Red Card Top 10 (10/10/10)
- Real quick, my music recommendation for this week is I Am Not a Human Being, Lil Wayne. If you are into old-school beats with new-school lyrics, this album of Wayne’s is for you. The song YM Salute has an awesome beat as well.
The best part of waking up.
- Before we start, if you havent seen the hit that Stanford QB Andrew Luck laid on USC’s Shareece Wright, here it is. Unbelievable. Luck may have a future as a linebacker.
- “The times they are a changin’.” So is the Red Card Top 10.
- Oregon. Simply put, I dont think think anyone can slow them down…..except for their own defense.
- Ohio State. The Buckeyes looked much better against Indiana, but their whole identity as a team depends too much on Terrelle Pryor to put them #1 this week.
- TCU. The Horned Frogs have done nothing but win big each week, although their competition has not been exactly amazing, although they do play a tough Air Force team in 2 weeks.
- Nebraska. I know, I know. How can I be so down on the Huskers one week, and then have them jump teams the next? Easy answer: Taylor Martinez and the Blackshirts.
- Boise State. Another necessary big margin of victory win for the Broncos against Toledo. Next up: “the fightin’ Jeff Garcia’s” of San Jose St who are 1-5.
- Oklahoma. Coming off of a bye week, the Sooners remain at #6. Next up: Iowa State.
- Alabama. Just like that, the team that had seemingly already won the National Championship gets beat by 14 at South Carolina. Dont worry though ‘Bama fans, your team is still in the thick of the title race.
- Auburn. Whew! After leading Kentucky by 28 points going into the 3rd quarter, the Tigers did what most teams do, they let off the gas. Unfortunately, Kentucky caught them red-handed, and Auburn needed a 51 yard game winning field goal to beat the Wildcats. Maybe they were looking ahead to Arkansas at home this week?
- South Carolina. Finally, Steve Spurrier gets that signature win he needed at South Carolina by throttling Alabama. Their defense looks nasty, and WR Alshon Jeffery is the next A.J. Green.
- LSU. I am very reluctant to rank the Bayou Bengals as a top 10 team, because they find the most absurd ways to win games, but the fact is that they do win them. Their gutsy win against Florida in the swamp boosts them into the top 10……for now.
Cam Newton is the Most Interesting Man in the SEC West.
- With a new week comes a new face in my Top 3 Heisman contenders.
- LaMichael James, RB, Oregon. The huge numbers are now worthy of the #1 spot, especially with his Ducks ranked #2 in most polls.
- Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan. Well, an off-day happens to everyone. Unfortunately for Shoelace, it looks as if the Michigan defense is not going to help him attain the Heisman.
- Cam Newton, QB, Auburn. Newton leads the SEC in rushing and has a QB rating of 180.6, which is Sam Bradford-esque. Look for him to make another huge step up the Heisman ladder if Auburn can beat Arkansas at home.
- On the edge of the Top 3: Kellen Moore, QB, Boise St. Terrelle Pryor, QB, Ohio State. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford. Taylor Martinez, QB, Nebraska.
- The games to watch this week will help shape the crazy BCS picture before the first standings are announced on Sunday. I will add a wrinkle to my predictions, using confidence points from 1-10, 10 being absolutely sure of my pick.
- #12 Arkansas at #7 Auburn. The SEC West is ridiculously tough this year. If Auburn wins, they take pole position in the SEC. If Arkansas wins, LSU (as crazy as Les Miles is) will be in first. In a battle of 6’6 quarterbacks Auburn’s Cam Newton and Arkansas Ryan Mallet will be the focal points for each opposing defense. With the Tigers playing at home, I like the Auburn defense to have a tiny bit more success than the Arkansas defense, who will struggle to contain Newton. Prediction: Auburn 35-30. Confidence: 7
- #1 Ohio State at #16 Wisconsin. Well, it’s time to see what the Buckeye’s are made of. I have said all along that their whole team psyche relies too heavily on how Terrelle Pryor is playing, so if he struggles, look out. Camp Randall Stadium will be rocking, and that is bad news for Ohio St, as they have only averaged 16.3 points/game at Wisconsin. This has all the makings of being a classic Big 10 type of game, but dont overlook Badgers QB Scott Tolzien. Tolzien is poised to break out, and with the running game the Badgers possess, he can run effective play-action passes to neutralize the Buckeye’s speed on defense. Prediction: Wisconsin 28-27. Confidence: 4.
