The Sunday Blog, Week Two

By
Pat Dooley
-
11
403

Some people were downright angry last week when I left Baylor out of the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Top 25.

Baylor was so angry the school decided to hold up SEC expansion.

The Bears are in this week. So calm down. And concentrate instead on sending good thoughts to Minnesota and the Gophers coach Jerry Kill. It’s a lot more important that he recover than the NRFPT Top 25 does.

NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME
TOP 25 POLL

1. Alabama: Penn State game was almost a duplicate of last year’s.

2. LSU: Quick turnaround to play Thursday at Mississippi State.

3. Oklahoma: Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, oh, sorry.

4. Stanford: Two things Duke safety Lee Butler has going for him — he will get a degree from Duke and he pick-sixed Andrew Luck.

5. Boise State: And now we take you to Boise’s next game against, uh, never mind.

6. Oklahoma State: I’d say the Boys are putting up video game numbers but the Sunday Blogs video game never put up these numbers.

7. Florida State: It’s put up or shut up time for the Semis.

8. Wisconsin: The Badgers play defense, too.

9. Nebraska: Huskers drop after uninspiring performance.

10. Oregon: Never play the Ducks after they lose a game.

11. Texas A&M: Be patient, Aggies, be patient.

12. Arkansas: Still two weeks away from a real game for the ‘Backs.

13. South Carolina: Trap game this week for the Gamies — Navy.

14. Michigan State: Sparty has the Irish. Tip: look for turnovers.

15. Virginia Tech: Why do the Hokies always start slowly?

16. Florida: New nickname for Chris Rainey suggested by a reader — “PlayStation.”

17. West Virginia: Dana Holgorson must have given some halftime speech.

18. Arizona State: Let’s see how Devils do away from home.

19. Ohio State: Man, Toledo had a chance at the end, which is all you need to know.

20. South Florida: We’ve seen the Bulls start fast before.

21. Baylor: OK?

22. Auburn: Reluctantly, the Sunday Blog recognizes the luckiest team in America. Bootleg, Dan Mullen, bootleg.

23. Houston: Have you looked at Houston’s schedule? The Coogs could easily run the table.

24. Michigan: Why not?

25. Tennessee: But please, just because the Vols made the NRFPT Top 25 do not play “Rocky Top.”

THE SEC
FOUR-PACK

1. Let me start right now and say that I usually don’t even think about the Heisman Trophy or my vote until late October. Still, “Melvin Ingram for Heisman.” The South Carolina defensive lineman scored on a 68-yard fake punt, a 5-yard fumble return for the winning points and recovered the Georgia onside kick. They say he can do a standing backflip and rise his 267 pounds high enough to dunk a basketball. My friends, the SEC has America’s best athletes. Don’t try to argue.

2. Mark Richt will be fine. Unless he isn’t. Georgia’s schedule is fairly easy the rest of the way and it’s not inconceivable that the Doggies could end up in Atlanta. Or that athletic director Greg McGarity could end up in Atlanta picking up a new coaching candidate at the airport. Georgia’s defense is nothing if not balanced giving up 382 rushing yards and 403 passing yards in two games. Coastal Carolina awaits.

3. Gus Malzahn is showing what an offensive genius he is at Auburn, taking a team that lost so much talent and scoring 83 points in two games. He’s needed them all, too, because Auburn’s defense has allowed 72 points in those two games. You give up 72 points in two home games and you’re 2-0? Auburn makes no sense. And did I mention BOOTLEG! It always works.

4. I picked Central Michigan to beat Kentucky. Central Michigan could have beaten Kentucky, but its coach, Dan Enos, went all Doug Dickey on me and went for a fourth-and-1 on his own 34 with the lead. I still think Kentucky is not very good, especially when I hear Joker Phillips say, “Well, I mean, I don’t consider it a slow start.” He was talking about the first quarter when CMU outgained the mighty ‘Cats 146-27.

