SB Nation - Kent St. Golden Flashes

BC Set To Open 2010 Season Against ...

Brian @ BCI — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:54:50 -0000

More photos » by Andy Carpenean - AP

3 months ago: Wyoming free safety Chris Pprosinski (24) makes an open field tackle on Weber State wide receiver Joe Collins during the second half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009 in Laramie, Wyo. (AP Photo/Laramie Boomerang, Andy Carpenean)

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... Weber State?

Like I said, I don't fault the Athletics Department for going the I-AA route, but could we have found a I-AA school a little closer than Utah? (Yes, Weber State is located in Utah. And yes, I had to look this up. I'm just not up on my Big Sky geography like I used to be.) Weber State reportedly reached out to the Athletics Department and was happy scheduling the one-off game.

The Weber State Wildcats are an FCS team from the Big Sky Conference. This past season, the Wildcats went 7-5 and lost to William & Mary 38-0 in the FCS playoffs. Weber State played Division I-A opponents Wyoming and Colorado State this year, losing both in close games.

The 2010 non-conference schedule appears to be finalized now. BC gets Weber State (Sept. 4), Kent State (Sept. 11) and Notre Dame (Oct. 2) at home, and travels to Syracuse on Thanksgiving weekend (likely Nov. 27). The Eagles' ACC schedule includes Virginia Tech, Clemson, Maryland and Virginia at home, and Wake Forest, Florida State, NC State and Duke on the road.

It appears that Jeff's dream of a Boston College-UConn football game will have to wait at least another decade or so.

The Coaching Carousel's Effect on BC 2010

Brian @ BCI — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:25:27 -0000

More photos » by Richard Shiro - AP

Virginia's Al Groh is one of three coaches who won't be roaming the sidelines against the Eagles next season. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

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Brian: We aren’t three full days past the end of the regular season in college football and the axe has already been dropped on three of Boston College’s 2010 opponents’ head coaches.

Meanwhile, down in College Park, Ralph Friedgen’s future remains uncertain. Looking at the 2010 schedule, here is the Eagles’ list of opponents, their head coaches, and their current tenure at their school:

Opponent	Head Coach	Years	W	L	T	Pct.
Notre Dame	TBD	0	0	0	0	.000
VIRGINIA	TBD	0	0	0	0	.000
@ FLORIDA STATE	Jimbo Fisher	0	0	0	0	.000
@ Syracuse	Doug Marrone	1	4	7	0	.364
CLEMSON	Dabo Swinney	2	12	7	0	.632
@ DUKE	David Cutcliffe	2	9	15	0	.375
@ NC STATE	Tom O'Brien	3	16	21	0	.432
Hofstra	Dave Cohen	4	18	27	0	.400
Kent State	Doug Martin	6	24	46	0	.343
MARYLAND	Ralph Friedgen	9	66	46	0	.589
@ WAKE FOREST	Jim Grobe	9	59	51	0	.536
VIRGINIA TECH	Frank Beamer	17	185	92	2	.663

With over half of BC’s opponents having coaching staffs with less than 3 years of experience at the program, this has to be a positive for the Eagles going into next season, no?

Jeff: I would have to agree with you that this is a positive for BC, at least as it pertains to our in conference games. Let's say Maryland decides to make a coaching change as well. Then the Eagles will play 3 conference games against new coaches plus Notre Dame. I will expect victories in all three of those games with the Virginia and Maryland home games certainly being the most winnable conference games of next season. The Notre Dame game I am a little less confident about though because won't their new coach come in and win 9 or 10 games and take them to a BCS game which will then get him a contract extension?

Brian: Perhaps. But Notre Dame likely will have to get to 9 or 10 wins without the services of Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate, who both might jump to the NFL draft. In addition, the Notre Dame defense has been terrible this year. I'm not sure how they turn around their defensive unit. Finally, the schedule is much less forgiving next year than it was this year.

Regardless, looking at these programs and the tenure of the head coaches at those schools, you have to be pleased with how the schedule is shaping up. Consider that the coaches at Hofstra and Kent State will be two of the more tenured coaching staffs on the Eagles 2010 schedule.

