Open Thread: Late to the Party

by Hooper on Aug 30, 2008 1:00 PM EDT in College Football Comment 17 comments

In the excitement of the GW news and the impending doom at UCLA on Monday, I completely forgot to generate a thread for the opening weekend. --hooper

This is the place to leave any thoughts/comments about the opening weekend. We'll have a thread specifically for the UT game on Monday, obviously, but as you're watching games throughout the rest of the NCAA, feel free to leave thoughts on the other teams. Scouting reports on other SEC teams would be highly appreciated.

[Note by hooper, 08/30/08 1:23 PM EDT ] For those of us in the RTT pickem pools, check out the standings for the Fun Office Pools and the ESPN pool. In the (very) early returns, our beloved Aerobab has the lead at FOP.

Enjoy! The siege is over!

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It's official.

The Heisman is dead to me. When the USC-Virginia preview runup is spent talking about Wells/Tebow for Heisman, that trophy needs to be eliminated. It’s worse than preseason polls.

by Hooper on Aug 30, 2008 3:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Tebow's Numbers

9/14 137 yards 1 TD, 9 carries for 37 yards. Dare I say it… Tim Tebow the Game Manager

by Getoffmyvols on Aug 30, 2008 4:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Heh.

But I can’t blame ‘em. If I were Meyer, I’d save Tebow for the conference games as well.

by Hooper on Aug 30, 2008 4:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Definitely

I’m sure he could have turned him loose at any moment.

by Getoffmyvols on Aug 30, 2008 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Goin to the game!!!

I will be at the game… I hope to see UT make a strong statement… like 41-7 or just a generally good butt kicking. Georgia and Florida have both done well, but we have a more formidable opponent (injuries and attrition not withstanding). SC won handily after a shaky first half. Overall the SEC is looking strong already. No doubt the SEC is the toughest conference in all of football. Stopped in AZ… lady said she saw a lot of VOL fans passing through… HERE WE COME BRUINS!!!

by okievol on Aug 30, 2008 9:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Sweet!

Pics, pics, more pics if you can! No matter how the game goes, there’ll be plenty of photo ops available.

But you’re right; if this first week is any indication, the SEC is going to be a living nighmare for all involved. The only way things could be harder on UT is if LSU was added to their non-divisional slate.

by Hooper on Aug 30, 2008 9:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

For all watching,

Alabama is really laying the hurt on Clemson. I think a lot of it is that the Clemson linemen aren’t as well prepared as they thought they were, but it’s not looking good for the ACC this year. They’re going to have to do some serious PR damage control over the next few weeks.

by Hooper on Aug 30, 2008 9:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bama Clemson

Reminds me a lot of our game against Cal 2 years back. Similar rankings, Alabama’s coming off a poor finish from last year, Clemson was being tagged by some as a dark horse national title contender… But like us 2 years ago Bama feels they have a lot more to prove in this game than Clemson and it shows.

by Getoffmyvols on Aug 30, 2008 10:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

Clemson appears to be starting better in the second half, but we’ll have to see if it’s enough to dig out of the hole they made.

by Hooper on Aug 30, 2008 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can tell you who's happy about this, though:

South Carolina.

by Hooper on Aug 30, 2008 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hah yep

Bama pretty much put up a blue print in the first half of how to attack clemson

by Getoffmyvols on Aug 30, 2008 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not inclined to do it, but

it’d be an interesting study to see how Clemson tends to do against physical game plans vs. finesse game plans. They’re built fantastically for finesse games, but Alabama has simply overpowered them so far.

by Hooper on Aug 30, 2008 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Clawson in the pressbox

Will this prove detrimental, or will it be advantageous?

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2008/aug/30/for-starters-clawson-in-the-press-box/

Missippi State looks to be less than prepared… LA Tech won. No killer mentality on defense. No attack plan on offense. What is up with the lack of preparation? Where does Croom go from here?

by okievol on Aug 30, 2008 10:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Pros and cons both ways to having the OC in the bird's nest.

The biggest question will be how quickly Clawson gets used to it. He’s been a head coach for quite some time, so this’ll be different. Not only that, but the Rose Bowl is raked pretty wide open; Clawson will feel like he’s in a different county.

My other concern is how he’ll be able to counsel the offense. The headsets allow him to talk to the QB, but it’d be nice to have him in person if any of the other players need a little face-to-face (either for discipline or for reassurance).

I didn’t get to see any of MSU’s play, but I did see the final score. It’ll be an interesting thing to watch. They were talking about challenging for the West. They might still be able to, but they have some development left.

by Hooper on Aug 30, 2008 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Line play is all it is.

Alabama’s lines are in sync and confident; Clemson’s are a mess. Had this game occurred midseason, it’d probably be much closer, but there’s no doubt that Saban got his linemen ready in time for the first game of the season.

by Hooper on Aug 30, 2008 10:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

360 pound nose tackle?

…And the guy came to camp weighing 400 lbs. (Talkin bout the nose tackle for ‘Bama). ’Bama’s defensive front line blew threw Clemson.

Wow! They looked impressive. Even though J.P. Wilson looks like a pin up boy for Abercrombie & Fitch he did a masterful job tossing the pig skin and running the offense.

’Bama Frosh RB Ingram is gonna give defenses fits (and linebackers headaches) for at least two years (before he jumps to the NFL)

Clemson’s Thunder and Lightnin’ combined for 20 yards rushing? ’Bama’s “D” was pretty tough!

The last thing I wanna do is praise ‘Bama, but dang son, you can’t argue w/that performance.

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If I have to hear one more thing about Mark Sanchez and USC I’m gonna be sick. Somebody beat them already so I don’t have to hear Brent Musberger et. al fawn all over them.

"Donny you're out of your element! Dude, the Chinaman is not the issue here!"

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Aug 31, 2008 6:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

You can’t deny that Alabama played a fantastic game last night. Even if you believe that Clemson was way off their game, Alabama looked very impressive and executed their game plan very well. The line play was so one-sided (no matter who had the ball) that Clemson never had a chance. Credit where credit is due.

I also agree about USC. They have a lot of potential for this year, but good grief. The story was the same in that game; the lines dominated the trenches. Credit those USC lines for owning the game, and credit everybody else for simply following their lead and not screwing things up.

by Hooper on Aug 31, 2008 9:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs