The U.S. Women's Soccer Team is playing Sweden right now, pitting #1 vs #3. No, I don't mean their FIFA rankings (Sweden is #4, I believe). As you ought to know, Abby Wambach is #1 on the Scotty Williams Big Board. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden is #3 (or Kronprinsessan, for you Swedes out there). The higher ranking and American citizenship give Abby a huge advantage.
She's used that advantage to score two goals so far. The first was on a penalty kick, the second on a nice play where she settled a beautiful pass from Kristine Lilly off her chest and nailed it into the left side of the net. That's 80 goals in 98 international games for her.
I haven't talked about LSU football in a while, so let's see how they're doing...
...oh my.
They appear to be doing quite well. Opponents have been outscored 93-7. They rolled up almost 600 yards of offense against Virginia Tech and forced seven turnovers against Mississippi State. Let's go over the players drafted in the first round that they had to replace:
JaMarcus Russell, QB: Matt Flynn has done very well. He hasn't turned the ball over at all, been fairly accurate on his passes, and run well when asked. Ryan Perrilloux has looked pretty good when given the chance to play. Gary Crowton's offense suits his talents well.
LaRon Landry, FS: I believe that Curtis Taylor is officially his replacement, and he's played well, though I can't say he's been challenged or picked on to any real extent. He looks like a good athlete, and he's got a sack and an interception through two games. Craig Steltz has assumed the leadership role in the secondary, and done very well. Four INTs so far for Steltz.
Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis, WR: Early Doucet has done a good job being the #1 guy and drawing attention from the defense. The question was who would play opposite of him, and Branden LaFell came out with a huge game against Virginia Tech. Terrance Toliver had a good catch to extend a drive in the first game and a nice TD catch in the second. He looks like he's got a bright future in front of him.
The defense has played very well, as expected. Eight starters are back from last year's defense, which was third in yards allowed. Every starter is either a junior or senior. They're strong, fast, disciplined, smart, deep, and a bunch of other things. Dominance was predicted and they have delivered.
The biggest surprise of the first two games has been the offensive performance against VT. The offensive line looked outmatched against Mississippi State, and the offense as a whole didn't click early on until late. There was no struggle against Virginia Tech. The backs had holes to run through and Flynn had time to find his receivers. Jacob Hester is playing better than he ever has. Keiland Williams is on the verge of becoming known across the country as a playmaker. His "leap over a blocker, break a tackle, cut across the field and outrace the secondary" for a 67-yard touchdown was a thing of beauty. Charles Scott has shown a bit of shiftiness and versatility that surprises me a little. He caught a pass for a touchdown against MSU and a third-down pass for a first down against VT. He's more than just a bruiser. Those are the top three, but Trindon Holliday and Richard Murphy have done well when given the chance.
So far the Tigers look like a complete team that is going to be tough to beat and is a favorite in the SEC West and SEC overall. I'll hold off on anything BCS-wise until after Florida.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Football
I thought about this yesterday: both my football teams opened the season on a Thursday night: LSU against Mississippi State on 8/30, Saints against Colts on 9/6. Their results were a little different.
LSU forced seven turnovers and pitched a shutout, 45-0. The Saints got outscored 31-0 in the second half and lost 41-10. It's a good thing they don't play the Colts every weekend, or I'd be worried. More on LSU:
The game against Virginia Tech was probably the most highly anticipated game of the first two weeks. Non-conference game, with #2 vs. #9. Tech had a good defense and great special teams. LSU fans were concerned about the simplified offense shown against MSU and the "punt ugly" formation that drives people up the wall. It seemed almost guaranteed that VT would block one or two punts. The offensive line didn't seem good enough to allow the rest of the offense to shine. Most of Matt Flynn's completions went to a single receiver, Early Doucet. So there were questions.
Questions answered.
Some scouts had given VT the advantage at several positions, but none of them would pick them to win, and I think there are two main reasons. One is Tiger Stadium. Two is that LSU's linebackers don't play against VT's linebackers, so position A vs. position A matchups don't mean anything. The biggest mismatch in the game was up front between the LSU defensive line and the VT offensive line. No room for Branden Ore to run, no time for Sean Glennon to throw. Unless VT's defense was dominant and kept the game close and low-scoring, they couldn't expect to win.
They couldn't.
LSU's defense played just as well as expected. 149 total yards, 7 points, 2-14 on third down. It was the offense that really surprised people. Looking sluggish against MSU, a lot of people thought it was being held back in order to keep VT from being able to scout it. Les Miles downplayed that, saying they weren't going to unveil a new "wantango" offense against VT. If Saturday's performance is what we can expect, then I say "Unleash the Wantango!"
Nearly 600 yards of offense, almost 50-50 rushing and passing. Everybody on the field played very well. The offensive line played its best regular-season game in years. Matt Flynn hit Brandon LaFell with some big passes. LaFell took advantage of the attention paid to Early Doucet and had his best game as a Tiger.
Keiland Williams looked like he's becoming a breakout player with national recognition. He took a pitch from Flynn, leaped over a blocker, broke a tackle, and cut across the entire length of the field for a 67-yard touchdown. Later on he took a simple handoff around right end, cut upfield, accelerated, came back left a little and scored a 32-yard touchdown. Great plays.
Jacob Hester has steadily become a better player each year, and he looks great through two games. He doesn't seem to be as much of a receiver in the Wantango, but he's running tough and breaking tackles.
I had figured Charles Scott to be a bruiser, but he's shown some good moves and shiftiness that I didn't expect.
Early Doucet had a good game against MSU and good catches for first downs against VT. They have him returning punts as well. Check that. They have him catching punts. I don't think he tried to return any, which is fine with me.
