Spit Blood: Nov 4, 2010

Thursday, November 4, 2010

"Make It Happen"

Here's to the Horned Frogs -

You're going to war boys, so we're sending you off proper.

Have fun out there, be smart, and show them how it's done.

Take your emotion, take'em to the woodshed, take the game.

After Baylor's win over Texas coincided last week with the Frogs jumping Boise State in the BCS rankings, I have to say that I felt quite validated about the time I have spent over the past few years, slaving over a hot stove to bring you guys (and gals?) these strength of schedule write-ups. Anywho, I'm watching Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech right now, cheering for the Yellow Jackets against the wishes of my Georgia Bulldog roomate because a loss for Virginia Tech is bad for Boise State.

Game of the Week:

Baylor (7-2) at Oklahoma State (7-1)...11:30am Saturday on FSN
-It feels weird to root for Baylor, doesn't it? It's kind of like when Terminator 2 came out and people realized that Ah-nold was now the good guy. But seriously, Baylor being ranked 22nd and in the thick of the Big 12 Championship hunt is an immense help to TCU right now, and Frog fans everywhere should be rooting for the Bears' Cinderella story to continue.

Other Big'uns:

Air Force (5-4) at Army (5-3)...11:00am Saturday on CBS-College
-Alright, Falcons- you took your lumps the last two weeks against the Frogs and Utes, but now it's time to start looking like the team who was ranked until that loss to San Diego State earlier in the season. On the line for Air Force as they travel to upstate New York? Their first Commander in Chief's Trophy since 2002. It's also one of the few non-conference games remaining for any MWC team this seaosn.

Oregon State (4-3) at UCLA (3-5)...6:00pm Saturday on Versus
-After the disappointing loss at Washington heading into the bye-week, the Beavers came back with avengence in destroying Cal last week, 35-7. At 3-1 in Pac 10 play, their Rose Bowl dreams are still alive, but they'll have to take care of the Bruins (who won in Austin earlier this year, you'll remember) first.

SMU (5-4) at UTEP (5-4)...8:00pm Saturday
-Down by two scores late in the game last week against Tulane ,the Mustangs rallied to win and keep alive their Conference USA title hopes. A win in El Paso would make the Ponies bowl-eligible for the second consecutive year.

Colorado State (3-6) at San Diego State (6-2)...9:00pm Saturday on The Mtn
-The Aztecs are already heading to a bowl game at the end of the season, but a win against the Rams on Saturday would put them at 7-2 heading into their trip to Fort Worth next weekend.

Others:

UNLV (1-7) at BYU (3-5)...1:00pm Saturday on The Mtn
-If rooting for Baylor makes you feel dirty, having to cheer for BYU probably makes you feel like a sorority girl from Texas State. But with the dregs of the Mountain West coming up on the Cougars' schedule, it's possible that they could rally to get back to a bowl this year. While I'll laugh at them if they don't get there, it's probably best for the Frogs and the league if they do.

Wyoming (2-7) at New Mexico (0-8)...5:00pm Saturday on Them Mtn
-Why is this game on TV? Seriously, people talk about kids being exposed to sex or gratuitous violence on television...but do you really want young, impressionable minds to be viewing this putrid excuse for a football game? If TCU is destined to stay in the Mountain West, then I hope for the best for both of these programs. But if the Frogs are headed to the Big East, then I will curse the bottom of this conference for dragging TCU down all these years. Wyoming is a Boise State victim and New Mexico is an Oregon victim, so pick your poison here.

Tennessee Tech (4-4) at Murray State (3-5)...1:00pm Saturday
-It'd probably be better if Tennessee Tech had a winning record, right? And Murray State probably owes me after they fucked up my bracket in the NCAA Tournament by beating Vandy in the first round. Who picks Vanderbilt to go to the Sweet 16? People that like losing $20 in their office pool, apparently.

