The Long Snapper – Week 3
With only three weeks of the season complete, it’s already time depression begins to set in. That’s 25% of the regular season for most teams gone. The Cincinnatis and Georgias of the world have already seen their hopes dashed. The Arizonas and Arkansas have surprised. Regardless of if you’re happy with your team’s performance or sad, the games are going by too quickly.
At this point, you want your team to be running on all cylinders. Florida, Oklahoma, and Texas haven’t gotten there just yet. If you cheer for the Gators, the Sooners, or the Longhorns, you are content. After all, you’re teams are doing the most important thing they can by “just winning.” But it hasn’t been pretty. Hopefully that was reserved for that first quarter of the season and better times are ahead.
On to the recap. Week three in all its wonder:
TLS is sponsored by Mark Richt, Wendy’s Confetti House, and things you won’t see at the conclusion of this season.
• #1 won by 49 points. #2 by 36. #3 by 45. #4 by 35. #5 by 69. And then it got shaky. #6 won by 10 against a team in rebuilding mode (but skillfully managed by Tommy Tuberville who The Bull Gator says you should never bet against). #7 squeaked by a service academy by three a week after blowing out a ranked opponent. #8 could be counted among the top five after a 35-point win. #9 lost by seven (albeit to a ranked team). #10 beat a rival by 14, but if you listened to its fans you would think it was a loss. #11 won by a single point. And #12 needed a late touchdown to pull out the victory. So that’s 11 wins among the top 12. Six big ones, five in that so-so arena, and, of course the Iowa loss.
• The top team in the nation – Alabama – had four running backs total 29 carries. Those 29 carries resulted in 312 yards or 10.8 yards per carry. The Crimson Tide were led by Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram in his return. Ingram totaled 151 yards on the ground on only nine carries. The rest of the SEC can’t like this at all. Trent Richardson looked good. Ingram looked better. It was just one game and it was just Duke, but here come the Tide.
• There were many that thought Wyoming would present a formidable opponent for Boise State. They were all wrong. The Broncos scored 51 points and piled up 648 yards of total offense. The Boise State defense held the Cowboys in check as well, only allowing Wyoming six points and 135 yards. The key stat: 28 carries and a loss of 21 yards on the ground for the Cowboys.
• New Mexico and Portland State aren’t top opponents. They aren’t even mediocre opponents. Regardless, Oregon is good. On either side of a 48-13 win over Tennessee, the Ducks outscored those two 141-0. We have a definite Pac-10 favorite.
• Texas got the win, but Garrett Gilbert didn’t look as good as the Longhorns would like. Gilbert is completing just over 60% of his passes, which isn’t bad, but it isn’t Colt McCoy good either. His three interceptions against Texas Tech could raise some concerns. Texas will continue to be one of the nation’s top teams, but pressuring Gilbert may be the key to upsetting the Horns. For his career, Gilbert now has 12 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions.
• Oklahoma looked great against FSU. Against Utah State and Air Force, it was a different story. DeMarco Murray is a star when he’s healthy and has played well, but after the Sooners gave up 458 yards of offense to the Falcons, some concerns may have come up. After 17 straight points in the third quarter, Oklahoma looked like it would pull away, but the Sooners allowed two scores to Air Force late to make the game closer than many would like.
• Taylor Martinez good. Jake Locker bad. That’s all you really need to know about that.
• Is it “bye bye Iowa” or “hello Arizona?” The Wildcats have been that team waiting to make the leap for more than a few years now. Iowa has been that team with the good season here and there, but limited success when it came down to it. So were the Hawkeyes overrated? Or were the Wildcats underrated? I’ll go with the former. Nothing against Arizona, but I lean toward the side that we were all giving Iowa too much credit.
• And just like that, Georgia’s season has derailed. Starting the season 0-2 in the conference isn’t ideal when you have dreams of winning the SEC East. Okay, so it’s Desmond Howard with the dreams of the Bulldogs winning the SEC East. No one else so much. But 0-2 with Florida and Auburn still on the schedule is not ideal.
• LSU is 3-0 and quietly creeping up the polls. They haven’t done it spectacularly and have been far from impressive, but the Tigers can’t be written off. They are one of six SEC teams among the top 15 of the Coaches’ Poll and may just be the one that is flying under the radar.
Down go the Irish.
• It looked like the play clock may have expired, but that doesn’t matter too much if no one sees it and it made such a pretty ending. Oh so pretty.
Numbers time:
• 200.0 – The #1 team in the nation also has the country’s top quarterback. Greg McElroy is currently the nation’s leader in passer efficiency.
• 1,081 – Another SEC quarterback is the only passer with over 1,000 yards so far this season – Ryan Mallett.
• 1, 10 – Two of the nation’s bigger surprises are dynamic rushing quarterbacks. Michigan’s Denard Robinson leads the nation in rushing yards per game and Nebraska’s Taylor Martinez comes in tenth.
• 227 – In LaMichael James’ first game back, the sophomore rushed for 134 yards. In his second, he rushed for 227.
• 8 – Justin Blackmon is having a pretty good start to the season. He has gone over 125 receiving yards in each of Oklahoma State’s three games and leads the nation with eight touchdown catches.
• 410.0 – Still by a wide margin, Robinson leads the nation in total offense per game. The Wolverine QB averages 44.3 more yards than the next closest player.
• 63.0, 611.7, 4.3, 193.3 – Oregon leads the country in points scored per game, yards per game, points allowed per game, and yards allowed per game. For good measure, the Ducks also hold opposing quarterbacks to the nation’s lowest passer efficiency rating.
Heading into week four:
• A pair of good weekday games. Miami at Pittsburgh on Thursday and SMU hosting TCU on Friday night.
• North Carolina State travels to Georgia Tech in a game that could be better than you would think. Might be worth watching if of course you weren’t tuned in to the Denard Robinson Show at the same time on Saturday.
• The big game is at 3:30 when Arkansas hosts Alabama. It’s a top-10 matchup which could be considered somewhat surprising and may not be a cake walk for the Tide.
• Could UCLA surprise Texas? No, probably not.
• Stanford at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish fall to 1-3.
• On Saturday, night time is the right time. Three ranked games. South Carolina at Auburn. Boise State hosts Oregon State. And West Virginia travels to LSU.
• It’s a guarantee that they’ll be less undefeated teams heading into week five. Makes the polls a little easier to figure out.