Jeff: This is the first time we've really talked about next year's schedule and the ACC slate looks awesome. Since we learned this year the importance of BC's home field advantage, having Clemson and Virginia Tech come to the Heights next year looks to be a huge advantage. In addition, Florida State is the only road game we'll have against a team that is bowl eligible this season. Despite Duke improving this year, they are still Duke and Thaddeus Lewis played his last game Saturday. Without Riley Skinner, traveling to Wake Forest does not appear to be a very high hurdle either.

Brian: The trip to Winston-Salem always seems to give the Eagles fits. Tom O'Brien should also have the Wolfpack improved from this year. And sleeping on Duke is a dangerous proposition (just ask Virginia, Maryland and NC State). That being said, three trips to the Research Triangle, a road trip down I-90 to play Syracuse and a trip to Tallahassee to play first year coach Jimbo Fisher seems like a much more manageable away schedule than this year's gauntlet that included trips to Death Valley, Lane Stadium and Notre Dame Stadium.

Unlike this year where the Eagles played nine bowl teams, BC will only face four bowl teams in 2010. Two (possible three?) of those teams will have new head coaches. Not exactly a murderer's row for next season. The turnover in the coaching staffs at Notre Dame, Virginia, Florida State and potentially Maryland all help make the schedule that much more manageable in 2010.

Non-Automatic Qualifying Conference Races

utesfan100 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:52:38 -0000

So on Sunday I broke down the automatic qualifying conference races as part of my BCS analysis. For completeness I will now present the conference races for all remaining conferences.

None are anywhere near as tricky to discern as the PAC 10 was this week.

C-USA:

East:

The ECU and the UAB both control their own fate. S. Miss and UCF are still potential candidates for the championship game.

ECU wins if:

They beat S. Miss and UAB
They beat S. Miss and UCF beats UAB
They beat UAB and Tulsa beats S. Miss

UAB wins if:

They beat ECU and
- UAB beats UCF
- S. Miss beats ECU and Tulsa beats S. Miss and Tulane beats UCF

S. Miss wins if:

They beat ECU and Tulsa and UAB beats ECU or UCF

UCF wins if:

All of the following occur:

They beat UAB and Tulane
ECU loses to S. Miss and UAB
Tulsa beats S. Miss

West:

SMU wins if:

They beat Marshall and Tulane
Houston loses to Memphis and Rice
SMU splits with Marshall and Tulane and Houston splits with Memphis and Rice

Houston wins if:

They beat Memphis and Rice and SMU loses to Marshall or Tulane
They beat Memphis or Rice and SMU loses to Marshall and Tulane

MAC:

North:

C. Michigan and N. Illinois both control their own fate.

C. Michigan wins if:

Beat N. Illinois
Beat Ball State and Ohio beats N. Illinois

N. Illinois wins if:

Beat C. Michigan and
- Beat Ohio
- Ball State beats C. Michigan

South:

Temple and Ohio control their own fate.

Temple wins if:

They beat Ohio
Beat Kent State and N. Illinois beats Ohio

Ohio wins if:

Beat Temple and
- Beat N. Illinois
- Kent State beats Temple and loses to Buffalo

Kent State wins if:

Beat Temple and Buffalo and Ohio beats Temple but loses to N. Illinois

MWC:

TCU wins outright if:

beat Wyoming and New Mexico
beat Wyoming or New Mexico or the Utah-BYU winner loses to SDSU or Air Force respectively.

TCU wins a share if:

beat Wyoming or New Mexico
the Utah-BYU winner loses to SDSU or Air Force respectively

BYU wins outright if:

Beat Air Force and Utah and TCU loses to Wyoming and New Mexico

BYU wins a share if:

Beat Air Force or Utah and TCU loses to Wyoming and New Mexico

Utah wins outright if:

Beat SDSU and BYU and TCU loses to Wyoming and New Mexico

Utah wins a share if:

Beats SDSU and BYU and TCU loses to Wyoming or New Mexico

Air Force wins a share if:

Beats BYU and TCU loses to Wyoming and New Mexico and Utah loses to BYU or SDSU

Sun Belt

Troy wins if:

Beat Florida Atlantic or LA Lafayette
The LA Monroe Middle Tennessee St. winner loses to LA Lafayette or Arkansas St. respectively.

