Golden Football Rankings

Welcome to the Home of the Golden Football Rankings
MONDAY NIGHT, October 26, 2009
Golden NFL Rankings after Seven Weeks – Saints Drop to #2.
Golden College Rankings after Eight Weeks of Play
LSU-Auburn Comments | Saints-Dolphins Comments
My Week 8 Picks [13-9]
October 22 Baseball Magazine –Recent Yogi Quote
October 19 Football Magazine – Red Blaik's world crashes down
Football Comments/Tidbits [10/19]
September 26 Basketball Magazine – One of the Greatest Plays Ever

Links [10/26]

LSU still controls its BCS destiny.
Miles among Minority of SEC Coaches Not Complaining about Officiating
Cincinnati Fans Rub It in on Buckeyes

My Live Game This Past Weekend: Auburn @ LSU

Auburn Q1 Action
Auburn pregame (L) and first quarter action from West upper deck

My pictures from earlier weeks

LSU-Auburn Comments

Auburn wanted to take the crowd of the game and they succeeded. Many people left in Q3 after Russell Shepard's run made it 31-3. Many, many more left during Q4.

The game ended the string of tight battles between the two Tiger teams. Not since 2003, when LSU won 31-7, had the game not been close. The last four games in the series had been decided by a combined 19 points.

The guy next to me asked during the second half, "Why didn't our O do this against Florida?" I answered, "That's not the Florida D on the field tonight." [Sporting News expects five Florida DBs will play in the NFL.] Nevertheless, the LSU O showed much improvement from the bye week. Jefferson in particular set up faster and made good throws and also broke loose on some fine runs from the pocket, including the second TD.

I liked LSU's third O play of the game. Facing third and 5 at their own 22, Jefferson threw to Williams who was wide open in the flat for 20 yards. They had used that kind of play sparingly, if at all, in the first six games. That set the tone for the opening TD drive. There were other surprises, including Russell Shepard being handed the ball from the RB position. I'm hoping that Russell will finally throw a pass at a crucial moment against Alabama.

LBs Kelvin Sheppard and Harry Coleman played excellent games. Chavis used the three LBs creatively. Coleman was always on the outside but might be on either side depending on O set. Most of the time Sheppard was in the middle but sometimes it was Perry Riley at MLB. And all three slid left and right play-by-play with varying amounts of spacing between them depending again on the O set. Switching Coleman from S to LB in the spring was an inspired move. Since so many teams run the spread, you need LBs that can cover in the flat and downfield, yet can also support the run D. Coleman fills that bill quite well. He and Sheppard have a future in the NFL as safeties or nickel backs because of their speed.

The pass rush was the best so far this season. In addition to blitzing LBs (chiefly Coleman), the Front Four got a good push. Add the fact that the secondary covered the receivers quite well, and you get a poor day for the Auburn QBs.

Back to the O, Charles Scott continues to struggle. It's not that he's hitting the wrong hole or not reading the blocking correctly. Teams are keying on him and not giving him any running room. And, to repeat a comment made several times before, he misses Quinn Johnson as his lead FB. Freshman Dominique Allen got the majority of the snaps when LSU used a FB, but he didn't do well. After 1,174 yd last year, Scott has only 347 in seven games.

Auburn won its first five games, including victories over West Virginia, Mississippi State and Tennessee. However, opponents have obviously figured out Gus Malzahn's spread O because AU has now lost three in a row, including a 21-14 defeat to Kentucky at home.

LSU can beat Alabama in two weeks. Our D is strong enough to hold down their O, including their vaunted running game. If we can score 14-17 points, we can win a low-scoring game in Tuscaloosa. Jefferson must play well, of course, as well as the O line, but I am more confident that they can do so after this past Saturday night's performance (albeit against a D that is average).

Saints-Dolphins Comments

The Bye Giveth And the Bye Taketh Away
That was the headline that I had in mind for these comments when the score was 24-3. Instead, I'm switching to this:
Brees Giveth and Brees Taketh Away
Because the Dolphin D was so fired up and getting such a push up front, Drew was harassed into three INTs, one of which resulted from the DB taking the ball away from Colston on the goal line. But the veteran QB did not panic and led the comeback.

I thought the turning point in the game was Miami calling timeout with 5 seconds left in the first half. [Miami writer agrees with me.] Why did Sparano do that? At the very least, the Saints FG unit would have had to get ready hurriedly because the clock would start when the referee signalled the ball ready to play after the review overturned Colston's TD. The Saints not only used the timeout to compose themselves but also to change Payton's mind and go for the TD.

