5 Things on a Friday: Bye Week Blues

Tough week without an Army game this Saturday.  Not that the guys don’t deserve a break or even that I and my family don’t have other things that we need to do with our time.  But still.  You wait all damned year for college football season, it’s tough to miss even a week of it.

Oh well.  There are other games, I guess.

1. I guess Eli Manning really is the problem.

A full collection of 2018 Odell Beckham "deep" targets (16+ yards the field) pic.twitter.com/Nc3KKcRwym

— Dan Pizzuta (@DanPizzuta) October 1, 2018

The Giants’ O-Line still isn’t great, but with Ereck Flowers out and Chad Wheeler in at right tackle, they are at least passable.  They played--almost--well enough.  Meanwhile, Saquan Barkley is doing Saquan things, and the other receivers are at least basically productive.  But Manning flat can’t get the ball to Beckham, and that’s becoming a serious problem.  Especially because Beckham is easily, demonstrably the best player on the team.

They say that a quarterback’s downfield accuracy is the first thing to go when his arm strength goes, so really, this is pretty damning.

2. The Past, Present and Future of the Triple Option (Sports Illustrated)

“Shotgun triple option is pure communism…   The more boring you are, the more yards you’ll accumulate.”

Hopkins running the option out out of the shotgun against Liberty.

A fun piece of journalism/sports history, and it goes deep into some of the origins of the various branches of the option offense.  There’s also a thread about running the read-option out of the shotgun versus taking a more traditional flexbone approach from under center.

Army is probably the most conservative of the option offenses presented, but even the Black Knights ran out the shotgun quite a bit last season, though mostly for straight Quarterback Power plays.  However, given the way that QB Kelvin Hopkins is throwing the ball, I could do with a bit more read-option out of a spread set, too.  So far, we’ve mostly seen Hopkins under center, but I think the spread would work as a change-of-pace on longer-yardage downs with either FB Calen Holt or SB Fred Cooper standing on Hopkins’s hip.  Those guys are both great with the ball in space.

3. NPR's Movie Preview: 15 New Films To Watch — And Watch Out For — This Fall (NPR)

NPR has a big list.  I’ll take A Star Is Born, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Aquaman for sure.  Maybe Into the Spider-Verse if the reviews look good.  Creed II, Fantastic Beasts II, and Ralph Breaks the Internet are all gonna have to win me over via good word-of-mouth.

4. Army at SJSU

Moving on to the next play. For your teammates. #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/YDr5PEG7F8

— Army WP Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 2, 2018

🚨 GAME TIME ALERT 🚨

Kickoff vs. @SJSUSpartanFB set for 12:30 PM PT on @ESPNU at Levi’s Stadium. #GoArmy pic.twitter.com/R2OerSqnIr

— Army WP Football (@ArmyWP_Football) October 1, 2018

That’s 3:30 pm EST.

5. What to Watch This Weekend (506 Sports)

My daughter Hannah has a choral performance at 7 pm on Saturday evening, so I’m gonna miss at least some of this weekend's action.  But these are the games I’m hoping to at least follow a bit this weekend.

Friday, October 5

7:00 PM - Georgia Tech @ Louisville (ESPN)

 7:30 PM - Middle Tennessee @ Marshall (CBSSN)

We were talking about option offenses earlier.  Your chance to see Paul Johnson’s version tonight at 7 pm.  Or you can take Middle Tennessee at Marshall.  The Thundering Herd are favored by a little less than a touchdown.

Saturday, October 6

12:00 PM - #7 Oklahoma vs #19 Texas (Fox)

12:00 PM - Tulane @ Cincinnati (ESPNU)

12:00 PM - Buffalo @ Central Michigan (CBSSN)

3:30 PM - #5 LSU @ #22 Florida (CBS)

3:30 PM - Navy @ Air Force (CBSSN)

8:00 PM - #6 Notre Dame @ #24 Virginia Tech (ABC)

Of these, the most important for the Black Knights is Buffalo at Central Michigan.  Having beaten the Bulls convincingly, the Black Knights now need the Bulls to run the table and win the MAC.  That’s absolutely key if Army hopes to finish in the Top 25 nationally.  The good news is that the Bulls are favored by 8, and they tend to play better on the road.

I already talked about Navy at Air Force.  Check that out now if you missed it.

Finally, the game of the weekend is probably Notre Dame at Virginia Tech.  I don’t have any particular love for either team but will probably root for Tech to put the Irish out of the National Championship conversation.  You ask me, Notre Dame won’t have the resume regardless, so getting them out of the way now would help quite a bit down the road.

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That's all I've got, folks.  Enjoy the weekend.