The Week in Football: A Devastating Loss for the Vols, Dallas Dominates, and Brady Hoke is Gone

It was a rough Saturday for me, as Tennessee lost a close, contested game to Georgia for the fourth year in a row. It was completely devastating. It wasn’t Derek Dooley devastating, meaning you have the realization after the game that the Vols suck, they have no hope of ever turning it around, and maybe I should just smother myself with a pillow tonight so I never have to watch this team again. This one was different, as it was more of a sigh of frustration, followed by wondering, “When is Tennessee going to get this thing turned around? When are they going to win a big road game against a ranked team again?” I just have to remember to be patient, because this is just Butch’s second year, but I hate it. I’ve been patient for years. That’s all I heard the entire time Dooley was the coach. I guess the difference is I still have hope. I still believe in Butch. Every Vol fan lost hope with Dooley.

 

Speaking of Tennessee football, the only person who had a worse weekend watching the game than me was my Angry Old Man. Throughout the entire game he was just yelling a bunch of nothing and trying to scream about how angry he was while he was shoving down a mouthful of Doritos. I was only able to catch one coherent thought, which was, “Since Tennessee went to the T Formation in 1964, Nathan Peterman is the worst quarterback in the history of the program! If I was running the program, I’d pull his scholarship and kick him to the curb tonight! Where’s Josh Dobbs? Why aren’t they playing him? Also, you’re adopted. We found you in a snow bank in the Ukraine.”

 

Sheesh. That’s one of the angriest questions he’s ever yelled at me. However, despite his yelling and eating, he did make 2 interesting observations….

 

1. Nathan Peterman was awful. As soon as he came in the game, it changed everything. I cringed every time he dropped back to pass. I knew he was going to have any time to throw the ball, because the offensive line had more holes than Swiss cheese. Their only semi-decent drive with Peterman ended when he fumbled on a botched quarterback-running back exchange. Before Justin Worley got injured, and after he returned, the Tennessee offense looked like a real college offense, and they moved the ball on Georgia. With Peterman, it was awful. Matt Simms never played that bad in a Vol uniform. If Worley ever gets injured again during a game, I’d rather Tennessee throw punter Matt Darr out there to play QB than roll the dice with Peterman ever again. He wasn’t quite as bad as he was against Florida last year, but he was just abysmal. Please please please never let him step foot on the field again. I don’t care if we have to run the Wildcat the entire game. Just not Peterman.
2. Tennessee is in big trouble at the quarterback position next year. Worley will be gone, and there isn’t any incoming freshman that they’ve recruited who will be able to step in next year and play right away. I thought Josh Dobbs was the perfect type of guy to run Butch’s offense, someone who could both run and pass. But he’s their 3^rd string guy! Nathan Peterman played before him! Obviously the coaching staff isn’t high on him, or they would’ve put him out there, maybe even to start the season. Who is going to play quarterback for this team next year? That position is so important, and I’d hate to see all this young talent go to waste because they could never find the right guy to play it for them. I’m shocked they haven’t been able to recruit one of these 4 or 5 star dual-threat quarterback recruits. Just tell him, “When you step on campus for practice for the first time, you’ll instantly be the best quarterback to run the type of system we want to run. You’ll probably be able to start from day one. Oh yeah, and you’ll also get to play in the best conference in all of college football, against the best players and teams every Saturday”. Isn’t that enough of a recruiting pitch right there? They need a quarterback. I hope they can recruit one. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a Marcus Mariota or Braxton Miller type guy in Knoxville? Of course it would.

 

I can’t even think about Tennessee football right now. It’s too frustrating. I’m cautiously optimistic about the Florida game this weekend. I’ve felt like this since the game in 2011. We’ll see what happens. But more on this game later in the week.

 

There are no Dominant Teams in College Football

 

Everybody looks vulnerable, and I have no idea who is going to end up in the playoffs. Last year it was Florida State, who didn’t play a close game all year until the BCS Title Game against Auburn. This year, the Seminoles struggled with Oklahoma St, Clemson, and NC State. Oregon struggled to put away Washington State. Alabama struggled against West Virginia, and Florida played them pretty equally for a half. How good is Auburn? I have no idea. In their only test of the year, they got outplayed by Kansas State, yet still found a way to win. Texas A&M still has the most impressive win of the year (the season opening beat down at South Carolina) but their defense is awful. I’m pretty sure Nathan Peterman could light them up. We’ll learn a lot about Notre Dame this weekend when they host Stanford, but I don’t think they’re a great team. I had given up on UCLA, but they finally put it all together and completely destroyed Arizona State. However, the Bruins still stunk for 3 games before their dominating win on Thursday night. Oklahoma has probably been the most impressive team thus far, but they haven’t played a ranked team yet. Everybody else that is a playoff contender has a loss (or is Ole Miss. I believe in Buddha more than I believe in the Rebels as a legit SEC contender. They’re going to lose by at least 17 points at home against Bama on Saturday). This is just a wild season. Every single team can lose to anyone on any Saturday. There are no dominant defenses anymore, and now, with all the rules favoring the offense, almost every single team (except Michigan) can score points. NC State scored 41 on Saturday. 41! Every defense will probably get lit up at some point this year. Even Stanford’s D might struggle with an opponent, and they’re the best in the country. It’s so hard to hold onto leads, and it’s so easy for teams to come back. This weekend will be important for a lot of the playoff contenders, as a lot of them (particularly in the SEC) are involved in high profile games against really good teams. We’ll learn a lot about those teams this weekend.