LA Monroe wins if:

Beat Arkansa St. and LA Monroe and Troy loses to Florida Atlantic and LA Lafayette

Middle Tennessee St. wins if:

Beat LA Lafayette and Middle Tennessee St. and Troy loses to Florda Atlantic and LA Lafayette

WAC

Boise St. has won the WAC outright.

Mid Major College Football Week 10: Rocks, Paper, Scissors

umass09 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:56:30 -0000

Rocks: Wayne Younger, QB, Florida International- Younger who started in place of the injured Paul McCall did not give his team an opportunity to win Saturday. He only completed 14 of his 38 pass attempts for 178 yards. He was not able to find the endzone and turned the ball over three times. All three of the interceptions came in the fourth quarter and were in FIU territory.

Paper: J.D. Brookhart , Akron- The Zips pick up their second victory of the season over Kent St. Akron and Coach Brookhart keep the Wagon Wheel in Akron. The Zips totaled more yards, controlled the clock and forced turnovers in the victory over the Golden Flashes.

Scissors: Case Keenum, QB, Houston- A huge win over Tulsa for Keenum and the Cougars. Completed 40 of his 60 pass attempts for 522 yards and three scores. Keenum also added another 21 yards on the ground, but most importantly got the victory to improve the Cougars to 8-1. Keenum was not only putting up big numbers, but led his team to a big victory after being down eight points in the fourth quarter.

Saturday NFL Draft watch notes

Mocking Dan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:42:51 -0000

More photos » by Bill Haber - AP

2 months ago: LSU wide receiver Brandon LaFell (1) gets away from Louisiana-Lafayette linebacker Devon Lewis-Buchanan in the second half of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. LSU defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 31-3. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

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• Even though they don't face off against each other, being on the same field could be enough to raise the gameplay of both Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh and Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy. Both are top five talents, but Suh is considered the better player by most.

One of the most disappointing players for me this season has been Oklahoma left tackle Trent Williams. He's showed he's a better player on the right side, which he played previously in his career. He could be given some trouble against Nebraska end Pierre Allen, a relentless player who doesn't quit until the whistle blows.

• Don't look now but Florida's Carlos Dunlap has four sacks in the last two games. He brutalized a bad Mississippi State team on Oct. 24 but has been pretty pedestrian this season. If he doesn't have a strong game against Vanderbilt, expect more dissenters to emerge.

• Pittsburgh quarterback Bill Stull has been gaining a good bit of attention as a draftable prospect. He's had an average career but is putting together a great season. If he can stay composed against Syracuse's front four, he could have another banner day.

• Entering the season, LSU wide receiver Brandon LaFell was considered the best senior wide receiver in the nation and a first round player. While the latter is still true, it's not a guarantee he gets taken in the first 32 picks. Alabama's cornerbacks, Kareem Jackson and Javier Arenas, are the best LSU will see this season. To improve his stock, LaFell needs to show he can beat physical coverage and make plays in the air.

• Penn State junior Stefen Wisniewski is arguably the best center in the nation. His signal calling will really be put to the test against Ohio State's experienced and crafty defensive line.

Against a very good Penn State offense today, Ohio State strong safety Kurt Coleman can really showcase his all-around skills. He's a borderline NFL starter who can make plays all over the field.

• This could be the day that Cal's Tyson Alualu becomes an early round pick. A gap-shooting high-motor player, Alualu could feast on an Oregon State offensive line that is 101st in the nation in sacks allowed.

• Few talk about him, but Arizona State junior cornerback Omar Bolden is loaded with talent and athleticism. He can get people talking today against USC, which features NFL talent at every starting receiving spot.

