I'm not sure what was going on with Kurt Benkert, but I don't know that I've seen a college QB miss so many open receivers. I don't know that it would have mattered given how easily Navy moved the ball all game, but UVA had some chances early to keep up. Perhaps if they had hit on a couple of them, it would have been a different game.
For some strange reason, I had a feeling Navy would grind up UVA after the opening kickoff. Obviously didn't quite expect a 49-0 shutout.
Probably the best we've had so far this bowl season when you consider the close score and the talent on display.
We've got the Dave South Bowl coming up @ noon with the Aggies vs Wake Forest. I am taking Dave and the points. This will be Dave's last broadcast for the fighting Texas Aggies, for over 30 yrs Dave has been forgetting opposing players names and calling it through a maroon colored lens...
Not to mention seemingly never telling listeners the score. Like many, I have mixed feelings on Dave South. His style could be grating, particularly to those, like me, who aren't A&M fans or alums, but with that said, as the child of two A&M grads (or former students, I should say), I do have lots of memories of listening to Dave South calling A&M football in the car with my parents on Saturday drives here or there.
So I've kind of been ducking in and out of the game today. Did A&M just not bother to bring a defense today or...?
NC State's ability to perpetually be nothing more or less than pretty good every single year is incredible. I've heard things along those lines mentioned on some of the college football podcasts I listen to weekly, but after going back and looking some of the numbers up myself, I'm astounded. In their entire history as a program, they've had one (ONE!) ten-win season. That was in 2002, when they had Phillip Rivers at QB. That blows my mind, especially in today's college football, where all you need is a 9-3 regular season to get a shot at ten wins. It would be one thing if they were one of those perpetually downtrodden programs, but they're not. They've also rarely ever been bad. Going back to 1960, they've never lost fewer than three games in a season, which was even more impressive in the days when teams were routinely playing as few as nine regular season games. They've just never really bottomed out. This phenomenon is best encapsulated by the recent Chuck Amato, Tom O'Brien, Dave Doeren era, which dates back to 2000, where the program has only had two seasons worse than 5-7 and two seasons better than 8-4.
Good riddance to those shitty coaches... Spoiler GTFO John Chavis. Good luck at Arkansas. GTFO Noel Mazzone. 3rd and inches at the GL and you run out of shotgun. Just get out. Leave now. Bye. Good riddance.
It hasn't gone their way so far, but this seems like a big game for Clay Helton and USC. The knock since the end of the Pete Carroll glory days has been that they have talent and they look impressive when they win games in October and November, but they always seem to drop a stinker early in the season and they don't really win big games of national import anymore. If they end up losing this one to Ohio State relatively routinely, this season would follow the script to the letter. Came into the season with national title aspirations, fell out of the discussion early with a loss to Washington State, had a stinker against Notre Dame when they had a chance to get back into the discussion with a win in that game, played really well down the stretch to maybe convince people that they had turned a corner, only to not be particularly competitive against Ohio State.
I just about fell out of my chair when I heard the announcer say that USC OC Tee Martin mentioned that they were going to play faster than Ohio State had seen this year. They've played the entire fourth quarter as if it's a tie game midway through the third. Zero sense of urgency. I guess, like me, they were lulled to sleep by how atrocious this game has been.
If I'm Sam Darnold, there's a 0.0% chance I'm coming back for another season. He's shown the skills needed to entice NFL scouts. When he has time, he drops dimes into tight coverages, and based on the way his teammates talk about him and act around him, he sure seems to have those vague "intangibles" coaches like. His problem in this game, and often when he has struggled, is that USC just couldn't seem to deal with physicality up front. Does he force some stuff? Sure, but I would to if I was sick of getting hit and had no time to go through my progression. I'm just not sure he has that much more to prove, and while I'm no expert on USC's depth chart situation, I've not heard early buzz about them being decidedly better in 2018 like you often hear with teams that have a lot of talent returning.
I expected Ohio State to beat USC. We all know OSU's D-line is great but USC should be ashamed. Not sure exactly how many pressures/hits/sacks they had on Darnold but that was ridiculous. Without the fumbled punt, probably would have been a shutout. Talk about laying an egg. Darnold is gone. He has the tools and athleticism to be successful at the next level, but I'm not sure he would be any better next year in college. IMO, the guy has a very high bust potential.
