Many rambling football thoughts....

[cougjunkie]

He was seriously fast. He would beat me by a good 7 mtrs and he was just accelerating away from me the entire race. The dude couldn't have been any taller than 5'6". You might remember Steve Broussard. Another squatty fast kid in the same build as Napoleon. He played at Manual Arts High in the mid 80's and then at Washington State the year Wazzu beat Ty and the Cougars. I like those type of players. I think Kaufman was the strongest football player I have ever seen play, pound for pound.

A few weeks ago at Disneyland I saw a guy wearing a Napoleon Kauffman Raiders jersey. Actually it was at the ESPNzone, and Andrew Mccutchen of the Pirates had a 2 out hit to give Pitt the lead over the Dodgers, I cheered and the Latino in the jersey wanted to kill me.

[falafel]

Sark, for all the good he's done this year, has perhaps the ugliest UW sweatshirt imaginable. Those tan stripes near the collar look like the collar of a polo shirt underneath his sweatshirt. Truly horrible.

[Jarid in Cedar]

Or the kicker finds the curse of Ryan Keneishero and gets intimate with the right upright!

He was kicking from about the same spot on the field. Must be some sort of permanent hex placed there that destroys kickers.

[Commando]

So I was at the UNLV game this weekend and I noticed that Pendleton is 2 full notches above the other linebackers on the field athletically. Dude is cut. We're losing some players to graduation, but I am optimistic for next year's D with Van Noy and the others coming in and hopefully raising the standard for athleticism in the linebacking corp..

[falafel]

So I was at the UNLV game this weekend watching the players shower and I noticed that Pendleton is 2 full notches above the other linebackers on the field athletically. Dude is cut. We're losing some players to graduation, but I am optimistic for next year's D with Van Noy and the others coming in and hopefully raising the standard for athleticism in the linebacking corp..

I know you couldn't bring yourself to say it, but it needs to be said.

[Jarid in Cedar]

1.) Utah made a statement on saturday, IMO. The Utes went into the 4th best, arguably, program's house in the conference in a year the Utes are arguably rebuilding and spotted the Rams a 14 point lead with 20 minutes to go. Utes put on the jets and pull out a good win. The point of this is it is going to be a rare event when any of the top 3 teams are beaten by anyone other than the the other two clubs in the top 3. If CSU can't beat the Utes in Fort Collins in a rebuilding year with half of the Utes injured, I doubt they will ever be able to do it. I like Fairchild and I think he was a good hire for CSU, but this MWC has 3 very good programs with young and energetic coaching staffs that I just don't think the Rams can catch.

I agree with this. As much as a statement was made, I think a few players(and maybe a coordinator or 2) grew up a little. They had all the reason to fold and several previous Utah teams would have folded. CSU is a quality opponent who should be able to whack you when you are down, but Utah persevered and garnered a much needed confidence booster in the process.

[Mormon Red Death]

I know you couldn't bring yourself to say it, but it needs to be said.

I hope you werent meaning to say

[Commando]

I know you couldn't bring yourself to say it, but it needs to be said.

yeah but it's like trying to call someone out for opening their eyes during the prayer...

[Portland Ute]

I agree with this. As much as a statement was made, I think a few players(and maybe a coordinator or 2) grew up a little. They had all the reason to fold and several previous Utah teams would have folded. CSU is a quality opponent who should be able to whack you when you are down, but Utah persevered and garnered a much needed confidence booster in the process.

It was a step because it had all the makings of an inexplicable, head sratching, nut-punch of a loss to a lesser team. Kinda like UNLV 200-whatever. But not quite that bad. But pretty close. It was 17-3 late in the 3rd. 3 isn't much more than 0 and CSU looked poised to make it 24, at least, which isn't much less than 27. But I digress...

Anyway, it appeared to be a wake-up call that ended with a win.

Cain seemed to grow up in that late 3rd/early 4th. He was 10/11 passing from the point the Utes went down 14. The only incompletion was not his fault. Maybe even more importantly, when he wasn't passing, he was making plays in the run game. He just seemed to do nearly everything right. With the pressure on. Back against the wall. Team down. Bad weather. On the road. There was really nothing positive to work with when he went on his tear.

Not a win for the ages, but definitely a win for building upon.

[Jarid in Cedar]

It was a step because it had all the makings of an inexplicable, head sratching, nut-punch of a loss to a lesser team. Kinda like UNLV 200-whatever. But not quite that bad. But pretty close. It was 17-3 late in the 3rd. 3 isn't much more than 0 and CSU looked poised to make it 24, at least, which isn't much less than 27. But I digress...

Anyway, it appeared to be a wake-up call that ended with a win.

Cain seemed to grow up in that late 3rd/early 4th. He was 10/11 passing from the point the Utes went down 14. The only incompletion was not his fault. Maybe even more importantly, when he wasn't passing, he was making plays in the run game. He just seemed to do nearly everything right. With the pressure on. Back against the wall. Team down. Bad weather. On the road. There was really nothing positive to work with when he went on his tear.

Not a win for the ages, but definitely a win for building upon.

I agree with your assessment, but the most important for me, is that this was a game we would have typically lost in the past(and not so distant past either)