Definitions and Catching you up on the times

For some of you out there that might not be completely aware of the new phenomenon called Ghost Riding, a definition...

http://www.oneten.us/?p=4

While we're on the topic of clarifications and definitions, you think Bo Ryan knows what Soulja means when he says "Superman that hoe"?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=superman+that+hoe

Crank Dat Soulja-"Bo?"

When You think Wisconsin, you think popular rap music. Oh you don't? Well, don't tell that to Badger head coach, Bo Ryan. His participation in Macarena 2.0 (ummm... I mean the Soulja Boy Superman dance) essentially assures that half of the top 100 high school basketball prospects in America will soon descend upon the newly christened "Capital of Cool Black People," Madison, Wisconsin.



I can't wait until Rick Barnes releases a "ghost riding" video...

Week 9 Spotlight

Week 8 was a disaster for the Stomach Staples. They had very much the Notre Dame performance going 4-6 on pickem and losing 183-139. The loss knocked them out of the overall lead (1338-1304) and positions them in a dangerous position (Ed. Note: Really? Positions them in a dangerous position?) heading into Week 9...

Quarterbacks
Dennis Dixon has been stellar all season for the Ducks, throwing for 1700 yards and 16 TDs, and running for 400 yards and 7 TDs. In every tough game this season, he has risen to the occasion, and in front of the home crowd, he will rise to the occasion against the mighty Trojans and have a big day. Further south, Arizona State will face their first real opponent this season as they take on the Cal Bears. Rudy Carpenter has had a solid season (1700 yards/16 TDs) but he will get his first chance to show why they got rid of Sam Keller. (Well I think Keller might have shown that at Nebraska) It might help a bit that Cal's defense is pretty atrocious. Carpenter should be throwing the ball all over the field in a shootout.

Runningbacks
Ray Rice showed against South Florida he enjoys being the workhorse. He has done just that for Rutgers this season (999 yards/ 13 TDs) and will need to do it again to keep the high powered West Virginia offense off the field. Look for him to get 30 plus carries again. Why do they want to keep West Virginia's offense off the field? Because of Steve Slaton. The back has put together another solid campaign running for 715 yards and 10 TDs and 215 yards receiving. West Virginia likes to get him his touches in big games because of his big play ability. I think he'll get in the end zone at least twice against the Scarlet Knights.

Wide Receivers
Ohio State's offense had to break in a new quarterback this season and he relied a lot on his big target Brian Robiskie. At 6'3" Robiskie is a big target and has had a great season (37/728/7 TDs). After how much Penn State's small corners struggled against Indiana's big target, look for Ohio State to try and take advantage in a similar way. With Cullen Harper's emergence as a solid passing quarterback, Clemson has become multi-dimensional on offense. This has also allowed Aaron Kelly to emerge as a big time receiving threat. With 46 catches for 637 yards and 6 TDs, Kelly has established himself as Harper's favorite target. With Maryland coming to town, look for Kelly to add to those numbers.

Offense
With Cal's dynamic offense and lathargic defense, opposing offenses usually have the ball a lot and score a lot. Look for Arizona State and Rudy Carpenter to have a big day throwing the ball on the Bears. It should be a shoot out, and Arizona State should have a big day offensively.

Defense

Ohio State's defense has been the best in the country this season. Granted when you play in the Central Ohio High School District, that will be the case. The defense is talented though, and Penn State seems to shift into the 1950 offense in big games. And of course, Anthony Morelli is good for one defensive touchdown per big game.

Picks (Home teams in BOLD)
#8 Virginia Tech over #2 Boston College
#7 West Virginia over Rutgers
#12 USC over #5 Oregon
#10 South Florida over #23 Connecticut

#11 Florida over #18 Georgia
Clemson over Maryland
Texas A&M over #9 Kansas
Tennessee over #16 South Carolina
#25 Penn State over #1 Ohio State
#21 California over #4 Arizona State

Texas Wins Big

The unbeatable, unstoppable #1 Huskers marched into Gregory Gym last night and in front of a record sell-out crowd of 4,286, fell to the #5 Texas Longhorns 30-22, 30-25, 30-20. That would be 3-0 for those of you scoring at home.

While #5 beating #1 doesn't seem like that great of an upset, hopefully yesterday's post illustrated the magnitude of the win, and also completely jinxed the Huskers. While I can't say that I am a volleyball fan outside of the shorts, there's something to be said for overcoming slim odds and achieving the unthinkable. I'm sure Gregory was an electric place to be, and I couldn't help being excited. (I would have been there, but you know, not living in the state of Texas makes that challenging)

Texas got exactly what they needed to come out of this victoriously. Michelle Moriarity had clutch plays throughout the match, and Brandi Magee chipped in with 8 kills. The Longhorns also were helped by 13 kills and 8 kills by Juliann Faucette and Ashely Engle, respectively.

