Week 3 2014: College Gameday review! #getup4gameday

Ladies and gentlemen; boys and girls; children of all ages: Welcome back to our weekly College Gameday review!  The show was broadcasting to you live from Fargo, North Dakota, where today we will see the matchup between 3-time FCS defending national champions North Dakota State and something called the University of the Incarnate Word!  This was the same location as their FCS visit last year, which was one of the best Gameday editions ever, and this year was no slouch either.  The crowd was HUGE again just like last year.

Fargo crowd
Fargo crowd

It looked like a chilly edition (if you’re not from North Dakota), and Chris Fowler reminded us that the AVERAGE temperature in Fargo last winter was 4 degrees.  In order to make sure that Coach Corso did not freeze to death, he donned a bison-fur coat which was a thing of beauty.

Lee Corso: Fabulous
Lee Corso: Fabulous

After opening the show in such fashion, Coach Corso went back to the bus and we were joined by David Pollack and Samantha Ponder.  She interviewed new NDSU head coach Chris Klieman and they discussed how he can continue the legacy after winning 3 national championships before taking over.  This brings us to this week’s SAMANTHA PONDER OUTFIT OF THE WEEK FEATURING OUTFIT REVIEW BY @GAMEDAYJEN!!!  Jennifer said she likes this week’s outfit.  She said “I like the boots, the jacket has unique details, and I like the pop of the blue with the scarf”.

Sam Ponder: Week 3
Sam Ponder: Week 3

While we are on the topic of outfits, since we are giving this week’s style award to Sam Ponder, we need to discuss a significant setback in men’s fashion this week.  No no, it wasn’t Desmond Howard and Chris Fowler wearing matching suits again this week.  This week we need to discuss QB guru George Whitfield’s outfit.  Now I may have absolutely terrible fashion sense, and have worn some questionable outfits during my day, I am not a television personality or guru of any kind.  I asked Jennifer for an opinion, and all she could say was “There is such a thing as too many patterns, and George Whitfield has exceeded that limit”.  We saw brown shoes with grey pants on a plaid navy jacket with powder blue plaid shirt and a heavily patterned orange tie.  You may be a guru of quarterbacking but you are not a guru of men’s fashion I’m afraid.

George Whitfield: Week 3
George Whitfield: Week 3

And since we’re on the topic of questionable looks, let’s see this sign featuring vintage Kirk Herbstreit!  I’m sure I never looked like this in the 90s.

Classic Herbie
Classic Herbie

Other signs featured this week included “Who is FICA and why are they taking my money?”, “Chicken fries are back!”, and “Big 10: Bad Math, Bad Football”.  Another great sign was the following:

Fargo meme
Fargo meme

This week’s sign winner had to be this gentlemen who was incredibly proud of his mullet, and equally proud to have Sam Ponder touch it

Nice Mullet
Nice Mullet

But let’s not forget last year’s top sign from Fargo, and one of the greatest moments in Gameday history!

Week 4 2013 Sign of the Week!
Week 4 2013 Sign of the Week!

Other quick topics include the fact that deer archery season opens Monday in North Dakota, the panel debated whether NDSU should make the jump to FBS (consensus was no), the Washington State flag made its 150th straight appearance today, and someone or something called “Babi Mac” made a second appearance on Gameday this season.  I’m sure I am not down with today’s pop culture, but I have no idea who Babi Mac is.

This is Babi Mac
This is Babi Mac

George Whitfield broke down Everett Golson’s improvement as one of his paying clients (yes he thinks Golson improved greatly under his tutelage).  We then reached two segments in which we saw Desmond Howard get FIRED UP big time.  Gene W. had a nice piece on Everett Golson’s fall and triumphant return to Notre Dame and how he spent 14 weeks working with George Whitfield to improve his pocket presence.  Golson said he was motivated to do do this because it finally hit him when he was watching Notre Dame play Michigan last year without him that the world does not stop because he was kicked off the team.  Now back to Desmond’s opinion.  He had the opinion that spending 14 weeks in San Diego working on your craft with the world’s best QB guru is hardly punishment for the offenses committed.  They finally had to cut him off because the conversation was going nowhere.

Desmond also got FIRED UP when discussing the Penn State sanctions being lifted.  He said he is tired of seeing sanctions against schools for financial or academic reasons, but then turning around and lifting the sanctions for the Sandusky scandal.  Kirk disagreed strongly, citing the fact that everyone involved in the program is now gone from Penn State.  I thought this would come to blows.

