SB Nation User Blog: Charlestowne

Fla and So Cal : SEC and Pac 10

Charlestowne — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:39:18 -0000

I saw a link in one of the Blogs last week that took me to a nice little article in the So Cal student newspaper. In this article, the author claimed that the current perception that So Cal's dominance over the Pac 10 was no longer impressive because of the talent gap between So Cal and the rest of the Pac 10. The author also claimed that this was Pete Carrol's fault.

The crux of the argument basically said that because of So Cal's dominance on the field and on the recruiting trail, the rest of the conference as deteriorated into mediocrity. Because of this mediocrity, beating up on the rest of the Pac 10 didn't impress poll voters anymore and hurts So Cal's standings nationally. Or at least, that's the perception. (Side note: The fact that Oregon State could win the conference if they win out kinda debunks this argument, by that's not the point here)

Why am I talking about this on an SEC blog or a USC blog?

Good question, with the performance we've seen out of Fla for the last couple of weeks (Average margin of victory for the last 6 games: 44.33) and the fact that many of the big play makers are underclassmen, I start to wonder when this type of on field dominance is going to end for Fla. If that's the case, does Fla do to the SEC what So Cal has done (supposedly) to the Pac 10? I don't think so. But its scary to think about.

Right now the SEC is the conference that recruits want to be in. Many of our bigger teams are known for recruiting nationally. If it stops being a hard fought conference, does that change? I hope not. One of the things I like about being a USC and SEC fan is that you never know who the top teams are going to be every year.

The Proudest Father Alive - Part 2

Charlestowne — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:12:38 -0000

Week 2:

	WVU 3	ECU 24
Total Yards	251	386
Pass Yards	72	243
Rush Yards	179	143
TOP	24:19:00	35:41:00

WVU	Pat White	11/18	72 yds	0 TD	0 Int
		20 car	97 yds	0 TD
	N. Devine	12 car	94 yds	0 TD

ECU	P. Pickney	22/28	236 yds	1 TD	0 Int
	J. Williams	17 car	69 yds	2 TD
	B. Simmons	16 car	50 yds	0 TD

Once again, WVU has some serious clock management issues. ECU out gains WVU by 135 yds total and 171 in the air. Pat White’s throwing performance isn’t bad. He completes 61% of his passes and gains 6.5 yards per pass. Not great, but obviously not being called to throw down field. This is odd considering how far WVU fell behind. Pickney had another stellar day exploiting the weakness in WVU pass defense that was exposed in week 1. He threw for 78.6% and averaged 10.7 yards per throw. I am beginning to believe that he is the real deal. Williams and Simmons combined for another fine day rushing for a total of 119 yards.

I think that WVU was seriously overrated beginning the year. I haven’t looked at the ranking for this week, yet. So I can’t comment on how much the consensus has reacted. I also don’t want to get into how much is coaching (i.e. Rich Rod, game planning, scheme, etc.) or how much is personnel since that’s a completely different post and I am grossly under qualified and don’t know enough about the team to comment. However, it seems that Pat White’s arm is being seriously under utilized. If WVU keeps this up, they are going to find themselves extremely predictable and in a world of pain. They still have Colorado, Rutgers, Auburn, Louisville, Pitt, and USF on the schedule. I wouldn’t look to far past Marshall either, at this point. I am certainly glad not to be a WVU fan right now.

ECU looks pretty good. Their defense has held its first two opponents to and average of 247 yards per game and their offense looks stout. This is against two teams that were supposed to be a lot better than ECU. If they keep this up, I expect we shall see them in a late season bowl game with a chance to really prove themselves. I don’t know who deserves the credit for either finding Pickney or coaching him up, but that man deserves a raise. Or an offer from South Carolina, I would love to have a QB that is a player like that on our team.

The Proudest Father Alive - Part 1

Charlestowne — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:07:37 -0000

As I was trying to say..... The proudest father alive this week must be Lou Holtz. His son, Skip, has led the ECU Pirates over Va Tech and WVU back to back weeks to open the season. This had led many commentators to ask two questions: Is WVU that bad? Is ECU that good?

I decided the only way to answer the above questions was to do some analysis on the games each team have played so far. Disclaimer: I didn't actually watch any of these games, except for a few minutes of the ECU/WVU game. I used the box score from these games to get the data.

Week 1:

	WVU 48	VILL 21
Total Yards	354	399
Pass Yards	205	266
Rush Yards	149	133
TOP	22:38:00	37:22:00

WVU	Pat White	25/33	208 yds	5 TD	0 Int
		9 car	63 yds	0 TD
	N. Devine	9 car	47 yds	0 TD

VILL	A. Young	17/33	218 yds	0 TD	2 Int
		18 car	13 yds	1 TD
	A. Ball	15 car	55 yds	1 TD

	VA TECH 22	ECU 27
Total Yards	243	369
Pass Yards	139	211
Rush Yards	104	158
TOP	26:52:00	33:08:00

VA TECH	S. Glennon	14/23	139 yds	0 TD	2 Int
		7 car	3 yds	0 TD
	K. Lewis Jr.	11 car	62 yds	1 TD
	D. Evans	12 car	37 yds	1 TD