Other games in which I'll mandate your rooting interest:

-Memphis against Tennessee (Oregon victim)
-Middle Tennessee against Arkansas State (Auburn victim...who scored 26 on the Tigers)
-NC State against Clemson (Auburn victim)
-Florida Internation against Louisiana-Monroe (Auburn victim)
-Northern Illinois against Toledo (Boise victim)
-Northwestern against Penn State (Alabama victim)
-Virginia against Duke (Alabama victim)

TCU/Utah: An Arbitrary Look.

All you really need to know about TCU/Utah 2009.

The real live, actual preview of the Death Match will be up and running tomorrow - complete with out of context statistics and everything –but before we get into that, I thought it may be a joy to take a look at some of the tangibly intangible tangibles for the game and offer up some thoughts on why they’re in our favor. Let’s have a looksee.

The “BlackOut” Curse. Ok, so I realize Utah beat us two years ago while pulling the same blackout stunt, but hear me out. Other than that game, when has that shit EVER worked other than when the Frogs pull it out? The most recent notable example is Alabama/Georgia a few years ago when the Tide berch slapped the Dawgs. And while the idea of the blackout is mostly to provide intimidation and fan unity, it’s also kind of Boise-ish in the way that it make the football very difficult to see when floating against that backdrop… at night. This game is in the day time though, so that affect will be negated somewhat. And while the Utes may get a bit of a karma boost by parlaying their blackout into a camo/Wounded Warrior Project situation, I don’t think lightning strikes twice in Salt Lake. And really, to go against my beliefs and be a wet blanket fan for a bit, we never should have lost that game, no? Kudos to Utah for holding us to drives that resulted in missed field goals… but had we made those, TCU would’ve been the ones curb stomping Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Not trying to say that TCU should’ve won, just that if the bad mojo created by the blackout for the opposing team was as strong as suggested, then Utah should’ve won going away considering the opportunities we gave them.

Gameday Ups the Pressure for the Favorite. Another one that mostly holds true – see South Carolina/Alabama, Mizzou/OU, Ohio State/Wisconsin - but, as the Frogs proved last year, they’re more than capable of winning when the pressure is turned up the highest. I remember traveling to Provo last year for the first Gameday experience of 2009 and actually being a little bit terrified. Not just because we were traveling into a mysterious land where they kill non-Mormons for sport and the white women won't even look at you, but because I thought with TCU riding the highest expectations in several years and being favored in the game, BYU had a very legitimate shot at riding the national spotlight to a hard fought victory. Well, we know how that turned out. A young Frogs offense embraced the experience and absolutely DESTROYED a team that was expected to win the MWC last year. And Jerry Hughes may have played a small role.

And then when Gameday returned for the Utah game, TCU, while certainly favored, definitely could’ve let the exposure and hype get to them… except they blew the doors off of Amon G and the game was never a contest. Needless to say, I don’t think the presence of Corso, Herbstreit and Company is going to have much, if any, effect on this game, and certainly not a negative one. It will be interesting to see how the Frogs react when/if Corso picks against them with the headgear, but based on how GP exploits bulletin board material, I think that can only help us. Corso is 0/1 against us this year. I don't expect the percentage to change.

The No Respect Factor. Clearly whenever TCU or Utah go up against a major conference school, the energy is ramped up to 11 simply based on the “Really? These guys are in a BCS Conference?” factor and we typically kick the crap out of them. But what happens when BOTH schools are respected, yet disrespected at the same time? Does this factor cancel out? In this case, I suppose it’d work in Utah’s favor as they’ve been held down all year as a result of Boise and TCU leading things off to start the year. On the other hand, despite TCU being favored, I’ve seen VERY few outlets picking the Frogs to win this one. It’s fair enough – on a neutral field I think we’re clearly better, but playing in front of a rowdy crowd in SLC makes this one a pick em to me. And while Utah has had some impressive victories this year, at least where margin of victory is concerned, the fact remains they still have one of the weakest schedules in the country, even compared to TCU, and their struggles with Air Force last weekend should make this an instance where the Frogs are clearly the better team. Both teams will play the no respect card before, during, and after this one, but I think that it may actually favor TCU.