 

Goodbye Brady

 

I have a better chance of leaping off the roof of my house and flying than Brady Hoke does of keeping the head coaching job at Michigan. He’s got no shot. They are so bad, and they haven’t even been competitive against the best teams they’ve played (Notre Dame, Utah, Minnesota). There’s no debate. He’s going to get the axe, probably at the end of the year. So who will the Wolverines bring in? Jim Harbaugh has to be at the top of their list. He’s a Michigan man (he played there), which apparently is really important to everyone involved, plus he’s won everywhere he’s been. He turned Stanford, one of the worst programs in the country when he got there, into a national title contender, and he instantly transformed the culture of the 49ers when he arrived in San Francisco. They’ve been to three straight NFC Championship Games and a Super Bowl since he got there. He’s a great football coach. I have no doubt he’d be a slam dunk in Ann Arbor. But I don’t know how realistic that is. I know there’s been all these rumblings after last season about how he and the Niners front office don’t get along, and they weren’t able to agree to a new contract in the off-season. After this season, Harbaugh has one year left on his deal. There’s no way he’ll go into next season as a lame duck head coach. He’s either going to get a new deal from the Niners after this year, or he’s walking. If he doesn’t get a new contract, then maybe Michigan is a realistic option for him. However, I think he and the Niners are going to eventually going to sit down and agree to something. It would be incredibly stupid for personalities to get in the way of a team bringing back the right guy to be in charge of their locker room. Of course, that’s happened before, and it’ll happen again. I’m betting it won’t though. So where else will Michigan look? Les Miles has got to be second on that list. He’s a great coach, and he’s a Michigan grad. Miles makes 4.3 million dollars a year. Couldn’t Michigan, with all its boosters and revenue generated by the athletic department, offer him 6.5 million a year, while also selling him on, “Come home and win big at your alma mater” message? I think they could. Of the two guys, I think Miles is way more realistic. If they don’t get him either, then I’m not sure where they’d go. They’ll probably end up hiring someone from a mid major that had a nice year.

 

Now, onto the NFL…..

 

The Dallas Cowboys are good?????

 

I thought this would be the game that Dallas finally turned back into Dallas. But it didn’t happen. The Cowboys were dominant from the start, and they never took their foot off the gas. They never gave Romo a chance to screw it up. They have one of the best offensive lines in football, they’ve finally committed to pounding the football on the ground with DeMarco Murray, and they’ve got one of the best five receivers and tight ends in football (Dez Bryant and Jason Witten). They could have a really good offense if they are able to stay healthy, and pray that Romo doesn’t make terrible decisions with the football (I know, that’s impossible. It would be like watching an episode of the Real Housewives of Atlanta and suddenly becoming smarter and more well-spoken). I’m still not a believer though. I’ve seen too many legendary screw ups and choke jobs from the Cowboys over the years to believe that they’re actually legitimate contenders. They’ll turn back into Dallas at some point. For now though, they’re tied for first place in their division.

 

R-E-L-A-X

 

Aaron Rodgers was the man yesterday. He made amazing throw after amazing throw, and he reminded everyone (including me) just how good he is. He’s the best quarterback in football, and he might be the best and most important player in the NFL. I love Phil Rivers and Peyton Manning, but not even they could’ve made some of the throws that Rodgers made yesterday. I still don’t think Green Bay has turned the corner yet though. They’re still the 3^rd best team in that division. Detroit is really, really good, and I still think Chicago has a better roster than them. Then again, the Packers have owned the Bears over the past few years. Green Bay is 10-3 in the regular season against Chicago since Rodgers took over as the starting quarterback, and they also beat the Bears in the 2010 NFC Championship Game. Rodgers owns them.

 

So where does this leave the Pack? I’m still not a fan of this team. Unless they get to play the Bears every week, I still see this team at 8-8 or 9-7. They can’t expect Rodgers to play like he did yesterday (302 yards, 4 TDs, no sacks) every game. He is mortal. They still don’t run the ball well, and that defense is not good. I applaud Rodgers for his play yesterday, but Green Bay just has too many holes in their roster to make the playoffs. They depend too much on Rodgers to save them every week.

 

San Fran Saves Their Season

 

This was a must win for the Niners. A 1-3 start would’ve been a nail in the coffin for this team, as historically only 14.5% of NFL teams that start out that way make the playoffs. But it would’ve been more than that. It seemed like that locker room was coming apart. The team was facing adversity, the coaching situation was up in the air, Kaepernick was playing horribly, and the team was murdering themselves every week with penalties. They needed this game, and their defense delivered for them, as they shut out the Eagles offense. I realize that Philly was missing 4 of its 5 starting offensive lineman, but Philly had been lighting up everyone all year. That Niners defense dug in and bullied the Eagles all day. They shut down Shady McCoy (17 yards on 10 carries), punched Nick Foles in the mouth, and played like the 49ers of the last three years. Plus, they took their fair share of body blows in that game (blocked punt in the end zone that was recovered for a touchdown by the Eagles, a Michael Jenkins pick-six, and a Darren Sproles punt return for a score), and yet, they stayed on their feet and kept fighting. They showed me something this week, and I’m buying some stock in San Fran again. We’ll see what happens against Kansas City next week.

 

So enjoy the Monday Night Game tonight. And then watch the baseball playoffs that start tomorrow. Give the sport a chance. I love the playoffs. It’s great drama, and every pitch matters. I’ll be writing about that and Derek Jeter tomorrow. Be sure to check it out! Like always, I appreciate everyone who read, feel free to comment, and please share this with someone.