Child’s Play?

Hello Followers.  Hope you’re having a great week.

As for me, well, I have been greatly enjoying the first two weeks of 2011-2012 season. 

But, in spite of my Mike Cameron-esque ability to “enjoy my enjoyment,” I woke up this morning feeling a bit sad. After all, Saturday’s game will mark the end of the FIRST QUARTER of the season!  And for that reason, I found myself to be particularly contemplative on this beautiful fall morn.

So, if you want to know the meaning of today’s header (and perhaps the meaning of life), then click on the old jumperoo, won’t you?

Followers, as excited as I’ve been about the current direction of the program and season, I was brought back down to earth a little on Sunday when I read John Blanchette’s column.  The basic take I gleaned from his work:  Our opponents were EXACTLY who we thought they were.

Mind you, that face–e.g. the overall quality of our opponents–should NOT deter any of us from appreciating what we have seen on the field so far.  After all, OUR Cougies are currently leading the Nation in scoring, and Mr. Lobster (can we call him the Red Robin, please?) is currently perched as the third rated quarterback in all of the land.

Simply put, it is pretty hard to ignore the Florida type numbers we’ve put on the board in the first two weeks.  And, while Florida teams tend to put up Florida numbers, in part, because schools like Florida A&M can’t play, the other reason why we’ve seen those 61-20 type scores has been because those Florida teams are typically pretty darn good!

On top of that, it is important to remember that those video game type numbers have been generated using a steady stable of back-ups:  We’ve scored around 60 in both of our games with our second string wide-outs and RB’s playing a lot, and we’ve also done so WITHOUT OUR FIRST STRING QUARTERBACK!

There really is a lot to be really excited about with this football team.

*******

So, even though we should ALL be estatic about the ways that we’ve been winning, the fact of the matter is we all knew that we’d start this season 2-0–even if we all got a bit nervous about Jeff Tuel’s injury.

And, as we’ve noted around here consistently during the pre-season and off-season, the San Diego State game has always loomed as real game changer for our season.   In other words, if you haven’t understood the meaning of a “swing game” before today, well, you now know what one looks like.

Think about it: With a win on Saturday, our boys start 3-0 for the first time since 2005.  And in so doing, we’d be half way to bowl eligibility.  The only obstacles left:  3 STINKING CONFERENCE WINS.

And when you look at the upcoming schedule, those three conference wins look RIGHT THERE for the taking.   After all, in the four weeks which follow this game and our bye week, we face Colorado, UCLA, and Oregon State.  And, as of right now, we are better than all three of those teams.

In short, win on Saturday, and we could secure participation in a bowl game by the middle of October.  That’s right, the Cougs could legitimately be bowl eligible by THE MIDDLE OF OCTOBER.

*******

But, if we don’t win on Saturday, then the season outlook changes tremendously.  While I know I’m stating the obvious here, a loss on Saturday means that we’d need to go 4-5 in conference in order to gain bowl eligibility.  And while the diverse weaponry we have on offense should give us hope that we might do just that, you have to wonder:

Can a team that cannot beat San Diego State on the road be expected to beat BOTH Colorado and UCLA on the road in the coming weeks?

And my answer to that, realistically, is “No.”  So, if we need to win four conference games to become bowl eligible, but start the conference slate 1-1, then one has to wonder where the other three wins would come from:  Oregon State?  Looks like it.  CAL?  Maybe.  Utah?  Possibly. Washington?  With their pass defense, we certainly could.

But the fact of the matter, folks, is that the path to a bowl game becomes SO MUCH more difficult for a 2-1 team than a 3-0 team.  And for that reason, it really is NOT too early to build this game up as the key swing game of the year.

So, as you gear up to watch this game at a sports bar near you, know that this game is more than just a test to see where we are.  Know that the direction of the season–and perhaps the program under Paul Wulff–may rest in the balance of this game.

With that in mind, here’s to thinking that we put another 45+ points on the board, and head to a bye week fat and sassy at 3-0.  I, for one, am really looking forward to it.

All for now.  Go Cougs.