Since Bobby Petrino’s hire this week, I’ve been trying to formulate an opinion about what I thought of the hire and the coach.  Here is what I have come up with:  As far as character issues, Bobby Petrino is Houston Nutt.  Petrino has lied time after time after time in regards to whether he is looking at going to another program, whether he is staying with a program, whether he has talked to different university officials. Etc. But my question is who hasn’t in today’s college football landscape?  Les Miles told Oklahoma State fans that he wasn’t looking at going to another program and that he was happy in Stillwater.  Then he jumps ship to LSU.  But who could blame him?  LSU had and has stockpiles of talent and play in the best conference.  Of course everyone is familiar with the Nick Saban controversy.  This has become commonplace among the coaching fraternity.  Coaches will tell fans, boosters, players, and recruits what they want to hear at that time, knowing in the back of this mind that he either wants that big time job or that he wants to make the jump to the NFL or that he has been in contact with other AD’s or GM’s.  Is it right?  Not necessarily, but that is the type of world we live in now in the business, and it is a business, of college football.  But let’s go back to Petrino.  I think what he did to the Falcons was wrong and most objective football fan would tend to agree, except for the ignorant Arkansas fans who think that it was ok and justified.  I can also understand where Petrino was coming from.  Who wants to coach a team so disheveled and out of whack that it almost became a circus in the locker room?  Of course you had the Vick fiasco, then you had DeAngelo Hall almost fighting one of his own coaches on the sidelines, Alge Crumpler publicly criticizing Petrino and the coaching staff, and at the Monday night game against the Saints, guys like Roddy White and Chris Houston (former Arkansas player) paying homage to Vick with eye black with #7 on them or shirts that say “Free Mike Vick”.  Is this really necessary to deal with on an NFL team?  Petrino should have no doubt faced the players in person to tell them of his decision and tell them how he felt, and the players to have that same luxury of letting Petrino how the felt.  But Arkansas had an enormous sense of urgency.  They had been turned down 3 times, which we know of, and they had to get a coach in order to stay on top of recruiting.  At the same time, Petrino could have done what Charlie Weiss did when he took the job with Notre Dame while he was with the Patriots.  He recruited when he didn’t have to be with the team, but still fulfilled his commitment to the team and their playoff run.  This might not have even been an option, but just something to think about.  Petrino has a chance to change the perception most of the college football world has of him.  He can do this by fulfilling his contract, not looking for other job opportunities, before, during, or after the season, and being honest with recruits and fans.  Earlier I said his character was similar to Nutt’s, but that is where the similarities end.  Petrino turned Louisville into a national contender while he was there, leading them to a BCS bowl victory, which is something that Arkansas has never had.  He was 41-9 in 5 years.  He recruited top athletes in Michael Bush and Brian Brohm, among others. No one can argue with the type of coach Petrino is.  He is widely considered as an offensive genius that can generate balance.  See the two names mentioned above.  Balance is what Arkansas desperately needs.  With only 8 returning starters next year, his coaching skills will be put to the test early and often.  Let us hope for the best for Petrino, on and off the field.

1. Baltimore Ravens – For the second straight week, a team has had the opportunity to beat the Patriots, and both times, mistakes have ended up costing them that chance.  Last week, it was A.J. Feely’s late interception that put the nail in the coffin.  This week, when looking at the Ravens, can you really put your finger on just one thing?  Let’s start with the first half interception made my Ed Reed.  An exceptional return man, Reed looked like he was going to set his team up to make a field goal, possibly even a touchdown before half to extend their lead.  However, his lack of ball security cost them a turnover when Kevin Faulk tackled and stripped Reed preventing them from scoring.  Next, and this is when the fun starts, Kyle Boller throws an interception into the middle of 4 Patriot defenders, when there was absolutely 0 Raven receivers in the vicinity.  As a matter of fact, you could barely see a receiver on the replay.  This again cost the Ravens precious points.  The final drive:  Patriots line up for a 4^th and 1 and Brady is seemingly stuffed at the line, HOWEVER, a timeout is called by the defensive coordinator, preventing the turnover on downs.  FYI, only head coaches are supposed to be able to call the timeouts from the sidelines.  Next, on another 4^th and short, Heath Evans takes the ball and gets stuffed, but a false start by the Patriots pushes them back 5 to set up Tom Brady’s scramble for a first down.  On the next 4^th down, a hold by the Ravens secondary gave the Patriots an automatic first down and all they needed to score the go ahead touchdown.  By the way, it was legitimate hold call.  Lastly, the actions of Bart Scott were terrible.  I understand the emotion of the game was at an all time high, but throwing the official’s flag into the stands was ridiculous.  And claiming that the officials make those calls because the NFL wants the Patriots undefeated is absurd.  If your team makes smart decisions early in the game, then the game wouldn’t have come down to the last drive.  I’ll be interested to see what type of fine Scott gets for his actions and his words.    

