Trojan Postgame Report: Recap and Breakdown of Washington State at USC

Today marked the beginning of Pac-10 play for the 3-0 USC Trojans. While the opponent, Washington State, does not intimidate USC, it is important for the Trojans to begin conference play with a solid performance. The opponents from here on will only get tougher, so the Trojans need some momentum going into future games.

First Quarter

• Trojans defense looked pitiful on the game's opening drive. The Cougars ran 9 plays for 80 yards and scored in an efficient 3 minutes and 27 seconds. WSU quarterback Jeff Tuel made plays with his arm going 3-for-5 for 19 yards. But, perhaps more concerning, Tuel made plays with his legs. Tuel ran twice for 27 yards, the second run of which went 23 yards on a third down. The touchdown came on a wide receiver reverse pass from Jeffrey Solomon to Jared Karstetter. Although Trojan fans should hope that the defense would be discipline enough to not get fooled on trick plays like that, the play prior to that was a little more alarming in my opinion. On that particular play, Tuel dropped back and threw a deep ball intended for wide receiver Marquess Wilson, who beat Shareece Wright off the line and got behind safety T.J. McDonald. Luckily, Wilson was unable to hall in the pass, but USC should not allow receivers to get behind the secondary so easily.

• The Trojans response was quick and straightforward:  a 59-yard rush by Stanley Havili. The senior fullback took a stretch handoff left and cutback right. He then made several moves to shake Cougar defenders downfield, and just like that, the game was tied.

• The defense rebounded from the Cougars first drive nicely by scoring its first defensive touchdown of the season. After a quick three step drop, Tuel fired the ball to the left sideline, but cornerback Nickell Robey jumped in front of the pass, picked it off, and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. Last week, I talked about how Robey was maturing as a player (he's only a freshman), and he followed up that performance with a nice start in this game. It was good to see the defense score, something that has been lacking in recent seasons.

• USC's second drive started with another big play by, yet again, Stanley Havili. Matt Barkley, who had what seemed like hours in the pocket, fired a bullet to Havili on the run who broke into the open field and ran for a 58-yard gain. USC's speed has overwhelmed the Cougars; receivers are getting great separation and simply outrunning the defense; backs are sprinting through holes and open space and making defenders miss.  Barkley completed the drive by throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Robert Woods. Midway through the first quarter, the Trojans have ran four (4) plays for 135 yards and have scored more points (21) than they did in four quarters at home versus Virginia (17). This is the kind of quick start that I have longed for the Trojans to show.

• WSU, who seemed like it had great momentum after its initial drive, has since sputtered and returned to its usual anemic state. Tuel cannot seem to throw an accurate pass; he overthrows receivers deep, bounces passes to receivers in the flat, and makes receivers over the middle stretch/reach for passes. When Tuel has been on target, receivers struggle hauling in the catches cleanly.

• USC special teams does its best Beamer Ball impersonation by blocking WSU's punt attempt on the Cougars' third drive. However, on the ensuing play, Barkley returns the favor by throwing an interception in the end zone. The pass, intended for Ronald Johnson in the back of the end zone, was severely under-thrown.

• I think, and have always thought, Shareece Wright is extremely overrated. He has struggled with injuries throughout his career, yet during spring ball every season, the media and fans jump all over him with praise. He might be USC's best corner, but if he is, the Trojans have major problems in the secondary. Wright has yet to prove himself as a legitimate corner at the college level. During the first quarter, Tuel completed numerous passes to receivers being "covered" by Wright. The senior corner was also beat several times over the top, but luckily for him, Tuel did not deliver catchable passes to those receivers. Despite all this, the Fox Sports announcers have stuck to their initial claim that Wright is a shutdown corner on an island. Am I missing something? Did Wright lead the NCAA in interceptions or pass deflections one season that I simply am not aware of? Do offensive coordinators game plan around him? If I were calling plays, I would attack Wright and make him step up before I looked elsewhere.

Second Quarter

• Trojans looked to establish the run with Marc Tyler, who gained a first down after two carries. Barkley then through a duck to Ausberry that should have been picked off. Two plays later, Barkley through a ball over the middle that was begging to be picked off, and, in fact, was picked off. Barkley has looked terrible thus far. If you take out the 58-yard pass to Havili, who gained most of those yards after the catch, Barkley is 1-of-4 for 11 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs. In other words, he has completed one pass to USC players and two passes to WSU players.

• WSU took advantage of Barkley's second pick and pulled to within one score after Tuel threw a floater to Karstetter in the corner of the end zone. It was Karstetter's second touchdown catch of the game. USC blocked the point-after attempt to keep its lead at eight points, 21-13. Regardless, the first half has been an inconsistent showing for the Trojans. The first seven minutes were somewhat impressive, while the rest of the time has been extremely disappointing.

• The two teams traded turnovers midway through the second quarter. USC tried to run the ball more to take pressure off Barkley. Allen Bradford ran the ball up the middle for a decent gain before coughing up the football. A couple of plays later, Tuel threw a deep pass right into the lap of Robey, who already had a pick six earlier in the half.

• USC closed out the first half with a touchdown scoring drive, a T.J. McDonald interception, and a Joe Houston missed field goal. Although they would have loved to cash in on that field goal (we need a new kicker), that series of events gives the Trojans some momentum heading into the break.

Third Quarter

• USC executed very nicely on its first drive of the second half. Barkley completed passes to Ronald Johnson and Brandon Carswell, both of whom gained considerable yards after the catches. Barkley then completed a short pass to Brice Butler over the middle after a nice pump fake to give the Trojans an early score. Mitch Mustain ran the ball in for a successful two point conversion, and the Trojans are now 2-for-7 on those attempts so far this season.

• At the 10:30 mark in the third quarter, Wright, again out of position while defending a pass, got away with a ridiculous pass interference no-call. 

• USC's second drive resulted in another touchdown to make the score 43-13. Ronald Johnson finally got on the board by catching a 7-yard pass from Barkley, who increased his passing touchdown count to three on the day. In the third quarter the Trojans scored on one drive that spanned 4 plays for 93 yards and another drive that went 12 plays for 98 yards. Very encouraging.

• Mustain entered the game with 40 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. At this point I changed the channel because there were plenty of other great games in progress, including UCLA's surprising performance against Texas, Arkansas' upset bid over top-ranked Alabama, and another installment of the Stanford-Notre Dame rivalry.

Fourth Quarter

• It was a relatively uneventful final quarter, from what I could tell by looking at the box score. Mustain threw his first touchdown pass of the season to Havili. And the defense allowed a sympathy field goal that brought the Cougars with 34 points. Final score:  USC 50, WSU 16.

Final Breakdown

While it might be tempting to take a pessimistic view of the defense because it allowed 16 points to a sad Cougars offense, I will look to remain positive. I thought the defense played really fairly well today. The rush defense has been solid all season and it continued against WSU by only allowing 69 yards on 26 rushes (2.7 yards per carry). If anything, the pass defense needs a bit of help. I think the USC secondary is overrated (especially Shareece Wright) and I think they need to send more blitz packages to get some pressure on the quarterback in order to take pressure off of the corners and safeties. That being said, the secondary intercepted three passes today and returned one for a score, which is always great.

The offense got off a very fast start and then halted to a stop just as quickly. In the first half, Barkley looked downright awful. His final numbers (16-of-25, 290 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT) were padded a bit after Lane Kiffin decided to keep it simple for the second-year quarterback by calling short passes that gave receivers/backs the ball in open space.

Today's player of the game was Stanley Havili. The star fullback burned the Cougars defense as a rusher and as a receiver. He ran 4 times for 80 yards and 1 touchdown, and caught 5 passes for 107 yards and 1 touchdown. A great all-around performance by Havili, who is one of the team's most dangerous and versatile weapons.

The running back corps looked very nice, as well. Along with Havili's 80 yards, Bradford rushed 7 times for 84 yards, Baxter ran 15 times for 76 yards, and Marc Tyler added 6 carries for 31 yards. As a team, the Trojans ran 39 times for 283 yards, which comes out to 7.3 yards per carry. Very impressive. The running game is clearly USC's strength through its first four games.

Ultimately, it was a good tuneup for the Trojans. The team played well in every facet of the game for most of the game (remember special teams even added a blocked punt). Hopefully this performance will carry into the tougher part of Pac-10 play, which begins next week at home against the Huskies. I will watch the game live from the Coliseum, so my weekly breakdown will be a bit delayed.

The Curious Case of Jake Locker

Bringing the House illustration

"If you had to ask me right now who is going to be the number one pick in the 2011 draft, I would say it's etched in stone it's going to be Jake Locker. You can mark that down. Jake Locker, if he's not the number one pick, it's an upset."

ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper, Jr., made the above remark during a conference call with reporters this past April, months after Locker passed up a chance at millions of guaranteed dollars by declining to enter the 2010 NFL Draft. Barring a catastrophic injury, everyone believed Locker's decision would pay dividends for both the star and his school. By returning for his senior season, the 6'3" quarterback put himself in a position to:  1) gain another year of experience in a pro-style offense, 2) create a legacy by winning the Heisman Trophy, and 3) help lead the Washington football program to its first winning season and bowl game since George W. Bush's first term in the Oval Office, all while keeping a stranglehold on the number one overall pick.

Well, fast forward to week three of Locker's much-anticipated senior season, and the only thing that looks attainable is a full year of experience leading Steve Sarkisian's offense. Through three games, Locker has not only posted disappointing individual numbers in comparison to other Heisman hopefuls, but he has also buried the Huskies in a 1-2 hole that grows deeper every time the team glances at its upcoming schedule. And unless the Huskies manage to string together several monumental upsets this fall, a winning season will elude them for an eighth consecutive season. But for us in the blogosphere, Locker's draft stock is the most interesting component in all this. And after analyzing Locker's career to date and comparing it to those of other quarterbacks taken in the top ten of the NFL Draft in the past six years, it is clear that Locker does not deserve top pick consideration.

I don't care how Locker measures up physically or athletically. It doesn't matter that scouts says he has great size, speed, and arm strength. Because, at the end of the day, I measure quarterbacks by the number and magnitude of games that they win. And if I need to evaluate further, I look at individual passing statistics. By those numbers--the ones that matter--Locker simply does not measure up.

In the past six NFL drafts, nine (9) quarterbacks have been selected in the top ten:  Matthew Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Matt Ryan, Jamarcus Russell, Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Alex Smith, Eli Manning, and Philip Rivers. Because some of the aforementioned quarterbacks entered the draft after their junior year and others after their senior season, I took averages of statistics/numbers instead of raw totals to adjust for any discrepancies that may result from sheer number of opportunities.


Winning Percentage

Leinart - 97.2%
Smith - 95.0
Young - 93.8
Sanchez - 86.7
Russell - 81.3
Stafford - 76.5
Ryan - 71.2
Rivers - 65.9
Manning - 62.8

Locker - 29.0

As you can see, each of Locker's predecessors had at least a 60% winning percentage over the course of his career. Meanwhile, Locker's winning percentage currently stands at a paltry 29 percent. He has not even won one-third of his games. No position in sports is measured by winning more than starting quarterback. From this standpoint, Locker not only fails to compare, but he even falls short of mediocrity.

Locker advocates will quickly mention that his supporting cast has not been good enough to help Locker win games. At what point does that excuse become out of style? Unlike the NFL, teams in college football can have decent success by relying on a single game-changing player. And it's not like I expected Locker to lead UW to the Rose Bowl each year; but at the very least I expected a .500 winning percentage. Apparently those expectations were too high.

Bowl Record/Appearances

The nine former first-round picks have a combined 20-4 record in bowl games. That  works out to an 83.3 winning percentage. Meanwhile, Locker has never even reached--and probably will not reach--a bowl game. Those quarterbacks not only played in big games, but they delivered in big games on a consistent basis; each of the nine had at least two (2) bowl victories. Enough said.

Completion Percentage

Smith - 66.0%
Leinart - 64.8
Sanchez - 64.2
Rivers - 63.5
Russell - 62.0
Young - 61.8
Manning - 61.1
Ryan - 60.5
Stafford - 57.2

Locker - 53.0

Again, Locker sits dead last in another statistic. Granted, he does not sit too far behind Stafford, but if you did not win games, then you better have had great statistical accomplishments. Look at Dan Marino. Never won a Super Bowl, but to his credit, he went out and captured major NFL records. Seems like a reasonable give and take. But as you see here, and as you will see in the next few comparisons, Locker does not even put up great numbers as a consolation to his lack of winning pedigree.

Pass Yards/Game

Leinart - 297.0
Rivers - 286.9
Ryan - 282.8
Manning - 268.9
Sanchez - 260.8
Smith - 255.7
Stafford - 225.9
Russell - 206.0

Locker - 193.5

Young - 183.7

Finally, Locker breaks the trend. If he finishes his career at his current rate, he will have gained ten (10) more pass yards per game than Vince Young. While that is a positive note amidst all the negative, I'd like to note that Young made up for his lack of passing by being the most dangerous dual-threat quarterback in college football history. He single-handedly dominated and won games by keeping teams off-balance. By the numbers, Young averaged 92.0 rush yards per game. Locker? About half that (53.4). So for those who want to say, "Locker is a dual-threat quarterback so you should compare apples to apples and find another dual-threat QB," how do you answer the comparison to VY? In terms of total yards, he out-gained Locker by more than 30 total yards per game. And Young was not even the number one pick in his draft.


TD:INT Ratio

Smith - 6.43
Leinart - 4.30
Rivers - 2.79
Sanchez - 2.73
Russell - 2.48
Manning - 2.38
Stafford - 1.56
Young - 1.54
Ryan - 1.50

Locker - 1.50

Tied for last. Pretty self-explanatory.

Ultimately, what more is there to say? Shouldn't on-the-field performance, such as wins and completion percentage, outweigh generic off-the-field measures like height and arm strength? If you spend a top-10 pick on a quarterback, you send a message to your organization, players, and fans that you believe that the player is your franchise quarterback of the future. You commit money, time, and energy to his development. With so much invested, how can you focus solely on potential and ignore history? I couldn't. And I pity the team that inevitably will.

Assessing the Pac-10 After "Measuring Stick Saturday"

 

Coming into this weekend, many thought that the Pac-10 was college football's deepest conference. Through the first two weeks, Pac-10 teams delivered impressive performances. Oregon and Arizona have reached the end zone at will; Oregon put up 72 and 48 points against New Mexico and Tennessee, respectively, and Arizona lit Toledo and Citadel up for 41 and 52 points, respectively. Clearly, the Pac-10 can score. Meanwhile, on the defensive side, Arizona has yet to allow a touchdown and California's defense has only given up 5 points per game. Furthermore, in terms of individual accomplishments, the conference is filled with Heisman hopefuls, especially at the quarterback position; UW's Jake Locker, USC's Matt Barkley, Arizona's Nick Foles, and Stanford's Andrew Luck have all gotten off to quick starts.

But on the flip side, Pac-10 teams have only played cupcakes to this point. While conference play will certainly test each team as it does every season, only tough, non-conference matchups can truly measure where the Pac-10 teams lie in relation to teams in the national picture. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, this weekend provided a slew of difficult out-of-conference challenges. Let's take a look at how the Pac-10 teams measured up.

California 31 - Nevada 52

Measuring Stick Saturday technically commenced on Friday night as the Cal Bears visited the Nevada Wolf Pack. Cal has looked pretty solid thus far, led by senior quarterback Kevin Riley, dynamic running back Shane Vereen, and a tenacious defense that puts pressure on opposing quarterbacks. I had the opportunity to see Cal impressively defeat Colorado last weekend, so my opinion of the team goes beyond highlights on SportsCenter.

The strong pass rush I witnessed against Colorado did not show up against Nevada, mostly because the Wolf Pack kept Cal's front seven on its heels by pounding the ball on the ground with rock-solid Vai Taua. The senior running back rushed 25 times for 151 yards and 1 touchdown. Nevada also let QB Colin Kaepernick utilize his dual-threat abilities as he added another 148 yards on the ground to give the team 316 total rushing yards. With a rushing attack like that, it is no wonder why Cal's front four did not record a sack on Friday night.

On the offensive side of the ball, Kevin Riley had a terrible game. Although he threw for 277 yards, Riley threw 3 interceptions to only 1 touchdown. Cal will definitely need better performances from Riley in the future if they intend to be a factor in the Pac-10 hunt. Meanwhile, on a more encouraging note for Bears fans, Vereen had a great night on the ground rushing for 198 yards and 3 touchdowns.

I would like to note that the final score of this game is a bit misleading. Cal was within one score (down 24-31) with 5:14 left in the third quarter. But from that point on, Nevada outscored them 21-7. I did not expect Cal to put forth such a poor showing, but Nevada is no slouch. Back to drawing board for the Bears as they host a red-hot Arizona team next weekend.

Portland State 0 - Oregon 69

Nobody expected this to game to be close. It certainly wasn't part of the much-advertised Measuring Stick Saturday because Portland State does not qualify as a "tough, non-conference team." Oregon continued its assault on opposing defenses as they nearly put up 70 points for the second time this season. The Ducks put up 668 total yards, with 528 of those coming on the ground. The star of the game was LaMichael James who rushed for 227 yards on only 14 carries (16.2 yards per carry). That's probably the most indicative stat of this blowout. The Ducks travel to Arizona State next weekend, which should be, at the very least, a more competitive game than this.

