Mike Stoops fired in Arizona

This monday, Mike Stoops was fired as the Wildcats head coach. They have played terrible this season, and they have lost 10 out of their last 11 games. Defensive coordinator, Tim Kish, will be the head coach until a replacement is found. But who will his replacement be?

Mike Bellotti
The former Oregon Ducks coach knows how to operate a West Coast Offense. He was a huge success in Oregon, and had a terrific record at 137-82. That speaks for itself. In the 14 years he had at Oregon, they played in 12 bowl-games. He would be a great signing for the Wildcats.

June Jones
He is indeed a mastermind, when it comes to creating an efficient passing-game. His Hawaii team destroyed teams and records, and they brought a whole new standard for offensive production. June also has some NFL experience. He was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 94-96.

Ricky Hunley
He would be an excellent choice, if Arizona wants a defensive-minded head coach. He's also a former Arizona Wildcats linebacker and bit of a legend in Wildcats, so the fans would be pumped to see him as their head coach. He's currently the assistent linebacker coach for the Oakland Raiders. He has never been head coach before, so this would be a gamble, but it might be the perfect gamble for Arizona Wildcats.

Heisman Watch

From the week and on, I will focus on some of the players, with one eye on the Heisman Trophy. The Heisman Trophy can't be won in week 6 of the regular season, but it can be lost, if you have a bad streak on only two games.

Landry Jones - QB of Oklahoma Sooners - Stock up
There has been many doubters of the Oklahoma quaterback, but he just had a game against Texas Longhorns, where he kind of said "Fuck you" to all of the doubters. Before this game, Landry just won the games. He won against Florida State on the road, and a bunch of weaker non-conference teams. But he didn't have the big stats. But yesterday, he did. He was the star of the game, with 31-of-50 completions for 367 yards and 1 touchdown with 0 interceptions. When you're the star of Red River Rivalry, you're stock will automatically go up.

Marcus Lattimore - RB of South Carolina - Stock down
Lattimore is having a great season, but his last two games has ruined his chances at winning this years Heisman Trophy. Last week, he only ran for 68 yards on 17 attempts finding the endzone only once, and that's against a horrible Auburn Tigers' run-defense. Yesterday, while the offensive weapons for South Carolina were having a huge game, Lattimore didn't. He only had an "okay" game. He ran for 102 yards finding the endzone 0 times. He should have had a 150+ yards game, but he didn't, and now he don't have a chance at the Heisman Trophy.

Geno Smith - QB of West Virginia - Stock up
You may never have heard of him, and don't feel bad, a lot of people never heard of him. It's weird, because he's an excellent player. Yesterday he went off against the Huskies. He had 27-of-45 completions for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns. With a game like that, you're guaranteed some talk about the Heisman Trophy. He's no. 3 on passing yards with 1709 yards, and he has made 12 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. If he continues like this, his name will be mentioned a lot more in the same sentence as "Heisman Trophy"

LaMichael James - RB of Oregon Ducks - Stock down
I know, if there's any Ducks fans reading this, you will have my head on a plate. But let's be a bit rational, if this injury is as bad as expected his shot at the Heisman Trophy is gone. Before he left the field with an injury, he had an amazing game! He ran for 239 yards on 30 attempts for 3 touchdowns. If it wasn't for the injury, his Heisman Trophy stock would have gone up, but it's only because of the injury, I will have to say, that he's not in the talks anymore.

Tajh Boyd - QB of Clemson Tigers - Stock down
Another player with an injury. Tajh had a great game against Boston College, but had to leave the field with a hip injury. It shouldn't be so bad, but for now his stock has dropped. He's still the leading Heisman candidate for the Clemson Tigers, with 1459 passing yards for 14 touchdowns and only two interceptions. I believe, he will be playing again next week against Maryland, and if that's the picture next week, his stock will rise again quickly.

Denard Robinson - QB of Michigan - Stock up
This was another week of big numbers for the Shoelace. Many people hate him, many people love him, but he keeps on putting great stats on the board, while he leads his Michigan team to wins. Against Northwestern yesterday, he was responsible for four out of Michigan's six touchdowns. He passed for two and rushed for two. He's the entire Michigan offense. Against Northwestern, Michigan had 529 total yards, and Denard was responsible for 442 of those yards. Yeah, he's the ENTIRE Michigan offense.

