HelmetNation Week 14 Top 25

Well, Week 13 certainly was the week of the offensive shootout! There were a number of games that saw plenty of yards and points and very little defense. Week 13 also saw the farewell to the Swamp from Tim Tebow and several upsets in rivalry games such as Georgia beating Georgia Tech, West Virginia beating Pittsburgh, North Carolina State beating North Carolina and Oklahoma wiping the floor with Oklahoma State.

However, what I will remember most from the weekend is the behavior of two individuals. First, let’s talk about Max Hall, the QB at BYU. He was largely shut down by the Utah defense for the majority of the game. BYU was ahead by 2 touchdowns going into the 4th quarter and the Utes climb back to tie it and take the game into OT. Utah has the ball first and kicks a go ahead FG. Then, on BYU’s possession, Hall hits TE Andrew George right between 2 Utah defenders and he scores on the 25-yard pass play. Congrats to Max Hall and BYU for pulling out a hard fought, 26-23 OT win. However, after the game Max Hall goes on to run his mouth spewing hatred and vitriol towards his opponents, their fans and their university. What bothered me most about this is that he is the most visible player on a private University that makes a huge deal about leading highly moral lives. He certainly did not make a positive impression for his University or religion during his short, immature, hate-filled postgame comments. (It should be noted that Max Hall issued what might be called an apology late Sunday evening)

The other individual I want to mention is UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel. Now, I am not going to lie, I can’t stand Slick Rick. I feel he single-handedly destroyed the once-proud football program at Washington. I think he is all about the show and has no substance as a human being. So, while watching the end of the USC-UCLA game, it came as no surprise that he calls a timeout with :56 remaining in the game, down 21-7, after Pete Carroll has Matt Barkley take a knee to run out the clock. After that little bit of petty showmanship by Neuheisel, Carroll let’s his young gunslinger loose and he throws a 48 yd. TD pass to a wide-open Williams. I think it is the perfect comeuppance for Rick and UCLA and loved to see them get burned by his petty nature.

Well, this coming week should be a great one and here is our Week 14 Top 25. Hopefully, we will see some more upsets this weekend so that the BCS tree gets shaken up.

1) Florida – Gave Tebow the fairly tale ending to his home career by tearing up the rival Seminoles. Up next: vs. Alabama in SEC Championship game

2) Alabama – Fought off Tigers who played hard. Worst part of game was hip-pointer that Mark Ingram got during the game that makes him questionable for the SEC Champ game. Up next: vs. Florida in SEC Championship game
3) TCU – Completed undefeated season by routing New Mexico Up next: Reg. Season complete.
4) Texas – Won an offensive shootout with Texas A&M with Colt McCoy’s best game of the year. Up next: vs. #12 Nebraska in Big 12 Championship game

5) Boise St. – Held Nevada team at bay just enough to get the victory in another offensive game. Up next: vs. New Mexico State
6) Cincinnati – Also won a shootout with Illinois to remain undefeated. Next opponent got upset this weekend so they should be pissed coming into this game. Up next: @ #13 Pittsburgh
7) Oregon – DNP. Boy this is going to be a fun Civil War! Up next: vs. #8 Oregon State Thurs. Dec. 3

8) Oregon State – DNP. Boy this is going to be a fun Civil War! Up next: @ #7 Oregon Thurs. Dec. 3
9) Virginia Tech – Blew out Virginia to finish off the season. Up next: Reg. Season complete
10) Georgia Tech – The YellowJackets were upset by Georgia who brought their own running game. Luckily their opponent has no momentum either after their own upset going into the ACC Championship Game. Up next: vs. Clemson in ACC Championship game

11) LSU – Managed the clock better and the field goal team was ready this week. Hung on to beat Arkansas in OT. Up next: Reg. Season complete

12) Nebraska – Another ugly win. Offense does just enough and the defense came up big when it had to. Had both a special teams score and a defensive score to hold off Buffaloes. Up next: vs. #3 Texas in Big 12 Championship Game
13) Pittsburgh – Were upset by West Virginia in The Backyard Brawl. Hopefully, they will be pissed facing Cincinnati this weekend for Big East Championship. Up next: vs. #6 Cincinnati

