Cody’s Blog

44 years of anguish were dissolved Sunday night as the final seconds ticked off the clock and the New Orleans Saints hoisted their first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history. After years of sub-6 win seasons and whiffs at making the playoffs, the Saints knew that things could be better this year with new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams calling the defensive shots and Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees on the offensive side of the ball. Things did not look good, however, on the first two series of the game as the Saints prolific offense went three and out both times. The Colts did not waste any time getting down to business, as Manning connected with Pierre Garcon for a 19 yard touchdown pass which gave Indy a 10-0 lead after one quarter of play. The second quarter belonged to the Saints, as the Colts only ran three offensive plays. New Orleans went into the half beyond by a slim 4 points at 10-6. After the Who’s halftime performance, the Saints prepared to kick off to the Colts, but onside kicked it and after a couple of minutes of unpeeling white jerseys and blue jerseys from the rugby scrum, the Saints came out of the pile with the ball. This was the tipping point of the game, as Drew Brees connected with Pierre Thomas for a score four minutes later. Indianapolis’ only score of the second half came on a Joseph Addai 4-yard touchdown run in that same quarter which halted a Saints 13-0 run, but they would resume scoring with 18 more points over the rest of the game; the game clinching play came on a Tracy Porter interception return for a TD that put the final nail in the Indianapolis Colts’ coffin. Drew Brees was named Super Bowl XLIV MVP  as he completed an astounding 82% of his passes going 32-39 for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns good for a 114.5 QB rating. The New Orleans Saints deserved to win this game, as the Colts turned in a sub-par performance on both sides of the ball; but the bigger reason was that they defeated three Super Bowl winning quarterbacks in Kurt Warner, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning on their way to capturing their first NFL title in their team’s history.

Super Bowl XLIV is abundance of firsts on the New Orleans Saints’ side of things. This year marks the first time in the franchise’s 43 years that they have gone to the Super Bowl. For all but three of the players and coaches, it is their first time at the big game as well. But when talking about the Indianapolis Colts, they have, however cliche it may sound, “been there, done that.” The Colts and league MVP Peyton Manning captured a Super Bowl XLI title amidst the pouring down rain in Miami. And, oddly enough, they find themselves back in the Super Bowl this year in the same site, but with a totally different outdoor element to conquer; the swirling winds of South Beach. Both the Saints as well as the Colts are from dome stadiums, and this could play a part in this culminating game of the 2009-2010 season.

Key Team Match-ups

• Colts offense vs. Saints defense – The Colts offense, led by the best signal caller in the league in Manning, go up against the #26 ranked overall defense in the NFL. This number is misleading, however, as they ranked first with 46 forced turnovers and are some of the scrappiest, hardest-hitting players in the league. The key for the Colts is going to be getting mis-matches and finding someone or something to exploit. Dallas Clark provides big match up problems for a defense, and I think that Peyton is going to find him a lot in this game. As far as weakness, cornerback Rudy Gay has shown that he can be vulnerable, and Manning will no doubt try and go at him until he proves he can hold his own.
• Saints offense vs. Colts defense – This match up pitts the league’s most productive offense against the NFL’s fastest defense. The Colts, while ranking down near the bottom of the barrel in rush defense, have given up less than 2oo yards rushing to Ray Rice as Well as Thomas Jones and Shonne Greene and have held their opponents offense to just 20 points total. The Saints are in an opportune position exploit an improved Indy defense, however, as they are seven widouts deep and have two of the best explosive running backs in the game today in Reggi Bush and Pierre Thomas. The Saints and Drew Brees are going to have to be on their game, as the the Colts have a great secondary and do not give up a whole lot of points.

This game is definitely going to be a classic by the time the final whistle blows, and is also going to probably going to be one of the highest scoring contests as well. I think that the Colts and Peyton Manning are going to pull out their second Super Bowl title in four years, and it may come down to what Manning is best known for; the two-minute drill. The Colts have scored 76 points the entire year (including the playoffs) in the final two minutes of the first half alone and I have a feeling the Manning may have to make one of his patented drives in either the first or second half in order for the Colts to pull out the victory. My Pick: Colts 34-Saints 30

Days after securing his class of 2010 football recruiting class, USC Trojan’s new head coach has already begun to turn his attention to the class of 2015. 13-year-old Red Lion Christian Academy middle school quarterback David Sills of Bear, Delaware gave a verbal commitment to Kiffin and the Trojans late Thursday evening. The 13 year old, seventh grade quarterback is 6′ tall and weighs 130 pounds and is already breaking down films by himself as he works under the tutelage of personal quarterback coach and close friend of Kiffin’s Steve Clarkson. Clarkson has coached some of the countries best young quarterback talent, including USC’s Matt Barkley, and knows that Sills has the opportunity to become something special. There are mixed reactions to this story. One side says that allowing kids to verbally commit at such young ages is absolutely absurd, while others say let it happen, as most of the kids change their mind about what school they want to attend anyway. Take Indy coach Jim Caldwell for instance. While he was the head coach as Wake Forest, he received a verbal commitment from middle school quarterback Chris Leak, only for Leak to change his mind and go to Florida, where he won a national title. Athletes committing at such a young age still have no idea what they want to do, even if they think they do and most of the time they end up switching things around. For me, the issue is not the commitment, but the fact that college and professional coaches and tutors are getting involved in the kids lives so young. These coaches are telling the kids that they can be great if they stick with them, and are not allowing them to enjoy being a kid. Some of the blame also falls on the parents, as they push their kids to do these things and by the time they get their, they have already ben playing their whole life and get burnt out. Although you are not allowed to sign a letter of intent until further down the line, I think that the same should be said for verbal commitments to allow kids to go on with their lives without the pressures of such large, life altering decisions.

