Monday Musings: Garbage Day; Youth Movement; Bad Rule, Worse Depth

Holy crap, that......could’ve gone better.

1.) Missed headline opportunity. South Florida newspapers had a golden opportunity to take a couple digs at the Canes’ unis and performance in today’s paper. I think a perfect headline would’ve read “Canes’ performance shows you are what you wear: garbage”. Or something to that general effect. In any event, Malik Rosier’s completion percentage was akin to rubbish, so that at least is fitting.

2.) And so (should) begin the QB competition. I was arguing with folks last night that Cade Weldon should not have come into the game during the second half dumpster fire. First, that’s not the rock-and-a-hard-place that you toss the ball to a young QB and say, “go get em, sport.” No, when you’re down 30-3, it’s more of a punishment to play than not, so Rosier out of principal deserved to lie in the bed of poo he made.

But now the Canes enter a stretch of games they should win handily. Now is the time to give Perry and/or Weldon significant first team reps alongside Rosier. Significant game action. These kids are the future and you get basically 3 games where they can get their sea legs under them enough to potentially be a factor if you need them against UNC, FSU, and BC before the stretch run of the season. THERE IS ZERO EXCUSE TO STICK WITH ONLY ROSIER FOR AN ENTIRE GAME. Zero, zilch. It’s stubbornness for the sake of being stubborn for Richt to refuse to acknowledge the train wreck of a problem his senior QB has become. He is what he is: a very good athlete who can’t throw the ball consistently enough to beat defenses. We love his heroics last year and are grateful for them. But takeaways and clutch plays swung close games UM’s way and maybe masked problems that both he and this team had last year.

It’s time to ease in a competitor for the job. Even if Perry or Weldon have been bad so far. See what one or both of them can do in live game action.

3.) Stupid rules. The call against Trajan Bandy was arguably within the targeting rule and properly called under the rule. That being said, it’s the worst rule in the history of sports as I’ve seen time and again and I mean it. A penalty in the heat of the moment with no outward ill intent results in a game-changing ejection. The NCAA MUST change it to at least a warning, then an ejection on the second offense, just like unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The leaping penalty was equally a joke. Our player looked to have jumped straight up (or close to it) and was undercut by the LSU blocker. Stupid. Some of these rules really need to be revisited.

4.) Lack of depth. Speaking of Bandy, his replacement, Jhavonte Dean, had a very rough night. And a number of backups, I believe, were in on Nick Brossette’s 50-yard touchdown run. Depth was already a concern at key positions. Sunday further illustrated the basis of that concern.

5.) 3 most impressive teams from Week 1: Oklahoma, Alabama, Boise State. Wow. Did not see OU massacring the fightin’ Lane Kiffins like that. Bama didn’t miss a step and somehow might be better offensively than last year. I don’t see how they lose a regular season game. Boise State went to Troy and laid the smack down on what many thought was gonna be a pretty decent Troy team.

6.) 3 biggest duds from Week 1: Miami, Michigan, Texas. Watch out, Hom Terman. Might want to beat mediocre B1G teams with interim head coaches. Yes, Texas fans think they’re better than they actually are, but that’s an inexcusable loss.

7.) Big winner last week. If you haven’t checked out my Thursday article picking games against the spread, you should. 8-0 in single games against the spread this week. 9-1 overall with a parlay hit. *Pats self on back* Keep checking in on Thursdays for my weekly picks.