Trent Richardson - RB of Alabama - Stock down
He had a mediocre game against Vanderbilt, and if he has more of them, he will not have a shot at the Heisman Trophy. He had to split carries with sophomore, Jalston Fowler, and though it's great for the Alabama offense to have another running back in form, it's bad for Richardon's Heisman stock. He will still have many chances to improve his stock, but this weekend, there's no other way than down.

Andrew Luck - QB of Stanford - Stock up
Luck had another game, where he threw for over 300 yards and 3 touchdown in yet another Stanford victory. So far this season, Luck has thrown 14 touchdown with only 1 interception. It's no surprise, given his high touchdown completion-rate, Stanford has won all of their games by at least 26 points. Luck should have another big game with huge numbers next week as Stanford travels to Washington State, where they will face a horrible Washington defense.

Kellen Moore - QB of Boise State - Stock up
Kellen will be a Heisman Trophy candidate until the end of this season. He will face weak opponents, where he will have some big numbers, and it's not his fault. Kellen is just a terrific quarterback, who happens to play against lesser talented guys. For example, he had a great game against Fresno State. He completed 23-of-31 for 252 yards and 3 touchdown. Those are great numbers, and they will keep on coming until the end of this season.

Tajh Boyd injured for the no. 8 Clemson

Clemson quarterback, Tajh Boyd, left the game in the third quarter, after he received a huge hit against Boston College. The pains came from his left leg, and he couldn't stand up, though he tried. Just after the hit, Boyd was determined to get up, but he rolled back to the ground, because of the pain. Coaches and trainers helped him get off the field, holding his left leg in the air.

According to Clemson's official website, it's a strained hip, and he will be termed questionable at this point. There will be more on this story later this week, when I know more. There will for sure be spotlight on Boyd's injury. If Boyd doesn't make it 'till next week, they will have to start Cole Stoudt, and though Stoudt is a decent quarterback, it will be a huge blow for the Tigers.

Boyd had completed 16-of-26 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 37 yards and a touchdown, so you could say, it was a pretty good game for Boyd before he had to leave the field.

Case McCoy - Can he live up to Brother's legend?

Case McCoy, quarterback of the Texas Longhorns, has a rather big shadow over him. Like it or not, he will always be compared with his older brother Colt McCoy, who was a huge star at Texas Longhorns. With Colt under center, they could win every game, and they didn't have to fear anybody. Colt only had 8 defeats in his Longhorn career, and he passed for 13,253 yards and made 112 touchdowns. He was the real deal. No matter who you are, that will be hard to live up to.

This is the first season, with Case McCoy under center for the Texas Longhorns, and he only completed 26 passes for 335 yards. That's not good enough as a Texas quarterback. Yesterday against the Sooners, he just looked scared. I expected him, to have a decent performance, if not a good performance. I thought, he would reach down into the family tree, and pick up some of Colt's experience, but he didn't. He just looked silly in the smackdown. He completed 9-of-16 for 116 yards. He fumbled the ball twice, one of which was taken back as a touchdown.

This was not the perfomance I and everybody else had expected, and it certainly isn't the perfomance older brother Case would have given. It may be unfair comparing him to Case, but like it or not, those are the expectations he has to live up to.

Connor Shaw - The answer!

I bet, there was nobody out there, who believed Connor Shaw would have a game, like he had yesterday. He threw 26-of-39 for 311 passing yards and 4 touchdowns. That's incredible for a guy, who never started before. He was sacked three times, but who can blame him? He's playing behind a o-line, he's not totally comfortable with yet.

He was such a leader on the field. He called some plays, and made audibles, just like a young Manning for Tennessee. They ran plays flea flicker, a play South Carolina has never used before with Garcia. It's like there's more diversity with Shaw under center, and that allowed Spurrier to open the playbook, and dust some of the old play off. I know they only played a mediocre Kentucky-team, but it's a good sign. When they can get the offense floating, and making some first downs, they have a possibility to do that against any team out there (Perhaps not Alabama and LSU, their defenses are inhuman).