• Remember Georgia Tech defensive end Derrick Morgan? He of five sacks in the first two games of the year? He's come back on with three sacks in the last four games and could have another banner contest against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons allow a lot of pressure on their quarterbacks and Morgan can take advantage.

• People keep telling me I'm missing the boat on Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis. The senior is clearly having a good season. But let's see what he can do against North Carolina's rush-heavy defense.

Note: I will not be around today. I'll be at the Akron/Kent State game, which starts at 3:30 p.m. With tailgating before that and watching MMA afterward, there won't be time to get online.

It won't be a completely lost day, however. Kent has a couple possible NFL prospects. Tight end Konz Jameson is very athletic and reportedly runs a 4.4 40-yard dash. He's undersized but worth watching. Junior middle linebacker Cobrani Mixon is also worth checking out on the Flashes. He's a Michigan transfer and a great all-around player. By the time today ends, Mixon could have more than 100 tackles on the season.

MAC Rambling & Gambling: Toledo Edition

Mike Breese — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:03:34 -0000

Brought to you by Scooter McDougle, former Toledo running back/point-shaver extrordinaire

Miami OH +18.5 @ Northwestern. Just look at the Wildcats two victories over FBS opponents. They beat Eastern Michigan by only three points playing on their home turf. And last week Purdue turns the ball over SIX times to NW and they only win by a scant 6 points. Take the extra points on an improving Miami team. What I'm wagering: 3 healthy scoops of Zac Dysert

Bowling Green @ Kent State +1.5. This minuscule line just wreaks of an upset for the home dog in the Golden Flashes. BG can't stop making dumb mistakes and KSU looks serviceable enough just to eek by in this one and their pass efficiency defense is an underrated 3rd in the MAC. Exit Giorgio Morgan and Eugene Jarvis and enter Spencer Keith & Jacquise Terry at QB & RB. What I'm wagering: One of my un-lacerated kidneys

Ohio @ Akron +3.5. Yet another home dog that should be feared. Akron is off of a bye week while the Bobcats travel to Akron on their 3rd straight road game. The home team has won this matchup since 2005. What I'm wagering: A kangaroo with boxing gloves

Western Michigan +9 @ Toledo. WMU is shocked and embarrassed from their defeat the week before against the mighty NIU Huskies. Toledo's been looking the other way feasting on cupcakes such as Ball State, FIU & Colorado. And they don't have much of a defense. Looking for the Broncos to bounceback huge in this situation. What I'm wagering: A month supply of donuts to former Toledo HC Tom Amstutz

I'm holding you to that donut bet

Postgame Reaction: Farmageddon

TB — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:06:08 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

K-State quarterback Grant Gregory invites you to the gun show. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

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First off, my apologies for the game thread snafu yesterday. It was nobody's fault but my own, as I was so preoccupied with getting things ready for tailgating on Saturday that I forgot all about it. Not until at least the second quarter did it occur to me that I had forgotten to post it. Thanks to Pan for getting one up and getting the discussion going, and to all who participated.

Now, down to business. We'll get to the game itself in a minute, but yesterday made it crystal clear that this series absolutely should not be renewed. Given that the Chiefs have new management now, I'm guessing they may not have been happy about having these games at Arrowhead to begin with, but after yesterday's abysmal attendance, it's obvious this won't keep happening. Announced attendance was 40,815, which makes me wonder if the Chiefs even covered their costs for the game, even at the ridiculous $22 per car cost of parking (they're awfully proud of the Truman Sports Complex parking lots). I'm not saying I didn't have a good time, because I did, and it's good to see your team play only 10 minutes from your front door.

Anyway, on to the game. Click the jump for more reaction.

What I liked...

...a little spark at quarterback. I got a text about 20 minutes before game time informing me that Grant Gregory was likely to start. While Carson Coffman's struggles this season have been well-documented, I wasn't sure about this news, as Gregory didn't look great when he did play. For whatever reason, he was a completely different Grant Gregory yesterday. He looked like his grasp of the offense has improved by leaps and bounds since the ULL game. Even when his pass protection broke down, which was often, Gregory showed he had a knack for eluding the rush and keeping his eyes downfield while he scrambled. While I know we're not supposed to say anything nice about the beaks, that's one reason Todd Reesing is so good. He moves around and gets away from the rush, but while he's doing it, he keeps his eyes up and looks for open receivers. Both of Gregory's touchdown passes yesterday came on scrambles, one where he found Lamark Brown after ISU's cornerback fell down and one where Brandon Banks got behind the defense.