14) Stanford – ND had no answer for Toby Gerhart who trucked multiple Irish defenders. The Cardinal won another offensive shootout from the weekend. Up next: Reg. Season complete
15) Ohio State – DNP. Up next: Reg. Season complete
16) Brigham Young – Played sloppy but intense game but came out on top in OT Holy War. I am really not sure this team is that good. In addition, QB Max Hall is a baby who has now deflected attention away from a solid team win to himself with is lame postgame comments. Up next: Reg. Season complete
17) Utah – Lost a tough one on a lucky throw in OT. Will be interesting to see their bowl opponent and if they can keep their bowl win streak alive. Up next: Reg. Season complete
18) USC – I loved that Pete Carroll punked Rick Neuweasel after the asinine time out call with a minute left in the game. It was the perfect comeuppance for Slick Rick because Carroll had Barkley taken a knee on the first play. Just goes to show if you want to play stupid games, you will get burned. Up next: vs. Arizona
19) Penn State – DNP. Up next: Reg. Season complete
20) Miami – Routed the bipolar South Florida Bulls. Up next: Reg. Season complete
21) Iowa – DNP. Up next: Reg. Season complete
22) Oklahoma State – Looked mighty pitiful getting routed, no, getting shut out by Oklahoma with a BCS birth on the line. Up next: Reg. Season complete

23) Houston – WOW! I knew Rice was bad but Houston put up 59 in the first HALF on their way to 73 for the game. Damn. Up next: @ East Carolina in Conference USA Championship Game
24) West Virginia – Upset Pitt in the Backyard Brawl. Last game won’t be any easier. Up next: @ Rutgers
25) California – DNP. Up next: @ Washington

Ebb and Flow

Five teams dominated the 70's- Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama and USC. The 80's gave way to the likes of Penn St., Miami and Notre Dame. The 90's saw Miami back out and make way for Florida St. and Nebraska. The new millenium has seen total dominance by USC and Florida. Sprinkled in you'll get a dose of Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio St., or Alabama. But one thing is certain, what goes around comes around. Did Alabama ever really disappear from off the scene? Maybe they weren't relevant for a few short years under that Shula kid, but that was a short window. USC went hiding for a couple decades until they found a coach who knew how to take advantage of the perfect geographical location of the school and turned it back into a dynasty. Why hasn't UCLA been able to do that? Why isn't Auburn synonymous with college football championships instead of Alabama? Why is it that Nebraska and Oklahoma- with nary a beach or a belly shirt within 1,500 miles of their campus- are able to have continued success (with spurts of ineptitude sprinkled in from time to time, mind you) over programs like, say, Kansas, Colorado or Iowa?


Don't say it's tradition...programs have to CREATE their own tradition at some point, and it starts with two things: a man and a vision. That man may be a coach, an AD or a president. It doesn't matter who it is, as long as he is able to project that vision and sell it to others who are willing to buy. And then the hard work begins. With vision comes discipline and unwavering standards that don't bend and they certainly don't break. Offensive styles may come and go, quality athletes may walk in and out of the university's doors, but those standards are what BUILD a tradition from scratch and keep it going through the lean times as well as the times of plenty. The schools that flounder after a year or two into anonymity are the ones who have generally failed to put people in place who will uphold the standards at whatever cost necessary. Or worse, no clear standards are ever put in place to begin with. We are witnessing programs who are starting out on their path to a winning tradition by consistently achieving excellence over the past few years- Utah, TCU, Boise St, Oregon, BYU, among others. And in some cases, programs are putting a chokehold on their place in history by abiding by the same unwavering standards. Florida is the first program that comes to mind there. Other programs continue to waste their opportunity to build winning traditions by coming in through the out door. You can't have double-standards and be a consistent winner- eventually you become a house of cards. Once proud programs like Notre Dame, Florida St., Auburn, Arkansas, Michigan, Tennessee and others have traded their football birthright for a bowl of porridge when they bring people into the program who aren't willing (or in some cases able) to uphold the standards that were originally put in place. In some cases, those standards have been completely trampled under foot by the new regime. As a Nebraska native and football fan I witnessed it first-hand when a man who refused to acknowledge the standards that were put in place decades before him by honorable men hired another man who, quite frankly, had no interest in even LEARNING what the standards were, let alone abiding by them or having his players or staff abide by them. Luckily those days seem long gone...but their effects bleed over for years, sometimes even decades, and are never entirely erased from the history books. I find it fascinating to watch the ebb and flow of college football programs and seeing which ones get it right year after year while others just can't seem to get out of their own way. Onto the games!