Washington State 21 - Southern Methodist 35

Sometimes people forget that the Cougars are part of the Pac-10. This was SMU's first win over a team from a BCS conference since the year 2000. Enough said. WSU looks to continue its losing ways in front of its own fans next weekend against USC.

Houston 13 - UCLA 31

This outcome was a particular shock because UCLA has looked more like a Pop Warner team as of late. Houston has won of the more potent offenses in the country and nobody had any idea how Kevin Prince and company would keep up. Well, that is, until reports surfaced that Houston QB Case Keenum was still not fully recovered from last week's concussion. That gave the boys in Westwood a glimmer of hope. If Keenum would be unable to play, then Houston's offense would not be able to operate in its highest gear, and then maybe, if lightning struck, UCLA could make it a game.

It was clear Keenum was not 100% from the get-go. Although he was an accurate 10-for-18, he only passed for 83 yards, which means he only attempted 4.6 yards per pass, far below his season norm. In addition, Keenum threw for 2 interceptions and re-injured himself while chasing down the defender who picked off his second ball. Keenum's backup, Cotton Turner, was also injured, and Houston was forced to strip a freshman (Terrence Broadway) of his redshirt status and throw him in the game. Broadway performed quite well concerning the circumstances, but it was nowhere near enough for the Cougars.

To be fair, UCLA's offense earned this victory. Sophomore running back Johnathan Franklin led the ground attack with 26 rushes for 158 yards and 3 scores. The Bruins had 266 total yards on the ground, which meant that Prince did not have to throw the ball very often. In fact, Prince ended the game with a pathetic line:  9-for-17, 99 yards, 1 interception. If the Bruins intend on making Franklin the main cog in the offensive game plan, then fans better expect opponents to stack the box against him and make Prince throw the ball. So far this season Prince has not shown that he can play quarterback at the college level, despite all the hype coming into his second season. Through three games, Prince is
24-for-54, 258 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT. By comparison, USC's Matt Barkley was 18-for-23, 257 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT in one game versus Hawaii.

USC 32 - Minnesota 21

The Trojans held their own today against the Gophers. Read my complete quarter-by-quarter recap and analysis.

Louisville 28 - Oregon State 35
Are the Beavers the Pac-10's most disappointing team so far? Look, I know they are 1-1 with their lone loss coming in a tough game against a top-5 TCU team on national TV in what was basically an away game. But having a bye week to recover from that loss and then a home game against a middling Louisville squad, you would figure Mike Riley would get his boys to fire on all cylinders. But that was not the case Saturday night in Corvallis.

While the formidable Jacquizz Rodgers did his part (24 carries, 132 yards, 2 TD and 5 catches, 22 yards, 1 TD), the defense disappointed. The Beavers allowed 453 total yards to the Cardinals, including 288 through the air to Louisville QB Adam Froman who only mustered 127 and 219 yards in previous outings versus Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky, respectively. But most disappointing for coach Riley was the fact that the defense allowed the Cardinals to climb back into the game late. The Cardinals scored the final 14 points in the game and came within a touchdown of tying it up. Fortunately, the Beavers managed to pick off a ball late to seal the win.

Arizona State 19 - Wisconsin 20

The Sun Devils kept this contest a lot closer than I thought they would. The game came down to the wire and the 1-point difference was due to a blocked extra point in the fourth quarter (Side note:  Blocked PATs have occurred so often lately and they have such far-reaching repercussions, but most fans simply dismiss them when they happen in real-time).

Arizona State played a very clean ball game on the whole. They did not turn the ball over, but they did not force any turnovers, either. They ran the ball well:  28 team carries for 169 yards. And quarterback Steven Threet went 21-for-33 for 211 yards, but no touchdowns. It was a Big-10 type of game against a Big-10 opponent in a Big-10 stadium. Arizona State does not have the same speed and athleticism that USC, Oregon, Arizona, and Oregon State have. And because of that they came up just short.

The Sun Devils' problems came mostly from not being able to stop Wisconsin running back John Clay and not being able to get any pressure, beyond one sack, on quarterback Scott Tolzien. Wisconsin was missing its top two wide receivers, most notably star wideout Nick Toon. Regardless of whether Toon was in or out, the Sun Devils knew to expect a heavy dose of Clay. And that's exactly what they received. Clay carried the ball 22 times for 123 yards and 1 touchdown. But beyond the numbers, it was Clay's ability to gain yards and burn the clock that hurt ASU. With 4:09 left in the game, Wisconsin had the ball at its own 27 yard line and ASU desperately needed to get the ball back. Clay and company ran the clock out in the following fashion:

• Clay rush for no gain
• Isaac Anderson rush for 5 yards; ASU personal foul penalty
• Clay rush for 5 yards
• Clay rush for 3 yards
• Tolzien pass to Lance Kendricks for 17 yards
• Clay rush for no gain; Timeout ASU
• Clay rush for 10 yards; Timeout ASU
• WISC kneel; Timeout ASU
• WISC kneel
• WISC kneel; End of game

Obviously the personal foul penalty and the 17-yard pass were huge. But ASU just couldn't stop Clay, and thus couldn't stop the clock. I think Clay's effectiveness really exposed a weakness in ASU's defense that teams with great running backs can try to take advantage of (think USC, Oregon State, Oregon). That being said, the Sun Devils proved that they are an underrated team this season and they will be ready for the Ducks next weekend in Tempe.

Wake Forest 24 - Stanford 68

I had no doubts that Stanford would easily handle the Demon Deacons. I think Stanford is one of the best teams in the conference and Wake Forest is not a good enough team to defeat the Cardinal in Palo Alto. A couple things stood out during this game.

First, if you haven't seen Andrew Luck play, then you are missing out. Luck is a great young quarterback who is climbing higher up the Heisman ladder with each performance. Tonight, Luck completed an efficient 17-for-23 passes for 207 yards and 4 touchdowns. On the year now he has thrown 10 touchdowns and no interceptions.

It is also interesting that Luck is completing his passes to many different receivers, which may prevent defenses from focusing on one particular receiver down the line. Against Wake Forest, Luck completed a pass to 11 different receivers. Eleven! The Cardinal also showed their ball distribution on the ground as 8 different people recorded at least two carries. Luck got in on the party in a big fashion with a 52-yard touchdown run halfway through the second quarter. I did not realize Luck had above-average wheels.

Finally, Stanford's pass defense looked really solid. Wake Forest QB Tanner Price only completed 8 of 18 passes for 76 yards, no touchdowns, and 1 interception. In Price's previous start against Duke, he went 12-for-19, 190 yards,  and 3 touchdowns. So they limited the passing game to some degree. In addition, although they allowed 207 yards on the ground, the Demon Deacons only recorded 3.9 yards per carry, so they had to rush a whopping 53 times to gain those yards. I thought it was a solid performance for Stanford all around.

Nebraska 56 - Washington 21

Most of America thought UW did not stand a chance in this game. And I was in that same boat. I know UW has the ability to pull off upsets, especially at raucous Husky Stadium, but sometimes the recipe just isn't right. In this case, it was the recipe, the ingredients, the cook, the tools, and everything else that goes into a complete product. I had the chance to watch the game in its entirety on TiVo, so I want to provide a more in-depth analysis in a subsequent post, but here are a couple takeaways, in short.

First, UW simply cannot stop the run-option. They have trouble with it every season, and to be fair, plenty of teams do. But UW seriously has no chance against it. And Taylor Martinez and the Cornhuskers ran it to perfection earlier today. We already know about Martinez' prior performances, but this was his first road game, and he stepped up in a gigantic way. The young star rushed 19 times for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns. He added 150 yards and another score through the air. Nebraska also had two other players rush for over 100 yards a piece. That means three players rushed for 100 yards each. Is that even possibly in a four-quarter football game? Apparently so.

Second, Jake Locker is overrated. I need to develop an entire column to this topic because it really bothers me like no other in college football today. People say this guy is going to be the number one pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. Has there ever been a top overall pick with such a horrendous win-loss throughout his collegiate career? I think the "surrounding talent" argument is overused. At the end of the day, the great quarterbacks make plays, and Locker doesn't do that. He went 4-for-20 today for 71 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 picks. He added 59 yards and 1 touchdown on the ground. So you're telling me that NFL scouts want this guy to lead their team? He can't throw! And, as I said, the NFL is a passing league! All this talk of Locker being the number one pick and a Heisman contender just does not add up at the end of the day. Someone from the UW camp must have subliminally messaged the entire college football nation.

Finally, after I watched UW post a handful of victories last season, I bought into some of the hype and thought, perhaps, that UW was on its way back up. But with such a terrible start to the season, a disappointing loss tonight, and a ridiculously tough schedule ahead, I am beginning to think otherwise. I think this season is done for the Huskies. Over the course of the next six weeks, the pups from Washington play at USC, home against ASU, home against Oregon State, at Arizona, home against Stanford, and at Oregon. How many of those do you reasonably see them winning? Maybe the Arizona State game? At least the Seahawks are looking decent.

