College Football Week 1/Reds in the Home Stretch
It's officially fall as college football kicked off and the the MLB playoff races are tighter than ever. Let's cut to the chase and start with what went down on the college gridiron. The top two teams in the country, Alabama and Ohio State, had no trouble with pesky San Jose State and Marshall, respectively, and same went for the rest of the Top 25 for the most part. #18 North Carolina lost to #21 LSU, but they were down 8 starters and played hard to comeback and give LSU a game down the stretch. It was not enough though, as the Tar Heels fell out of the Top 25 after failing to convert on 3rd and 4th goal. #15 Pitt also fell out of the Top 25 with an overtime loss in Utah to the Utes. Pitt struggled on offense, but that is to be excepted with a freshman quarterback on the road. #24 Oregon State lost a close one to #6 TCU and fell out of the Top 25 as well. The new members of the Top 25 are #25 Stanford, who beat Sacramento State, 52-17, #20 Utah and #24 South Carolina who took care of business against Southern Miss.
The only team in the Top 25 with a losing record is #13 Virginia Tech, who lost a close game to #3 Boise State 33-30. In the biggest game of the weekend, the Boise State Broncos jumped out on the Hokies early going up 17-0 in the first quarter. Tech came back and dominated the second quarter to close the gap. Virginia Tech eventually regained the lead, 30-26 in the fourth quarter and tried to run out the clock, but could not convert. With no timeouts left and under two minutes to go, the Broncos looked to keep their National Title hopes alive, in week one no less. Helped out by a personal foul penalty for a late hit out of bounds on the Hokies and a no call on a possible block in the back, the Broncos marched right down the field. QB Kellen Moore went 4/4 on the drive and hit WR Austin Pettis, who had two TD's and blocked a punt in the game, for the go ahead touchdown and the lead for good. So, the Broncos stay perfect in their quest to be the first non-BCS conference team to make it to the National Championship.
Week 2 is being called Monster Saturday by ESPN and for good reason. There are some great games this Saturday, #17 Florida State at #10 Oklahoma, Michigan at Notre Dame, #13 Miami (FL) at #2 Ohio State, and #18 Penn State at #1 Alabama. A huge Saturday for college football with lots of National Title implications already in second week of the season.
As for the Reds they are, as the old lefthander Joe Nuxhall use to say, "Rounding third and heading for home." The home stretch that is. With under a month to go the Reds went into St. Louis last weekend with an 8 game lead and looked for the knock out punch. All they had to do was not get swept, which they accomplished, in large part to Travis Wood, who pitched a gem and added his first career home run. After leaving St. Louis, the Reds had a 7 game lead, but with the beating they took Monday against the Colorado Rockies, the lead was trimmed to 6. Aaron Harang, hopefully got the last start of his Reds career and only lasted 2 1/3 and gave up 4 runs and walked 3. The Reds need 7 pitchers Monday night and the bullpen did help the Reds cause. Bill Bray gave up 3 runs in 1 1/3, Aroldis Chapman gave up the first run of his career, it was unearned however, and Carlos Fisher gave up 2. Not a great start in Colorado, as the Cardinals beat the Brewers and gained another game on the Reds.
The Reds looked to rebound Tuesday night and it looked promising before the first pitch, as Johnny Cueto was set to take the hill and he as been one of the Reds better pitchers. But most hope was lost without an out even being recorded in the first inning, as Cueto gave up a three run homer to Triple Crown candidate Carlos Gonzalez. So, down three early, the Reds were able to come back, but an unearned run in the sixth because of a uncharacteristic Brandon Phillips error, was enough for the Rockies to win. The good news though was Milwaukee was able to hold off the Cards as pitcher Trevor Hoffman recorded his 600th career save.
The Reds are 79-59, with a 6 game lead in the division with 24 games to go. On ESPN the Reds have a 96.1% chance of making the playoffs. Their is no doubt in my mind that they will make the postseason for the first time since 1995, but it is not looking good beyond that. The pitching, with the exception of Bronson Arroyo and lately Travis Wood, has been awful, especially the starting pitching. Aaron Harang couldn't get a high school team out in my opinion. Johnny Cueto has been great at times this season and awful other times. Homer Bailey has been hot and cold as well, not to mention him shaking off catcher Ryan Hanigan's sign against Cardinal outfielder Matt Holliday, who ended up hitting a three-run homer on that very pitch which gave the Cards the win Sunday.
