The Blue and White Sports Debate – Oct. 15, 2008
| Blue View | White View |
| By Tim Olsen | By Mark Nance |
| Thoughts on the USU-SJSU game? | |
| I was very disappointed with the Aggies’ performance last Saturday. After playing two decent games in a row, the USU football team took a big step back against the Spartans. Despite their struggles early in the season, the Ags had an opportunity to grab first place in the WAC for the second time this year. The defense played tough early, but the offense looked out of sync from the get-go. The Aggies have shown flashes of ability this season, but they can’t seem to find it at the right times. Execution is the word I hear repeated over and over in press conferences and interviews, and that is exactly what the Aggies need to start doing – execute. | What happened? After having a great game against No. 9 BYU, USU folded like a stack of cards. Diondre Borel fell from a respectable 54th to 82nd in the national QB ratings. He threw for a dismal 66 yards and threw two interceptions. USU’s defense held San Jose in the first quarter with three straight three-and-outs, but once the second quarter started, I think Coach Guy took the defense off the field. He went back to his vice of trying to run with Borel, who had 43 yards on 17 carries. Why do we even have a running back? When Curtis Marsh gets four carries during the game, why doesn’t Guy have him start passing out water? After the Aggies showed so much potential, they decided to toss their offense out the window, because it looks like they’re already getting ready for next year. |
| Will Tony Romo’s injury affect the Cowboys? | |
| Talk about a bad week for “America’s team.” After losing in overtime to the Arizona Cardinals, Dallas found out its starting QB will most likely be out for the next month with a broken pinkie. The 40-year-old Brad Johnson, who hasn’t started an NFL game since 2006, will replace the shifty signal caller. This is bad news for Cowboys fans who were already booking hotels in Tampa Bay. The Cowboys have been sputtering in recent weeks, even with Romo at the helm, and for a team that was thinking “Super Bowl or bust,” Dallas will now be fighting just to make the playoffs in the tough NFC. Luckily, the Cowboys (4-2) have a very winnable game when they travel to St. Louis this week to take on the Rams (1-4). It should give them a chance to get back on their feet. | The Cowboys will be fine. I would love to see Dallas lose a couple of games without him, but they’re playing the 1-4 Rams, a Tampa Bay team that can’t pick which quarterback they want to go with, and the New York Giants that lost to the Browns, of all teams. Although Romo has the third highest winning percentage in the league since he started, Brad Johnson is not that bad of a back up. Johnson not only won a Super Bowl with horrible receivers, he now has an All-Star team to play with. Johnson won his first six starts when Daunte Culpepper went down in 2005, and now he has an O-line to defend him. Brad Johnson is a pocket quarterback that should do just fine in the Cowboy system. Romo will only miss three games because of a bye week, and the Cowboys should go 2-1 with Johnson. Although I wish that the Cowboys would lose all three games, they’ll be just fine with a Super Bowl-winning back-up. |
| Who is the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy? | |
| It is the midway point of the season, and after a thrilling victory over then No. 1 Oklahoma, I have to give the edge to Texas quarterback Colt McCoy. Colt McCoy – doesn’t that sound just like what you would picture the name of the Texas Longhorns to be? McCoy has thrown for 1,557 yards on the season, while completing a mind-boggling 79.4 percent of his passes. That high completion rate has translated to a low turnover rate as McCoy has thrown for 17 touchdowns to only three interceptions. What many people don’t know is that McCoy is also the Longhorns’ leading rusher. He has carried the ball 59 times for 348 yards and four touchdowns on the year. With three consecutive games coming up against teams ranked in the top 11, McCoy has a chance to cement his place at the top of the Heisman list. | Although Colt McCoy is having a great year, with how much the coach has him run, he may not even make it until the end of the season. Sam Bradford should win the Heisman Trophy. Bradford has a 201 quarterback rating, which is second best in the nation, and has thrown for more than 2,000 yards in only six games. He has thrown 23 touchdowns, including five against the new No. 1 Texas. Although the Sooners lost to Texas, Bradford played like a Heisman Trophy winner. He is the best overall quarterback and athlete in college football. Bradford still has a chance to lead his team to a Big 12 Championship and possibly the National Championship Game. If Bradford continues his dominance in conference play then there is no way the voters can deny him the Heisman Trophy. |
| Who should be college football’s No. 1 team? | |
| Every once in a while even a blind squirrel finds a nut, and that’s how I feel about this week’s rankings. After the aforementioned upset of Oklahoma, I knew Texas would move up, but I didn’t think they’d jump Alabama for the No. 1 spot. The pollsters got it right though. Texas’ performance thus far this season is deserving of a No. 1-ranking, and with the schedule they face, if they continue to win they will only lock up that spot. Alabama is a good team, and playing well in the SEC has sent them on a meteoric rise up the charts. The Crimson Tide still has some proving to do though, especially after a lackluster performance in their last game against the Kentucky Wildcats. |
Texas had a great win over No. 1 Oklahoma, but the Alabama Crimson Tide should have taken over the top spot. Texas played several cupcake teams and a weak Arkansas team before they played Oklahoma, who is the only team that had a winning record. However, Alabama has a higher strength of schedule and has manhandled two top 10 teams. Alabama opened with a thrashing of No. 9 Clemson and beat the No. 3 Bulldogs with little to no effort. Alabama also beat 4-0 Kentucky when they played two weeks ago. Alabama deserves to take the top spot since they have proved they are better than expected. They started the season unranked and climbed to No. 2 in five short weeks. Texas was ranked 11 in the preseason and has crept up slowly because they didn’t play anyone until Oklahoma. Alabama has played tough teams from the beginning and will continue to play the best SEC teams. Alabama should be No. 1. |
| Rant | |
| What was Pacman, excuse me “Adam” Jones thinking? After a one-year suspension he was finally ruled eligible to play, and he can’t even make it through half the season. How stupid do you have to be? You’ve been given a new chance with a new team and this is how you repay them. What a waste of talent by a young man who obviously has not learned his lesson. Now, with starting cornerback Terrence Newman out with injury, he’s put the Cowboys in a bind. Jerry Jones gave him a second chance and used every method to keep him out of trouble. Maybe Pacman should brush up on his wrestling skills, because after his latest antics he should never be allowed to return to the NFL again. | Look this up on espn.com. I have never laughed so hard in my life when I witnessed the Lions playing the Vikings. John Kitna is out for the season with a bad back, so the Lions started their back up Dan Orlovsky to see what he was made of. We found out pretty fast what Orlovsky was made of. Toward the end of the first quarter, the Lions got the ball on their own three yard line. With Orlovsky in the shotgun, he got the ball and ran back out of the end zone without noticing where he was on the field. He ran two yards out of the end zone and still looked for someone to throw the ball to. Jared Allen of the Vikings was chasing him, gave up when he couldn’t stop laughing, because Orlovsky had no idea what was going on. The Vikings got the safety, and the two points couldn’t have helped more. The Lions lost 12-10. Typical Lions football. I hope Orlovsky starts for the rest of the season so NFL fans can get some comic relief. |