College Football Play of the Day

A beautiful college football Satuday today and not one great game, but lots of good games are on tap.

Two SEC road teams from the state of Alabama are the play today.

The first will be Alabama playing at South Carolina.  The line is Bama -7 and I like the Tide to roll by two touchdowns or more.  The Tide are the class of college football and South Carolina won't cause them any problems.

The other play today has to be Auburn.  Auburn is going on the road at Kentucky and is only -6.  Cam Newton and Co. will pull away in the second half to cover that -6.

Two plays today, Alabama and Auburn.

Following Beating, Bear's Cutler Out for Sunday

He took a beating of epic proportions against the Giants, and now Bear's QB Jay Cutler will sit out this Sunday.

Cutler was sacked nine times in Sunday's loss before exiting the game with a concussion in the second quarter, and he was limited in Wednesday's practice while recovering from the injury.

Bear's Coach Lovie Smith informed backup Todd Collins on Thursday that he will step in for Cutler.

It will be Collins' first start since the 2007 playoffs when he started for the Washington Redskins in a wild-card round game at Seattle. Collins guided the Redskins to a victory over the Bears in Week 14 of that season when starter Jason Campbell was lost for the season with a knee injury. It was the first of four victories Collins guided the Redskins to, taking them into the playoffs.

Collins was signed in August after Caleb Hanie suffered a right-shoulder injury at San Diego in the preseason opener. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz had lobbied for months to get an experienced backup in place, and finally received his wish when Collins was signed to a $1 million, one-year contract.

Collins has gone long stretches without starting, and rarely played the past two seasons with the Redskins. He had long spells in Kansas City previously in his career where he simply held a clipboard.

It looks like Cutler should be back for the Bears next game.

Moss to Vikings, It Won't Make a Difference

 

The Sporting News says it's "Super Bowl 45 or bust" for the Minnesota Vikings. I say it's going to be bust, even with new wide receiver Randy Moss in the fold.

Moss helps them a little, but can one wideout make that much of a difference? They will still finish 8-8 at best. Why? Well for one,

The Vikings have a brutal schedule, with four games remaining against teams that are currently under .500. Their next four games are particularly challenging -- at New York, Jets, vs. Dallas Cowboys, at Green Bay Packers and at Patriots. The games against the Jets, Packers and Pats are most intriguing. After the next three games we'll be able to tell where the Vike's will finish. Randy Moss will help improve Brett Favre's attitude, at least for the moment. Lose a couple more games and Favre will be sulking. This and the fact that Moss can be distracting in the lockerroom will hurt Favre and Co. in the long run.

ProFootballTalk.com is reporting that Moss was becoming a distraction in New England before the Patriots traded him. This is nothing new, Moss eventually becomes a distraction wherever he is.

 One final reason Moss can't get the Vikings to the promised land is he isn't as good as he once was. He appears to have lost a half-step and he may have a year or two left at a high level. The Vikings don't care about a year from now. They want to win now, and the NFC is ripe for the picking, but this trade will yield a lot of talk, but not a lot of results.

UGA Football Cleans House... Doghouse that Is

The bad start to the football season for The University of Georgia is causing some serious personnel changes in Athens.  No, Mike Bobo is not out as offensive coordinator.  Mark Richt is still in charge, but a very important change is about to be made.

A new Uga mascot will make his long-awaited debut at the Oct. 16 game against Vanderbilt in Sanford Stadium, Sonny Seiler told the Atlanta Journal Constitution today. Seiler, of Savannah, owns the line of white English bulldogs that have served as Georgia’s mascot since 1956.

The plan is to hold a “collaring” ceremony for Uga VIII before kickoff of the Vanderbilt game. He said UGA President Michael Adams, new athletic director Greg McGarity, Seiler family members and interim mascot “Russ” will participate in the ceremony.

Uga VII died unexpectedly on Nov. 19, 2009, of heart-related causes.

Russ, UGA VII’s 5-year-old half-brother, has been serving as fill-in mascot while the Seiler family identified and readied the next Uga. Russ was said to be too old to be considered for the role of Uga VIII.   Russ had a 3-4 record as its mascot — 2-0 at the end of last season, but a disappointing 1-4 so far this season, so a change had to be made.

Let's wish the best for Uga VIII, on the field and off.  If this Uga doesn't work out, we may have to look at replacing Seiler as the official breeder.

Week 5: Fantasy Football Buy or Sell

The Kansas City Chiefs are the only unbeaten team in football? I can't even believe I'm typing that. Bye weeks are now a factor, and it was for many fantasy players last week including myself.

Matchups are key for many when looking at who to start and sit and even who you might want to pick up on the free agent market. This week the byes go to Miami, New England, Seattle, and Pittsburgh.

Let's look at who you should buy and sell.

Buy:

Kyle Orton, QB Broncos - If you have Orton and haven't been starting him you have been making a mistake. He is throwing the ball a whopping 44 times a game. He leads the league in passing yards and the Broncos cannot run the ball. Start Orton!

Ben Roethlisberger, QB Steelers - Big Ben is about ready to come back and I think he will be strong. Get ready to start him.

Ryan Torain, RB Redskins - Torain might be the man to carry the ball in Washington with Clinton Portis being unreliable. Torain had 70 yards and a TD last week.

Brandon Pettigrew, TE Lions - He is making plays and catching balls for Detroit. Strange that he is becoming a favorite target of Detroit QBs. He's a good option to start each and every week.

LaDainian Tomlinson, RB Jets - I'm a believer, and you should be too. So far, he has 341 yards on 56 carries. Great production for this player many gave up on. Can he keep it up?

Cowboy's D - Many good matchups coming in the next few weeks. They should be a good play.

Sell:

Jay Cutler, QB Bears - Culter might have had his best games of the season. He took a beating against the Giants. He might play this week, but you might want to sit him.

Brandon Jackson, RB Packers - Jackson hasn't done much the past two weeks. Look for a better option that Jackson until the Packer's offense get rolling again.

DeAngelo Williams, RB Panthers - Hasn't done much of anything this season. If you have him, you might want to consider trading him to someone in need of a running back.

Dolphins D - A bad game against the Patriots, and not making the plays they should be making. They are on a bye this week, you might find a better option anyway.