Iowa 27 - Arizona 34

Perhaps the crown jewel of the night, this matchup was dubbed as the game of the week in college football, and it did not disappoint. Arizona got off to a ridiculous start and was able to do just enough to eek out the upset over the Hawkeyes. I am sure most eyes were on this game tonight, so I will keep my comments brief.

I thought Arizona got really lucky tonight. Its first three scores came as a result of Iowa errors and its own special teams play. That's not to say that Arizona did not indirectly cause some of that to happen, but it's not like Arizona drove the ball down the field three straight times in dominant fashion. Iowa's first possession ended on a blocked punt that gave Arizona the ball on the 5-yard line. Foles dumped a short pass to David Douglas to give the Cats a 7-0 lead. On the next drive, Stanzi threw his first interception of the season, but it was ball that his intended receiver had bobbled/tipped and Arizona cornerback Trevin Wade scooped up and returned 85 yards for a touchdown. 14-0 Arizona. Iowa then responded with a touchdown drive of their own, but on the ensuing kickoff, Arizona's Travis Cobb went 100 yards to give the Cats a 21-7 lead and legitimate "upset" status. Arizona added two more field goals to close out the half, and they went into the locker room up 27-7. Stanzi and Iowa were seriously in a funk at that point.

But then the second half began, and Iowa started to get some of its mojo back. More importantly, however, Arizona lost all of its mojo. I felt like the crowd calmed down a bit and the offense sputtered. In fact, the offense did not score again until 3:57 left in the fourth quarter. They went 26 minutes in the second half without scoring, yet still managed to win the game. They even lost the turnover battle 3 to 1.  They were also penalized 12 times for 103 yards! It was just the perfect storm tonight.

While I think a lot of luck was involved, Arizona's defense stepped up in a big way. The defense completely stuffed Iowa's running game (26 carries for 29 yards). And although Stanzi finished with 278 yards, they forced him into a lot of bad throws and got an insane amount of pressure on the quarterback. The defense's performance was summarized best on Iowa's final drive of the game. Down only one score, Iowa elected to go with what was working up to that point in the game--Stanzi's arm. After he completed a 7-yard pass to bring the team near midfield, Arizona dialed up the pressure like a maniac. First, Justin Washington sacked Stanzi for a loss of 9 yards. Iowa called timeout. On the next play, a blitzed actually flattened a blocker and annihilated Stanzi, but the play was blown dead due to a false start. At that point, I figured Iowa would keep an extra blocker in the backfield, but they didn't, and Ricky Elmore busted through the line and sacked Stanzi for a loss of 8 yards back to the Iowa 22 yard line. And on the final play, the Cats topped off a dominant defensive performance with a third consecutive sack (unofficially the fourth), this time again by Justin Washington! It was like an experienced Madden player calling for the Engage Eight blitz out of the 4-3 defense. Beastly.

Finally, I do have to comment on Arizona QB Nick Foles. I thought he played very well tonight, going 28-for-39, 303 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. He made some very nice throws deep and over the middle that impressed me a lot. But I thought at times he forced a lot of balls into tight coverage and was lucky that Iowa did not pick off more passes. His running was completely stifled by the Iowa defense, but in the end it was too little too late for the Hawkeyes.

Overall

As a conference, the Pac-10 went 6-4 during Measuring Stick Saturday/Weekend. Nobody actually includes WSU when talking about the Pac-10 in the national picture, so if we exclude them, the conference went 6-3. The Arizona victory was obviously the biggest in terms of gaining national respect, but it shouldn't shock people that the Pac-10's speed was able to conquer the Big-10's strength. It happens all the time. California was the most disappointing team of the weekend as it delivered a dud against Nevada. And UCLA was probably the biggest surprise for the way it handled Houston.

Trojan Postgame Report: Recap and Breakdown of USC at Minnesota

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The biggest question for the 2-0 USC Trojans coming into today's showdown against Minnesota was whether both the offense and defense could deliver quality performances during the same game. Prior to this, the offense looked good against Hawaii while the defense looked terrible. In the next game against Virginia, the defense looked stout while the offense looked relatively anemic. Coach Lane Kiffin wants the team to play consistently week in and week out, and develop an identity. Let's see if Kiffin got his wish...

First Quarter

Leading up to the game, Minnesota spent a lot of time telling the media that they planned on emphasizing the run game today. It wanted to establish the run and then meet its goal of gaining at least two first downs per offensive possession. On its first drive, Minnesota ran the ball twice, both for zero or negative yardage, and then threw an incomplete pass on third down. Mission failed.

The Trojans offense began the game exactly how I expected:  slow. For whatever reason, I have these hopes that our offense will open every game with a quick strike and suffocate teams early. But unfortunately, for the third straight week, the team rudely wakes me up. The first play of the game was a play-action bootleg that resulted in Barkley connecting with tight end Rhett Ellison for 24 yards. That play got my hopes up, and the next four plays brought them back down. In the blink of an eye we faced fourth down and sent kicker Joe Houston out on the field. Not surprisingly, he missed. The SC kicking game has been atrocious throughout the Pete Carroll era, but hopefully Lane Kiffin can turn things around by emphasizing special teams more during recruiting.

Minnesota's second position was highlighted by a short completion on a crossing route that turned into a big gain. With the ball in the red zone, USC then committed a defensive holding penalty (shocking, isn't it?) that gave Minnesota the ball on the one-yard line. The Gophers punched it in from there and completed the extra point to take an early 7-0 lead. This particular drive was a wild one for freshman cornerback Nickell Robey. He made some nice open-field tackles and showed solid speed in pursuit of cutting down Minnesota ball carriers. But then he committed the holding penalty after getting beat off the line of scrimmage near the end zone. Robey is a good looking player who has plenty of athleticism. The experience he has received and continues to receive will benefit him going forward.

USC responded with a 13 play, 60 yard drive that lasted 5 minutes and 28 seconds. It was a run-heavy drive that even included an Allen Bradford sighting! The bruising back got 2 carries for 23 yards after Marc Tyler and Dillon Baxter were taken out for breathers. It was great to see Bradford get some carries and contribute. I am still a bit disappointed that Bradford has not been featured more in the offense this season, but I do recognize that Tyler and Baxter are worthy running backs and that someone has to unfortunately be left out.

The quarter ended with a disappointing personal foul penalty on one of SC's defensive linemen. Coach Orgeron chewed the big fella out on the sideline as ESPN showed us statistics of how ridiculously undisciplined the team has been so far this year..

Two last first quarter notes:  First, the play-by-play announcer said that C.J. Gable is one of the best kickoff returners in USC history. Is that the most ludicrous comment we've heard through the first three weeks? I dare you to find one that is worse. Second, the defensive line looked really impressive in the quarter. It got great jumps off the ball on running plays and blew up most of Minnesota's rushes. Ideally, I would like a little more pressure on the quarterback but the Gophers do not exactly have a dangerous passing attack.

Second Quarter

SC begins the second quarter with the type of quick strike that I expected from them in the first quarter! After a short pass from Barkley and two modest runs, Kiffin called a play-action deep ball. Barkley rolled to his right and fired deep down field to an open Ronald Johnson, who caught the ball in stride and galloped into the end zone. On the replay, RoJo zigzagged through the Gophers defense and got behind its secondary with ease. And, perhaps most importantly, the team did not commit a penalty, so the play actually counted. A beautiful 4 play, 77 yard drive in 1 minute and 37 seconds.

After the touchdown, SC went for two, continuing a trend that was set during the first game at Hawaii. The conversion failed as backup quarterback Mitch Mustain ran into a wall of Gophers at the 2-yard line.  I still don't understand the decision making process on these two point conversion attempts. According to the guys in the booth, if SC sees that the defense lines "right," then they will revert back to the extra point, but if the defense looks unprepared, then they will go for two.

SC got a nice stop on the ensuing Minnesota drive capped off by a T.J. Bryant sack. 

If SC is running at full potential, you would expect them to capitalize off the strong defensive stand and score another touchdown. The next drive started off poorly with two penalties on three plays. That resulted in a 3rd and 15, and Barkley only managed to get 10 of those yards back on a pass over the middle. However, on the next play, a simple, innocent punt to Minnesota, the ball hit a Gopher in the back as it bounced up off of the ground and SC recovered the football. Huge break for the Trojans as they get the ball on the Minnesota 38.

The half ended the two quarterbacks through back-to-back interceptions. It was the first interception thrown by both Matt Barkley and Minnesota's Adam Weber. It was altogether a very disappointing half in my estimation. The Trojans failed twice, once in the first and once in the second quarter, to capitalize on favorable field position. Also, the Trojans hampered themselves with 5 penalties for 42 yards. I would have liked to see the offense gun it a little more. Barkley was accurate throughout the first half--the lone interception was the result of a miscommunication between him and a receiver. And USC's receivers have the speed to get behind the Gophers secondary, as demonstrated by RoJo on the 53-yard touchdown catch.

