Adam Jacobi Posts

Hey, remember a few weeks ago, when Penn State had that strange situation where a metric buttload of police showed up to an apartment where players lived without really saying why? And then we found out it was because they smelled marijuana? Remember that?

Well, it's three weeks later, and you're never going to guess this, but the police have decided to charge the players with possession of marijuana. Three. Weeks. Later:

Charges have been filed against Nittany Lions Abe Koroma and Maurice Evans in connection with a Sept. 2 marijuana seizure at a Nittany Apartments residence, according to court documents filed today.

Koroma and Evans have been charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana, an ungraded misdemeanor, according to the criminal complaint.

There's only one reasonable scenario in which police take a small amount of marijuana from an apartment, then wait three weeks before filing charges. Well, check that, two:

Week three is in the books, and boy howdy is it getting awesome. Ohio State is somehow still ranked rather high, despite doing nothing all season. Still, barring a second straight year of NCAA-wide meltdowns, their title dreams are o-v-e-r; voters won't make the mistake of naming OSU the top one-loss team in the nation again. Especially since Tressel decided to duck powerhouse Iowa (again).

Elsewhere, Wisconsin survived a trip to Fresno, UCLA lost in a squeaker, and Washington shanked an Oklahoma defensive lineman during a 47-point loss. Revenge killings are always the ugliest. And yes, USC is the top team in the land, but the rest of their conference is an absolute horror show.

As always, we'll be spending our Monday evening answering any questions you've got, even if they're weird and have to do with adult diapers (PROTIP: spend the extra money on name brands). Join us at 7:30 EST, and we'll have you done in plenty of time for EDSBS Live.

The chat window's after the jump.

For a program in the WAC, life is difficult. Outside of the BCS umbrella, giant paydays are foreign, and nationally televised games are a rarity. Even perfection is only rewarded in the most cursory of manners, yielding a lesser BCS bowl that places the program no closer to the title than if they'd spent the weekend in Shreveport.

And while the title issue remains, well, an issue for as long as the BCS's greasy tentacles ensnare the crystal football, there is a way for lesser I-A programs to get noticed, and that's to take the BCS programs head-on. There are few programs so willing to do so as Fresno State, the plucky Bulldogs from the mythical state of Fresno.

Fresno has a remarkable non-conference resume over the last decade, taking on such programs as Colorado, Ohio State, USC, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Oregon. Also, this weekend, they face Wisconsin for the third time in six years. They also scheduled Sacramento State, but let's not concern ourselves with pesky confounders. And as the Sac Bee reports, that legacy is safe for years to come:

Nebraska, Colorado and Mississippi were added to the Bulldogs' schedule beginning in 2010. They also scheduled games against Cincinnati, UC-Davis, Cal Poly and Rutgers.

We'll be ignoring UC-Davis and Cal Poly, as they render my argument ridiculous. Say what you will about Fresno's success against the upper echelon, but they have inserted themselves into the national discussion better than anybody else in the WAC (oh, Hawaii? Boise State? No no; you've already stopped thinking about them this year, haven't you?). And when you're consigned to the ghettos of college football, that's about the best you can do.

Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeys almost had an epic case of the Mondays.

Week 2 is in the books, and we have lots to talk about, namely: Dude, what?! Ohio State barely beats Ohio, sending chortles throughout Southern California. West Virginia self-implodes against a very, very feisty ECU team, and Syracuse continues their slide into futility, getting smoked by... Akron.

Let's talk about the madness this evening on A Case of the Mondays, the best thing to happen to college football, ever. Festivities start at 7:00 p.m EST, right below the jump.

Good news for South Carolina: your 'Cocks are getting Smelley:

After an outstanding performance in relief last week, [Chris] Smelley will get the start Thursday night in the No. 24 Gamecocks' SEC opener at Vanderbilt, which defeated Smelley and South Carolina last year.

[Steve] Spurrier decided to go with Smelley for the SEC opener after [Tommy] Beecher couldn't practice Monday because he couldn't lift his non-throwing shoulder.

As the Good Doctor pointed out, Smelley's resume is as skid-marked, if not moreso, than Tommy Beecher's; Smelley took liberties with the proverbial pooch in the aforementioned Vandy loss last year, which blocked the 'Cocks' conference title aspirations.

But to be fair, this is a new year, and in this new year the Gamecock offense grundled ground to a halt for three quarters before Smelley roasted the place like a Dutch Oven. Directing three consecutive touchdown drives, Smelley turned a 13-0 stinker into a 34-0 steamer.

