Football Friday
September 8th, 2006 at 10:10 am by Preston Taylor HolmesWe’ll start this edition of Football Friday by trying (still) to shake off the shock of last week’s ass-kicking of Cal and move on with week two of the season. And we do so by celebrating the greatness of the gridiron – courtesy of Mary Katherine Ham (who recently moved to the top of my Crush list).
That gummy, summer air is the bane of every football player who pulls on full pads and helmet for late-summer dailies or two-a-days. They stand under the sticky canopy, in line for drills, flicking mosquitoes away by the dozen, hoping the air doesn’t gum them up enough to make them similar targets for linebackers.
They ponder that thought lazily, wiping sweaty hands on slick pants until a whistle blows, and they explode off the line, grab the ball, find the hole, and beat back the air and the O-men on the strength of a summer spent on the leg press.
You can smell it, can’t you. I certainly can. I’ll be smelling it tomorrow night when I head down to Neyland for the UT/Air Force game. If you’re going to be there, let me know – I’ll be the guy in the orange shirt and hat with the “T” on it. I’ll be easy to spot.
As I’ve already gladly admitted last week, I was dead wrong about the 2006 Vols, Neyland and pretty much everything surrounding that game. This week will be a bit of a let down, sandwiched between Cal and Florida, but the Vols will pull it out, 33 – 14. It should be a fun game to watch with Air Force’s “flexbone” offense – Tennessee has often had problems with wishbone-style attacks, but I’m confident Chief will have the D prepared. My overall college picks last week were 4/5, which is not bad in retrospect.
Elsewhere in semi-pro ball…
- Ohio State 29 Texas 24 – A good game last week against Eastern Western Northern Texas School for the Lame isn’t enough to convince me. Ohio St. will go down to Austin and squeak it out.
- Georgia 31 South Carolina 21 – I still think Georgia’s QB sucks. But they’ll have all they need to beat Steve Superior’s band of ruffians.
- LSU 37 Arizona 10 – Yet another Pac-10 team will take an SEC-style ass-whoopin’.
- Notre Dame 24 Penn State 14 – The Irish escaped a tough one last week. It’s tough to go down there and beat an ACC team in front of 14,000 fans. That warm-up will enable the Irish to put a boot in Joe-Pa’s tuckus this weekend.
On to the NFL, where the Steelers pulled it out against Miami last night. I picked Miami in 2 football pools. Typical me. Thanks a pantload, Daunte.
And what is there to be said about my beloved Titans this year? We’ve got Volek acting like Dan Marino, threatening to take his ball and go home ever since they brought in Kerry Collins. We’ve got Pac Man in and out of jail, yet again. The only saving grace is that Vince Young may be fun to watch this year if he winds up taking a decent number of snaps this season. Save your playoff ticket money for Christmas presents this year, Titans fans.
In pro ball…
- Jets 28 Titans 20 – This should be ugly. Two nasty-looking teams. Not as bad as last year’s Titans/Texans game that I attended, but ugly just the same.
- Broncos 25 Rams 17 – I like Denver this year, for some reason. Must be Jay Cutler.
- Bears 77 Packers 2 – Every Chicago point will be a result of an interception run back for a touchdown. Seriously, why the hell hasn’t Favre retired yet? He’s at least two years past his expiration date.
- Patriots 26 Bills 21 – This will be a good game. I don’t know why I think that, but I could see Buffalo pulling it off. I can see the Jim Kelly-to-Andre Reed combination putting some points on the board in Foxboro.
- Colts 33 Giants 23 – The Manning Bowl. Somebody bring me a bowl in which to puke.
That’s it for this week. I may or may not post a review of this week’s Air Force game (like I did with last year’s Georgia game), so stay tuned!
September 8th, 2006 at 10:26 am
77 to 2 ??? Ha ha ha! I was wondering the same thing about Favre just yesterday.
September 8th, 2006 at 2:43 pm
Lol re your Packers/Bills score.
I’m with you on everything except Notre Dame/Penn State. Notre Dame, as it is so often, is overrated. Penn State by 10.
September 8th, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Just you wait, John. ND has the power of the Pope on their side, which means a guaranteed win against the Penn State Nittany Demons.
September 8th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
Preston, how do you decide which games you are going to pick?
Still dreaming of Laurie Dhue’s toes…
TinyE
September 8th, 2006 at 5:58 pm
I’ll have you know, buddy, that North Texas isn’t some old “directional school for the blind.” They tried their best against my beloved Longhorns, and they just collapsed like Joe Wilson’s lame-ass “gotcha” story.
That being said, there’s no way in hell that a Yankee team from Ohio, of all places, can withstand the Texas juggernaut.
Peter’s Pick: Texas 31, Ohio St. 27.
Hook ‘em.
September 8th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
We’ll see, Mr. Hughes, we’ll see.
And Tiny E, my selection process is completely arbitrary (except for UT games). You have recommendations?
September 9th, 2006 at 1:04 pm
The only thing Buffalo will be ‘pulling off’ Sunday will be their jerseys after being soundly defeated yet again by the New England Patriots on their regular season quest for the AFCE crown yet again.
Given all the 1 week in camp newbies for Brady to throw to and Belichick’s historical slow start for his complex Ds, I agree on a close score.
Pats 23
Bills 17
September 9th, 2006 at 6:18 pm
I don’t have to wait for the game to be over to post my mea culpa.
re my prediction that Notre Dame is overrated and would lose to Penn State by 10 points…ummmmmmm..I’ve been married for many years, so the following phrase is somewhat familiar, thought still tough to say:
Preston, you were right and I was wrong…
scuze me while i go wash my mouth out…(this specially hurts considering my perennially downtrodden Dore’s have played a good game against Bama and are probably gonna lose.
September 9th, 2006 at 11:11 pm
Just got back from Neyland where AFA should have won that game. Vols win, 31-30. We had no answers for the flexbone offense. Luckily we had enough offense of our own to counter, but the Air Force kids had guts six ways to Sunday.
And no need for mea culpas, John. I do those every week. But despite my 5-0 college record this week, there is always tomorrow for humiliation.
September 10th, 2006 at 1:29 am
Heh, we beat a flexbone offense 56-7.
But, Division I-AA Nicholls State doesn’t really count.
Keep your eyes on the ‘puter screen, PTH, it’s Vinnie’s Huskers v. Rusty’s USC Condoms at the Jawa Report this week.
It will be bloody, it will be ugly, it will be lots o’ fun.
September 10th, 2006 at 9:36 am
This is all part of Fulmer’s plan to lull Florida into a false sense of security. I mean how else do you blow such a big lead by downing a kickoff at the one on the first play of the 3rd Quarter, fumbling the next kick off, allowing the talon-strike of the Air Force ground offensive and losing onside kicks?
We’ve got spreads to cover, people!