Gameday Recap

Week Ten
November 3, 2007
Eugene, Oregon - Arizona State at Oregon

The extra hour most definitely helps in letting me get this out earlier this week.

• It is dark dark dark. Huge floodlights.
• 40 degrees too - think that's the coldest show this year.

Big N' Rich

• Corso says the best part about coming to Eugene is getting the frequent flyer miles.
• KH says Todd Boeckman is one of the biggest stories in college football. Really? I don't think he's in the top 20 of "stories".
• Fowler says something interesting - how rare it is when two preseason-unranked teams meet later in the year with title implications on the line.
  
• Herbstreit says ASU-UO is about the Rose Bowl, and that the BCS title game would be icing on the cake.
• Big crowd for ass crack of dawn there. Good for Oregon.

First commercial break

• Desmond Howard on the set, appears cold.
• Michigan talk regarding how they've turned their season around. Fowler phrases it right - whether Michigan is playing inspired and they've turned their season around, or if their opponents are mediocre.
• Nice old clips of MSU-UofM, especially the one to rib Howard.
• Wow. Crazy quote from Howard: Recalls MSU winning and a "black Greek stepshow" broke out with a few white guys invited to the party. Fowler seems a little amused by this comment.

Second commercial break

• Some talk about teams getting bowl eligible.
  
• Big East discussion. Fowler reveals the way the media thinks about Big East teams - like there's a fashionable team each week - rather than the focus being on traditional powers regardless of on-field results?
• UConn discussion - Corso thinks it's defensive continuity of players and turnover margin, and surprises Herbstreit with the nugget that Rutgers hasn't played on grass all year. Herbstreit thinks UConn still has more to prove - WVU game ahead.
• Herbstreit points out how they've never talked about UConn before, but Corso says they deserve the attention. Nobody points out how UConn should have two more losses on their record if not for atrocious officiating.

Third commercial break

• Looks like the sun may have arisen... or maybe not.
  
• Gillette Game Face - focusing on the product placement today, with a guy actually shaving.
• Extended piece on Linfield College football and Meadowlark Lemon's grandsons. Chris Connelly reporting. 4 kids on the same team, father coaching the DBs. I like when they do a story on a small school - there are thousands of fans of college football at small colleges and it's good to showcase that every now and then. 52 consecutive winning seasons at Linfield! Wow.
  

Fourth commercial break

• Tour of Oregon's facilities. Incredible what the labor of 5 year old Southeast Asians can buy. Seriously, it's super nice.
• Now the sun has definitely risen.
• Howard on the computer on the bus talks about the Heisman. LIkes Matt Ryan because of late comebacks.
• Herbstreit tells us Ryan and Dixon have separated themselves from the pack. From Tebow now? So much a week can do.
  
• Also, Herbstreit praises that Oregon's finally on national TV, which is really just patting his own employer on the back.
  
• Corso insanely tells us Colt Brennan is still a Heisman candidate. Hawaii is playing a bad 1-AA schedule. His numbers are meaningless.
• Some talk about Todd Boeckman with Todd McShay. McShay's impressed, and his highlight breakdowns are always interesting.
  
• Herbstreit thinks OSU is great now because the offense is carrying some of the weight and the defense doesn't have to do everything. Also, he thinks OSU's offense may be more open than last year's.
  
• The most detailed analysis of a game so far is OSU-Wisconsin, which isn't on the ESPN/ABC family.
  
• The Duck has stood up and the crowd likes that. Same thing happened last time in Eugene.
  

Fifth commercial break.

• The odds are long, says Fowler, that lots of teams finish unbeaten.
• "Meet the Jayhawks". I said this last week about ASU, but it's way too late for this program to "introduce" us to an unbeaten team. The fact that they say "meet" Kansas should be viewed as a failure of their editorial decisionmaking.
• Kansas or Missouri? Who's the team to beat? Corso opts not to answer the question, but likes Kansas big over Nebraska (correct). Herbstreit says it's "amazing" that Kansas could get to 10 wins and the Big XII title game. Maybe from historic perspectives that might be accurate, but it's still an elitist viewpoint.
• A&M-Oklahoma talk. Herbstreit and Corso agree that Oklahoma will blow out A&M (correct).
  
• Now the sun does not appear to be up, mainly because it looks like a cloud has descended over the area.
• Texas-Oklahoma State. Fowler hints that it should be a close game. Corso likes Texas because they're on the road, but also thinks it'll be a 4th quarter comeback (correct). Herbstreit likes Okie State.

Sixth commercial break

• Energizer crowd sounds - 112 dB. Pretty loud, as high as UK.
• BC-FSU talk.
  
• Extended interview with Matt Ryan by Desmond Howard. They seem to be calling this Howard's Heisman tour. They're laughing a lot.
  
• BC has some tough games left suggests Fowler.
  
