| 03 November 2009
What a weekend as I trekked through the Windy City. I saw some bad football, plenty of people without an understanding of why Florida-Georgia is called the "Cocktail Party" and weather that made me truly miserable. Between watching the Illinois-Michigan game and having to hear plenty of comments about how Florida is overrated and the Big Ten gets no respect I was capable of making it out of Chi-Town alive.
As always we've got plenty of ugly to choose from as the college football world is not limited in displays of the putrid. You better believe there is enough from every conference to go around and then some. As for the nation as a whole the biggest story was the Oregon Ducks' dismantling of the of the Trojans. There will be plenty of angles surrounding the end of an era in LA but we'll focus on just one as not to pile on the broken Trojans.
In another reshuffling of the GBU lineup we've decided to go with everyone's favorite the SEC to kick off the week. You'll notice off the bat that long time stalwarts of the GBU; SEC officials and Steve Addazio, get a bit of reprieve, sort of. Their absence is more due to the abundance of other factors than of their strides towards lesser ineptitude.
The SEC
The Good- The Volunteers, for lack of a less awesome term, mollywopped the Gamecocks; a team most of us thought was on that same tier as Kiffin's squad. His defense forced turnovers, the offense was efficient and he backed up his gas pumping comment with the beat down.
The Bad- Willie Martinez is the Steve Addazio of SEC defensive coordinators. Not only did his defense surrender the SEC rushing TD record to Tim Tebow; an honor previously held by Bulldog great Hershel Walker but they also gave up 210 yards on the ground to the Gators. Take away Renny Curan and this Bulldog defense will be without an All-SEC caliber performer this season.
The Ugly- The SEC officials are normally on the hook but this week they're off due to their missing of the Brandon Spikes vs Washaun Ealey eye gouge.
Sure this is an awful play but the true ugly came in the reactions of fans and message board fanatics as Spikes was villified to the fullest extent. Meyer's first half suspension for the Vanderbilt game was in line with standard league policy, and while Dawgs fans wanted to see more Washaun Ealey actually spoke up to say that he didn't see a reason for a suspension.
For the rest of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly read more...
The Big 10
The Good- Penn State gives the Big 10 two teams in the hunt for a BCS Bowl Bid as they hang on at #11 for the week after dismantling Northwestern. True they had to break Wildcat quarterback Mike Kafka in half to sprint away but hey, a 21 point win is a 21 point win to the computers.
The Bad- Greg Robinson, once thought of as being a capable head coach was sent home packing from Syracuse some thirteen months ago. With Michigan dropping a game in extraordinary fashion to bottom feeder Illinois with Robinson as the defensive coordinator it is very likely Robinson will be taking another tumble down the coaching ladder, or perhaps he'll go back to the NFL where he actually had some success.
The Ugly- Iowa's first forty-six minutes were the ugliest of the football season for any team in the top ten. Not only were they struggling; Bama, Florida, Texas and LSU have struggled, but the Hawkeye's were struggling against Indiana.
Stanzi's five interceptions made no difference as the Black and Gold escape; Craig Krenzel is proud of his Big 10 brethren.
The Big East
The Good- South Florida, with their 30-19 win over the Mountaineers put a stop to their second half of the season slide. They got a heck of a day from freshman quarterback BJ Daniels as they had their way with West "By God" Virginia.
The Bad- Playing on Friday nights. I know that I cannot be the only person that has a problem with these Friday night kickoffs that were done in an attempt to get the Big East some recognition. Call me crazy but on Friday nights I like to do one of two things; go watch a high school football game or enjoy some adult beverages while I get my mind right for Saturday's full slate of games. While not as bad as Tuesday night tilts the Friday night game is not working out the way Big East personnel hoped.
The Ugly- Records in the Big East. Only Cincinnati (4-0), Pitt (4-0) and West Virginia (2-1) have winning records in the league. The bottom five teams in the league are effectively out of the Big East race and with the Pitt-Cinci game not until the season's end the league could be biting their nails as a national title shot looms in the distance.
The Big XII
The Good- Texas finally beats an elite team in solid fashion by manhandling the Cowboys 41-14. Perhaps Sergio Kindle and the Texas defense is legit and more importantly after knocking around Mike Gundy's team the Longhorns have their marquee win and their own claim to a national title shot.
The Bad- Todd Reesing, a 3+ year starter at Kansas finally looked completely human as the Jayhawks lost their third straight game. What was supposed to be the fall (autumn) of Kansas football has turned into "the fall of Kansas football". Folks in Lawrence are already buying the newest shirts for the Phog season.
The Ugly- The Big XII Title Game. The North is awful, not one of the teams in the Big XII Lite is bowl eligible and only the Kansas State Wildcats have a winning conference record and right now this game is looking like yet another Big XII South scrimmage.
The Pac 10
The Good- Oregon smacking around USC; showing that the Ducks have fully rebounded from the Blount incident and corresponding loss. They also take over sole control of the Pac 10 and could give the league a new outright champion for the first time since 2001.
The Bad- There's still several weeks of season left but the Boise State Situation raised in the first The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is becoming quite an issue with each passing week. Not only did the Broncos play a weak schedule but now they're stopping Oregon's rise up the polls. The Ducks are playing some of the best football in the nation but with people hesitant to move the Ducks ahead of the Broncos, the Chip Kelly squad will be stuck behind Chris Peterson's Blue Turf warriors.
The Ugly- UCLA's situation has gone from bad to worse. Not only are the Bruins losing at an alarming rate (0-5 in the Pac 10) but now parents are coming out to criticize the great Norm Chow attack. Brian Theriot, a back up fullback's father, spoke out about the simplicity and the lack of imagination from the Bruins offense. But it is okay, Rick Neuheisel responded in an adult fashion and in layperson's terms let Mr. Theriot know his son just isn't getting it done in practice.
The ACC
The Good- John Shoop has finally opened up the UNC offense and showed why Butch Davis hired him and how he got an NFL gig before coming to Carolina. The UNC rushing attack put up 181 yards on the Hokies, led by Ryan Houston's bruising late game heroics and Shoop's innovative motioning into run formations. +1,000 points to Butch Davis' coaching cred as he outfoxed Frank Beamer and Bud Foster in Blacksburg; on a Thursday night.
The Bad- The ACC's bowl picture looks about as polar an opposite from a season ago as it can get. There are only three teams currently bowl eligible for the ACC's nine bowl tie-ins; BC, GaTech and Miami. Of the remaining nine teams only UNC, VT and Clemson seem sure things to get bowl eligible. Teams like Maryland, Virginia and NC State sit on the brink of elimination and depending on which teams show up each Saturday FSU, Wake and Duke could finish winless or win out.
The Ugly- The Florida State situation takes yet another turn for the worse as long time defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews decides to make this season the last for him in Tallahassee. Jimbo Fisher and Mickey Andrews have had plenty of documented issues and with Fisher set to take over the reins soon its about time for the long time defensive coordinator to step away from the university.
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