SIDELINE
Observations, Opinion & Occasional Silliness by Richard L Gale
Weekend Prep: Red River and More October 10, 2008
Put the stock markets on pause, forget about presidencies, and claim that sofa. It's time for the Red River Rivalry.
As is so often the case, Texas and Oklahoma are fighting on the national stage, and after the damp squib that was
Ohio State–USC, this is the top 5 clash to define the first half of the season.
For a game more traditionally known as the Red River Shootout, no chance of an anticlimax here. Quarterbacks Colt McCoy
of Texas and Sam Bradford of Oklahoma promise a genuine shootout, McCoy with an almost 80% completion rate, Bradford at
around 73%, and each with 20 scores to his name. Don't expect a low scorer.
We may not get college football playoffs, but NASN's afternoon game may deliver a knock–out in the debate between
McCoy and Bradford in the Heisman hunt. The winner more than likely goes forward to the next stage of the Heisman regionals,
a Big 12 Championship battle with Missouri's Chase Daniel, who also faces unbeaten opposition when the Tigers take on Oklahoma State.
I have nothing to add to these few paragraphs of pre–game hype other than to say: enjoy yourselves, fellow football
fans — together we'll get through this baseball thing and normal football Saturdays will be restored! If this is the
only live college action we get this weekend, it should be worth it.
What? It ISN'T the only action? Oh yeah. Notre Dame.
They may be on the up, they may be gaining confidence, and they may have a 4–1 record, but it's hard to recall a televised
Notre Dame game that elicited less buzz and more ho hum. The domers and their opponents North Carolina combined for 7 wins last
season. The Tar Heels may have topped UConn last week, but they did it with interceptions and blocked punts — three of each.
But stay tuned if you want to see the Fighting Irish on the turn. QB Jimmy Clausen has passed for over 600 yards and 6 TDs the past
two games, and a road win would probably scrape them back into the top 25.
In fact, Red River aside, this weekend's televisual theme could be football teams digging themselves out of holes. Sunday's NFL action
has several that fit the comeback bill.
Hot off their inexplicable loss to the Vikings, the New Orleans Saints — who did a decent job of closing down Adrian Peterson last
week — are home to an Oakland team with a rushing game and not much else of note. A red button away, Chicago v Atlanta offers a
matchup of franchises picked to bring up the rear in their divisions, but thanks to new faces at QB and RB, find themselves defending winning records.
Both the Packers and Eagles need to overcome long road trips if they are to fight back into contention. Green Bay visit Seattle with a
chance of victory against a Seahawks teams that seems more inclined to wait for the next leader than send coach Mike Holmgren into
retirement on a high. A coast–to–coast victory seems less likely for Philadelphia, visiting San Francisco without RB Brian Westbrook.
And on Sunday night, the Chargers will get things on track with a win over the New England Patriots. Right? I mean, the Pats without
Brady, in San Diego. If the Chargers can't do it now, then when?
For the Saints, Packers, Eagles and Chargers, 3–3 would feel pretty good about now.
Observations, Opinion & Occasional Silliness by Richard L Gale