However, the game ball (they give out game balls in volleyball right?) goes to Destinee Hooker who had an unreal 17 kills (that's unreal, take my word for it). Texas played flawlessly for most of the match, and it was a landmark win for a program that has been around the top for the past few years, but hadn't gotten that signature win.

This is a young and extremely talented team with argueably their top three players as sophomores and a freshman. It would appear they only place is up. Good times!

Texas Prepares for the Good Nebraska

While the Texas football team prepares to face the artist formerly known as Nebraska this weekend, the Texas women's volleyball team prepares for a much more stern test from the #1 Nebraska Cornhuskers. Ranked #5, Texas is no slouch in their own right, but they still pale in comparison to this Nebraska team.

Texas is 14-3 this season, with their only losses coming in Lincoln, NE against #1 Nebraska (3-0) and two losses in State College, PA against #2 Penn State (3-1, 3-1). Other than these three losses Texas has looked impressive. Since their loss to open up Big XII play against the Huskers, Texas has won 10 straight matches, losing only 3 games along the way. They also posted impressive wins on the road against #15 Kansas State (3-2) and #21 Oklahoma (3-0).



(Left) Nebraska is crazy good. (Right) Julianne Faucette could be the Freshman of the Year

However, this Nebraska team is the defending National Champions and looks about as unbeatable as you can get. They are 19-0 on the season, losing only 1 game this year against #7 UCLA (W, 3-1). They also defeated #2 Penn State (3-0). They haven't missed a beat all year and look just a step above everyone else.

However, this Texas team is extremely young and extremely talented, and on the right night could up end the Huskers. The Horns will need everything to fall in place for them tonight and will need great games from their senior leaders Brandy McGee (Middle Blocker) and Michelle Moriarty (Setter). Both of the seniors will need to have the night of their lives to lead this Texas team to victory. If they can play well to go along with big nights from Texas' young guns of Julianne Faucette (FR, Outside Hitter), Destinee Hooker (SO, Outside Hitter), and Ashely Engle (SO, Right Side/Setter), who knows what could happen.

Faucette and Hooker have been leading this Texas team all season, but Texas will need an amazing performance from everyone involved. Gregory Gym will be rocking tonight, but the Horns will need the performance of the year to dethrone the #1 Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Big XII Power Rankings

Oklahoma and Kansas survived scares from Iowa State and Colorado, as Missouri made a statement against Texas Tech. Oklahoma State and Texas A&M came away with important wins to remain in the thick of things. But where do they all fall in the scheme of things? Let's find out with this week's Big XII Power Rankings:

Top Tier
#4 Oklahoma (7-1) (3-1) - W - 17-7 at Iowa State
- First Colorado and now Iowa State. The Sooners had their head on the chopping block for the second time against weak Big XII opponents. Baylor must be licking their chops. Oklahoma was lucky to get away with victory, and are quickly learning that you should at least be a sophomore before attempting to play on cruise control. Oklahoma is idle this weekend, though many might say that the Sooners were idle this past weekend as well.

#13 Missouri (6-1) (2-1) - W - 41-10 vs. #22 Texas Tech
- A big win by Chase Daniel and company. It might have been a more impressive performance by the Tigers defense, holding Tech's offense to zero points in the second half and 10 points overall. A narrow loss at Oklahoma is their only blemish on the schedule, and they should get another shot at the Sooners in December. They will show Oklahoma how you should beat terrible opponents this weekend as they take on Iowa State.

#12 Kansas (7-0) (3-0) - W - 19-14 at Colorado
- A solid win for the Jayhawks on the road at Boulder this weekend. They have proven themselves to be a team that will play consistent solid football and win off their defense. I still think their record is a little better than they are. Good teams just don't go into a game with such a conservative game plan that you are leading 3-0 at half time. They will have to prove themselves again as they have to go into a hostile Kyle Field this weekend, and take on the Aggies.

#16 Texas (6-2) (2-2) - W - 31-10 at Baylor
- It almost seemed like Texas went out of their way to keep it close. And that turnover on the fourth and goal was eerily similar to the play against A&M last year. Can the Horns be any worse in the red zone? This weekend they'll welcome Nebraska to town in a match up that looked like a daunting one at the beginning of the season. Now? Let's just hope we don't keep them in the game.