2. University of Arkansas – Since Houston Nutt resigned as Arkansas’s head coach and took the same position at Ole Miss, Arkansas has interviewed and talked with several coaches, including Tommy Tuberville, Charlie Strong, Joker Phillips, Ron English, Tommy Bowden, Gus Malzahn, Jim Grobe, and Lane Kiffin among others.  I do not have an issue with the number of coaches that they have interviewed and talked with, because I want our school (I say “our” school because I am a fan) to find the best possible coach.  My issue has to do with the number of coaches who have either rejected us entirely or just showed a complete lack of interest.  Arkansas is not some 2^nd tier school academically or athletically.  It is a school with well known former coaches and players, very successful teams of the past, yet we can’t bring a well known coach to the school now.  What seems to be the biggest issue with Arkansas?  In my opinion, it is the existence of John White and Frank Broyles in the administration.  Though Frank is leaving at the first of the year, he will still be very much involved with Arkansas athletics.  Coaches seem to be hesitant to come to a school where their most famous coach is still a very influential figure in the state and program.  Let the new coach have complete control of the operations.  Let the new coach make the big decisions.  I don’t want Arkansas to continue to be used as leverage by college coaches to get raises and extensions. It is embarrassing to the school and the program. Arkansas does have a storied tradition, but the administration and IRRATIONAL fans have kept quality football coaches from wanting to come and bring further success to the program. 

3. BCS – This could probably appear on the list every week, but since I haven’t had a chance to talk about it this year, I figure why not put it on the list now.  Since the Nebraska vs. Miami championship game, I have been in favor of some type of playoff system.  Most reasonable college football fans I know are, but instead of talking about something that will not be done in the immediate future, I’m going to talk about something that could’ve been done this year.  Sure I have a problem with Ohio State being in the national championship and LSU vaulting over 4 teams to the number 2 spot and Hawaii even being considered for a spot, but what bothers me the most is the fact that Kansas is in the BCS but Missouri is stuck in the Cotton Bowl.  I know the Cotton Bowl is something to be proud of, but with the kind of season that Missouri has had, why don’t they deserve to be in one of the big games?  Head to Head match up? Goes to Missouri - Division Championship?  Goes to Missouri.  What does Kansas have on Missouri besides one less loss?  Missouri lost twice to BCS bound OU, while beating BCS bound Illinois early in the season in a big non-conference game, while Kansas’s toughest game besides the Mizzou game was Texas A&M and Oklahoma St.  I know their non-conference schedule was “brutal” with Southeastern LA, Toledo, FIU, and Central Michigan, but what about the terrible conference schedule which didn’t include OU and Texas?  Georgia was rewarded with a BCS game even though they didn’t win their conference or division.  Illinois, the same thing. Why not Missouri?  Missouri went from being number 1, to losing to a top 5 OU team, to getting kicked out of the BCS party.  Just one more thing that is unfair about the BCS.

1. Goat of the Week Nominees

2. Top 5 NFL and College Teams 

Chik-Fil-A Bowl –  Auburn vs. Clemson – These two coaches went from leading candidates for the Arkansas job, to getting long-term contract extensions.  This will be a battle of Clemson’s offense featuring Cullen Harper, James Davis, and C.J. Spiller vs. Will Muschamp’s Auburn defense, led by Quentin Groves.  If Auburn’s defense shows up against Clemson’s rushing offense like they did against Arkansas, it could be a long day for the Tigers.

Outback Bowl – Wisconsin vs. Tennessee – Tennessee is coming off a disappointing loss to LSU in the SEC Championship game and Wisconsin is coming off a disappointing season, where expectations were at an all time high.  With a preseason ranking in the top 5, Wisconsin’s defense proved to be their downfall in conference.  In their three losses, Wisconsin gave up an average of over 33 ppg while only scoring 16 ppg.  Look for Tennessee to run and run often with Arian Foster and force Tyler Donovan to beat them with the pass and keep P.J. Hill contained.