Random thought to close the half:  some of Kiffin's antics are beginning to not only confuse me, but bother me. In the Hawaii game it was the rampant two-point conversion attempts. He showed a little more of that against Virginia and today at Minnesota. But as the first half was coming to an end, Kiffin refused to use timeouts to spare the clock with over a minute remaining. Minnesota threw an interception on a third down that Barkley promptly returned back to them on the ensuing possession. But then, with about 30 seconds remaining (less time than on the previous defensive stand), Kiffin started to burn the timeouts! He was not going to let Minnesota simply kneel on the ball to run out the clock. After Minnesota punted the ball, Kiffin then sent Barkley out to kneel the ball. Is Kiffin off his rocker, or is it just me? Was there any strategy there?

Third Quarter

The opening drive of the second half looked great until SC committed its obligatory drive-killing penalty. Wide receiver Brandon Carswell delivered a low block on a swing pass that cost the Trojans a first down and another 15 yards. Then Barkley committed his worst decision and throw of the season thus far by forcing a high ball over the middle that Minnesota's James Manuel picked off.

Minnesota's run-dominant play-calling to this point has befuddled me. I think it's great to establish the run, but eventually you have to abandon it and take a shot down the field. On the other hand, USC does not seem to want to win this game, so perhaps Minnesota thinks it can just stay close by running the ball and controlling the clock until deep into the fourth quarter when it will take a risk.

Oops, I guess I was wrong. Minnesota ran and controlled the clock until deep into the third (not fourth) quarter when it took a risk by throwing a 31-yard touchdown pass to Da'Jon McKnight to take the lead. As is customary for USC cornerbacks in the past seven seasons, Robey had his back to the football as it was in the air and thus could not even make an attempt at a play. Pathetic.

But just like that, the Trojans responded behind a Robert Woods 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He is an electric playmaker and the big play completely took the crowd out of the game. Wait, why wasn't C.J. Gable--the best returner in USC history--back to return it instead? Somebody ask the guys in the booth. Fortunately for us, it was Woods instead, because I know Gable would not have brought that one to the house.

SC's defense followed the game-changing return touchdown by stuffing Minnesota's run game to force a punt. The ensuing drive poured over into the fourth quarter…

Fourth Quarter

The drive that started in the previous quarter reminded me of something out of Varsity Blues. If you remember, in the movie the racist head coach used the black running back to pound the ball all the way into the red zone, where he would then dial up a pass for his white quarterback so that the QB would look great in the box score.  Well, on this drive, SC ran the ball down Minnesota's throat with a steady dose of Allen Bradford and some Marc Tyler sprinkled in here and there. Then when they got near the red zone, Barkley dropped back and floated a ball to David Ausberry who ran a slant-and-go into the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown catch. I'm not insinuating anything about Kiffin, but I just thought that the way the drive developed looked familiar to me. Regardless, it gave SC a two score lead and probably went a long way in boosting Barkley's morale.

On SC's second drive of the quarter, they continued to run the football and keep the clock on its side. Minnesota bailed them out on a third and long with a critical face mask penalty, and then a few plays later, Bradford added to his dominant performance by breaking a 56-yard touchdown run through the middle of the Gophers defense. Through three and a half quarters, Bradford has rushed 12 times for 127 yards and 1 touchdown. Perhaps this will showing will get him more carries in the future.

Forgotten linebacker Chris Galippo helped the defense maintain a decent level of intensity as he had an impressive fourth quarter. The highly recruited linebacker had a huge sack and added an interception off a tipped pass. USC ended the game by giving Mitch Mustain some snaps under center and C.J. Gable the majority of the garbage time carries. Gable ran the ball well and stirred up some nostalgia from my sophomore year when he was a featured back in Carroll's offense.

Final Notes

The Trojans started slow, but finally showed signs of putting it all together. They still have not reached their full potential, but it was good to see both sides of the ball have success. The running game looked great as it went 37 carries for 206 yards (5.6 yards per carry). They were really able to dominate on the ground, which is a testament to the ability of the offensive line to get a good push off of the ball.

The passing game was okay today as it struggled during some stretches of the game (Barkley's 2 interceptions) but still showed signs of explosiveness (RoJo's 53-yard catch).

Special teams made a difference today, which is all you can ask from that unit. Robert Woods' 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the 3rd quarter changed the game and gave SC the swagger it needed to finish the game strong. Punter Jacob Harfman also helped SC tilt the field during certain situations by delivering solid kicks.

Finally, it was also pleasant to see the defense not let up during garbage time the defense played pretty well until the 0:11 mark of the 4th quarter when it allowed a "feel good" touchdown to Minnesota. Prior to that, Minnesota did not test SC much. The D forced 3 turnovers, held Weber to 15-for-29 on pass attempts, and limited the Gophers to 2.2 yards per carry on the ground. Seeing as that the Gophers ran the ball 37 times, it was impressive to see the defense hold them to under 100 yards.

My player of the game was Allen Bradford. After losing his starting job to Marc Tyler in the preseason and arguably losing his second-string spot to freshman Dillon Baxter, the thunderous senior tailback rushed 13 times for 129 yards and 1 touchdown (9.9 yards per carry). On countless occasions he ran over/through multiple defenders and reminded us (not that I needed it) that he can take over a football game. My runner-up was Robert Woods, who delivered a crucial kickoff return for a touchdown. Although it was just one play, it was probably the most important play. USC was against the ropes at that point as Minnesota had just taken a 14-13 lead and the crowd got back into it. Woods' play single-handedly rejuvenated the Trojans and devastated the Gophers and their fans.

Ultimately, while I was frustrated at times, I thought it was an encouraging performance. Conference play begins next weekend against the Washington State Cougars. I am looking for a dominant performance in Pullman.

Off the Mark: Why the Jets Won't Reach the Super Bowl

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After its magical run to the AFC Championship Game last season, the New York Jets raised expectations for this year's campaign during an offseason that not even Martin Scorsece could have imagined. First, the Jets released three much-beloved and highly productive veterans (running back Thomas Jones, left guard Alan Faneca, and kicker Jay Feely). The front office used the newly freed-up money to sign younger players to contract extensions and make a few headline-grabbing acquisitions. Most notably, they brought in two stars of the recent past (LaDainian Tomlinson and Jason Taylor) and two athletic playmakers (cornerback Antonio Cromartie and wide receiver Santonio Holmes).

Then the Jets organization collectively wet its pants for 36 consecutive days as star cornerback and most-important-player Darrelle Revis held out of training camp and threatened to sit out the season. But one week prior to the team's opener versus Baltimore, the Jets mopped up the situation by giving Revis a new 4-year, $46 million deal.

And finally, the Jets opened their training camp doors to HBO's film crew as the feature team for this season's Hard Knocks television series. For those of you who did not watch the show, it was the most captivating and surreal sports-related content--outside of LeBron James' Decision--of the summer. Head coach Rex Ryan stole the spotlight as he laced each episode with expletive-filled rants. He was loud, boisterous, confrontational, and controversial; he was the perfect reality television personality. And he took plenty of heat for it, too.

Broadway show aside, the Jets entered the season as confident as ever. Everyone expected the nasty defense from last season to pick up right where it left off. Young quarterback Mark Sanchez, one year removed from his rookie season, had matured during the offseason. The team got younger and more skilled through personnel changes. Heck, the city even built a beautiful new stadium for them. It seemed like everybody was on the Jets bandwagon screaming J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS!

But after a pathetic performance in week one against the Ravens on Monday Night Football, let's put things into perspective and hold off on crowning the boys from the Meadowlands. Unlike many of the analysts on TV, I am not going to second-guess the Jets and what they did during the offseason. I, as a matter of fact, thought the Hard Knocks series was great. It was enjoyable, it brought publicity to a team that not many people outside of New York knew about, and I actually think the way everyone behaved seemed pretty natural. In other words, I don't think the show cost them anything in terms of productivity or performance.

