Gameday Recap

Week 2
September 9, 2006
Austin, TX - Ohio State vs. Texas

So there's a Biggest Game Ever this weekend, and I was expecting the Gameday Gang to break out the hype machine. Herbstreit couldn't say something bad about OSU if you held a gun to his head. But they weren't as overbearing as I expected.

• You are looking LIVE!
• Whoa! In the intro, Fowler actually called Paterno Joe-Pah, rather than Joap-uh.
  
• Fowler and others make kind of a big deal about how 1 vs. 2 matchups are rare. (I have a theory about this: 1 vs. 2s are rare because pollsters, when ranking, consider schedules much more than they let on. The reason why there are few 1 vs 2 games is because pollsters consider the schedule of the team they consider lesser - since Team X has to play Team Y, team X will end up losing, and therefore they shouldn't be ranked as high. I might not be clear enough here...)
• Hebrstreit: Texas without Vince Young gets too conservative and chokes. Watch for it.
• That was short. Fowler follows up with a Joap-uh.
  
• Herbstreit: Watch for South Carolina's athletic defense against the UGA running game.
• Herbstreit: "Look at this... Pat Hill actually gets a big time program to come to his stadium". (In the past 5 years, Oregon State has played in Fresno twice, Cal once.)
• Herbstreit: Penn State might win 9, but they have to upset one of the big games to get to the BCS.
• Corso: Penn State didn't run well against Akron, but then he teases that PSU doesn't have a chance. (Holtz ranted about the PSU Akron game last week too. Akron has a good defense. Very good run defense. Seriously. Ask NC State. It's like it's impossible for these guys to do any research on teams that aren't traditional powers.
• Fowler: Scheduling 1-AA teams is embarassing, losing to them is worse. The 12th game has been a joke because so many teams have added 1-AA teams. (I wrote about this in my Easterbrook post below). Praises Pac-10 for their 9th conference game.
  
• Corso: Don't be surprised if West Virginia beats Eastern Washington really good. (They don't call him the best in the business for nothing).
• Semi-extended bit on Ted Ginn, which includes Mack Brown praising him to the heights.
  
• Corso: Texas has the most and best defensive backs they've ever had. They'll force Ginn inside and hit him, Sweetheart (which affronts Herbstreit, who naturally blows Ginn).
• Herbstreit: Because of Tarell Brown, watch for OSU's Gonzalez. (Good call).
• In the tease for the A&M player who was in the Pentagon on 9/11, Texas fans kind of booed. Then when the story starts the fans chant "USA, USA".
• Extended piece on Mark Dodge, TAMU linebacker and soldier who was in the Pentagon on 9/11/2001. Tom Rinaldi reporting. Pretty good piece. Guy looks like a good player too. The Texas fans cheer some when the piece ends.
  
• Game Face: no face paint, Fowler suggests that it was hard finding a painted person in Austin. (Major bonus points to Texas for that, IMO).
• Fowler: Surprised that the Notre Dame game is pricier than the Texas game.
  
• Is Boise State BCS worthy? Herbstreit thinks possibly. The only team that can beat Boise is Boise (not Fresno?). Corso thinks Boise will run the table and play in the Fiesta Bowl.
  
• Fowler Fact: with a win, Mike Bellotti becomes the all-time winningest coach in Oregon history (he did it).
• Fowler Fact: LSU hasn't given up a TD since the SEC Championship last year (and they still haven't).
• Corso: LSU won't win the SEC West because of a brutal schedule. "It's unfair!" Corso thinks Arizona covers.
• Herbstreit: Arizona has a chance because of coaching, athletic QB, underrated defense. Also thinks Arizona covers.
  
• In tease, Fowler calls Tressel, "Senator". (I'm guessing that's because he's corrupt and takes bribes and stuff)
• Interesting comparison between Darrell Royal and Woody Hayes on chart. Looks like Royal has better numbers (higher win %, same number of MNCs, nearly as many conference titles in 8 fewer years). Interestingly, I believe, Royal isn't mentioned as frequently among legends of coaching as Hayes is.
  
• WIRED with Tressel. So lame. He whistles! "Good!" "Regular!" "Got too high!" "Second Group!" So informative.
• Fowler Fact: Gene Chizik hasn't lost in 29 games.
  
• Corso, Fowler and Howard on the Gameday Field. I just can't understand Desmond during these segments. He says he "gets jiggy with it and gets up the sidelines". Line of the day. They bring out Lance Armstrong. Corso tackles, and apparently buggers, Armstrong.
• Flashback: First time Corso used a head was 10 years ago at Ohio State.
  
• During the mid-show selections, one of the Texas cheerleaders did the backstroke in mid air behind the crew. Looked funny.
• Corso: Clemson's good, but they don't win the ACC. Herbstreit thinks they can win the ACC - mentions how they simply reshuffle the LBs (which kind of cost them in OT).
• Extended piece on Colt McCoy the lifesaver. Steve Cyphers reporting.
• WIRED - Greg Davis. "Sell the fake!" "Good Ball!" These are totally useless segments. If you don't see what he's talking about, what use is it?
  
