The Cardinals World Series Proves Never Say Never

It happens so often in sports. A team gets ravaged by injuries or a team falls way behind the playoff race and they lose motivation and don't continue to fight. Just look at the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians this season.

In 2010 the Cincinnati Reds won the NL Central for their first division title since 1995 and just their second NL Central title in team history. With reigning NL MVP Joey Votto leading the charge, the Reds were looking for another division title this season. However, with three of their starting pitchers mising significant time, (Johnny Cueto missed all of April, Edinson Volquez missed almost two months in July and August, and Travis Wood missed all of July) they were unable to recover and lost hope in their season. Entering July the Reds were two games above .500 and were just 2 games behind the NL Central leading Brewers. By the end of the season, the Reds dropped 15 games on the Brewers and were 17 games out of the division lead.

After leading the AL Central for nearly every day for over four months from the beginning of April to Mid-July, the Cleveland Indians were finally surpassed in the division race by the Detroit Tigers. The Indians lost faith in their ability to make a comeback just as the Tigers had previously done to them. On July 10th, the Tigers were .5 games ahead of the Indians. By the end of the season, the Tigers had finished 15 games ahead of the Indians in the AL Central, as the Indians finished the season with a dismal record of 33-40.

The St. Louis Cardinals faced all of these hardships and more. They were struck by countless injuries like the Reds, they fell way behind in the playoff race like the Tigers, and they looked like they were down and out after they miraculous got into the playoffs several times. However, the Cards were able to overcome all of these difficulties and showed that you should never say never.

Injuries hit the Cardinals right away. With Chris Carpenter entering his 14th MLB season and beginning to age and the Cards not having much depth in their pitching staff, they were rallying on ace Adam Wainwright to have a huge season. The 30 year old was entering the prime of his career as well. However, before the season even began, it was announced that Wainwright would have to get Tommy John Surgery on his right elbow and that he would miss the entire 2011 season. The Cardinals realized the loss of Wainwright was a major one. Form 2009 to 2010, Wainwright had more wins than any other pitcher in the NL with 19 in 2009 and 20 in 2010. In 2010 he ranked 3rd in the NL in innings pitched, 3rd in WHIP, 4th in strikeouts, and 2nd in ERA. Those impressive numbers landed Wainwright a 2nd place finish on the NL Cy Young ballot after he had previously finished 3rd in 2009. Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said, "You're losing an ace. It's not something you can replace overnight."

Unlike the Reds, the Cardinals maintained their fighting spirit even after Wainwright went down before the season. Kyle Lohse said, "That's a big guy to miss. We still got to go out there and play. Nobody is going to fell sorry for us. We still have to go out there do our jobs." Although you can't replace a guy like Wainwright, the Cards still fought hard every day no matter who was pitching and got great contributions form their entire staff.

Jamie Garcia backed up his impressive rookie campaign with another solid year and didn't suffer the usually second year slump like Jason Hayward. Garcia's 3.56 ERA was the 6th best among lefties in the NL. In his 13th season in the MLB, Kyle Lohse had his best year. He had 14 wins, only the 4th time he has had double digit wins in his career, to go along with a 1.17 WHIP, a career best, and a 3.39 ERA, also a career best. From 2007 to 2010, Jake Westbrook had a record of 27-33. In 2011, Westbrook posted a 12-9 mark, his most wins since 2006 when he went 15-10 with the Cleveland Indians. Kyle McClellan, who was forced to fill the 5th spot in the rotation from April to July before the Cards acquired Edwin Jackson, did a magnificent job especially since he had never made an MLB start before 2011. In fact, McClellan began 2011 with a 5-0 record through 7 starts and had an ERA of 3.30. Although Chris Carpenter didn't have his best season, he was unbelievable in September. In his last 5 starts in September, Carpenter was 3-0 with an ERA of 1.28 and let up a total of 5 runs. In those 5 games, Carpenter had 2 shutouts including one on the final day of the season in a 8-0 victory over the Astros to clinch the Wild Card for the Cards. The real key behind the success in the Cardinals staff was their durability, which was so vital with their lack of starting pitching depth. Carpenter, Westbrook, Garcia, and Lohse all started at least 30 games.

Aside from getting over all of the injuries, the Cardinals made one of the most memorable comebacks in MLB history to just reach the postseason. On August 25th the Cardinals were 10.5 games behind the NL Wild Card leading Atlanta Braves. They weren't even the second place team in the Wild Card race, as the Giants were a full game ahead of them. On September 6th the Cardinals were 8.5 games outside of the Wild Card lead. Although the Cards could have lost hope several times during their comeback, they continued to play hard baseball. When the Cards were playing the Mets on September 22nd, they were leading 6-2 entering the top of the 9th and were 3 outs away from closing the Braves wild card lead to 1 game. However, the Mets scored 6 runs in the 9th to win their first game when trailing by 4 runs in the 9th inning since 2007. The loss was a devastating one for the Cardinals because they went from 1 game out with 6 to play to 2 games out with 6 to play. However, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said after the game, "Don't make a mistake and say we're heartbroken. Our heart's beating. We won the series, get ready for tomorrow." The Cards didn't seem to lose hope after the loss, as they finished their 22-9 stretch with a 4-2 run to end the season, while the Braves lost their final 5 games including a 4-3 battle with the Phillies in 13 innings on the final day of the season to give the Cardinals the NL Wild Card. The Cardinals became the first team in MLB history to make the playoffs after trailing a playoff spot by at least 8 games in September. Just getting into the playoffs showed the Cardinals resilience and their never die attitude.