Ultimately, my prognosis of the Jets and how their season plays out boils down to one simple fact:  The Jets have a lot of great pieces that can help them reach and even win the Super Bowl; however, they lack the most important one--a legitimate quarterback/passing attack. Before I get into my argument, let me preface it by reminding you that I am a huge Mark Sanchez fan. Of all the quarterbacks I have witnessed since I donned the cardinal and gold, Sanchez is by far my favorite. I love the way he plays the game. I think he's got lots of talent and a bright future in the league. To this day, I still believe that had Sanchez stayed in college for his senior season, USC would have won the national championship that year. But I will save that discussion for another time. My point is that I am in no way anti-Mark Sanchez. So any criticism that I dish out is a product of objective analysis and not subjective dislike. USC/Jets/Sanchez fans, brace yourselves…

The Jets cannot win the Super Bowl this season because Mark Sanchez is not a good enough quarterback at this stage in his career. Maybe in a few years, but definitely not this year. I know Jets fans argue that the Jets brand of football (run-heavy, tenacious defense) can hide a mediocre/undeveloped quarterback. Many football fans subscribe to the belief that you don't need a Peyton Manning or a Tom Brady to win the Super Bowl. Instead, they say, you can survive with a quarterback that manages the game and minimizes mistakes. To be fair, I used to believe in that philosophy. But in reality, it just doesn't work. Success in today's National Football League is increasingly related to a team's ability to throw the football. Sure, running is great. You can control the tempo and the clock and pound the other team into the ground. But at the end of the day you better be able to air it out if you want to win, or even make it to, the big one.

Going back to the 2002 Super Bowl, here are the two starting quarterbacks in each Super Bowl and the number of passes that each player attempted that season:

2009:  Drew Brees (514); Peyton Manning (571)
2008:  Ben Roethlisberger (469); Kurt Warner (598)
2007:  Eli Manning (529); Tom Brady (578)
2006:  P. Manning (557); Rex Grossman (480)
2005:  Roethlisberger (268); Matt Hasselbeck (449)
2004:  Brady (474); Donovan McNabb (469)
2003:  Brady (527); Jake Delhomme (449)
2002:  Brad Johnson (451); Rich Gannon (618)

If you take the average of those numbers you arrive at 500 pass attempts per season (Side note:  the average should be higher because Roethlisberger's 2005 season total comes from only 12 games played). How many pass attempts did Sanchez have last season? 364. How many is he on pace for this season? 336. While the 500-pass attempt average is certainly not a prerequisite to Super Bowl participation, history indicates that you would rather be over 400 attempts than under. In short, you not only need to be able to throw the ball, but you actually need to throw a decent amount of the time!

It is important to note that when you do throw the football, you don't necessarily need to shatter any passing records. The above quarterbacks vary when it comes to touchdown-to-interception ratio and quarterback rating. As you can see, the numbers run the gamut:

Highest TD:INT ratio - Brady:  50 TD, 8 INT (2007)
Lowest TD:INT ratio - Roethlisberger:  17 TD, 15 INT (2008)

Highest QB rating - Brady:  117.2 (2007)
Lowest QB rating - Grossman and E. Manning:  73.9 (2006 and 2007, respectively)

By comparison, Sanchez threw 12 touchdowns to 20 interceptions last season and had a quarterback rating of 63.0. While those numbers aren't pretty, they aren't too far off from the low-end of the spectrum. But in order to improve on his statistics, Sanchez needs to have more opportunities to throw the football. Unfortunately, judging by what Rex Ryan and the coaching staff said all of last season and this offseason, the young up-and-comer won't get those chances. As a result, the Jets can kiss their lofty Super Bowl hopes goodbye.

Executive Order 2005: Bush Forfeits Heisman Trophy

Yesterday, former USC running back Reggie Bush forfeited his 2005 Heisman Trophy. The unprecedented move comes on the heels of years of NCAA investigation and speculation regarding Bush's receipt of improper benefits from agents. Today, the Heisman Trust announced that it will leave the 2005 award vacant and it will not give the award to that season's runner-up, former Texas Longhorns quarterback Vince Young. Here's my take on the various moving parts of this event...

Bush Did the Right Thing

After its investigation, the NCAA laid down the hammer on USC and its football program. And this past off-season, USC underwent the biggest makeover in its storied history:  Legendary coach Pete Carroll resigned; the school fired highly-controversial athletic director Mike Garrett; and the athletic department removed all symbols of Bush from campus, including the school's copy of the Heisman Trophy, jerseys, and banners. Amidst all this, Bush remained unchanged. Whenever a reporter approached him regarding the controversy, he stuck to his guns and stood by his innocence. He never admitted any wrongdoing and he never offered USC and its fans an apology. In fact, he basically swept everything under the rug. Until yesterday.

By giving back the Heisman Trophy, Bush takes the first step on the road to recovery. He enables the NCAA, the Heisman Trust, USC, himself, and even the Saints, to move on. To be frank, I don't think his image/legacy is fully recoverable (more on this later). But for now, returning the trophy is a good start. Up next, how about an apology?

Bush's Image is Irreparable

Sports fans, for the most part, are forgiving. But only when an apology is involved. Bush has yet to admit any wrongdoing, and even though his Heisman Trophy forfeiture may imply his guilt, it does not quite measure up to a true apology.

There has been some discussion over how this scandal affects Bush's chances at induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. Personally, I think his chances are slim to none. While I recognize that his on-field accomplishments warrant induction, it is too easy for voters to pick on a player's blemishes. Furthermore, Bush is now a villain, and he played for a team that much of the country dislikes. I could easily see voters rally against him. Even if you try to separate character issues from performance, one could argue that Bush simply should not have been on the field during that season and thus should not have compiled those numbers and highlights. He is the poster-child of an era when college athletes are often connected to receiving improper benefits from agents and boosters, and I doubt voters want that cloud hovering over the Hall of Fame.

2005 Heisman Trophy Should Remain Vacated

I completely agree with the Heisman Trust's decision to leave the '05 award vacant. Some people speculated that the Trust would re-award the trophy to that season's runner-up, Vince Young. Mack Brown, Texas' head coach, even publicly lobbied for that decision. But in the end, the Trust decided that they were too far removed from that season to render a sound decision. And I'm glad that they felt that way. I don't want to take anything away from Vince Young because he had a great season capped by a magical performance against Bush and USC in the Rose Bowl. But if you take Bush out of the equation, don't you think Matt Leinart would have received a lot of those votes? I remember that season a lot of people thought Leinart and Bush would take votes away from each other, well where is all that discussion now? You cannot simply assume that Young would have risen to the top.

Also, if you are Vince Young, would you even want that trophy now? Imagine displaying the trophy in your living room and knowing that the only reason why you won was because Bush gave it back to repair his image. Not only that, but I think a lot of the prestige of the trophy comes from the actual award ceremony. Every trophy winner in the modern era has video/pictures of them receiving the trophy with a huge smile and then delivering an acceptance speech. They have the opportunity to shake hands with the other fraternity members and officially join the club. Vince did none of that. And now that we are five years removed from that season and Vince is in the pros, does anyone even care about that year's award? I know I don't. I would love to hear the opinion of a rational Texas fan.

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• Heisman Trophy Trust announces that 2005 award will remain vacated (sports.espn.go.com)
• Reggie Bush will forfeit his 2005 Heisman Trophy (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

A New Era in Seahawks Football

Bringing the House illustration

Yesterday, the Pete Carroll Era in Seattle Seahawks football began with a dominant 31-6 victory over NFC West rival and preseason division favorite San Francisco 49ers. The Seahawks looked particularly tenacious on defense, which is Carroll's specialty. During his reign at USC, Carroll's defenses were characterized by athletic play makers who flew to the football and caused turnovers. Hopefully, in a handful of years, we can say the same about the Seahawks. For now, Carroll's main focus is trying to get his players to buy into his system of high competition, fun, and hard work. Carroll aims to not only build a solid team this season, but also to develop a strong organization for years to come. He wants to "Win Forever." So, in honor of that mission, I created a banner that features Coach Carroll, rookie Earl Thomas, and the team's main goal, the Lombardi Trophy. Enjoy.

"Forgotten Nine" Spotlight, Week 2: Colorado at California

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We know the Pac-10 features USC…and another nine teams. Each week, I will pick one of the "forgotten nine" who has an interesting matchup, watch its game, and provide you with some observations/analysis that you can bring to the cooler talk.

Week 2's "Forgotten Nine" feature team is the California Bears. After shellacking UC Davis in Week 1, the Golden Bears played host again, this time to the Buffaloes of Colorado. Everybody thought this game would be a blowout, and everyone was correct. However, the game interested me because Cal's bandwagon has gotten heavier after two 52-point outbursts and because Colorado is a future team of the conference. Here are five observations from watching the game...


1.  Bears Special Teams

Berkeley almost opened the game with a disaster. Its kick returner did not cleanly catch the ball, but luckily he pounced on it before any Colorado players could. Although the mistake might lead you to think lowly of the Bears' special teams, it was only a blemish on an otherwise strong special teams performance. In fact, I think that special teams is one of the Bears' strengths. Cal's punter, Bryan Anger, has a thunderous leg, and it was in full force Saturday. He punted four times for 193 yards (48.3 yard average) and had a long of 66 yards. Sixty-six yards! That is an NFL-caliber punt. Not only that, but he has solid accuracy as well and he showed it by pinning Colorado inside the ten on a couple of occasions. Special teams is a very underrated aspect of football, but Anger will be able to keep the Bears in close, defensive games all season.

