Solid podcasting from CFB Weekly takes a step backward this week. They talk to me about Dave Wannstedt, Pitt and dodging the Morelli bullet. Take a listen and fully grasp why I should be read and not heard.

Also on there, the always entertaining Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician. Really, it almost  took a coach on the hot seat episode as UCLA and Ole Miss bloggers were also in the mix this week.

Even without a lot of upsets like the past couple of weeks, there were still enough to make this a mess. Thanks as always to Dennis for starting this.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU	6
2	Ohio State	–
3	Boston College	–
4	Florida	4
5	Oklahoma	1
6	South Florida	5
7	West Virginia	2
8	Southern Cal	2
9	Oregon	5
10	Kentucky	4
11	Arizona State	1
12	Missouri	1
13	Kansas	2
14	Hawaii	2
15	South Carolina	10
16	Virginia Tech	2
17	Texas	2
18	Auburn	1
19	Wake Forest	5
20	Michigan	5
21	Alabama	5
22	California	11
23	Rutgers	3
24	Virginia	2
25	Penn State	1

Wait-listed/Standing by: Who the hell knows any more?

I have to say, watching the Oregon game was a really impressive thing. They have one of the best offensive lines in the country.  Shaky (to be kind) defense, but they are damn entertaining to watch.

This season, there isn’t a team on the list of top-25 that wouldn’t truly shock me to see them lose this coming weekend. It’s just that kind of a season.

This is just one of those years, where you want the poll to stop at top 10 or maybe 15. Trying to figure out who “deserves” to be ranked after that is just a crap shoot.

Hey to those not making this game. Nasty case of bronchitis kept me home for the day. Between the hacking and the side-effects of the antibiotics, I wasn’t going anywhere. So that puts me in full couch potato mode, but disturbingly sober. Will this game force my hand? Let’s find out.

12:08: Hey, no 3 and out to start the game. Promising? Or just raising some small hope to create greater anguish? Discuss.

12:11: Quote from the play-calling booth after Bostick was under immediate pressure from the shotgon. “The last two plays the Pitt offensive line did not win the battle up front.” There’s something new. Punting.

12:12: Sigh. QB Ben Mauk takes off for 56 yards on Cinci’s first play. Well, the defense is stable. Unfortunately.

12:15: TD Cinci. A little over 2 minutes to go 82 yards.

12:22: The O-line isn’t waiting to lay down for this. I am not feeling good that I will be keeping this up beyond halftime. 4th and inches (with a good spot).

Going for it.

“That’s not a good push. That’s not a good push at all.” Your Pitt Panthers O-line folks.

7-0 Cinci. 9:27 left in the first quarter.

Not promising.

Sigh. Didn’t get it.

12:27: Homecoming. Beautiful sunny day. Lots of empty seats. That’s what happens when there is no hope.

12:28: Cinci is trying to help. 2 false starts after Cox committed the blatant pass int. to Put it inside the 20.

Surprise. Mike Phillips was in a good position to help and stop the TD pass.

A blitz? From Pitt? It worked? No sack, but holding Cinci to a FG when starting inside the 30.

10-0 Cinci. 6:55 in the 1st quarter.

12:37: A change of pace with LaRod Stephens-Howling.

Some actual time to throw for Bostick and he gets 18 yards to Turner. Underthrew the ball, though.

No, no, no. I know you want to give Howlings some touches, but go with some change of pace on the drive. Get McCoy back in there in the same drive to keep the defense a little more off-balanced.

Damn, just out of Turners reach on that slant.

FG.

10-3 Cinci.

12:46: Just dissecting the Pitt D with this drive so far. Pathetic.

12:48: Of course a little blind luck helps. A false start than a bad snap goes past Mauk and now it’s 2nd and 22 back beyond midfield.

The first quarter ends and Pitt is only down 7. How sad is that to feel that Pitt is lucky to only be losing by a TD after only 1 quarter?