If you don’t mind, I’d like to stop down for an editorial here (as opposed to whatever the rest of this nonsense is).  Our panel of Gameday hosts got into a discussion about LSU’s Leonard Fournette doing the Heisman pose after scoring a touchdown against Sam Houston State University last week.  Comparisons were made to Desmond Howard’s legendary pose, and they felt the need to kick SHSU in the crotch for about three minutes.  I like to think of myself as the Paul Finebaum of the Southland Conference (is that weird?), so that hurt.  However, my beef here is with Leonard Fournette’s Heisman pose.  Is there nobody who can do the Heisman pose properly in this world?  Has anyone actually looked at the statue before?  The Heisman trophy has two feet on the ground.

THIS

Heisman Pose?
Heisman Pose?

IS NOT THIS

Heisman Pose
Heisman Pose

Whatever.  Now that I’ve wasted 45 seconds more of your life, let’s get back to Gameday.  Today’s chef of the day was Dr. David Newman.  Doctor of meat I guess?  He was making kabobs of some sort with yellow squash and green peppers for a NDSU colored meal.

Dr. David Newman
Dr. David Newman

This week’s overly casual roundtable segment where they leave the desk and go sit in chairs ten feet away was pretty much a segment to kick the Big 10 in the crotch for last week’s performance.  Desmond was suspiciously silent.  They looked at Big 10 point spreads this week, and it became clear that Herbie and Des don’t really know how point spreads work.  Has anyone else noticed how much ESPN has pushed gambling lines this year?  They have an entire ESPNU show on Fridays dedicated to it, and highlight the spread when breaking down all the matchups this year.  Weird.

Tom Rinaldi had a lovely piece on Marshall QB Rakeem Cato.  He came from the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, and lived in public housing with 9 other children under the same roof.  His mother died when he was 13, and he lived through high school staying at football teammate’s houses.  He was determined to make it out of such a setting, and was able to be the first in his family to go to college by attending Marshall and leading the Thundering Herd to a bowl win last year.  His coach, Doc Holliday, said that he is an example for any kid who thinks there is no hope.  Inspiring stuff.

Bald Man on Campus was back, and SVP chilled with Todd Gurly.  They discussed his comparisons to Herschel Walker and other greats.  Really hip and casual segment.

The Gameday crew discussed Steve Spurrier’s comments about how he has a rule for his teams: if you hit a girl then you’re gone.  The consensus was that they all agree.  #hotsportsopinions

Chris Fowler didn’t have a hundred dollar question this week, but did have the guys pick the Secretary’s Cup game.  In case you are one of the few who didn’t know, that is the game between the Coast Guard Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy.  Coast Guard was the consensus pick.

But let’s get down to the business at hand.  This week’s special guest picker was former NDSU QB and three time national champion Brock Jensen.  He had his championship rings on, and all I can say is BLING BLING.  Apparently the only Gameday guest picker with more rings is Magic Johnson.  File that fun fact away!

 

Brock Jensen: Champion
Brock Jensen: Champion

Brock had some good picks, and to nobody’s surprise picked NDSU to win big today.  In fact, everyone including Charley the Cat picked NDSU to win today.  Lee Corso jumped in a trailer containing Corso the Bison and put on the headgear to match for his headgear pick this week.  I think we were near a disaster, with a combination of Lee Corso hanging onto the back of a trailer, a mask I’m sure he couldn’t see through, a live bison in with him, and the trailer taking off down the street.  However, everyone survived and we will live to see you next week!

Corso picks NDSU!
Corso picks NDSU!
Charley picks NDSU too!
Charley picks NDSU too!

Week 3 2014: Saturday morning Gameday picks! #saturdayselections

We are looking live at the scene in Fargo, North Dakota where Gameday is broadcasting live for the big matchup between North Dakota State University and Incarnate Word.  The picks are trickling in this morning but will soon turn into a flood of picks, so check out a few now and check back later for more and more picks as they are coming in.  We will have Dari & Mel, some SEC Network picks from Tim Tebow and others, as well as Coach Corso’s headgear pick all in due time.

Lee Corso:
Florida over Kentucky
Bama over S.Miss
OU over Tennessee
UCLA over Texas
USC over BC
Georgia over S.Carolina
Ohio St over Kent St
Coast Guard Academy over Merchant Marines Academy
Hawaii over N.Iowa
WVU over Maryland
Penn St over Rutgers
UCF over Mizzou
Arkansas over TTU
NDSU over Incarnate Word (headgear pick)

Kirk Herbstreit:
Penn St over Rutgers
TTU over Arkansas
S.Carolina over Georgia
Bama over S.Miss
Nebraska over Fresno St
USC over BC
Coast Guard Academy over Merchant Marines Academy
Hawaii over N.Iowa
WVU over Maryland
Mizzou over UCF
UCLA over Texas
NDSU over Incarnate Word