Cotton Bowl – Missouri vs. Arkansas – Which Heisman Trophy candidate will have the bigger day?  Chase Daniel has been superb all year and with Arkansas’s less than spectacular secondary, look for Missouri to score some points.  Darren McFadden and Felix Jones will look to be as effective as Patrick and Brown for Oklahoma were in the Big 12 Championship game, and with the success of the running game all year, I don’t foresee that to be an issue.

Gator Bowl – Virginia vs. Texas Tech – Virginia gives up 18.8 ppg while Texas Tech puts up 41.8 ppg.  So what gives here?  Chris Long will give Texas Tech fits all day, but the Red Raiders will surely utilize double teams to control him, if that’s even possible.  Graham Harrell will be looking for Crabtree and Amendola almost every play and since Virginia hasn’t played anyone with the type of high power offense that Texas Tech has, don’t be surprised if Texas Tech doesn’t reach close to their average in points.

As most of you know by now, the source where I received the information regarding the LSU situation was wrong, way way wrong.  There is now way around it.  I trusted this source because of how close this person is to the LSU football program.  But I have no hard feelings.  I reported this information because of where we are located (Louisiana) and how big a story it was nationally.  I didn't report it because I hate the LSU football program and wanted to spread gossip.  As a matter of fact, I felt like every one of those circumstances would actually have been an upgrade to the program.  But when it comes down to it, I could truly careless about LSU football, but I will continue to be objective when I talk about them.  I thought this was some great information, it just happened to nearly all be wrong.  As me and Jarod continue to operate this website, we'll continue to give our opinions regarding college and professional football, as opposed to reporting on information him or I receive.  Thanks for visiting the site and please continue to give your opinions about what we talk about. 

Billie 

                   Billie       Jarod

College          5-3-1         5-3-1

Pro                5-11         10-6

Year Totals

College          19-8-1        16-11-1

Pro                 23-25         30-18

This weeks schedule of games is not near as strong as what we had last week, but there are some good matchups, highlighted by the conference championship games.

We will have the rest of the games picked by Sunday.

College

1. Missouri – Proved on Saturday in front of a primetime national television audience that they are for real.  Chase Daniel is no doubt in the Heisman trophy race.  His performance showed what kind of special player he is.  He goes to show everyone that it’s not all about size.  He’s an NFL quarterback.  But despite their ranking and performance against KU, they are still a 3 point underdog going into their game against Oklahoma.  Though Missouri really impressed me, I still like Oklahoma with a healthy Sam Bradford in the Big 12 Championship game.

2. Georgia – Playing hotter than any other team in the country right now.  Moreno at running back has been the difference maker down the stretch for the Dawgs.  Since the Florida game, Richt has his players performing at an elite level.  This was the one team LSU didn’t want to play in their former run to the national title.  It doesn’t look like there is anyway for Georgia to play in the national title game, but I guarantee they would be a favorite against almost anybody.  I wouldn’t mind seeing a Georgia/USC match up in a BCS game.

3. West Virginia – Easiest game left out of all the national title contenders (unless you count Ohio State).  However, and it is a big however, being the number 2 team in the country has been the toughest job for anyone this year.  White, Slaton, Reynaud, and Devine look near unstoppable and though Saturday’s game is nicknamed the “Backyard Brawl”, I can only picture one team doing most of the brawling. Putting up 66 against a Connecticut team that was only allowing 18 points a game says something, even though it is the Big East. Missouri/West Virginia national title game?  I wonder how many prognosticators had that game before the season started.   

4. Ohio State – This is another example of a team that didn’t play their way into this spot the last couple of weeks.  But, they have only lost one game this year to a much improved and dangerous Illinois team.  There will also be some that argue that the Illinois game was the only tough game they played this year.  Akron, Youngstown St, and Kent St. doesn’t exactly scream out brutal non-conference schedule.  Big 10 has been weak this year, considering the expectations it had at the beginning of the year (i.e. Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State), but going undefeated in a BCS conference should garner some National Championship consideration  Athletic teams are seem to be their weak spot (Florida last year, Illinois this year).  West Virginia would be a tough match up in January.

5. USC – They are playing like everyone thought USC would be playing all year.  If I had had National Championship game wish, it would be USC/Georgia, as mentioned above.  Their loss to Stanford still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but Booty was playing hurt that game and they were looking ahead.  Booty seems to be healthy and back to playing like he did most of last year and Washington, Gable, Johnson, McKnight, and company are all contributing.  Fred Davis is an absolute freak on the field and is their best receiver, despite playing the TE position.

