Football 2014 - Week 9

My recap of the only football games that matter

NFL TV Market Territories

We are now about halfway through the NFL and college seasons. A little farther into the high school schedules. Didn't the season just start a couple of weeks ago?

The South Florida Bulls invaded the Friday night domain of the high schools with a game in Cincinnati. It was  not a successful trip. I saw most of the first half. The score was 20-3 in favor of the Bearcats (is that a cat-like bear or a bear-like cat?) at intermission. Last week I turned off the Bulls game when they were way behind at halftime and they made a very big comeback for the win. I tried the same strategy but it didn't work this time. Cincinnati won 34-17. It was a sloppy performance by the Bulls. They only had 281 total yards, a mere 42 rushing, to Cincy's 590. They also had four turnovers and almost 100 yards of penalties. USF falls to 3-5, 2-2. Next game is at home against Houston.

We had a breakthrough for the Bell Blue Raiders. They won a game over the still winless Haltom Buffalos 39-22. Haltom must be pretty bad because the Raiders had 455 total yards. It usually takes them about three games to amass that much yardage. The 39 points is also a season high. With this win Bell is now 1-8, 1-4 on the season. They wrap up the year at home against the undefeated Southlake Carroll Dragons who are ranked #2 in the state. Good luck with that.

Bishop Kenny continued their winning ways with a 34-7 victory over the Yulee Hornets. The Crusaders built up a 28-0 lead before Yulee scored. Total yards were close at 409 to 361 but the Hornets also had two turnovers. Kenny had two long TDs, a 75 yard pass play and an 83 yard run, both in the first quarter. BK is now 6-1, 5-1 with two games to go. Next week is their last district game against 4-5, 3-3 Baker County.

On to the colleges. The good news is the Gators didn't lose and Jeff Driskel didn't throw an interception or fumble. Of course Florida didn't play either. Next is the cocktail party in Jacksonville against Georgia.

There were fireworks in Fort Worth as the #10 TCU Horned Frogs demolished the Texas Tech Red Raiders 82-27. It was the most points ever scored by the Frogs. It was also a record high score for a Big 12 (10 teams) conference game. TCU's quarterback, Trevon Boykin, threw for seven TDs and 433 yards and no interceptions. The Frogs had 785 total yards. Pretty good day. The defense also woke up in the second half. After giving up 20 first half points, they limited the Red Raiders to only one second half TD. TCU is now 6-1, 3-1. They have to travel now to play #20 West Virginia. That could be a tough game.

The SEC produced another upset when #24 LSU beat #3 Ole Miss 10-7. The Rebels had an excellent chance to tie the game late with a FG, but gambled on a TD attempt that resulted in an interception. The other four conference games went as expected and Arkansas beat UAB in the only non-conference game. Florida, Georgia and A&M all had an open week.

There weren't any other big upsets around the country. The Ole Miss lose did shake up the AP rankings a little at the top as they drop to #7. Mississippi State and FSU remain at the top. Alabama, Auburn and Oregon all move up one spot to fill out the top five. LSU jumps to #16. Despite their dominating performance, TCU remained at #10. The SEC still has five teams in the top 10 and six in the top 25.

On to the pros. As usual it was a perfect week as in perfectly winless. The Jags got back to their losing ways with a 27-13 lose to state rival Miami. The NFL initiation of Blake Bortles continues. He was only 18/34 for 221 yards, four sacks, two interceptions and a fumble. Both of his interceptions were returned for TDs, one for 81 yards and the other for 22 yards. Without those two plays it's a close game. Jax actually won the statistics battle in every category except turnovers. They are at 1-7 at the season midpoint.  Next game is in Cincinnati. Hope they have better luck than USF did up there.

The Atlanta Falcons managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in London. They led 21-0 at the half but then forgot to come out for the rest of the game. They wound up losing 22-21 with Detroit's winning FG coming with time expired. It was a 48 yarder. The Lions missed a 43 yard attempt with four seconds remaining but were called for a delay of game penalty. They got another try and made it. Falcons QB, Matt Ryan was 16/17 for 160 yards in the first half but only 4/10 for 68 yards and an interception in the last 30 minutes. That's how you blow a 21 point lead. The Falcons get to rest next week after the long trip to London. They are 2-6 on the season.

