2015 WEEK 2: Survival of the Fit, Only the Strong Survive.
By: Dave Lackford AKA Dave The Barber AKA The #1 Most Wanted Baby Father
"Until my death, my goal's to stay alive, survival of the fit only the strong survive." - HAVOC, Mobb Deep.
College football boasts the most celebrated regular season in all of sports. Unsatisfied, fans around the country rejoiced when a playoff system was finally implemented last season. This is the for the most part, the same fly-over state demographic that contributed the lion's share of votes that twice put George W. Bush in the White House. This type of irrational behavior is to be expected from a country that bought millions of Vanilla Ice records. In a general sense, America is a money waving mob, drunken off excess, that will buy any idea or product if you package and promote it the right way.
Some of us are more discerning than that. We don't like changing tried and true traditions that have stood the test of time. Man is a flawed species. When mankind finally designs a system that for the most part, produces desired results, it should be protected with love and nourishment on one hand and nuclear weapon systems on the other. Any changes to these socially constructed systems should be approached with the trepidation of a heart surgeon performing a triple bypass surgery on his infant daughter. Even if the changes are as routine as a tonsillectomy.
The NCAA held fort against the social outcry for a playoff system for decades. When they were finally swayed to act they did so with meticulous care. Looking for another tried and true system to incorporate with their own, the College Football regular season meshed with the College Basketball Final Four. In theory, this seemed to be a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, people are flawed, and when you give into mob demands, it doesn't placate them, it induces them to pursue anarchy. The next thing you know you're living in the reign of terror and kings, nobleman, and priests end up with their severed heads in buckets.
Last year, Baylor, a team that plays in a conference with no championship game, as well as their Big12 counterparts TCU, found themselves on the outside of the NCAA football playoffs by a slight margin. Both teams only suffered one regular season loss but didn't maker the cut. Three other teams with one loss who played their conference's best opponents at the end of the year got the nod. Art Briles, the head coach of Baylor, a team located in George W. Bush's home state, went on an unsuccessful campaign to get the Bears elected to the playoffs. When they lost the popular vote of the playoff committee's final decision, Art also lost his mind. While his diatribes were openly mocked by people with a healthy sex life such as myself he did have a few points. But in this packaging over content era of American consumerism, his message was lost in his delivery.
While Briles whining and politicking turned us off to his point, it can be argued forcefully that Baylor's only had one loss and defeated its conference's best team, TCU, in a stunning come from behind road victory.
In it's first season of implication, the NCAAF playoff system has already come under fire as a harsh system that promotes inequality for smaller market teams.
People like me, that value the regular season and see it as a 4 month playoff per se, tell Art bristly that it is his conference's fault for not taking the prudent measure of incorporating a conference championship game. These type of end of the year in -conference winner-take-all battles are tried and true ways of determining which teams belong in the national title game. Art Briles, native Texan, sounded like a flaming liberal as he tried to raise the rabble in rebellion of one of our country's long standing traditions.
Because of left wing panty wastes that scream for equality in an unbalanced world, it won't be too long before the 4 team playoff system becomes something resembling the NFL playoffs. In the NFL playoffs a wildcard team with SEVEN regular season losses like the NY Giants, with a milquetoast QB but stout defensive front seven, can win the championship if they reel off a few lucky wins by catching lightning in a bottle. This doesn't render the regular season moot, but it certainly strips it down to the level of marginal importance.
Fortunately, an 8-team playoff is a reality for a future date. For now, we can enjoy the fact that football with championship implications is being played in early September, the second week of the season. Enjoy:
Oregon State at Michigan 8:00 PM ABC
In this week's installment of NCAAF we get to see two teams from across the country play a game that may result in the death of the hopes of their fan base. This type of morbid finality is what the NCAAF regular season provides to the proletariate packed into colosseums and recliners all across the land of the free and home of the brave.
Oregon is fresh off a cupcake victory against E.Washington that saw their defense surrendered 42 points at home. The offense saw their much ballyhooed Junior transfer QB Vernon Adams fall victim to an egregious cheap shot to the head. After staggering around on the turf like Mike Tyson looking for his mouthpiece in Tokyo and leaving the game, Adams is expected to start for the 8:00 kick.
