What a week of football. I do not even know if I would consider any football games this week a good game. The score was either 0-31 or 62-12. Some teams just got pummeled and I was actually expecting a decent game.
BYU played Michigan at the big house and I was expecting a very competitive and intense game. I listened to the first half of the game through the radio since I did not have access to a TV. I really could not believe what I was hearing. It was touchdown after touchdown after touchdown, and BYU was playing so poorly. The radio broadcaster even said that Jake Rudock, who is the Michigan quarterback, was not a good quarterback whatsoever. He just happened to play well with BYU. Maybe it is because BYU was making way too many mistakes. Either way, this game really made BYU look bad. I was able to watch the third quarter. Eventually, I stopped watching because BYU was not playing at their best and I honestly did not enjoy the game. I am sure a lot of BYU fans were disappointed and we will see how they against UCONN next week.
Since BYU did not play at their best, I decided to watch other games because I needed at least a good football game to watch, right? Alabama played UL Monroe. Exactly what you are thinking, it is a no brainer. Of course Alabama was going to win and they did! The score was 34-0 and that was exactly what I expected. This was the perfect game for Bateman to get more comfortable on the field and also develop more skills. I read this article recently and I really liked what the writer had to say about Coker. Nick Saban has not officially named his starting quarterback yet and there is a good reason why Coker would be frustrated. I was disappointed that they started Bateman last week with Ole Miss. In my opinion, a Freshman should not be a starting quarterback for one of the toughest games in the season. The true test will come next week. Alabama will be visiting Georgia next week and I will be honest, I am terrified. I know Georgia is doing very well this season, unfortunately. Alabama's biggest threat will be Malcolm Mitchell. He is Georgia's wide receiver. I could definitely see him going pro. By the end of this season he could definitely be in the top 50 best wide receivers in college football.
So I want to mention the Utes for a moment.
What in the world happened!! 62-10?? I would expect that from Oregon, but Utah?! I am convinced that I am in a bad dream and Utah is the reason for it. I knew Wilson just got back from a shoulder sprain he had and he was still able to throw 227 yards! I am still speechless. Anyways, let's see how they play with California next week. Time will tell if it is luck or pure talent.
Next week I will be evaluating the Alabama vs. Georgia game. I apologize in advance if I only write about my anxiety and frustration for that game. It will be intense and my heart rate will for sure escalade.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Alabama Falls to Ole Miss
Wow. I am absolutely shocked how this game turned out. I was expecting a huge redemption from last season's loss to Ole Miss. I still cannot comprehend what happened. I may need a few days to recover from this loss. I do have to take responsibility for this loss. The reason is because I called my father to rub in his face that Auburn was destroyed by LSU. Apparently I cursed myself. Word of advice: never call your father to rub in his face that his team lost until your team has won.
There are a few items of business I want to talk about. Both teams played well offensively. However, there were a few mistakes that gave Ole Miss easy points.
First and foremost, I do not understand why Nick Saban decided to let Cooper Bateman start the game. He is a great quarterback, but there is a lot of improvements he needs to make. I understand that they want him to be comfortable on the field, but it is just way too risky to have a freshman start the game. Bateman had three turnovers during his time on the field. Those three turnovers gave Ole Miss 17 points in the first half. Another thing I noticed about Bateman was that accuracy was a weakness for him. He would throw the ball when the receiver was not even looking. Communication is key when making passes and Bateman was struggling with that. Nick Saban needs to decide who he wants to be his starting quarterback, because switching back and forth between quarterbacks makes them look very messy on the field. They are all over the place and cannot seem to find their rhythm. If I was to decide, I would pick Jake Coker. He can make some really good passing plays and can also run the ball. Coker is very confident on the field and that is something every head coach should be looking for in a starting quarterback.
I just had to let some steam out about the quarterback situation. I am clearly way too passionate about it.
Now that I got the quarterback situation off my chest, time to talk about Alabama's offense. Alabama's offense is mostly consumed with really large linemen. That has actually caused some problems for Ole Miss's defense. Alabama's offense is bigger than them, so power would not be a way to stop them. Ole Miss is actually trying to work better on their speed so that they can slow Alabama down. Clearly in the first half Alabama's offense was not doing so hot. There were three turnovers and two of those happened on the kick-off returns. They also did not make a lot of third down conversions. By the fourth quarter, Alabama was able to control the line of scrimmage and make some touchdowns.
