Around the horn

After watching a bunch of yesterday’s action, I’ve come to the only conclusion possible: College football, you’re drunk.

Which isn’t to say drunk can’t be entertaining.  Anyway, a few random observations from the season’s first Saturday:

  • Luke Del Rio is Florida’s Greyson Lambert.
  • Cam Cameron is to Les Miles what Brian Schottenheimer was to Mark Richt.  Les, in case you’re not sure, that’s an ominous comparison.
  • As embarrassing as LSU’s loss to Wisconsin was, it’s probably no worse than fourth on the list for the day.  Kentucky blew a three-touchdown lead to a mid-major with an offense coached by the coordinator Stoops fired after last season. Mississippi State lost on a clanked field goal to South Alabama.
  • At the top of the list, though, was USC’s humiliating seal-clubbing at the hands of Alabama.  It was the worst opening day loss in the program’s history.  Pat Haden’s legacy as a complete disaster as an athletic director is cemented.
  • The best coached team I watched play Saturday was Houston.  That’s a team that knows exactly what it wants to do on offense and goes out and does it.  It’s a talented team, too, as its complete emasculation of Oklahoma’s offensive line showed.
  • The weirdest game I saw was Auburn-Clemson.  Clemson looked like a team that had some rust to shake off, and maybe needed a little attitude adjustment.  Auburn looked somewhat competent on defense and totally off the rails on offense.  If Gus Malzahn is trying to sabotage his reputation as an offensive guru, he did an excellent job of it last night.  The only way to describe his quarterback rotation is flailing.
  • Don’t look now, but Texas A&M may be at a point where it’s going to win games with its defense instead of its offense.
  • If I were enough of a Virginia fan to care, I’d be wearing a bag over my head today. They were joined by two other teams that lost to FCS foes, Iowa State and Washington State.

Needless to say, I’m not looking forward to putting together this week’s SEC Power Poll.

69 Comments

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69 responses to “Around the horn

  1. CaliDawg

    I’m happy with Kirby and the staff he put together, but I still wish we gave Tom Herman a more serious look.

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  2. Amazing how inept an OC looks with a bad to average QB. Just in our game it looked like we had 2 different OCs, depending on who was under center. Schott and LSU OCs may very well be bad but it’s obvious neither had or have much to work with at the most important position on offense. The two best RBs in the game can carry you only so far when you’re not very good at QB.

    Both of those OCs may be their HC undoing but I’m not convinced either are bad. I’m convinced that their QBs are, though

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    • D.N. Nation

      To be fair, I think there might’ve only been one play call when Lambert was under center that I didn’t like. It’s just that there isn’t a ton you can do when he’s out there.

      Contrast that to Schotty, who had him throwing screen passes with the Small Guy blocking and the Big Guy catching, which, blech. NFL OCs are the friggin worst. Why is Cam Cameron still at LSU, anyway?

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      • Russ

        Lambert did have a few good passes where he zipped it into a crowd, but he also had the “deer in the headlights” moments as well. It’s obvious to me that Eason has a much higher upside and the sooner we use it, the better. I suspect he’ll be starting against Missouri.

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  3. The other Doug

    A buddy who is a Tennessee fan texted me during the Okie/Houston game that he was strongly considering rooting against Butch so they could get Herman. Of course I told him I did not like Herman in Knoxville.

    Later in the day I received this:

    “F**k you Les Miles!”

    Life of a Volunteer.

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  4. Scorpio Jones, III

    Alabama is clearly in a rebuilding year. God help us.

    Lane Kiffin has a good memory. Is there any chance of getting the rumor started Tennessee actually fired him?

    What the fuck is the deal with Les Miles and quarterbacks? Arguably the best QB Les has had lately is a kid who probably would not have started at the SEC school he left under something of a cloud.

    I like my new “Lone Fedora”, but it has some work to do.

    My brother-in-law is a Sooner. He went to the beach earlier than usual, now I know why.

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    • Scorpio Jones, III

      Oh…discussions are ongoing about having the carpet cleaned. What really worries me is whether or not that problem has to happen every game.

      Mi esposa is not supportive of the no cleaning option.

      The Bitchez are giggling.

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      • Uglydawg

        Every game, Scorp…until the mojo leaves. Tell the wife that it’s important and that if the dog doesn’t do it, you will have to step up to the plate yourself.