If the Cardinals had bowed out to the Phillies in the NLDS, nobody have would faulted them. After the Rays completed their 9 game comeback over the Red Sox in September to reach the playoffs, they fell in 4 games to the Texas Rangers. The Cards spent a tremendous amount of energy just reaching the playoffs and they were facing a terrific Phillies ball club, which had won 102 games, their most in franchise history. However, the Cards once again refused to go down. After losing 11-6 in game 1, the Cards were on the brink of facing a deep 2-0 hole, as they fell behind 4-0 on the Phillies after just 2 innings. In many fans eyes with Cliff Lee on the mound, the game was over. Lee had a sub .100 ERA in the months of August and September and in his 10-year MLB career, he had never lost a regular season game, where he was leading by 4 runs. However, the Cards scored 3 runs in the 4th and then 1 run in the 6th and 7th to knock Cliff Lee out of the game after 5 earned runs and give the Cards a 5-4 victory. Even when the Cards seemed to be given no chance with the best pitcher in baseball Roy Halladay pitching against them in a decisive game 5 in Philly, Chris Carpenter pitched a shutout to send the Cards to the NLCS after a narrow 1-0 victory.

Looking back at the Cardinals season and how they fought and clawed for everything and were nearly down and out so many times, the way they won the World Series was only fitting. Game 6 of the World Series summarized the Cards season. Nearly down and out in the 9th and 10th inning, the Cardinals managed to somehow survive and win the game in the 11th. Trailing 7-5 in the 9th inning with 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd, the Cards were not only down to their last out, but they were down to their last strike. However, David Freese took a 1-2 fastball the other way from Neftali Feliz and banged it off of the right field wall over the head of Nelson Cruz to send Pujols and Berkman home and to tie the game up at 7. But in the top of the 10th the Rangers seemed to be on their way to winning their first World Series in franchise history after Josh Hamilton hit a two run home run off of Jason Motte to give the Rangers another 2 run lead. However, we've already seen this story before though. The Cards seem to have no chance but then suddenly fight their way back into the game. After scoring one run earlier in the 10th, Lance Berkman hit a single into center field after being down to his last strike to tie the game for the Cards once again. They were not to be denied and in the 11th, Freese came up again and hit a walk-off home run to center field that sent the series to a decisive game 7. In game 7, the Cards completed their miraculous run to a World Series with a 6-2 victory and sent Tony La Russa off in a good note.

Despite Their Losses, Clemson and Kansas St. Still Have A Lot To Play For

The rode to the BCS National Championship is always a rocky and difficult path. Teams have to survive their opponents best shot week after week and they have to be able to win close games. Just look at Auburn's season last year. The Tigers won 6 games by a touchdown or less including 5 games by just 3 points or less. Even a team like Kentucky, who were 2-6 in the SEC, played their best game of the season against the Tigers and just came up 3 points short. In a usual year, there are only one to three undefeated teams in college football. For most teams in the country, their strength and character is tested after they lose a game and fall out of the National Championship picture. Often times, it is much harder for a team to be motivated and get up for a game after a difficult loss than a team that is fighting for a title. While teams like Clemson and Kansas St. may have fallen out of the National Championship picture, they still have a lot to play for.

History shows that teams who have National Championship aspirations and drop a game are often susceptible to further losses down the road because they lose motivation. In 2010 Virginia Tech may have had its best team since 1999 when the Hokies were led by Michael Vick and were undefeated until they lost in the BCS National Championship to Florida St 46-29. The Hokies were in the preseason top 10 at number 6 but had a crushing loss in a highly contested week 1 game against the Boise St. Broncos 33-30 after Kellen Moore threw a game winning touchdown pass with a little over a minute remaining. The Hokies were so distraught over their loss and their National Championship dreams vanishing that they became the second team to ever be ranked in the AP Poll and lose to a FCS opponent when they fell to James Madison the following week 21-16 at home. No disrespect to James Madison, but there isn't a college football fan out there that believes that the Hokies would have lost that game if they had beaten the Broncos the previous week. However, the Hokies had an emotional let down and it put them in a horrible 0-2 hole to begin the season. That same year, Oklahoma rallied off 6 straight wins to begin their season with a perfect 6-0 record and the Sooners were the number 1 ranked team when the BCS standings were initially released. After giving up more than 485 yards of total offense in a 36-27 loss to the Missouri Tigers, the Sooners dropped to number 9 in the BCS standings and out of National Championship contention. The Sooners were unable to rebound from their difficult loss to Missouri and just two weeks later, the Sooners played a horrible game in a 33-19 loss to Texas A&M