Even in the running game, Gregory showed he's not afraid to stick his nose into the action and take a few hits. He ran the option fairly well, although he made a mistake in pitching it to Daniel Thomas on the second drive of the game, almost resulting in a failed conversion attempt. Overall, Gregory has a lot to be proud of after this game, and it sounds like he was a little overwhelmed to have finally, after five years as a backup, gotten his chance to contribute. That's the kind of story we can rally around.

...defensive improvement after halftime. It's really refreshing, after the disaster of the last two years, to see that we have defensive coaches capable of reading what the offense is doing and making the necessary adjustments. Now, granted, ISU has about the thinnest playbook in college football, as they ran a grand total of about four different plays yesterday (not much of an exaggeration). They probably ran the zone read on 60-70 percent of their offensive plays, and it was pretty obvious that the coaches made adjustments to that at halftime. The Cats got better on defense as the game went along, forcing three punts in the fourth quarter alone on three-and-outs.

Despite what he did to us last year, the book on Austen Arnaud is being written, and the plot is pretty obvious: he can't throw the ball for shit. He completed less than half his throws on the day, and 45 of his 164 yards came on two throws on the last drive in which our defensive backfield made (or failed to make) inexplicably bad plays on the ball. Props have to go to our defensive coaching staff for limiting Arnaud to 164 yards passing yesterday after he threw for 440 the year before.

...winning the game based on...special teams? Josh Cherry wobbled home a 39-yard field goal in the second quarter to knot the game up at 10-10 going into halftime. And because ISU fans had their hearts unceremoniously ripped from their chests and stomped upon because of a blocked PAT, kudos to Cherry for getting all three of his PAT attempts over the defensive line.

...Emmanuel Lamur's ups. Srsly.

...beating a school whose fans plainly don't like you. In case you missed it:

K-State is probably my least favorite team in the conference. There's nothing I'd love more than to see them lose and have their fans have an uproar as to how such an "elite" program like KSU could lose to lowly ISU.

What I didn't like...

...some poor tackling, especially in the first half. Pan noted on the game thread that our "tackling yips" were back, and that was pretty accurate at certain points of the first half. Josh Moore especially missed a couple tackles by taking bad angles and lunging at the waist of receivers. He wasn't the only one. I don't think it's a regression so much as just the fact that those weaknesses show up more against a bigger, faster team than the likes of Tennessee Tech and UMass. We saw a little of it against UCLA, also. It doesn't bode well as we move into conference play, but it's going to be a fact of life around here for a while.

...two inexplicable plays on ISU's last scoring drive. On fourth and five, with ISU playing for its life, Josh Moore tried to jump in front of Arnaud's pass to Marqui Hamilton. Normally, I wouldn't criticize for making an aggressive play, but Moore left open the possibility that Hamilton would catch the ball and take it to the house if Moore missed it. Moore did miss it, and Hamilton fortunately wasn't fast enough to break away as Moore recovered quickly and got him by the ankles.

On the very next play, Tysyn Hartman shockingly let a sure interception go right through his hands and, unbelievably, right into the arms of a diving Jake Williams. I truly don't know what happened on this play. From my seat, I saw Hartman break on the ball the instant it was thrown, and given where he was, I thought it was going to be a sure interception. As this picture at Clone Chronicles shows, it's almost beyond adjectives how this ball got through Hartman's hands.

What it means and where we're going...

I'll skip the obvious gloating about being on top of the North standings, given that nobody else in the North has played a conference game save yesterday's opponent. It was a nice win that showed some progress by this team, but that's about it. There really aren't a lot of goals for this team other than showing improvement this year. It would take a 5-3 conference record to make a bowl game and, barring unprecedented collapses by teams like Texas Tech, Oklahoma, KU, Missouri and Nebraska, there's no chance we're winning that many conference games.