The Buccaneers had their chance, but they too blew it. They scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to take a 13-10 lead but the Vikings kicked a tying FG with no time on the clock to force overtime. Tampa Bay got the ball first in OT but then immediately lost a fumbled. Minnesota returned the fumble for the winning TD. Overtime lasted all of 17 seconds. Final score 19-13. The Bucs were shutout the first three quarters and only had an anemic 225 total yards with two turnovers. Tampa is now 1-6. They go to Cleveland next week.

If you are keeping track, my pro teams are now 4-19 at the halfway point. I think the playoffs may be a little out of reach this year. 

wjh

Scattershooting 10-26-14

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to the great

Ben Bradlee

Sunday's Summary

My incomplete recap of the week

The Monday bike ride Bedford report was gathered on a beautiful 80° day. The retaining wall on the new section of Bedford Trail between Oak Valley and Forest Ridge has been built. It still needs to be back filled and landscaped. A problem with the new trail has shown up. The curb cut on the west side of Oak Valley collects mud. The gutter and ramp were covered today. Maybe when they plant grass on the hill it will be OK. They were putting up the permanent lighted signs on the new HWY 55 restaurant location. The fire marshal was there last week. Maybe soon. I saw another lone Monarch butterfly today near the dog park. What is with these single butterflies?

Bedford, TX Logo

It's getting nasty in the Gator Nation -

Florida Fan Posts Craigslist Ad in Hopes of Finding Next Gators Coach

Just saw on the news that Social Security benefits will go up 1.7% for 2015. Medicare Part B premiums are supposed to remain the same as 2014 but most Part D drug plans are going up. Will it be a net gain or loss?

Today (10/22) was the first day on the job for our new federal Ebola Czar. There were no new cases in the US today so I guess he's doing a good job. The crisis/epidemic is over.

Went to the newly remodeled Target on Precinct Line today (10/22). Looks brighter and more open but no major changes. Some departments have been moved. Men's department is smaller (of course) and housewares/kitchen section is larger and now along the back wall. The beer is in the same place. The recently announced health clinic is not there or under construction yet.

Today (10/22) was the first time I've ridden over the pedestrian bridge in Hurst since the Airport Freeway project (Northeast Tarrant Express) was finished. Not much traffic in the toll lanes at 2:30, a few more at 3:30. The free lanes were zipping right along. A big difference from before the construction and certainly during the couple of years it took. Don't worry folks, there are plenty of other roads torn up around here to make up for this completed project.

Guess what day it is. It's ‪#‎TBT‬ and time to delve into the archive. Today (10/23) I have a photo of Nana Kelly and all her grandchildren in 1961. It was taken in North Caldwell, NJ at the Warrick's. The Kelly Kousins are Suzanne & John Dowie up front. Jeff Warrick, me, Nana & Bobby Warrick in back. Nice smile Suze. Unfortunately Bobby is no longer with us. The other two pictures are of my Mom. One when she was 15 or 16 and the other from 1950 in Belmar, NJ at the shore. I love these old pictures of my parents when they were young. We never think the older generations were ever kids or young adults.

The Hwy 55 restaurant in Bedford has a sign in the window stating that they will open Monday (10/27). There is another one in NRH scheduled to open soon. It's at 26 and Emerald Hills. I'm sure I'll give it a try in the next couple of weeks although I can't imagine eating there very often.

Saw a report that Joe Maddon, former Rays manager, is seeking a $25 million 5 year deal. Amazingly, I too am seeking that exact same deal. Joe may have a slightly better chance at getting it. I might need to throw in a 6th year.

Hey folks, Wikipedia is holding a fund raising drive. I just contributed a few bucks and so should you if you use it often. I probably check something on Wiki almost every day. It's non-profit, works, has useful information, is free and never has ads.

It's Sunday again already so it's time for ‪#‎SongSunday‬. This song stuck in my head yesterday when I was working in the yard. At my age I find the opening line ironic at the time when my back was aching from bending over. It is a thought we all had back in our teens, I know I did, but now realize it doesn't exactly work that way. That opening line is "Wouldn't it be nice if we were older..." which of course we would now change to "Wouldn't it be nice if we were younger...". The song was released in 1966 on the groundbreaking Pet Sounds album. Written by the great Brian Wilson with words by Tony Asher and sorta Mike Love. It was also released as a single and reached anywhere from #5 to #8 on the various charts. The video is pretty poor quality but the audio is fine. Here is Wouldn't It Be Nice -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD4sxxoJGkA

wjh

Football 2014 - Week 8

My recap of the only football games that matter

Time for the coin flip on another football roundup as seen through my eyes. On high school Friday night Bishop Kenny got back to their winning ways over a weak opponent. They dominated the winless Stanton Blue Devils 39-0. The Crusaders defense had two safeties and returned an interception for a TD. Kenny improves to 5-1, 4-1 on the season. They next travel to Yulee to face the Hornets in another district game. The Florida Times-Union, the local Jacksonville paper, is making it more difficult to get the high school football results without subscribing. I can find the score through other sources but not always the box score and stats. 

