On Campus
By Jeff Kirik and Bob Jarzomski Erie Times-News staff bloggers
Erie Times-News staff writer Bob Jarzomski and sports editor Jeff Kirik team up to bring you On Campus,   Read more about this blog.
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Posts tagged ‘Boise State’
Posted: November 29th, 2012

Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 14.

Game of the week: No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1, 7-1 SEC) vs. No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs (11-1, 7-1 SEC), Saturday, 4 p.m., Georgia Dome, Atlanta, WSEE (CBS).

Pregame rant: Some would say this is the national championship game.

The winner will likely be the favorite to beat Notre Dame in next month’s BCS title game.  Alabama and Georgia are in this position because Oregon and Kansas State lost.

The Bulldogs are not as good on defense as Alabama, but have better skilled players on offense than the Tide.

So special teams could be the difference. If it is, edge Alabama.

The Tide have a senior kicker in Jeremy Shelley, who is 10-for-10 on field goals this season.

Georgia has a freshman kicker in Marshall Morgan, who is 8-for-12.  He’s missed two of his last four attempts.

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Posted: October 30th, 2012

Let’s recap Week 9 shall we?

Game of the week: No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma

Final score: Irish 30, Sooners 13

Pregame rant: This is the Irish’s toughest test yet. Oklahoma’s lone loss was to No. 4 Kansas State, which has risen to the top of the Big 12.

It’s a classic match-up. Oklahoma is averaging 488.17 yards and 44.67 points a game. Notre Dame is allowing just 280.71 yards and 9.43 points a game.

Something has to give.

Post-game commentary: The Irish didn’t give.

Oklahoma rushed for just 15 yards on 24 rushing attempts in falling to Notre Dame at home. The Sooners may have given up on the run too early, but they couldn’t have expected the Irish’s offense to hit them so many big plays last week.

Before this game, I thought all the talk about Notre Dame senior linebacker Manti Te’o winning the Heisman Trophy was a bit much.

After seeing how he leads the best defense in the nation outside of Alabama’s, I’m rethinking my votes. He had 11 tackles, a sack and an interception last week. Great player.

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Posted: October 15th, 2012

Let’s recap Week 7, shall we?

Game of the week: No. 17 Stanford at No. 7 Notre Dame

Final score: Irish 20, Cardinal 13 (OT)

Pregame rant: The Irish have an offensive-minded coach in Brian Kelly, but have relied on their defense to win games. Allowing 7.78 points a game, Notre Dame is second only to top-ranked Alabama in scoring defense.

The Irish are first in touchdowns allowed with three.

However, Stanford has the type of offense that can grind it out and impose its will on a defense. Stepfan Taylor is 15th in the nation in rushing with 560 yards and five touchdowns. If the Cardinal can consistently block Irish senior stud linebacker Manti Te’o, who has 48 stops, Taylor will have room to run.

If not, it will be business as usual for Te’o and the Irish defense.

Post-game commentary: The debate over whether Taylor scored or not from the 1-yard line in OT is a valid one, but someone explain how you run the same play, bad weather or not, on 3rd and 4th down out of a tight formation with everyone in the box to stop the run.

What this game tells me is if you’re playing Notre Dame, better put them away early. The Irish have won three games by seven points or less. They beat Purdue 20-17, Michigan 13-6 and Stanford in overtime.

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Posted: August 29th, 2012

The college football season is here.

So you already know the deal. Let’s get to predicting, shall we?

These games are worth watching:

No. 24 Boise State at No. 13 Michigan State (Friday, 8 p.m., ESPN).

Pregame rant: Since stunning Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, the Broncos have been giant killers. They’ve recently had signature victories against Texas Christian (2010 Fiesta Bowl), Virginia Tech (2010 opener) and Georgia (2011 opener).

What do all four of those wins have in common? They were on a neutral field.

The Georgia win was in Atlanta, but that game might have had a different outcome had it been played between the hedges in Athens. With quarterback Kellen Moore now gone, can’t wait to see how Boise State does in East Lansing against the Spartans, who were 7-0 at home last season.

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Posted: December 16th, 2011

Sophomore quarterback Casey Pachall has thrown for 2,715 yards and 24 touchdowns this season for TCU./AP Photo.

Too many bowl games. Too many sponsors with long names.

I want a playoff system, but it’s not happening.

Too bad.

What do I get in return? A slew of bowl games that are too tough to call sometimes, but if you think you’re better than me, enter my sixth BCS bowl contest on ESPN.com through Bowl Mania.

Enter the Rankin ETN 2011-12.

Let’s look at Week 1 (Dec. 17-24).