The Ducks offense is powered by pre-season All-American Royce Freeman who ran for 180 yards and 3 TD on 21 carries against E. Washington. With Adams and Freeman make Oregon's up-tempo spread-option attack the most explosive unit in the country. Add 6'5" WR Dwayne Stanford, H-Back Royce Freeman, and Braylon Addison and you have hell on your hands if you're scheming against this squad.
The Spartan's defense is a puzzling unit. They gave up 363 yards through the air last week against W.Michigan but stymied the Broncos running game to 23 yards on 18 carries. Oregon likes to run first to set up the passing game but Michigan State will be hard pressed to stop Oregon's balanced whirlwind attack if they play like they did in week one. They do return seven starters from a unit that averaged 3.23 sacks per game (#12) last year and 6'6" 285 pound Sophomore DT Malik McDowell anchors a vicious defensive line that features Senior DE Shilique Calhoun off the edge. If MSU can stuff the run, forcing Oregon onto long passing situations on 3rd down Vernon Adams may be in for a painful day.
Sparty also boasts one of the top quarterbacks in the Country in Conner Cook. Phil Steele, the god of college football writers, lists Cook as the #2 NFL QB in this draft class and a sure-fire 1st round pick. If he is to live up to that billing he should have no probs picking apart a Duck D that gave up 42 points to E. Washington. MSU also features an exciting bluechip Freshman running back by the name of LJ Scott. The true freshman took 13 handoffs for 77 yards last week and should carve out a larger niche this week.
This is the Marquee game of 2015's second week slate and since it starts at noon you should be sober enough to enjoy it in all its splendor. After both defenses turned in lack luster week one performances (both teams gave up over 350 yards passing) the victor to be is anyone's guess. What is certain however, is that this is a high stakes matchup that may very well end the national title hopes of the loser.
I believe that loser to be Oregon.
MSU 38 - Oregon 35
In this week's installment of NCAAF we get to see two teams from across the country play a game that may result in the death of the hopes of their fan base. This type of morbid finality is what the NCAAF regular season provides to the proletariate packed into colosseums and recliners all across the land of the free and home of the brave.
Oregon is fresh off a cupcake victory against E.Washington that saw their defense surrendered 42 points at home. The offense saw their much ballyhooed Junior transfer QB Vernon Adams fall victim to an egregious cheap shot to the head. After staggering around on the turf like Mike Tyson looking for his mouthpiece in Tokyo and leaving the game, Adams is expected to start for the 8:00 kick.
The Ducks offense is powered by pre-season All-American Royce Freeman who ran for 180 yards and 3 TD on 21 carries against E. Washington. With Adams and Freeman make Oregon's up-tempo spread-option attack the most explosive unit in the country. Add 6'5" WR Dwayne Stanford, H-Back Royce Freeman, and Braylon Addison and you have hell on your hands if you're scheming against this squad.
The Spartan's defense is a puzzling unit. They gave up 363 yards through the air last week against W.Michigan but stymied the Broncos running game to 23 yards on 18 carries. Oregon likes to run first to set up the passing game but Michigan State will be hard pressed to stop Oregon's balanced whirlwind attack if they play like they did in week one. They do return seven starters from a unit that averaged 3.23 sacks per game (#12) last year and 6'6" 285 pound Sophomore DT Malik McDowell anchors a vicious defensive line that features Senior DE Shilique Calhoun off the edge. If MSU can stuff the run, forcing Oregon onto long passing situations on 3rd down Vernon Adams may be in for a painful day.
Sparty also boasts one of the top quarterbacks in the Country in Conner Cook. Phil Steele, the god of college football writers, lists Cook as the #2 NFL QB in this draft class and a sure-fire 1st round pick. If he is to live up to that billing he should have no probs picking apart a Duck D that gave up 42 points to E. Washington. MSU also features an exciting bluechip Freshman running back by the name of LJ Scott. The true freshman took 13 handoffs for 77 yards last week and should carve out a larger niche this week.