Here in Bedford the Bell Blue Raiders continued their losing ways in a big 45-3 loss to district rival Colleyville Heritage. Bell scored first but then were shutout the rest of the game as the Panthers reeled off 45 points. The Raiders seem to have a knack of scoring the first or last points in a game but very few during the rest of the game. It was another pitiful performance with only 115 total yards, 33 through the air. That's against 420 total yards for Colleyville. The Raiders fall to 0-8, 0-4 this year. They have their best chance for a win next week when they meet the also winless Haltom Buffaloes in a battle for the district cellar. 

It was another exciting weekend in the college ranks. I was happy that USF, TCU and Florida all played at different times. It started at 11:00 with South Florida at the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Does it seem odd to you that a Florida school is playing an Oklahoma school and the team from Tulsa is the one named for a tropical storm? How many hurricanes do you suspect have hit Tulsa? I know some have hit Tampa because I have been there during a few. Back to the game. I watched the first half and it was Tulsa 27, Bulls 7. USF looked terrible so I made a decision to go eat lunch and run by the grocery store so I'd be free to watch the TCU and Florida games later in the day. Big mistake. The normally offense challenged Bulls outscored Tulsa 31-3 in the second half for a 38-30 conference win. I was shocked when I got home and saw the score. About halfway through the third quarter it was 30-14. USF then reeled off 24 points including an 85 yard TD pass play. The Hurricane actually outgained South Florida by about 75 yards, held the ball six minutes longer and had one fewer turnovers.  USF is now 3-4, 2-1 for the season. Next up they travel to play the 3-3 Cincinnati Bearcats (or Catbears?).

The #12 TCU Horned Frogs played next. They hosted the #15 OSU Cowboys in beautiful Amon Carter Stadium. This should have been a close game between closely matched ranked conference rivals. It wasn't. TCU crushed the Cowboys 42-9. It was 28-9 at the midpoint and then the Frogs pitched a shutout in the second half. TCU's explosive offense gained 676 yards to OSU's 278. It was a complete rout. The Frogs are now 5-1, 2-1 and are in control of their own destiny in the Big 12 Conference (which has only 10 teams). It won't be easy, but is doable. An undefeated run would probably put them into the mix for one of the four playoff spots due to strength of schedule with only one loss. Their next game is also in Fort Worth against Texas Tech.

Now to the disaster. The Florida Gators hosted the Missouri Tigers in an SEC East matchup of two mediocre at best teams. As it turned out, Mizzou is way less mediocre than Florida. It started with Missouri returning the opening kickoff for a TD with 11 seconds expired. On Florida's first possession they lost a fumble. Not even close to the end of the turnovers. The Tigers threw an interception a couple of plays later, but that was their last one. The Gators were just getting started. I'll cut to the chase and tell you that Missouri won the game 42-13. Florida was shutout in the first half. After significant halftime adjustments by brilliant head coach Will Muschamp, they were only outscored 22-13 in the second half. The Gators conducted a clinic on how to turn over the ball and collapse on (un)special teams. Mizzou scored on the opening kickoff, a punt return, a fumble return and an interception. They didn't even need the offense to win the game. Florida had six turnovers, three fumbles and three interceptions. Jeff (Mr. Interception) Driskel threw two interceptions and fumbled twice. His replacement, freshman Treon Harris, also had an interception and a fumble. If you are keeping count, that is six turnovers by Gators QBs. To anyone who has watched the Gators this year, it is blatantly obvious that Driskel cannot play QB in a major conference. It is also obvious to me that Muschamp cannot run a major college football program, certainly not in the SEC or the state of Florida. The Gators won the stats battle although they were miserable for both teams. The Tigers didn't need to gain many yards since Florida continually gave them short fields and easy TDs. It was a terrible showing by the Gators in The Swamp. They get to stew in this lose for two weeks since they have an open week. Seems like a good time to change QBs and maybe coaches. After the bye, they meet #10 Georgia at the big party in Jacksonville. Good luck with that.

