JEX

[spongepunk]

HEY JEX. FOOTBALL'S ON SOON. WHO'S YOUR PICKS FOR STUFF?

 

[Jexter]

Yo sponge, where you been? Ever going to get back on the server and terrorize noobs again?

I've been counting down the days until football, I'm pumped! The SEC East is going to boil down to Tennessee and Georgia this year, and I give a slight edge to your Vols since we'll be playing you in Neyland... right after we play Alabama. :/ Georgia should have a ferocious defense this year but offensively they'll be more one-dimensional than Tennessee. Dobbs is a dual-threat QB and UGA has been struggling to name a starter for QB... that position will be somewhat up in the air for us until Eason gets on campus next year. UGA has, by far, the deepest backfield in the nation (Chubb, Michel, Marshall etc) but I think opposing defenses are going to load the box to stop the run game and force an air game that we don't have this year. Georgia will use their very good Tight End position more this season for the short-medium pass game but they are badly depleted at Wide Receiver.

Out west I think I'm liking Auburn to grab first place, although it'll likely be a close fight with Alabama (as usual). Ole Miss isn't getting a lot of attention but I'd keep an eye on them to be a contender as well.

As for way-too-early Power 5 conference winner picks, I'd say USC wins the PAC-12, Ohio State BIG 10, TCU BIG 12, Clemson in the ACC and Auburn in the SEC. We'll just have to see which teams turn out to not meet expectations

What about you? What're you thinking for this football season?

 

[mk59apr]

pls come back sponge!

i command you!

 

[shadow9198]

/tp spongepunk MCA

 

[DCL_]

CFL anyone?

 

[Monkeyz]

/add player spongepunk

 

[mk59apr]

Hi thar Monkeyz

 

[cooliojulio]

/summon spongepunk

 

[spongepunk]

I think UGA's defense is going to really good, and Chubb will be Chubb. I'm picking UGA to win the East, thanks to the Vols losing to a couple of teams we should beat. Our game with y'all is going to be SO good, with our d-line vs your overal defense, and Chubb vs Hurd/Kamara. I'm still really concerned about our o-line though, it's going to be a miracle if they don't get Dobbs hurt this year.

I'm also picking Auburn for the West. I'm guessing they'll have something similar to 2013, though less luck and more Alabama starting to trend down. Mississippi schools will probably fall off, with Ole Miss' defense and maybe Prescott for State keeping them somewhat relevant.

For the playoffs, I'm thinking Auburn, OSU (repeating), TCU, and Clemson/GT (Still undecided on the ACC). What's the hype behind U$C for? Is it typical love for ND and U$C or is it legit? I didn't watch much of them but I didn't see a top 10 team from what little I saw.

Random teams popping up to be good, I'm gonna guess Kentucky (to an extent) I could see them going 7-5 which would be really good for them. And Kansas

What are your playoff picks? Who do you see being this year's "Mississippi schools?"

CFL anyone?

lol

And I might pop on every now and then when I get my laptop fixed.

 

[CheezyMarsBar14]

Hey Jex, how about baseball? Jays are HOT right now, Encarnacion hit 3 homers, including a grand slam, and got 9 RBI's today!

How them Braves doing?

 

[spongepunk]

The Braves are poopy, or so the comments on Instagram tell me

 

[Nanaliana]

Yo dude, you seem popular. i'm a noob, come terrorize me.

 

[mk59apr]

nana no, just no... sponge is the noob slayer god

 

[Jexter]

I think UGA's defense is going to really good, and Chubb will be Chubb. I'm picking UGA to win the East, thanks to the Vols losing to a couple of teams we should beat. Our game with y'all is going to be SO good, with our d-line vs your overal defense, and Chubb vs Hurd/Kamara. I'm still really concerned about our o-line though, it's going to be a miracle if they don't get Dobbs hurt this year.

I'm also picking Auburn for the West. I'm guessing they'll have something similar to 2013, though less luck and more Alabama starting to trend down. Mississippi schools will probably fall off, with Ole Miss' defense and maybe Prescott for State keeping them somewhat relevant.

For the playoffs, I'm thinking Auburn, OSU (repeating), TCU, and Clemson/GT (Still undecided on the ACC). What's the hype behind U$C for? Is it typical love for ND and U$C or is it legit? I didn't watch much of them but I didn't see a top 10 team from what little I saw.

Random teams popping up to be good, I'm gonna guess Kentucky (to an extent) I could see them going 7-5 which would be really good for them. And Kansas

What are your playoff picks? Who do you see being this year's "Mississippi schools?"
.

Right, Georgia was picked overwhelmingly to win the East by the media but Tennessee was picked second, because many believe they are still a year away. But Tennessee has a better shot than many are giving credit because UGA routinely drops a game to some of the bitter rivals regardless of record (Florida and South Carolina especially). Tennessee does get to play UGA on their home turf and we'll already be banged up from playing Saban's physical squad... not a good recipe for the Bulldogs. But I agree, UGA and UT game should decide the East so it's a far more important game this year.

I think Tennessee overall has a better defensive front 7. Georgia is a bit of a question mark at nose tackle and defensive end (although we have been recruiting really well at the position, the talent is just untested thus far). So we'll see. I wouldn't trade our linebacker squad for any group in the nation though - the biggest problem for Georgia's coaches during fall practice has been how to get so many weapons on the field at once. Good problem to have!

I agree about the whole O-line remark, I think that position will make or break Tennessee. If they improve at least marginally over their horrendous performance last year, their East chances improve with it. But remember one benefit you have this year is that Dobbs should be the starter for the whole season if he stays healthy, and he's the ideal QB for the read option offense. Last year you had Worley, who is more of a pocket passer, trying to drop back and that puts a ton more pressure on an O-Line. The read option with a mobile QB automatically makes your O-Line better!