Steve Spurrier definitely knew the writing was smeared on the wall. Remember, this is the The Old Ball Coach, which means if there's one thing this coach knows, it's balls. Hopefully, TOBC can wash the taint of bad 'Cock play from this season before his gang gets banged up too hard.

And that's why Chris Smelley is your top Cock.

Phil Fulmer has a ring. Kiss it.

It's time once again for Blogfrica's finest weekly feature, A Case of the Mondays. We're a little later this week, as we're here to cover this evening's football. Tennessee visits UCLA, since their last trip out west was, um, so much fun. Also, Fresno meets Rutgers in a tilt that will probably involve a fistfight somewhere (because New Jersey is full of thugs! And so is Fresno! And we love stereotyping!).

Join us at 8 PM eastern tonight as we discuss The Week That Was. Is your team looking good? Worried about the conference schedule? And did you enjoy Pitt's one week of fame before it all crashed down?

Chat window's after the jump.

After last season's mildly noticeable upset of Michigan by Appalachian State, media and football enthusiasts alike were eager to figure out where this year's Week 1 Bombshell would come from. Would it be Appalachian State again? (Hint: NO)

As it turns out, those of you who bubbled in D) None of the above were correct, as Division I-A simply demolished their lower-level counterparts. In 32 inter-division games, I-A went 31-1, the lone loss coming in a 2-point Cal Poly win over basement dweller San Diego State. That was an "upset" the way Crocs are "shoes" or Rhetoric teachers are "professors": only in terms of classification, not reality.

The rest of the games were slightly more skewed toward the superior conference, as I-A won the other 30 games by an average of over 31 points. Sure, there was Maryland squeaking by Delaware 14-7, but only two other games were even within two scores, and most were laughers by halftime.

Even after Appalachian State's victory in the Big House last year, of course, nobody was going to suggest that Division I-AA could reliably compete with their big brothers. Except, uh, that's what everybody wanted to think (I plead guilty). If anything, this institutional pistol-whipping reinforces what was immediately apparent only 52 weeks ago: Last year's upset was ABSOLUTELY ENORMOUS.

Welcome to the FanHouse Night Shift, where we're letting you college football fans ride out the night with an intriguing slate of games. We have trash-talking Howard Schnellenberger and FAU at Texas, Bama-slayers Louisiana-Monroe against No. 10 Auburn, and upstart Clemson facing the aforementioned Crimson Tide.

Stop on in if you've got a hankering for football, because we want to hear from you. How are your picks doing? How's your holiday weekend? Maybe you're just coming back from your own game, and... oh god, you've been drinking, haven't you? What are the neighbors going to think? Tell us you at least didn't drunk-dial your ex again.

If you can stand yourself and your gross, decadent ways, join us at 8 p.m. right here. The chat window's below the jump.

The Pac-10's saddest sack of sad continues to be the Washington Huskies, a backwards, underarmed prgram that benefits only other Pac-10 teams and Notre Dame fans who really didn't need the boost in self-assuredness to begin with. Ty Willingham keeps trying, and God bless him for it, but we're starting to wonder if even he realizes what little good the effort does.

The latest sign of impending structural failure comes from today's AP piece where everybody acknowledges that Willingham will be fielding "perhaps the youngest team he's ever put out on the field":

Those youngsters will get a quick initiation in one of the most heated atmospheres in college football when the Huskies travel to rival Oregon on Saturday night. Willingham plans to start 10 sophomores or freshman - including a pair of true freshmen - against the No. 21 Ducks.

[...]

The reliance on inexperienced players at key positions only highlights how hard the first three weeks could be for Willingham. After opening at Oregon, the Huskies return home for games against No. 16 BYU and No. 4 Oklahoma.

Three Top 25 games to start the season, and almost half of their starters are underclassmen? Mercy. Sure, Jake Locker's one of those sophomores and talent is talent, but come on. This isn't Olympic China, Tyrone; it's okay to use older players. And for God's sakes, stop forging little girls' passports.

While the Great Washington Youth Movement might be the best idea for the Huskies' long-term success, it seems pretty clear that the "long term" doesn't necessarily include Willingham's gainful employment. Maybe, in some weird way, such selflessness will endear him enough to another school to merit another head coaching job.

What's that? No? Dumb idea? Horrible? Gotcha. Nice move anyway, Ty.