Texas vs. Texas A&M
A month ago I would have looked at this game and said it would be close. However, McCoy is simply a different player than he was a few weeks ago. This team doesn't seem to playing tight anymore and that spells trouble, real trouble- as in we're gonna be down by 4 touchdowns by halftime trouble- for A&M, (who, by the way have been one of the most consistently inconsistent programs this year in college football history!) Texas won't be looking forward to Nebraska- until halftime at least. Texas 49 Texas A&M 13


Alabama vs. Auburn
Not much intrigue on this one- at least not on the outside. Auburn is going bowling regardless of the outcome, but Bama would probably be out of the BCS picture with a loss, although that's not a given, either. This may be Ingram's best game yet (he's already averaging an amazing 6.8 yds per carry) as he gashes the Tigers' defense for upwards of 200 yards. Alabama 31 Auburn 21


Georgia vs. Georgia Tech
Regardless of the outcome, Richt isn't going anywhere at Georgia. Not for now. But this game could give his program a much-needed lift after sorely underachieving this year. Tech is on their way to a showdown with Clemson and I don't think Georgia will have an answer for the triple option. This game will be physical and unrelenting but the wasps pull it out. Georgia Tech 44 Georgia 41


Missouri vs. Kansas
Kansas will win this game. No question in my mind as there is just too much pride on the line with all the turmoil going on behind the scenes at Kansas. Missouri is nothing special and Kansas should put up enough points to match the crazy string of performances that Danario Alexander has been putting together lately. Can Kansas really lose 6 games in a row? I don't think they will. Kansas 51 Missouri 45


Florida vs. Florida St.
I like this game...yes it will be Tebow's last home game (tissue, please), yes Meyer OWNS Bowden right down to his 'Depends', and yes the Seminoles have been gloriously unspectacular this year...BUT...does anyone really know which St. team will show up? I know I don't, and I guess I can't count them out completely for that reason. But no way in Hades does Tebow lose his last home game. Nuff said. Florida 37 Florida St. 17


BYU vs. Utah
I love how much these two teams hate each other. It's the best rivalry in college football that nobody knows about (unless you live in Utah or you're a Mormon, that is.) Utah is pretty much who we thought they were, and their freshman QB is playing well and showing signs of a very bright future. BYU, on the other hand, had BCS- heck, even national title hopes after beating Oklahoma- but has been grounded since then with humiliating losses by Florida St. and TCU. Max Hall has had a very good if not great career at BYU, but I would say he's underperformed as a senior and the defense has definite weaknesses. If Utah can rattle Hall he will throw picks. Probably 3 or more. I'm going with my gut on this and picking Utah 35 BYU 27.


Nebraska vs. Colorado
If I was Ryan Miller I wouldn't worry so much about playing to keep his coaches job. I'd actually be much more concerned about not getting physically impaled by one of the most dominant defensive tackles in the history of college football. Miller will be trying to guard Suh in this match-up and even though the Buffaloes are hapless, hopeless and helpless (they were taken off of life-support about 3 weeks ago), this rivalry game is almost ALWAYS a close one and will be decided in the trenches. The Buffaloes will be lucky, however to score 10 points on this defense- and those will probably come off trick plays or a kickoff runback. They're defense is better, however, and will keep them in this game probably until the 4th quarter. Nebraska's offense (aka this year's cardiac kids- I can't take credit for that one) love to keep us fans guessing until about the middle of the 4th quarter, when they decide to steamroll opponents and win the game. Why don't they just steamroll opponents from the beginning of the game, you ask? The reason is, well, it's complicated! I have no idea, but this year, a win is a win and the Huskers will take it and look forward to Texas in the Big 12 Championship game. Nebraska 28 Colorado 10 (I already told you they wouldn't score more than 10 points, weren't you reading?)


