THE OTHER GAMES ON THE NATIONAL FEED
CLEMSON vs. NORTH CAROLINA ST. R7:30/ESPN
Yes, the Wolfpack has a nationally televised game…again. Clemson is on the verge of having a losing season. Important one for them.
TEX-EL PASO vs. TULANE F8:00/ESPN
Tulane is getting nice exposure due to the fact they are not having a losing season as expected (even before the hurricane). Price’s UTEP was one of those many teams many thought could be a Cinderella. Still only one loss though.
NORTHWESTERN vs. PURDUE 1:00/ESPN2
The Boilermakers are on a bad losing streak, and they face the red-hot wildcats.
SAN DIEGO ST. vs. UTAH 4:00/ABC-W
Utah has a disappointing 3-3 record and are looking to beef it up with this Mountain West have-not.
KANSAS vs. OKLAHOMA 7:00/TBS
If the Sooners can’t win in this game..then it’s completely over.
And so is this column!
As for the hundreds of games in your area that are on Gameplan, syndication or locally produced, you’re on your own..
God Bless.