In other SEC games, it seemed like blowouts was the trend. I already documented the Mizzou blowout of Florida. #3 Ole Miss beat Tennessee 34-3, #7 Alabama demolished #21 A&M 59-0, LSU won over Kentucky 41-3 and #10 Georgia beat Arkansas 45-32 although it was 38-6 at the half. South Carolina won the only non-conference game 41-10 over Furman. Alabama reestablished themselves as a top program although the two Mississippi teams remain atop the SEC West. Georgia is the only legitimate team in the East. A&M and South Carolina have faded miserably in the past few weeks. 

Outside the SEC, the big game was #5 Notre Dame at #2 FSU between ranked unbeaten teams. The game lived up to the hype. Since the Gators game was sickening, I switched the TV to the FSU game and watched the Gators on my laptop. Glad I did. The Florida massacre was a little less nauseating on a smaller screen and the FSU-ND game was good. The Irish led 17-10 at intermission but FSU came back to win 31-27. It looked like Notre Dame pulled it out in the closing seconds with a short TD pass. Unfortunately they were called for offensive pass interference and the TD was nullified. They failed to score on the next play and the Seminoles won. I thought the graphic below was amusing although completely inaccurate. Many if not most of the Notre Dame players are neither Catholics or Irish. Likewise, most of the FSU players are not criminals and probably none are Seminoles. 

The Big 12 (10 teams) took a couple of gut punches to their hopes to be represented in the playoffs. #4 Baylor lost to unranked West Virginia 41-27 and #11 Oklahoma was beaten at home in a mild upset by #14 Kansas State 31-30. TCU might be the conference's best chance.   

In the latest AP rankings, Mississippi State remains on top after a bye week. The SEC made history by placing four teams in the top five. Both Mississippi schools and the two Alabama teams. Of the seven teams in the SEC West, four are in the top five. One other SEC West team, LSU is also in the top 25. Pretty tough place to play. Of course some of this will shake out because Mississippi State must play Ole Miss and Alabama plays Auburn. Georgia also remains in the top ten. Locally, TCU broke into the top ten at #10. 

There was great news in the pro ranks this week. Tampa Bay didn't lose, they had a bye week. They get back to action against the Vikings on Sunday. 

The more exciting news is that the Jaguars won their first game of the season with a 24-6 victory over Cleveland. Jacksonville fell behind 6-0 so it looked like another futile day on offense and of course a lose. Amazingly they scored a TD with 0:27 left in the first half for a 7-6 lead at intermission. The Jags managed a third quarter FG and two fourth quarter TDs. They also shutout the Browns during the last 40 minutes of the game. Besides the first win of the season for Jax, it was Blake Bortles first win in the NFL. Despite the win it was not a good performance for Bortles. He was 17/31 for 159 yards and one TD. Unfortunately he also threw three interceptions and was sacked twice. Hopefully the Jaguars can build on this victory and start the long journey back to being a contending franchise. Their record is now 1-6. Next week is an in-state home game against the Miami Dolphins.

Of course the Falcons had to contribute a lose to this mix. They were beaten 29-7 by the Ravens in a battle of the birds. Atlanta didn't score their lone TD until half way through the fourth quarter. It seems to me that the Falcons are getting worse. They fall to 2-5 this year and host the 5-2 Lions next. 

wjh

Scattershooting 10-19-14

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to the great

Harold Ramis

Sunday's Summary

My incomplete recap of the week

Monday 10/13 was Canadian Thanksgiving. Does that mean 10/14 is Black Tuesday? Remember a US dollar is worth $1.12 Canadian.

Went for a short bike ride today (10/14). Still too windy to be pleasurable. Lotsa small branches, leaves and acorns all over including the streets. One medium size oak tree snapped off on Cummings. Of course it fell on a fairly new fence. Saw a single monarch butterfly. Can't imagine they do well in 25 mph winds with 30+ mph gusts. At least the wind was out of the north so it was blowing him south toward Mexico.

I like dogs very much but I find it ironic that Nina Pham's dog, Bentley, is getting much more news coverage and probably better care than the 4,500 Africans who have died and the thousands of others who have contracted the disease. Nina is the D/FW nurse who contracted Ebola.