Before Clemson's loss to Georgia Tech, the Tigers perfect 8-0 start was their best start since 2000 when they also began 8-0 and their number 5 BCS ranking was the best in school history. Those impressive numbers will now only add to the challenge for the Tigers when they try to recover from their 31-17 loss to Georgia Tech. Although a National Championship is now out of the picture for the Tigers, they still have a lot to play for. Since the ACC split into two divisions in 2005, Clemson has won the Atlantic division just once. In fact, Clemson has not won an ACC Championship since 1991 when the team was coached by Ken Hatfield. If the Tigers want to get to Charlotte, so that they can have a shot at winning their first ACC title in 20 years and making their first BCS Bowl game, they will have to recover very quickly from their loss because they have a huge game in two weeks against Wake Forest. If the Tigers fail to recover and fall to Wake, the Demon Deacons will have to beat a weak 2-6 Maryland team at home to win the Atlantic Division and just like that Clemson would be on the outside looking in. The Tigers also need two wins out of their last three games to win 10 games for the first time since 1990.

Kansas St. is in a very similar position to the Clemson Tigers. The Wildcats began their season with a perfect 7-0 record for the first time since 1999 and were number 8 in the BCS rankings. The Wildcats may have an even tougher time recovering from their first loss of the season than the Tigers for two reasons. First off, unlike the Tigers, the Wildcats had a lot of doubters after their 7-0 start and many fans believe that the Wildcats showed their true stuff after they were destroyed by Oklahoma 58-17 at home. The Kansas St. players are going to hear all week about how their 41-point loss shows who they really are and it may be tough for the Wildcats to have to handle all of the pressure of trying to prove those doubters wrong. Secondly, the Wildcats may have the hardest remaining schedule in the country. They have to travel to play #3 Oklahoma St. in Stillwater, then play #16 Texas A&M the following week, and then travel to Austin to play #24 Texas to finish up a brutal three game stretch. However, Kansas St. should be looking forward to the challenge. They are already bowl eligible and will play in a bowl game for just the 3rd time since 2003. The Wildcats need just one win out of their final four games to end up with at least 8 wins for the first time since 2003 when they went 11-4 and lost in the Fiesta Bowl.

One thing that the Tigers have that the Wildcats don't have is an explosive offense to help them get through their next few games. Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd ranks 7th in the country in passing yards and 3rd in touchdowns with 25 and his main target, freshman Sammy Watkins, is 7th in the country in receiving yards and 2nd in touchdowns with 10 in 9 games. Boyd and Watkins power a Clemson passing game that is averaging over 300 yards a game and that put up more than 50 points in 2 of their last 3 games. Unfortunately for Wildcat fans, Kansas St. lacks that offense firepower, which may prove to be costly when they face high powered offenses that score a lot of points like Oklahoma St. and Texas A&M. Out of 120 teams in the FBS, Kansas St. ranks 113th in passing yards per game, as Collin Klein threw for just 58 yards against Oklahoma last week.

Who Said Rookie Quarterbacks Need To Sit?

For years the popular assumption amongst NFL teams was that quarterbacks taken in the draft need to grab a clipboard and sit behind a starter for an extended period of time. Teams believed that their young quarterback could begin to learn the complex NFL defenses from the sidelines and then gradually step onto the field of play. However, the rookie quarterbacks this year have already proven that rookies don't need to sit behind a starter for an extended period in order to be successful in the NFL.

Although there are always exceptions like Aaron Rodgers, history has shown that quarterbacks who sit for the first few years of their career aren't guaranteed success in the NFL. In 2004, J.P. Losman was drafted with the number 22 overall pick by the Buffalo Bills. In 2004, Losman played sparingly as a backup behind Drew Bledsoe and attempted just 5 passes all season long. When Losman became the team's starter in 2005, he completed less than 50 percent of his passes and had as many touchdowns as interceptions, while leading the Bills to a 1-7 record in his 8 starts. By October of 2007, Losman was no longer the number 1 in Buffalo. In 2006, the New York Jets selected Kellen Clemens in the second round. They expected Clemens to sit behind Chad Pennington for at least a year and that is exactly what happened as Clemens attempted just 1 pass all season. When Clemens played in 2007, he threw 10 interceptions and had 3 multi pick games. Clemens fell into such low regards with the Jets that they traded for Brett Favre in 2008 and then drafted Mark Sanchez in 2009. In 2007, Brady Quinn was drafted number 22 overall by the Cleveland Browns out of Notre Dame. Quinn attempted just 8 passes in his first season in the NFL and sat behind starter Derek Anderson for the entire year. When Quinn finally got his chance to become the full-time starter two years later in 2009, he struggled so mightily that the Browns traded him to the Broncos the next year.