Best match up: San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl – *No. 16 TCU (10-2) vs. Louisiana Tech (8-4), Saturday, 9 p.m., ESPN. See what I mean about the names. Need oxygen to say all that, but don’t sleep on this game. The Bulldogs are riding a seven-game winning streak. Half of their four losses are to team that are currently ranked (L 19-17 at *No. 22 Southern Miss, L 35-34 at *No. 20 Houston). Now TCU should win, but Louisiana Tech won’t go down easily.

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Posted in: Football, NCAA, Photos
Posted: December 6th, 2011

Let us recap week 14, shall we?

SEC title game – No. 18 Georgia (10-3) vs. No. 1 LSU (13-0)

Pregame rant: Don’t sleep on the Bulldogs here. One, this is in essence a home game for Georgia because the game is in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Two, the Bulldogs have won 10 straight. Three, their two losses are to ranked opponents – No. 9 Boise State and No. 14 South Carolina. With all that being said, LSU is still the favorite, but if Georgia can be within striking distance late, the Tigers could start feeling that pressure to win to reach the BCS title game.

Postgame commentary: Like Arkansas, Georgia made it interesting – for a half – against LSU before getting hammered, 42-10, in the Georgia Dame. Tyrann Mathieu is the real deal for the Tigers. Turned the game around on that punt return for a touchdown. Now the match up is set: No. 1 LSU vs. No. 2 Alabama in the BCS title game. Who will win the rematch?

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Posted: November 11th, 2011

Let us recap Week 10, shall we?

No. 1 LSU (9-0, 6-0 SEC) at No. 4 Alabama (8-1, 5-1 SEC)

Pregame rant: Doesn’t get any better than this. 1 vs. 2. The winner will put itself in great position to play in the BCS title game, but because both teams are in the SEC West, the loser may wind up in the title game, too, if it doesn’t lose again. Alabama has the smash-mouth style and home crowd to beat LSU, but the Tigers have the look a national championship team. Who to watch: Tailback Trent Richardson of Alabama. So strong. So tough. Tigers better buckle up their chinstraps. Tightly.

Postgame commentary: The Tigers were pushed to the brink, but pulled out an overtime win, 9-6. It wasn’t the game of the century, but it was a great defensive battle. Although Richardson had 89 yards rushing and 80 yards receiving, LSU kept him out the end zone. The Tigers got it done.

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Posted: November 1st, 2011

Let us recap Week 9, shall we?

No. 4 Stanford (8-0, 6-0 Pac-12) at No. 21 USC (6-2, 3-2 Pac-12)

Pregame rant: Got two future NFL quarterbacks – Stanford’s Andrew Luck and USC’s Matt Barkley – going head to head. USC is coming off a big win at Notre Dame. The Trojans are at home. Hard to sleep on this one, but Luck is so so good that he’ll make it look too easy against the Trojans. USC has got some talent, but Luck will show how good he really is.

Postgame commentary: Luck needed three overtimes to push Stanford past USC, 56-48. He was 29-of-40 for 330 yards, three touchdowns, but being able to shake off a fourth-quarter interception USC returned for a score to take a 34-27 lead and lead the Cardinal to game-tying touchdown drive to force overtime shows why he’ll be the top pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

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Posted: October 19th, 2011

Let us recap Week 7, shall we?

Baylor (4-2, 1-2 Big 12) at No. 17 Texas A&M (4-2, 2-1)

Pregame rant: The Bears have a quarterback in junior Robert Griffin III who is flat out one of the best players in the nation. Check the numbers: 114-of-142, 1,520 yards, 19 touchdowns and just ONE interception. Once you get in conference play, teams do start to figure guys out, but A&M has its hands full with this guy.

Postgame commentary: Griffin threw for 430 yards, three touchdowns to one interception, but Texas A&M got an even better performance from its quarterback – senior Ryan Tannehill – and walloped the  Bears, 55-28. Tannehill threw for 415 yards and six touchdowns to one interception. The Aggies helped their cause by rushing for 266 yards.

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Posted: September 27th, 2011

Let’s recap Week 4, shall we?

No. 5 Oklahoma State (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) at No. 14 Texas A&M (2-1, 0-1 Big 12)

Pregame rant: Great conference opener for these two Big 12 titans, but something has to give here. The Cowboys are second in the nation in total offense at 601 yards a game and third in the nation in points per game at 52.3. However, the Aggies has given up a total of 534 yards and 21 total points in their two games.

Postgame commentary: Down 20-3 at the half, Oklahoma State scored 27 straight points and withstood a final charge from Texas A&M to prevail. Senior Brandon Weeden threw for a school-record 438 yards and two touchdowns on 60 pass attempts. The amazing thing about that is Weeden didn’t throw an interception.

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