Cup O' Joe - Week 1, 2006
Cup O' Joe
2006 Week 1 Recap
by Joe Simpson
We're one week into the new season, and already it's filled with surprise. The low-majors...Troy and Tulsa, namely...are already taking down some of the big guns of college football. Meanwhile, we have another Songin story, and lo and behold, it's not that far away from the first one. Let's take a look at the week that was:
Joe Simpson's Top Ten
1. Ohio State (1-0, 1 LW) - Buckeyes don't break sweat in tune-up for trip to Austin.
2. Georgia (1-0, 2) - Artrell Pierson (382 yards passing, 3 TD) showing he's the real deal.
3. Florida State (1-0, 3) - Defense looks superb, but three turnovers does not.
4. Michigan (1-0, 8) - Beware: Hendrickson rings up 140 yards, 80 on one carry.
5. Oklahoma (1-0, 6) - Sooners demolish UTEP, hold Ramon Shipp to 48 yards.
6. Penn State (0-0, 7) - Open up season vs NC State this week.
7. Texas (1-0, 9) - Longhorns insist their ready for Buckeyes this week.
8. Notre Dame (1-0, NR) - Surprisingly easy win over Trojans launches them into poll.
9. Auburn (0-1, 5) - They played Michigan tough, pulled to within 20-14 late in 4th.
10. USC (0-1, 4) - Spurrier getting injured (again) has to raise concern in Pasadena.
Rising stock: Notre Dame. They knocked off a USC team that has loads of talent, and they did it with ease. They do have Colorado, Purdue, and Michigan still on the schedule...but, when those coaches look at this tape, and see this kind of offensive attack...how will they gameplan for it? The Irish are back, ladies and gentlemen.
Stock falling: LSU. They were supposed to get back into the title picture. They were supposed to contend with Georgia, with Florida...and what happens? They lose to an Oregon team that isn't expected to do much of anything this year. And Oregon made it look easy. LSU managed just 70 yards rushing, and 242 yards total, while giving up 509 yards to the Ducks and QB Buck Allen. There are problems in Cajun Country, and they have to figure out the solution...fast.
Game Balls
Ty Sellers, RB, Notre Dame - 23 carries, 209 yards, 3 TD (1 receiving) vs USC. Sellers ran all over the Trojan defense, paving the way for freshman Bret Baniewicz to do the same (117 yards on 12 carries). If these two are going to do this all season (over nine yards a carry), nobody will stop them.
Hines Stingley, QB, Georgia Tech - 22-33, 416 yards, 6 TD, INT vs La Tech. Stingley isn't the answer at quarterback for the Yellow Jackets this year. But if he can play like this every week...heck, even 2/3 of this kind of productivity will be just fine for GT fans.
Dokie Gash, QB, Air Force - 28-36, 419 yards, 4 TD vs Army. Gash IS Air Force this year, and he proved his abilities in completing 77% of his passes against the Cadets. I normally don't give out two QB game balls, but he deserved it for this one.
Shayne Gabriel, RB, Texas Tech - 26 carries, 290 yards, 3 TD vs North Texas. Another case of duplicity, but Gabriel's efforts earned him a game ball. He rushed for 11.15 yards a carry against NoTx, which is impressive against ANY defense at this level.
Dameyune Tracey, WR, Miss State - 9 catches, 168 yards, TD vs Virginia. Solid effort against a team that, while is on its way down, can still hurt you.
Norris Barkum, ILB, San Jose State - 16 tackles (14 solo), 2 sacks, 3 stuffs vs VT. In spite of his team's inability to stop the Hokies (46-0), Barkum was superhuman, putting up great numbers against a very good team. He already matched his sack total of 2005 in this game.
Ode Biakabutuka, ILB, East Carolina - 17 tackles (12 solo), sack, stuff, hurry vs UGA. Ode is a guy who just overachieves. He has never been blessed with talent. But his motor is always going; he somehow managed nine sacks last season, and is already starting out of the gate this year, doing all he could to stop Georgia. The Bulldogs still scored 62 on the Pirates, but his efforts cannot be overlooked.
Madre Hyatt, ILB, Northern Illinois - 13 tackles, stuff, 3 INT vs Hawaii. Another amazing effort in a losing cause. Hyatt did everything he could to keep his team afloat. But no offense led to a 28-3 loss. Nevertheless, Hyatt registered double-digit tackles and three interceptions.
