Larry Brown Sports » College Football

Stanford Runs it Up Against USC, Mocks Trojans Saying ‘Fight On’

Larry Brown — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:35:12 +0000

Have a thing for crazy statistics? I have one that will blow your mind. USC is 47-2 at home since 2001. Both losses are now to Stanford, making Jim Harbaugh 2-1 against the Trojans since taking over the Cardinal program. While Stanford was something like a 40-point underdog at the Coliseum in their first upset win over the Trojans, there’s no doubt the effect of each win was equally shocking. USC got smashed 55-21 this time and they were pushed all over the field by the Cardinal, leaving the home crowd stunned. As a UCLA fan there’s no doubt I’m pleased to see USC knocked from its perch as the perennial uncontested champ in the Pac-10, but I would have liked to see more class from Stanford in the process. Up 48-21 after Toby Gerhart’s 3rd touchdown run of the game, Stanford went for a two-point conversion that got stuff by SC. Then, towards the end of the game, the cameras caught Stanford players Richard Sherman and Ekom Udofia mocking USC’s Fight On:

It’s easy to celebrate and dance on your opponent’s grave when your program is at its peak and winning games, but it’s no fun to be on the other end of things. Given its recent history, Stanford should know that. Yes they should be proud of their huge win and big season thus far, but they shouldn’t lose their class during the win. If not for the reason of respecting your opponent, Stanford should realize they’ve set themselves up to take USC’s best shot next year because of the revenge factor. The Trojans won’t forget this loss any time soon, I can promise you that.

Why Was Jahvid Best Even Playing Against OSU with a Slight Concussion?

Larry Brown — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:13:52 +0000

We’ve already posted about the crazy fall and concussion Jahvid Best sustained against Oregon State on Saturday and we’re glad to hear he’s been released from the hospital. The injury comes at a curious time where the NFL was forced to answer to alarming studies that reveal the severity of concussions in governmental hearings. Much of the data suggests concussions impair people later on in life and that there is a greater susceptibility to a second concussion if there hasn’t been enough healing time following the first. After reading that, it makes sense that Best looked so knocked out after his fall (dropping from five-six feet in the air doesn’t help either).

The severity of the concussion raising the most critical question: why was Best even playing in the game? I asked the same question when Tate Forcier played against Delaware State despite suffering a mild concussion against Iowa the prior week, and why Tim Tebow was playing against LSU two weeks after suffering a concussion against Kentucky. Yesterday alone, we saw Eagles running back Brian Westbrook sit out against the Cowboys because he was still having headaches from his concussion suffered two Monday nights prior against the Redskins. The bottom line is that long-term health matters more than the short term desire to win one game. If a young player like Best suffered a concussion in one game, he shouldn’t have been playing the very next week. Just because players used to tough things out back in the day doesn’t mean it was the smartest thing to do. We constantly pride ourselves on our ability to learn, discover, evolve, and improve. If new data overwhelmingly proves the link between concussions and brain injury, we shouldn’t be resistant; we should change for the better. I think Cal learned its lesson.

The Hit that Gave Christian Ponder a Separated Shoulder

Larry Brown — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:41:25 +0000

When I saw this game on Saturday night and watched the play unfold with Ponder trying to make a tackle after his interception, I said to myself, “Damn, he’s a gamer.” Now I’m thinking his display of tough guy wasn’t such a good idea after hearing that he separated his shoulder on the play. Watch the video of Christian Ponder’s separated shoulder caused by his hit on Clemson DB DeAndre McDaniel:

When they say turnovers are painful it really applies in this situation. It’s too bad Ponder got hurt on that play because he was having a good season and starting to emerge as a top quality quarterback. What’s worse is that that turnover and the ensuing hit may have ended not only Ponder’s season, but also Bobby Bowden’s tenure at Florida State. The Noles are now 4-5 and at Wake Forest and Florida in two of their last three games. A 5-7 season is likely the recipe for Bowden’s firing and that’s where they’re heading.

SEC Officials Miss Call on LSU Interception by Patrick Peterson

Larry Brown — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:32:14 +0000

Several SEC games have been marred by poor calls from the officials. To me, the worst case was in the Florida/Arkansas game, where the conference admitted they screwed up the calls that went against the Hogs to help the Gators. The storyline that has been prevalent throughout the season continues to take center stage as it did on Saturday in the LSU/Bama game. With Alabama up 21-15 in the 4th quarter, Greg McElroy threw a pass that appeared to have been picked off by Patrick Peterson on the sidelines. The referees reviewed the play but decided he was out of bounds. Here’s a replay of the Patrick Peterson interception video that was screwed up by the refs:

Andy Staples at SI took a picture on the sidelines which shows Peterson got his foot (both actually) in on the play. The argument I will buy is that Peterson didn’t have possession of the football until he was out of bounds. Thing is, when you slow it down on replay you can see he had control and got his feet in. Missing it live is completely understandable. How they missed it after reviewing the play leaves me scratching my head.

Jahvid Best Badly Hurt on Touchdown Dive

Larry Brown — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:43:50 +0000

Cal running back Jahvid Best had a scary moment early in the game against Oregon State that has many fans holding their breath. Best went airborne to score a touchdown and was hit by someone who catapulted him even higher than he already was. Jahvid may have been six feet in the air at the peak of his leap (plus the push) before he came to a crash on the ground. Best landed on his back and may have injured his neck or back severely on the play. Here is video of Jahvid Best’s touchdown run and the hit that hurt him:

Jahvid had to be carted off the field on a stretcher and as you can tell, it did not look good. We’ll continue to keep you updated on the situation and we hope it’s nothing serious though at this point that’s wishful thinking.