Here is what I think is my parents' official engagement photo for ‪#‎TBT‬. Only notation on the back is "1939". It's a 5" x 7" print on heavy stock so it might have been professionally taken. I've also added a coupe of shots of my dad's 1930 Ford Model A Deluxe Convertible. These look like the photos after he rolled it. He broke his left arm and the car survived with minor damage. Would like to have that ride now.

I sure hope all you football fans get CBS Sports on cable or satellite. Forget that NFL game on the main CBS network. Tonight on CBSS you get Colorado School of Mines Orediggers at Fort Lewis Skyhawks. I get the feeling we have finally run out of sports content for all the cable sports networks.

 Well, it's the Giants vs the Royals in the World Series. I picked an Orioles-Giants matchup before the playoffs began so I was half right. I don't really care who wins. I just hope the World Series is as good as the other playoff series have been so far. Great games all the way through.

 Must be a Gators fan.

Stop the presses! The Jacksonville Jaguars have won an NFL football game. Not only did they win, but they scored 24 points. Jags 24 Browns 6. Amazing.

GO JAGUARS!

Time for ‪#‎SongSunday‬. I've been uploading a friend's mostly country music CD collection to her Google Play Music library the past few days so I've been listening to way more country than usual. This week's song is categorized as a country song by a singer categorized as country but both the song and singer easily fit into Pop, Standards, Easy Listening and other genres. The singer is the great Ray Price. One of the best singers of the 20th century. We lost Ray almost a year ago after a 60+ year career. The song was written in 1970 by Kris Kristofferson. Ray's rendition, recorded that same year, reached #1 on the country charts, #11 on Billboards Top 100 and #10 Adult Contemporary. Here is the beautiful For The Good Times -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T27WQZHAiYA

wjh

D/FW Local News Ebola Coverage

Anyone who follows this blog or me on Facebook, Google+, Twitter or Tumblr knows I hate the way news is now covered on TV. This applies to almost all TV news outlets. It doesn't matter if it is network or cable, international, national or local. They all suck. Most of what we get is superficial and sensationalized. There is no distinction between facts, conjecture, opinion and agenda. Hopefully you all know that Fox News and MSNBC are the worst offenders but they are not alone. 

The spark for this post was the local D/FW news coverage this evening of our ongoing Ebola situation. That situation is both a crisis and epidemic according to the news reports. Apparently an epidemic now consists of three patients. While I know there has been substantial national news coverage of this you can imagine the frenzy the local stations have been in since the first case was confirmed in Dallas. It leads every newscast with reporters stationed all over town. They are in front of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, the homes of the victims, the Dallas County Health Department and several other places. I never understood this technique, especially when the reporter is standing in front of an obviously closed and darkened building during the 10:00 news. Maybe they are hoping for a meaningful interview with the janitorial staff. 

On tonight's 6:00 PM newscast on all four local network affiliates we got the exact same coverage for the entire half hour or more. Nina Pham, the first of two nurses to contract Ebola while working at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, was being transported from that hospital to one in Maryland. We saw the entire first leg of that trip via helicopter coverage of the exciting ambulance trip from Texas Health Presbyterian in north Dallas to Love Field. No lights or sirens, just a regular ambulance and a couple of police cars. They went the speed limit or slower and stopped at traffic lights. While this exciting road trip was underway, every station had a smaller box in the lower left of the screen (no variation of screen format among stations) showing the plane she would be getting on. It is a nondescript dark gray Gulfstream jet with no markings. It was just sitting on the tarmac. Every once in a while someone, usually in hazmat gear, would go into or come out of the plane or just loiter at the bottom of the stairs.  My heart was racing at all the excitement.

The pictures were bad enough but that's not the worst of it. Whenever one of these ongoing live coverage things is broadcast the news anchors go off the script and the teleprompters. That is hardly ever a good thing. Today's well coiffed news anchors are usually very good at reading the news, especially in a large market like D/FW. They are also very attractive. What they aren't good at is ad libbing for an entire half hour newscast. They usually wind up fumbling through trying to sound knowledgeable but often showing their ignorance. I wasn't listening that closely but I heard several conjectures and interpretations that don't jive with the known facts. Opinions were mixed in too. 

Most of these local anchors never leave the studio. Maybe years ago they were actually reporters but not recently. The only things they know about the stories is what they read from the teleprompter each night. It is sad but that's what we are stuck with. My guess is that Walter Cronkite or David Brinkley would never get a top news anchor job today. Not attractive enough. Yet, they could go on for hours off script during a crisis and actually impart knowledge and insight about the situation. 

