The Long Snapper – Week 2
This week’s edition of The Long Snapper is about respect. Or more accurately, a lack of respect. Quarterbacks from the great state of Michigan have no respect for those of Irish descent. Zero respect for whoever came up with all of that “in all kinds of weather” nonsense. Marcus Lattimore doesn’t respect SEC defenses. And all of college football disrespects the ACC.
Before the weekly recap, we can cover one of those right here and now. For those of you at the Florida/USF game, you experienced something you probably wished you hadn’t. The heat. Oh the unbearable heat. Brutal doesn’t do enough to describe it. If you weren’t there, you’re probably saying to yourself “shut up already, it was hot, we get it!” But you weren’t there, you don’t know. YOU DON’T KNOW! Rant over. Plenty of night games in the future.
To the recap of week two of this magnificent thing we call college football.
This week’s TLS is brought to you by Michigan Heisman hopeful Denard Robinson and Dr. Leo Bloomfield, Ann Arbor’s premier Siamese twin separation specialist.
• In last week’s TLS someone (he shall remain nameless) said there’s no chance of Denard Robinson coming close to the 2,000-yard mark on the ground. That someone may have been wrong. He’s already up to 455. It’s still too early to accurately predict how many rushing yards Robinson will end up with, but WE LIKE! Robinson accounted for 502 yards of total offense in Michigan’s win over Notre Dame and we have yet to hear a peep about Rich Rodriguez and the hot seat. Again, it’s still too early to predict how the rest of the season will turn out, but guess is it’ll be exciting with Robinson becoming a national superstar. How in the world did he not win the job last season?!?
• Although already recapped sufficiently, a few have brought up a point about the Gators matchup with the Bulls. Was the Florida secondary really that good? Or did USF’s B.J. Daniels hand them the game? Yes. And Yes. Daniels had one of the most forgettable performances of his young career. He made some bad throws and some AWFUL throws. It was a scary day for the Bulls’ star and one he hopes never to duplicate. Daniels definitely made the Gators’ secondary look good, BUT they don’t need much help with that. Ahmad Black and Janoris Jenkins are All-American caliber defensive backs. Add them to the rest of the talent Florida possesses and you get a great secondary. Sure Daniels gave them some easy opportunities to shine, but they did plenty on their own as well.
• Florida turned a slow start against USF into an easy win. Oregon did the same against Tennessee. The tweets were rapidly flying on Saturday as the Ducks fell behind the Vols early. Then Oregon remembered just how good their offense is and just how much rebuilding Tennessee still has to do. The Ducks haven’t played the toughest of opponents just yet, but they’re making their case to remain near the top of the polls for the remainder of the season. LaMichael James was his spectacular self in his season debut.
• Marcus Lattimore isn’t going to be good. He isn’t going to be good because he already is. Lattimore could be the reason South Carolina makes a serious push for the SEC East crown in 2010. Eventually, the Gamecocks will be the Gamecocks, so don’t expect to see them in Atlanta in December (unless Stephen Garcia really does get himself to this level somehow), but this season may be a step forward. And just like that, a true freshman dashed the hopes and dreams of a Georgia team that looked pretty darn good in their opening win. And Lattimore proved he can carry the load to the tune of 37 carries.
• This whole Trent Richardson thing is just not fair and needs to stop. Seriously. Your top offensive weapon who just happens to be the reigning Heisman Trophy winner is out with an injury and you replace him with a guy who has first-round draft pick written all over him? How is that remotely fair to the rest of the conference and nation? With Mark Ingram returning to Alabama, shouldn’t Richardson be forced to transfer? Come on people! Give someone else a fighting chance.
In loving memory of the ACC. June 14, 1953 – September 11, 2010.
• James Madison is a good program. Really. However, Virginia Tech should not be losing to them at home. Think your team has fallen in the polls after the first couple of weeks (Florida), look at the Hokies. A close loss to Boise State wasn’t all that bad. Dropping a game to a FCS opponent was. VT now sits at 0-2 with question marks surrounding them. Good thing for the Hokies, they play in the ACC – the conference that had one of the worst weekends in recent memory.