Trent Dilfer, former NFL QB, on ESPN right after the game called this the Saints' most impressive win of the six because they had to overcome so much adversity. Amen, Brother Trent!

Shockey is cavorting like a young colt. His long catch and run in Q4, where he spars with the DB for 30 yards until help arrives to tackle him, should be on all the highlight videos.

This is the third game in which the Saints have worn down the opposing D in Q4. The other two were Buffalo and the Jets. Again, the presence of a running game allowed us to keep a balanced attack even when behind.

34 might seem to be embarrassing for the Saint D. But turnovers contributed to most of those points. Miami had TD drives of 4 and 19 yd and made a FG after a drive of 0 yards. Miami gained 334 yards but, again, they got extra offensive possessions because of TOs.

Golden College Rankings after Eight Weeks

Complete Golden Rankings after Week Eight

Same Top Ten since all won but pairs of teams swapped places: Iowa and Florida, TCU and Alabama, Oregon and Cincinnati, LSU and Georgia Tech. In each case, it was because the previous lower team scored a more impressive victory.

No change in the order of the conferences.

**Golden Top Ten**
Team	Average	Last Week	BCS
1. Iowa	2.37	2	4
2. Florida	2.30	1	1
3. TCU	2.15	4	6
4. Alabama	2.10	3	2
5. Texas	2.02	5	3
6. Boise State	1.89	6	7
7. Oregon	1.74	8	10
8. Cincinnati	1.72	7	8
9. LSU	1.64	10	9
10. Georgia Tech	1.59	9	11

**Conference Rankings**
Conference	Avg.	Last Week
SEC	0.550	1
Big East	0.470	2
PAC 10	0.409	3
Big 12	0.339	4
Big 10	0.305	5
ACC	0.102	6
Mountain West	-0.140	7
WAC	-0.477	8
CUSA	-0.535	9
Sun Belt	-0.807	10
MAC	-0.875	11

Largest jump from last week: Nevada, Texas A&M, and Kansas State +21 | Largest drop: North Carolina -30
Toughest schedule so far: Washington | Easiest schedule: Ohio
Golden College Rankings Rules for 2009

Week 8 picks [13-9] – now in second place by myself; gained one game on front runner.

BYU +2.5 over TCU X
First of my two upset picks this week.

Michigan State over Iowa +0 X
Second upset.

Mississippi State +23 over Florida
Gator D ailing; O not as potent as '08.

Georgia Tech over Virginia +5.5
Cavs' three-game streak ends.

Vanderbilt +12.5 over South Carolina
These two have played tight games in recent years.

Miami over Clemson +4.5 X
Tigers always difficult to predict.

Pittsburgh over South Florida +6.5
When in doubt, pick the home team.

Oklahoma over Kansas +7.5
Jayhawks' D can't stop even backup QB-led Sooners.

USC over Oregon State +20.5 X
Revenge.

Houston over SMU +16.5
Cougars back home for first time in a month.

Michigan +4.5 over Penn State X
Wolverines rise to the occasion.

Hawaii +25 over Boise State X
Broncos haven't been winning by this much.

Missouri +13 over Texas X
Longhorns coming off their Game of Year.

Ohio State over Minnesota +16.5
Buckeyes bounce back.

Air Force +9.5 over Utah
Falcons tend to play Utes close.

Connecticut +7.5 over West Virginia
UConn playing for their slain teammate.

Oklahoma State over Baylor +9.5
Opponents getting better read on Griffin replacement.

Washington +10 over Oregon X
Huskies cover at home.

Alabama over Tennessee +14.5 X
Saban sticks his foot in Kiffin's mouth.

Cincinnati over Louisville +18
Bearcat sub QB gets his mulligan.

Texas A&M +21.5 over Texas Tech
Aggies catch Raiders over-confident.

LSU over Auburn +7.5
LSU O benefits from bye week.

Golden NFL Rankings after Seven Weeks

Saints and Denver swap places. So do Indy and Vikings.

**Top Five**
Team	Record	Avg.	Last Week
1. Denver	6-0	2.67	2
2. New Orleans	6-0	2.58	1
3. Indianapolis	6-0	2.00	4
4. Minnesota	6-1	1.50	3
5. Cincinnati	5-2	1.43	7

Complete NFL Rankings | NFL Ranking Rules

NFC South takes a tumble (Saints only winner in division Sunday).

**Division Rankings**
	Division	Avg.	Last Week
1	AFC North	0.253	4
2	NFC North	0.250	1
3	AFC East	0.176	6
4	NFC East	0.129	3
5	AFC South	-0.033	7
6	NFC South	-0.039	2
7	AFC West	-0.045	5
8	NFC West	-0.476	8