I don't expect this to improve during my lifetime. People are more interested in what a Kardashian is wearing, or divorcing, than any real news. Ebola is kind of important right now because it sounds scary and people can panic over it. Reporting on superficial celebrity crap doesn't require knowledgeable news readers. The intricacies and implications of the Middle East problems, ISIS, immigration, Ukraine and other issues are too complicated. 

It is almost impossible to get good news coverage on TV. The best you can hope for is to find topics that require further research. Read newspapers and search the web. Watch or listen to more PBS news, it is less sensational and more informative, find Al Jazeera or BBC on TV or the web, it will give you a different perspective. If you are a Fox News conservative, watch some MSNBC and vice versa for those on the left. Everybody should watch the Daily Show at least occasionally. If you do a little of this, you will be better informed than that very attractive and well dressed news anchor on the local news and several national news folks too. 

Ebola is a serious illness and we should be concerned but not panic. My biggest concern is that once again our government and institutions have proved incompetent and incapable of doing their jobs. Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital lied about their preparedness to handle Ebola cases. The CDC proved again that they rarely know what they are doing or talking about. Congress proved that there is no issue that they can agree on or make political or any mistake that they won't pontificate about and condescendingly crucify those involved with a committee hearing. Never any constructive solutions offered, just posturing and fake outrage. 

So, watch the local news but don't expect any meaningful information other than maybe the weather and traffic. Just pay attention to the fancy set, new hairdo or happy talk between anchors. That's what the news directors and media consultants are focused on.

Gotta go, live coverage of the exciting plane landing in Maryland is coming up on the local 10:00 newscasts.

wjh

Football 2014 - Week 7

My recap of the only football games that matter

This week besides the NFL Thursday night game we had the local HEB high school rivalry game between Bell and Trinity. The game is always played on a Thursday night because the schools would party, fight, pull pranks and generally cause problems all night long and into Saturday when they played on Fridays. While the rivalry is still strong, the game hasn't been much of a contest lately. This year was no exception as the Trinity Trojans demolished Bell 48-3. The Blue Raiders lone field goal was the last score of the game when it was 48-0. My guess is that the Trinity fifth string defense was in the game at that point. The Trojans had 550 total yards with 441 of them on the ground. Bell had a total of 127 yards of offense and 187 penalty yards for a net -60 yards for the night. Trinity is now undefeated at 7-0 and the Raiders are winless at 0-7. Next up for Bell are the Colleyville Heritage Panthers.

Only saw a little of the beginning of the Thursday pro game. I assume they finished and somebody won.

On Friday, my one shining light of the season faltered. Bishop Kenny dropped their first game of the season to the recently renamed Westside Wolverines 38-20. Maybe we would have had better luck against the old named Nathan B. Forrest Rebels. It is not only the Crusaders first lose but it was a district game. It seems BK needs to develop a ground game and a ground defense. They were held to 59 yards on 22 attempts while gaining 303 yards through the air. Meanwhile Westside had 359 rushing yards and added 169 passing. They only threw seven passes, Kenny threw 37. The Crusaders are in second place in the district and now stand 4-1 overall. Next game is at home against winless Stanton.

Saturday brought the usual turmoil in the college ranks. Unfortunately my guys suffered two heartbreaking loses.

Let's start with the easy one. South Florida lost to #19 the East Carolina Pirates 28-17. That seems somewhat ironic since the Bulls play in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stadium which has a fake pirate ship in one end zone. I'm not exactly sure where East Carolina is. I've been to both South and North Carolina many times but somehow missed East Carolina. As usual, USF got their fans excited with a 17-7 halftime lead but then failed to score again as the Pirates rang up 21 second half points. Stats weren't too far skewed except for the 231-93 advantage in rushing yards for East Carolina. The Bulls fall to 2-4, 1-1 on the season. They next travel west to Oklahoma to face Tulsa.

Now on to Waco for the first of the two heartbreaking loses. #9 TCU led #5 Baylor 58-37 with 11:38 left in the game. The Bears then reeled off 24 straight points including the winning FG with time expired. Final score Baylor 61 TCU 58. Needless to say this was not a defensive gem by either team. Baylor had an amazing 782 total yards. TCU had a very respectable 485 yards. That is a total of 1,267 yards or 0.72 of a mile. The Bears had several big scoring plays and TCU had a 94 yard kickoff return. This was one that got away from the Frogs. A win would have propelled them into the playoff picture but it was a tough part of the schedule with then #4 Oklahoma and #5 Baylor back to back. TCU will have to quickly shake off this disappointing lose as they now host #15 Oklahoma State. TCU now stands at 4-1, 1-1.