Cam Newton, the first overall pick of the 2011 draft by the Carolina Panthers out of Auburn, has made the NFL look way to easy in his first season. The starter for the Panthers since their opining game has been shredding apart defenses every week and the Panthers have been close in every game this season. Although the Panthers are 2-5, they have lost 4 of those games by one touchdown or less and their defense has really struggled, as they have allowed an average of over 30 points in their 5 defeats. Newton is leading one of the most high-powered offenses in the NFL. The Panthers rank in the top 5 in total yards, total yards per game, passing yards, passing yards per game, and rushing yards. Cam threw for over 400 yards in his first two career NFL starts. His 422 passing yards against the Arizona Cardinals in week 1 broke Peyton Manning's record for the most passing yards for a rookie on the opening day of the season. Newton also became the first player in NFL history to begin a career with two consecutive games of 400 yards passing. To go along with his passing, Newton has 7 rushing touchdowns, which ranks second in the NFL only behind Adrian Peterson. For all of you fantasy lovers, Newton is only behind Aaron Rodgers in fantasy points and his main target, Steve Smith, is leading the NFL in receiving yards with 818.

Although Blaine Gabbert has not posted the flashy numbers like Cam Newton has, he has been very effective for the Jacksonville Jaguars, who took him with their 10th overall pick in the 2011 draft. After taking over the starting role from Luke McCown following McCown's 4 interception performance in week 2 against the Jets, Gabbert has thrown just 2 interceptions in the last 5 weeks including no picks in his last 3 games. Gabbert has already shown in his young NFL career that he knows how to manage a game. Despite having a completion percent under 50 last week, Gabbert didn't make any mistakes and threw no interceptions in a 12-7 Jaguars win over the Ravens, who are one of the best teams in the NFL. Although Gabbert is still learning how to play the quarterback position, the experience he is getting by playing is benefiting him much more than if he was sitting on the sidelines and watching.

Although the Vikings were at first content to let their 12th overall pick, Christian Ponder, sit behind Donovan McNabb for at least one season, they have realized that rookie quarterbacks can play right out of college and have made the switch from McNabb to Ponder. The Vikings have found a down the field passing game with Ponder that will provide some balance for a rushing game that ranks 3rd in the NFL. In 5 games with McNabb, the Vikings completed just 3 passes of over 20 yards. In Ponder's first NFL start against the defending Super Bowl champion Packers, he completed 4 passes that were over 20 yards including a 73 yard pass to Michael Jenkins on the Vikings first play from scrimmage. With McNabb under center, teams crowded the box and Peterson had just one game of over 100 yards. However, the threat of Ponder throwing the ball down the field, allowed Adrian Peterson to have his best game of the season, as he ran for 175 yards an added a touchdown.

Andy Dalton, the Bengals 2nd round selection out of TCU, has led the Cincinnati Bengals to an impressive 4-2 start, which is as many wins as the Bengals won in all of 2010, as they finished with a 4-12 record. Dalton has led the Bengals to 3 consecutive victories after a 1-2 start. He has shown that he can win in a lot of different ways as well. In a 23-20 win against the Buffalo Bills in week 4, Dalton threw the ball 36 times and had 298 passing yards. In the following week, Dalton was able to manage a hard fought game and completed more than 63 percent of his passes in leading the Bengals to a 30-20 victory over the Jaguars on the raod. Dalton has thrown 7 touchdowns and has just 5 interceptions to go along with his 62.4 completion percentage in 6 starts. Dalton and A.J. Green, the Benglas 2011 first round selection out of Georgia, are beginning to develop a very dangerous connection as well. Green is amongst the top 15 in receiving yards and touchdowns.

Newton, Gabbert, Ponder, and Dalton have all shown that rookie quarterbacks don't need to sit behind a starter for an extended period in order to be successful in the NFL. The college football defenses, like LSU and Alabama, are so good now, that the leap to the NFL is not as significant and kids can come in and play right away. It is also an advantage to start quarterbacks right away because teams don't have to hold onto them and wonder whether they can play or not in the NFL because they can see what they have right away. Of the 32 current starting quarterbacks in the NFL, 14 of them started at least 7 games (except for the current rookies) for their current team in their rookie season.

Don't Sleep On The College Football Games This Weekend

After LSU knocked off the Oregon Ducks 40 to 27 in week 1 at Cowboys Stadium, every college football fan circled November 5th on their calendar in anticipation of the what some are now calling "the college football game of the decade" between LSU and Alabama. While it may be a stretch to go to that extreme, the matchup between the two SEC heavyweights features to be the best regular season game in years. The last time the top 2 teams in the country played in a game that was not a bowl game or a conference title game was back in 2006 when #1 Ohio St. beat #2 Michigan in both teams final regular season game of the season. Not only, are LSU and Alabama 1 and 2 in the BCS poll, but they have also been destroying all of their opponents. LSU has beaten 5 ranked teams by a combined score of 192-75 and they have scored at least 40 points in 4 of those 5 games. Alabama has scored at least 37 points in 6 of their 8 games and they have allowed an average of just 6.9 points per game. Although it is going to be tough to have to wait another week for this much-anticipated matchup, the college football schedule still has a lot of room for excitement this weekend.