This is the Marquee game of 2015's second week slate and since it starts at noon you should be sober enough to enjoy it in all its splendor. After both defenses turned in lack luster week one performances (both teams gave up over 350 yards passing) the victor to be is anyone's guess. What is certain however, is that this is a high stakes matchup that may very well end the national title hopes of the loser.
I believe that loser to be Oregon.
MSU 38 - Oregon 35
LSU at Mississippi State 9:15 PM ESPN
Let the SEC West cannibalization begin. LSU is an old product with a famous name. Miss State is an SEC upstart that has started to see a rise in popularity due to it's recent trend of winning seasons. The best thing that can happen for the ESPN cash cow conference is a tight game that ends in a slim margin of victory. This will have a favorable effect on both program's late season perceptions if they can produce 10 win campaigns. The worst thing that can happen is for LSU to blow Mississippi out or vise versa. I believe the former is more probable than the latter.
Brandon Harris starts at QB for LSU and there is no better time for him to break out than in this game. Hail State only has three returning starters on defense. Last week, they showed they were vulnerable against a Southern Mississippi team that held close to Mississippi State but fell victim to its own mistakes. They gave up 311 yards passing to Nick Mullens and Ito Smith broke a 44 yard run en route to an 8 carry 69 yard game. iIf LSU wants to make its claim that it is finally back to national title contender status they will need a convincing road victory at Davis Wade.
Dan Mullen runs a low risk efficient offense and Dak Prescott is adept at matriculating the ball down the field. While Mississippi State's defense is scary, it is good enough to force stops and let the offense chew clock and put up points. On the other hand, the Tigers' defense ranked 9th in the nation in yards per game last season only returned 6 starters this year and their best player, Safety Jalen Mills is out 4-6 weeks with a fractured fibula.
This game should be a close one but I have the young Tigers' offensive stars Leonard Fournette, Malachi Dupree, and Brandon Harris gelling in this early season revenge game for last years home defeat at the hands of the Bull Dogs.
LSU 27 - MSU 20
Let the SEC West cannibalization begin. LSU is an old product with a famous name. Miss State is an SEC upstart that has started to see a rise in popularity due to it's recent trend of winning seasons. The best thing that can happen for the ESPN cash cow conference is a tight game that ends in a slim margin of victory. This will have a favorable effect on both program's late season perceptions if they can produce 10 win campaigns. The worst thing that can happen is for LSU to blow Mississippi out or vise versa. I believe the former is more probable than the latter.
Brandon Harris starts at QB for LSU and there is no better time for him to break out than in this game. Hail State only has three returning starters on defense. Last week, they showed they were vulnerable against a Southern Mississippi team that held close to Mississippi State but fell victim to its own mistakes. They gave up 311 yards passing to Nick Mullens and Ito Smith broke a 44 yard run en route to an 8 carry 69 yard game. iIf LSU wants to make its claim that it is finally back to national title contender status they will need a convincing road victory at Davis Wade.
Dan Mullen runs a low risk efficient offense and Dak Prescott is adept at matriculating the ball down the field. While Mississippi State's defense is scary, it is good enough to force stops and let the offense chew clock and put up points. On the other hand, the Tigers' defense ranked 9th in the nation in yards per game last season only returned 6 starters this year and their best player, Safety Jalen Mills is out 4-6 weeks with a fractured fibula.
This game should be a close one but I have the young Tigers' offensive stars Leonard Fournette, Malachi Dupree, and Brandon Harris gelling in this early season revenge game for last years home defeat at the hands of the Bull Dogs.
LSU 27 - MSU 20
Oklahoma at Tennessee 6:00PM ESPN
If you were kidnapped and blindfolded in the back of a van, forced to drive through both of these states, and listen to the radio, the only way to distinguish them amidst the endless country music and gospel programs would be the football talk. I have no desire to ever step foot in either of these bible belt communities but I do follow their football programs.