Good point about Mississippi State. I completely overlooked the fact that they still have Dak Prescott, who is a legitimate Heisman candidate. Not sure if he has enough weapons around him to have a great team, but we'll see. They may turn out more like Ole Miss was last year, where it's mostly a one-man show (like Bo Wallace, but without the defense). What makes Ole Miss interesting this season is they have just about all their defensive stars back, they could have the best defense in the SEC potentially. But that won't be good enough if they don't break their new starting QB in quickly and get some kind of running game!.

My play-off picks are basically the same as yours... And as much as I hate to say it, Ohio State probably does repeat. :S It will mostly be a matter of which conference gets left out of the play-off, and I think that'll be a toss-up between the ACC and PAC-12. I think Oregon may taper off a bit, USC should be greatly improved (they have one of the best QBs in the nation in Cody Kessler and with how well Steve Sarkisian recruits, they have incredible talent). You're right about the media always loving all over Notre Shame and U$C, but they both do have potentially great teams this year.

Kentucky could turn out well! We'll see. If they get to another bowl game this year, it won't be because of their defense (they lost most of their best defense front players to the NFL). Patrick Towles will be an NFL-level QB some day though so he might light up the score board. Arkansas is another team to watch. I think they could be better than current expectations. Probably not win the West, but they might topple a few teams they're not expected to.

Hey Jex, how about baseball? Jays are HOT right now, Encarnacion hit 3 homers, including a grand slam, and got 9 RBI's today!

How them Braves doing?

I haven't kept up with baseball too much lately, which tends to happen when football season is right around the corner. I just use baseball to hold me afloat in the realm of sports until the pigskin starts getting thrown around, lol.

I did see your Jays continue to hover around or at first place in the AL East, and I'm pumped about that. Anyone who beats out the Yankees is my friend. The Braves continue to struggle (a re-building year for them, for sure... They'll probably finish around .400-.450), but they do have an interleague series going with the Yankees at the moment... hopefully we can beat them in a game or two and help keep the Jays a couple of games ahead of NY.

Encarnacion is just a beast, pure and simple. That guy terrorized the Braves during his younger days when he was playing for the Florida Marlins. He's only improved his game since heading up to Toronto. Anyone who gets 5 RBIs in a game is already impressive. 9 is just inhuman! Sounds like a video game stat...

 

[spongepunk]

I agree that Oregon tapers off...I don't see their QB making a great jump from FCS, I still think they'll be a top 15 team, but they won't be in playoff talks for long.

Has there been any standout QB for Georgia yet? I haven't heard anything for a couple of weeks...last I heard anything was from PAWWWL Finebaum, unfortunately.

And how do you think FSU will do without the Crab Leg King? I assume Mr Turnover-I mean Golson will do better than he did last year, but FSU will be a top 15 team or so.

Yo dude, you seem popular. i'm a noob, come terrorize me.

I try not to be a dick now

 

[Jexter]

I agree that Oregon tapers off...I don't see their QB making a great jump from FCS, I still think they'll be a top 15 team, but they won't be in playoff talks for long.

Has there been any standout QB for Georgia yet? I haven't heard anything for a couple of weeks...last I heard anything was from PAWWWL Finebaum, unfortunately.

And how do you think FSU will do without the Crab Leg King? I assume Mr Turnover-I mean Golson will do better than he did last year, but FSU will be a top 15 team or so.

I agree, I would be surprised if Oregon fell out of the top 25 completely. I don't see that happening. They continue to recruit well and will always utilize that high-octane offense, which works so well in the PAC-12.

Georgia has had three QBs competing for the starting job; Greyson Lambert, Brice Ramsey and Faton Bauta. Personally I like Bauta because he's a dual-threat QB, but Mark Richt has always preferred pro-style QBs in his system so I don't think he'll win the job. Lambert is a transfer from Virginia (played most of last season for the Cavaliers). He's got the most game experience of the 3 but his results in 2014 were kinda meh... I think he was around 12/12 TDs to INTs. Granted he was probably surrounded by sub-par talent at Virginia, but making the leap to the SEC might be a rude awakening. Brice Ramsey has a cannon for an arm, but he reminds me a bit of Tyler Bray. He can sling it but isn't always great with his decisions. He'll stretch the field but he'll also likely make some bad throws into double coverages and force some unnecessary INTs. I expect Ramsey to probably win the job but Lambert will be right there til the end of the QB battle. If Lambert learns the playbook as well as Ramsey already knows it, he has a legit shot as well.

FSU, I think, will still be in the top 3 best teams of the ACC... that should boil down to Georgia Tech, Clemson and FSU. I think GT might fall off a bit after their backfield got gutted to some graduations. But it's hard to say because they do have a good QB and if they rely more on the pass game (very unusual for a Paul Johnson offense), they could be dangerous. But the problem with GT is they don't have the defensive talent that FSU and Clemson have. Clemson had a ferocious defense last season and were breaking in one of the best dual-threat QBs in the nation, Deshaun Watson. If Clemson lives up to expectations I say they win the ACC, with FSU and GT behind them.

 

[spongepunk]

Look at the bright side, at least you don't have 5 QB's like Bama.

 

[strikerpro]

Ahh football.. We shouldn't be talking about sports here the only sport is minecraft!

 

[Jexter]

Look at the bright side, at least you don't have 5 QB's like Bama.

Lol... I think even the long snapper has a shot in winning the QB job at Alabama.

Btw, I just read the full injury report for Tennessee on Bleacher Report yesterday. Ouch! Was a much longer list than I thought.

 

[spongepunk]

I don't remember exactly who all was hurt, but I believe for the most part they were back-ups...I can only remember the o-line starter that was hurt. I could be wrong, though.