Alge Fitzgerland, PR, Kansas - 3 returns, 158 yards, 2 TD vs Syracuse. Fitzgerland put up the first two touchdowns of the game, on back-to-back returns. He took one 90 yards with 4:33 left in the first, and again on a 69-yard return with 3:04 left in the opening quarter. Once Syracuse stopped him from taking it to the house, they had very little issues in a 37-23 victory over the Jayhawks.
Akbar Lachey, K, Ohio State - 6-6 FG, Long 58, 19 points vs Akron. His teammates scored one touchdown. He did all the rest, including launching one from 58 yards. That will be in the back of OSU coaches later this season, guaranteed.
(There will be fewer game balls given out in the future. I swear.)
Lessons learned:
Notre Dame can run the ball: Ty Sellers and Bret Baniewicz are going to be a force this year. Sellers pushed for 209 yards, and Baniewicz for 117, against a tough USC defense. Baniewicz, the younger brother of former Florida State star Wes, will be asked to do a lot for the Irish this year. We learned, last week, that he can handle about 1/3 of the carries, and be very productive. Damian Bland was also utilized very well, throwing only sixteen times, but completing ten for 129 yards and a pair of touchdowns. If this is how Notre Dame is going to play, there may not be a team out there that can stop them from doing it.
USC still needs work: Yes, I still think USC is going to win it all. They got off to a very bad start last year, then got hot. It's very tough to open up against Notre Dame, especially when you're still young and putting together some new pieces on defense. But the Trojans only got to Bland for one sack, and only hurried him once. They did get into the backfield for five stuffs, but nobody was consistent with it. They never even came close to forcing a turnover. The defense was generally passive against the Irish, seemingly trying to implement a bend-but-don't-break scheme. It didn't work. For Stacy Bond and company it's now back to the drawing board.
LSU...Loser State?: No, not quite. But 32-20 to Oregon? Oregon never traied in this game. They controlled it throughout, putting up 509 yards of offense, and holding the Tigers to 242 total yards. Ahman Meade's replacement, senior Neill Kaesviharn, rushed for only 52 yards on 19 carries against the Ducks. That isn't going to fly, and everyone in Baton Rouge knows it. The defense is also severely broken, though they did get four sacks against Oregon's line. But they never truly stopped Oregon from scoring, even field goals. They're going to have to force more than four punts against teams if they want to be more successful. The jury is still out on whether or not they're going to be a national player. After this game, it's easy to say "No way". But I think they can still contend for the SEC title, and possibly more. However, it's going to take more from the offense to do it, especially with high-octane teams like Georgia and Florida looming on their schedule.
Oregon...a contender?: I think this was an aberration, to be honest. I don't think Oregon's receivers can keep making their quarterbacks looking this good. Buck Allen and Rueben Lawson can't sustain this kind of play every week. They just can't. And sophomore RJ Vanover has to be better than his 22 carry, 68 yard performance against the Tigers. The defense didn't force any turnovers, and while they did force five sacks, a lot of LSU's issues were just chemistry. As much as I was underwhelmed by LSU, I was not overwhelmed by Oregon's performance. This is a team that, by midseason, may only have one loss (that being to USC). Beating LSU in Baton Rouge is a major accomplishment, and nothing should be taken away from them for that. They will probably be 4-0 going into the game against Southern Cal (Virginia is a toss-up, but that's a team that's on the way down). The USC game will be the biggest game in this program's recent history...it's a statement game. Yes, I'm looking that far ahead and making that claim; the reason is, this team just knocked off a SEC power, and they don't have much of a challenge between now and that game. But if they come out and lay an egg against the Trojans, their recruiting may suffer far more than the gain they got from this win. If they beat the Trojans, they're suddenly the favorite to win the Pac-10, regardless of Cal, Washington State, and Oregon State. Do I think that'll happen? It's too early to say, especially with the two teams coming out of Week 1 with two very different results. But I don't think Oregon is as good as 32-20 over LSU indicates.
