Wednesday, August 30, 2006
SMQ REPS DA WESTSIDE
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California took wide, broad steps today in fulfilling SMQ's irresponsible mythical title projections when Jeff Tedford, as expected/hoped, named Nate Longshore the starting quarterback for the Tennessee game over ticking time bomb Joe Ayoob. It's the second straight year Longshore's beaten out Ayoob for the job and despite the caution advised by SMQ's new "J.P. Losman Rule" (applicable to players who, like the Buffalo Bills' third-year quarterback, must be "named the starter" over multiple seasons), the law does not apply in Longshore's case because he was instantly injured for the season in the Bears' 2005 opener, not jettisoned, like Ayoob, for poor performance.
SMQ, like the rest of the world, has never seen Longshore take a college snap, because he's only had about 15 or so, all against Sacramento State. Longshore is a huge (6-5, 230) redshirt sophomore who came in well regarded out of high school two years ago, but more importantly, he's not Ayoob, without whom the Bears will forge on unless absolutely necessary. With just a little bit better play from the JUCO transfer last year, an 8-4 team with a dominant running game could have easily taken at least two more games - Oregon State (a three-point loss in which Ayoob was 13 of 39 with two interceptions) and Oregon (10-26, 88 yards, 3 INT, 0 TD in another field goal defeat) - and maybe UCLA (a touchdown loss wherein the sharply-dressed and hygienic Marshawn Lynch and Co. averaged eight yards per carry). Ayoob was benched after a dreadful 98-yard, four-intercetion debacle against USC, which may not have cost the Bears a win (though the Trojans were "held" to 434 yards and 35 points on 4.0 yards per carry and 246 yards passing, only a small nudge above SC's season low totals in each category), but certainly did not give them a chance. When bar brawling Steve Levy, Ayoob's replacement for the Stanford and BYU wins, returns from suspension, Ayoob may yield - again - to him as well.
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Yeah, Joe, you're doing greaaaat, but we're gonna need you to go ahead and stay over to the sidelines this weekend, mmkay? Greaaaaaat...
In other West Coast news, the San Diego-based Poinsettia Bowl, which is an actual game played between two real teams, was so taken with the military manliness of Navy's chart-busting triple option that it decided a return visit was a must-have for the city's massive armed forces community. Problem is, Navy's already taken, by the prestigious Meineke Car Care Bowl (the Midshipmen have a tie-in to face George Foreman and his sons), so the San Diego Credit Union took the next best thing: Army! Actually, the second-to-next-best thing, since Air Force is tied in with the Mountain West's affiliations. All the Cadets have to do to send Bobby Ross back to the site of his greatest triumph (the 1994 AFC Champion Chargers) is go 6-6. Even, SMQ guesses, if those six are Arkansas State, Kent State, Baylor, Rice, VMI, Tulane and the aforementioned USAFA, the dirty half-dozen most likely to fall to Army this season. If they make it on those merits, the Cadets and the Poinsettia Bowl truly deserve each other.
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4:52 PM
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WELCOME...
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And don't let the name fool ya - second guessing the phenomenal athletic feats and split-second decisions of college kids under extreme physical duress is for every day of the week.
AWWW!! The totally nicest people, like, ever!...
How much football does he watch? Dude's got insights on -everybody-, and by everybody, I mean everybody. Throw in some of the best writing in the blogosphere, and we're talking about a daily must-read.
- Burnt Orange Nation
SMQ starts to sound more and more like the Gregg Easterbrook of our ideal memories every day - whip-smart, systematic, omnivorous in his intellectual tastes and yet unafraid of the cheap joke.
- Every Day Should Be Saturday
Sunday Morning Quarterback is one of our favorite football blogs on the internet.
- State Fans Nation
Sunday Morning Quarterback is a killer football blog if you are a college football junkie. It is run by one of the most thoughtful, intelligent, and analytical writers in the college football blogosphere...The guy is thorough and detailed and provides a level of analysis you are not going to find anywhere else .