Other notable match-ups:
Ohio 31 Temple 30
Pitt 41 West Virginia 34
Oklahoma 35 Oklahoma St. 30
Stanford 57 Notre Dame 35

Upset of the week:
UTEP 51 Marshall 47 And you can take that to the bank!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Andrew

What's up @ HelmetNation?

This past week we delivered two more orders! We continue to keep busy heading into the holiday season. In addition, we are starting to get to the end of youth and high school football seasons. We hope to hear from you if you really want to make your end of the season banquet memorable!

Our first helmet we delivered was for the Cactus High School Cobras in Peoria, Arizona. We have done helmets for Cactus HS for 3 years running and love our association with them. Cactus is currently tearing it up again in the Arizona State High School playoffs! They are currently 11-1 and have won their first 2 playoff games by a combined score of 139-28. Their helmets are Columbia Blue Schutt DNA shells with a black Schutt DNA facemask. They have CACTUS stylized as their logo on their helmets and they have a 1/2" white stripe flanked by 1/4" black stripes. It is a sharp looking helmet.




Our next helmet was delivered to Rice Lake Weighing Systems of Rice Lake, Wisconsin. According to their website they work, To be the best by every measure™, Rice Lake Weighing Systems designs, manufactures, distributes, services and supports the most dependable weight-related equipment the world over―from heavy capacity truck and track scales to the most precise laboratory balances; from the fastest, most intelligent indicator/controllers to load cells and test weights; from custom designed processing systems to replacement parts shipped same or next day. You can find them on the web at www.ricelake.com Their helmets are a scarlet red Schutt Pro-Air II shell with a black facemask. They have their main logo on each side of the helmet in white. On the front bumper we put RICE LAKE in black text on a white background and on the rear bumper we put their website address, www.ricelake.com, in black text on a white background.




We will have some orders delivered by our next update next week. Just remember that When Ordinary Won't Do, to think of HelmetNation to give your players or employees a trophy they won't forget about! Just give us a call at (800) 576-9706 or email us at customerservice@helmetnation.com.

We at HelmetNation hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday!

HelmetNation Week 13 Top 25

We are starting to wind down the season and see where some people will be playing in the postseason. Personally, I would love to see Texas lose to A&M, or even better, to Nebraska,

because I really want to see TCU get a legitimate shot at the National Championship. I think they deserve it and I think they could win it. Without that Texas loss we are going to see the same scenario as last year. The Florida/Alabama winner vs. Texas for the National Championship with TCU playing possibly the loser of that SEC game and winning handily and finishing no better than #2. When are we as fans going to stop accepting the hypocritical BCS crap? We can do a playoff and it should be done! That being said, here is the

HelmetNation Week 13 Top 25

1) Florida – The Gators took Florida International’s best shot and came out on top in a close 62-3 contest. Up next: vs. Florida State

2) Alabama – The Crimson Tide took Chattanooga’s best shot and came out on top in a close 45-0 contest. Up next: @ Auburn Fri. Nov. 27

3) TCU – Slept through the first half and then toyed with the Cowboys as they ran away with an easy victory. Up next: vs. New Mexico
4) Texas – Cruised to an easy victory over the reeling Jayhawks . Big game on a short week playing Thanksgiving night. Up next: @ Texas A&M Thurs. Nov. 26

5) Boise St. – Utah State hung close for a quarter and a half. Then the Broncos lit them up. Last test of any kind is this week. Up next: vs. Nevada Fri. Nov. 27
6) Georgia Tech – DNP. Very quietly this is a stellar 10-1 team. Up next: vs. Georgia