Desmond Howard:
Penn St over Rutgers
Arkansas over TTU
Georgia over S.Carolina
Bama over S.Miss
Florida over Kentucky
WVU over Maryland
USC over BC
Coast Guard Academy over Merchant Marines Academy
Hawaii over N.Iowa
Mizzou over UCF
OU over Tennessee
UCLA over Texas
NDSU over Incarnate Word

Brock Jensen:
N.Iowa over Hawaii
WVU over Maryland
Penn St over Rutgers
Mizzou over UCF
S.Carolina over Georgia
TTU over Arkansas
OU over Tennessee
USC over BC
Texas over UCLA
NDSU over Incarnate Word

Chris Fowler:
Maryland over WVU (Quadruple Not-so-fast!)

Jennifer’s Picks:
Florida over Kentucky
Hawaii over N.Iowa
WVU over Maryland (upset special)
Penn St over Rutgers
Mizzou over UCF
Georgia over S.Carolina
TTU over Arkansas
OU over Tennessee
USC over BC
UCLA over Texas
NDSU over Incarnate Word

David Pollack:
Penn St over Rutgers
Arkansas over TTU

Dari Nowkhah:
OU over Tennessee
Georgia over S.Carolina
UCLA over Texas
VaTech over ECU
Arkansas over TTU

Mel Kiper Jr.:
Georgia over S.Carolina
UCLA over Texas
VaTech over ECU
Arkansas over TTU

Charley the Cat:
NDSU over Incarnate Word

Mack Brown:
Georgia over S.Carolina

Tim Tebow:
Mizzou over UCF
Florida over Kentucky
S.Carolina over Georgia
Arkansas over TTU
OU over Tennessee

Marcus Spears:
Mizzou over UCF
Florida over Kentucky
Arkansas over TTU
OU over Tennessee
Georgia over S.Carolina

Paul Finebaum:
TAMU over Rice
Mizzou over UCF
S.Carolina over Georgia
OU over Tennessee
Arkansas over TTU

Week 4 2013: College Gameday review!

Today is a rare occasion in the history of College Gameday.  It is the day that they go off the beaten path and venture out from the realm of the FBS schedule and broadcast from an FCS location.  Today’s edition came to you live from Fargo, North Dakota for the big matchup between the two-time defending FCS champions North Dakota State Bison (pronounced BI-ZON and DON’T FORGET IT) and the Delaware State Hornets.  You might be saying “BUT COLE!  WHO CARES ABOUT THE FCS?” and I say me for one.  You might be saying “BUT COLE!  WHY NORTH DAKOTA STATE?” and the answer is that this may be the most rabid college football fan base in all of college football.  This is not an exaggeration and it is hard to explain unless you’ve seen it in person.  This NDSU team went into Manhattan, Kansas and beat KState, and this “cupcake” game for KState drew the 2nd largest crowd in KState history.  Having attended the FCS championship between the great Sam Houston State Bearkats and North Dakota State in Frisco, Tx, the Bison crowd outnumbered Texans no less than 3 to 1 IN TEXAS with a TEAM FROM TEXAS playing in the championship.  They travel like none other, and if you saw Gameday this morning, you realize that  surely most of the town of Fargo was at this broadcast of Gameday.

This crowd today had it all going on.  The massive crowd was loud, rowdy, possibly drunk, and had some very quality signage.  We had several strong contenders for sign of the day, including “I’m White”, “We’re not all married to our cousins”, and the Beef Cake sign below (which in my opinion is STRONG to QUITE STRONG).

Strong signage in Fargo
Strong signage in Fargo

However, this week’s sign of the week is undisputed, offensive, and the guy holding it is INCREDIBLY proud of himself for getting it on TV.  We present it below without comment for your review.

Week 4 Sign of the Week!
Week 4 Sign of the Week!

Speaking of Sam Ponder, here she is from today.  Jennifer enjoyed her outfit today.  Great jacket, pants, and shoes.  Jennifer expected the return of the boots from last season, but those haven’t made an appearance yet.

Sam Ponder: Week 4
Sam Ponder: Week 4

There was a lot of talk about NDSU’s program today.  I had tweeted at Brad Edwards for his famous “Ask Brad” segment this very question, but never got an answer: Where would NDSU stack up against the FBS programs if they were ranked?  Well he is a jerk-face and didn’t answer my question, but luckily we got our answer today.  NDSU would be power-ranked 55 in the FBS, and would be a 32.5 point dog against Alabama according to those experts out in the desert.  NDSU os 7-3 against FBS teams since 2007 and has beaten an FSB opponent for four years straight.  Coach Craig Bohl did an interview with Sam Ponder and it seems like he really his act together.  It is something special how confidently he and his players carry themselves against any and all competition.  They seem to fear nobody and expect to play with anyone on any given day.

