College Football Recap

What a wild weekend in college football.

Oregon State shocked no.1 USC, Ole Miss took down no.4 Florida, and Alabama routed Georgia 41-30

But the most shocking score of all:

Duke 31 Virginia 3

Listen to the podcast below for my complete thoughts on this crazy weekend in college football.

The Ultimate Win

What do Hoosiers, Rudy, App St. beating Michigan, anytime Duke loses in basketball, and the Wake Forest Med School first year flag football team’s victory tonight all have in common?

The Underdog pulled off the shocker

Backlog

A few of us first year med students put together a flag football team for a league here at Wake. We didn’t really know what we were doing and barely squeaked out a win in our first game on Sunday. We knew we had the odds stacked against us for our second game against the big and bad second year med school team. This team had been ridiculously hyped up. They won their first game 19-0 on Sunday and had as their starting quarterback the president of the student government (who spent his college days as a backup quarterback at Davidson). We heard about how they had speed, strength, and 14 guys to shuffle in and out to keep their team fresh. And they had already played a whole year together.

Game Plan

We showed up with 8 guys (7 players on the field at one time) and immediately decided to install a new defense. We put 3 guys on the line and rushed 2 with the other guy on the line dropping back as a middle linebacker. We figured we’d have to bring some pressure on the quarterback and mix up our looks or he would just pick us apart. The defensive backs played a cover 2.

The plan for the offense was to take advantage of short dump down passes and to eat up clock.

The Shocker

We got the ball first and immediately drove the ball down the field and scored a touchdown (big time catch by Trey).

First play on defense The Scrapper (yours truly) drops back into coverage, picks off the QB, and takes it to the 2. We punch it in.

Defensive stand.

Touchdown us.

At the half we were up 20-0 but were fortunate that the other team’s qb hadn’t hit his stride yet. Second half came and they got to as close as 20-15 but with back to back sacks (including The Scrapper’s game-ending sack), we cruised to victory. And the first year med school class pulled off the ultimate shocker.

Players of the game

Ed (our qb-played quick and smart), Trey (defensive coordinator/stud), Carey (sack artist/sickest athlete ever), Jimmy (great coverage/spiritual leader), Brent(lockdown corner), Nick(reads QB’s eyes/cerebral), Scott (made the sickest no-look lateral pass in the history of flag football)…

It’s 1 in the morning and I’m still wired. I’m jacked up man. What a big time win.

Random Videos of the Day

“…I wanted to do hood rat stuff with my friends”

-7 year old Latarian Milton after driving away and getting into an accident in his grandmother’s car (see below).

That’s old news, Laterian is back in the news over some chicken wings…see below…

A Savage Beating

Dolphins 38, Patriots 13.

Punctuated by Ronnie Brown's 2 yard touchdown run, Ronnie Brown's 15 yard touchdown scramble, Ronnie Brown's 5 yard touchdown run, Ronnie Brown's 19 yard touchdown pass, and Ronnie Brown's 62 yard touchdown burst, the Dolphins bent the Patriots over on Sunday in Foxborough.

Tom Brady didn't play. Laurence Maroney was out with a shoulder injury. That's all well and good, but the Patriots defense was healthy, and they got completely abused for 60 minutes.

After looking like a little league team against the Cardinals last week, the Dolphins went into Gilette Stadium as laughable underdogs and played a perfect game of football, flat-out embarrassing the Patriots and handing them their first regular season defeat in 22 games.

The way the Dolphins won was just as unexpected as the final score. Using the 'Wildcat' offense, developed by quarterbacks coach David Lee while at Arkansas, the Dolphins repeatedly flummoxed the Patriots defense by lining Chad Pennington up at receiver and direct snapping it to Ronnie Brown. After it worked the first time, resulting in Miami's first score, fans on Dolphins message boards were reluctant to celebrate, believing that New England would adjust and that the Dolphins would have to find a way to score without relying on gimmick plays.

The gimmick play worked, over and over and over, resulting in 3 touchdowns in the first half alone, and alleged football genius Bill Belichick, mastermind of the vaunted Patriots defense, could do nothing to stop it.


Players of the game: Ronnie Brown (5 touchdowns), Joey Porter (3 sacks, backed up his trash talk), and Jake Long (dominated the Patriots defensive line all day, pictured below at the combine)




Are we seeing the start of something legitimate?

After last week, everyone (myself included) gave the Dolphins up for dead, expecting another season similar to last year's 1-15 nightmare. Things are looking a little bit different now. If the Dolphins can produce anything close to the level of play they displayed yesterday, they will be in the mix for the AFC East crown.

I'm not going to be foolish enough to predict a playoff berth now, but at the very least, this team has serious potential, and with Bill Parcells continuing to tinker with the roster, and Tony Sparano seemingly coming into his own as an NFL head coach, the sky is the limit for the Dolphins in the years to come. We are finally on the right track.

Having suffered through the last half decade as a Dolphins fan, it brings me immense relief to be able to honestly make that statement.

Memo to The Nation: The Scrapper is Back

I’d first like to apologize to the loyal members and followers of Scrapper Nation who have written me repeatedly over the last few months urging my return. Frankly, between applying to medical school, being involved in a bunch of extracurricular commitments, and trying to live up senior year, it was difficult for me to give Scrapper Nation everything it deserved.

What’s The Scrapper up to these days?

I’m actually a first year student at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and halfway through Anatomy- an introductory 12 week boot camp-like course where you dissect and learn everything in the human body. For me, it’s been without a doubt the most grueling, intense, and demanding period of my life.

Then why back to the Nation? Why now?

It’s a good question. I’ve never been busier, never been more exhausted; some days you wake up at 6 am and you don’t go to sleep till midnight and the only thing you’re doing is studying the whole day. Sometimes you lie in bed trying to go to sleep and the only thing you can think about is powerpoint slides or a group of nerves that won’t stop rushing through your mind (kind of like how Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart are going to rush all over the Bears today). It’s easy to let school take over, to become a robot, and to lose your sense and perspective on life and what makes you happy. And you know what makes me happy? What will never cease to bring a smile to my face?

• Jake Delhomme looking like he’s the best quarterback in the NFL.

• The Panthers marching the ball down the field to score a game winning touchdown with 0 seconds left on the clock to shock the Super Bowl-favorite San Diego Chargers.

• Steve Smith, D.J. Hackett, Muhsin Mohammed, Dwayne Jarret, Rosario + Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart creating one of the most dynamic offenses in the league.

• My Fantasy team dropping 140 points (thank you Wille Parker).

• Duke Football winning as many games this season (2-1 right now!) as they’ve won in the last 3 years combined.

• 12 gold medals around Coach K’s neck (how is that not an NCAA violation? Oh man…)

Sports. It’s the light of my life. And I’ve realized that no matter how difficult I think my life is, how low or down you might feeling, we all need to turn to something that we love to get us through. The Scrapper’s hopping back on board, ready to give the world his unfiltered thoughts. I’m not going to promise to write everyday, every other day, or even every week. There might be a tough period where I go away for a little while (read: med school is hard). But don’t worry, I’ll come back (and so should you).

I’ll be here live today from 1-4 pm if any of you want to chat about anything going on in The Sports World (see the Meebo application on the right).