12:53: Start of Q2 and Greg Romeus makes a great leap to knock the ball away in what would have been a bubble screen.

Pitt takes over on the 31 after the punt.

12:54: Can you imagine how good Pitt’s running game could be with an O-line? McCoy got 8 yards all by himself.

12:56: Mo Williams on the end around. Great sell by McCoy and Pitt is moving.

Ugh. Pestano now called for a personal foul. That was weak. Both were shoving.

1:01: Bostick is really underthrowing the ball on deep throws.

Punt. Fair caught at the 12. Now flags after the punt. Late hit by Cinci. Backed up to 7.

1:05: Hey, the defense held and may actually put the offense in good field position. Depending of course on how Pitt returns the punt. Cinci just has started very sloppy.

(more…)

Darts anyone? This has ceased to be fun.

Dennis, as usual did the initial heavy lifting and I did a little tweaking. The floor is now open for comments. Please, when you complain about who is ranked and where, offer a reasonable suggestion as to who should be higher.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	South Florida	3
2	Ohio State	–
3	Boston College	2
4	Oklahoma	2
5	South Carolina	2
6	Kentucky	11
7	LSU	6
8	Florida	–
9	West Virginia	3
10	Southern Cal	1
11	California	8
12	Arizona State	6
13	Missouri	2
14	Oregon	1
15	Kansas	5
16	Hawaii	2
17	Auburn	4
18	Virginia Tech	5
19	Texas	5
20	Cincinnati	10
21	Maryland	1
22	Texas Tech	4
23	Tennessee	3
24	Wake Forest	2
25	Michigan	1

Standing By/Waitlisted: Penn State, Virginia, K-State and Alabama

It’s been that bad in college football that Michigan has found its way back into the top-25. I don’t know. I was poised to actually put UConn, Indiana or Boise St. in the poll, but the first two lost and BSU had a multi-OT shootout at home with Nevada this evening (that BSU did win) to kill that one.

I mean, for gods sake, Virginia is closing in on the top-25 at this point. Even as I argue against it.

Yes, I moved USF to #1. They have accomplished more this season than Ohio State, to this point.

Kentucky continues to yo-yo up and down the poll. Right now up because of beating LSU, though I expect them to plummet again if they lose to Florida this coming Saturday.

Cal takes a hard tumble. Not just for losing, but coming up so small at home against Oregon State.

USC drops another spot as they barely pulled out a weak victory rather than another embarrassing loss.

Cinci, Cinci, Cinci. You broke my wife’s heart by not taking back the Keg O’ Nails. Consolation trophy to come this week.
Oregon only gets a 1 spot bump because I’m not sold on them much longer with the injuries they had this weekend.

Really, it’s just a flippin’ mess. I hate seeing VT move that high just for beating Duke, but no one else is really showing much either. Same with Auburn, but if I’m going to guess at which great defense/crappy offense is better I’m going with Auburn.

Not a lot of changes from the draft ballot. Minor tweaks, really.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU	–
2	Ohio State	2
3	California	–
4	South Florida	1
5	Boston College	1
6	Oklahoma	4
7	South Carolina	6
8	Florida	–
9	Southern Cal	7
10	Cincinnati	6
11	Missouri	7
12	West Virginia	–
13	Wisconsin	6
14	Hawaii	–
15	Oregon	–
16	Florida State	6
17	Kentucky	6
18	Arizona State	2
19	Illinois	7
20	Kansas	5
21	Auburn	5
22	Maryland	4
23	Virginia Tech	3
24	Texas	7
25	Georgia	16

You can see the full results here and individual ballots here.

Late start. I was stuck with an unconscious infant on my lap for the first 9 minutes of action.

Adam Nettina at Pitch Right is liveblogging (1st half and 2nd half) the game as well.

Well, they are letting Bostick throw a bit, but not much downfield. The O-line is horrible (nothing new), as the undersized D-line is getting disturbingly easy penetration. Pathetic. Not sure why they have McCoys deep to take hand-offs. With the penetration by Navy’s D-line.