If you are a college football fan who loves offense, then the Oklahoma St.-Baylor matchup is a perfect game for you to tune into. The Cowboys are averaging just a little under 50 points per game (yes 50 points per game), which ranks 2nd in the FBS and that includes a 45.75 point per game average in four Big 12 games. The Cowboys are led by a scary passing attack that ranks 2nd in the FBS in passing yards per game at 387. Oklahoma St. quarterback Brendon Weeden slings the ball all over the field and against any team as he showed when he threw for 438 yards against Texas A&M on the road earlier this year. The Cowboys passing game should fare very well against a Baylor defense that is allowing an average of 39 points per game in their three Big 12 games. In fact, Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw for 415 yards and 6 touchdowns against the Bears horrible defense. However, the Bears make up for their lack of a defense with an extremely potent offense. Heisman Trophy candidate Robert Griffin III leads the FBS in passer rating at 205.7 and completion percentage at 78.0. In fact, after Baylor's first four games, Griffin had just two more incompletions at 20 than touchdown passes at 18. Griffin will be looking to go to his main receiving target Kendall Wright, who had 201 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 36-35 Baylor loss to Kansas St. on October 1st. Aside from the fact that the game will feature a lot of offense and scoring, the matchup also carries an extreme amount of significance in terms of the National Championship. Oklahoma St. current number 3 ranking is the schools highest ranking since 1984.

Another game that has national championship significance is between undefeated and #5 Clemson and Georgia Tech. With South Carolina struggling at the quarterback position and without their star running back Marcus Lattimore for the rest of the season, the Yellow Jackets could pose the biggest threat all season to knock the Tigers off of the ranks of the unbeaten. Georgia Tech's potent running game, which is averaging 321.1 yards per game, will have to eat up clock and time of possession, so that it can keep the dynamic Clemson offense off of the field. If the Georgia Tech ground game sputters, like it did last week against Miami, the Clemson offense should have a field day. Tajh Boyd ranks 7th in yards passing and 2nd in touchdown passes with 24 and his main target, Sammy Watkins, ranks 2nd in touchdowns and 8th in receiving yards in the FBS and the kid is just a freshman. Boyd will be riding high after he had his best ever college football game ever last week, as he threw for 367 yards and 5 touchdowns in Clemson's 59-38 win against North Carolina in Death Valley.

Kansas St. is 7-0 for the first time since 1999 when they went 11-1 and finished 6th in the AP poll. The Wildcats will have a chance to show their doubters that they can play with the best of the Big 12, as they face #9 Oklahoma at home in Manhattan this weekend. Although the Wildcats are 4-0 in conference play, they have not played any team that is in the top 5 of the conference standings. To add to the difficulty of playing a very good Oklahoma team, the Sooners will be a very angry bunch after their dreams of reaching a National Championship may have been broken after their crushing 41-38 loss to Texas Tech at home last weekend. Kansas St. quarterback Collin Klein will have to play very well to keep the Wildcats in the game because the Wildcats defense isn't good enough to hold down an offense that is as talented as Oklahoma. Klein has been very effective in the Kansas St. running game. In his last three games, Klein is averaging 82 yards per game and he has 10 touchdowns in that span. Klein has 14 rushing touchdowns this season, which ranks 4th in the FBS.

While the "Suck for Luck" slogan is gaining widespread support in Miami and even in Indianapolis, Andrew Luck is currently focused on guiding his Stanford Cardinals to a National Championship. Dating back to last year, the Cardinals have won 10 straight games by at least 25 points, which has not been done for 75 years. The Cardinals rank 2nd in points per game at 48.6 and 4th in points against per game at 12.6. Luck is surgically picking apart opposing defenses each week and ranks in the top 10 in nearly every passing category. However, the Cardinals will have a very difficult test this weekend against the USC Trojans. Since USC is in the second year of their two year postseason ban (which includes the Pac 12 championship game), their matchup with #6 Stanford this weekend is like their bowl game because it is their most significant game all year. Matt Barkley has looked very good this season and he has found a great target in Robert Woods, who has 902 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns.

Stanford Will Have A Huge Test This Weekend Against Washington

After Stanford's 44-14 smashing against Washington St. last week on the road, the Cardinals improved to 6-0 for the first time in 60 years since 1951. Jim Plunkett won the Heisman Trophy in 1970 but his Cardinals lost their undefeated season very early that year when they fell to unranked Purdue in week 4. Even with the great John Elway behind center, the Cardinals never started a season 6-0. With the Cardinals unbelievable start and Heisman favorite and future number 1 overall pick Andrew Luck at quarterback, there is obviously a lot of buzz in Palo Alto. However, the Cardinals will have to avoid looking ahead to their top 10 clash with Oregon later in the year because they have a difficult test this week against #25 Washington.

The Washington Huskies struggles in the past few years have been very well documented. Since their 27 consecutive seasons with a record of .500 or better from 1977 to 2003 (the longest streak in Pac-12 history), the Huskies have really struggled to have any success. The Huskies have only had one season in the last 8 years where they have been over .500 in conference play including two seasons where they went winless. However, the Huskies look like they have completely turned their program around under Steve Sarkisian, especially recently. Since Washington began last season 3-6, they are 9-1 including a 5-1 start this year.