• Fowler asks Herbstreit to explain his position on not voting BC higher. Herbstreit says "Style Points Matter". At the time this was said, BC's strength of schedule was about 50 points more difficult than Herbstreit's #1 team, Ohio State, but that apparently didn't matter to him. It's about "style".
• Corso thinks FSU is back on track because they played well against Duke and they're not missing as many tackles. Corso, as usual, is correct on the result, but his rationale is inane.
• Herbstreit thinks the weather would affect FSU more. I remember watching BC play like crap at VT in bad weather, and then when it cleared up they scored twice.
  

Seventh commercial break

• Notre Dame-Navy talk. Longest series streak in football history ended. Fowler mentions something that I haven't heard in highlights of this game - this isn't that good a Navy team.
  
• WIRED!!! with Paul Johnson. Pretty useless.
• Does the streak end today? Howard says yes, Herbstreit says no, Corso says no.
  
• Corso says he coached (in case you didn't know, he used to be a coach) against Staubach and he was the best college football player he's ever seen.
• USC-Oregon State talk. Framed as "What's wrong with USC?". Howard says it's poor development of young players, compares it to Miami post 2002.
  
• Corso says USC plays the second toughest schedule in America and they'll end up losing another. That's an insane comment. Their OOC schedule is atrocious now that we know how good those teams are (it looked good preseason, but that means nothing now). They play a Pac 10 schedule and nothing else.
  
• Corso thinks USC is just young and they'll be back. Lists his 2008 top 4: Florida, USC, Ohio State and Oklahoma. Not early enough!
• Herbstreit blames USC's troubles on their receivers - not enough YAC.

Eighth commercial break

• Was that a Dixon for Heisman commercial?
• Extended piece on Colt Brennan spear fishing. Unclear who filed the report. I feel bad - did Tom Rinaldi or Shelley Smith not deserve a vacation to Hawaii? Also, this is a pretty pointless piece.
  
• Colt Brennan phone interview. A lot of hype for him on a bye week. Also, Hawaii has played a bad 1-AA schedule. His numbers and their record are meaningless. Fowler, who received my praise for his Paterno interview last week, totally fluffs Brennan. His softball on "who knows football better, people or computers?" was freaking shameful. A huge step back from last week. Not journalism, public relations.
  
• Corso says Brennan deserves to be invited to NY for the Heisman, Hawaii will be in the BCS. Herbstreit agrees, with the caveat that they win out. Herbstreit doesn't say it, but really hints that they do not deserve to go to the BCS - but because of close wins, not the TERRIBLE schedule.

Ninth commercial break

• SEC talk
• Georgia-Troy. Herbstreit liked the Celebration the previous week, but warns of a letdown.
• Florida-Vandy: Corso thinks Tebow is a warrior.
• South Carolina-Arkansas: Fowler finally takes a shot at someone's schedule - Arkansas - after demurring in saysing something about Ohio State and Hawaii (each of whom had played an easier schedule to that point).
• LSU-Alabama. Clips of talk radio are awesome. Great job compiling this.
  
• Fowler predicts exactly what Saban said after the game - if LSU wins, it's Saban's players; if Alabama wins, it's Saban's coaching. All about Lumbergh.
• Corso (amid some camera screwups), says LSU's red zone defense is struggling, puts pressure on LSU's offense.
  
• Herbstreit talks about Alabama's ability to get the ball deep. His analysis of play breakdowns was on the money, but then he says LSU will use the bye week and motivation from people who think they're no good and LSU will win.
  
• Fowler thinks the bye week in the SEC is huge - but doesn't seem to realize that both Alabama and LSU were coming off a bye. Not an advantage in this game.
  

Tenth commercial break

• ASU-UO segment
• Clips of ASU comebacks.
  
• Extended piece on Arizona State falling behind early in games. Tom Rinaldi reporting. This report only adds the "emotional" side of the clips they just showed. Superfluous.
• Corso calls Arizona State the "defensive story of the year".
  
• Best sign of the day: "OUR 'DENNIS' PLAYS SOBER" with mugshot photos of Erickson.
• Howard likes Oregon in the game because "they're ready to play".
• Fowler again comes with the "JoePaPa". I think he does this on purpose to annoy people.

Eleventh commercial break

• On site with the ESPN early Big 10 games.
  
• Pontiac Game Changers: Corso - Drew Weatherford. Herbstreit - Early Doucet. Fowler - Todd Reesing (Kansas QB). Fowler and Corso split?
• Saturday stupid selections. Corso - USF, Wake Forest. Herbstreit - Wake Forest, Oklahoma State. Corso and Herbstreit both picked the Patriots over the Colts.

Next week, the best matchups of ranked teams are Georgia-Auburn, Michigan-Wisconsin (if the Badgers remain ranked), and possibly UConn-Cincinnati (if the Bearcats get ranked). I doubt Gameday is coming to Athens though. My guess is that they go to Columbus for Ohio State-Illinois, because it's on the ESPN/ABC family and it's the #1 team.