John’s Commentary September 14, 1998

As I watch Tampa Bay’s first few possessions against the Packers, I’m wondering: Are Trent Dilfer and Chris Weinke the same QB? They’re both overthrowing wide open receivers, fumbling the ball, and generally fumbling around in the pocket against the rush. Seriously, Weinke’s (note: Spellchecker suggests "Weenie") performance at quarterback against NC State on Saturday was simply the worst I’ve seen as an FSU fan and probably the worst since FSU’s top 5 streak began in 1987. Like Todd Blackledge said later that evening, when your QB throws 6 INTS you’re going to get badly beaten by anyone. Nonetheless, not all the fault is Weinke’s. First, what about that dominating D line been that everyone assumed would be there? Remember, the word was that Seymour and Bryant would be the next Wadsworth and Boulware, and that sort of thing…Well, forget it. And despite big promises of improvement, the secondary looks as vulnerable as last year’s edition – it’s Cody and Jackson and a bunch of garnet-and-gold colored toast back there. The offensive line was billed as FSU’s largest ever, but they couldn’t pass-protect against a Wolfpack line of dubious quality. It seems that the team’s poor performance against A&M may not have been an aberration.

That being said, games in two weeks against Southern Cal (in Tallahassee) and in four weeks against Miami (in the Orange Bowl – Duke and Maryland are the interceding games) will tell a lot about this team and whether they’re going to win 11, 10, 9, or just 8 games this season (out of 12). SC looks like a tough test, and if Scott Covington can throw the ball well for Miami they will be too. If FSU can regroup and win these games, they should quickly gain momentum for the other good teams left on their schedule – if not, kiss goodbye to the ACC title, major bowl, and top-four finish. The offensive and defensive lines will get better as the season goes on, you can count on that. That leaves the big Q. – as in QB…Personally I felt they would have had a chance to come back and win Sat. if they had shifted to a more controlled passing attack with Marcus Outzen. But they stuck with Weinke and paid the big price. The ground game looks solid with Minor, and Peter Warrick is great – but you’ve got to get the ball vaguely near him.

As Steve sagely pointed out to me last week, my fortunes in the SJS picks contest seem linked to the Spartans. In ’97, I had them with the huge pick vs. Penn State but then correctly refused to believe in them vs. Washington in the bowl game. I felt those games were pivotal to my picks title. Well, if Steve is right, then things are looking bad for me this year – I’m 1-2 with MSU so far. When I turned on the MSU-ND game Saturday night and saw the second quarter score, I thought it was a typo.

I was so confident in the Wolverines this season – what was it, 18 starters coming back from last year’s stellar squad? New QB, right, but I’m thinking that even I might be able to throw that play-action bootleg thing to the tight end. I haven’t watched either of their losses closely, so I still don’t know what’s going on. I guess I’ll find out when they play Michigan State.

Hey, give the guy some credit – he’s working hard at this picks thing, spending hours online, calling up statistics for each team, reading the injury reports, considering the spreads, even becoming enamoured of particular teams like Purdue. Initially I thought losing to ROBERT in the picks contest would be like losing to Farrah Faucett in "Jeopardy". I should have known better – I mean, I truly consider Steve the most knowledgeable college football fan (around the office), but look where he finished last year. Sometimes less is more. Anyway, here’s a shout-out to newly-christened college football fan ROBERT – he’ll be in the mix this year.

I read part of it – I was able to download it by about 3 o’clock Friday afternoon (after I ran out of pipettes). Pretty nifty, this information age. Also "Don and Mike" read the raunchy parts on their radio show, complete with porno music backdrop (The bit was the only really funny thing I’ve ever heard on their show – hey to Steve). Personally I predict Clinton will resign, then Next President Gore will issue the pardon, and, kicking and screaming, the whole scandal will reluctantly fade. Maybe Steve should add it to the picks page.