The Grandaddy Of Them All

- What a place. You pretty much have everything you need at the Rose Bowl.

- Great backdrop with the San Gabriel Mountains. A very simple, bowl like seating arrangement that makes the stadium seem even bigger and more impressive.

- Pretty unique location as it is in the middle of a neighborhood, next to a golf course, and in a valley between 2 hills/mountains.

- Very simple anemities, only 1 big screen, and 2 very simple scoreboards that give you just the basics. Time, down and distance, time outs left, and score.

- The tailgating scene could be better, was a tad disappointed. The crowd is very high class. Lots of grey haired old money alums tailgating and lots of "members only" tents for food and beer. No beer sold on site. It's a very Highland Park-esque crowd, for sure.

- All in all, it's one of the few stadiums that defines college football history. You can just sense it's importance and you get that feeling sitting in the stands that this is one of the most historic places in the game.

- Couldn't help but get visions of Aikman and the Cowboys crushing Buffalo in '92, with Irvin leaping high to catch that pass, and then stretching out to the goal line, with the mountains in the background. Or of Vince Young and the '06 Rose Bowl game.

- The weather all weekend was unreal. No humidity all weekend. Always sunny. Friday's high was 62, Saturday's was 70, and Sunday's was 74. You go out there and you realize the only reason you can't live out there is because you flat can't afford it or you get severe road rage due to the traffic. I can handle the traffic, so if I could afford it would be my only drawback. The beauty of the land and the weather are 2 things that people can't overrate about Southern California.

- On to the game, I'll keep this short as these 2 teams are nothing special.

- Notre Dame might have the worst offense I've ever seen in person, at any level. Absolutely no running game, no downfield passing game, no offensive capability whatsoever. I mean this, they suck. 150 yards of offense is terrible.

- When Clausen wasn't throwing 5 yard passes, he was blindly chucking the ball up downfield and saying a prayer. Like I said, it could have been the worst offense I've ever seen in person.

- And I love it, after hearing that overrated Jaba the Hut claim in his introductory press conference that his team would have a decided schematic advantage over every team. Now he can't even score an offensive touchdown and barely eclipses 150 total yards. I wish nothing but failure on him and every other overrated ex-New England coach.

- As bad as Notre Dame was, UCLA was far worse as a whole. Turnovers, horrible special teams, and a QB who was worse than Clausen. How does a major university like UCLA have to resort to a walk-on, non-scholarship redshirt freshman at QB? How does this happen? I know for a fact that Nebraska has 4 scholarship QB's on their roster. Ridiculous.

- Although it got loud at times, it was a mostly average sounding crowd. But the loudest the stadium got was when the USC score was announced. Since both teams hate USC, it was quite a scene to watch that reaction.

- When it was all said and done, loved the atmosphere, loved the stadium, loved the uniforms, loved the co-eds, but the game left a lot to be desired. But the experience definitely deserves an A. Everyone must see a game at the Rose Bowl.

- That said, we should have been about 15 miles away at the Coliseum watching that debacle.










- Although we didn't make it into Angels Stadium for Game 3 of Boston-Anaheim, we walked around the stadium and took in the scene.

- Not a bad stadium, was recently renovated so it looks pretty modern. Has a really cool front entrance as seen in the pictures.

- Tons of Boston fans of course. I won't go into this and my disgust of everything Boston and their frat boy fans.

- Absolutely nothing to do around the stadium. In an area of tourist traps, chain restaurants, and tons of entertainment options (Disneyland), the area around Angels Stadium is barren. Just a Hooters and the interstate. Very disappointed we couldn't hang out right by the ballpark after we got priced out of tickets by scalpers ($200 a seat). Oh well.







- Like I said yesterday, I won't turn my back....so I'll continue to follow with the same intensity.



- This is so troubling and is even more reason why the D-Coordinator needs to be run out of Lincoln.

Daniel ridicules NU plan
BY DIRK CHATELAIN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — Talk about adding insult to injury.