Next week, we're going down to Lubbock to meet good captain Leach and his scalawags. After a concussion yesterday, they may be short a gunslinger in Taylor Potts, but they're still a formidable opponent whose offense has been a headache and a half for Bill Snyder. If we somehow come out of the South Plains with a win, we could start talking bowl game, but I don't see it happening. Fortunately, for those of us not traveling to LBK, FSN has picked up the game for broadcast at 6 p.m. next Saturday.

Past Opponent Recap

Massachusetts took a week off before meeting Delaware next Saturday. The Minutemen remain 3-1 on the season. Louisiana also took a week off, and will meet North Texas next Saturday in Lafayette, La.

UCLA suffered its first defeat of the season, dropping a 24-16 decision to Stanford. The Bruins just can't avoid the injury bug, as safety Rahim Moore was knocked out of the game with a concussion. At 3-1, the Bruins get red-hot Oregon next weekend in Pasadena, Calif.

I'm omitting Tennessee Tech here, because it really doesn't matter how that team does.

Big 12 Roundup

It was a light week for the Big 12, with only seven conference teams in action.

West Virginia 35, Colorado 24

Colorado's misery continued in Morgantown, W.Va., on Thursday, as the Buffs dropped to 1-3 on the season, with all three of those losses coming on national television. Until WVU scored two consecutive touchdowns in the fourth quarter to ice the game, CU was always within striking distance, but never could put much together without the 'eers help (four lost fumbles, really?). Colorado's offensive coaches continue to try to hammer a square peg (Cody Hawkins) into a round hole (serviceable passing quarterback). Hawkins was 27 of 52 on the day for 292 yards, and tossed three interceptions. Rodney Stewart finally reappeared for the Buffs, picking up 105 yards on 21 carries, but Darrell Scott apparently had to disappear for Stewart to shine, as Scott gained only five yards on four carries. The Buff defense had no answer for WVU's running game, as Noel Devine gained 220 yards on 22 carries (yes, that's 10 yards per carry). It doesn't get any easier for CU, either, as conference play starts next week.

Up next: Texas (Austin, Texas), Sat., 10/10

For more: The Ralphie Report

Texas Tech 48, New Mexico 28

Didn't see any of this one, so not a lot of commentary to offer. It was dubbed the Dysfunctional Bowl after the two teams' various issues the week before (UNM's head coach allegedly punching an assistant, Mike Leach banning his players from Twitter after some interesting tweets appeared). Once again, Tech was spectacular throwing the ball (29 of 46 for 453 yards and three TDs, although the three INTs weren't so great) and awful running the ball (34 yards on 23 attempts for a woeful 1.5 yards per rush). New Mexico put up 431 yards on Tech's defense, an astounding total given that they were averaging only about 230 yards per game coming into this one. We can only hope Tech has serious defensive issues, as our offense can use all the help it can get.

Up next: K-State (Lubbock, Texas), Sat., 10/10

For more: Double T Nation

Baylor 31, Kent State 15

Even without Robert Griffin and Blake Szymanski, the Bears improved to 3-1 on the season. Kent State put up 424 yards on BU, though, which has to be a concern for the partisans in Waco, given that it wasn't any of their defensive stars that got hurt last week. Third-string QB Nick Florence played ably against the Golden Flashes, passing for 216 yards and connecting on 20 of 27 attempts (no INTs or TDs). Baylor also ran the ball decently well, gaining 158 yards on 45 attempts (3.5 per rush). Don't forget, however, that this is the same Kent State team that Iowa State hammered two weeks ago. Conference play begins for the Bears now, meaning they have to find three wins somewhere in that difficult Big 12 South.