UPDATE: Best has a concussion but has movement in all his extremities

Oregon Coach Chip Kelly Sported the Duck Costume Before the USC Game

Larry Brown — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:26:51 +0000

The Oregon duck mascot has quite the history here at LBS. A few years ago, the Duck was suspended after getting in a fight with the Houston Cougar mascot. That may have marked the greatest moment in the history of mascot moments. This time around it was Oregon coach Chip Kelly trying to pump up the home crowd at Autzen Stadium by donning the costume before the USC game. Check it out:

Kelly has quickly become one of the coaches I respect the most in college football. First off, I think he handled the LeGarrette Blount situation quite well, handing down a harsh penalty but maintaining an interest in seeing Blount overcome the incident. Then, Kelly reimbursed a dissatisfied fan who traveled to the Boise State game. And now he’s wearing the Duck suit. Here’s what he said about it, “I take my job seriously, I don’t take myself seriously. It was more of a chance to see our fans. I think they’re the best fans in college football.” Talk about a BMOC … he better savor these days while he can because you can bet your butt the fans will be calling for his head when they have a 6-6 season.

Brandon Spikes Will Gouge Your Eyes

Larry Brown — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:36:24 +0000

Brandon Spikes has been making it in the news quite a bit this weekend. Two of his noteworthy moments were positive, but the third was negative. First it got reported that Spikes and Tebow got into it during the Mississippi State game but they ended up bonding to help lead the team to victory. Then there was a positive moment for Spikes in the easy win over Georgia where he returned an interception for a touchdown in what ended up being Florida’s final score. His other noteworthy play however, was nowhere near as positive. Spikes was caught gouging the eyes of an opponent on national TV Saturday. Let’s go to the video:

I understand that foul and dirty play happens at the bottom of piles all the time. Fingers are broken, body parts are scratched, pinched, bit, pulled — anything you can think of probably happens, but that doesn’t mean it’s OK. I also believe that intentionally sticking your fingers in someones face mask with the purpose of poking them in the eye is an offense that belongs in a separate category; you don’t mess with something as delicate as another person’s vision. Just ask Willis McGahee about that — he’ll tell you.

Gotta Love Bob Toledo’s Outlook on Tulane’s Loss to LSU

Larry Brown — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:22:25 +0000

Things have been pretty brutal for Bob Toledo ever since he was axed at UCLA. Toledo went to Tulane and his teams have gone 8-22 over three seasons, with the squad getting waxed 42-0 Saturday. Bob had already vented his frustration during the week, complaining about the lack of fan support and enthusiasm surrounding the program. Overall, he doesn’t seem like a very happy man. And getting blitzed by LSU didn’t help matters either. I really haven’t heard such a depressing explanation for a blowout loss as the one I read yesterday:

“It’s a little bit of a mismatch regardless of what people want to say,” Tulane head coach Bob Toledo said. “They’re a great football team. They’re bigger, stronger and faster than we are. Their Xs and Os are bigger than our Xs and Os. OK? Plain and simple.”

Wow, sounds like this guy wants out and is trying to write his ticket home. Another one of my favorites was this positive gem this week, “We haven’t had a punt return in two weeks, so our punt return team is pretty good right now because they haven’t been on the field in two weeks.” Umm, it was nice knowing you, I guess. Damn, that sounds awful. Who would want to continue playing when it sounds like the coach has even packed it in?

Mike Leach Is Not Happy with His Players ‘Fat, Little Girlfriends’

Larry Brown — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:52:05 +0000

Mike Leach has taken on somewhat of a cult figure persona as the coach of Texas Tech. Having never played the sport himself, he’s regarded as a mad scientist of sorts, one who stays up all night crafting crazy passing plays. While his teams have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success on the field, Leach’s popularity has grown off the field. Ostensibly it’s because of his straightforward personality that leads to remarks such as the one he made over the weekend and reiterated this week after the game. The Red Raiders were shocked by lowly Texas A&M Saturday, the same A&M squad that was blown out by Kansas State the week before. Leach was saying the reason Tech got blown out is because the players were too busy reading their press clippings, only he worded it slightly differently:

Thanks to my boy, The Wiz of Odds for sharing that video of pirate fanatic, Leach. Considering his warnings to the players to take A&M seriously didn’t catch their attention, I’m guessing these comments did. It’s also surprising that Leach was picking on fat girls considering he’s the same guy who advised men to take their dates somewhere the ladies could eat real food. Sounds like a contradiction to me.

Jonathan Dwyer Is a Man!

Larry Brown — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:59:40 +0000

Georgia Tech takes some heat for running the triple option which has been considered an antiquated offense. Thing is if you have the right personnel and you can execute the option to perfection, it can be highly successful. The Yellow Jackets have proven that and they’ve gone 7-1 to start the season. Not only have they mastered the triple option but they also have elite personnel. Just check out resident strongman Jonathan Dwyer who absolutely destroyed Virginia cornerback Chris Cook on this play:

Dwyer was thought to be a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate but his campaign dropped off because he hasn’t racked up the gaudy stats on a consistent basis. Since he plays fullback instead of quarterback or tailback in the system, he doesn’t get as many touchdowns as the other players, and they also spread the ball around too much. Still, Dwyer is highly ranked amongst running back prospects for the NFL. It’s easy to see why.

Larry Brown Sports » College Football

Stanford Runs it Up Against USC, Mocks Trojans Saying ‘Fight On’

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