The Middle Tier
Oklahoma State (5-3) (3-1) - W - 41-39 vs. #25 Kansas State
- The recovery and turn around at Oklahoma State has been nothing short of miraculous. Obviously, benching your quarterback and screaming at reporters is much more effective than say, urinating on bars. They seem to play everyone close and rely on last second heroics which worked against Texas Tech and Kansas State, but didn't against Texas A&M. This is a team that can beat everyone and lose to everyone. I don't know what that says about them.

Texas Tech (6-2) (2-2) - L - 41-10 at #15 Missouri
- This was supposed to be the coming out party for Graham Harrell and the Texas Tech offense. Four interceptions, ten points, and a lot of the Mike Leach face later, Texas Tech remains a team that will feast on weaker competition and lose to good opponents. But they get Colorado this week, and nothing can heal your wounds like a susceptible pass defense.

Texas A&M (6-2) (3-1) - W - 36-14 at Nebraska
- You look at that 6-2 mark and wonder why they're not higher in the rankings. It would be the 2 losses. A&M looked terrible against Miami and Texas Tech and have beaten everyone else. Nebraska has fallen off the face of the earth, so A&M lacks a quality win. They will have their chance to get one this weekend when #12 Kansas comes to town.

Kansas State (4-3) (2-2) - L - 41-39 at Oklahoma State
- A tough loss for Kansas State who was looking to stay in the Big XII North race. But as teams are learning when they play the Pokes, throw out any semblance of order, because you are in for a high scoring, back and forth game. Kansas State came up just short, but will get to make themselves feel better by beating up on the Baylor Bears.

The Bottom Tier
Colorado (4-4) (2-2) - L - 19-14 vs. #15 Kansas

- Colorado played the Jayhawks tough, but just didn't have enough to get it done. Colorado continues to impress people with the way they have come together in such a short time under Dan Hawkins. They are proving to be a tough out, but just don't have the talent to compete right now. Hawkins had an advantage with the blue turf in Boise. This weekend he will get to see how hard it is to play on the speed turf in that shoe box of a stadium in Lubbock.

Nebraska (4-4) (1-3) - L - 36-14 vs. Texas A&M
- It's official. This season was a disaster. The AD didn't make it through the season, but will Bill Callahan be able to make it to next season? This team is starting to look an awful lot like the Oakland Raiders teams that Callahan coached. With Tom Osborne back in the mix, any chance we can see some option? Don't look for things to improve this weekend against #16 Texas. I think the ship broke in two, and now it will bob up and down in the water for a bit before it sinks all the way to the bottom. This could get ugly.

Baylor (3-5) (0-4) - L - 31-10 vs. #19 Texas
- Not as ugly as it will get in Waco, Texas. Baylor doesn't have a game on their schedule that appears winnable the rest of the way. Really, there's nothing much to say about the Bears. They have a defense that relies on effort and an offense that could be run by any of three overwhelmed quarterbacks. Really, I think the best bet is to avoid analyzing the team and make more bar urination jokes!

Iowa State (1-7) (0-4) - L - 17-7 vs. #4 Oklahoma
- Oklahoma asked them to win. They begged them to win. They gave them chance after chance after chance to win this game. And Iowa State just politely declined. This is the closest they will come to winning a conference game this season. Unless someone really goes out of their way to lose it. Even then, it's not a guarantee that Iowa State will take it.

A Few Thoughts on the Baylor Game

Texas' 31-10 win at Baylor was less than impressive, as Texas went through the motions and the game was much closer than the final score appeared. A few thoughts on the game and where the Horns go from here.

Jamaal Charles Splitting Time
- Jamaal Charles could be, and should be seeing a reduced role in the offense after this weekend's game. Vondrell McGee played well against the Bears, and he should replace Charles for a number of reasons. First off, despite a fumble against Baylor, McGee is more secure with the football, he's stronger and doesn't put the ball on the ground nearly as often. You just don't seem to find yourself screaming, "Don't fumble, don't fumble, don't fumble!" when McGee carries the ball in the red zone. Second, McGee runs North to South. He picks up what is there, and hits the holes hard. Charles consistently bounces the ball outside and looks to use his speed to get wide. But it seemed like every time he ran in the Baylor game, they just kept pushing him further towards the sidelines until he ran out of room and was stopped for a two yard gain. Last, McGee just runs harder, and is bigger and stronger than Charles. McGee will begin to see many more carries as the season goes on, and Charles probably will not see many more red zone carries this season. Charles shouldn't be eliminated from the offense as his speed is an asset and he is solid out of the backfield as a receiver. But watching him play he just looks like a 3rd down back, and we should use him as one.

