Yardbarker: Jonathan Crompton

Week 13 College Football Observations

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 12:48:17 -0500

It has been a while since I've been free on a Saturday and able to make my weekly college football observations. I've only had like two days off in the last 3 1/2 weeks, so needless to say, I haven't had an overabundance of free time.

This week, I tried to make some observations, but I also had ...

Fulmer, Vols Reach New Low Against Wyoming

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:32:22 -0500

Just five days after Tennessee head coach Phil Fulmer tearfully announced his resignation effective at the end of the season, one might imagine things couldn't get any worse for the Volunteers. Saturday afternoon in Knoxville, things got a lot worse.

Volunteers Go From Bad To Really Bad

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:24:38 -0500

The Tennessee Volunteers got embarrassed in Columbia Saturday night against South Carolina, losing 27-6 in what has become the Vols' usual inept fashion.

College Football Punchlines: Colt McCoy is a S.I. Cover Boy

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:07:30 -0500

Washington offensive coordinator Tom Lappano said yesterday that it would be unlikely that Jake Locker would play at all again this season. (Seattle Times)

Did you know the last time Penn State beat Michigan was in 1996? One would figure this is the year that streak comes to an end. (Post Gazette)

Injuries are becoming a big problem down in Baton Rouge. (Times Picayune)

Judging by the numbers the Rutgers offense has put up it is probably time for Mike Teel to be replaced. (Star Ledger)

Tennessee might have found a positive to build upon in redshirt frosh QB Nick Stephens, who replaced former starter Jonathan Crompton 2 games ago. (Tennessean)

A look at Tim Tebow's passing TD numbers as compared to some other SEC signal callers from the past. (Miami Herald)

Miami RB Javarris James will return from injury this week vs Duke. (Miami Herald)

Missouri's Chase Coffman looks as though he will be a Dallas Clark hybrid and a pro for a very long time. (KC Star)

The Michigan AD is standing behind Rich Rodriguez. (Detroit Free Press)

Ohio State defensive end Lawrence Wilson is out for the season with a torn ACL. (Plain Dealer)

Illinois backup QB Eddie McGee was released from jail after he allegedly pushed down a girl on a dance floor late Saturday night. (Chicago Trib)

Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe says he would not be interested in the Clemson job. (News and Observer)

Grobe may bot be interested but will Texas' d-coordinator Will Muschamp listen to an offer from Clemson? (Austin Statesman)

Colt McCoy is a S.I. cover boy. (Austin Statesman)

Bizarro College Football Season Returns For An Encore

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:28:25 -0500

If you really need any more proof of the parity invading the college football landscape being a more permanent thing rather than a one-year aberration, please see the results from this week, where three of the top five teams got knocked off their perches today.

Texas knocks off Oklahoma, 45-35: The Red River Shootout (I'm not calling it the Rivalry) lived up to the billing: Sam Bradford led Oklahoma into position early with the hurry-up offense, but he threw a couple picks, and Colt McCoy led the parade as Texas locked it down with a great fourth quarter, particularly Chris Ogbonnaya, who broke off a 60-yard run on his way to 127 yards on the day.

Oklahoma State takes Mizzou down: Who knew the Cowboys had a defense? We were expecting a shootout in the range of both teams scoring in the 40s, but what we wound up was a 28-23 final score in which the Cowboys' D threw Chase Daniel's rhythm off at crucial points with its ferocity, forcing him into three picks on the day, two of them late and on crucial drives. You may turn in your Heisman candidate card here, sir.

The Swamp engulfs LSU: Les Miles' crew looked kind of listless going into Gainesville, and the Gators made them pay for it. Tim Tebow hit Percy Harvin early and often, and got assistance on the ground from both Will Demps and Chris Rainey. LSU made it close by getting to 20-14 in the third, but the Gators picked Jarrett Lee a couple times and held the LSU rushing game to not much. Final score: 51-21.

Other games of note:

