Playing coach potato

Getting paid to sit in college football stadiums on fall Saturdays makes this one of the coolest jobs in the world.

But when you've done this for a living for a long time, you do learn to treasure a fall Saturday on the couch. Since Clemson doesn't have a Thursday-night game this season, there's only one free Saturday in 2010.

That occasion came two days ago, and this one was more exquisite than usual given the infusion of Friday golf, a mountain house, old friends, steaks ... even Tecmo Bowl on a real, live original Nintendo (bless its old, creaky heart).

Here are some coach-potato thoughts from a full weekend of open-date bliss:

-- So what if, two weeks ago, you're told Clemson and South Carolina will combine for a 30-point lead at Auburn and lose both games. Would you have believed it?

Amazing that Auburn has won three consecutive white-knuckle games, and all three victories have featured a late pass hitting the hands of an opposing receiver before either falling incomplete (Mississippi State and Clemson) or getting intercepted (Sakerlina).

It speaks volumes about the poise, the utter coolness, of Cam Newton. He's the total package when it comes to the size, the speed, the arm strength. But that exquisite combination doesn't mean as much if the kid is a basket case between the ears, and Newton just never seems bothered by much.

-- I was surprised Ellis Johnson played it so conservatively. If the obvious plan going in is to try to force Newton into mistakes in the downfield passing game, then why play only six guys in the box virtually the entire game? I'm not suggesting a blitz-happy approach, because that's often foolish against all the draws and screens they run, but you have almost zero shot at stopping their run game when you're outnumbered. I don't recall Newton throwing deep one time, and that's stunning given how often Auburn likes to take shots. When your defensive approach doesn't come close to testing the shakiest part of a quarterback's game, it's a poor approach.

-- I'm not going to say Steve Spurrier's decision to yank Garcia was wrong. Definitely questionable, though, because the Gamecocks were still in it with a completely legitimate shot to win. And Garcia, despite those two fumbles, still gave them their best chance to win. You have to think Spurrier's decision went far beyond the situation Saturday night. Lotta bad blood there.

-- So who's better, the Gamecocks or the Tigers with a lake? The past two weekends gave us a rare September measuring stick, and I'd say these two teams are close. Clemson gets a slight edge based on the better defensive line and more dependability at quarterback.

-- Still cannot believe Arkansas managed to lose to Alabama. If you didn't watch the game, you missed the Razorbacks completely carving up the Crimson Tide's defense. It seemed Bobby Petrino was toying with Nick Saban and Kirby Smart. Watching this reminded me of watching Spurrier's Florida offense completely torching defenses in the 1990s. It was a clinic, and it completely validated Petrino as one of the game's offensive masterminds.

-- Just not impressed with Greg McElroy at all. I know the kid came a long way last year, and he looked great in the SEC title-game bashing of Florida, but when's the last time a team won the BCS title with such limitations at QB?

-- Imagine Cam Newton at Florida.

-- Imagine Russell Wilson at Florida, South Carolina or LSU.

-- I underestimated N.C. State this year. Was skeptical of that offensive line, and of the Wolfpack's quality of talent on defense. Jon Tenuta is doing impressive things for that defense, and Dana Bible is reasserting himself as one of the better offensive coordinators in the ACC. I still want to see what happens when the Wolfpack faces a good team. We'll know a lot more after Virginia Tech visits Raleigh on Saturday.

-- Georgia Tech is not a good team. The Yellow Jackets' defense is pretty much awful, but I also want to know how many times Georgia Tech's offense has fumbled in losses under Paul Johnson. His triple-option stuff looks really good when they're rolling, but man can it look bad when they're putting the ball on the ground.

-- Glad I passed on the Boston College Kool-Aid before the season. It really was mystifying, given their issues at QB. In their last four ACC losses dating to a 25-7 undressing at Clemson in last year's ACC opener, the Eagles have been outscored by a combined 123-34 while rushing for a total of 234 yards.

-- Stanford is ranked 13th in the coaches' poll, and that's yet another indictment of this joke of a BCS system. If the first poll came out after four weeks, no way Stanford isn't ranked in the Top 5. But since USA Today likes to drum up interest from fans by starting its poll in the preseason, Stanford gets cheated.

-- Looking at this week's schedule, raise your hand if you're more geeked for Stanford at Oregon than Texas vs. Oklahoma and Florida at Alabama.


-- So TCU is favored by 17.5 at SMU and wins by only 17 after missing an extra point late. Amazing. If you have a couple of bucks on SMU, it's ecstasy. If your money is on TCU, you're pulling your hair out all weekend.

On to some Monday linkage...

Magnum P.I. seems excessively chipper after his team's stinker against Virginia Tech.

I'm trying to imagine the reaction in these parts if a coach seemed this happy after such ineptitude.

Randy Shannon is muzzling Jacory Harris, making him unavailable to media interviews, and I don't see the wisdom in it.

Tommy Bowden had his faults, many of which have been discussed and dissected here, but I liked his liberal approach to media availability. Partly because I'm biased and it helped me do my job, but also because Bowden believed it helped his kids grow up.

Mark Bradley of the AJC says Georgia Tech just isn't that talented.

This isn’t a failure of tactics, be they Paul Johnson’s or Al Groh’s. This has to do with players, and the lack thereof. Even when the defense was hemorrhaging yards last season, there was always the chance Derrick Morgan would make a play. There’s really only one playmaker on this roster now, and he’s the quarterback. And even Joshua Nesbitt needs help.

Also from Bradley: Mark Richt is in trouble.

The old Steve Spurrier critique of Ray Goff — “Georgia gets all these players … I don’t know what happens to them” — again applies. Georgia doesn’t lack talent. It simply cannot bring its talent to bear.

Here's a question: Is Georgia the worst team in the SEC? The mere fact that it's even debatable is startling, no?

Doc Saturday suggests a new branch of the evolutionary tree for Cam Newton.

Gene Sapakoff takes a look at his Braggin' Rights Barometer, but this week's score is not included.

It's 2010, and the Post and Courier's web site is still stuck in the dark ages.



LW