Washington's offense is capable of getting into a shootout with the Cardinals because they have a high-powered attack that can score a lot of points. The Huskies have scored more than 30 points in each of their 6 games this year and are averaging 37 points per game. Stanford's defense will not be able to sit back on the pass or pack the box for the run because the Huskies have great balance on offense. Washington will be Stanford's first opponent all season with a passing game and a running game that ranks inside of the top 50 in the FBS in both categories.

Keith Price has played behind even his coaches expectations and he is probably the best quarterback that nobody has heard of, as he ranks 5th in quarterback ranking and 2nd in touchdowns in the FBS. Price will have his toughest test this weekend because the Cardinals defense has shown that it is very good against the pass. In Stanford's 37-10 win over Arizona in Tucson in Week 3, Nick Foles threw for just 239 yards To put that in perspective, in Foles other 6 games, he has thrown for more than 375 yards 5 times. Aside from Foles, no quarterback has thrown for more than 215 yards against Stanford's defense.

The bigger question may be Stanford's ability to stop the run. Stanford has not played any team with a running back that is anywhere near as talented as Chris Polk. Polk has rushed for over 100 yards in 5 of Washington's 6 games this season and in the only game he didn't rush for 100 yards, he had 85 receiving yards and a touchdown to go along with his rushing touchdown. The Huskies will likely ride Polk once again this weekend, as he has run the ball at least 20 times in 5 of 6 games. 

Although the Huskies offense against the very solid Stanford defense is an intriguing matchup, the key to the game will be Washington's ability to stop the Stanford offense. Washington's defense has not been too impressive thus far. Nebraska scored 51 points and racked up 464 total yards against the Huskies defense in week 3, which is a sign for deep concern because the Stanford offense ranks 5th in the nation in points scored per game at 45.8.

Stanford will have to remember that Washington is a scary opponent because of their high-powered offense and be careful to not overlook them. Top teams overlook their opponent so often and often fall in an upset. Just look at the Big 12 last year. #5 Nebraska was 5-0 heading into a game against unranked and 3-2 Texas. Expecting to face the Oklahoma St. Cowboys in an undefeated clash the next week, the Cornhuskers played a horrible game and lost at home 20 to 13. Oklahoma was expecting an undefeated clash down the rode against their rival Oklahoma St. but at 6-0 they lost to Missouri to end that dream. 

Don't Sleep On The Oklahoma St. Cowboys

All of the buzz around college football this weekend is down in Dallas, Texas at the Cotton Bowl, as Texas and Oklahoma will go at it in the 106th Red River Rivalry. For the first time since 2008 both Oklahoma and Texas are ranked in the top 10 of the USA Today Poll and for just the second time since 2005 both the Longhorns and Sooners are undefeated coming into the showdown. Not only is Texas looking to rebound from its first sub .500 season since the polls began all the way back in 1941, but Oklahoma is ranked number 1 in the USA Today Poll and is looking to make their first BCS Championship game since 2008 when they lost to Tim Tebow and Florida 24 to 14. In a conference that has been dominated by Oklahoma and Texas, as the two have won the Big 12 nine times since 2000, people often overlook the other contenders in the conference. Although Oklahoma St. is ranked number 6 in the AP poll, the Cowboys have been flying way under the radar. As Oklahoma and Texas are once again in the forefront of the conference, the Oklahoma St. Cowboys are quietly taking care of their business and have a great chance of winning their first conference title since 1976 when they were in the Big Eight and their first ever Big 12 conference title.

The Cowboys are so dangerous and are so difficult to defend because of their prolific offense, which ranks 3rd in the country in total yards per game at 571.5. Oklahoma St. ranks 6th in the country in points per game at 46.8 and they have not been held under 30 points in any game this season. Their passing game is devastating to any defense. The Cowboys 415.5 passing yards per game ranks 2nd in the country only behind Houston. Oklahoma St. quarterback Brandon Weeden has thrown for more than 350 yards in all four of the Cowboys' wins including a 438 yard performance against the Texas A&M Aggies on the road two weeks ago in a 30-29 comeback win. Weeden's main target, Justin Blackmon, is one of the best receivers in the country. Dating back to last season, Black,on has had over 100 yards in 15 out of 16 games. Blackmon's 11 catch, 121 yard, and 1 touchdown game against Texas A&M is a normal line for the big 6-1 receiver. The Cowboys like to sling the ball out to Blackmon on first down, so that they can have a more manageable second down if they don't pick up the first down originally. Blackmon has 16 receptions for 197 yards on first down this season. The Cowboys have shown this year as well that they have other targets aside from Blackmon. Last week Josh Cooper had career highs in receptions with 11 and receiving yards with 123, while Hubert Anyiam added 10 catches and 92 yards in that game. Tracy Moore had 112 yards receiving against Louisiana-Lafayette in the Cowboys first game of the season. Since the Cowboys have such an effective passing game, many people forget that they can run the ball on teams as well. Joseph Randle is averaging 115 yards per game this season and is tied for the Big 12 lead with 7 touchdown runs. Randle said about the red zone, "It's time to shine when you get in there. It's the score zone."