• Musberger, Davie and Herbstreit on the fake field. Herbstreit says you can't root against McCoy. Davie chimes in with the hard hitting analysis about McCoy's name.
  
• Holy Crap! They bring on Craig James! Throwback to '92! Did Craig James go through a rough patch a while ago? Seemed like he wasn't that terrible on Gameday way back when (though I was younger and more willing to accept what idiots had to say), but then when Herbstreit took his seat it was almost like he completely fell apart. When James was on the Friday night broadcasts with Rod Gilmore, it was almost like he became retarded. Now he looks like his confidence is a little bit back.
• Corso throws out a NSFMF! to Craig. (I didn't think either Corso or James said anything too contentious, James thought OSU's D would be OK, Corso thought Texas's D would be good - forced NSFMF).
  
• James: Ted Ginn will be great, Colt McCoy won't be nervous.
• Gameday Love connection? They met last year, now they're on their honeymoon? What show is this? Did TiVo tape some terrible MTV dating show instead?
  
• Extended piece on Sidney Rice. Desmond Howard. Rice looks like a badass. I think Howard might start making out with him. Howard says, "You've got excellent hands", and then turns his backside to him. Weird. "He's so big!"
  
• Herbstreit: Stafford will play, may have an impact tonight (Prescient).
• Herbstreit: Look out for Corey Boyd, and South Carolina beats UGA with D and running (he did apologize, literally, on Gameday final).
• Corso: Georgia's D is really good, but wins tonight because of special teams. Fowler calls that a safe pick. I think he calls Herbstreit cocky here.
  
• Corso: Repeats his claim from last year that Spurrier will not win the SEC at South Carolina.
• Graphic on matching up Texas and Ohio State's golfers. Corso takes Stanford, Herbstreit mentions Georgia Tech.
• Extended piece on Jeff Samardzjia (I spelled it right the first time!). Tom Rinaldi reporting (two today).
  
• Comparison graphic between ND and PSU. Fowler correctly mentions that the bowl wins column is misleading because ND refused bowls for so long.
• The crowd is laughing at something behind them.
• Herbstreit wants everyone to relax on ND. Thinks the Irish will look like a completely different team this week.
• Corso thinks Penn State will throw the ball well against ND. Picks Penn State in a "major upset".
  
• Fowler: Tennessee looked good against a "depleted" Cal secondary. Now they need to play assignment football against Air Force.
  
• Semi-extended piece on David Cutcliffe and Tennessee getting back to it. Some annoying "WIRED" like sections.
• Howard's input on Tennessee is actually a little informative.
  
• Corso: Tennessee is back with a vengeance, but really on defense (last year Tennessee had one of the best defenses in the country, Lee).
• The message from Vince Young is ridiculous. Seems like an intro to a weed carrier rap album. "what's up Coach, 'sup Mad Dog and the crew... Get on y'all feet... Let's get it cowgirls." The fans seem to like it though.
• Extended piece on Troy Smith. Lisa Salters gives up the ND beat to cover Troy Smith instead. It is a tale of redemption... (This reminds me of something during last night's UT-OSU game. I can't remember whether it was Musberger, Davie or Herbstreit, but one of them praised Jim Tressel very strongly for giving Troy Smith a second chance. Really? Tressel took a real chance there! OSU's boosters' payments to players are pretty widely alleged, and Tressel's ties to many of them have been reported before. Seriously, are we to believe that the payments to Troy Smith had nothing to do with Tressel? And that it was "big of him" to let Smith continue to play after he got caught but kept his mouth shut?)
• Corso: likes Texas's D line. Does the "can they even keep it close" schtick for Texas.
• Herbstreit: OSU running backs have improved a lot, since Clarett in 2002.
• Fowler: OSU has problems in the kicking game. Herbstreit smarmily shrugs that off.
• Corso and Herbstreit think CMU will keep it close with Michigan, it'll be boring.
• Game Changers: Corso: Limas Sweed. Herbstreit: Will Proctor for Clemson. Fowler: Texas O line.
• Saturday Stupid Selections: Corso: Colorado, Penn State, Clemson, Texas. Herbstreit: Clemson, South Carolina. (again, it's dumb that Herbstreit can't pick the ABC game - as if there's any doubt that he has a bias involved. And also, if I were a Texas fan, I'd have been a little pissed that the commentators last night were a former A&M coach and a former QB for Ohio State.)

Not as much hype as I was expecting. Shelley Smith had a bye week, just like USC. Two weeks, two ND extended pieces.

Next week: I'm not sure where they'll be going. The ABC night game is Nebraska-USC. But there's also LSU-Auburn, Florida-Tennessee, Michigan-Notre Dame, Miami-Louisville, Oklahoma-Oregon. If I were producing, I'd send them to Auburn or Knoxville, but CBS is covering those games. Michigan-ND is huge, but it's on NBC. A tough choice for Gameday.