Colt McCoy's Happy Feet
- I don't know when this started to become a problem. It probably has to do with the concussions and the number of shots Colt has taken this season. Either way, over the last few weeks Colt has lost his comfort in the pocket. (This is based on the last few games, minus Iowa State, my grandmother could have shredded Iowa State that day) It seems that Colt has a four second clock in his head, and as soon as that clock goes off he is either scrambling to make a pass or taking off running. Early in the season, the offensive line was so bad he only had 4 seconds to throw, but now he has more time, and he's not using it. It's hurting his accuracy, it's hurting his decision making, and it's hurting the Texas downfield passing game. He is bailing on plays before they develop and trying to create too much. If he doesn't relax and stay in the pocket more, he will continue to throw one to three interceptions a game. And Texas won't beat good teams doing that.

Running out of Shotgun
- I've wondered this about Texas for the entire Greg Davis era, minus the Vince Young era. Why do we run an offense that is geared specifically for Vince Young or a quarterback with a similar skill set. Chris Simms floundered in this offense, and while Colt McCoy is mobile enough to manage playing in the offense, it isn't ideal for him, and it certainly isn't good for the Texas offense. The Zone read is effective when your quarterback is a legitimate threat. Colt McCoy isn't a legitimate threat to run. He is not a good enough runner that you need to focus on him, and he's not big enough to be exposed to that many hits during a game. The other problem with it, is that it starts your running backs 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage from a standing position. It asks an offensive line that isn't anything more than average, to hold blocks for 3 seconds longer than they would normally need to. It gives defenses all the time to react and charge the line, and it's the biggest reason the Texas running game is struggling. McGee ran well out of the I-back and single back sets, and it is a wonder why Texas doesn't use it more. I understand Colt is more effective passing out of Shotgun, but is he incapable of making a 5 step drop? The offense would benefit from a change in philosophy, or perhaps a new offensive coordinator. But as history shows, we won't be seeing either any time soon.

John Chiles role
- While College Football has embraced the role of a sparingly used running quarterback, or using a position player at quarterback to add creativity to the offense, Texas needs to figure out John Chiles role. In the Iowa State game, Colt was perfect on the first two drives and shredding the Iowa State defense for two touchdowns, only to be taken out for a 3 and out led by Chiles. I am for getting him experience and adding a wrinkle, but you don't need creativity or a wrinkle if you are doing well. Also, they need to let Chiles throw the football some. He has only attempted 9 passes on the season, four of which were the last four of the Kansas State loss. They need to give him some simple throws to get his confidence up, but also to keep defenses honest to his running. He is seeing 8 or 9 guys in the box anytime he is in the game, because they know Texas would only throw with Chiles if it is 3rd and 15.

Texas Linebackers
- Another game, more proof that the trio of Muckelroy, Norton, and Kindle are better than Bobino, Derry, and Killebrew. Each game it seems like the younger trio is getting on the field more and more, but can't we just stop the charade? It's like ESPN saying they don't favor the Yankees and Red Sox over every other Major League team. Just bench Bobino, Derry, and Killebrew. Tell them, guys this is major college football, so we can't play just because you are seniors. Tell them it's unfortunate, but we have to go with the more athletic, talented, instinctive and aggressive linebackers. Killebrew would celebrate and have aggression, you know, if he ever could run to a play. Bobino is athletic and talented, but he just is out there running around. If the play goes near him then he'll make the tackle, but that's a big if. And I just don't know how Derry gets on the field. It's just another frustrating instance of Mack Brown's take the good with the bad. He's loyal to a fault. I suppose we'll just have to hope that Bobino gets lost on the way to the stadium, Killebrew doesn't get there in time, and Derry just doesn't get there.

Texas Outlook
-Texas is a good football team, but their are a few things that are keeping them from being a great football team. On offense, there is no big play. If Texas scores, it is because they are picking up 3rd down after 3rd down. They don't rip off 25 yards or 50 yards, and eventually when you are forced to make a 15 play drive to score, you will falter. Also, Texas is abysmal in their execution, efficiency, and play calling in the red zone. They need to figure out what they are going to do in the red zone, and then execute it. Texas makes more mistakes in the red zone then they do anywhere else. On defense, Texas needs to improve against the mid-range play. Texas is consistently susceptible in the middle for 6 to 10 yards. If it is 3rd and 5 or less, it might as well be a first down. Improving the middle of the defense will get the defense off the field more often, and make them more effective throughout the game. Texas is a good football team, but these problems give opponents like Kansas State, Central Florida, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M a chance to beat us. And it will cause us to fall short against teams like Oklahoma.