Kickoff: Obviously, Mike Gundy’s rant has raised some questions. Those questions are basically aimed straight at the disconnect between the media, public, and coaches.
The opinions of the media people are mostly the same—criticize Gundy for not being professional, hands-off with regards to Jenni Carlson, the writer of the article. This stance is obviously ridiculous for multiple reasons.
Carlson had no right to question Reid’s masculinity. The article wouldn’t necessarily be such a huge issue if she left the chicken thing out. There’s no reason for Carlson to drag Reid’s family in this and accuse his mother of “coddling” him. Journalism ethics 101: Don’t attack amateurs; if you do go after someone, go after famous people in a fair manner. It’s really not that difficult to comprehend.
Gundy was also a little guilty himself. As much as many out in the public who have a general disdain for the media want to ignore this, there’s no excuse for Gundy whine like that in public; he’s also a professional football coach.
But it really is time to move on. Gundy was right to stand up for his player, but his argument had some holes in it. Obviously, most people happen to agree with Gundy (yours truly). He just could’ve handled it better.
The Games….:
1. West Virginia @ South Florida (8:00 PM ET, ESPN2)
Few Friday night games get as much pub as this has gotten over the last few weeks. As you might have noticed, USF defeated West Virginia last season in one of the surprises of the year from 2006. The Bulls’ speedy defense has the potential to cause some problems for West Virginia. As you might have noticed, West Virginia has Pat White and Steve Slaton.
As for USF’s defense, White had a bad habit of wiping his hands on his towel when West Virginia decided to run. USF read this like a book and swarmed to the defense. Surely, Pat White and the coaching staff have stopped this habit.
The Bulls have the 7th ranked defense in the nation, but it won’t be enough to contain White and Slaton. West Virginia wins.
2. Cal @ Oregon (3:30 PM ET, ABC)
Oregon is the hot team coming into this game. Cal must head on the road to take on the Ducks in what should be a wild scoring affair.
California comes in with Nate Longshore, Justin Forsett, DeSean Jackson, and the nation’s 15th ranked scoring offense. Oregon, on the other hand, has Dennis Dixon who’s completed close to 70% of his passes. He is also without an interception so far. This loser will probably be eliminated from being the team to be a legitimate chaser of USC.
Oregon’s defense has been bending far too much and they haven’t exactly been all that impressive. Although they haven’t been broken so far, so that’s a good sign. Cal’s offense will explode in this game as DeSean Jackson opens it up with a big play. Expect the Golden Bears to take it.
3. Kansas State @ Texas (3:30 PM ET, ABC)
The Wildcats won last season in a game where Texas played absolutely no defense. That upset came from nowhere, but they assuredly have the eyes of Texas upon them.
Kansas State has an excellent shot if Josh Freeman can be efficient. The UT pass D has struggled ever since last season. So far, the Longhorns have disposed of Arkansas State, TCU, UCF, and Rice, none of which throw the ball all that well. Yet they find themselves ranked 59th right now in that department. That spells doom.
Ultimately, the talent of Texas will wake up and play to its potential like it did against Rice. Kansas State is still iffier defensively considering they played an awful Auburn offense, San Jose State, and Missouri State. Texas should win.
4. Michigan State @ Wisconsin (3:30 PM ET, ABC)
Are the Spartans for real? They haven’t really defeated anyone worth noting in Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Bowling Green, and UAB. This is their first real challenge and they just might come out of Camp Randall with a win if the Badgers don’t wake up.
We’ve seen Wisconsin struggle with The Citadel and UNLV over the past few weeks and it has raised some questions about the poll rankings of Wisconsin. But both the ground games have been very effective with Wisconsin ranking 29th for about 203 yards on the ground and Sparty is ranked 31st with about 201 yards a game.
The key for MSU is to get Hoyer making Mike Teel-esque throws. What that means is being capable of moving the chains on 3rd down, keeping control of the football, and making one or two big plays through the air when he has to. Even so, expect P.J. Hill to have about 120 yards on the ground as the Badgers win.
5. Maryland @ Rutgers (3:30 PM ET, ABC)
How long can the Scarlet Knights keep this up? Probably a more suited questions, how long will it be before people keep calling Rutgers victories “upsets”? Maryland is coming off a bad loss to Wake Forest and this game will be crucial for rebounding.
The big story here is Maryland’s run defense. Right now (mainly due to playing West Virginia), the Terps have the nation’s 70th ranked run defense. This will obviously make for some big issues with regards to facing Ray Rice.
This actually does have the potential to be a good game, but Rutgers will win.
Part 2 will be coming tomorrow……
