Sports Agenda for Monday (9/23/13)
Top Stories:
Now that was a fun weekend of football. The Dolphins are 3-0, yes, the Dolphins are 3-0. The Canes laid a whuppin on Savannah State, like I said. FIU got taken out behind the woodshed by Louisville. There's a sign of apocalypse in the SEC East. And the Marlins need just one more loss to hit 100, you can do it guys! All in the Agenda.
Quote of the Day:
"You can lead a man to Congress…but you can't make him think!" – Milton Berle
Miami Dolphins: (off Monday, next game @New Orleans next Monday)
First of all, how about that drive to end the game and nice snag by Dion Sims with one hand in the end zone?
Tannehill needed that drive to keep moving ahead in his maturation this season.
What's really bizarre about the game is that Miami shouldn't have been in the game.
Atlanta gained 377 yards to Miami's 285 yards and the Dolphins managed just 90 yards rushing in the game on 15 attempts. Take out Lamar Miller's 49 yard scamper on one play and the Fins rushed the ball 14 times for 41 yards. That ain't pretty.
Also, Miami didn't record a sack against a patchwork offensive line from Atlanta and the Falcons held the football for 37 minutes to the Dolphins 23 minutes.
Yet still, Miami won.
I like a team that can be dominated and still find a way to win.
I still don't know what Brian Hartline was thinking when he tried to dance, but yknow, maybe he'll get better as the season goes on.
A couple of things I noticed about Miami…they didn't beat themselves…2 penalties in the game, 0 turnover margin, and the Fins were 3-3 in the red zone.
That will win you some games in the NFL.
But you also have to tip your hat to Matt Ryan of the Falcons.
He played great for most of the game and kept the Falcons in the game throughout with his quick passes that negated the Dolphins pass rush.
And what about Julio Jones. Talk about beast mode. That kid is nasty and only getting better.
One other thing the Dolphins did that I liked…spread the ball around.
Nine different receivers caught passes from the Tannehill including four players with at least four catches apiece.
What I didn't like….can someone protect Tannehill please? Another five sacks and he's become the most sacked quarterback in the NFL at 14 on the season.
I don't care how tough he is, no one is going to be able to survive a pace of 70-80 sacks on the season.
Business picks up next week when the Fins travel to New Orleans to play Drew Brees and the Saints.
But think about this Fins fans….
The Dolphins have already beaten Andrew Luck and Matt Ryan. If I told you that at the beginning of the season, would you have taken it?
Don't look now either, but teams that start 3-0 have a 75 percent chance of making the playoffs (84 of 116 teams since I think it's 1990).
Those are some good odds.
If Miami makes it to the bye week with at least 4 wins, I think the playoffs are all but certain.
Miami Hurricanes:
Luckily, there's not much to write about this one except…dadgum that scoreboard operator slept well after that game.
77-7 was about what we were expecting back here.
Best news for the Canes is Stephen Morris is alright and not out for an extended period of time with just a bone bruise.
That's about all that needs to be said about this game.
But there's another Miami team that we need to discuss and it's not pretty.
FIU:
Just think about this for a second…
Two years ago, FIU was a team that went to Louisville and beat the Cardinals on their home turf.
Two years later, FIU went to Louisville and just got pasted 72-0.
I know there's controversy about whether FIU asked for a running clock in the second half, but it doesn't matter.
One thing matters for this school and program if it ever wants to be relevant again.
The school has to fire it's athletic director, or whatever he changed his title to, Pete Garcia.
His moves have been mind numbing at best, namely firing a great recruiter in Mario Cristobal and hiring Isiah Thomas.
Those two moves by themselves should get a guy fired who was handling personnel in major college sports.
Yet he hangs around and continues to watch as the program he's supposed to be in charge of continues to get run into the ground.
The Ron Turner hire?
Yeah, another completely mind-numbing move from Garcia.
We need a coach…let's go get someone who was run out of college football a decade ago for being an awful coach at a BCS school.
Here's what you need to know about FIU this season.
124th out of 125 teams in scoring defense
125th out of 125 teams in scoring offense
124th out of 125 teams in total offense
102nd out of 125 teams in total defense
Michael Brown and FEMA didn't screw things up this bad…okay, maybe that was a stretch, but you get my drift.
It is going to be entertaining to watch if nothing else because I can tell you this, there's not a winnable game left on FIU's schedule.
0-12?
Yeah, it's a distinct possibility.
Incidentally, the last time a Ron Turner coached college football team won a game….November 6, 2004 against Indiana.
Before that….September 18, 2004 against Western Michigan.
This Week's Sign Of The Apocalypse (SEC East edition):
In a division with Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida there's one team in the SEC East without a loss after four weeks.
The Missouri Tigers
Wait, that can't be right. Actually, it is.
Granted Mizzou's competition has been meager at best, but for a team that struggled to do anything right last year, it's an accomplishment.
So how is Mizzou doing it?
The offense is clicking, averaging 47 points per game through three games.
James Franklin is leading the offense to 567 yards per game.
And, believe it or not, the Tigers are holding opponents to about 21.7 points per game.
Plus, the Tigers are disciplined, having just 11 penalties on the season and have a whopping nine interceptions on the year.
Here's the bizarre part.
Assuming the Tigers beat Arkansas State, they head into their SEC schedule at 4-0.
First up will be the up and coming Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville.
Let's just say for fun, Missouri comes out ahead against Vandy.
They could be 5-0 heading into the Georgia game, who struggled against North Texas.
Now, I'm not saying they can beat Georgia, Florida, or South Carolina…but I think they can beat at least one of them.
Go figure huh?
By the way, my comment on Friday….UM will win by at least 50, FIU will lose by at least 50, Mizzou will win on the road in Indiana, and the Dolphins will win. 4-4!