According to Tuesday's Columbia (Mo.) Tribune, Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel was none too impressed with Nebraska's defensive strategy Saturday night. Kevin Cosgrove's Blackshirts employed a 3-3-5 scheme, typically rushing just three defenders.

"Cosgrove's a very stubborn guy," said Daniel, who threw for 401 yards in a 41-6 Tiger win. "It's always been that way. . . . That's just how he is, that's how they are. They're a bunch of confident guys in what they do, and they felt they had the best chance doing that, so they stuck with it.

"You can't just play one defense the whole entire game," Daniel said. "That's like high school stuff."

Daniel can say what he wants, Cosgrove said Tuesday after practice.

"I'm going to say just one thing," Cosgrove said. "With what they do, the way they spread the field, there's only so much you can do. If you try to get into a blitz game with them, they'll tear you apart because they spread you out. They go sideline-to-sideline, goal-line-to-goal-line. And you have to be smart in how you defend."

Nebraska allowed 606 yards to Missouri. It was the fourth straight game in which the Blackshirts have yielded at least 400 yards.

Missouri offensive coordinator Dave Christensen said he, like Daniel, was "a little bit surprised that they went just about the entire game getting pressure on us with a three-man rush. Obviously, it didn't work very well."

Defensive end Zach Potter said it would've been difficult to adjust schemes in the middle of the game.

"We practiced the three-man front all week, so we really had to stick to that," he said. "Even though our base defense is the four-man front, just to scrap what we've done all week would be hard."




- And of course, the generic team meeting to rally the troops. Stories of these beat me down. At this point in the season, you are who you are, nothing's changing.



Huskers vent, get fired up in team meeting
By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007 - 12:26:04 am CDT
As Matt Slauson understood it, Sunday’s meeting was supposed to last about 10 minutes.

It was figured Coach would talk a bit and players would stare embarrassed-like at the ground while Coach talked.

But this meeting was different. Players kept randomly standing up to say something.

Call it Chicken Soup for the Husker Soul.

Voices raised until 45 minutes had passed.

“It was definitely an emotional meeting,” said Slauson, the junior offensive lineman. “It really got a lot of guys juiced up, jazzed up, ready to roll.”

It started with a question from Husker coach Bill Callahan.

“Coach went in there and asked a couple of guys, ‘Who do we play for?’” cornerback Zackary Bowman said. “Mostly everybody said they play for their teammates, their coaches, their families, and the state of Nebraska.

“It was something that we needed.”

According to Bowman, no captains spoke, but Husker quarterback Sam Keller did.

“He stood up and said that we gave him life and he’s been working his butt off ever since he’s been here … and he wants to improve and get better,” Bowman said.

But the voices went beyond Keller’s.

“Guys who grew up watching Nebraska football and always wanted to play here and stuff,” Bowman said.

Guys like Thomas Rice, a senior defensive end from Lincoln East who came into this year having never seen the field in a college game, made their voices heard.

“Guys just started getting up and getting pumped up, and I started getting pumped up, because it really got me thinking how close our team really is and how much guys really do care,” Slauson said.

For a few moments, in that room, optimism prevailed.

The thing about optimism, though, is that it can’t tackle a running back. It can’t rush a passer. It can’t take away a 41-6 loss to Missouri on Saturday.

You could have 10 team meetings and still not erase that embarrassment.

It was a loss that rattled Huskerland to its core.

You didn’t have to look far for disgruntled talk about the football team. You started to hear weird conversations with foreign sentences like, “You think they’ll win another game this year?” or “Is the home sellout streak in jeapordy?”

On Tuesday, Callahan came to the weekly press conference swinging from his first sentence.

Before a question was asked, he said: “I think it’s important to understand that no one, and I mean no one wants to win more than I do. And I think it’s really important to understand that we as a staff, and as a program, and as a team, hate to lose.

“And it’s important to know that it destroys us emotionally to go through what we did the last week. It hurts us. We’re disappointed, but nonetheless, we’ve got to move on and we got to move on in a hurry.”

At one point, he used the word “urgency.” His team needs to play with urgency.