Streak Buster. I’m sure you’ve all heard by now that Utah has a 21 game home win streak on the line this weekend. That’s a pretty intimidating stat and it’s very apparent that the Utes take a lot of pride in protecting their house. When you consider that TCU has never won a game in Salt Lake – 0-3 all time – that streak looks even more daunting. However, if you’ll recall, the last time Utah matched up against the Frogs with a big time win streak intact, the game ended with said streak…outtact. And that last time a team had a pretty nice little thing going with a home win streak, after they played the Frogs, OU had to start a new one. By the way, OU hasn’t lost a home game since that day. Just goes to show that all streaks have an eventual breaking point. So, while the Utes home field advantage is going to get all the hype, be aware that TCU has a couple of streaks of their own to protect – 22 game regular season win streak, for one- and that no home field is truly impregnable… even Harvey Unga’s girlfriends. Zing!

Revenge. I think this is probably the biggest intangible that you’re going to hear about all week. REVENGE! /ominous organ sound. And, obviously last year the revenge factor played itself out very well. But, doesn’t anyone remember the 2006 and 2007 seasons where the Utes beat us both times? And those losses, while not all as soul crushing as 2008, were certainly gut punches each time, especially the Thursday nighter in Fort Worth. I’m just saying, we have some catching up to do if we’re going to right the revenge ship. Utah is obviously still anguished over last year’s result, as they should be because we made the Utes look like the lady in the video above, except for a full 60 minutes. But, overall the Utes are 5-2 in the series, and they have a golden parachute into the Pac 12 after this season is over. The Frogs do not. And we still have 25 players from the 2008 team who will be suited up Saturday. Patterson, especially, can remind you how everyone felt about that one after it was over. Don’t you think that kind of BCS road block, football in groin loss sticks with a team more than a pounding that may have knocked you out of the conference title race, but you still finished with 3 losses anyway? If anything, WE should be the angrier team this year. It’s our last shot at a team that got the break we so covet and who has an extra BCS game to boot. Utah may be able to live off the fumes of last year’s defeat for a while, but we have has been fermenting for years. It’s getting let out Saturday.

We Own Saturdays and Day Games. Seriously, look it up. Over the past six seasons, TCU is 29-1 in day games and 55-4 when playing on Saturdays. OU accounts for one of those losses, another is the SMU debacle and the other two are from the 2007 season that shall not be named. In other words, unless we’re up against a truly superior team - or a truly terrible one -we’re not losing on a Saturday, period. I’m not trying to say that Utah isn’t a better team because at the end of the day they might be, and they're certainly not a terrible one; I’m just suggesting that, if trends hold true, we should be able to head home from Salt Lake with a win.

TCU Has Been Far More Impressive this Season. This is the one that I want to end it on because it really gives me the most hope. Yes, I do realize that comparing apples to apples doesn’t always give you a good indication of where a team is; apples to oranges makes things even more dicey. But, since the Utah game has been the only thing I could really think about this season after we beat Baylor, naturally I’ve looked at the schedules. Clearly TCU’s best wins on the year are Oregon State and Baylor. I’m not even sure who else you could include in that discussion. Baylor currently sits atop the Big 12 South, is in the top 25 and is actually going to a real life bowl game. Optimism is riding high and RG3 still thinks the game was a fluke. In case you forgot, we beat them by 35 points without even trying. Oregon State currently sits in the “others receving votes” category in all polls, but they did pistol whip Cal this past weekend, played Boise State tough and are a 2 OT loss to Washington away from being undefeated in the Pac 10. Despite this, they control their own destiny in Utah’s future conference and are the only thing standing between Oregon and the BCS title game. Not a bad little resume. TCU played one of its sloppiest games of the season against Oregon State, yet the game never really looked out of hand, did it? Perhaps it was Cowboy-rita infused optimism.