The Reds pitching is a major concern, especially if the offense were to go cold, not to mention pitching wins championships. The Reds need another starter to step up with Arroyo, Wood and Cueto who will probably be three of the starters for the Reds in the postseason.Who else will step up is the big question. Will it be Bailey, do you bring Mike Leake back, put Sam LeCure back into the rotation? Edinson Volquez will take Harang's spot in the rotation and the Reds desperately need him to pitch well. If the Reds do make the playoffs, it will be a short visit if the pitching does not get better. The Reds have an easy schedule the rest of the way, which will no doubt help their quest for October and the pitching. Let's just hope it gets better for the Reds this weekend against the woeful Pirates.
The only team in the Top 25 with a losing record is #13 Virginia Tech, who lost a close game to #3 Boise State 33-30. In the biggest game of the weekend, the Boise State Broncos jumped out on the Hokies early going up 17-0 in the first quarter. Tech came back and dominated the second quarter to close the gap. Virginia Tech eventually regained the lead, 30-26 in the fourth quarter and tried to run out the clock, but could not convert. With no timeouts left and under two minutes to go, the Broncos looked to keep their National Title hopes alive, in week one no less. Helped out by a personal foul penalty for a late hit out of bounds on the Hokies and a no call on a possible block in the back, the Broncos marched right down the field. QB Kellen Moore went 4/4 on the drive and hit WR Austin Pettis, who had two TD's and blocked a punt in the game, for the go ahead touchdown and the lead for good. So, the Broncos stay perfect in their quest to be the first non-BCS conference team to make it to the National Championship.
Week 2 is being called Monster Saturday by ESPN and for good reason. There are some great games this Saturday, #17 Florida State at #10 Oklahoma, Michigan at Notre Dame, #13 Miami (FL) at #2 Ohio State, and #18 Penn State at #1 Alabama. A huge Saturday for college football with lots of National Title implications already in second week of the season.
As for the Reds they are, as the old lefthander Joe Nuxhall use to say, "Rounding third and heading for home." The home stretch that is. With under a month to go the Reds went into St. Louis last weekend with an 8 game lead and looked for the knock out punch. All they had to do was not get swept, which they accomplished, in large part to Travis Wood, who pitched a gem and added his first career home run. After leaving St. Louis, the Reds had a 7 game lead, but with the beating they took Monday against the Colorado Rockies, the lead was trimmed to 6. Aaron Harang, hopefully got the last start of his Reds career and only lasted 2 1/3 and gave up 4 runs and walked 3. The Reds need 7 pitchers Monday night and the bullpen did help the Reds cause. Bill Bray gave up 3 runs in 1 1/3, Aroldis Chapman gave up the first run of his career, it was unearned however, and Carlos Fisher gave up 2. Not a great start in Colorado, as the Cardinals beat the Brewers and gained another game on the Reds.
The Reds looked to rebound Tuesday night and it looked promising before the first pitch, as Johnny Cueto was set to take the hill and he as been one of the Reds better pitchers. But most hope was lost without an out even being recorded in the first inning, as Cueto gave up a three run homer to Triple Crown candidate Carlos Gonzalez. So, down three early, the Reds were able to come back, but an unearned run in the sixth because of a uncharacteristic Brandon Phillips error, was enough for the Rockies to win. The good news though was Milwaukee was able to hold off the Cards as pitcher Trevor Hoffman recorded his 600th career save.
The Reds are 79-59, with a 6 game lead in the division with 24 games to go. On ESPN the Reds have a 96.1% chance of making the playoffs. Their is no doubt in my mind that they will make the postseason for the first time since 1995, but it is not looking good beyond that. The pitching, with the exception of Bronson Arroyo and lately Travis Wood, has been awful, especially the starting pitching. Aaron Harang couldn't get a high school team out in my opinion. Johnny Cueto has been great at times this season and awful other times. Homer Bailey has been hot and cold as well, not to mention him shaking off catcher Ryan Hanigan's sign against Cardinal outfielder Matt Holliday, who ended up hitting a three-run homer on that very pitch which gave the Cards the win Sunday.
The Reds pitching is a major concern, especially if the offense were to go cold, not to mention pitching wins championships. The Reds need another starter to step up with Arroyo, Wood and Cueto who will probably be three of the starters for the Reds in the postseason.Who else will step up is the big question. Will it be Bailey, do you bring Mike Leake back, put Sam LeCure back into the rotation? Edinson Volquez will take Harang's spot in the rotation and the Reds desperately need him to pitch well. If the Reds do make the playoffs, it will be a short visit if the pitching does not get better. The Reds have an easy schedule the rest of the way, which will no doubt help their quest for October and the pitching. Let's just hope it gets better for the Reds this weekend against the woeful Pirates.
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