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11 COMMENTS

  1. I love this BLOG, PAT and thank you for it!!! Your top 25 sounds good and I agree with Michigan-just for beating the “IRISH”…I also agree with Tennessee…even if their UNI.’S are the UGLIEST shade of ORANGE EVER!
    I love this FLORIDA TEAM and love the way Weiss used what was ‘good in this team’ from last year and make his own version of IT…Trey Burton got it going, AGAIN for FLA when they seem to bog-down! The way Gillislie was UTILIZED as a TIME MGM’T -STARIGHT AT YOU- R.B. THe way this OFFENSE is playing with PRACTICALLY THE SAME PEOPLE from last year is AWESOME!!! Get some more points in the RED-ZONE and we will BE JUST FINE!!! GO GATORS!!!!!!!!!!

  2. Thanks for this blog! I think Richt survives this season, then goes after 2012. He’s got talent on hand, and like Ray Goff long ago is a guy who likes to laud how great his recruits are supposed to be. He would be wise to under-promise and over-deliver. In august 2010 at a family reunion in Atlanta, I told my UGA grad cousin that Richt wasn’t that smart in his coaching decisions and that Steve Spurrier, who he hated, was quite different from the guy he thought Steve to be. About mid-season I got a message from him, that he finally realized how ethical and bright Spurrier is and that Richt isn’t too bright.

  3. Hey Pat, I think your top-25 looks pretty good, but I’m waiting for someone to show a little bit of love to East Carolina. Yes, they are 0-2, but shouldn’t a team crack the top-25 after providing substantial scares to two top-12 teams? All we have to go on right now are two games that they nearly beat top-12 teams. Shouldn’t that warrant some top-25 votes? One week can be a fluke, but 2 is a pattern. If they’re good enough to compete with the big boys, they should be good enough to be ranked with the big boys.

  5. Dooley:

    I think you’re underestimating FSU. That team is getting loaded, and in all honesty, will probably kick out you-know-what again this year. Next year, it’s on, but this year I can see them embarrassing us again. However, I think they’ll easily hang with the Okies and maybe pull out the upset. Otherwise, good poll.

  6. All is cyclical. Coach Richt remains best for GEORGIA. Dog’s now are one fine receiver away from semi-dominant….. GATORS are still “stumbly” …Brantley
    is doing well with dump-passes getting an average of 16 yards & thinning the defensive spread enuf to clear a downfield receiver now & then. But he does not pick a defense apart & he’s not a run threat-asset….. JB is about the 8th-
    best SEC QB in passer , 12th-best QB runner. I do not see JB looking-off
    defensive backs,checking-off multiple receivers ? Thru more games will JB
    bust out of the increased sack-attacks surely coming (like Driskel would), won’t JB get more passes batted down or in the air than Driskel? I’m just saying “let’s have 2 prime offenses (Brantley/Driskel), not 1 prime and
    1 secondary?”

  7. Myb prediction for the game against the Vols:
    UF 36
    UT 21
    In my previous blog I said the Gtaors would average 27 points on offense in the SEC this year an give up 21 points. I am revising that.
    The Gators will average 31 points against the SEC and give up 19. Here’s the reason: You have ten receivers who can catch the ball, you have Brantley who is more comfortable in the pro offense, you have a running game with ligtnin’ and thunder in Rainey/DempsGillislee and Burton, and you have an O line that
    is versatile, albeit thin, and can play multi positions.
    On D, I maintain that you have at least 4 All-SEC players and you have an angry Sharif Floyd returning. That can’t be good for the opposition. The secondary is good enough and learning.
    Finally we have a real kicker in Caleb and he is automatic from 50 yeards and in.
    Buckle up your chin straps, we are in for an exciting year!

  9. “You have ten receivers who can catch the ball”

    LMAO is that a typo? Ten receivers? Seriously? Have ten different players _total_ even caught a pass for UF this season?

    Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now…

  10. Should have said 10 different players. I’m sure the RB’s are included in that.
    .
    We’ve seen Rainey, Burton and and Gilleslie catch the ball, and Demps is getting the hang of it. Throw in Thompson (sometimes), Hammond, Dunbar, Debose, Reed, and Hines. Could include Leonard and Christian.

    So yeah, we have 10 or so we can throw to. Are they all game breakers? Nah. But a good scheme can get a guy open and these guys are good enough to catch a pass when wide open. If one or two can go up and get the ball in traffic, then you are all set.