Butch Jones has reeled in two consecutive top 5 recruiting classes and people in Rocky Top are acting like the Tee Martin era has returned. I am not one of those people. While I applaud Jones's recruiting efforts it appears that this team is one year away from being a serious contender. They showed their inconsistency last week giving up pass plays of 45, 45, 38, and 34 yards as well as runs of 31, 18, 20 yards respectively. They did however show the ability to return shots on offense as QB Josh Dobbs ran for 89 yards and a score while chucking 2 TD's and netting 205 yards in the air on 15 of 22 passes while Alvin Kamara rushed 15 times for 144 yards and 2 TD's and Jalen Hurd had 23 carries for 123 yards and 3 scores. This was serious domination by the Vols offensive line against an over-matched MAC defense.
Oklahoma isn't Bowling Green. Oklahoma's star linebacker, Erick Striker, has made sure that Vol's Nation is aware of this fact as he has been jawing all week about how Tennessee and the SEC in general, are overrated. Despite Striker's expert analysis, Tennessee's offensive production last week can't be dismissed lightly. The Tennessee line was nasty and their backs finished runs with brutality. If Oklahoma's ass can't cash the check that Striker's mouth wrote expect to see Tennessee putting up big rushing numbers again this week.
The Boomer Sooners also bring a hellacious running attack into Neyland Stadium. They will be eager to showcase their talents this week as they were mostly shelved last week against a pitiful Akron defense that allowed Sophomore QB Baker Mayfield to connect on 23/33 passes for 388 yards and 3 scores. Even Katy Perry's sidepiece, Trevor Knight, got some mop up duty going 5/9 for 51 yards and a pick.
This game promises to be a shoot out but I wouldn't expect the same type of numbers these squads put up against their MAC opponents. I expect Oklahoma's defense, led by Striker and stellar Junior CB Zack Sanchez to break hearts on Rocky Top this week.
OKLAHOMA 45- TENNESSEE 38
If you were kidnapped and blindfolded in the back of a van, forced to drive through both of these states, and listen to the radio, the only way to distinguish them amidst the endless country music and gospel programs would be the football talk. I have no desire to ever step foot in either of these bible belt communities but I do follow their football programs.
Butch Jones has reeled in two consecutive top 5 recruiting classes and people in Rocky Top are acting like the Tee Martin era has returned. I am not one of those people. While I applaud Jones's recruiting efforts it appears that this team is one year away from being a serious contender. They showed their inconsistency last week giving up pass plays of 45, 45, 38, and 34 yards as well as runs of 31, 18, 20 yards respectively. They did however show the ability to return shots on offense as QB Josh Dobbs ran for 89 yards and a score while chucking 2 TD's and netting 205 yards in the air on 15 of 22 passes while Alvin Kamara rushed 15 times for 144 yards and 2 TD's and Jalen Hurd had 23 carries for 123 yards and 3 scores. This was serious domination by the Vols offensive line against an over-matched MAC defense.
Oklahoma isn't Bowling Green. Oklahoma's star linebacker, Erick Striker, has made sure that Vol's Nation is aware of this fact as he has been jawing all week about how Tennessee and the SEC in general, are overrated. Despite Striker's expert analysis, Tennessee's offensive production last week can't be dismissed lightly. The Tennessee line was nasty and their backs finished runs with brutality. If Oklahoma's ass can't cash the check that Striker's mouth wrote expect to see Tennessee putting up big rushing numbers again this week.
The Boomer Sooners also bring a hellacious running attack into Neyland Stadium. They will be eager to showcase their talents this week as they were mostly shelved last week against a pitiful Akron defense that allowed Sophomore QB Baker Mayfield to connect on 23/33 passes for 388 yards and 3 scores. Even Katy Perry's sidepiece, Trevor Knight, got some mop up duty going 5/9 for 51 yards and a pick.
This game promises to be a shoot out but I wouldn't expect the same type of numbers these squads put up against their MAC opponents. I expect Oklahoma's defense, led by Striker and stellar Junior CB Zack Sanchez to break hearts on Rocky Top this week.
OKLAHOMA 45- TENNESSEE 38