As the day rolled on, we once again did NOT see the return of David Pollack Using the Internet.  This is highly disappointing, so please write angry letters to Gameday letting them know that we want more of David Pollack Using the Internet.  The Chris Fowler $100 Question for today was “Who was the opponent when Arkansas played a game in the Northeast the most recently?” and the answer was Fordham.  The $100 went unclaimed again.  Gene W. had a quick piece which was a montage about great FCS players who went on to great NFL careers including Tony Romo and Terrell Owns and Jerry Rice and others.  He said you can have the FBS players; he’ll take the FCS any day.  Even an FCS fan like me would probably still take the FBS players Gene.

Tom Rinaldi did a segment traveling around Fargo to cover NDSU more in depth.  There were three highlights.  The first was the fact that Coach Bohl goes to EVERY high school in North Dakota that has a football program to recruit players whether or not the program is one of any significance or not.  The second was Tom Rinaldi running around with a bunch of Bison.  The third was that Coach Bohl does a kickass Lou Holtz impression.

We also unfortunately saw the return of “GENERIC QB TALK WITH QB GURU GEORGE WHITFIELD”.  He talked about NDSU QB Brock Jensen and said he is good.  Whitfield also wanted to remind you of how great his paying clients like Braxton Miller and Johnny Manziel are.  I’ll say it again; this segment needs to go away.

Today’s edition also had a pair of Tim Tebow memorial emotional segments.  Gene W. had a piece on UCLA freshman WR Nick Pasquale who died two weeks ago after being hit by a car while walking home.  Apparently he was a scrappy young guy who had offers to play football at smaller shcools, but instead chose to walk on at UCLA.  Against Nevada, his teammates campaigned for him to get into the game for a single play, which was the highlight of his career.  His life was ended a week later.  Coach Jim Mora Jr. had his parents speak before the Nebraska game about playing how Nick would have wanted them to play, and it inspired them to a tremendous comeback win over Nebraska.  The most touching part was learning that his ashes will partially be scattered on the Rose Bowl field where he saw his only college play.

We got a Tom Rinaldi emotional piece about Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater and his mom.  His mom was diagnosed with breast cancer while he was a star QB in highschool.  Teddy offered to quit football forever, get a job, and support his mom while she underwent treatment.  She wouldn’t let him, and after enduring treatment she is in remission and is now attending his games.  She always thought he had a gift for football and didn’t want him to give up his gift for her.

The strangest moment of the year so far was experienced today when Chris Fowler busted out this little guy below.  It is apparently the trophy awarded to the winner of the D3 Concordia/St. Olaf game.  Bizarre.

The Troll trophy
The Troll trophy

Other highlights from today’s show include Lee Corso repeatedly criticizing Bo Pelini for “bitching” about his fanbase.  He repeated the word “bitching” several times, and was warned that he is still on probation by the other guys from his famous SMU incident several years ago.  We also saw the return of TODD MCSHAY LOOKIN’ AT THE TAPE!!!  He looked at tape of FCS players and reminded us that some of these guys are good, including his #2 overall FCS prospect Tim Flanders from Sam Houston State.  There was also a piece of Tom Rinaldi beatnik poetry about North Dakota entitled “Lonely”.  He discussed the significance of the cosmic vastness of the open land in North Dakota, and included the incredibly deep line “We are dust….”.  I feel like he probably just stays up the night before Gameday smoking pot while writing stream-of-consciousness poetry about the location.

Tom Rinaldi performing live
Tom Rinaldi performing live

Anyways, let’s get down to the business at hand.  Today’s guest picker was former NDSU DB Tom Hansen.  He came on and made some good picks and kept the energy of the segment going much better than Mark Harmon.  No surprise; he went with NDSU over Delaware State.  For the record, Billy the Cat also took NDSU too.

Billy picks the Bison!
Billy picks the Bison!

Who would coach Corso pick?  It was never in doubt.  NDSU is a big favorite in today’s game, and Corso wasn’t even on set when the pick was made.  He came busting out of a local theater with the Bison head on pulling a live baby bison along his side.  Jennifer called this one ahead of time saying he would show up with a baby bison, and I think Corso made the right choice.  The Bison fans are not to be tested, and they would have run him out of town with pitchforks if he picked Delaware State.  Enjoy your day!

 

Corso picks the Bison!
Corso picks the Bison!