Okay, so maybe Wednesday is not the best day to choose for a football weekend wrap-up. Gimmee a break, it has been a difficult week. Here are my various and random and probably incorrect thoughts…
It’s been about four days now, and I still can’t believe how bad the Beloved Cougar-Hated Buffalo game was on Saturday. Both defenses played pretty well. It’s difficult not to be impressed with how much the Cougs improved against the run after the first week. This defense, while probably not PAC-10 championship caliber yet, has shown enough. They can win with this version of the Palouse Posse. The offense is another story entirely. For all the wrath focused on the quarterback quandary, it’s easy to forget that nothing else worked either. The Cougars can’t run, they can’t catch, and the offensive line has looked hopeless against speed rushers and blitz packages. Of course, it’s the QB mess that everyone is focusing on, and I can’t blame them for that. Swogger started well, but his passes kept being dropped. At that point, he lost whatever confidence he had and started firing passes in every direction. Brink was not any better at first, but he did move the team a little. He also made a couple crushing rookie mistakes. If it were up to me, I’d stick with Swogger, mostly because I think he’ll be the better QB in the long run. I hope Levenseller and Doba don’t play the 2-QB game. Choose one of them and let them get needed experience.
Other, Non-Cougar bits from college football…
-The Pacific Northwest looks like it could be in for a rough year. Oregon loses at home to Indiana, and Boise State waxes Oregon State.
-Speaking of rough, how about the mighty Big-12? Missouri loses to Troy (Troy??), KFresno State doubles up K-States, and Nebraska loses to Southern Miss at home. What in the name of Tom Osborne is going on here?
-Florida State loses a heartbreaker to Miami… again. Not much to say about that debacle, except to mention that Chris Rix should finish his career as a four-year starter, and hasn’t gotten any better at all. Blame Rix all you want, but that is a failure in coaching. Bobby’s youngest son isn’t a good coach, and Rix is proof.
-Well, I’m about to jump off the Rutgers bandwagon. After looking great beating Michigan State, they lose to New Hampshire? By double-digits? What??
Posted by Frinklin at September 15, 2004 06:46 PMWhat's wrong with the Big 12? They're hugely overrated. It's not a very good football conference any more. Nebraska's been skidding for several years. K-State's Charmin-soft schedule concealed a mediocre team. And Mizzou... there's no there there. After Oklahoma and Texas, the conference has nothing.
Posted by: Mediocre Fred at September 15, 2004 06:59 PMI'll have to agree with you there. After Oklahoma and Texas (about half the time) everyone else is pretty lousy. Which hurts me, because I really wanted Mizzou to bust through this year. Pinkel is one hell of a coach, but they just ain't there yet.
Posted by: frinklin at September 15, 2004 07:09 PM