Monday Grab Bag: Hey, look, another road loss!

 The watch party at my house got a little rough Saturday.  While there was plenty of beer and food, one of us got punched in the mouth celebrating the first score ('twas unintentional, but the recipient didn't seem to understand that point), and another rolled his ankle stepping in a gopher hole while tossing the ball around at halftime.  All told it was just another awful viewing experience at my house for a road game; I really need to stop hosting watch parties.

This week in the bag, I'll perform some mop-up work on the OSU game, ponder special teams, run around football nation, and eulogize my pathetic White Sox.

Click below for the bag...



Same shit, different day - Another slow start.  Another mix of poor special teams play, including yet another kick-off out of bounds (WTF!).  Another brutal set of penalties (9 for 83 yards).  Yep, it was a full step backwards.

For a game which was anticipated to be a grind-it-out, old-school slugfest, I was extremely disappointed to see the Buffs come out and start with three straight passing plays (all incompletions).  That series, followed by a miserable 20-yard "rugby punt," set the tone for the afternoon;  three-and-outs followed by special teams mistakes destroying any ability for the Buffs to compete.  All-in-all an extremely frustrating game to watch.

The Buffs didn't do enough to get Speedy going early.  From: the BDC

I even thought Ohio State looked as vulnerable as advertised.  Their QB couldn't throw the ball worth a damn (5-13, 83 yards and 2 scores on play action), and CU was able to run the ball when it tried (almost five yards per rush).  Had the special teams unit not continually shot CU in the foot, maybe, just maybe, the Buffs could've competed.  Instead, it's another three-score road loss, and a sour end to non-conference play.


Putting the word "special" back in special teams - Speaking of those special teams, I'm beginning to think that this unit is either not coached properly, or incapable of learning from mistakes.  Kick-offs still fly out of bounds (all four games have featured one of these), opponents still get decent return yardage while CU can't get past the 20, and return men still try and catch inside the 5 yard line.

Specifically, Ohio State enjoyed an average starting field position of the CU-47, while the Buffs had to deal with an average starting field position inside their own 20 (17.6).  All told, eight of the Buffs twelve possessions started inside the Colorado-20, four inside the 10.  You can chalk that up to many things, amongst them six three-and-out drives, but the vast majority of the blame for that field position disaster has to fall on the special teams unit.

If CU had decent average starting field position, and the anemically one-dimensional Buckeye offense had to start in their own half of the field, CU is probably within a score into the 4th quarter.  As it was, the game was over long before the final 15 minutes started.

The OSU offense was anything but impressive.  The Buffs could've played with them had the special teams not been so "special."  From: the BDC

I'm done talking about this crap; it was a very disheartening performance.


Notes from around the nation -

College Football


LSU @ West Virginia - In case you haven't noticed, LSU is really good.  They rolled in Morgantown, 47-21.

Oklahoma St & Texas A&M - Down 17 points at half, the OSU Cowboys roared back to steal the game in College Station.  The Aggie Defense allowed 27 straight points to kick off the 2nd half.

Western Michigan @ Illinois - The Illini slipped past the Broncos to clinch the program's first 4-0 start since 1951. 

NFL


Patriots @ Bills - AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Hey Brady:

Broncos @ Titans - My Bronco fan friends won't want to hear this, but I cheered when Danny Graham caught that TD.  Buffs for life!

Lions @ Vikings - The Lions, who btw are 3-0, came back against the continuously imploding Vikings.  3 straight blown big halftime lead for the Vikes.
 

The Sox season is (almost) mercifully over - The final week of the regular season is upon us, thank God.  My Sox, who have surged to a 77-82 record, ensuring themselves of a losing mark on the season, have finally found a way to do the impossible: make me hate watching White Sox baseball.

I really, from the bottom of my heart, hated this team.  I'm tired of Ozzie's schtick, I'm tired of listening to Kenny Williams bemoan the lack of attendance and cover up for Ozzie's shit-ass managerial decisions with poor trades, I'm tired of at bats being thrown away, I'm tired of slow offensive starts to the season, and I'm tired of the lack of accountability from both the coaching staff and the players.  Honestly, if Rich Uncle Jerry wanted to blow it up and start from scratch (completely blow it up, 5-7 year rebuilding project, etc), I'd have no problem with it.

The 2011 White Sox are, by far, the worst Sox team that I have ever watched.  Sure, teams have lost more games ('07 and '99), and some have been far less competitive ('95), but these guys threw away more talent, and exuded more "He Aint Care" than any bunch I've ever viewed.  Fuck 'em.


Ending on a happy note - Will Oliver is a badass; his 47-yard field goal in the 2nd half was as perfect as can be.   Toney Clemons looked great on that TD catch.  Josh Hartigan had two nice sacks.  Ryan Deehan looked awesome on his 3 catches for 71 yards. 

See, I'm happy, damnit!


Happy Monday!