Utah, on the other hand, has one “signature win” on the year against Pitt in their opener, a game which the Utes won in overtime. Pitt, in case you need reminding, was CRUSHED at home by a Miami team that is going to fire their coach at the end of the year and lost another one to Notre Dame. NOTRE DAME. The Irish are currently on a two game skid after running up against juggernauts Navy and Tulsa. Navy just lost to Duke at home. Tulsa lost to SMU. And Utah needed OT at home to beat these guys? Hmmm. Oh, they’re the Big East leader at present… but what does that even mean? In other news PLEASE LET US IN BIG EAST! I’LL BUY LIFETIME ORANGE BOWL TICKETS AND EVERYTHING!

As for comparing apples to apples, we have UNLV, Colorado State, Wyoming and Air Force to judge. Clearly Colorado State wasn’t our best effort, so Utah’s 59-6 blasting shouldn’t leave any unanswered questions. The Wyoming game swings in our favor as our 45-0 blanking is superior to their 30-6, and the UNLV games are very comparable, even when you consider we sleep walked through the second half. However, the one where you can draw a pretty clear comparison is against Air Force. I’m intimately familiar because the Utes 28-23 squeaker blew one of my countless blown parlays last weekend. And sure, you have to take into account that playing in Colorado Springs is never an easy win – we know. Oh we know – but still, did anyone actually watch the game?? Utah gave up over 400 yards of offense, including 201 PASSING! PASSING!!! The Falcons easily outgained them on the offensive side of the ball and Air Force even got a little frisky and turned it over FIVE times. FIVE!!! And you STILL only win by 5 points, aided by a couple of four and outs by Air Force? Hmmm. I think the only stats we need to remember from our game are the final score and Ed Wesley out rushing Air Force by himself. Like I said, it’s dangerous to make these direct comparisons, but Air Force is the only truly decent team Utah has played all year… and they nearly squandered their perfect season a week before they had to. That has to make you feel alive.

As I said, these are all completely bullshit reasons why TCU should feel good going into Saturdays’ contest and you certainly can’t take any of them to the bank. But seeing as how this is this year’s biggest game in TCU history, the more optimism we can drum up, the better I say. I’ll be back tomorrow with a seemingly more in depth look at the game.

Players to Watch Week 10: Utah Utes

Judging from how much you’ve heard about Jordan Wynn over the course of the week and pretty much since last year’s meeting with regards to Utah football, one would think that their offense goes as Jordan Wynn goes. Unfortunately that is not the case. In fact, Wynn missed a couple of games and Terrance Cain, another one of those QB’s that has been around the MWC seemingly FOREVER, filled in admirably and obviously led them to wins. The reality is that the Utah offense is loaded with players that could potentially impact the game, but hopefully wont. Admittedly I know a little less about their defense, which hasn’t been too shabby either, ranking in the top 10 of many defensive categories but of course behind the Frogs in pretty much all things defense. One player NOT to watch is scrub-special teams-hit man-smack talking extraordinaire Greg Bird. I’ve already addressed him and his mediocrity. 14 tackles- nuff said. So here we go with the Utah players to watch both offensively and defensively, and perhaps most importantly, on special teams.

Shaky Smithson (WR/PR/KR, Sr. 5’11 202, #1)

The New Kerley???