Ryan Perrilloux has seen time as a backup in both games and looked pretty good. This offense looks like a really good fit for him. He had two touchdown passes: a good fake on a run that left Early wide open, and a really nice pass to Terrance Toliver in the end zone in the 4th quarter.
You could have argued that VT's defense matched up well against LSU's offense in two areas: linebackers versus running backs and secondary versus receivers. Neither of those things were true.
Virginia Tech had allowed the fewest yards on defense the last two years, giving them the #1 statistical defense in the country. I don't usually go for the "conference vs. conference" nonsense that goes around because I think usually ends up sounding silly. But looking at Virginia Tech's schedule last year, they played against ONE good quarterback, BC's Matt Ryan. ACC QBs stunk last year, and I have to believe that that's one reason for their lofty ranking. Not the only reason, but a real reason.
LSU's picked up some ground in the writers' and coaches' polls, though not enough to overtake USC. A few sites and individuals are arguing for LSU #1 based on performance on the field so far. There's a long way to go.
LSU forced seven turnovers and pitched a shutout, 45-0. The Saints got outscored 31-0 in the second half and lost 41-10. It's a good thing they don't play the Colts every weekend, or I'd be worried. More on LSU:
The game against Virginia Tech was probably the most highly anticipated game of the first two weeks. Non-conference game, with #2 vs. #9. Tech had a good defense and great special teams. LSU fans were concerned about the simplified offense shown against MSU and the "punt ugly" formation that drives people up the wall. It seemed almost guaranteed that VT would block one or two punts. The offensive line didn't seem good enough to allow the rest of the offense to shine. Most of Matt Flynn's completions went to a single receiver, Early Doucet. So there were questions.
Questions answered.
Some scouts had given VT the advantage at several positions, but none of them would pick them to win, and I think there are two main reasons. One is Tiger Stadium. Two is that LSU's linebackers don't play against VT's linebackers, so position A vs. position A matchups don't mean anything. The biggest mismatch in the game was up front between the LSU defensive line and the VT offensive line. No room for Branden Ore to run, no time for Sean Glennon to throw. Unless VT's defense was dominant and kept the game close and low-scoring, they couldn't expect to win.
They couldn't.
LSU's defense played just as well as expected. 149 total yards, 7 points, 2-14 on third down. It was the offense that really surprised people. Looking sluggish against MSU, a lot of people thought it was being held back in order to keep VT from being able to scout it. Les Miles downplayed that, saying they weren't going to unveil a new "wantango" offense against VT. If Saturday's performance is what we can expect, then I say "Unleash the Wantango!"
Nearly 600 yards of offense, almost 50-50 rushing and passing. Everybody on the field played very well. The offensive line played its best regular-season game in years. Matt Flynn hit Brandon LaFell with some big passes. LaFell took advantage of the attention paid to Early Doucet and had his best game as a Tiger.
Keiland Williams looked like he's becoming a breakout player with national recognition. He took a pitch from Flynn, leaped over a blocker, broke a tackle, and cut across the entire length of the field for a 67-yard touchdown. Later on he took a simple handoff around right end, cut upfield, accelerated, came back left a little and scored a 32-yard touchdown. Great plays.
Jacob Hester has steadily become a better player each year, and he looks great through two games. He doesn't seem to be as much of a receiver in the Wantango, but he's running tough and breaking tackles.
I had figured Charles Scott to be a bruiser, but he's shown some good moves and shiftiness that I didn't expect.
Early Doucet had a good game against MSU and good catches for first downs against VT. They have him returning punts as well. Check that. They have him catching punts. I don't think he tried to return any, which is fine with me.
Ryan Perrilloux has seen time as a backup in both games and looked pretty good. This offense looks like a really good fit for him. He had two touchdown passes: a good fake on a run that left Early wide open, and a really nice pass to Terrance Toliver in the end zone in the 4th quarter.
You could have argued that VT's defense matched up well against LSU's offense in two areas: linebackers versus running backs and secondary versus receivers. Neither of those things were true.
Virginia Tech had allowed the fewest yards on defense the last two years, giving them the #1 statistical defense in the country. I don't usually go for the "conference vs. conference" nonsense that goes around because I think usually ends up sounding silly. But looking at Virginia Tech's schedule last year, they played against ONE good quarterback, BC's Matt Ryan. ACC QBs stunk last year, and I have to believe that that's one reason for their lofty ranking. Not the only reason, but a real reason.
LSU's picked up some ground in the writers' and coaches' polls, though not enough to overtake USC. A few sites and individuals are arguing for LSU #1 based on performance on the field so far. There's a long way to go.
Ahh, Wambach
I can't tell you how good it feels to get up at 5am to watch the U.S. women play their first game of the 2007 Women's World Cup in China. A couple of notable stats they've mentioned so far:
-- Wambach scores about 45% of her goals with her head
-- The U.S. is 51-0-7 when Wambach starts a game. They have never lost.
The U.S. are the favorites and the top-ranked team in the world. The Group they drew includes Sweden (3rd) and North Korea (4th). Throw in a really rough Nigeria, and it's no picnic.
So far the team looks a little slow and disorganized, but that may be the rain. The Koreans are also playing well, so give them credit.
-- Wambach scores about 45% of her goals with her head
-- The U.S. is 51-0-7 when Wambach starts a game. They have never lost.
The U.S. are the favorites and the top-ranked team in the world. The Group they drew includes Sweden (3rd) and North Korea (4th). Throw in a really rough Nigeria, and it's no picnic.
So far the team looks a little slow and disorganized, but that may be the rain. The Koreans are also playing well, so give them credit.
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