September
9, 2002
A
WIN IS A WIN
After the past three weeks of college football,
it slowly has dawned on most of us that playing
a 12 game schedule with so much parity in Division
I-A leads the more competent fans and coaches
towards the philosophy that “a win is a
win”. Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis coined
the phrase “Just win baby!” That expression
could not ring any louder this fall. In the end,
when the votes get counted, wins and loses will
be all that matters. In the past, the importance
of scores and opponents, especially this early,
has meant little. Bottom Line: The ole ‘Margin
of Victory’ category needs to be considered
separately from the human vote(s), just like the
computers are now.
I’M
MORE THAN A BIRD, I’M MORE THAN A PLANE
The Miami Hurricanes are more than the defending
National Champion with NFL talent. They are also
a team full of competent coaching. Run, throw,
block, tackle…pick your poison and Miami
will demonstrate how to outplay seemingly any
opponent. After watching ex-Hurricane Coach Butch
Davis lose another home opener with the Cleveland
Browns (in what may go down as the most bizarre
helmet tossing event in NFL history, no offense
to Kyle Turley), one cannot help but wonder if
it wasn’t all for the best in Coral Gables.
Miami will still be tested this fall, but anyone
who still fails to see the true number one seed
in the polls is either blind or heavily biased.
THE
LUCK OF THE IRISH
No, Tyrone Willingham did not make a deal with
the devil. The Purdue faithful may think so, however,
as the Irish managed to score 24 points in a victory
over the Boilermakers without scoring another
offensive TD for the second straight weekend.
Two fumbles and an INT returned for a TD could
not have been better gift-wrapped. Has anyone
ever said a win is a win?
STEVE
SPURRIER vs. RON ZOOK
So one of the biggest preseason questions, concerning
the post-Steve Spurrier era in Gainesville, was
answered this past Saturday. As it turns out,
Rex Grossman doesn’t have the receivers,
doesn’t have Spurrier’s timing-pattern
offense, and the Gators continue to have a porous
defense. Florida receivers caught only 10 passes
(yes that is correct) and Rex Grossman was 19
for 45. If orange and blue fans have not quite
grasped the reality that Spurrier has moved on,
they have now. The Gators did show the ability
to move the ball early in the game, only to come
up empty time and time again. Florida actually
finished with more first downs than Miami. Before
jumping to premature conclusions, a comparison
of this game to the last Miami/Florida showdown
(in the Sugar Bowl on January 2, 2001) shows practically
the same storyline with the same Rex Grossman
at the helm (see stats below). Possibly Coach
Spurrier saw a trend that most did not. One cannot
help but wonder what he was thinking while watching
this game from his new confines in the nation’s
capital.
FLORIDA
vs. MIAMI: SPURRIER vs. ZOOK
2001
SUGAR BOWL – MIAMI 37 FLORIDA
20 |
|
MIAMI |
FLORIDA |
First
Downs |
28 |
25 |
Rushed-yards |
43-184 |
20-140 |
Passing
yards |
270 |
312 |
Sacked-yards
lost |
1-8 |
1-9 |
Return
yards |
148 |
9 |
Passes |
22-40-2 |
24-51-3 |
Punts |
2-44.0 |
5-46.8 |
Fumbles-lost |
0-0 |
0-0 |
Penalties-yards |
11-109 |
9-79 |
Time
of possession |
35:19 |
24:41 |
2002
– MIAMI 41
FLORIDA 16 |
|
MIAMI |
FLORIDA |
First
Downs |
25 |
27 |
Rushed-yards |
46-306 |
36-163 |
Passing
yards |
202 |
191 |
Sacked-yards
lost |
1-5 |
1-4 |
Return
yards |
145 |
58 |
Passes |
16-33-3 |
19-45-2 |
Punts |
7-36.1 |
9-39.6 |
Fumbles-lost |
1-0 |
1-0 |
Penalties-yards |
14-134 |
6-48 |
Time
of possession |
31:33 |
28:27 |
EL
PASO MISMATCH
This past Saturday’s 77-point barrage laid
on the UTEP Miners by the Kentucky offense revealed
a mismatch from the start. Wildcat quarterback
Jared Lorenzen (6-4, 275 pounds on a light day)
is ten plus pounds heavier than any one of the
Miners DLmen. Imagine the nightmare these UTEP
DEs must have gone through when they saw Lorenzen
roll down the line of scrimmage at them.
THE
PACK IS BACK?
The NC State program, under the direction of junior
QB Philip Rivers, is off to a big 3-0 start and
has driven in some heavy top 25 weight. Talk about
Rivers being amongst the leading Heisman candidates
this early in the season has been heard mumbled
softly across the nation. While the accolades
may start to flow, we are not going to hide the
fact that NC State may possess one of the worst
schedules in ACC history. Two Division I-AA opponents
in East Tennessee State and UMass dot the list,
which are sandwiched in between match-ups with
such huge names as Navy, New Mexico, and Duke.
It is our conclusion that many of the Raleigh
season ticket holders have had the wool pulled
over their eyes. Carter-Finley Stadium has appropriately
been renamed Cupcake Coliseum.
CONTRAST
OF THE WEEK
TOBACCO ROAD POWERHOUSES – Duke, East Carolina,
UNC, Wake Forest
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