The next disappointment was the Florida lose to LSU in Gainesville. Both of these once mighty SEC programs are struggling this year. The Gators managed to tie the game at 27 with 1:49 remaining. Surely they would go to overtime. But nooooooooooooo, after holding LSU and forcing a punt at 0:54, our great quarterback, Jeff Driskel, threw an interception which led to the Tigers winning FG with 0:03 remaining on the clock. Here is the mystery, after holding LSU after the tying FG, the Gators took over at their own 42. Driskel then threw two incomplete passes and an interception. I know Florida was trying to win the game, but why in the world would you let Jeff (Interception) Driskel throw in that situation? He will inevitably find someone in the opposing uniform to throw the ball to. The stat numbers weren't terrible except for the three turnovers. This was a chance against a down LSU team at home in The Swamp. The Gators fall to 3-2, 2-2. The 4-2 Missouri Tigers come to Ben Hill Griffin next week. I don't hold out much hope for the Gators. Time to flush Muschamp and his QB Driskel. Aggravating.

In other games, the SEC was it's normal surprise conference this season. #3 Mississippi beat #2 Auburn 38-23. The other #3 Ole Miss won over #14 A&M 35-20, same margin. I'll get into the new AP rankings shortly. The once mighty #7 Crimson Tide barely got by unranked Arkansas 14-13. The other SEC games went according to schedule. The conference had five in-conference games and won all three non-conference games for an 8-5 overall record. The SEC has five teams in the top 10 with both Mississippi teams, both Alabama teams and Georgia. 

Outside the SEC #10 Arizona lost to USC. The #11 Oklahoma Sooners won an exciting game against Texas 31-26 in the Cotton Bowl. I was just outside the stadium during much of the game at the State Fair of Texas. For some reason there were way more Oklahoma fans that stayed around the fair grounds after the game. One other upset was Duke over #22 Georgia Tech 31-25. Big day for Duke football.

The AP top 25 had a major shakeup. We have a new #1 with Mississippi State. The former #1 now #2, FSU didn't lose, but the Bulldogs have beaten the then #3 Alabama and #2 Auburn in consecutive weeks. Meanwhile, FSU plods along against mostly average opponents. They also have a punk QB who can't stay out of trouble and investigations. Ole Miss is still at #3 so you know the whole state is still celebrating. The two high flying Mississippi schools have to play each other November 29th. That might be a good game. I was surprised that Baylor moved up to #4. I thought the Bears were exposed, especially on defense, by now #12 TCU. Looking forward to next week's games and upsets.

On to the pro ranks. Thankfully I have few or no expectations this season. I was not disappointed. Three teams, three loses. 

Jacksonville went to Tennessee to get beat by the Titans 16-14. Must have been an exciting game. The Jaguars had about 90 more total yards but also had a couple of turnovers. The education of Blake Bortles continues. He is not doing terribly considering the poor supporting cast. Bortles was 32/46 for 336 yards with one TD and one INT. Let's chalked this up to a transition/rebuilding season. The Jags remain winless at 0-6. Next up is Cleveland back in the Gator Bowl, I mean EverBank Field. 

The Falcons lost to Chicago at home 27-13. After a couple of good years, Atlanta QB Matt Ryan is looking very average. I don't expect much from him or the team this year. Let's see if we can get coach Norm Van Brocklin and middle linebacker Tommy Nobis back from the early Falcon years. For you Jacksonville Lee and Florida Gator fans, Harmon Wages was on the team back then too. 

Lastly we have the embarrassment in Tampa. The Bucs got smothered by the Ravens 48-17. It was 38-0 at the half. Was anybody left in the stadium? TB can look pretty miserable in some games. They are now 1-5 this year with little hope of much improvement this season.

If you are keeping score at home, and I am, you will realize that I had a perfect week. That is perfectly dreadful. All my teams lost. While most of those teams have been pretty bad lately, usually at least one of them wins, mostly Bishop Kenny. Not this week. 

So, will any of my teams win next week. I predict at least one of the eight will. See you in a few days.

wjh