Bits and Pieces, Week 1

Everyone's favorite pool heel is 4-0 going into Monday's game with Boise State and Virginia Tech.

Yay for me and yay for Les Miles, what other coach could so nearly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like the hatted one? Oh, that would be Houston Nutt, who really did snatch a stinging loss out of the sweet hand of Lady Victory.

Good job Houston, keep that up and you'll be something and something.

The yahoos, cretins and mouth breathers on Hogville and the rest of that ilk must have been throwing a party. Arkansas won and Ole Miss lost a stunner to a Division I-AA team on Saturday night.

They'll easily ignore the warning signs for the gigantic bubble of expectations popping for the Piggies and sooner rather than later.

The offense had trouble getting started. The defense, especially the secondary, looked suspect against Tennessee Tech. What does anyone think will happen when future NFL stars like Georgia's Green* and 'Bama's Juuulio going streaking by?

I know but I'm not telling.

That isn't all.

Special teams were a mess. A senior kicker, you know the one, named as the best Razorback kicker of the decade by the state-wide daily and he's no longer a starter. The same guy who won the Liberty Bowl on the strength of his leg. Yet, yanked, for a freshman.

A starting defensive tackle from last season. You know, one of Arkansas's weaknesses, was demoted to the scout team and wasn't dressed out for the game. Really?

It isn't Petrino's style to answer questions but something is odd on the Hill.

I can see for Miles and Miles
Will LSU be the first team in recent history to beat a higher-ranked opponent and still drop in the polls? They won't but they should. LSU stunk it up against North Carolina. The same Tar Heels team that was missing something like one billion starters. This number may not entirely be accurate but it was a bunch and North Carolina was more than competitive.

The code
"Man's gotta live by a code" is a line from The Wire, one of the greatest TV shows ever. And one wonders if Houston Nutt hasn't adopted it as a lifestyle.

You see, coaches don't like to embarrass other coaches. And it seemed like Nutt didn't want to show up his old boss, Jack Crowe.

So when the Rebs had it hand at the half, Nutt turned the team off and went through the motions and rather than adding a couple more touchdowns and putting the game out of reach. Nutt didn't do that. If he had, well maybe Jeremiah Masoli could have worked out the kinks and Ole Miss would have been in better shape the rest of the way.

Nope, instead it was Ole Miss's turn for the season's annual upset of a Division I team by a I-AA.

The SEC of myth
The SEC is considered college football's power conference by default. No other league has stepped up and even if the Pac-10 tried, nobody would care.

But let's take a hard look at the weekend. Florida and LSU looked bad while Ole Miss lost. That isn't a recipe for Best. League. Ever.

Shameless plug
Go buy a Lindy's College Basketball annual. On sale now at all your finest Wal-Marts. Be sitting down when you read the preview of Murray State as you bask in its powerful prose. It is truly a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.



* Assuming Green is cleared to play by the Arkansas game.