0 comments by Matt Zemek on 10/11/2015
In the course of time — the next few days and weeks, not months — leaders and power brokers at the University of Southern California should tend to the health and well-being of their stocked but sliding football program. The various issues connected to the performance of USC football, and who coaches the Trojans in […]
Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher, left, and Miami heach coach Al Golden, right, chat at midfield before their teams meet at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida, on Saturday, November 2, 2013. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/MCT via Getty Images)
0 comments by Matt Zemek
If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re interested in sampling opinion, editorial commentary, and news analysis in the wake of noteworthy sports occurrences. If that’s the case, you probably have at least some interest in the wider theater of what counts as news, the range of human events from the trivial (sports) to the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
In this deliciously wild and disordered college football season, the SEC and the Pac-12 have taken on the quality of a barroom brawl. In one moment, teams are doing the punching; the next instant, they’re on the receiving end of a big blow. Florida and Utah have, to this point, risen above the chaos in those […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
It is said that hitting a baseball is the toughest thing to do in sports. In terms of a very specific action on a playing field (or surface) within the context of competition, that’s probably true. In a larger context, however, what kind of achievement is more difficult to pull off than anything else? For solo […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Did any of us honestly think that on the night of October 10 in this or any recent college football season, we’d be saying that the Oregon Ducks were essentially done? This is not a long-term statement, only a season-specific one. The Ducks might still have a future in the next few years, but for […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
This isn’t a hard-hitting analytical piece or a pointed commentary on some kind of crisis for a college football program. This isn’t a dissection of questionable endgame strategy or an examination of a coach whose career is spiraling downward. There is a time, amid the tumult and the shouting — immersed in the ever-present need […]
KNOXVILLE, TN – OCTOBER 10: Jalen Hurd #1 of the Tennessee Volunteers carries the ball against the Georgia Bulldogs on October 10, 2015 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 10/10/2015
Butch Jones gained a win he desperately needed. Mark Richt lost most if not all of his remaining margin for error in this SEC season. Florida gained some leverage. Tennessee enjoyed a delicious serving of role reversal. That last detail underscores the nature not just of Saturday’s win over Georgia, but of this SEC season […]
DALLAS, TX – OCTOBER 10: Johnathan Gray #32 of the Texas Longhorns carries the ball against Charles Tapper #91 of the Oklahoma Sooners and Eric Striker #19 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the first half during the AT&T Red River Showdown at the Cotton Bowl on October 10, 2015 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
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This crazy, chaotic 2007 — I mean 2015 — college football season continues to spit out one eye-popping plot twist after another. However, if you were reading TSS during the week, you would have known that what happened on Saturday afternoon inside the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas was hardly unprecedented. * Earlier this week, […]
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – OCTOBER 25: Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the USC Trojans watches a replay during their game against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium on October 25, 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images )
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 10/9/2015
When the 2008 financial meltdown engulfed these United States, Americans were introduced to the phrase “too big to fail.” Over the past several years, Lane Kiffin defined a similar expression: “failing upward.” Kiffin got an NFL head coaching job, the Tennessee job, and then the USC job — prestigious gigs, all of them — without […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 10/8/2015
This Saturday in college football, it’s impossible to avoid noticing how the nighttime schedule has been shaped. On the surface, it is exactly as it should be: In the featured ABC game at 8:07 Eastern time, Miami and Florida State — the schools who created college football’s most important game from 1987 through the 2004 […]
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College football television viewers — at least those who are interested in the sport on a national level and consume the sport with a national emphasis — got lucky this past weekend. With blowouts in all four major game windows — Michigan-Maryland in the noon window; Alabama-Georgia and Texas Tech-Baylor at 3:30 (among others); Ole […]
Oct 3, 2015; Stillwater, OK, USA; Kansas State Wildcats quarterback Joe Hubener (8) is checked out by trainers after being injured against the Oklahoma State Cowboys during the first quarter at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 10/7/2015
“There’s nothing more dangerous than a wounded opponent.” If that’s the case, Saturday’s Big 12 game between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Kansas State Wildcats is going to be an extremely dangerous event. Bring your hazmat suits and goggles to protect against dangerous chemical spills, and wear extra padding on your arms so that […]
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It’s not exactly a secret: Many people don’t like ESPN. This means many different things for various consumers and evaluators of ESPN content. To cite just one example out of many, a lot of people hate it when ESPN insists on applying a label to a given week’s slate of games. Showdown Saturday. Survival Saturday. […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 10/6/2015
Before we move on to week six of the college football season, let’s take a snapshot of week five, through the lens of 20 statistics from the 20 most intriguing matchups on the schedule. This review won’t tell you everything there is to know about the past week in college football, but it will give […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 10/5/2015
It is odd and counterintuitive in the extreme. It goes against everything else we see and perceive in these 128 men who are head coaches of FBS college football teams. * The passion, the commitment, the dedication to a sport and one’s players. The sleepless nights, the constant recruiting, the tireless attempt to coach football […]
