Volunteers Offense Struggles Again In Loss To Georgia

By MoonDog | October 11, 2008

The Tennessee Volunteers traveled to Athens for a Saturday afternoon game against the No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs with thoughts of getting their season turned around. But the Vols weren’t able to turn much around as their offense continued to struggle, losing to Georgia 26-14.

The Bulldogs dominated the game, totaling 458 yards of offense to Tennessee’s 209.

Georgia’s offense controlled the clock, holding the ball for 42:09 and put the game away in the fourth quarter with a 17-play, 76-yard drive that lasted 10:59 against an overworked Tennessee defense.

Georgia RB Knowshon Moreno Gained 102 Yards Against Tennessee

Matthew Stafford had a career day, completing 25-of-36 passes for 310 yards and one touchdown. Knowshon Moreno became the first running back to gain 100 yards against Tennessee this season, rushing for 102 yards on 27 carries.

Tennessee (2-4, 0-3) is winless in SEC play for the first time since 2000 and is off to its worst start in 20 years.

Tennessee managed to convert both of Georgia’s turnovers into scores, scoring late in the second quarter after the Vols Robert Ayers picked off Stafford at the Tennessee 15 and returned it eight yards.

On the ensuing drive, Nick Stephens, making his second start since taking over for Jonathan Crompton, completed a 60-yard pass to Denarius Moore. The Vols got on the board when Stephens connected with Gerald Jones on a 2-yard pass to cap a six-play, 77-yard drive.

Stephens finished the game completing 11-of-30 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns.

Tennessee Head Coach Phil Fulmer

Tennessee’s offense couldn’t establish a running game against the Bulldogs, gaining only one yard on 15 attempts.

Dave Clawson, the Vols offensive coordinator, continues to produce a game plan that lacks originality and is now becoming more predictable with each game.

“I don’t know where our running game has gone,” Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said. “Offensively we’re just not getting any rhythm.”

“Everybody in the world is going to talk about me, about the staff,” Fulmer said, adding his staff and coaches have to determine “what kind of backbone have we got.

“I’m going to look them in the eye and say ‘I’m not quitting.’ We’ve kicked butt before. We’re getting ours kicked now. It will cycle back around.”

Tennessee drew 10 penalties for 97 yards, including four personal fouls, two of which helped Georgia regain momentum after Tennessee’s first touchdown.

Tennessee WR Gerald Jones Catches a 2-Yard TD Pass Against Georgia

After Tennessee cut the Bulldogs lead to 13-7 with 2:24 left in the first half, Georgia mishandled the ensuing kickoff and began from their 3.

Georgia methodically moved the ball down the field, capping a nine-play, 97-yard drive when Stafford connected with Mohamed Massaquoi on a 9-yard touchdown pass to put the Bulldogs in front 20-7 with 0:09 left.

Were it not for the Bulldogs two mistakes, Tennessee probably wouldn’t have scored.

The Vols Eric Berry intercepted Stafford in the end zone and returned it 54 yards to the Georgia 46, setting up Stephens 12-yard touchdown pass to Lucas Taylor to cut the Bulldogs lead to 20-14 with 5:37 remaining in the third quarter.

From there, Georgia put together two long drives and held the ball for over 17 of the remaining 20 minutes of regulation.

Tennessee will face Mississippi State (2-4, 1-2) next Saturday in Knoxville. The Bulldogs knocked off previously unbeaten Vanderbilt Saturday, 17-14.

   

Topics: NCAA Football, Southeastern Conference, Tennessee Vols Football | No Comments »

Memphis Mistakes Gives Louisville Win

By MFSKEN | October 11, 2008

The Memphis Tigers turned the ball over, had special teams breakdowns, dropped five passes and couldn’t manage the clock, literally giving away a 35-28 win to the Louisville Cardinals Friday night at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

Louisville RB Victor Anderson is Gang Tackled by the Memphis Defense

Memphis lost two fumbles, had a pass intercepted, allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown, had a field goal blocked and returned for a touchdown and a defensive breakdown allowing a wide open Pete Nochta to score on a 23-yard pass from quarterback Hunter Cantwell.

Post game comments from the Tigers head coach would have you believing Memphis played their best game of the season. If this is Memphis’ best, the Tigers are in trouble the rest of the year.

‘‘I’ve got to find a way to get our special teams better,’’ Tigers head coach Tommy West said. ‘‘Offensively and defensively, I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of a football team.

I don’t know if I’ve had one in the eight years I’ve been here play as hard as they did.”

‘‘Outside of our special teams, we pretty much dominated the game offensively and defensively. We played our tails off.’’

