Need to make an apology to Scott Shafer. Last night, over the course of pointing out his Chris Farley-type press conference after the Central Michigan win -- WE'RE 3-0. HAVE YOU HEARD WE'RE 3-0? BY THE WAY, WE'RE 3-0 -- we neglected to do our homework.
Homework being the following:
So yeah, that warrants a dang ticker-tape parade for the Orange to be 3-0.
Here's some fun with Shafer's presser:
In other news, Gus Malzahn breaks it down after the drubbing against LSU:
A few Monday links:
Courtesy of CFB Stats, a rather telling look at offensive/defensive yards per play differential:
-- Here's Chad Morris' reaction to the loss to TCU.
On his overall thoughts on the game:
"I'm extremely proud of our players. I thought we had tremendous effort and attitude on the sidelines. We never gave in. Give TCU credit. They've got a really good football team, good skill guys and their quarterback is outstanding. Hats off to Coach (Gary) Patterson."
On the positives of the game:
"There are winners and there are learners. We were learners tonight. This is a much improved football team with the toughest first three games in the country, but I'm proud of our guys. Those guys are hurting tremendously right now as our coaching staff is. We're going to control what we can control and learn and move forward."
-- Bruce Feldman gives his big picture.
Sunday morning, Notre Dame confirmed that safety Drue Tranquill is done for the season due to a torn ACL. That Tranquill got injured while apparently chest-bumping a teammate after celebrating breaking up a pass on a third down only makes it sting that much more for Irish fans. Tranquill isND’s sixth player already lost for the season due to injury, four of them starters.
"We can't afford to lose anymore players at key positions," coach Brian Kelly said Sunday. "Quarterback, running back and you start to get into true freshmen. There is a break point. We are still at a point where guys can step in. But we have to be able to stem the tide with these injuries.
“What do you say about a kid that gets up and chest bumps and doesn't turn his ankle, but he tears his ACL? I mean I don't know what to say anymore. (Starting RB Tarean) Folston is running and he tears his ACL with no contact. It's just one of the craziest things. You can't explain it, so it doesn't do us any good to really spend much time thinking about it, other than we feel terrible for Drue, for Malik (Zaire) and for all of the players that we've lost. But not much we can do about it, other than dig down deep and play the best we can for these guys, because they have given up everything to play this game. So that's all we try to focus on."
-- Pat Forde was in Tuscaloosa on Saturday and says this has the look, feel and sound of a program in decline.
Here is the inconvenient part of that truth: the great Alabama teams didn’t suffer from those problems. They certainly were not a minus-five in the turnover department at home. They got quarterback play that was good enough to win, instead of just shaky enough to get the Tide beaten. And they never gave up the point totals that the recent Tide teams have surrendered.
The last two SEC teams to enter Bryant-Denny have scored 44 and 43 points – Auburn in a loss last November, Ole Miss in the win Saturday. The average points allowed in Alabama’s five losses since its last national championship: 37.4. The number of 30-plus-yard scoring plays surrendered by Alabama in those five losses: 11, with nine of them 40 yards or more and four of them 66 yards or more.
A couple of those lightning-strike plays were pretty flukey: the immmortal 109-yard kick six by Auburn; and Ole Miss’ high snap-panic-throw-helmet-deflection, 66-yard touchdown Saturday night. But most of the huge plays were the result of what has become a chronic issue for Alabama: breakdowns in the secondary, in coverage or tackling or both.
Nick Saban, one of the great defensive coaches of all time, hasn’t been able to put a top-shelf secondary on the field for the last couple of years. Nor, for that matter, has he been able to find a star kicker or a star quarterback.
-- And we close with some sweet sounds from Watkins Family Hour:
LW