Alabama's defense on the other hand, is pretty dang good. Those defensive linemen are also huge. Alabama's defense made it really difficult for Ole Miss to make running plays. Ole Miss had to figure out a strategy in order to make touchdowns, and they eventually figured it out. There were a few plays that Ole Miss made that got my jaw to drop. My jaw didn't drop because it was an awesome play, it dropped because those plays were never supposed to work out. There was a play in the third quarter when the snap went over Kelly's head, he then grabbed it and threw it as hard as he could to the wide receiver he saw first. That wide receiver didn't catch it, but it bounced off his hand and landed on the other wide receiver's hand and he was then able to make a touchdown. It was completely unpredictable and also incredibly frustrating.
I would like to take a moment and explain my gratitude towards Derek Henry. He is by far the best running back in the SEC and I believe the best in the nation.
I honestly cannot believe what I witnessed in that game. It was the worst home loss I have seen in a long time. Alabama made way too many mistakes, especially with the turnovers. No team will ever win if there are too many turnovers, it is just not possible. If Alabama did not make that many turnovers, they would have dominated the game. I think what caused Alabama to have such a bad start was starting the game with Bateman. That guy is talented and he will get better over time, but it was just not a smart move to have him start. Nick Saban even said that Coker was the qualified quarterback Alabama was looking for. Hopefully Alabama will learn from these mistakes that they have made and do better in the next game. Alabama will be playing UL Monroe and that would be the game I would let Bateman start out because well, it is an easy win.
Overall, the football games today were not so great. My predictions were somewhat correct. I was expecting Alabama to win, unfortunately my heart was broken. I was expecting BYU to lose, and they did! Some news to the BYU fans, pride and luck only lasts so long. I will be evaluating the BYU vs. Michigan game. I honestly think BYU may have a chance to win Michigan. I guess it is just all up to Jim Harbaugh to prepare Michigan for BYU's luck, if it still exists.
There are a few items of business I want to talk about. Both teams played well offensively. However, there were a few mistakes that gave Ole Miss easy points.
First and foremost, I do not understand why Nick Saban decided to let Cooper Bateman start the game. He is a great quarterback, but there is a lot of improvements he needs to make. I understand that they want him to be comfortable on the field, but it is just way too risky to have a freshman start the game. Bateman had three turnovers during his time on the field. Those three turnovers gave Ole Miss 17 points in the first half. Another thing I noticed about Bateman was that accuracy was a weakness for him. He would throw the ball when the receiver was not even looking. Communication is key when making passes and Bateman was struggling with that. Nick Saban needs to decide who he wants to be his starting quarterback, because switching back and forth between quarterbacks makes them look very messy on the field. They are all over the place and cannot seem to find their rhythm. If I was to decide, I would pick Jake Coker. He can make some really good passing plays and can also run the ball. Coker is very confident on the field and that is something every head coach should be looking for in a starting quarterback.
I just had to let some steam out about the quarterback situation. I am clearly way too passionate about it.
Now that I got the quarterback situation off my chest, time to talk about Alabama's offense. Alabama's offense is mostly consumed with really large linemen. That has actually caused some problems for Ole Miss's defense. Alabama's offense is bigger than them, so power would not be a way to stop them. Ole Miss is actually trying to work better on their speed so that they can slow Alabama down. Clearly in the first half Alabama's offense was not doing so hot. There were three turnovers and two of those happened on the kick-off returns. They also did not make a lot of third down conversions. By the fourth quarter, Alabama was able to control the line of scrimmage and make some touchdowns.
Alabama's defense on the other hand, is pretty dang good. Those defensive linemen are also huge. Alabama's defense made it really difficult for Ole Miss to make running plays. Ole Miss had to figure out a strategy in order to make touchdowns, and they eventually figured it out. There were a few plays that Ole Miss made that got my jaw to drop. My jaw didn't drop because it was an awesome play, it dropped because those plays were never supposed to work out. There was a play in the third quarter when the snap went over Kelly's head, he then grabbed it and threw it as hard as he could to the wide receiver he saw first. That wide receiver didn't catch it, but it bounced off his hand and landed on the other wide receiver's hand and he was then able to make a touchdown. It was completely unpredictable and also incredibly frustrating.
I would like to take a moment and explain my gratitude towards Derek Henry. He is by far the best running back in the SEC and I believe the best in the nation.