If you missed the Nebraska-Texas Tech tilt and it was on your Fox Sports stations, shame on you. It wasn't a runaway, as Nebraska showed some offensive firepower behind Joe Ganz and took the Red Raiders to overtime. Tech scored first and then picked off Ganz to end it.
Penn State destroys Wisconsin at Camp Randall, going exponential on the Badgers by a score of 49-7. Wisky, originally a dark horse favorite in Big Televen circles, is 0-3 in the conference while the Nittany Lions will likely be at 3 or 4 in the AP poll come Monday.
UNC stops all that talk about Notre Dame being in top 25 polls, using their third-string QB in Cam Sexton, one wideout, and a ferocious D that got turnovers even as the Irish topped the Tar Heels in yardage.
Ohio State beat Purdue without scoring an offensive touchdown, which doesn't bode well for future games.
This Day In Schadenfreude: Watching Michigan lose to a MAC team for the first time via a missed field goal at the last second. Toledo is now a 2-4 MAC team. Obviously, it looks bad for Rich Rodriguez, as no one on that team seems able to run his system.
USC shuts out Arizona State 28-0, thus sending ASU further down the abyss and equally frustrating fans still dealing with the fact that this is a team that lost to Oregon State again. (It doesn't help that the Pac-10 continues to be a sea of mediocrity; please see Arizona losing to Stanford to prove the point.)
I guess firing Tony Franklin wasn't the solution Tommy Tuberville had hoped for. Arkansas held on 25-22 over Auburn, thanks to the Tigers' crapulent offense and dual-quarterback system throwing three picks and completing fewer than half of its passes.
Georgia takes care of the Vols 26-14, but if there's any encouragement for beleaguered Tennessee fans, it's that Nick Stephens looks a damn sight better at QB than Jonathan Crompton ever did. His 207 yards and 2 TDs were good, but it would have helped if Tennessee could have established a running game -- they had a sorry 1 yard of rushing on the day thanks to Georgia's D.
The Nerd Alert returns to semi-normal in the sport: Vanderbilt got Croomed by Mississippi State, as the Bulldogs held the Commodores to not much more than 100 yards of total offense. Michigan State rammed Javon Ringer down Northwestern's collective gullet in Evanston to hand them their first loss.

Big Orange Roundtable: Revived Edition

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:08:16 -0500

It's Baaaaaaaaaacckkkkkk!! As a result of the disappointing 2-3 start for our beloved Vols, the Roundtable for a week (and longer here ate Gate 21) sort of died, much like our hopes for a great season. While our hopes are slim none, the Roundtable treads on, thanks to CincyVol over at 3SIB, who offers up a trio [...]

SEC Power Poll Ballot: Week 6

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:14:50 -0500

Check out the Full Poll Results at Garnet and Black Attack or SEC Power Poll.com Week 6 Well, as HSH mentioned yesterday, I am swamped and am going to be fairly scarce for the next few weeks as I will be in trial (I know, I hate lawyers tooa??) for most of October.A Be that as it [...]

Changing QB's Doesn't Help Vols Offense

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 02:10:56 -0500

The Vols lackluster 13-9 win against a very average Northern Illinois team is a portent of things to come. Tennessee generated 225 yards of total offense and nine first downs against a team that didn't have anywhere near the talent or depth of the Vols.

Will Northern Illinois be a Lesson in Leadership?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:32:02 -0500

Running a little behind, still hacking up a lung and sputtering, but moving purposefullya?? As I mentioned earlier, the Northern Illinois game will be a watershed event.A That is especially true considering the news coming from the football program today.A Contrary to what most fans and prognosticators may have believed pre-season, this weekend's game may be [...]

On Remote: Slim Pickingsa??

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:11:06 -0500

And Last Week Was So Good Tooa?? Last week had everything that makes college football great: big-time matchups, conference rivalry games, upsets, and close games. As we enter the first week in October (already?!?), things slow down a bit before a big weekend next Saturday. Simply put, when ESPN's College GameDay is heading to Nashville, you know [...]

Fulmer's House Vandalized

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:58:56 -0500

Police are investigating an early Sunday morning vandalism incident in the Blount County subdivision where University of Tennessee Coach Phil Fulmer resides.

Crompton Quote Machine, Fulmer's Buyout

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:41:00 -0500

Vols' quarterback Jonathan Crompton has become the Knoxville media's go to guy. As per the details of Fulmer's contract his total buyout would be $6 million.

College Football Punchlines: USC Remains in the Top 10 of Both Polls

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 21:42:55 -0500

Cal RB Jahvid Best will miss at least one game with a dislocated left elbow. (San Fran Chronicle)

Cannot wait to hear Urban Meyer's response to FSU being so happy that UF was upset by Ole Miss on Saturday. (Orlando Sentinel)

Finally, Phil Fulmer will have backup Nick Stevens share snaps with Jonathan Crompton at practice this week and give him a chance to compete for the starting job. (Tennessean)

Is anyone else surprised that USC remained in the Top 10 of both polls after losing on Thursday? (L.A. Times)

After losing their starting tight end for the season last week Texas lost their fullback Luke Tiemann for the season with a torn ACL on Saturday as well. (Houston Chronicle)

The Big 12 has 4 teams in the top 7 of the polls. (Dallas Morning News)

Terrelle Pryor has impressed thus far in his short time as the starter for the Buckeyes. (Columbus Dispatch)

The QB situation at Cincinnati is an absolute mess. (Cincy Enquirer)

Knowshon Moreno could miss the Tennessee game with an elbow injury. (AJC)

49 College Football Observations from Week 5

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:16:46 -0500

There were some big time college football matchups this weekend, as well as some huge upsets, and I tried to watch them all. As I was watching, I made observations on the teams and players. All told, 49 observations covering 10 games, including USC/Oregon State, Florida/Ole Miss, Georgia/Alabama, and more.

Vols Suffer Another Embarrassing Loss

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:26:20 -0500

In what may have been the worst offensive performance by a Volunteer team in over 20 years, Auburn held on to defeat Tennessee 14-12 Saturday in a game dominated by the defenses.