Memphis dominated statistically, finishing with 481 total yards to Louisville’s 299. Arkelon Hall was 33-of-55 for 350 yards and two touchdowns, running back Curtis Steele gained 80 yards on 16 carries and Carlos Singleton caught five passes for 83 yards to lead the Tigers.

Louisville quarterback Hunter Cantwell wasn’t spectacular but effective, completing 13-of-25 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Victor Anderson gained 81 yards on 15 carries to lead the Cardinals rushing attack.

Memphis took an early 7-0 lead after both teams committed turnovers on consecutive plays. After a Steele fumble was recovered by Louisville, the Tigers got the ball right back when Deante Lamar intercepted Cantwell at the Louisville 23.

Six plays later the Tigers scored on a 1-yard run by Hall.

Louisville tied the game early in the second quarter on a 43-yard touchdown pass from Cantwell to Trent Guy, who was wide open at the Memphis 10 when he caught the ball and glided in for the score.

The Tigers went ahead 14-7 in the second quarter, three plays after Hall hit Singleton for a 48-yard gain to the Louisville 7. On third-and-goal from the 1, receiver Maurice Jones took a handoff and threw back across the field to Hall for the score.

The Tigers lead lasted 14 seconds. On the ensuing kickoff, Guy raced 95 yards untouched to tie the game at 14.

Louisville's Johnny Patrick Blocks Memphis' Vinny Zaccario's FG Attempt

The Cards’ held Memphis on downs on the ensuing possession. Louisville’s Doug Beaumont returned the Tigers punt 25 yards to the Memphis 38, setting up the Cantwell pass to Nochta for an easy score and a 21-14 advantage with 2:05 left in the first half.

On their next possession, Memphis took over at its 14, driving into position for a Vinny Zaccario 47-yard field goal attempt with 13 seconds remaining.

After Louisville used its final two timeouts to ice Zaccario, the field goal attempt was blocked by Johnny Patrick and returned 60 yards for a touchdown by Brandon Heath as time expired in the first half, giving Louisville a 28-14 lead.

Memphis opened the second half by driving 69 yards in seven plays for a score, needing only 2:01 to cut Louisville’s lead to 28-21. Hall connected with wide receiver Earnest Williams on a 7-yard pass to cap the drive.

Memphis tied the game at 28 with 1:51 to go in the third quarter on a 12-play drive with Hall completing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Singleton.

Louisville took the lead for good at the 12:00 mark of the fourth quarter when the Cards’ Rodney Gnat sacked Hall, who then fumbled. Patrick swooped up the loose ball at the Memphis 21 and raced to the end zone to put Louisville ahead 35-28.

On the Tigers next possession, Memphis drove to the Louisville 9, where it faced fourth-and-4 with 6;30 remaining. West sent Zaccario out for a 26-yard field goal attempt, but called a timeout and re-inserted Hall, whose fourth-down pass to Singleton was out of the end zone.

Trailing by seven, the Tigers forced Louisville to give them one last chance. They forced the Cardinals to punt the ball back to them with 4:14 to go and one timeout. But Arkelon Hall’s three straight incompletions ended a chance for a rally.

Memphis (3-4) will regroup and return to C-USA play next weekend at East Carolina. Louisville, playing its first road game of the season, improved to 3-2 and will face Middle Tennessee State next week.

   

Topics: Conference USA, Memphis Tigers Football, NCAA Football | No Comments »

Marlon Brown Leads Harding Lions To Big Win

By MoonDog | October 11, 2008

Marlon Brown, one of the nation’s most highly recruited prep prospects, accounted for two touchdowns to lead Harding Academy (Memphis, TN) over Bishop Byrne (Memphis, TN) 35-14 Friday night.

Brown, a 6-5, 210-pound wide receiver that is rated among the Top 20 prep players in the nation, is considering offers from Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio State, LSU and Florida. He finished the game with five receptions for 74 yards.

Bishop Byrne's Justin Shaw is Tackled by Harding Academy's Jordan Church in the Lions 35-14 win.

Brown got his first passing touchdown of the season taking a direct snap, faked a run and tossed a 2-yard jump pass to Kevin Betts late in the first quarter to give Harding a 21-6 lead.

The play looked similar to one of Tim Tebow’s jump passes, the Florida Gators quarterback that ironically could be passing to Brown next season.

“I’ve said all along the only thing Marlon can’t do is throw it,” Harding coach Ryan Derrick said jokingly of his star player.

“But it’s a good play because he draws so much attention. He did a good job. He saw it and laid it in there.”