- Michigan at #15 Iowa. The Wolverines are looking to rebound from being embarrassed against rival Michigan St. Iowa is looking to prove to the BCS that they are for real. The key to this game will be the Iowa front 7 and their ability to contain Denard Robinson. Michigan State provided a great blueprint for the Hawkeyes, so look for them to use a lot of different pressures to confuse Robinson. If Iowa gets up by 14 or more early, Robinson will be forced into more mistakes like he was against the Spartans. Prediction: Iowa 37-28. Confidence: 8.
- Texas at #5 Nebraska. Can you say Grudge Match? This is the game that Nebraska’s players, coaches, and fans have had marked on their calendar for 10 months after the last second defeat to Texas in last years Big 12 title game. The teams have flipped places this year though, as it is the Huskers with the explosive offense and stout defense to accompany their high ranking, and its Texas who has struggled to find an offensive identity. Without a running game, Texas will be in for a long day against the best pass efficiency defense in the country. Taylor Martinez will be given all the hype in this game and rightfully so, but look for Roy Helu and Rex Burkhead to shoulder the load in this game with Texas focusing on Martinez. Prediction: Nebraska 30-9. Confidence: 8.
Favre to Moss should be golden for the Vikings.
- Here is what we learned in week 5 in the NFL.
- The Vikings offense is about explode, just give it 2 weeks.
- Scandal or not, Brett Favre is stupid good on Monday Night Football.
- “Sexting” happens more often in the NFL than Favre throwing interceptions. Im not saying it is right by any means, but its ridiculously common. More over, why is this being discussed now and not 2 years ago when it happened. RED CARD.
- Randy Moss in purple just looks right. So did that 46 yard touchdown from Favre.
- Apparently Antonio Cromartie reads this blog because he has played great since I called him out.
- I think its safe to say that LaDainian Tomlinson is back. He has his trademarked lateral quickness back. 94 yards against the Vikes D is hard to do.
- Ndamukong Suh is a freak. Well, we already knew that. BUT, his interception against St. Louis was reminiscent of his days as a Blackshirt. If voting ended today, he would be an All-Pro.
- As great as Suh’s interception was, Falcons DE Kroy Biermann had what could be the play of the year in the NFL. Watch it here. I know it was against the Browns, but WOW.
- The 49ers are the best 0-5 team in NFL history. That being said, Alex Smith can’t play QB. RED CARD.
- The Cowboys are the best 1-3 team in the NFL history. That being said, Wade Phillips has no idea how to get the best out of his ridiculously talented team. RED CARD.
- Schizophrenic teams: Redskins, Texas, Chargers, Titans, Cardinals, Bengals.
- The Cardinals beat the Saints 30-20 without scoring an offensive touchdown. Mind boggling.
- What can you say about the Bengals offense? Dreadful. RED CARD.
- The Ravens are the best team in the NFL. Period.
- Denver is doing more with less than any team in the NFL. Kyle Orton has been outstanding, ask fantasy owners.
- Will the real Houston Texans please stand up?
WOW– Everyone was talking about that Stanford QB hit but I had yet to see it, and holy shit he should play both ways! Talk about some helmet to helmet contact but who gives a shit, you just got rocked by the QB. Granted he is like 6-3 230 he layed the wood on that hit!