Pitt’s second drive is looking a lot better. Actually mixing up the run and pass creates more offense. Go figure.

Collins takes it in for the score. Lee ties the Pitt record for consecutive XPs.

7-7

A brief word about the defense’s first effort. Typical from a Rhoadsian D. The most disturbing thing was the sideline report right after Navy scored. The observation that the Pitt sideline coaches and defense coming off the field was being stunned by the speed of Navy. Oh, that was a puckering moment.

(more…)

Well, Dennis let the cat out of the bag as a blog exchange between myself and Adam Nettina of the excellent Pitch Right blog and myself regarding Wednesday night’s Navy-Pitt game. Part 1, where I answered his questions are here. Now for Part 2.

1. Can you give a reasonably simple explanation how Navy’s triple-option works and who the vital players in this offense are and what is going right when it is working? Is speed from a defense the best way to stop it, or is it something else?

Of course. Navy’s triple option is run out of the flexbone formation. It’s basically a spread formation with the inside receivers (called “A” or slotbacks) in tight about a half yard back from the line. There are other sets of the formation, but this is the most basic set. On a typical option play the quarterback will take the snap and pivot as the fullback comes forward. This is the QB-FB mesh and depending on the quarterback’s read of the defensive end, he will either hand off to the fullback on an inside run (”dive”) or the quarterback will pull the ball out and proceed up the field. That’s the first option. The second and third option comes when the quarterback makes the decision to pitch the ball or to keep it and run up the field. If everything is blocked correctly, that read is dependent on what the guy “running the ally” (usually a safety or outside linebacker) does. Keep in mind this is still a spread formation, and that Navy runs more than just the “triple option” out of different flexbone sets, including fullback options and reverse pivot option plays. And of course, there is always the threat that the quarterback can pull the ball back and throw the ball downfield, especially if the defense is “firing the corners” to try to get into the backfield in anticipation for the option. For further explanation of how the offense functions, I’ll refer your readers to fellow Navy blogger Phelix, who gives a fantastic breakdown of the anatomy of a 76-yard touchdown run on his website.

Navy’s triple option is really a team effort because it takes everyone- from the offensive lineman to the receivers to the quarterback- to make it work correctly. However, we do have some skill players that really make it fun to watch. Our quarterback, Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku Enhada, has been playing in this kind of offense since High School and has already recorded seven rushing touchdowns on the season. At the fullback position we have Eric Kettani and Adam Ballard. Ballard was the team’s leading rusher last season, but we’ve seen Kettani (6′1, 220, 4.53/40, 400 BP) hit more long runs this season and take the bulk of the carries. At slotback we have the now famous Reggie Campbell, who at 5′6 is one of the smallest players in the country. He’s a fierce blocker though who runs in the 4.3s and is so low to the ground that he’s really a nightmare for players to tackle. Zerb Singleton and Shun White, two other speedy slotbacks, also play a big role in both the run and passing game.

As far as stopping the triple option goes, speed certainly helps, but it’s all about playing disciplined. Beating the triple option is about reading your keys, reacting quickly, and either beating or shedding the block to get to the ballcarrier. Navy has played some very big and athletic defenses over the past five years, but the ones that do the best are the most disciplined. It also helps to have extra time to prepare for the offense, and to have personnel who have played against it in the past.

2. It seems after some early struggles, the offense has really started to click. Is it the players more comfortable in it after a few games, or were there changes made?

I think a lot has to do with guys just getting up to speed as the season goes along. This is something we see every year, and if anything we’ve seen the offensive come together earlier this season because of the experience. I’m sure Paul Johnson has made some adjustments as far as personnel packages go, but mostly the adjustments we see the offense make come during the game. Everything else is fundamentally the same.

3. 43 points to Duke? Really? What happened? What are the weaknesses/exploitable aspects of the defense?