Up next: Oklahoma (Norman, Okla.), Sat. 10/10

Arkansas 47, Texas A&M 19

The Aggies took a step up in competition and fell flat on their face against Arkansas at Jerryworld. Although A&M's offensive numbers looked impressive (458 total yards), they did a terrible job converting those yards into points. Penalties didn't help, as A&M was flagged eight times for 87 yards. Two fumbles didn't help, either, but Arkansas turned the ball over three times and just kept right on trucking. Remember, A&M scored only 19 points on an Arkansas team that came into this game after giving up 41 points to Georgia. I'm not ready to pronounce the Aggies dead, as they're obviously better than they were last year, but it's obvious a lot of the perceived gains from the 3-0 start were due to the opposition.

Up next: Oklahoma State (College Station, Texas), Sat., 10/10

For more: I Am The 12th Man

Miami 21, Oklahoma 20

I fell asleep in the second half of this one -- yeah, Farmageddon really took it out of me -- so I missed the excitement at the end of the game. Regardless, OU jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, then found themselves unable to do much of anything right over the next two quarters as Miami pulled to a 21-10 lead in the third quarter. Landry Jones played fairly well for OU, who played Miami on pretty much even terms statistically despite being outplayed through the middle of the game. With its second loss, OU's hopes of a national title this year have gone out the window, and it will be interesting to see how this team reacts. With those hopes gone, this may end up being an 8-4 team, or maybe they'll rally and spoil Texas' season by picking up yet another conference title. I'm betting on the result being closer to the former.

Up next: Baylor (Norman, Okla.), Sat. 10/10

For more: Crimson and Cream Machine

Coaching Hotseat: Early Edition

NIU1981 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:37:56 -0000

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Now that we're three games into the new season let's take a quick look at the MAC football coaching hotseat.

We'll know more once conference play starts but a few trends are already clear. All the coaches in the MAC West are in good shape with the possible exception of Stan Parrish at Ball State. He gets a pass this year due to the tremendous loss of talent from last year's squad but this season has gone poorly so far and if he gets off to a bad start next year he could be in trouble.

In the MAC East I would say Kent State's Doug Martin and Akron's J.D. Brookhart, both in their sixth season at their respective schools, have to be feeling some heat. Neither has been able to field a consistent winner and the natives are getting restless, particularly on the Akron message board. There's still lots of time for these guys to turn it around this season but Kent State is dealing with the unfortunate loss of Eugene Jarvis and currently starting a freshman at quarterback while Akron has suspended their senior quarterback indefinitely. We'll check back in later this season to see how it's gone.

Week 3: Kent State - Animated Drive Chart

Mark Kieffer — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:29:29 -0000

Props to Rocky Top Talk for putting this together! Gives a nice visual on how the game went.

FULL SCREEN VERSION

Week 3: Quick Postgame Thoughts - Iowa State 34, Kent State 14

Mark Kieffer — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:24:57 -0000

It wasn't the prettiest game (in fact it was very sloppy at times), but we finally snapped our road losing streak. For that, I could not be happier for the program! It's tough for the program to move forward if they have to keep answering questions about events under previous regimes. I am glad they won't to have continue answering this particular one about the road losses.

The biggest areas of concern at first glance are the turnovers. We put the ball on the ground and gave Kent State opportunities to get back into the game. Against a better opponent, they would've made Iowa State pay. I also thought the offense was rolling in the first half, and that they had a hard time readjusting to adjustments Kent State made in the 2nd half. The win was by a comfortable margin, but if we could have stopped shooting ourselves in the foot with turnovers and/or penalties, I think we could've put up 50 on this team. It's just the difference between a large conference team that needs some work and a large conference team looking to make an impact this year.

The strongest areas is that our offensive line played well, and Arnaud bounced back from last week as I had expected. Arnaud went 13/21 for 1 TD (no INTs), and rushed for 2 TD (he did fumble once though). As a team ISU rushed for 234 yards and averaged 5.6 yards/carry. After hearing about Beau Blankenship from the coaches, I thought it was cool to see him get a handful of carries.

We could've playe dbetter, but at the end of the day, this is the first time Iowa State has won on the road in almost 4 years! I will post more of a break down tomorrow morning, but I'm going to enjoy this tonight!

What were your quick thoughts on the game?