Yeah “shoelace” is a beast but as we all know if you don’t have a team to surround you there is no shot at winning a Heisman. The sad thing is that if you give him a few more play making players around him and a couple top notch defensive players then you have the making of an easy National Championship. Sorry to say for my boys in BLUE that they wont be winning the ship this year so their success lies in the hopes of ‘shoelace’ keeping up his stats in the race for the Heisman.
Honestly if Nebraska comes out of the Big 12 undefeated and Taylor Swift keeps up his stats then he has a real shot at winning the Heisman as well. How sweet would that be Nebraska goes undefeated, and with a little luck two top teams lose and we get the call to the National Championship and he wins the Heisman, man that would be sweet. A man can dream, can’t he?
I pray to the gods that your prediction of Ohio St. losing is correct. If in fact you do predict this right the first round is on me!
As for you hatin’ on the boys in Blue just becasue they lost one game to the best Defense in the country I hope you are wrong. I got Michigan over Iowa. I think ‘shoelace’ is going to be pissed off about the ugly performance last week and is going to bounce back with some ridiculous numbers. We will see a united defense with a chip on their and something to prove to the country.
You had to see a pathetic game coming from Favre. We all saw what happened to Tiger after all his personal business hit the media, there was no way Favre was going to be able to focus either. I don’t know if there is any way someone could go out and say they are totally focused on the game with all that controversy surrounding you. The Vikings need to Red Card his ass if he doesn’t get it together.
I don’t know if you watched any US soccer but they are getting close to a Red Card from me. They only reason they are getting the Yellow for now is the lack of players due to the MLS still playing and the Mexican leagues both having some key players for the US. The need to get it together and figure out how to score some more goals and get a W. What they need to do is get my main man CD9 back on the squad so he can show them how its done. I did however see a new face enter the game in the second half that I was very impressed with. Eric Lichaj coming on in the back line at half showed a great surge for the USMNT. I believe he will have a great home on the roster after that solid performance last night! Keep an eye out for him.
“I have said all along that their whole team psyche relies too heavily on how Terrelle Pryor is playing, so if he struggles, look out.” You could easily replace “Terrelle Pryor” with Taylor Martinez. (SDSU game anyone) Nebraska won’t finish the season undefeated if he doesn’t figure out how to pass effectively. If Texas can figure out how to stop the run, they’ll stand a chance. I know, Texas is bad…but they’ve had this game circled too.
Interesting #1 in Oregon. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Oregon run the table in the Pac-10, but then get rolled in their bowl game. Their offense is exceptional, but I think they’re the beneficiaries of being far and away the best team in a mediocre conference, well, one of many mediocre conferences.
For my money, the best team in the country is still Alabama. You can’t rank them #1 after a lose though, that really goes without saying. I’d find it very interesting if TCU, Boise State, Oregon, and Nebraska ran the table and Alabama finished with one loss and an SEC Championship. Which two teams play for the big game?
I keep waiting for Auburn and LSU to lose, pretty much every week. I wouldn’t be surprised if they both end up as fringe top 25 teams when the year’s all said and done. Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them ran the table either. These two teams are very intriguing.
I believe the Huskers are better than both Auburn and LSU, and so do you and all of the pollsters out there, and think they’d beat any team in the Big 10 and Pac-10 this year. I believe in them a lot, but wonder how they’ll respond when they’re tested. If it doesn’t happen this week, it probably will this month anyway. I’m really looking forward to this month’s games, they should tell a lot about the Big Red.
I like the Wisconsin over Ohio State pick. Ohio State seems to be overrated every season, this season is no exception. They’re talented, but I don’t think they’re a great team.
The Cowboys need to lose Wade Phillips. The man has been reassured every season, except his first when his club went 13-3 before losing to the Giants at home in the playoffs, that his job is secure. I think the fact that he needs this reassurance year in and year out should speak volumes to the fact that people should be questioning his job. I’m a huge Cowboys guy, but they have no chance at winning a title with Phillips as head coach.