Everybody knows that the Cowboys offense can score with anybody in the country. Oklahoma State's defense is the only thing that is going to hold them back. The Cowboys 27.5 points per game against ranks 75th in the country and only Baylor, Iowa St., and Kansas are allowing more points per game than the Cowboys in the Big 12. The Cowboys defense has struggled to get pressure on the quarterback. No Oklahoma St. player has more than 2 sacks this season. However, the Cowboys defense has shown that they can hold the other team down when they need to do so. In week 2, the Cowboys held the Arizona Wildcat offense, which ranks 3rd in the country in passing yards, to 0 points in the first half and put the game out of reach early. Texas A&M scored just 9 points and had 4 turnovers against the Cowboys in the second half, which was essential in Oklahoma St. erasing a 17 point halftime deficit.

The schedule sets up fairly nicely for the Cowboys as well. After Oklahoma St. plays Kansas at home this week, they travel to Texas and Missouri in consecutive weeks. After those two difficult games on the road, the Cowboys have Baylor, Kansas St., and Oklahoma all at home in Stillwater in three of their final 5 games. Since Brandon Weeden is a senior and Justin Blackmon will likely go to the NFL draft next year, this has to be the year for Oklahoma St. to make their first ever BCS Bowl game.

Clemson And Virginia Tech Set The Stage For A Great ACC Matchup

Since the ACC expanded and added Boston College, Miami, and Virginia Tech to the conference, it has been rare for an ACC matchup to be one of the most hyped games of the week, especially in a week when there are 6 other games between two teams that are both ranked inside of the top 20. Last year, there was not one ACC game where both teams were ranked inside of the top 15. In fact, the ACC champion Virginia Tech Hokies played just 3 ranked teams in the ACC all of last year and two of those teams were ranked outside of the top 20. Virginia Tech was the only team in the Coastal Division to finish the season in the top 25. However, the ACC has had a stronger start to this season and will be the center of attention this week when the 13th ranked Clemson Tigers travel to Lane Stadium to take on the 11th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg in a battle of undefeated teams.

For Clemson, all of the hype surrounding a gigantic conference game is uncharted territory. Clemson has failed to do much of anything in the ACC since 1991 when they won their last ACC conference championship. From 1999 to 2008 under Tommy Bowden, Clemson never won a division or conference title and they only had one really good shot to win the Atlantic Division when in 2007 they were tied in the standings with Boston College but lost to the Eagles 20 to 17 in their final ACC Game. Although Clemson did win the Atlantic Division in 2009, they were the only ranked team in the division and their defense was destroyed by Georgia Tech, who racked up 39 points in their ACC Championship Game victory over the Tigers. After huge wins over #19 Auburn and #11 Florida St, Clemson comes into their showdown with Virginia Tech with their first 4-0 start since 2007. To put Clemson's two early season victories in perspective, from 2006 to 2008 Tommy Bowden knocked off just 2 top 20 opponents. Lastly, Clemson desperately wants to make their first BCS bowl game and this victory would put them in a great position to achieve that goal. The Tigers need to win the Atlantic, so they can play in the ACC Championship game and have a shot at getting an automatic berth into the BCS. Clemson's biggest challenger this to win the Atlantic is Florida St. If the Tigers can pull out a victory on the road, they will be the leading the Seminoles by a game and essentially two games because the Tigers own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Noles since they beat them last week 35 to 30 in Death Valley. This will allow the Tigers a little breathing room at the top of the standings just in case they slip up in another conference game.

Virginia Tech has been wildly successful in the ACC since they joined the conference in 2004 from the Big East. The Hokies have won the conference in 4 of their 7 years as they took the ACC title in 2004, 2007, 2008, and 2010. Despite all of the success that Virginia Tech has had in the ACC, they have lost so many games early in the season in recent years. In 2007 #9 Virginia Tech was plummeted by #2 LSU on the road 48 to 7. In 2008 Virginia Tech opened up their season ranked #15 but lost to East Carolina 27 to 22. In 2009 the #7 Hokies lost to Alabama at the Georgia Dome 34 to 24 in week 1. Last year #6 Virginia Tech suffered an opening week lost for the third straight year as they lost to Boise St. and then they fell to James Madison in the following week. However, this year the Hokies have started 4-0 for the first time since 2006 and are looking to run the table in the ACC. Since the Hokies lost a non-conference game every year from 2007 to 2010, they haven't had a conference game with National Championship implications like this game with Clemson since 2005 when they were ranked #3 and lost to #5 Miami at home. While Clemson desperately wants to make a BCS Bowl game, Virginia Tech has a bigger goal in mind. The Hokies were picked by many to be a dark horse to win the National Champion at the beginning of the season. If the Hokies can knock off Clemson at home, they likely will not play any more ranked teams until the ACC Championship Game and will be in a prime position to make a run at playing in the title game.

