[CTcard]

N.D. taking some body blows from Louisville -- Cardinal...s up 14-7 right now. Hard to say whether it's your typical underdog sugar high or not but I'd be a bit nervous if I were an Irish fan.

That game is turning into an ugly-fest. After TDs on four of the first five drives of the game, the teams combine to go: punt, downs, punt, punt, punt, punt, fumble, fumble, fumble - with those fumbles coming on three consecutive plays.

First games.

[CTcard]

N.D. taking some body blows from Louisville -- Cardinal...s up 14-7 right now. Hard to say whether it's your typical underdog sugar high or not but I'd be a bit nervous if I were an Irish fan.

That game is turning into an ugly-fest. After TDs on four of the first five drives of the game, the teams combine to go: punt, downs, punt, punt, punt, punt, fumble, fumble, fumble - with those fumbles coming on three consecutive plays.

First games.

[FarmDad.01]

L'ville sideline mismanagement at end of Half 1. Tie game, ball on your own 20, about a minute left, you get the ball to start Half 2 -- run out the damn clock. The Touchdown Haysooses look mediocre so far.

[FarmDad.01]

L'ville sideline mismanagement at end of Half 1. Tie game, ball on your own 20, about a minute left, you get the ball to start Half 2 -- run out the damn clock. The Touchdown Haysooses look mediocre so far.

[washingtonismoney]

Louisville still swinging but recklessly: have lost a bunch of turnovers. ND up 7 and are pretty effective running the dang ball. So I think they'll win but they don't look bulletproof.

[washingtonismoney]

Louisville still swinging but recklessly: have lost a bunch of turnovers. ND up 7 and are pretty effective running the dang ball. So I think they'll win but they don't look bulletproof.

[BostonCard]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/01/w...-week-one/

WIlner is pretty brutal on Crystobal and Helton:

But Ducks coach Mario Cristobal and his staff — total yearly compensation of $8 million, per the USA Today salary databases for head coaches and assistants — were apparently unaware.

(Compensation figures for all coaches cited here are approximate and do not include analysts, support personnel and graduate assistants.)

Justin Herbert left the game after banging knees with an Auburn defender. The Ducks called timeout. They sent Herbert back in. The officials sent him back off.

Timeouts were spent.

But that wasn’t the worst of it:

Like many others, we watched the Ducks repeatedly snap the ball too quickly with the lead late in the game. Those extra seconds on the play clock left enough time for Auburn to convert the winning touchdown.

(Leaving time on the play clock with a lead late in the game is one of the Hotline’s pet peeves._

And Helton...

A few hours later, USC coach Clay Helton did Cristobal one better, with a baffling (reckless?) decision to go for it on fourth-and-one from Fresno State’s 44.

The Trojans had an eight-point lead with under three minutes left.

They should have punted, pinned FSU deep and let their defense do its job.

Instead, they went for it, botched the snap and handed possession over the the Bulldogs near midfield. (An interception in the end zone bailed out Helton.)

This came after USC wasted even more time than Oregon. Time and again, the Trojans snapped the ball with 20+ seconds remaining on the play clock late in the game.

If the very nature of your offense eliminates the ability to deploy proper clock management, you’re running the wrong offense.

Helton is earning about $3.2 million annually, by the way — let’s add that to the tally

Other coaches get hit too.

BC

[BostonCard]

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/01/w...-week-one/

WIlner is pretty brutal on Crystobal and Helton:

But Ducks coach Mario Cristobal and his staff — total yearly compensation of $8 million, per the USA Today salary databases for head coaches and assistants — were apparently unaware.

(Compensation figures for all coaches cited here are approximate and do not include analysts, support personnel and graduate assistants.)

Justin Herbert left the game after banging knees with an Auburn defender. The Ducks called timeout. They sent Herbert back in. The officials sent him back off.

Timeouts were spent.

But that wasn’t the worst of it:

Like many others, we watched the Ducks repeatedly snap the ball too quickly with the lead late in the game. Those extra seconds on the play clock left enough time for Auburn to convert the winning touchdown.

(Leaving time on the play clock with a lead late in the game is one of the Hotline’s pet peeves._

And Helton...

A few hours later, USC coach Clay Helton did Cristobal one better, with a baffling (reckless?) decision to go for it on fourth-and-one from Fresno State’s 44.

The Trojans had an eight-point lead with under three minutes left.

They should have punted, pinned FSU deep and let their defense do its job.

Instead, they went for it, botched the snap and handed possession over the the Bulldogs near midfield. (An interception in the end zone bailed out Helton.)

This came after USC wasted even more time than Oregon. Time and again, the Trojans snapped the ball with 20+ seconds remaining on the play clock late in the game.

If the very nature of your offense eliminates the ability to deploy proper clock management, you’re running the wrong offense.

Helton is earning about $3.2 million annually, by the way — let’s add that to the tally

Other coaches get hit too.

BC