                NFL 

1. Patriots – Just because of a close victory doesn’t mean anything will change.  Did anyone else see how many dropped passes they had? 

        2. Cowboys – Looked extremely good against the Jets, at no surprise. If they keep getting the ball into the hands of their playmakers in Owens and Whiten then winning 14 or 15 games isn’t farfetched at all.  What a match up this week against the Packers.  Even though only 18 people will get to watch the game, I’m sure it will be something.  Make sure you stay up for Sportscenter late Thursday night to catch the highlights.  Playing in Big D is an obvious advantage and I look for the Cowboys to win in a close one.

        3. Packers – It’s hard to believe that I would have 2 NFC teams in two of the top three spots.  They have definitely played their way into this position.  Last week I said they had found a little bit of a running game in Ryan Grant.  Now it seems like Grant is a legitimate weapon in the Packers offense.  This makes them not just contender for the NFC but for the Super Bowl as well.  Their defense might be young, except for Woodson and Harris, but they have really stepped up their play throughout the year and their bump and run philosophy will either reward or burn them against the Cowboys receivers.

        4. Colts – The score might have been 31-13 but it was another less than spectacular win for the Colts.  I’m also not sure if any win against the Falcons could be considered a good win.  But a win is a win, and they keep doing it.  A huge test against the Jaguars this week, with the winner having the upper hand in claiming that division.  Dungy is hopeful that they will be getting Harrison back in the lineup, and if that happens, look for the Colts to come out on top.  It sure doesn’t hurt that their playing in Indy with all the “fake crowd noise”.

        5. Jaguars – David Garrard is the only starting QB in the NFL this year not to have thrown an interception.  Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor provide a lethal one, two punch.  Their front four does well against the run, allowing less than 100 yards a game.  However, the pass defense is what will give them problems, not just this week, but the rest of the season.  No matter what, this game should no doubt provide some excitement this week and the best part about the game is that we’ll get to see it on CBS, and not NFL Network.

Let me know what you think about the nominees this week

1. Eli Manning – Since he’s been in the league, he has been a complete roller coaster, but Sunday’s game topped them all.  He had 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions, including 3, I repeat, 3 returned for touchdowns.  Since his fiasco that took place on draft day with him saying he wouldn’t play for the Chargers and demanding he be traded to the Giants if drafted number 1, you never know what you are going to get with Eli.  There are games when he looks like an all-pro and there are games when him and Grossman could compete on who could turn it over more.  The weapons around him are sufficient, though Sunday he did not have Brandon Jacobs.  This isn’t Atlanta or Miami where you don’t have anything to work with.  This is not something that should be talked about ever year.  Giants fans shouldn’t have to worry about what Eli will show up each game.  Is Eli really the long-term answer for the Giants?  Is there something he can do?  New coach?  Different brother?

2. Mike Shanahan – This is the second time in two weeks I have had a head coach on this list for doing something that could EASILY have been prevented on special teams.  It was obvious in Sunday’s game against the Bears who was the better team.  As long as you keep it out of #23’s hands, everything will be ok and you can go home with your “W”.  So what in Shanahan’s right mind was he thinking kicking it to Hester on kickoffs and punts?  Has he not seen Hester before?  This guy ran a punt AND a kickoff back for a touchdown.  He’s one of, if not the most electrifying player in football and you are going to kick it to him like he is some unproven rookie?  Oh, and the final score of the game, Bears 37 Broncos 34 in overtime.  You are a better coach than that Mike.

3. Pittsburgh’s Administration – For those that saw last nights game against the Dolphins, or as much as you could stand to watch, knows the type of condition that field was in.  They had 4 high school football games on Friday and the University of Pittsburgh playing on Saturday.  Knowing the field was in awful shape, the Steelers decided to just put an extra layer of sod on top of the other layer in hopes of, well I’m not sure what they were hoping to do.  And I understood that they felt like this was the only way they could get the field into playing shape, if you could actually call it that. But at what point do you say to yourself, let’s take some money out of our operating account to invest in some field turf.  If you’re going to keep hosting high school games and Panther games, a change needs to be made.  The Steelers should apologize to their fans and the rest of the NFL for making them sit thru that type of game.  Hopefully next year, this type of situation does not have to occur.