Oregon is For Real

In Mandel’s recap of Oregon’s impressive win (box score here) over No. 12 UCLA he briefly explained why Oregon made a statement concerning their BCS title bid. other than that, he failed to mention much else.

1. Where was the dissection of the game?
2. What are you thinking after watching that game?
3. Failed to mention an injury deprived UCLA who will likely continue to drop in the BCS rankings
4. What about the impressive fourth quarter by the Ducks

Mandel mentioned that it was a nail biter up until the final quarter but he didn’t go into detail. I understand that most of his columns are brief recaps, but this felt like it was even less than that. Feel free to read the column here.

Kingsbury Reputaion Growing

Mandel gave brief insight on up-and-coming coach Kliff Kingsbury. Kingsbury has led Texas Tech to a 7-0 start. After dismal years following the departure of Mike Leach, Kingsbury has seemingly turned the program around to what it was several years ago. Mandel gives us insight into Kingsbury’s life:

1. He’s only 34 years old
2. He was the Red Raiders QB from 2000-2002
3. Sets the music playlists at practice while taking all requests
4. Feels as though you “have to play to your audience” when asked about relating to players

Mandel once again wrote a brief column that would probably not satisfy most readers. I would have liked a more in depth column because I think that Kingsbury has done a remarkable job at Texas Tech. Other than that, the article was a solid piece. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20131024/kliff-kingsbury-texas-tech/index.html

Stanford Rebounds

Stanford is known for their intelligence and experience on the field, but this year’s squad is proving to be a formidable opponent. Mandel gives an in depth review of Stanford’s week eight win vs. No. 9 UCLA.

This big win came after a terrible loss to a dismal Utah team. Stanford bounced back and put on an impressive performance, winning 24-10. With Texas A&M suffering their second loss to Auburn and LSU losing to Ole Miss, Stanford took a couple steps forward in keeping their name relevant in the BCS title hopes.

This is the first column that Mandel has wrote that was more than just a brief opinion/review/prediction. The content and style were both my favorite thus far from Mandel. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20131019/stanford-cardinal-ucla-bruins/

Which Job is the Better Opportunity?

USC and Texas. Two historic schools that have seen better days. Mandel gives his own take on which school has a more promising head coach position. USC recently fired Lane Kiffin and Texas head coach Mack Brown is on the hot seat. Mandel compared the teams by looking at the positives:

• Both schools are in a prime recruiting market
• USC is more prominent nation wide
• Texas is viewed as the best football school in the state (which has more talent than it knows what to do with)

In a very short column that was really just an answer to a question, Mandel managed to put forth the bare minimum of information. I think it would have been much better if he went into more detail because this is the kind of topic that starts a great debate. But, it was basically just an answer to a random email so I guess I cannot knock him too much on not going more in depth. To see the full entry click here.