ECU	P. Pickney	19/23	211 yds	1 TD	0 Int
		11 car	24 yds	1 TD
	B. Simmons	17 car	54 yds	0 TD
	J. Williams	10 car	48 yds	1 TD

First, I thought Villanova only played basketball. Say what you will about the SEC, but at least when we schedule a 1-AA patsy it’s a football school. The scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story for WVU. It looks like a pretty strong win for WVU until you notice that they were out gained by Villanova 54 yards total, by 61 in the air, and only out rushed them by 16 yards. Pat White had a stellar day throwing a 75% completion rate and 5 TDs. But WVU had a hard time controlling the clock (more on this later) and the defense was horrible against the pass. I think that the voters focused on the score and Pat White’s production after this game and conveniently ignored everything else.

Looking at the numbers of the second game, it would seem that Va Tech’s outing wasn’t all that bad. They allowed ECU to control the ball better and gave up an extra 126 yards total. The difference in this game seems to be Glennon’s 2 picks. Also, the special teams play that this doesn’t show. Glennon still had 60% completion percentage and averaged 9.9 yds a throw, but it doesn’t seem like he was able to get the team moving against ECU. Pickney, on the other hand, had a great day. He had 82.6% completion percentage and averaged 11.1 yards a pass with a TD to top it off. His two main backs also combined for 102 yards and kept the Va Tech D honest.

FAIL

Charlestowne — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:35:23 -0000

No great prose from me this moring. Just bastardized commentation.

Hey, I have an idea.... Maybe we should make Vandy our new SEC rival. Then maybe our team would start giving a crap about the game every year.

I am still planning on going to the Georgia game next weekend. But I am not planning on being happy about it.

We just lost 2 years in a row to a school that doesn't have an athletic department. That's got to be a good talking point.

I don't know why the team lost focus. But I hope the coaching staff runs them into the ground this week. If they don't want to play football, they don't have to practice football. They can just run wind sprints for 2 straight hours everyday.

At least we're not Clemson. Although we played like them.

Can Clemson say "One and Done"?

Charlestowne — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:57:21 -0000

Besides Michigans #5 preseason ranking last year, the team from the upstate must have one of the biggest week 1 poll drops in history. From 9th to NR in the AP Poll and 22nd in the coaches poll.

That makes me smile.

However, I have no doubt that Clemson will claw their way back up there. They always do. However. The ACC seems a little more dynamic now than it did a week ago. How bad is Clemson, Va Tech, UVA, and NC State? How good is Duke and Ga Tech? Only time will tell. But Clemson is sure to feast on the half dead carcus of some of these teams while allowing some of the other to do the same on them.

However enjoyabe it is for me to see Clemson fall, my main concern is on the Gamecocks this week. We REALLY need to take care of Vandy like we mean it. This is the game that really showed us the disaster that was unfolding last year. Most eyes will be watching this game with that in mind. How we play this game, and how close we play UGA next week will determine how far we climb before we get to the tough part of our schedule. I don't expect to make the Top 10 this year. We really only got there by default last year. (To many top 5 teams were shooting themselves in the head.)

I still think we can be good, as long as we're healthy. But its still early. I still hold my concerned optomism.

Go Gamecocks. Can't wait till Thursday night. As long as I am not in the middle of an evacuation.

McDanniel

Charlestowne — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:01:41 -0000

Even though I have been following this story, I haven't made much public comment on it to date. Partly because I wanted to wait to see how it played out. (Although I already knew) Also, because I hate getting into the topics on message boards because there are plenty of people that don't know how to hold a civilized conversation. Mostly, because while I feel like there is a palatable double standard in this state, I really don't care how Clemson Athletics handles discipline issues. But I feel compelled to speak on this situation.

First, yes, McDanniel was not convicted in a court of law, so we don't know for certain he did it. But the circumstantial evidence is pretty damning. First, his girlfriend shows up in the hospital bloodied and bruised. His excuse: she made it all up. Second, for me, taking PTI is pretty much an admission of guilt. I have known several people that went through Pre-Trial Intervention (admittedly mostly for drugs) and all of them were guilty as hell and caught red-handed. PTI is generally reserved for first time offenders. It gives them the benefit of the doubt that they won't always be delinquents and a clean slate.

But considering the nature of what he did, I was still a little surprised that absolutely no punishment was dealt out what-so-ever. He didn't miss a practice and isn't going to miss a game. Not even against the Citadel in week 2. This sends a horrible message. If you are even suspected of yelling at your significant other at South Carolina, you're off the team. No questions asked. It's happened.

If McDanniel had been busted for a small amount of weed and the case was dismissed, I wouldn't care. But to send his girlfriend to the hospital and still be allowed to represent your University without any sanctions is unfathomable.

I think that this speaks more about Tommy Bowden than McDanniel. There are always going to be bad apples on every team. Its how they are handled that defines how a program is viewed.

Clemson: We'll do whatever it takes to just barely underachieve.