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Just another hack writer who hasn't done one lick of research...
- SOT2
...the pride of Southern Mississippi ever since Brett Favre turned into an ESPN soap opera, has the sort of prose knack that can keep you riveted to a preview about any one of D-IA's scrubbier members ... should be given gifts.
- MGoBlog
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e-mail Sunday Morning Quarterback at sundaymorningqb@yahoo.com
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PREVIOUSLY FROM SMQ:
2006 Preview
Anatomy of an Underdog
BlogPoll: 1-10/11-25/Roundtable
The ACC
The Big Ten
The Big XII
The Sun Belt
Running Departments
The Rap Sheet
July 29/Aug. 1/Aug. 9/Aug. 16/Aug.19/Aug. 25/Sept. 28/Oct. 4/Oct. 5/Oct. 18/Oct. 26/Nov. 2/Nov. 7/Nov. 8/Nov. 28/Dec. 2/Dec. 8/ Dec. 11/Dec. 18/Dec. 21/Feb. 6/Feb. 10/April 7/April 14/April 21/April 29/May 6/May 12/May 19/May 26/June 2/June 10/June 16/June 24/June 30/July 8/Aug. 4
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SMQ-APPROVED
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PAGES
News from the Big Guys
ESPN/ College Football News Wire
Sports Illustrated
FOX
CBS Sportsline
USA Today
Opinion: Columnists and bloggers
Around the Oval (Ohio State)
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The Blue-Gray Sky (Notre Dame)
Block U (Utah)
BoiFromTroy (Southern Cal)
Bruins Nation (UCLA)
Burnt Orange Nation (Texas)
The Corporate Headquarters of the San Antonio Gunslingers
Dave Sez (Virginia)
Dawg Sports (Georgia)
ESPN: Ivan Maisel/Pat Forde
Every Day Should Be Saturday (Florida)
FOX: Pete Fiutak
Golden Tornado (Georgia Tech)
Heisman Pundit
I'm a Realist (Georgia)
Journalism is for Rock Stars (Alabama)
Mark May Be Wrong
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MGOBlog (Michigan)
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Section Six
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SI: Stewart Mandel/John Walters
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Texas A&M and Baseball, In No Particular Order (Texas A&M)
The 614 (Ohio State)
The House That Rock Built (Notre Dame)
The Sporting Gnomes (Clemson)
Tiger Pundit (Clemson)
We Must Ignite This Couch (West Virginia)
The Wizard of Odds
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The Blog Poll
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WANNA DO SOME RESEARCH? NERD! HERE'S SOME QUICK REFERENCES:
College Football Data Warehouse
College Football Research Center
College Football News
cfbstats.com
Football Commentary
THE STANDINGS
THE POLLS
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Passing
Receiving
All-Purpose
Scoring
Tackles
Sacks
Interceptions
Tackles For Loss
Field Goals
Punting
Kickoff Returns
Punt Returns
TEAM STATISTICS
Rushing Offense
Passing Offense
Total Offense
Scoring Offense
Rushing Defense
Passing Defense
Total Defense
Scoring Defense
Turnover Margin
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Past Seasons
2005
Thursday Morning Quarterback
Sept. 29/Oct. 6/Oct. 20/Oct. 27/Nov. 3/Nov. 10/Nov. 17/Nov. 24/Dec. 1
Sunday Morning Quarterback
Oct. 2/Oct. 23/Oct. 30/Nov. 6/Nov. 13/Nov. 27
Stat Relevance Watch
Part One/Part Two/Part Three
SMQ Bowl Blitz
New Orleans/GMAC/Las Vegas/Poinsettia/Motor City
SMQ's [Hurricane-Abbreviated] 2005 Preview
Top 25 Countdown/Methodology
All-America Team
ACC
BIG EAST
BIG TEN
BIG XII
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