To put it bluntly, everything. Navy had a very inexperienced defense coming into the year that got a whole lot more inexperienced very quickly, as junior linebacker Clint Sovie and Free Safety Jeff Deliz (defensive captain) were lost for the season against Rutgers. This was a huge loss because Clint was the guy who lined everyone up, and to tell you the truth the coaching staff didn’t have anyone to turn to who could line up the defense correctly. Navy basically lost the Ball State game because guys were covering the wrong gap assignments and, as Paul Johnson put it, were playing “streetball.” Defensive coordinator Buddy Green has simplified some things to make it easier since then, but the adjustments are putting strains on what our personnel can accomplish. A great example of this is in the secondary, where cornerbacks have been forced to play man coverage. Rashawn King, the left corner, is actually one of the better corners at the Naval Academy in some time, but the right cornerback spot has been a revolving door all year, with nether Darius Terry nor Greg Thrasher able to prevent the big play. Blake Carter, who is solid in run support, will get the start against Pitt, but he hasn’t been tested in coverage. The defensive line is also an area of great concern, as the defensive ends have failed to keep containment while getting pressure on the quarterback has been almost nonexistent, with only three sacks in five games. But more than anything else, Navy’s defense is just not playing smart, fundamental football. Tackling is an issue, playing in space is something we don’t do well, and stopping other teams on third down (allowing a conversion rate of over 50%) is a constant problem. Navy has never been lights out on defense under Coach Green, but because of the youth and the injuries this year the defense has played especially poor. Even though Pitt’s offense is banged up at key positions, they shouldn’t have too much trouble moving the football. The real question will be whether Navy can come up with stops in the red zone, which is what the defense was able to do against Air Force.

4. Paul Johnson has been phenomenal for Navy, so naturally his name comes up for the annual coaching carousel. Is he really going anywhere? Is there a school you think he is holding out for the particular opening?

For the time being, no. He signed a contract extension last year and he is in a very good situation here, making top dollar and also getting an amazing amount of support for what he does. As far as the long term goes, I’m about as clueless as most people. If the right offer comes around I’m sure he’ll take it, but true to form he’s never actually defined what the “right offer” means. He’s a Carolina native so he may be somewhat interested in those positions, but fortunately for us they’ve all been addressed in recent years. He’s got a good thing at the Naval Academy, and quite frankly doesn’t have any reason to leave unless he’s intent on proving that his offense works at the BCS level, which he may or not be.

5. Way before the season, the Poinsettia Bowl all but guaranteed a bowl bid for Navy if they get bowl eligible. People eyeballed the schedule and suggested it was a virtual guarantee that Navy would get to at least 7 win to take all the guess work out of it. How vital is beating Pitt getting the needed number of wins at this point?

I don’t know if we can really tell at this point, but I will give you the standard line of any win helps. The rest of the schedule is, by conventional standards at least, very manageable. North Texas and Northern Illinois are two of the worst teams in the country, while Delaware is an FCS team and Army is, well, Army. That being said, look at the last two weeks of college football and tell me if anyone is “guaranteed” anything. Navy may need to win this game for no other reason that nothing is assured, even against teams like North Texas and Northern Illinois. Beating a team like Pitt out of the BCS conference would be a huge accomplishment for the program, and give the Midshipmen momentum rolling into the “tougher” portion of the schedule with Wake Forest and Notre Dame looming.

6. How do you see the Wednesday night game playing out? Your predictions?

Well, it sure won’t be decided by halftime. Navy’s defense is going to keep other teams in games this year, that’s almost a given, while Navy’s offense probably has the experience and personnel to score on most teams. I think Navy will squeak this one out, if for no other reason that team’s traditionally struggle defensively when they have never played this kind of offense in the past. Had Pitt been fully healthy and had it’s offensive line been in order, I think the Panthers would win this game by two touchdowns, but considering just how beat up they are right now I think Navy will be able to get one or two big stops defensively to seal the game. I’m a little shaky on this, but let’s say 34-31 Navy.

