College Football: Week 6 (Friday)

Friday with Boise? Again? Give Me the 'Real' Teams, Please

by Brett Hill
the football imp

(...this is going to be a little feature I going to start trying to do regularly on the eve of each college football week...just my thoughts on the week-to-week college football landscape...)

So, we approach week 6 with yet another Boise State Friday night matchup. Sitting in Texas Roadhouse in Mesquite, Tx preparing for the OU / Texas game tomorrow, I yawned, then watched the Cardinals and Phillies. How long will we be force fed Boise State and their program?

Forgive me Bronco fans - if there are any outside the state of Idaho - but playing in the Mountain West, beating a mediocre Georgia team, and pounding Fresno State, Tulsa, Toledo and Nevada does not warrant a top five ranking in my supposition. I will give them credit for doing something that even the mighty SEC-bound Texas A & M Aggies haven't done...ever, and that is actually BEAT and SEC team. So bravo Broncos, now, either attmept to join an AQ conference, play a tougher non-conference schedule, or go away.

Had I a vote to cast in the weekly AP Poll, Boise would NEVER make it past #10 in my rankings. They simply do not deserve such high accolades. They do not have to play the constant, tough schedule that other teams must face. They never have to visit an opposing stadium akin to that of Georgia more than once a season. Think about it:

That first game against Georgia...if you are Coach Peterson, how difficult is it to get your team up for that game. "Guys, you go out and win this game, and the rest of the season is a crap-shoot. We won't face ONE more intimidating crowd ALL season long. The most any road game stadium is going to have is 40,000...maybe."

You will never convince me that, if Boise State had, say, Oklahoma State's schedule, that they would go through it unscathed. Road games against Texas A & M, Texas, Missouri, Texas Tech, plus home games against top 25 ranked Baylor, Kansas State and Oklahoma? Please. Don't attempt to make me laugh. I won't; ever.

So go on Boise State University. Play on Friday night when most football fans are at their children's games. Go play on Wednesday when church is in service. Play on Thursday when X-Factor and CSI will torch the television ratings, play on Saturday when you can, if you can. Let the rest of relevant football teams have the spotlight on Saturdays.

And please, before you think I am being harsh, think about it first. Sure, you hear pundits on ESPN talk about how great the Boise defense is; their offense; their special teams; oh MY! What those pundits fail to make you see is those numbers they like to quote, like total defense/scoring defense/turnovers/etc. are all against the likes of Toledo, Tulsa, Nevada, Freson, Colorado State, et al.

Call me when the schedule toughens up to a respectable top 10 ranked team type of schedule.

Meanwhile, OU and Texas are preparing for yet another matchup that will major ramifications on the college football landscape. The number 1 or 3 ranked Sooners take on the number 10 or 11 ranked Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl tomorrow. Should prove to be a more than interesting game.

On a serious note as well, best wishes for a hopeful speedy recovery go out to Oregon runningback LaMichael James as he injured his arm Thursday evening as the Ducks beat the Cal Golden Bears. Oregon fans just need to hope and pray that Willie Lyles, Phil Knight and the Boise-like attitude of playing on weekdays doesn't come back to bite their rising program.

And finally, my wish for tomorrow is to see a real Heisman-performance on Saturday. With early favorites like Landry Jones (..too many ints...), LaMicheal James (...pending results of his injury...), Marcus Lattimore (...suffering a loss to unranked Auburn...), Robert Grifiin, III (...loss to Kansas State...), Justin Blackmon (...Tulsa knocks off your 100 yard recieving streak???) and Brandon Weeden (...see Landry Jones...) having lackluster starts to the season, the stiff-arm award looks be heading West this December for what would be Stanford University's second winner, Andrew Luck, who hasn't really had that "Heisman-like" performance week-to-week that voters come to expect.

Jones will surely get his chacne to shine against a "supposedly" (...in my opinion, untested...) vaunted and improved Texas defense, headed by new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who loves to mix blitz packages and send an extra guy after the quarterback. My prediction: OU wins, but Jones struggles locking on to his "favs" Ryan Broyles and Kenny Stills. Look for James Hanna, Austin Haywood, Dejuan Miller and / or Trey Millard to have that "game" tomorrow that gives them a name in OU circles for years to come. Score: OU 34, Texas 20.