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        • Scorpio Jones, III

          Aw hail. So if there’s no dampness before Nichols it might be more interesting…good time for an experiment.

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    • I was pondering this same question about LSU and quarterbacks. It’s astounding how they literally are always one quarterback away from being a dominant team that would win the NC every year. You’d think Lester would go get himself a real quarterback. But instead, they’re always putting “athletes” at the QB position instead of a true QB. Zach Mettenberger is the only true quarterback they’ve had since that dude whose name I can’t remember that got drafted by Oakland and got lazy.

      It’s like quarterbacks don’t want to play at LSU or Les doesn’t want quarterbacks playing at LsU.

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  5. W Cobb Dawg

    “Luke Del Rio is Florida’s Greyson Lambert.”

    At least Lambert had some experience before UGA, and as a starter. Del Rio was an 8-for-18 backup in 3 games for Oregon State. I suppose a good thing about Del Rio is he walked on at bama for a year. So Kirby may have some inside knowledge of his weaknesses. Our schedule is looking more promising every day!

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  6. S

    Virginia didn’t just lose to a 1-AA team. It got dominated 37-20 by an in-state 1-AA team – and Richmond had a 30-7 lead before UVa got a couple of late scores. I think it was the worst loss in college football yesterday.

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  7. Tronan

    Considering the state of Louisiana’s finances and the effect of the oil bust on the local economy, can LSU financially afford to get rid of Miles? And if they dump him, can they pay enough to get a highly regarded replacement? I thought they determined last year that they’ve got to stick with him for at least the time being because of what it would cost in severance and for a replacement.

    In any case, even if Miles has lost his edge (all I really know is that his recent QBs never had an edge to lose), I question how anyone in the SECW is going to supplant Bama as long as Saban is there. What the Tide did to USC last night wasn’t a seal clubbing, it was prison rape.

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    • Mayor

      Nick Saban will be 65 next month. I’m betting that he won’t be coaching more than a couple of more years so that problem will fix itself pretty soon. I hope that Georgia will supplant Bama when Saban goes. I suspect that the Bama crowd will make a serious run at Kirby when Saban retires if Kirby is as successful at UGA as we all hope he will be.

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  8. Derek

    Some dumbass around here threw Tom Herman’s name out there when CMR was fired. Anyone remember who that dumbass was??

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    • ASEF

      Herman’s deal with Houston either pays him more than Smart makes by a lot or pays him more than Smart makes by a ton.

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      • 81Dog

        Doesn’t it also have a huge buyout? Like, north of 10 million huge? Good luck getting McGarity to shell that kind of cash out for anyone. You might as well expect him to start supplying hookers and blow to department staff on bowl trips.

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      • Derek

        It might and I don’t mean to denigrate what we’ve got, but his was the name that I went to first.

        Of course I said “no richt!” when Donnan was fired. I can’t recall if I wanted anyone but I definitely did not want Richt. I’m wrong at least once a day.

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        • S

          No doubt Herman’s a great coach, but I’m glad that we took a chance on Smart. Hard to believe that as mercenary as Saban is, that he would keep someone around as long as Smart if he wasn’t very, very good. So I had no problems with that choice. And I do think we got someone who personally loves UGA with Smart, and I like that.

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          • Russ

            Yeah, I’m thinking Smart may be the best fit for us, and may turn out to be the upgrade we need. Herman is no doubt a great coach, but so was Sumlin at UH. Let’s see how he does against the big boys game after game.

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    • Gaskilldawg

      Apparently the dumbass was NOT that search committee that conducted the 72 hour “national search.” Herman never made that list.

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    • PTC DAWG

      Your words…

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  9. Mayor

    Based on yesterday (and I realize that is a very small sample size) it looks like the Dawgs are in good position in the SEC East. Obviously winning the East is problematic because then you have to face Bama in the SECCG, but Georgia looks to be near the top of the conference in terms of quality. LSU stunk. FU certainly didn’t look good. Mizzou stunk, too. Both USCe and Vandy look barely alive. Kentucky…well they are still Kentucky. UT should have lost to their walkover opponent. We will have to wait until Monday night to find out about Ole Miss (on Georgia’s schedule) but I really like Georgia’s chances in the SEC East.