Brown caught a 10-yard pass for a touchdown from Phillip Branch in the third quarter to put the Lions up 28-6.

He also added a 44-yard interception return for Harding (6-1, 4-0). The Red Knights (2-5, 1-3) moved the ball effectively, gaining 282 yards but were never able to sustain any drives throughout the game.

Bishop Byrne drove inside the Harding 35-yard line on three of four possessions in the first half but came away empty on each.

Harding got on the board first when James Adkins scored on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Branch to give the Lions an early lead just 1:23 into the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, Bishop Byrne’s Antwon Freeman’s broke loose for a 91-yard return for a score that cut Harding’s lead to 7-6.

Drew Chick finished with a game-high 121 rushing yards and two touchdowns for Harding while Branch was 6-of-12 passing for 113 yards and two touchdowns.

Harding will be at home next week to face First Assembly (6-0, 4-0) at 7:00 p.m. Central. The winner of that game will more than likely advance into the state playoffs.

   

Topics: Harding Academy, Marlon Brown, NCAA Football, Prep Football, Southeastern Conference, Tennessee Vols Football | No Comments »

Links = Love From The MoonDog

By MoonDog | October 10, 2008

Some afternoon linkage from around the blogosphere I think you’ll enjoy.

Bloggers Are Idiots (AEM)

Another Take on the Tony Franklin Firing (Lisa H)

Ciara Shows Off Her Goodies (Epic Carnival)

College Football Picks (Hugging Harold Reynolds)

Chicks Dig the Red River Rivalry (Intentional Foul)

Kate Beckinsale is Smokin’ (On 205th)

Perfect Halloween Costumes (The World of Isaac)

Interview With Curtis Granderson (Awful Announcing)

Was The Kimbo Slice Fight Fixed? (Cheat or Beat)

Browns’ Winslow Hospitalized (The Football Chick)

Sports Platforms For Politicians (Steady Burn)

O.J. Could Play Prison Football (The Sports Culture)

The Georgia Bulldogs Suck (Losers with Socks)

   

Topics: Hot Link of the Day, NCAA Football, NFL, Politics, Southeastern Conference, Tennessee Vols Football | 2 Comments »

Missouri vs OK State Over/Under On Steroids

By MoonDog | October 10, 2008

Saturday’s contest between Missouri and Oklahoma State has a current over/under of 78, about 70 points below where it should be.

With both teams averaging over 50 points a game, this has the potential to be the highest scoring game of the season, at least until the Cowboys square off against Texas Tech on November 8.

Missouri QB Chase Daniel

I’m not a betting man (yes I am) so my interest in the game is purely objective. I want to see two fine football teams get after each other in what should be the equivalent of a Texas Tornado Steel Cage Death Match.

Oddsmakers have made a huge mistake because these two teams will easily combine for more than 78 points.

While I’m not an expert on these things (yes I am), I’m predicting the halftime score will be Missouri 56, Oklahoma State 34.

After each team’s coaches lambaste their respective defenses, giving a Knute Rocke-like pep talk, the scoring will be very limited in the second half.

In the end, I expect Missouri to win because they’re defense is just a tad better than the Cowboys and thus, the Tigers will defeat Oklahoma State 96-64.

Even though I lack the prerequisite knowledge to offer an accurate opinion (yes I do), believe me now and I tell you again, bet the OVER because 78 points will be the total combined points scored in the first quarter.

Please Read the Disclaimer Below

MoonDog Sports is not an official betting site and should not be construed as such. The owners and author of this web site is in no way affiliated with any official or legal online sports book.
The information contained within this post is for entertainment purposes only and should not be used as a source information in making a wager.

   

Topics: NCAA Football | 1 Comment »

Eva Longoria: The Sexy Mexi

By MoonDog | October 10, 2008

Eva Longoria was born March 15, 1975 and has risen to fame by playing Isabella Braña Williams on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless and Gabrielle Solis in the ABC television series Desperate Housewives.

She has also become a nationally recognized model after appearing in several high-profile advertising campaigns and numerous men’s magazines, reaching #14 in the FHM “Sexiest Women 2008″ poll.

Of course, as we sports fans are well aware, Longoria is married to San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker, one of the luckiest bastards on the entire planet.

If not for my peaceful nature, I’d have some relatives whose names end in vowels have a word or two with Parker so I could get a crack at Eva. (I still love you too Jennifer Aniston, CK, and Horne - you’re my top three, I swear).

But in the meantime I’ll have to wonder about the possibilities. Enjoy this gallery of the very lovely Eva Longoria, and as always, no drooling on my site.

[Show as slideshow]