After a long hiatus t's time to bring back one of our favorite features, the Monday To Do List, in which we review the action-items that all goal-oriented, self-starting college football fans should cross of their lists before getting Lundberg those ever important TPS reports. In no particular order, we need to:
1) Calm. Down. A lot of Bulldog fans came away from Saturday's ho-hum 45-21 win over North Texas with the impression that Mark Richt's boys are about to get it handed to them by the LSU Tigers. I'm not saying that won't be the case. But I am saying that I don't think it's a foregone conclusion. This week at Dawg Sports we're going to have a series of posts breaking down the Xs and Os of this weekend's game. I hope that after reading those posts you'll agree that, while the Bulldogs face a tall task against the Bayou Bengals, it is not an insurmountable one.
2) Dislike Jim Mora just a little bit less. Mora's UCLA Bruins lined up in a "missing man" formation with only 10 players for their first offensive snap against New Mexico State on Saturday. It was in memory of late Bruin Nick Pasquale, who died after being struck by a car soon after playing in his first college game against Nevada the first weekend of the season. The Bruins gained 4 yards on the ensuing run, and it got a little dusty.
3) Label Alonzo Russell a total badass. The Toledo receiver pulled off one of the best catches in recent memory this weekend, a one handed snag accomplished while also getting assaulted by a Central Michigan defender. One assumes that had an SEC officiating crew been working the game Russell would have been flagged for "Getting All Fancy."
4) Buy San Jose St. kicker Harrison Waid some boxing lessons. Kicker violence is hilarious for the same reason that seeing a great dane backed into a corner by a chihuahua is hilarious. It's unexpected, and there's always the imminent threat that it will end badly for the chihuahua. San Jose State's Waid, last seen having an utter meltdown in the Trojans' bowl game last year, is one of my favorite berserker chihuahuas, and he attempted to back a large Golden Gopher into a corner this weekend. It ended . . . badly:
5) Postpone the Mack Brown retirement party. But only for a little while. Texas moved to 1-0 in the Big XII with a 31-21 victory over Kansas State. It was a critical win for the Longhorns, who were staring a disastrous 1-3 start in the face, and had fans passing out burnt orange "Saban 2014" teeshirts before the game.
But the relief may be short lived. Texas still faces four teams ranked in the top 25 (#14 Oklahoma, #11 Oklahoma State, #25 Texas Tech, and #20 Baylor) and must travel to West Virginia and TCU, neither of which is a gimme. I'm pretty sure that 7-5, which sounds like a best case scenario right now, gets Mack pushed into one of those administrative, advisory roles that old coaches seem to find their way into.
6) Put a hold on the Tyler Murphy Heisman campaign. The junior signal caller came in for the injured Jeff Driskel and led the Gators to a 31-17 victory over Tennessee. However, it's helpful to remember that Murphy finished the game 8 of 14 passing for 134 yards, in addition to fumbling some snaps and generally looking as nervous as a sinner on Judgment Day. It's also helpful to remember that this is the Volunteer defense that got shredded for 52 points by Oregon last week, not the Steel Curtain defense. BY the time Murphy arrives in Jacksonville he'll be over those jitters, but there was a reason Jeff Driskel was the unchallenged starter in Gainesville before being lost for the year with a broken leg.
Feel free to add your own items to the list in the comments. Until later . . .
Go 'Dawgs!!!