• In this column last week, Kansas was given a hard time for falling to North Dakota State 6-3. This week it’s Georgia Tech who fell to Kansas 28-25. The Yellow Jackets had more total yards, more than doubled the Jayhawks’ rushing yards (naturally), and held the advantage in time of possession. Yet they lost to a team that managed one entire field goal against a FCS opponent the week before. ACC bummer part two.
• At the beginning of every season we hear about how this will be the year FSU turns it around. This year we got a dose of Christian Ponder for Heisman to go along with it. They beat the tar out of Samford and Ponder has a great day and everyone starts screaming about the Seminoles being back. Then they get knocked back to reality in a 30-point loss to Oklahoma and Ponder manages a passer efficiency rating more than four times worse than he posted in that first game. One day, FSU will be back. There’s too much history for them not to eventually return to glory. That day won’t come until the Noles’ defense can start playing up to its potential consistently.
• We have to include Miami in the ACC’s nightmare weekend even though they have the most respectable loss of the bunch. Losing by 12 to Ohio State in Columbus isn’t the worst thing in the world. The Buckeyes were favored and many expected them to win (although yours truly picked the Hurricanes in an upset). The nightmare though was the day Jacory Harris had. It was very B.J. Daniels-ish. Harris threw four interceptions on the day. The Buckeyes didn’t turn over the ball once. You do the math.
The statistics:
• 400 and 391 – Michigan has a great quarterback. The Wolverines also have some pretty good former ones. Ryan Mallett threw for 200 yards in an Arkansas win and Arizona State’s Stephen Threet threw for 391.
• 5 – While Daniels and Harris both threw four interceptions, Idaho’s Nathan Enderle outdid them both, tossing five.
• 5 – On the other side of that coin, Western Michigan’s Alex Carder threw five touchdowns.
• 258 – So we already talked about Denard Robinson? So what? In two games, Robinson has rushed for over a quarter of a mile.
• 157 – Oklahoma State’s Kendall Hunter followed up his 257-yard performance with a 157-yard day on the ground. If it weren’t for that Wolverine quarterback, Hunter would lead the nation in rushing.
• 12.5 – Jeff Demps is in a similar situation. If it weren’t for a quarterback – Nebraska’s Taylor Martinez with 13.5 – he would lead the nation in yards per carry. Assuming we only count those who have carried the rock more than 10 times.
• 6 – Hunter does lead the nation all by himself with six rushing touchdowns.
• 23, 21, 18, 18, 16, 16 – Those are the reception numbers for (in order) T.J. Moe, Ryan Broyles, Justin Blackmon, Ryan Swope, Michael Egnew, and Lyle Leong, giving the Big 12 wide receivers who rank second, third, fourth, fourth, ninth, and ninth in the nation.
• 258 – Had to do it again. Denard Robinson was third in the nation in week two in all-purpose yards. The statistic adds four types of yards – rushing, receiving, punt return, and kick return. Robinson needed only one – rushing – to rank third.
• 255 – Demps wasn’t far behind him at fourth.
• 3 – Don’t punt the ball to Oregon. They have three punt return touchdowns.
This week:
• Thursday, Cincinnati at North Carolina State. Why? Because it’s Thursday.
• You may not watch Michigan as they host UMass, but you will be feverishly refreshing the box score.
• Georgia Tech travels to North Carolina in the We’re Not Sure What We Got Here Just Yet Bowl.
• Nebraska is back on the rise. They travel to take on everyone’s favorite bandwagon team in 2010 – Washington.
• Florida and Tennessee at 3:30 on Saturday. No more Lane Kiffin, but the Derek Dooley experiment continues.
• BYU at FSU. Anyone have any idea how to pick this one?
• SEC teams ranked in the teens – South Carolina, LSU, and Auburn – all kick off at 7:00. Enjoy your SEC evening.
• Texas is only a three-point favorite as they play the role of visitor at Texas Tech.
• Iowa at Arizona. A ranked matchup to close out your Saturday night.