CigarSmokinFootball

Cigar Butts Week 1

 
This past weekend was billed as the Greatest Opening Weekend Ever, and it didn’t disappoint. Upsets were a’plenty and there were some great games. Except for most of the teams of the Great White North Conference (Big Ten), there were some marquee matchups. The SEC had plenty of marquee matchups, the ACC joined in with a few, the Big 12 that only has ten teams jumped into the fray, even the PAC-12 offered their leaders on the alter, but not the Great White North. They should be embarrassed, but they probably aren’t. Most Sportswriters and commentators did not do well in their picks. There is a reason for this, THEY DIDN’T READ CIGARSMOKINFOOTBALL! It was all right here! So far we have gone undefeated, the Ole Miss game excepted. Hopefully they’ve, the sportswriters, have learned their lesson, but I doubt it. Worry not though, I’ll be rubbing it in a lot!

 
Appalachian State vs (9) Tennessee– For a team that had a lot of press going their way, the Volunteers were embarrassed. To all my UT fans, yes, a “W” is a “W” and the Vols won, but to struggle against a team like Appalachian State when your team is picked to win the SEC East, Wow! What a letdown. To all those commentators that said UT was the golden child of the SEC, “ We told you so!” The Vols offensive line could not handle the rush of the Mountaineers, Josh Dobbs, who was already crowned the QB of the year, made some terrible throws. Just terrible. The vaunted running game failed to show up and the defense did not stop App State, the Moutaineers did all they could to stop themselves. During the USC vs. Alabama there were some UT fans in the stands that had a sign with the date of the Bama game which read, “We’ve got this”. Really did they watch the games this weekend? Nothing like blind loyalty among your fans.

 
South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt– Coach Boom got the win, they beat the last place team in the entire SEC, Gee, way to go. The Gamecocks struggled to beat student-athletes who are more interested in what engineering paper they have due then they are in football. Again, they got the win, but to take something away from this game it is that Coach Boom is off to a very shaky start. He told everyone that would listen, “that anyone who knows football and knows him knows he’s a good coach.” I guess results don’t matter much in his world. USC-South should be very glad they’re in the SEC-East and will not end up at the bottom of the league. Maybe he was hired to recruit some good players for a couple of years until the school can get a real “Winner” of a coach. Granted, that’s a conspiracy theory but here at CSF we love conspiracy theories.

 
Army vs Temple– No one, and when I say no one, I mean not a living soul, believed us when we wrote that Army was going to win. So what do the Black Knights of the Hudson do? They go out and beat up Temple. Again, to all the sportswriters out there, “Ner, Ner, Ner!” We told you so. Army is a much better team than they were last year. Not saying they’re going to make it to the playoffs but the Army goes rolling right along.

 
Kansas State vs Stanford- The Wildcats of the Little Apple played a heck of a game. The defense was their forte and they did everything they could to shut Christian McCaffrey down. They did a commendable job. Did anyone read how McCaffrey padded his Heisman votes? There’s a reason for this. K-State played their hearts out and came up short. The biggest problem was their QB play. Many, many mistakes. But Coach Snider will work with this kid and get him up to speed. It was a great game to watch.

 
Furman vs Michigan State– The Spartans jumped all over the Paladins from the opening kickoff. They built up a lead and then let their foot off the gas. When Furman mounted a spirited Calvary attack the phalanx from East Lansing proved up to the task and halted Furman’s thrust. Michigan State won but they do that again, against a better team, and it could be a different story.

 
Saturday

 
Oklahoma vs Houston– The Cougars went after the Sooners all game long. They never ever let up and it paid off with a victory. OU had visions of a national championship dancing in their heads during the off season, and they still might make it, but they didn’t do themselves any favors starting off with a loss. But let’s give credit where credit is due, Houston played a heck of a game. They scored in every way they could, including a Kick-Six off a short field goal attempt! It was a beauty to see – not like Auburn doing it against Bama a couple of years ago. UH wants to be the first team that makes it to the play off that’s not part of the Power Five Conferences, and they enhanced their resume with the win over OU. Again, we called it, ESPN said it wasn’t going to happen. Score another victory for the cigar smokin football team.

 
UCLA vs Texas A&M-The Daughter had a hard time watching this game. A&M was up and then they were down, then they were up again. The Aggies looked like they were going to run away with this game only to let the Bruins come back and take the lead. But in “Knight they trust”, and, thank goodness, he came through. At the end of regulation the game was tied and The Daughter was fit to be tied. But there is something about playing at Kyle Field. Those Aggies fans believe and they are loud. A&M got the ball first in overtime and Knight ran the ball in for the score. “Chosen Rosen” had been on fire, he got UCLA down inside the 10 yard line, fourth and goal, they had to go for it. Rosen threw the ball to an open receiver and at the last minute, a diving Aggie’s hand knocked the ball away. Game over. More than 100,000 Aggie fans lost their minds, The Daughter included. Truth be told, we had serious doubts picking A&M to win, but we stuck with our gut and, whew! We were right. Yea, Us!