Connor Shaw is clearly the key to another SEC East title for the South Carolina Gamecocks, and Spurrier knows, if he wants to have a shot at the SEC Championship, he will have to start Shaw instead of Garcia, there's not doubt about that. Garcia sat on the sideline, encouraging Shaw, and Garcia showed, that he's a class act, even when everything aren't going his way. Everybody like him, and there's a reason for that. He's a truly great guy.

Connow Shaw is the future of South Carolina Gamecocks.

How can Oregon make up for LaMichael James' injury?

LaMichael James will be out for a few weeks, and that's a loss of the Oregon Duck's biggest weapon on offense. Without LaMichael, other talented guys will have to step up to the plate, to make up for this tough loss. You can ask yourself, why LaMichael even were on the pitch, after running for 237 yards in a 36-15 lead. That doesn't make any sense in my head.

De'Anthony Thomas will have to step up. Without LaMichael as a running back, he will be starting for the Oregon Ducks. He has the talent to do so, and he has been nothing short of sensational so far this season. He's just 18 years old, so it's a lot of pressure on a young guy, but I believe he can handle it. He will be a huge weapon, when LaMichael is watching on the sideline. Kenjon Barner will also play a huge part on the Oregon offense. Over the last two seasons, he has been able to perform under the huge shadow of LaMichael James. But with LaMichael out, he will have to show his talent with De'Anthony Thomas.

Their QB, Darron Thomas, also need to take more responsibility. He's in a even bigger spotlight now, when they don't have 170 yards guaranteed. He's not at all a bad quarterback, he's just in the shadow of LaMichael, who can almost overshadow anybody in the country. Without LaMichael, it's a possibility, that their will be much more focus on Oregon's passing game, and can Darron handle that? We will see against Arizona State.

Last, but especially not least, Chip Kelly needs to come up with a game plan without their star running back. It will be the toughest decision of his coaching career. They can't run first, pass afterwards without LaMichael playing, it simply can't work.

It will be exciting to see, if the Oregon Ducks can handle their big loss. I'm looking forward to their game against Arizona State.

California Golden Bears vs Oregon Ducks - Preview

Last season, California came close to beating Ducks, but they fell short. The Ducks are favoured by 24 points tonight, and I believe that is reasonable. The Ducks will dominate California tonight, no doubt about that. Oregon's offensive attack is almost impossible to contain, and that will be displayed. There's no doubt, that Oregon possesses one of the most dangerous offenses in the country.

The Ducks have mainly relied on their running game, and with good reason. Their running game is averaging almost 300 yards pr. game. Cal's defense comes into this game ranked no. 9 in running defense, but they haven't seen a running game that can even come close to Ducks' running game. They have possibly the best running back in NCAA, LaMichael James, and they can also use Kenjon Barner and De'Anthony Thomas.

The Oregon offensive line isn't as strong as it was last year, so the Cal defensive line could cause Oregon's offensive line some problems. Especially their DE, Trevor Guyton, could and I think he will, cause problems. Not to say they will dominate this game, because Oregon's o-line hasn't allowed a single sack this season. That is really impressive, so though the Oregon o-line isn't as good as last season, they are impressive.

Oregon's passing attack will be up against one of the worst pass defenses in the country. They are utterly terrible. Nothing short of terrible! They are ranked 80th in the country in pass defense, and that's against poor competition. Oregon hasn't passed much this season, but their quarterback Darron Thomas is really not bad, and against this pass defense, he can destroy them. His options on offense is amazing. De'Anthony Thomas, Josh Huff, Lavasier Tuinei and Justin Hoffman. They are pure speed, and they will cause a huge threat.

Cal's starting quarterback, Zack Maynard, has a history of throwing interceptions. Those interceptions mostly come against a fast secondary, and I don't believe there is a faster secondary, than the secondary Oregon will bring. I will watch Cliff Harris, Eddie Pleasant and John Boyett tonight, because they will force turnovers tonight. They have all missed time this season, but they are back, and now the Oregon defense is almost complete.

This game will be all about payback. The Ducks are out for blood, and it will be a brutal game. In their last match-up the Cal players began faking injuries, so they could slow down the Oregon offense. Oregon fans certainly haven't forgotten about the game last year, so Autzen Stadium, which is a scary stadium, perhaps one of the scariest in the nation. There's no doubt all of the Oregon fans hope, the Ducks will smash Cal hard.