Archive: September, 2008
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
What a wild weekend in college football, and what a successful weekend for the region's teams.At the I-A level, six of the top 25 teams in the AP poll lost, leading to Penn State's leap to the No. 6 spot in the AP and Coaches polls.
At the I-AA level, No. 1 Villanova upset Richmond, with Chris Whitney leaving no doubt about who should be the Wildcats' starting quarterback. As 'Nova improved its chances of making the playoffs, Penn's chances of winning its first Ivy League title in five years skyrocketed after Harvard and Yale lost their conference openers.
Rank |
AP |
McLane |
Coaches |
Sagarin |
Harris |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Oklahoma |
USC |
Oklahoma |
Alabama |
Oklahoma |
| 2. | Alabama |
Florida |
LSU |
Oklahoma |
LSU |
| 3. | LSU |
Oklahoma |
Missouri |
USC |
Alabama |
| 4. | Missouri |
Georgia |
Alabama |
Penn State |
Missouri |
| 5. | Texas |
Missouri |
Texas |
Texas |
Texas |
| 6. | Penn State |
LSU |
Penn State |
Boise State |
Penn State |
| 7. | Texas Tech |
Texas Tech |
BYU |
LSU |
USC |
| 8. | BYU |
Texas |
Texas Tech |
BYU |
Texas Tech |
| 9. | USC |
Alabama |
USC |
Georgia |
BYU |
| 10. | South Florida |
Auburn |
Georgia |
Utah |
Georgia |
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
And yes, the fans went absolutely beserk after that double play.
Welcome back to the playoffs, folks. Here's to one heck of an October.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
What a day this is to be a Philadelphia sports fan.Riding the subway down to the Linc, I was surrounded by a great mix of Phillies, Flyers and Temple fans. And while they started to separate after walking onto Pattison Avenue, there was still a lot of overlap between the three groups: people with Temple sweatshirts and Phillies caps, Flyers fans at the Temple tailgate and Phillies fans heading into the Spectrum for the Flyers' farewell game there.
It's a reminder of how great a sports town this is, filled with fans who make the bond between city and teams tighter than almost anywhere else in the country.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Okay, back to football for a while. The final results of the Villanova poll are in, and you voted for Chris Whitney, 28-21.This week's Spectacle of the Week poll includes a blackout in Georgia, a whiteout in State College, a rivalry game in Ann Arbor and a No. 1-ranked team on the Main Line. Have your say at the ballot box and in the comments.
I'll be back Saturday afternoon from the Linc, where I'll be covering Western Michigan-Temple. Join me for a live chat during the game about the Owls' conference opener my lack of math skills and knowledge of the Mid-American Conference, as well as the Phillies and whatever other games you'll be watching this weekend.
- Poll: What's the Spectacle of the Week? (38 votes)
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
A few quotes worth relaying from this afternoon's local college football coaches luncheon...Villanova coach Andy Talley on the quarterback situation:
"I'd rather not say I have a quarterback controversy; I'd rather say I have two quarterbacks that I think I can win with, and we'll play whichever one has the hot hand. I'm not saying I'm going to go to a two-quarterback system, because I'm not a proponent of that, but I wouldn't put that out [of the question]. Right now, we've got two good quarterbacks, and we're going to try to pick one that can play Saturday and see who can carry us."
Talley on the depth of the Colonial Athletic Association this season:
"Everybody in the southern part of the conference is extremely aggressive, there's no question about that. You'd better get it up and get going in this league ... It's not a safe place to be if you're trying to have winning seasons and get to the playoffs."
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
The news broke right as I walked into the college football coaches' luncheon, and it's going to resonate from now until the tipoff of the college basketball season.Penn will play at Drexel on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 10:00 a.m. on ESPN.
Yes, really. If you have to take a deep breath between the words in the above sentence, that's okay.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Just my luck.Ever since Temple's schedule came out, I had the Western Michigan game circled as the one I knew I could get to this season. But then the Sports Network's I-AA Top 25 came out Monday afternoon, and Richmond was ranked No. 1.
As in, the team that's coming to Villanova on Saturday.
Rank |
AP |
McLane |
Coaches |
Sagarin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | USC |
USC |
USC |
USC |
| 2. | Oklahoma |
Florida |
Oklahoma |
Florida |
| 3. | Georgia |
Oklahoma |
Georgia |
LSU |
| 4. | Florida |
Georgia |
Florida |
Oklahoma |
| 5. | LSU |
Missouri |
Missouri |
Georgia |
| 6. | Missouri |
LSU |
LSU |
Alabama |
| 7. | Texas |
Texas Tech |
Texas |
BYU |
| 8. | Alabama |
Texas |
Wisconsin |
Ohio State |
| 9. | Wisconsin |
Alabama |
Texas Tech |
Penn State |
| 10. | Texas Tech |
Auburn |
Alabama |
Texas |
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Okay, so I'm way late with this, but I had a bunch of other stuff to do last night and I had to to work during the Eagles game today. So here are my thoughts about Saturday's game.1. As Joe Juliano wrote in this morning's Inquirer, Villanova has a quarterback controversy on its hands. Andy Talley spent a good portion of his postgame press conference discussing this, as you'll hear in the player below.
It tells you just how much the game meant to Talley that he decided to forsake Chris Whitney's redshirt year in order to get the win. And it tells you just what kind of a coach Talley is that when Antwon Young told him late in the fourth quarter he would go out there and win the game, Talley gave him the chance.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Okay, the press box at Franklin Field isn't that high off the ground. But it's a long walk up, and if you don't believe me, ask all the other reporters in the press box who've been complaining about it for years.
And if you don't trust the media at all, that's what this election is all about, right?
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
We all know that outside of Penn State, college football doesn't resonate very much in this town.Short of the Nittany Lions making a BCS game, though, this weekend presents the best chance all year for the Saturday game to be in the spotlight.
It's nothing new for Penn State to play Temple, nor for Penn to play Villanova (at least at this point). But this year marks the first time since the Quakers-Wildcats series was renewed seven years ago that the two games are taking place on the same day.
- Poll: What's the Spectacle of the Week? (38 votes)
Reach Jonathan at jtannenwald@phillynews.com or 215-854-2330.