Thanks again to Adam for doing this. Adam will be liveblogging the Wednesday night game  — as will I — so multiple online locations to take different perspectives. I also recommend you take a look at The Birddog, another Navy-centric blog, as Phelix has his look at Pitt.

Another crazy weekend of action. This is just the rough draft. Hard, hard ballot. Lots of teams that did and even a couple deserving to fall out. Problem, what team to put in there instead.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU	–
2	Ohio State	2
3	California	–
4	South Florida	1
5	Boston College	1
6	Oklahoma	4
7	South Carolina	6
8	Florida	–
9	Southern Cal	7
10	Cincinnati	6
11	Missouri	7
12	West Virginia	–
13	Wisconsin	6
14	Hawaii	–
15	Oregon	–
16	Florida State	6
17	Kentucky	6
18	Arizona State	2
19	Kansas	6
20	Illinois	6
21	Auburn	5
22	Maryland	4
23	Virginia Tech	3
24	Georgia	15
25	Texas	8

Standing By/Wait-listed: Colorado, UConn, Boise St., Indiana, Tennessee
Dennis offered his thoughts on his initial rankings that I tweaked for the draft ballot. Comments from me are in italics.

(more…)

Okay, a bit more tweaking from the initial draft. Thanks as always to Dennis for starting it and everyone who offered thoughts on it.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU	1
2	Southern Cal	1
3	California	3
4	Ohio State	5
5	South Florida	8
6	Boston College	4
7	Wisconsin	4
8	Florida	4
9	Georgia	3
10	Oklahoma	7
11	Kentucky	6
12	West Virginia	7
13	South Carolina	6
14	Hawaii	2
15	Oregon	1
16	Cincinnati	5
17	Texas	10
18	Missouri	–
19	Rutgers	11
20	Arizona State	3
21	Nebraska	1
22	Florida State	4
23	Miami (Florida)	1
24	Purdue	2
25	Kansas	1

Most of the tweaking came in the second half of the ballot.

Virginia Tech was always shaky and the more I thought about what I saw in the UNC game, the less comfortable I was with keeping them in it. Kansas takes the spot instead. They may not have actually beaten anyone either, but at least they are doing it with a comfortable margin.

Texas and Rutgers ended up taking a bigger tumble the more I thought it through. Oregon less of one.

I gave South Carolina more of a boost, but no they are still behind Georgia.

The full Blogpoll is here and as always, you can look here for individual ballots.

Okay, after LSU and USC everybody sucks. Or is at least so severely flawed that you just can’t count on them.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU	1
2	Southern Cal	1
3	California	3
4	Ohio State	5
5	South Florida	8
6	Boston College	4
7	Wisconsin	4
8	Florida	4
9	Georgia	3
10	Oklahoma	7
11	Kentucky	6
12	West Virginia	7
13	Hawaii	3
14	South Carolina	5
15	Texas	8
16	Rutgers	8
17	Missouri	1
18	Cincinnati	3
19	Oregon	5
20	Arizona State	3
21	Nebraska	1
22	Miami (Florida)	2
23	Virginia Tech	2
24	Purdue	2
25	Florida State	1

Standing by/Wait Listed: Hell if I know anymore.

LSU is just too impressive. I finally had to flip them with USC. USC has struggled with Washington, but LSU hasn’t slipped yet.

Purdue didn’t really deserve to move into the rankings after that performance against ND, but someone had to go in at #25.

Florida and Oklahoma had off games as much as anything else. Things just seemed freaky in those.

Wisconsin is winning but is continually shaky doing so. When they finally lose, expect everyone to plummet them with their votes. Right now, though, there’s no one else to really put in front of them.

South Carolina struggled until late against Miss. St. yet moved up way too much. I’ll have to adjust that. I don’t care that they beat Georgia head-to-head. I see no reason to move them ahead of the Bulldogs at this point.

If the upper-teams keep losing, then Hawaii might actually creep into the BCS poll.