It looks like Boise will fit into the Big East just fine. Next year
Boise may well be the best of the Big East and if Boise does end up being
the beast of the East - the Big East is in serious trouble, which is not meant to take lightly Boise's recent dominance - they have earned everything set in front of them, but the Big East is a league that has absorbed a lot of turmoil. Handing a title to the noobs would be another change in a long line of perception changes.
The other side of the coin is that the Broncos will need to keep earning if they want to remain on the public's consciousness. If Boise
doesn't win the league, I would consider Boise's mid-major dynasty done
and one would have to question Boise's move to what may end up being a lesser conference.
Games like last night's hopefully are not the norm in the new Big East - was it entertaining? -Yes, Thursday games typically provide captive national audience.
Was the game played at a high level? Not from what I saw. Questionable coaching calls, questionable tactics, and subpar play dominated the night.
I really hope that type of play doesn't dominate the Big East next year.
_
Boise BYU game
Friday, September 21, 2012
Yearbook: Utah
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The University of Utah Library has made Utah's yearbooks available online.
I had this one set aside after last week's Utah/BYU go-round but given my usual lack of time and my chronic lack of motivation I never got around to posting it.
Utah is a great team and they, more than any other mid-major deserve their new found home in a major conference.
Get into this one, the Utah Utonian yearbooks - the latest addition to the yearbook collection.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is the mission of The Unbalanced Line Online Library to present
important and interesting historical texts to college football fans.
Items will be added regularly as blog postings and can be easily indexed
in the Yearbooks button on the site bar.
Copyrighted material is used expressly under the fair use guidelines of
U.S. Code 17 #107 through #118 stating that the criticism, comment,
news reporting, educational use or research of copyrighted material is
not held in violation of copyright laws.
_______________ © 2012 The Unbalanced Line _______________
Wake Forest Notes
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Kevin Gleason had a pretty good take on the game.
You want a wacky football game? This was a wacky football game. This was Jack Nicholson-as-Jack Torrance-in-The-Shining wacky. Army was on its way to rushing for 486 yards and that wasn't close to the wildest part.The nuttiest part was Army being anywhere close to Northern Illinois, no less holding another lead with 8:55 left, the way the Black Knights defense performed.You want crazy? Army ran for 285 yards in the first half, held the ball for 24 of the 30 minutes — and trailed 28-19 at the break.Northern Illinois scored four touchdowns in its first 17 plays.
Army game notes are up for Wake Forest. (pdf)
_
Week 3 Blogpoll Top 25
Monday, September 17, 2012
I'm doing about as well in my football pool as I am with my Blogpoll top 25.
I do like this one though. I even spent five minutes revising it!
The Unbalanced Line Ballot - Week 3
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 2 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 3 | Florida St. Seminoles |  4 |
| 4 | LSU Tigers |  -1 |
| 5 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- |
| 6 | South Carolina Gamecocks | 3 |
| 7 | Georgia Bulldogs | 3 |
| 8 | Michigan Wolverines | 8 |
| 9 | Stanford Cardinal | -- |
| 10 | Louisville Cardinals | 8 |
| 11 | Kansas St. Wildcats | -- |
| 12 | Florida Gators | 9 |
| 13 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 4 |
| 14 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 5 |
| 15 | Clemson Tigers | 7 |
| 16 | USC Trojans | -12 |
| 17 | Ohio St. Buckeyes | -2 |
| 18 | Texas Longhorns | -4 |
| 19 | UCLA Bruins | -- |
| 20 | Iowa St. Cyclones | -- |
| 21 | TCU Horned Frogs | 2 |
| 22 | Utah Utes | -- |
| 23 | Michigan St. Spartans | -15 |
| 24 | Ohio Bobcats | -- |
| 25 | Cincinnati Bearcats | -1 |
| Dropouts: Air Force Falcons, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Virginia Tech Hokies, Oklahoma St. Cowboys, Oregon St. Beavers | ||
_
Army 0-2
Sunday, September 16, 2012
NIU's aerial attack was the difference as Army lost to Northern Illinois Saturday at Michie Stadium. Army played well on offense racking up 486 rush yards on 86 carries with their hurry-up-and-wait option offense.
The execution was there on offense and if Army's defense gets out of a few 3rd down situations they could have won the game. Instead, I sat mesmerized by Jordan Lynch's passing exhibition.
Some of those passes that extended drives were just unreal. Perfect passes catching players in stride for long gains equalized Army's advantage in time of possession and gave the Huskies enough to win the game.
It's not time for army to panic, but some of that defensive stuff needs to be shored up before they play anybody - let alone a team from the ACC.
I know Wake Forest is no Florida State, and the Demons did get worn down in the 3rd quarter by FSU's offense (who wouldn't) - but Wake Forest (2-1) will provide a real road test for the Cadets. Can Army beat Wake? Absolutely.
Can Army afford to let receivers streak down the field unchecked? No, that's been proven in Saturday's loss.
Your Army/Northern Illinois story & stats.
