SATURDAY TAILGATE - HOUSTON

AoG WEEK IN REVIEW

Because I am a lazy bones, I didn't do a tailgate last week.  I am also now conflicted as to whether I should be writing one at all this week given MASON GOT HIS FIRST SEC WIN LAST WEEK.

Granted, it was Missouri.  It was possibly an uglier win than MTSU was even. The fact is, however, we won, and against maybe the only defense in the conference better than us.  That's right, I said it - the two worst teams in the Conference have the best defenses.  It just goes to show that OFFENSE wins games, (though defense does win championships).  Ralph Webb and Darius Sims both helped on the ground to really take pressure off the passing game, which was a tremendous help.  The big news though was Kyle Shurmur's redshirt was burned, starting and being responsible for our only touchdown.  This has caused some to question - Has the Kyle Shurmur era begun in Nashville?

For the time being it doesn't look like it.  Mason in his presser after the game and during the week has commented that we're going to run a two QB system.  They are entirely different QBs and I'd be interested to see if it can work.  At this point, anything is worth a shot to give the offense a boost.  Still, there is something to be said about just giving Kyle the reps and looking towards the future.  I do agree with Mason though that it seemed like running a two QB system helped both be successful.  Now it's one data point, and if we beat Houston with it, well, I guess we'll all be singing it's praises.

It's just a very precarious situation.  I do tend to agree with the statement, "got two QBs got none".  Reps are important, and so is rhythm - most two quarterback offense experiments fail because they can't get into a rhythm.  On top of that, it tends to be predictable as you'll have one that's a run threat and one that's a pass threat.  So the defense can load/unload the box depending on who's behind center.  If we're going to do this, we're going to need both QBs be able to threaten in similar ways.

Braden Kopp committed to us this week, which is a pretty solid pickup.  At 6'6" 285, Kopp is big but not really big enough yet (in my opinion).  We're gonna have to get him to put on at least another 20 pounds or so.  He's still a solid pickup for a line that needs a lot of help.

In non-football talk, we had two points.  Tom continues his hoops preview by giving us a look into Arkansas, and Jenn asks the question that needs to be asked - what is going on with David Price in the big games?

AROUND THE LEAGUE

• Southern Cal 42 - #3 Utah 24. As much as I despise the very idea of Southern Cal fans being happy, I have to give credit where credit is due. USC owned Utah so bad that LB Gionni Paul was quoted as saying, "I forgot what it feels like to lose. I'm so used to winning. It's a bad feeling. A lot of guys in the locker room didn't like that, so I don't think we are going to lose anymore."
• #6 Clemson 58 - Miami 0. Ok, shutouts are rare in football as it is. It's downright hilarious when it happens to Miami. It was the worst loss in Miami history. More hilarious is Dabo Sweeny didn't go into the locker room right away at the half and gave a speech right on the field to his team. Mostly about not letting Miami coerce them into playing dirty football.
• Arkansas 54 - Auburn 46. It took Arkansas four overtimes to beat Auburn. That's simultaneously a show of their toughness and their incompetence.

Other news:

• Minnesota HC Jerry Kill has combated the effects of epilepsy since a seizure in 2005. This last week, Kill retired as a result of said epilepsy.
• Aggie is starting a true Freshman QB this week. So we're not the only one with QB woes.
• Ohio State is going to be without JT Barret this week as he was arrested for a DUI. Spare me your internet rage on this one.

OTHER FOOTBAW

Not so much in terms of AMAZING FOOTBALL this week, but plenty of decent games.  Here's some games I find interesting.

• Illinois @ PSU - 12:00 ET CBSSN. All the games at noon suck. All of them. PSU is the only game that promises to be probably close and you may get the added bonus of watching PSU lose.
• UGA @ #11 Florida - 15:30 ET CBS. Kinda another meh game but Florida needs to win as they control their own destiny in the East. Technically, Vanderbilt can still win the East (lol), but we'd not mind some help!
• #9 ND @ #21 Temple - 20:00 ET ABC. This is not a bad game to flip to if our game gets out of hand.
• Your Pac-12 Degenerate Game of the Week: Arizona @ Washington, 23:00 ET, FOXS1.

IF WE BEAT HOUSTON, IT WILL BE AMAZING

There's no Q&A session this week as I don't believe we have a Houston sister site.  Still, you can get ready for the game by getting your primer on Houston here.  Few of us have a great outlook on the game, and I think those of us that do probably are not giving Houston enough credit.

GAMETIME

So here we are - playing an OOC game against one of the best teams in the country.  As always, please drop by the gamethread and gripe and moan about how we can't move the dang ball.

Just a reminder - the audio feed is now FREE on VUCommodores.com (link below) and starts 90 MINUTES BEFORE GAME TIME (15:30 ET, 14:30 CT)

3-4 (1-3)

GAMETIME: 19:00 ET (18:00 CT) LOCATION: TDECU STADIUM, HOUSTON, TX TV: ESPN2 RADIO: 1510 AM, 95.9 FM, 98.3 FM GAMETRACKER: Click this link AUDIO FEED (FREE): Click this link (VUCommodores, All-Access) VIDEO FEED: ESPN3.com (cable agreement required)

7-0 (4-0)

ANCHOR DOWN Y'ALL!