What a big weekend coming up.
Tomorrow, I will be in the Grove for the Alabama / Ole Miss game, and I’ll have a piece up on Monday morning about the experience. I’ll be meeting up with several people, attending SEC Nation, and basically experiencing the scene in Oxford on one of the biggest college football Saturdays of the year.
There should be plenty of stories, and plenty of happenings for me to discuss, and I’m looking forward to retelling the tale. The only bad part is not being able to watch every down of Louisville / Florida St, but I should be able to be in front of a TV in time for Ohio St / Oklahoma. Week 3 is just the beginning.
1. That Houston / Cinci score was not indicative of the game.
Cincinnati came out ready to play in this game. They may not have been able to run the ball, but their defense made enough plays to keep it close until late in the 4th quarter. After Houston grabbed the lead 19-16, Hayden Moore (Cinci’s QB) threw one of the worst picks I think I’ve ever seen, which immediately led to a short drive and a touchdown. 26-16 Houston. And with just a few minutes left on a clock, Moore throws an even worse interception (seriously, he didn’t even look for the defender) that’s returned 74 yards for a touchdown, making it 33-16. Then, with the game being basically over already, Tuberville brings in a backup QB, who throws a pass on his first play, which gets returned 28 yards for a touchdown, which finished up the scored at 40-16.
This was a 19-16 ballgame when Moore threw an interception with a little more than 10 minutes left.
Houston had a short week, and the game was on the road – I get that. Their offense is going to have to cut out the mistakes if they want to finish up 13-0 and in a conversation for the playoffs.
I’ll give em this, though. That defense is somethin else. Their line is almost unmovable in their league, and the talent at LB and DB is ridiculous. They’re doing something special down there.
America was watching, as well. Jets/Bills only pulled a 7.7, upon first look, while Houston’s “darling parade” drew in a 6.7, which is a really strong number.
2. Rex Ryan may only last a season and a half in Buffalo.
What in the hell was that? A Rex Ryan defense giving up 37 at home, almost 500 yards, to the J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets? Good gracious.
And even though the defense gave up 37, and the offense scored 31 on a pretty good Jets defense, the Bills announced today they’ve fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
Things are going south in a hurry for ol’ Rex in Buffalo. He went 8-8 last year, and looked like things might be going on an upward trend, especially with a season ending victory to keep the Jets out of the playoffs, but with the off-field bumblings and suspensions this year, and no signings that make you take any notice, along with the first 2 weeks of the season bringing losses to the Jets at home, and a 13 -7 loss at Baltimore, who we think won’t be very good at all, all signs point to Rex being shown the door fairly quickly.
It’s a shame, really, because there’s no coach more entertaining in the NFL than Rex Ryan.
3. Ohio St / Oklahoma will be the first time for somebody.
Urban Meyer is 18-0 at Ohio St on the road.
Bob Stoops is 2-0 at home straight up as a home underdog.
Somebody’s losing Saturday night.
If you watched the Houston / Oklahoma game in the first week of the season, Oklahoma wasn’t terrible. There were a few mishaps that may have been forgiven against a weaker team, but Houston took advantage of every Sooner error and made them pay, including a 109 yard returned field goal for a touchdown. That play ended up really being the difference in the game.
Basically, Oklahoma is better than the 14th ranked team in the country.
Ohio St has beaten up two patsies in their first two weeks. A 77-10 drubbing of Bowling Green with a new head coach and a ton of new starters, but last week they were up 6-3 late in the 2nd quarter before Tulsa’s QB went color blind and threw 2 pick-6s to Ohio St, making the halftime lead 20-3, en route to a 48-3 beatdown.
This is going to be an interesting game, for sure, and one of the biggest games that’s ever been on Fox. Two blueblood programs in a primetime game with both ranked in the top 15. Not too shabby. This is the 3rd must-watch game on TV this Saturday (after Louisville/FSU and Bama/Ole Miss).
Chris and I are split on it. I think Urbz has more talent and is a better coach, while Chris believes that ol Bobby Stoops is going to pull out some home magic.
Either way, it’s sure to be a sight.
4. Twitter NFL stream is a hit.
Twitter’s first stream of an NFL Thursday night game went over insanely well. The stream was not jumpy at all, and the pre and post game sideline coverage was great as well.
On top of that, Twitter stock went up almost 5% immediately first thing this morning.
This was just the first taste of it this season, but all signs point to this being a major trend for Twitter streaming. Their Periscope app is building, and I believe this is the beginning of them being a major leader in sports media rights coverage in the future. If you didn’t this week, next week sign in and check it out. This was game-changing.
5. Reliving Ole Miss / Alabama from Oct 4, 2014
Ole Miss hosted #1 Alabama on Oct 4, 2014 and brought in College Gameday for the first time, who also brought in Katy Perry for probably the most exciting day in Oxford in years.
I was down there, and it could not have been a more beautiful day. It was sunny and somewhere around 75 degrees when Gameday started up, and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a bigger crowd in the history of the show. Everyone was having a blast, Katy Perry brought the Gameday crew Hot Toddys, and all of this was before the game even started. It was mayhem.
The game was tight all the way through, and it ended with a 23-17 lead, and Alabama with the football on Ole Miss’s 32 yard line, and a 5’9″ defensive back stealing a pass from 6’6″ OJ Howard in the end zone to seal the victory.
Ole Miss’s first ever win against a #1 ranked team, and their first win over Alabama in 10 years.
After the game, the Rebel fans made their way through the entire city with the goal posts they had ripped up from the field. Katy Perry partied in the square all night. Basically, it was something straight out of a movie.
Tomorrow, there’s no College Gameday. It’s supposed to be rainy. But Ole Miss is hosting the #1 ranked team in the land again, and it’s another 2:30 CBS kickoff. I’m expecting fireworks again.