Meanwhile, punt returner Jeremy Ross gives Cal a dangerous punt return game. Although Ross did not break any returns for a touchdown on Saturday, he had two returns for 33 yards, including a 23 yard return that featured various spins and jukes. He is able to make the first guy miss, which is important for kick returners. If Cal blockers can give him a few lanes, he will have plenty of chances to visit the end zone.

2.  Bears Defense Adds to Scoreboard

Cal's secondary looked pretty good on Saturday. Decent teams have players in the secondary that provide nice coverage and keep receivers from getting behind them. But good to great defenses have playmakers that force turnovers and put points on the board. And Cal's secondary did that this past weekend. Defensive back Michael Mohamed picked off Colorado QB Tyler Hansen's pass with 0:11 left in the first half and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a 31-0 lead heading into the break. Then with 0:34 left in the game, Darian Hagan returned a fumble 82 yards for the final score of the contest. Defensive touchdowns completely kill the morale of the opposing offense. It takes all momentum away and gives your own offense a break and a boost. With the two scoring touchdowns on Saturday, the Bears defense single-handedly beat the Buffaloes (14-7) without the help of the offense.

3.  Colorado is its Own Worst Enemy

The Buffaloes turned the ball over five times against Cal (3 interceptions, 2 fumbles). If that is not bad enough, the team really shot itself in its own foot all day. Colorado was called for nine penalties that cost them 75 total yards. However, to be fair, eight of those came in the first half, so the team was able to turn it around for the most part. Furthermore, Hansen was unable to throw the ball with any accuracy (18-for-34), and even when he did, his receivers were not catching the ball. On Colorado's second drive of the game, it suffered back-to-back dropped passes and then a near interception on its way to a three-and-out. Look at each of the team's offensive drives during the first half and how each drive ended:

4 plays, -2 yards, Punt
3 plays, -5 yards, Punt
4 plays, -8 yards, Fumble
3 plays, -4 yards, Interception
3 plays, 7 yards, Punt
17 plays, 36 yards, Missed FG
3 plays, -2 yards, Punt
3 plays, 17 yards, Interception returned for TD
2 plays, 23 yards, Halftime (Ran the clock out)

Simply anemic. If Colorado hopes to have any success when it moves into the Pac-10 and plays teams like Cal, USC, and Oregon on a consistent basis, it has to correct its own mistakes.

4.  Cal Has Legitimate Pass-Rush

The Bears defense sacked Tyler Hansen six times. While that statistic is impressive, it does not take into account hurries and knockdowns. The defense pressured Hansen all game and, as a result, Hansen never got into a rhythm in the pocket. The Bears sent a variety of packages from different angles that kept Colorado's passing attack completely nullified. Perhaps even more impressive, five Bears got in on the sack party. It was not a dominant effort by any one individual. Rather, it was a collective effort that showcased the depth of the Bears pass rush.

5.  Riley Untested and Unimpressive

In two lopsided victories so far this season, Cal senior QB Kevin Riley has the following stat line:  29-for-44, 455 yards, 7 TD, 0 INT.

While Cal fans are penciling in Riley's Heisman bid as I write, I am not so convinced of Riley's ascendance into the national picture (or even the Pac-10 picture for that matter). Look, I will not deny that those are gaudy numbers. But who has he played thus far? UC Davis and Colorado? Those defenses don't exactly fly to the ball. In Saturday's game against the Buffaloes I thought Riley was rather unimpressive to be quite honest. I thought his accuracy could have been better and I also thought that he took too long to make his reads. Cal's offense, for all the playmakers that the media says it has (Vereen, Allen), looks a bit slow. Nevada will give Cal a decent challenge next weekend and then Pac-10 play begins. We will see if Riley continues his "hot" passing as he sees better defenses across the line of scrimmage.

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• Cal runs away from mistake-prone Colorado 52-7 (sfgate.com)

Why the Bulls Should Decline a Carmelo Anthony-Joakim Noah Deal

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Recent reports claim that the Chicago Bulls have considered trading away center Joakim Noah in a multi-team deal that would bring Denver Nuggets star forward Carmelo Anthony back in return. My advise to Bulls general manager Gar Forman is straightforward:  Don't do it. 

Don't let Melo's star power and scoring ability blind you. Don't get me wrong; I think it is a great idea to go after the three-time NBA All-Star. But not at the expense of Joakim Noah. 

Heading into this past summer, the biggest free agent-fest in NBA history, the Bulls had one objective. The Bulls wanted to bring in an elite scoring option to complement its young core of Derrick Rose and Noah. Rose is a franchise player at a position (point guard) that some would argue is the most important position on the court. And Noah is an energetic, selfless, defensive-minded player at another position (center) that would some argue is the most important position on the court. With the two most important positions in basketball locked up, the Bulls needed to focus on bringing in a dominant wing player to handle the scoring duties on a nightly basis. They certainly had plenty of options this off-season; Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Joe Johnson, to name a few. Well, we all know what happened with those guys. Wade and LeBron formed "Miami Thrice" with Chris Bosh down in South Beach and Joe Johnson resigned with the Atlanta Hawks. 

The Bulls managed to buy some insurance by signing talented power forward Carlos Boozer and sharpshooting Ashton Kutch-I mean, Kyle Korver. Sorry, I confuse the two  all the time. Those certainly are solid moves that make the Bulls an even bigger threat than they already are in the Eastern Conference. But they don't put the Bulls over the top. In other words, they are probably looking at a second round playoff exit. The fact is, as I pointed out in a previous post, an NBA team must have at least two no-brainer All-Stars on its team in order to win a championship. Rose earned his first All-Star appearance last season, but that was just the beginning. You figure the guy will be an All-Star for the next ten seasons, barring injury. Do the Bulls have a second? What about Carlos Boozer? It's possible, but not guaranteed or even reasonably expected. He certainly won't win the fan vote based on performance/likability. And while he will not have as stiff a competition as he had in the Western Conference, he still faces some young forwards who last season appeared to have arrived on the national scene (David Lee, Al Horford, and Gerald Wallace). Add to that trio Chris Bosh and I could see Boozer getting left out of the mix. 

Enter Carmelo Anthony. He made his third All-Star appearance last season and put forth the best statistics of his career. He averaged over 28 points per game and added 6.6 rebounds as well. No NBA fan can deny that Melo is an elite scorer and someone who you want to give the ball to down the stretch. Sounds like the perfect fit for Chicago, but only if they add Melo to their core! Not if they break up the core by trading Noah away. How does that make sense? If we have learned anything throughout NBA history it is that you cannot build a championship team simply having a bunch of me-first scorers. You need "role" players. You need guys like Noah, who sacrifice their bodies for the greater good of the team. You need people content with getting only eight shots per game (Noah). You need people who can lead without scoring. 

Of players who appeared in at least 60 games and averaged 25 minutes or more over those games, Joakim Noah ranked 5th in rebounds per 48 minutes with 17.6. Who ranked above Noah on that list? Only Kevin Love, Dwight Howard, Marcus Camby, and Samuel Dalembert, in that order.

Of players who appeared in at least 60 games and averaged 25 minutes or more over those games, Noah ranked 10th in blocks per 48 minutes with 2.49. In this particular category, he outperformed guys like Tim Duncan, Jermaine O'Neal, teammate Taj Gibson, Paul Gasol, Brook Lopez, and Chris Kaman.

Whether you like him or hate him, Noah is a legitimate building block at the center position. His back-to-back national championships at the college level is a glimpse at his winning intangibles. New Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau thinks Noah "has the ability to make other players better." Thibodeau said Noah's post defense is "terrific." He also sound his passing is underrated and he has the ability to lead behind the defense. Sounds like a prototypical center to me. Sure, you would like a center with a dominant sky hook and post-up game (Noah's offense is quickly improving), but it's not necessary to win. What is necessary, however, is a player of Noah's makeup down low. Look at the past champions and the players on their squads who fit that mold:  2008 Celtics (Kendrick Perkins), 2007 Spurs (Francisco Elson), and 2006 Heat (Udonis Haslem). The back-to-back champion Lakers had Ron Artest play that role because they had more offensive-minded big men in Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. But you get the point. 

Although you may think guys like Noah can be found dime a dozen in the league, that simply is not true. I have heard people try to compare Noah to players like Marcin Gortat of the Magic and Louis Amundson of the Suns. Noah is way out of those two guys' leagues! Noah is a starting center in the league, not a bench guy that comes in once per half to give the starters a blow. He averaged over 30 minutes per game last season, and that number figures to rise this year. By comparison, Gortat played 13 minutes per game and Amundson fourteen. If you want realistic projections, you have to compare starting centers with other starting centers. And as I show above, Noah outperforms many of the players we consider good to great.