Smithson is the team’s 3^rd leading receiver with 234 yards and 3 TD’s and he’s averaging 18 yards per catch, and with leading receiver DeVonte Christopher ailing and questionable with a knee injury, I think we can expect to see the ball in Smithson’s hands a lot on offense. However, Smithson’s greatest impact is not on offense- it’s on special teams. Smithson has been better, way better, than Jeremy Kerley this year as a punt returner. Think Jeremy Kerley last season in the punt return department except probably even better and more explosive than that. He’s got 2 returns for TD this season and leads the nation in punt return yardage with 560, 3 shy of breaking Kerley’s conference record from a year ago. So yeah, fight me on it if you want, tell me how great Kerley is, but the truth is this season Smithson is better on special teams and it’s not even close. Sorry Kerley, you’ve been dethroned as MWC special teams Jesus. If it makes you feel any better though, Smithson has been pretty middle of the road on kickoff returns with no TD’s and an average of 24 per return. Another good thing for TCU is that, well, we don’t punt. Like ever. And when we do punt, Kelton has been pretty good at knocking them inside the 20 or hanging them up long enough to be fair caught. Let’s hope all those trends continue.

Shaky's old crew.

On a more personal note, because it’s funny to delve into people’s personal lives and make judgments based on nothing at all, Shaky is from Baltimore. He went to Frederick Douglass High School, and he was featured in the HBO documentary “Hard Times at Douglass High”. Douglass High is located in West Baltimore, so one can only assume that Shaky was part of the Barksdale crew from The Wire and probably went to middle school Dookie, Randy, and Naymon Brice or he used to slang herrr-on down in the low-rises with Poot and Deangelo. Sorry for The Wire tangent. It’s over now. I also find it humorous that he wanted to escape the struggle that is West Baltimore and chose to attend community college in…East L.A. Seriously though, Shaky worries me and is a freak talent, and he’s got street cred coming out of his dreds, so I hope we can shut him down. It might be a huge key to our success.

Chaz (yes, Chaz) Walker (LB, Jr. 5’11 218, #32)

Chaz Walker

The 5th Beatle

A former walk-on, Chaz is now the team’s leading tackler with 61 and also 2^nd on the team in tackles for loss with 6, and has recorded 1 sack on the season. Chaz seemingly came out of nowhere this year to have a very productive season because he only had 30 career tackles coming into the season. There’s not really too much doubt in my mind, however, that if some guy named Chaz tries to match up with Ed Wesley in the open field or any of our number of slot receivers, he is going to get owned. Only 14 of his 61 tackles have been solo, so he a) sucks in the open field or b) is an over-hustler who jumps on piles to make it look like he matters. Good luck with that, Rudy.

Master of Karate

Once again, it’s time to get more personal with these guys. Chaz’z dad played at BYU, so he is no doubt a God hating magic underpants loving fanny bandit, and his dad has also probably disowned him considering how much those two schools hate each other. He also really enjoys karate and won a karate state championship in high school. I guess that helps explain his little Asian boy/1960’s Beatles hairdo. Maybe at College Gameday they can do a feature on him and Mac from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and make them have a karate showdown. My money is on Mac, because this guy comes off as a big vagina to me.

Inside The Numbers

Finally the elections are over and I can get my life back in order, meaning focusing every minute of my day on Frog football. As Tuesday night's haze began to lift and I started to work through the numbers from election day a few things became glaringly obvious to me. A series of signs, premonitions if you will, of what to expect this weekend.

1: Governorship taken from the Democrats. Gary Patterson's proverbial win by a point motto will go out the window this weekend and Cuba will make his presence felt.

3: The number of seats TN took away from the Democrats in Congress. Throwing toward our own #3, Tejay Johnson would be ill advised for young Mr. Wynn.

4: The number of new Republicans elected to Congress in TN. Casey Pachall will see time thanks to early Frog domination.

14: The number of seats we picked up in the TN house. This is surely nothing less than a sign that Andy Dalton is ready to rip the skin off Utah's secondary.

17: The combined total of targeted pickups in TN : Tyler Lutrell will again take someone to the woodshed

Back to the post-election binge. See you hooligans in Salt Lake City.

GP vs. Kyle Whittingham

Just as she did with TCU & Utah's starting quarterbacks yesterday, ESPN's Andrea Adelson now turns her attention to the men in charge of these two programs:

Whittingham vs. Patterson in coaching clash