7) Cincinnati – DNP. Up next: vs. Illinois Fri. Nov. 27
8) Pittsburgh – DNP. Up next: @ West Virginia Fri. Nov. 27
9) Oregon – All I can say is the Arizona student section must feel really stupid! I don’t even like the Ducks, but when I saw the Zonazoo coming down onto the sidelines with Oregon close enough to come back, I wanted to see Oregon win. What a comeback. Now the Civil War is for all the Rose Bowl marbles! Up next: vs. #13 Oregon State Thurs. Dec. 3
10) Oklahoma State – Clearly missed QB Zac Robinson as Colorado hung tough. Finally held off the spunky Buffaloes. Should be an interesting Red River Rivalry game. Up next: @ Oklahoma

11) Utah – Routed San Diego State to set up a very competitive and interesting Holy War. Utes stay balanced and it looks like Wynn has tightened his grip on the starting QB job. Up next: @ #19 BYU

12) Virginia Tech – Routed overmatched North Carolina State team. Up next: @ Virginia
13) Oregon State – Spanked a terrible Washington State team. The Civil War is for the Rose Bowl. Should be a great game to watch. Up next: @ #9 Oregon Thurs. Dec. 3
14) LSU – What was Les Miles thinking? I am usually a Les Miles fan but the last 30 seconds of this game were inexplicable. Can’t blame the players for truly poor coaching in this situation. First, take your time out earlier. Second, have your field goal team ready to rush onto the field to possibly take that shot. WOW! Up next: vs. Arkansas
15) Ohio State – Discussing their throwback uniforms would be more interesting than discussing the lame win vs. Michigan. Four interceptions and you still only win by 11? The Big 10 is PATHETIC!!! Up next: Regular season finished. Will play in the Rose Bowl vs. either Oregon or Oregon State.
16) Stanford – Well, the bipolar Golden Bears were up for this game. I was a bit surprised at the result. Should still put the final nail in the Charlie Weis coffin. Up next: vs. Notre Dame

17) Nebraska – K-State brought everything they had. It was a tough, hard-hitting, scrappy game with the Huskers coming out on top and clinching the Big 12 North Division. Up next: @ Colorado Fri. Nov. 27

18) Clemson – Secured a spot in the ACC title game opposite of Georgia Tech by beating up the Cavaliers. How will they handle success? Historically, not well. Up next: @ South Carolina

19) Brigham Young – Oddly looked much better against Air Force than they did the previous week against new Mexico. Now it is all about the Holy War. Up next: vs. #11 Utah
20) North Carolina – Ran Boston College out of their own stadium using defensive scores. Up next: @ North Carolina State

21) USC – DNP. I am not a Trojan fan but I hope they smoke the Bruins and Rick Neuweasel. Up next: vs. UCLA

22) Penn State – Routed Sparty in a game that was close until the 3rd Quarter. Up next: Season finished. Will play in a Bowl game.
23) Miami – Duke hung tough until the 4th Quarter which completely belonged to the Canes. They now face another of those consistently inconsistent teams. Up next: @ South Florida.
24) Houston – Ripped through a terrible Memphis team. Now finished out with another terrible 2-win team. Up next: vs. Rice Owls.
25) Mississippi – The Rebels can thank Les Miles for getting them back into the Top 25 with his boneheaded coaching at the end of that game. Dexter McCluster and the Rebs will be up for the Egg Bowl. Up next: @ Mississippi State

HelmetNation Week 12 Preview

Humpty-Dumpty Had a Great Fall
This just in- Coach Mangino gets large serving of humble pie along with his Thanksgiving turkey. And from the sound of what is being reported by previous players, its long overdue. When you have 1 or 2 accusations of impropriety, you look at the accusers. When you have a multitude of accusations all coming over a period of time from a myriad of sources, you look right at the accusee. And when that accusee is Coach Mangino, he ain't hard to find. Now, certainly the use of foul language is nothing foreign to a football practice atmosphere, but his apparent endearment with the philosophy of 'breaking players down to build them up' seems more in line with boot camp than spring camp, if you ask me. Yes, athletes need to have a thick skin when it comes to getting feedback from their coaches, especially if they screw up in key situations. Like it or not, that's just part of the gig. And if you had just one or two players coming out with these accusations, I'd have to take a closer look at those players and their background before laying any blame at the coach's feet. However, it has become apparent at this point that Mangino clearly has a history of verbally and mentally abusing his players by publicly humiliating and berating them- and we are only now hearing about this due to the fact that he doesn't have a winning record to keep everyone happy.