 
LSU vs. Wisconsin– LSU had the same problem they had last year, QB Harris. It’s the exact same bland cookie cutter offense they ran last year. They put all their faith in RB Fournette to win the game. Wisconsin knew this, obviously they read CigarSmokinFootball.com, so they put eight to nine players in the box to stop the run and dared Harris to pass. The Badger defense was throwing their bodies all over the field. Whenever Fournette got the ball there were red jerseys all around him. He gained 124 yards but he had to fight for every one of them. As the game was winding down the Tigers were driving down the field, for some reason that no one can figure out, Coach Les Miles calls for Harris to throw the ball. He showed all those people who believed that he had improved why they were wrong. He threw it right into the numbers of a Wisconsin player. Game Over Badgers win. Wisconsin bought into the mystique of Lambeau Field and the Bayou Bengals didn’t. Called it!

 
Georgia vs. North Carolina– Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart made his debut and he didn’t disappoint. There were times in the game where it looked like UNC was the better team. But the Dawgs’ defense tightened up and started playing much better. The Dawgs pulled starting QB Lambert for the Freshman Eason and it paid off. The Offense responded to their new QB and moved the ball. Eason had a lot of help as he could hand the ball off to RB Chubb who ran for 222 yards. After a horrible knee injury last year, Chubb is back! UGA pulled off the win over a very good Tarheel team. Look for UNC to make a run for the ACC championship again. Yes, that could be an over reaction from only one game, but, hey, we do that.

 
USC vs Alabama– In the game of the night the Trojans of USC traveled to Dallas, Texas, to take on the defending National Champions, Alabama, at a neutral site. Weeks before the game, USC was selling t-shirts in their bookstore that said, “Roll Tears Roll” I bet they’re regretting that now. Alabama crushed, just crushed, USC, 52-6. The defense tore up the Spartans’ offensive line and layed the lumber on every ball carrier USC had. It was a clinic in defensive play. They kept USC-West out of the endzone for the first time in, like, 29 years! The Offense, on the other hand, started slowly. Freshman QB Barnett started and he honestly never had a chance to show what he could do. The offensive line was playing terribly, causing me to have an ulcer. St. Saban made the switch to the true Freshman Hurts, and the Tide started to roll. Wow, did they ROLL! No tears here. In the third quarter Barnett got back into the game and he delivered. Now Alabama has two very good Quarterbacks. Let that fact sink in a minute. Here is the scary part. From Coach St. Saban all the way down to the second unit, players were not happy with the way they performed. Not. Happy. At. All. Should the Tide get better, they could resemble a Texas Chainsaw movie for opponents. That will make me very happy. Most of the talking heads picked Bama, so we can’t rub that on in. Dang it.

 
Clemson vs Auburn– Clemson should have run all over the Tigers of the Plains, but they didn’t. Clemson won, but not in the style they thought they would. The high octane Tigers’, Clemson variety, attack was not in evidence. QB Watson did not resemble the way he played last year. Everything about Clemson was off, they just couldn’t get it together. I know what some of y’all are saying, “Maybe Auburn is just SO much better than you thought.” Nope, the Tigers, Auburn variety, did not play well, and it wasn’t the defense that was stopping Clemson, it was Clemson stopping Clemson. If Dabo’s Tigers want to play for another chance at the title, they’ve got to improve, a lot!

 
Sunday

 
Notre Dame vs. Texas– HA! Another game where everyone was picking Notre Dame to win. The Irish came into the game ranked number 10. They were going to show the world what they were made of and beat up Texas, this time on the Longhorn’s home field. Er, it didn’t work out quite that way. Texas has a Freshman QB that can actually throw an accurate pass. Texas built up a lead, 31 to 14. ND came storming back, the outcome looked in doubt for the Horns. Then the wildest series of events of the entire weekend took place. Texas scored a touchdown to take a two point lead, with the extra point to go. UT kicked it, ND blocked it, it bounced right into the hands of a running Irish player who returned it all the way back for two points. Game Tied! Overtime! First overtime, both teams scored a touchdown. Notre gets the ball to the start the second OT and could only manage a field goal. Texas drove down to the six, where they put in the 18-Wheeler package with Swoopes as QB. He dove into the endzone, TEXAS WINS. To all the Sportswriters out there, WE WIN, YOU LOSE! Since Notre Dame was ranked 10th and lost to an unranked Texas team, the bias of the sportsworld will probably only drop the Irish to 11th.

 
Ole Miss vs. Florida State– What the heck, Ole Miss! You ruined my record! The Rebels came out of the gates against FSU with their hair on fire. The fast-paced offense caused havoc on the Seminoles’ defense. The Rebs jumped out to a 21-13 halftime lead. Ole Miss scored fast and often in the first half. Then came the second half and the roles reversed. Florida State took the ball and scored. UM got the ball and turned it over. FSU scored again, and this became the pattern. The Ole Miss offense could not hold on to the ball! This caused the Ole Miss defense to spend way too much time on the field. By the end of the 3rd quarter, they were gassed. This led the Seminoless to mount the biggest comeback in their school history! Florida State won it, 45-34. Dadgummit, we weren’t undefeated! I guess the sportswriters got one over on us.