Now imagine if the Bulls went ahead and dealt Noah. Who would they have to fill that void? Boozer has not played much center in the past and certainly would be over-matched that position, especially defensively. Taj Gibson is skilled and has a lot of grit, but he is undersized to play center. And the veteran Kurt Thomas at this point in his career is not a starting center in the NBA. That leaves the Bulls with rookie Omer Asik from Turkey, a 7-footer whose talent is pretty raw and who has yet to play an NBA minute. You will not win a title with that front line.

From what I hear/read, it appears as though the Bulls have some flexibility with this deal. Initially the Nuggets thought about asking for Luol Deng, but his price tag is a bit too high for what you get. If the Bulls could work out a deal involving Deng and a few other pieces, excluding Noah, for Melo, then I think they should jump on it. But if Noah's name comes up during any discussion, the Bulls should nix it and move on unless they can poach a solid big man from another team.

Postgame Breakdown: Vikings at Saints, NFL 2010 Season Opener

Bringing the House illustration.

I do not remember anticipating an NFL season opener more than this one. My fantasy football league held its draft pretty early by fantasy standards, I devoured every episode of HBO's Hard Knocks with the New York Jets, and the offseason moves (trades, signings, holdouts, etc.) kept the NFL on my daily radar. Simply put, I was hungry for some pro football. Don't get me wrong, I love college football. But if I were forced to choose one level of one sport to watch for the rest of my life, I would pick professional football without hesitation. And when the league combined all of the offseason buildup with an enticing Vikings-Saints matchup tonight, I could barely hold in my excitement. Let's dive straight into the action.

The NFL did not even wait until kickoff to star the intrigue. Pop/country singer Colbie Caillat began the night by singing her rendition of the Stars and Stripes. While her remix was not a complete disaster, I can't say that I loved it. I admire her courage and originality, but it was kind of a weird way to kick off the season. It made for an awkward sing-a-long between Caillat and the Superdome fans. And after the national anthem, the camera got a shot of both teams' players holding up the number one, which, according to Al Michaels, symbolized the unity of the NFL Players Association as it approaches the negotiations of a new collective bargaining agreement with owners next summer. Translation:  the NFL players want their cut of the pie, and if they do not get it, we may not have NFL football next season. Ugh. Anyway, on to the action…

First Quarter

The Saints opened the game the same way they finished last season:  on fire. Brees came out in shotgun formation and rifled a ball to Marques Colston for 27 yards over the middle. He then came back with a play-action pass for 11 yards to Lance Moore. After a Reggie Bush 8-yard scamper, Brees hit Devery Henderson on a 29-yard out-and-up for the first touchdown of the game. It looked way too easy. It looked exactly like the Super Bowl Saints of last season. At this moment I felt sorry for every secondary that would face Brees and company moving forward.

People had many questions heading into the Vikings' first drive. How would Favre and his ankle perform? Would Adrian Peterson be able to hold onto the football? How would the receiving corps look without Sidney Rice? Who would fill in for the departed jack-of-all-trades Chester Taylor? Well, we didn't learn much after one drive. Coach Brad Childress drew up three straight run plays and the Vikings were forced to punt. Way to start with a bang! At this point I thought that, despite Peterson and his greatness, the Vikings would need to throw the ball to keep up with the Saints.

Neither team put up points during the remainder of the first quarter, but I saw a couple noteworthy things. First, Peterson looked pretty good. The Vikings star ran the ball hard, broke a number of tackles, and most importantly, held onto the football. His combination of speed, strength, and vision is unparalleled in football. He's coming off a very frustrating performance in the NFC Championship Game and people have crowned Tennessee's Chris Johnson as the game's best rusher. I think those two factors will motivate Peterson and result in a huge season.

Second, Bush looked extra determined in the quarter. We all know the offseason drama that followed the guy. But nobody knew how he would respond. The Saints did not run the ball much during the quarter (or the half, for that matter), but whenever Bush got the ball in space he was able to create something positive. In one instance, Bush caught a short dump pass from Brees and juked Ray Edwards on the way to a big 19-yard gain. At this point he will never be the dangerous between the tackles runner some people want him to be, and perhaps he won't even be the best scat back in the entire league, but he is a useful playmaker to have on the field and a good fit for the Saints' offense.

Second Quarter

Favre got into a small groove by throwing short passes and feeding off Peterson's strong running. The Vikings squeezed a field goal out of a long drive. The defenses really buckled down during the second quarter, but the old gunslinger was able to help the VIkings take the lead going into halftime by throwing two beautiful passes to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. The first pass was a soft bullet (if that's possible) over the Saints defense that creeped up to fake blitz. And the very next play was a high bullet where only Shiancoe could climb to get it.

Midway through the quarter Favre threw the first interception, and turnover, of the ball game. It came at the hands of intense pressure by the Saints defense. Go figure. During the pregame show, Rodney Harrison was telling Tony Dungy that the Saints planned on trying to intimidate Brett Favre tonight. The Saints, like they did in last season's NFC Championship Game, would throw all sorts of blitzes at the aging veteran and even throw some cheap shots. Dungy countered saying that Favre does not get intimidated by anything or anyone. Well from what I saw on Favre's interception, Dungy was wrong. The pocket completely collapsed under the pressure and Favre saw a Saints player dead-set on leveling him. As the player closed in on the sack, Favre looked left and right and saw nothing. It looked like he panicked and tried to dump the ball off to his check down receiver, who was completely draped in coverage by Jonathan Vilma, who easily intercepted the pass. Favre tried everything he could to avoid taking the huge hit (at his age, do you blame him?). His mind might not get intimidated, but his body sure does.

Third Quarter

Another strong defensive quarter for both squads. However, the Saints retook the lead on a 1-yard run by Pierre Thomas. I noticed a couple of interesting things during the third quarter. First, Brees' hard counts really tripped up the Vikings defense. Earlier in the contest Brees was actually called for a false start on one of his hard counts. But he seemed to correct whatever it was that tipped off the referees and abused the Vikings pass rush with his fake snaps. The effectiveness of using hard counts against dangerous pass rushing teams really manifested itself on the Saints' scoring drive.

Second, Favre did not complete a pass in the third quarter. Not a great way to start my fantasy season.

Finally, I cannot think of a better color commentator than Cris Collinsworth. When I turn on a sports game, I want the guys in the booth to provide me with two things. First, give me the play-by-play exactly as it happens/appears. If Brees fakes a hand-off to Bush, rolls to his right, and completes a 12-yard pass to Colston, who catches the ball cleanly and taps both feet in-bounds, then tell me, "Brees fakes the hand-off to Bush, he rolls to his right, fires a pass to the sideline to Colston who makes the catch! What a catch by Colston, who kept his eyes on the ball and tapped both feet in-bounds before falling out of bounds!" And then I want analysis. I want a breakdown of what just happened. I don't want someone to state the obvious (*COUGH* Madden). I want someone to do what Collinsworth did tonight and always does.

For example, on one particular play, the on-field microphone picked up Brees yelling "KILL KILL KILL KILL" to audible into a new play. Brees then snapped the ball and calmly whipped a swing pass to Pierre Thomas for a first down. NBC immediately followed with a replay and Collinsworth explained that the Saints initially called two plays in the huddle. The first play was the one they intended to use. However, Brees had full discretion to audible out of the play--to "kill" the play--and switch to the second of the two plays if he thought it would work better against the defense that he saw. Brees did exactly that and the Saints marched on to another score. Collinsworth provided insight that even diehard NFL fans could not have known. And he provided the breakdown on the spot. Not Monday morning. Awesome.

Fourth Quarter

I missed a bit of the action because I had my face buried in my oven-baked ribs. But I did not miss much. Favre continued his inconsistent play and the Vikings, as a result, never made any strong threat to score. As a Favre fantasy owner, it was kind of painful. But I understand that the guy just got off the couch and put his cleats on, so a slow start had to be expected. The low scoring affair had me incessantly worried about whether the Saints would score once more to cover the spread. Perhaps this is how gambling addicts feel. It definitely adds a new element to the game and a reason to watch it until completion (beyond the actual football).

With 1:49 left in the game, the Saints had a new set of downs and the ball at the Vikings' 40. They decided to kneel the clock out. And I heard the groans across casinos and bars everywhere. Including in my own living room.

Final Breakdown

The final score was a lot lower than I thought it would be, but I was not completely shocked because we don't know what to expect in a season opener. The Saints dominated the Vikings through the air, outgunning them 229 yards (no interceptions) to 162 yards (one interception). The Vikings had a better rushing attack, but barely. Peterson gained 87 yards on 19 carries, but it was not a dominant performance by any stretch of the imagination. The Vikings also hurt themselves with six penalties for a loss of 60 yards. Brees, per usual, completed a pass to nine different receivers. And Favre never really got into a groove. Ultimately, the game showed flashes of the intense matchup the media hyped it up to be. However, the rust won out and we got a disappointing season opener from an entertainment standpoint.