Invasion of the Mid-Majors: Troy is good. We knew that. But good enough to beat Oregon State? In Corvallis? Troy was completely outplayed, offensively. But their defense forced three turnovers. Oregon State missed two field goals. Oregon State also couldn't get anything going in the return game, being held to just 80 yards on all of their returns. Troy really made a statement in this game. They controlled throughout, and closed out the Beavers late. They will turn around and lose their next game (Texas)...but this team is good enough to get a win in the playoffs. I believe in the Trojans of Troy.
As far as Tulsa knocking off Colorado, I'm not sure what ot think of that. I think Colorado just couldn't find their way into the end zone against the Golden Hurricane. That's credit to Tulsa more than it is discredit to the Buffaloes, as their defense did a solid job. They got an interception, sacked Skeets Cannady three times, and threw enough different looks at him to force a 17-for-27 day out of him. They did give up 177 yards to Jumbo Gilmore, but they kept him from making a game-breaking play. On offense, Tulsa QB Wilson Galbraith was 22-of-32 for 286 and 3 TD (and an INT). He threw to six different targets, and two different receivers--Raynoch Pitts and Ahman Tinoisamoa--had over 100 yards. If Tulsa can keep spreading the wealth, we may be looking at a dark horse in CUSA.
Granted, these were the only two mid-majors to score wins over big programs this week. But don't expect this trend to curb, no no...this may be the year of the Mid-Major. There are a few of them that can contend deep into the playoffs; notably, Fresno State comes to mind. But this week showed that even the smaller ones can go into big-time places and come out with the win. This may be the year that the mids level the playing field.
This Year's Marion Songin is...: It's too early to determine that. Yes, Shayne Gabriel of Texas Tech rushed for 290 yards on 26 carries. And he had a great year last year, rushing for 1253 yards and 10 touchdowns. But his Week 1 effort was against North Texas. That's not exactly top competition. Ty Sellers' effort against USC was far more impressive. Five running backs rushed for over 200 yards last week, and all of them are elite backs. Angelo Pagliei is a truck for Arizona State at 5'11, 232 pounds; Florida's Winslow Ferrario is the best junior back in the nation...and the other two backs were Deveren Liske and Sellers. Still, it's too early to proclaim any of these backs this year's Songin.
2006 Week 1 Recap
by Joe Simpson
We're one week into the new season, and already it's filled with surprise. The low-majors...Troy and Tulsa, namely...are already taking down some of the big guns of college football. Meanwhile, we have another Songin story, and lo and behold, it's not that far away from the first one. Let's take a look at the week that was:
Joe Simpson's Top Ten
1. Ohio State (1-0, 1 LW) - Buckeyes don't break sweat in tune-up for trip to Austin.
2. Georgia (1-0, 2) - Artrell Pierson (382 yards passing, 3 TD) showing he's the real deal.
3. Florida State (1-0, 3) - Defense looks superb, but three turnovers does not.
4. Michigan (1-0, 8) - Beware: Hendrickson rings up 140 yards, 80 on one carry.
5. Oklahoma (1-0, 6) - Sooners demolish UTEP, hold Ramon Shipp to 48 yards.
6. Penn State (0-0, 7) - Open up season vs NC State this week.
7. Texas (1-0, 9) - Longhorns insist their ready for Buckeyes this week.
8. Notre Dame (1-0, NR) - Surprisingly easy win over Trojans launches them into poll.
9. Auburn (0-1, 5) - They played Michigan tough, pulled to within 20-14 late in 4th.
10. USC (0-1, 4) - Spurrier getting injured (again) has to raise concern in Pasadena.
Rising stock: Notre Dame. They knocked off a USC team that has loads of talent, and they did it with ease. They do have Colorado, Purdue, and Michigan still on the schedule...but, when those coaches look at this tape, and see this kind of offensive attack...how will they gameplan for it? The Irish are back, ladies and gentlemen.
Stock falling: LSU. They were supposed to get back into the title picture. They were supposed to contend with Georgia, with Florida...and what happens? They lose to an Oregon team that isn't expected to do much of anything this year. And Oregon made it look easy. LSU managed just 70 yards rushing, and 242 yards total, while giving up 509 yards to the Ducks and QB Buck Allen. There are problems in Cajun Country, and they have to figure out the solution...fast.