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  10. Uglydawg

    Herman is a great coach, but sometimes you can’t read too much into an opening game. Some teams focus only on that first opponent for the whole offseason..and teams that are supposed to be really good (Clemson, yesterday) can have over-confidence induced rust. Doesn’t Houston play pretty much of a cupcake schedule now? If he deserves a big look from needy teams, then what about the coach at Appalachian State? What they did to Tennessee was impressive.

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  11. Thatguy

    SC’s lone ‘highlight’ against Alabama is a crotch-stomp that I’m pretty sure Saban & Co. turned into a metaphor for the game from that moment.

    I turned over to Clem(p)son / Allbarn, which was at least watchable and close.

    Tech can neither run nor pass. They required a series of miracles to beat what I can only assume will be a 6-6 at best BC team. This bodes well for the schadenfreude.

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  12. Bulldog Joe

    And there was this.

    [video src="http://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video/Crhc6s5WcAAVReB.mp4" /]

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  13. When, and on what station, is the Kirby show?

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  14. Russ

    UT-Notre Dame game was the game of the weekend, unless somehow the Ole Miss-FSU sleazefest manages to overshadow it. Always good to see the Irish get beat.

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    • Dawgtired

      Yes indeed. And that’s 3 teams ranked above us that lost.

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    • Cojones

      Saw the two most athletic TDs ever in that game. Texas receiver lightly drags his toe while his body is airborne headed out of bounds and completing the catch. Absurd body control. And the ND receiver doing a cartwheel into the ez when block-tackled just in front of the end zone, maintaining possession throughout the play.

      Helluva scrap and both teams went up in my evaluations.

      Coulda been the cookies, but I was calm throughout the UGA game, just waitin’ for the Dawgs to come back before running out of time. That’s an unusual condition and if I had been at the game, it would probably be partially subdued. I marveled at our Freshmen and how they fared. This is going to be one Jumpin’ team. This may be one of those “How ’bout them Dawgs!” season.

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    • AusDawg85

      Great game, but only took 30 seconds of post game celebration to remind me why I hate the longhorns so much. This is going to be an insufferable week around here.

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  15. WarD Eagle

    I watched a lot of football Saturday and I’m pretty sure Auburn didn’t play. They’re probably on next week.

    Also, sorta watched some of the UGA UNC game and was surprised to see that Chubb had over 200(?) yards – even with the long run at the end of the game. It seemed he was pretty well contained whenever I was looking.

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    • Bright Idea

      You weren’t really looking then.

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    • Cosmic Dawg

      lol.

      They held Chubb pretty well in 3q iirc…? If that’s when you tuned in. There was a point I thought NC might have him gassed a bit but he found a little more in the tank.

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      • Uglydawg

        Probably planned. They used Chubb to batter them in the first half, used some other backs, who all looked great..even Douglas except for the fumble..to change the pace and show them that they couldn’t always key on Chubb, (and the short flare screent to Douglas was very good), and then let the big Dawg eat at the end. It was well done.

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    • DawgPhan

      when you look back and only see the one set of footprints, that is when Chubb was carrying you.

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  16. Uglydawg

    I was impressed with the way NC’s QB threw the ball around. He had a quick release and never threw a pic..although we could have had one. I don’t see Kelly at Old Miss being as good as NC’s QB..He’s supposed to be a real tough kid (like Favre…just tough as nails) but honestly I don’t see him being better than what we saw. What might be better is OM’s running game and run defense…If it is, we’re going to need everything we’ve got to beat them. We’ve honestly got more running backs than we can effectively get involved in the game..so we have an edge there. But Old Miss is a tough order of SEC business…and if our kicking game isn’t improved by a whole lot, I won’t be real crazy about our chances. We’ll know a lot more after tonight’s game…OM vs FSU. And I’ll be pulling for OM. They’re both dirty, but we may need the SOS points.

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    • I don’t see Kelly at Old Miss being as good as NC’s QB.

      Then you need to look again. 🙂

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      • Uglydawg

        I will tonight. I hope he’s awful.
        Just read your excellent notes and picked up right away that you weren’t that impressed with Trubisky..but I thought he was good. He had at least one drop that would have really hurt..and Malcome P. and Smith saved us a couple of times with great plays. We got some pressure on him, but he never panicked and threw a bad ball…except the stupid looking screen in his own endzone. I’d like to know who called that one…Fedora hurt his team at a bad place on the field. He’s got to be miserable about that.
        I’ll watch Old Miss tonight and then I’ll retract my thoughts if I need to. For now, I’ll admit I haven’t seen much of him.

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