The matchup to watch in this ACC battle will be the Clemson offense against the Virginia Tech defense. In four games this year, Clemson has scored an average of 37.75 points and has not been held under 35 points in any of those games. The Clemson offense scored 35 points on a very tough Florida St. defense last week, which was the most points that the Noles had allowed since Virginia Tech scored 44 points on them last season. The Virginia Tech defense will have to keep a constant eye on Clemson's dynamic quarterback Tajh Boyd. Boyd has thrown for 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns, while tossing just 1 pick in 4 games. Boyd threw for 386 yards and 4 touchdowns against Auburn and 344 yards and 3 touchdowns against Florida St and most of those yards have been to his favorite receiver Sammy Watkins, who had 155 yards and 2 touchdowns against Auburn and 141 yards and 2 touchdowns against Florida St. However, the Virginia Tech defense is definitely nothing to sleep on, as they are one of the best defensives in the entire country. The Hokies defense has allowed an average of just 10 points a game, which is the 6th fewest in the nation. While South Carolina allowed 37 points and just under 350 yards of total offense to East Carolina, the Pirates scored 10 points and had a total of just 112 yards on Virginia Tech's stout defense. The Hokies defensive ends, J.R. Collins and James Gayle, have combined for 8 sacks, which is the most for a combination of defensive ends in the country. It will be key that Collins and Gayle can get to Boyd in the backfield and force him to make throws under pressure.

How Bout That For Your Second Career Start?

By now everybody has heard about the monumental collapse of the Red Sox and the amazing play of the Rays that landed them the AL Wild Card spot. On September 3rd the Red Sox lead the Rays by 9 games but the Rays roared all the way back to pull within even of the Sox on the last day of the season. After trailing 7-0 after seven innings and failing to produce offensively with minor league pitchers like Dellin Betances and George Kontos pitching for the Yankees, the Rays sparked a furious comeback to win in extra innings shortly after the Red Sox had fallen to the Orioles in Baltimore 4-3. The Rays were obviously fatigued by the long month of baseball and the crazy ups and downs of the last night of the season. The Rays arrived at Rangers Ballpark at 4:30 the next day, about 24 hours before their playoff game there the next day. Rays manager Joe Maddon said, "It really draws a lot out of you. It's difficult to bring everything together from the conclusion of the last night to this curren moment. We celebrated. As we should have. We had some benign conversations on how to shape the roster. We're not even there yet." With all of the emotions and the lack of rest for the Rays, many people doubted their chances in game 1 on the road against the AL West champion Texas Rangers, whose potent lineup scored the 3rd most runs in the MLB during the regular season. Further questions were raised when Joe Maddon tabbed Matt Moore as his game 1 starter. However, Moore showed why he is touted as one of the top pitching prospects and one of the top 10 overall prospects according to Baseball Prospectus. More importantly, Moore has put the Rays in a great early position to advance to the ALCS.

To many people, the move to start a rookie, who has only started one game in his career, was not the best option for Joe Maddon. Maddon could have gone many other ways instead of throwing such an inexperienced pitcher onto the mound in such a pressure situation. Maddon could have called on his best pitcher all year, James Shields, to pitch on three days rest. Shields had been great the entire regular season for the Rays posting the third best ERA in the AL at 2.82. If Maddon felt that he wanted to save Shields until game 2 when he would be fully rested and at full strength, he could have also gone with established starter Wade Davis, who had pitched 8 innings and allowed just 2 runs in his last start. Another element that made many people disagree with the decision was that the left handed Moore would be throwing to a Texas lneup that is entirely made up of right handed batters aside from Josh Hamilton. 

Although there were obvious risks in starting a guy with such limited experience, Moore showed in his only start of the season against the Yankees on September 22nd that his stuff is good enough to frustrate any team on a given day from the Yankees to a great hitting team like the Rangers. Moore's combination of a mid 90's fastball and a devastating changeup makes him a difficult pitcher to hit against. In that game against the Yankees, Moore pitched 5 solid innings and let up no runs, while adding 11 strikeouts. After that game Joe Maddon said, "His composure, Yankee Stadium, throwing strikes, all those things speak to the makeup of Matt Moore." That statement by Maddon describes the reasoning behind why he chose Moore to start game 1 of a huge playoff series.

Moore definitely did not let his manager down by pitching an unbelievable game to give the Rays a 1-0 lead over the Rangers and a huge road victory. Moore pitched 7 innings of 2 hit baseball, while allowing no runs with 6 strikeouts. Moore got a big lift from his Rays offense as well, which clearly lifted a lot of pressure off of the 22 year old. By the time Moore came out to pitch in the bottom of the 3rd, the Rays already lead the Rangers 6-0. The early 6 run lead took the crowd out of the game as well and eased the nerves that Moore was feeling at the beginning of the game. Moore said, “I may have looked a little more clam than I was, especially early. The first inning, I had a little bit of nerves and adrenaline going. But these guys made it really easy for me, putting up those numbers. Looking up there are the fourth, I think it was 8-0, it was just a matter of throwing strikes and getting out of the innings as fast as possible.” Moore was also able to keep his pitch count down including having 2 half innings where he made less than 10 pitches, so he was able to last 7 innings and give a tired Rays bullpen a much needed extra day of rest. The Rays closer, Kyle Farnsworth, who had pitched in every Rays game except one since September 24th, got an extra day of rest with the Rays up 9-0 coming into the bottom of the 9th. Now that’s what you call an impressive second major league start.