By: Brandon Phillips
Happy Monday peeps, and as you know I frown upon "Aww it's Monday," guy so don't be that guy! Let’s get started at the Top Gators vs Gator Bait (ie former Tennessee Vols) I think this was the game everyone was looking to, interesting it fell at 2:30 on Saturday but we’ll take it. Vegas said Florida by 29.5, a few of my Gator friends said 88.5 and at the end of the day, thanks to 2 Tebow turnovers, we were left with 23-13 (YUCK)! Had a chance to listen to the UT postgame show and you would have thought they won the game (I think they made rings). I can’t fully hate on the moral victory, Lord knows I played that card last week following WKU vs S. Florida, I guess the distinction would be WKU has been IA for all of 3 games and UT houses a BCS Championship Trophy, but perhaps I am blinded by Orange hate.
Moral victories aside Kiffin’s justification that his verbal diarrhea all summer had worked in removing pressure from his players is BS, UT’s recent record against Florida and their 7th grade QB lowered expectations so much that if anything you put pressure on your guys. No one expected you to win that game, good sakes you are unranked playing the #1 team in the country, in the Swamp, with Superman at QB, and a 29.5 point underdog, what pressure could you have possibly had? At this point Kiffinis clown shoes to me, but time will tell if he is Bozo or Krusty!
Other quick hitters, USC ran into their Achilles heal and lost yet another PAC 10 road game to a team they should probably beat by 2 scores or more. How great of a coach would Ty Willingham be if he could coach up his own players the way those who follow him do? Just weird. Either way I don’t think it’s coincidence that another former USC assistant, Steve Sarkisian, came in to this Washington program, kept his mouth shut, worked hard, and got his boys to do what Kiffin’s couldn’t.
The BCS probably sent out Thank You cards and $100 Itunes gift cards today to every coach and player at Florida St. and Oregon after knocking the Cougars and Utes out of the BCS picture and saving the Bull Crap Series a lot of headache. A big win for the Ducks ending Utah ending the nation’s longest winning streak, perhaps Legarrette Blount should punch one player from Boise St. in the face every two weeks to keep the momentum.
On the NFL side the Bengals, Raiders, and Bills impressed the hell out of me coming back from terrible, terrible, and did I say terrible losses last week and getting big W’s this week. The Jets talked smack then smacked the Patriots right in the mouth so hard it knocked Rodney Harrison out of his broadcast seat and caused a domino effect as he knocked into Tony Dungy who then knocked into the other 175 ‘analysts’ at NBC. Tonight big MNF game as the Colts look to take a commanding lead in the AFC South and the Dolphins look to avoid the NFL’s version of “The Red Ring of Death,” an 0-2 start. Vegas likes the Colts by 4.
Lastly my Hilltoppers, my poor, poor Hilltoppers. Following WKU’s 28-7 loss to IAA Central Arkansas Coach Elson is catching it from the Topper faithful. Maybe you can defend a trouncing to the Vols, and claim a moral victory against S. Florida (that’s what Kiffin tells me) but Central Arkansas? I don’t think you can spin this one, and if the Tops don’t fix some things, and fix them fast, things are going to get ugly. On a side bar we did celebrate the 1-year anniversary of WKU’s last victory at our house on Sunday, so at least it was a reason to party!
