My Saturday Opinions Part II

I had a feeling going into this afternoon, that there was going to be only one good game. I was wrong. While I did need the help of a sling box in order to watch the Cal v. Oregon game, I was able to flip back and forth between some of the other games that happened in the late afternoon. There were quite a few upsets today. If I were ESPN and were able to name my Saturday’s in retrospect, I would call this “Upset Saturday”. But I’m not so I won’t.
Georgia Tech upsets Clemson to get their third win, and to remain relevant in the ACC. Clemson gets caught asleep at the wheel and loses a game they should win. This always seems to happen to Clemson. They’ll be ready for any big games, but unprepared for the irrelevant games. This goes on the coach.
Maryland upsets Rutgers. I may have been to high on the Big East. Rutgers was the complete team in the Big East, with an offense and a defense, and they struggled and lost to a mid-level Maryland team. The question now becomes, where does South Florida fit in. The National Media will praise them and likely put them into the top 10, but I am unsure. The Big East is apparently not that great, so should the Bulls be ranked higher for defeating inferior competition?
The Big 12 is up for grabs. Texas and Oklahoma both lose to teams from the Big 12 North. The South has been the dominant division for a decade and now the top teams in the South lose to northern teams that fall somewhere in the middle. This makes the Red River Shootout while still relevant, less exciting. Texas wasn’t really in this game. Kansas State won on special teams, but the Longhorns have been teetering on disaster for weeks now. The hope for Texas fans and coaches has got to be that Colt McCoy is alright after getting banged up by Kansas State for the second year in a row.
Michigan State had their chances. The could have beaten Wisconsin, but by losing they have assured that Wisconsin will continue to be ranked too high. The Badgers played well enough to win, but I don’t trust this team, and the wheels could come off at any moment, against any team.
Now on to the main event. Oregon v. Cal was everything that it should have been. The first half was actually more of a defensive struggle. I was impressed with the way the Ducks were able to contain Deshawn Jackson and Justin Forsett in the first half. The second half was all about offense. Jackson went crazy and took two touchdowns with him. Dixon played well and continued his streak of both a passing and a rushing touchdown in every game this year. The final play for Oregon, down by a touchdown, was a bonehead mistake by receiver Cameron Colvin. Dixon passed him the ball and he had a touchdown. Rather than reaching the ball across the plane of the goal line, he fumbles the ball into the end zone. At least that was the call on the field after many minutes of discussion from the referees. Because that was how they called it, the official video review could not bring forth indisputable evidence to overturn the call. It was a questionable call, and I think that the ref’s should have called the ball out on the 1 yard line. That still gives Cal a chance to stop Oregon, but if not, then the game would be decided in overtime, not by questionable calls.
There may be more upsets to come tonight, but I highly doubt it.