Folks, the administration is as much to blame as the coach. You mean to tell me that the AD never knew that this type of behavior was going on? That is hogwash if I've ever heard it. Only one player so far has admitted to being asked to keep quiet regarding an alleged situation of physical abuse, but how many others have yet to come forward? How many never will? Coach Bill Snyder could probably help us answer that question. Apparently, as long as the seats were filled and the W's kept coming, all was well in Lawrence, Kansas. Shame on the administration for taking 5 years to investigate this behavior, and shame on all of the coaches involved in letting this slide. Coach Mangino, if the accusations are true, your pathetic and lame defense that 'this is how I've always coached' should go down in the hall of fame as one of the worst pissant excuses of all time. It is painfully obvious that the only thing bigger than Mangino's exceptional girth is his ego. Remind you of another coach with a not-so-subtle anger management issue? Hey Coach Mangino, look on the bright side, once you're fired- and you will be fired this season- I'm sure we'll see you on the 4 letter network with a nice cozy (albeit very large) chair right next to Coach Knight. I mean, after all, that does seem to be a good fit for bullies, egotistical maniacs and womanizers alike. Although I highly doubt there is a room ANYWHERE (even at ESPN) that's quite big enough for both of those egos.

Cooking the Books
Hey, I'm just glad Coach Rodriguez isn't my accountant. I mean, I could just picture him telling the IRS "I promise, I started keeping those receipts once I became aware that I was supposed to."

Some coaches just have their houses in order and some don't. Does it really make any difference whether it's a mandatory NCAA regulation or not to keep records of what your football team is doing? Isn't it always in a program's best interest to be transparent and thorough when it comes to record keeping? I swear, there is ALWAYS something following this guy. I call weasel all the way. I would never want my kid playing for a guy like that.

Onto the actual games. This could be a quiet weekend...but it could also answer a lot of questions.

Stanford vs. Cal

Stanford...be afraid. The best defense that Cal has against these guys is the media. If Stanford can listen to enough people tell them how they are the best thing since green jello, Cal may have a shot. Emphasis on may. Cal is to soft, fluffy bunny rabbits as Stanford is to a Sherman Tank. Finesse (and cute furry cuddly-ness for that matter) may beat some opponents on some days, but I don't think this Cal team has the mentality to take on Stanford in a 60-minute grudge match. It all depends on the mentality of the Stanford offensive line. If Stanford is forced to pass all day due to lack of a running game, they lose. I just don't see it happening. Stanford 45 Cal 31

Texas vs. Kansas

Have you heard that song 'Ain't No Stoppin Us Now...'? I'm not sure who originally sang it, but Texas will be playing it all over the Kansas Uglybirds until the final whistle blows. Texas 59 Kansas 14

Oregon vs. Arizona

Does anyone want to win the Pac-10 this year?h It's up for grabs for the first time this late in the season since 2001. Four teams could possibly reach the Rose Bowl, but in the end I think Oregon St. upsets Oregon next week to go to the Rose bowl. however, this week they take care of business. Oregon 38 Arizona 20

Michigan vs. Ohio State

This is Michigan's season. A victory here would really be an epic upset, but Michigan's defense has been shredded as of late. Where did the early-season confidence and swagger go? Look for the Michigan DC position to be open after this weekend. Ohio State 27 Michigan 21

Nebraska vs. Kansas State

What Bo Pelini has done with the Blackshirt defense in 2 years is nothing short of remarkable. What Bill Snyder has done with this Wildcat team in less than a year is nothing short of miraculous. Statistically, K-St. is average across the board, but they will throw everything and the kitchen sink at the huskers. However, there is just too much speed, too much pride, too much desire on the part of Nebraska for this K-State team to have a realistic shot at an upset. Nebraska 44 Kansas St. 16