“I’ve got hope that our players will respond, I really do,” Callahan said. “I have belief and conviction that they’ll do real well, but you know, you got to prove it. Talk is cheap. You have to go out and do it.”

The critics have said plenty, but among the more popular sayings is that this team lacks fire.

“There is a little truth to it,” Slauson said. “Fans always come up and say, ‘You guys just look like you aren’t playing with any passion or heart.’ I think there’s a little confusion right now in our game, and I’m not sure why. I can’t explain it. But if you’re confused about it, you’re not going to play as fast as you can and you’re not going to have as much fun as you should.”

Husker sophomore linebacker Phillip Dillard, one of the brighter spots on the defense this year, said he thinks sometimes guys are too worried about messing up, overthinking instead of acting on instinct.

“Some plays, I might be confused, I’m not going to lie,” Dillard said. “You can see it on film because you’re hesitant. And when you’re hesitant, that’s not good.”

Is the defense too complicated?

“No, it’s not because the D’s too complicated,” he said. “It’s just you’re probably thinking about something that happened in the last play, or they’re in a formation and you’re thinking, ‘Well, they run three things out of this formation’ and the mind starts boggling.”

Husker senior linebacker Bo Ruud calls it “reacting instead of acting.”

Too much of it going on, he agrees.

He said it’s lack of execution, not lack of preparation, that’s got this team down. Ruud would bet there’s not a team in the country that prepares better than Nebraska.

He also thinks that “lack of fire” claim by people is a bunch of rubbish.

“That has nothing to do with us,” he said. “I’ve never done anything different since the day I’ve been here. I’ve never decided to not have fire.”

Whatever is lacking, Slauson knows it must be figured out this week against Oklahoma State.

Though the season is just six games old, he admits it’s already been draining in some respects.

A loss to the Cowboys and things could really get ugly.

“This next game is the biggest game of our lives right now,” he said. “We’ve not been playing Nebraska ball. … This game is going to be the turnaround game.”

Keller said the team needs to try to get back to loving football and enjoying each other this week.

They can’t worry about the outside criticism.

“Our backs are a little bit against the wall,” Keller said. “We had a horrible performance and we have to respond. And you can’t respond by feeling pressure, you can’t respond by feeling sorry for yourself.

“You have to respond by knowing that you’re here for a reason, knowing you’re a good ballplayer, and knowing that we have a good team and we have confidence in each other.”




- Another power down for me, the generic "we will win" prediction. It happens all the time now. No longer does it have the same meaning as Joe Namath or Jimmy before the 1992 NFC Championship. It's so overused nowadays, we just hear it and move on. Who f'ing cares.



Lane guarantees Aggies will beat Tech

A&M defense faces pressure from Red Raiders' prolific offense

By BRIAN DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Running back Jorvorskie Lane ripped a well-worn page from football's motivational playbook – and Mike Gundy's, too – on Tuesday and guaranteed a Texas A&M victory over Texas Tech this weekend.

When told that A&M hadn't won in Lubbock since 1993, Lane said, "We're going to win in 2007. That's a guarantee. I promise you."

And what would coach Dennis Franchione think about that?

"I'm a man. I can say what I want to say," said Lane, who is 20. Gundy, the coach at Oklahoma State, is 40, as he noted in his infamous Sept. 22 postgame rant.

Lane's confidence is admirable, but A&M's pass defense doesn't need any extra pressure. The Aggies already have their hands full trying to stop the Red Raiders offense. Tech is averaging 52.5 points per game. A&M's pass defense is ranked 75th nationally.

"I never actually flew F-16s in a dogfight in a war, but I'd imagine that's about what it feels like," defensive coordinator Gary Darnell said. "These guys, they're coming fast."

Tech's spread offense is all about creating mismatches. Receivers crisscross the field with abandon, and quarterback Graham Harrell finds dead spots in the zone coverage.

A&M is a zone team through and through. Linebacker Mark Dodge said defenders must keep receivers in front of them and prevent big plays.