I honestly cannot believe what I witnessed in that game. It was the worst home loss I have seen in a long time. Alabama made way too many mistakes, especially with the turnovers. No team will ever win if there are too many turnovers, it is just not possible. If Alabama did not make that many turnovers, they would have dominated the game. I think what caused Alabama to have such a bad start was starting the game with Bateman. That guy is talented and he will get better over time, but it was just not a smart move to have him start. Nick Saban even said that Coker was the qualified quarterback Alabama was looking for. Hopefully Alabama will learn from these mistakes that they have made and do better in the next game. Alabama will be playing UL Monroe and that would be the game I would let Bateman start out because well, it is an easy win.
Overall, the football games today were not so great. My predictions were somewhat correct. I was expecting Alabama to win, unfortunately my heart was broken. I was expecting BYU to lose, and they did! Some news to the BYU fans, pride and luck only lasts so long. I will be evaluating the BYU vs. Michigan game. I honestly think BYU may have a chance to win Michigan. I guess it is just all up to Jim Harbaugh to prepare Michigan for BYU's luck, if it still exists.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
BYU With Another Hail Mary Win Against Boise State
I had the opportunity to attend this football game and I will just say that it was one crazy game. I have a sports pass to all the sports events held at BYU, so of course I cannot miss the football games.
Everyone has their own speculation of who they predict will win the game. I was 100% sure BYU was going to lose to Boise State. After what happened last week with the game in Nebraska, BYU gets a Hail Mary when there was only 1 second left in the clock. In my opinion, they got lucky. So lucky. God answered their prayers because there was no way it was going to happen again. I do not see that much talent in BYU's football team for them to beat Boise State. Of course they proved me wrong, but let me give you the reasons why I thought Boise State was going to win:
1) They are (were) ranked No. 20 in the AP Top 25.
2) Jeremy McNichols (RB) is a threat. That guy can break tackles.
3) Taysom Hill is out for the season and that can affect the way BYU plays.
4) Adam Hine (RB) is BYU's best running back. Unfortunately, BYU cannot run the football.
5) Boise State's strategy is less predictable than BYU.
6) BYU's coaching staff are still there.
Now, some of my points were proven wrong from the game yesterday, but I still believe BYU is very weak in certain areas of football. Clearly it did not matter that Boise State was ranked. Boise State did not play like they were a ranked team. In most scenarios, BYU usually loses to a ranked team. Did they play like they were a ranked team? No, and here is why. BYU's offense was very messy on the field. When they were making a passing play nothing seemed to go according to plan. More pressure would then be added to Tanner and then he would either get sacked or throw an interception. BYU also has no clue when it is appropriate to run the football. Boise State made a punt return that landed on BYU's one-yard line. What does BYU decide to do? Run the ball. I mean what planet is the offensive coordinator on? They only made a one yard gain after that and they still decided to run the ball! Passing is to cover more yards and running is to cover less yards. It is that simple. I will be honest, Adam Hine is not the best running back. BYU was actually losing yards running the ball than throwing it. That's a problem. The quarterback cannot always be making passing plays. There is more risk for interceptions and the defense can easily predict what is going to happen. Also, every time BYU ran the ball, they could never make third down conversations. Why would you want to waste possession of the ball when you are behind ten points? Now about BYU's defense... I will be honest, it was not bad, but still needs improvement. Boise State was able to stop Adam Hine, but BYU could not stop Jeremy McNichols. He was able to get 1st down conversions and eventually turned those into touchdowns.
Tanner Mangum actually surprised me. He does well under pressure, who knew? He is one of the few quarterbacks that can actually throw long passes and turn those into touchdowns. BYU literally had two weeks of miracles, but I am not calling the touchdown when there was 45 seconds on the clock a Hail Mary. There was still enough time on the clock for another desperate score attempt.
Bottom line, it was a really fun game to be at. The energy was crazy, the fans were amazing and that was probably the best BYU football game I have ever been to. Will BYU win to UCLA next week? Do you really want me to tell you? Of course I am going to say no. BYU has got to step it up. They need to strategize their running plays so that get can get 1st downs. They need to protect Tanner's blind side because he got sacked four times in that game. They also need to prepare the defense for UCLA's offense, BYU got a few pass interference penalties so they need to be careful.
Other than that, it was a good football week. Alabama won Mid Tennessee. Auburn almost lost to Jacksonville State and it actually caused Auburn to drop 12 spots from the AP poll. It would be music to my ears if that happened to Ohio State, but we will wait for the rematch. Notre Dame almost lost to Virginia, but they saved themselves with a touchdown within the last few seconds of the game. I will be evaluating Alabama's game next week. They will be playing Ole Miss and I am expecting another win for Bama!
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