0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/21/2015
The reality of September volatility cannot be underscored enough in college football. The Ohio State team you saw in September of 2014 was nothing close to the team you saw in December and January. The Texas A&M team you saw on opening night in 2014 was nothing close to the team witnessed in October, just […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
September is always the month in which college football seasons need to be given time to settle. New players, new quarterbacks, new coordinators, new head coaches, new competitive dynamics in various divisions and conferences — flux is the constant, unpredictability is what’s predictable. September is the month in which the most volatile results of a […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
When Stephen Orr Spurrier was in the process of winning the 1966 Heisman Trophy at Florida — 30 years before he’d coach a Heisman winner, Danny Wuerffel, in 1996 — a sportswriter at the Atlanta Constitution wrote, “Blindfolded, with his back to the wall, with his hands tied behind him, Steve Spurrier would be a two-point […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/20/2015
Precisely because the Stanford Cardinal struggled so profoundly in their week-one loss to Northwestern, Saturday night’s game against the USC Trojans did not acquire the centrality it figured to own before the season began. The fact that Stanford got knocked off by Northwestern was not overwhelmingly surprising; the shock value in that game flowed from […]
AUSTIN, TX – SEPTEMBER 19: Kenny Lawler #4 of the California Golden Bears celebrates after catching a 17 yard touchdown pass against the Texas Longhorns during the second quarter on September 19, 2015 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matt Zemek
To a certain undeniable extent, the Texas Longhorns — as you read this piece — feel crushed. They fought so long and so hard, mostly uphill, on Saturday night against the California Golden Bears. They trailed, 45-24, in the second half. They gave up 31 straight points after attaining a 24-14 lead late in the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/19/2015
What follows is in no way intended to diminish what the LSU Tigers achieved on Saturday afternoon in their home ballpark. The Bayou Bengals faced a ton of questions entering this season, and they’ve answered them quite well through three weeks. LSU didn’t have the benefit of a warm-up game in week one, yet Les […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The Missouri Tigers continue to be the same kind of program, year after year. This isn’t entirely a good thing, and in September, it’s definitely not a good thing. However — and there’s absolutely no snark here — being the same kind of program has worked out pretty well for Missouri in recent years. If […]
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Watching film of Fletcher Cleaves in high school, one is struck by how the dazzling playmaker resembled Ike Hilliard of the Florida Gators in the 1997 Sugar Bowl against Florida State. Want to know what Cleaves looked like as a high school player? Go to the 0:38 and 1:34 marks of this video clip of Hilliard, who caught […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/18/2015
If you watched Friday night’s Florida State-Boston College game on the heels of Thursday night’s Clemson-Louisville clash, you’d swear that ACC stands for “acutely conservative conference,” with offenses unable to execute and therefore less inclined to take risks. When you wake up on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 19, you will greet an ACC that […]
Wizards v/s Heat 03/30/11
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Clemson’s predictably ragged 20-17 win over Louisville on Thursday night (due to the fact that both teams were playing their second game in a six-day span) was a win the Tigers ultimately deserved. Viewed strictly in terms of fairness, it’s a good thing Louisville did not tie or win the game on its final possession. […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/17/2015
You know the drill by now — the ideal college football schedule doesn’t refer to quality of matchups. We’re focused on the quality of time slots so that you can catch the endings of more games and see the bigger games with less time-slot competition. Based on those standards, how could the week-three slate be […]
STANFORD, CA – NOVEMBER 19: Head coach Jeff Tedford of the California Golden Bears walks the sidelines during their game against the Stanford Cardinal at Stanford Stadium on November 19, 2011 in Stanford, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/16/2015
The intersections of history and the present moment can make life so endlessly fascinating at times. Such is the case with this weekend’s meeting between the California Golden Bears and the Texas Longhorns. * Eleven years ago, the two teams competing for a spot in the 2005 Rose Bowl were Cal and Texas. If you […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 9/14/2015
When college football fans and commentators talk about bad officiating decisions every Saturday (or Thursday night, or Friday night), the biggest complaints generally revolve around pass interference, holding, and completed passes. The stakes are high, and holding penalties are so commonplace in the sport that the decision to either make or withhold a call on […]
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One topic which is discussed on every college football Saturday, in one form or another, is: “How aggressive should Team X be in Situation Y?” Should you go for two at the end of regulation or in the first overtime? Should you go for it on fourth and two at midfield in a 10-10 tie […]
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This past week, Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema made news when he knocked Ohio State’s strength of schedule. Current or former Wisconsin sports coaches have not had very nice things to say about Ohio State. Bo Ryan’s “deal with it!” has made him a foremost enemy of Buckeye Nation, and Bielema, formerly at Wisconsin, is […]