"We really have to contain that deep stuff and let them catch the 2-yard hitch," Dodge said. "We have to make sure we break down and not miss any tackles."

Elder loves Tech atmosphere: Offensive lineman Kirk Elder said he loves the negative energy Tech fans create. He also likes "the tortillas, the batteries and the 100 DPS troopers."

All Elder would guarantee was that the Aggies would have "a great week of practice and preparation."

Nothing to say: For the third consecutive week, tight end Martellus Bennett opted to skip the weekly news conference. Unfortunately for the Aggies, Bennett has been quiet on the field recently, too.

Bennett caught only three passes in the last two games. He caught 17 passes in the first four.


- Big 12 Rankings



1) Oklahoma - Starting to come back down to earth. Not sure what the deal is with them. An average Texas team had them on the ropes in the Cotton Bowl. Saturday's game with Missouri could be the game of the year in the Big 12.
2) Missouri - Call me a believer after watching them decimate and embarass Nebraska. Nebraska may not be good this year, but they still have talent and to see what they did to them was impressive. They are running that offense with unreal precision.
3) Colorado - Getting better and better....pencil in November 3 as the Big 12 North title game (at home vs. Missouri).
4) Kansas - Tough win at KSU. They finally beat someone. Tougher teams lie ahead.
5) Texas Tech - Big test this weekend. Should beat ATM, they always do.
6) Texas - Still an average team, my prediction of 4 losses is halfway right so far.
7) Texas A&M - A win in Lubbock shoots them up to #3.
8) Kansas State - Still a dangerous team for anyone in the North.
9) Nebraska - I hate this team, am done with the coaching staff, and have no faith in them performing to their capabilities. A barn burner coming up Saturday vs. Oklahoma State.
10) Oklahoma State - Not sure about this team, too hot and cold.
11) Baylor
12) Iowa State


- National Top 10



Wow, what a few weeks it's been. Here's an updated, strange looking Top 10.

1) LSU - The only remaining unbeaten from the "Elite 4" that everyone was touting earlier this season, Florida, USC, and Oklahoma. Could have a potential upset on its hands vs. Kentucky this Saturday. A chance for Andre Woodson to re-enter Heisman talks.
2) Cal - Some tough games with USC and Arizona State lie ahead.
3) Ohio State - Just keep winning with defense and timely offense (shades of 2002).
4) Boston College - My top sleeper before the year, so this doesn't surprise me.
5) South Florida - Until they lose, they stay in top 5. That coach is going to get money whipped this offseason, so expect him on a different sideline next year.
6) Arizona State - Good offense, lots of athletes, and can win tight games.
7) Oklahoma - Not so sure about them anymore, looking mortal, may lose to Missouri this weekend.
8) USC - Bare minimum USC picked a bad time to appear last Saturday. Can run table and get in, but I highly doubt it happens.
9) Missouri - Could shoot up if they knock off Oklahoma.
10) Oregon - Could run table and get into a BCS game.

On cusp

- South Carolina - An overrated team, but still only 1 loss in the SEC, so must count for something.
- West Virginia - Can't put them in the top 10, especially with some key players hurting.
- Virginia Tech - The most overrated 1 loss team in the nation.
- Wisconsin - Another bad team that somehow only has 1 loss.
- Florida - Showed me something at LSU, but still has 2 losses.
- Cincinnati - An interesting team, pay attention to their game vs. Louisville this weekend.



- Heisman Rankings



1) Matt Ryan - Yes, Matt Ryan. One of the biggest reasons why BC is top 5 and unbeaten.
2) DeSean Jackson - Game MVP of their biggest win to date (vs. Oregon). Big performances against USC and Arizona State could seal it for him as could an unbeaten Cal team making it to the BCS Championship.
3) Mike Hart - Has put team on his back since 0-2 start. Watch out for this team, they could still sneak into the Rose Bowl with a conference championship.
4) Darren McFadden - Stuck on a bad team but still producing.
5) Chase Daniel - Running and throwing with extreme confidence and success.