Game Balls
Ty Sellers, RB, Notre Dame - 23 carries, 209 yards, 3 TD (1 receiving) vs USC. Sellers ran all over the Trojan defense, paving the way for freshman Bret Baniewicz to do the same (117 yards on 12 carries). If these two are going to do this all season (over nine yards a carry), nobody will stop them.
Hines Stingley, QB, Georgia Tech - 22-33, 416 yards, 6 TD, INT vs La Tech. Stingley isn't the answer at quarterback for the Yellow Jackets this year. But if he can play like this every week...heck, even 2/3 of this kind of productivity will be just fine for GT fans.
Dokie Gash, QB, Air Force - 28-36, 419 yards, 4 TD vs Army. Gash IS Air Force this year, and he proved his abilities in completing 77% of his passes against the Cadets. I normally don't give out two QB game balls, but he deserved it for this one.
Shayne Gabriel, RB, Texas Tech - 26 carries, 290 yards, 3 TD vs North Texas. Another case of duplicity, but Gabriel's efforts earned him a game ball. He rushed for 11.15 yards a carry against NoTx, which is impressive against ANY defense at this level.
Dameyune Tracey, WR, Miss State - 9 catches, 168 yards, TD vs Virginia. Solid effort against a team that, while is on its way down, can still hurt you.
Norris Barkum, ILB, San Jose State - 16 tackles (14 solo), 2 sacks, 3 stuffs vs VT. In spite of his team's inability to stop the Hokies (46-0), Barkum was superhuman, putting up great numbers against a very good team. He already matched his sack total of 2005 in this game.
Ode Biakabutuka, ILB, East Carolina - 17 tackles (12 solo), sack, stuff, hurry vs UGA. Ode is a guy who just overachieves. He has never been blessed with talent. But his motor is always going; he somehow managed nine sacks last season, and is already starting out of the gate this year, doing all he could to stop Georgia. The Bulldogs still scored 62 on the Pirates, but his efforts cannot be overlooked.
Madre Hyatt, ILB, Northern Illinois - 13 tackles, stuff, 3 INT vs Hawaii. Another amazing effort in a losing cause. Hyatt did everything he could to keep his team afloat. But no offense led to a 28-3 loss. Nevertheless, Hyatt registered double-digit tackles and three interceptions.
Alge Fitzgerland, PR, Kansas - 3 returns, 158 yards, 2 TD vs Syracuse. Fitzgerland put up the first two touchdowns of the game, on back-to-back returns. He took one 90 yards with 4:33 left in the first, and again on a 69-yard return with 3:04 left in the opening quarter. Once Syracuse stopped him from taking it to the house, they had very little issues in a 37-23 victory over the Jayhawks.
Akbar Lachey, K, Ohio State - 6-6 FG, Long 58, 19 points vs Akron. His teammates scored one touchdown. He did all the rest, including launching one from 58 yards. That will be in the back of OSU coaches later this season, guaranteed.
(There will be fewer game balls given out in the future. I swear.)
Lessons learned:
Notre Dame can run the ball: Ty Sellers and Bret Baniewicz are going to be a force this year. Sellers pushed for 209 yards, and Baniewicz for 117, against a tough USC defense. Baniewicz, the younger brother of former Florida State star Wes, will be asked to do a lot for the Irish this year. We learned, last week, that he can handle about 1/3 of the carries, and be very productive. Damian Bland was also utilized very well, throwing only sixteen times, but completing ten for 129 yards and a pair of touchdowns. If this is how Notre Dame is going to play, there may not be a team out there that can stop them from doing it.
USC still needs work: Yes, I still think USC is going to win it all. They got off to a very bad start last year, then got hot. It's very tough to open up against Notre Dame, especially when you're still young and putting together some new pieces on defense. But the Trojans only got to Bland for one sack, and only hurried him once. They did get into the backfield for five stuffs, but nobody was consistent with it. They never even came close to forcing a turnover. The defense was generally passive against the Irish, seemingly trying to implement a bend-but-don't-break scheme. It didn't work. For Stacy Bond and company it's now back to the drawing board.
LSU...Loser State?: No, not quite. But 32-20 to Oregon? Oregon never traied in this game. They controlled it throughout, putting up 509 yards of offense, and holding the Tigers to 242 total yards. Ahman Meade's replacement, senior Neill Kaesviharn, rushed for only 52 yards on 19 carries against the Ducks. That isn't going to fly, and everyone in Baton Rouge knows it. The defense is also severely broken, though they did get four sacks against Oregon's line. But they never truly stopped Oregon from scoring, even field goals. They're going to have to force more than four punts against teams if they want to be more successful. The jury is still out on whether or not they're going to be a national player. After this game, it's easy to say "No way". But I think they can still contend for the SEC title, and possibly more. However, it's going to take more from the offense to do it, especially with high-octane teams like Georgia and Florida looming on their schedule.
Oregon...a contender?: I think this was an aberration, to be honest. I don't think Oregon's receivers can keep making their quarterbacks looking this good. Buck Allen and Rueben Lawson can't sustain this kind of play every week. They just can't. And sophomore RJ Vanover has to be better than his 22 carry, 68 yard performance against the Tigers. The defense didn't force any turnovers, and while they did force five sacks, a lot of LSU's issues were just chemistry. As much as I was underwhelmed by LSU, I was not overwhelmed by Oregon's performance. This is a team that, by midseason, may only have one loss (that being to USC). Beating LSU in Baton Rouge is a major accomplishment, and nothing should be taken away from them for that. They will probably be 4-0 going into the game against Southern Cal (Virginia is a toss-up, but that's a team that's on the way down). The USC game will be the biggest game in this program's recent history...it's a statement game. Yes, I'm looking that far ahead and making that claim; the reason is, this team just knocked off a SEC power, and they don't have much of a challenge between now and that game. But if they come out and lay an egg against the Trojans, their recruiting may suffer far more than the gain they got from this win. If they beat the Trojans, they're suddenly the favorite to win the Pac-10, regardless of Cal, Washington State, and Oregon State. Do I think that'll happen? It's too early to say, especially with the two teams coming out of Week 1 with two very different results. But I don't think Oregon is as good as 32-20 over LSU indicates.
Invasion of the Mid-Majors: Troy is good. We knew that. But good enough to beat Oregon State? In Corvallis? Troy was completely outplayed, offensively. But their defense forced three turnovers. Oregon State missed two field goals. Oregon State also couldn't get anything going in the return game, being held to just 80 yards on all of their returns. Troy really made a statement in this game. They controlled throughout, and closed out the Beavers late. They will turn around and lose their next game (Texas)...but this team is good enough to get a win in the playoffs. I believe in the Trojans of Troy.
As far as Tulsa knocking off Colorado, I'm not sure what ot think of that. I think Colorado just couldn't find their way into the end zone against the Golden Hurricane. That's credit to Tulsa more than it is discredit to the Buffaloes, as their defense did a solid job. They got an interception, sacked Skeets Cannady three times, and threw enough different looks at him to force a 17-for-27 day out of him. They did give up 177 yards to Jumbo Gilmore, but they kept him from making a game-breaking play. On offense, Tulsa QB Wilson Galbraith was 22-of-32 for 286 and 3 TD (and an INT). He threw to six different targets, and two different receivers--Raynoch Pitts and Ahman Tinoisamoa--had over 100 yards. If Tulsa can keep spreading the wealth, we may be looking at a dark horse in CUSA.
Granted, these were the only two mid-majors to score wins over big programs this week. But don't expect this trend to curb, no no...this may be the year of the Mid-Major. There are a few of them that can contend deep into the playoffs; notably, Fresno State comes to mind. But this week showed that even the smaller ones can go into big-time places and come out with the win. This may be the year that the mids level the playing field.
This Year's Marion Songin is...: It's too early to determine that. Yes, Shayne Gabriel of Texas Tech rushed for 290 yards on 26 carries. And he had a great year last year, rushing for 1253 yards and 10 touchdowns. But his Week 1 effort was against North Texas. That's not exactly top competition. Ty Sellers' effort against USC was far more impressive. Five running backs rushed for over 200 yards last week, and all of them are elite backs. Angelo Pagliei is a truck for Arizona State at 5'11, 232 pounds; Florida's Winslow Ferrario is the best junior back in the nation...and the other two backs were Deveren Liske and Sellers. Still, it's too early to proclaim any of these backs this year's Songin.
posted by The Incoherent | 11:17 AM
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