After dropping 30 points in South Carolina’s enormous upset win over the # Kentucky Wildcats, Devan Downey showed why he is the best point guard in the SEC and one of the best in all of college basketball. With 10 minutes left to go in the game and the Gamecocks down by 9 points, Downey scored 12 of Carolina’s final 24 points, including what proved to be the game winning layup with a shade over 50 seconds left in the game. The 5′9″ senior point guard finished the night with 33 points, and is averaging a shade over 31 points per game in SEC play. He is also tied for fourth in the nation in scoring with 22.9 PPG and also leads the nation averaging 3.1 steals a game. Downey has gone for 30 or more in six games this year, and has gone for 20 or more twelve times this season and continues to be one of the only steady options that is keeping the Gamecocks going. With nine games left on the slate, if Downey can keep putting up the numbers he has been, he could quite possibly end up in the National Player of the Year talks at the end of the year.

After weathering an early storm by the Depaul Blue Demons, the Syracuse Orangmen and Kris Joseph went on a run of their own. With seven minutes left in the game, Joseph hit the go ahead three and the Orange never looked back en route to closing the game on a 16-5 run and grabbing their 21st victory of the season. Syracuse went down 16 point early in the game, but battled back to cut he lead down to four before the half, and then lurked around waiting to make their move, which proved to be the difference in the game. Joseph dropped 15 points for the Orangemen, and Wesley Johnson added 16 points while corralling 13 rebounds. The #4 ranked team in the nation sits at 21-1 overall, with their only loss coming in a Big East Brawl with the Pitt Panthers. Syracuse has an extremely talented team, and Jim Boeheim has them playing great basketball as they head down the final stretch of the season in conference play.

The Georgetown Hoyas showed the nation how to beat an extremely talented Duke Blue Devil team; play a physical brand of basketball and take away their bread and butter; the three-point shot. Behind their first sell-out crowd of the season, the #11 ranked Hoyas obliterated the Blue Devils in every aspect of the game, including field goal percentage, on their way to their 16th win off the season. Georgetown shot 71.7% from the field, including 46% from beyond the arc, and held the prolific Duke offense to just 37% from the field. The Blue Devils are extremely dependant on the three ball, and the Hoyas completely shut them down only allowing them to go for 31% from three land. Although the Blue Devils scored 77 points, they played little to no defense on Georgetown and gave up the most points they have all season. Greg Monroe, Chris Wright, and Austin Freeman, the Hoyas’ version of the “big three”, combined on 70% of their points, while the rest of the team only scored 27 points and the Hoyas grabbed what is quite possibly their biggest win of the season. Georgetown sits in a solid position at 6-3 in the Big East and 16-4 overall, but face the Big East gaunlet the rest of the way as they close out the year with all of their games being in-conference.

After the Colts and kicker Matt Stover scored the first 3 points of the game, the new York Jets decided that they were going to take over the game. And that they did, going on a 17-3 with Mark Sanchez at the helm. The first Jet score came on an 80-yard busted coverage pass play to Braylon Edwards, and the next score came 10 minutes later on a Sanchez pass to tight end Dustin Keller. The Jets capped the 17-3 run right with a Feely field goal with 2:11 left in the half. Although the Jets had stormed to an 11-point lead, they left too much time on the clock for the best two minute offense in the NFL; Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. 4 plays and 80 yards later, the Colts had cut the lead to four points on three straight pass plays to Austin Collie culminating with a 16 yard Austin Collie touchdown reception with 1:13 left on the clock. After that, the Colts went on a 17 point run including two more TD’s from Manning; one a four yard strike to Pierre Garcon and the other a 15 yarder to Dallas Clark. Manning finished the game with 377 yards and 3 touchdowns, setting the record for most 33 yard games in the playoffs with7. Collie and garcon both benefited from Manning’s huge day, as Garcon had 11 grabs for 151 and a TD and Collie had 7 catches for 123 yards and a score as well. Indy also ran the ball effectively, as Addai rushed for 80 yards on 16 carries. The defense also held the Jets and their number 1 rushing attack under 100 yards, and will be a big factor in the Super Bowl on February 14th when they take on the New Orleans Saints.

After traveling to Kansas State and suffering their first loss of the season, the Texas Longhorns arrived in Hartford, Connecticut looking to get back on track. For the first half, it looked as if Texas was going to rebound nicely after suffering a tough defeat, but the Connecticut Huskies weren’t done. Althogh without head coach Jim Calhoun due to health related issues, Jerome Dyson’s 18 second half points allowed the Huskies to chip away at the Texas lead and with 12:24 left to play, Dyson’s 17 foot jumper put the Huskies on top by a count of 54-53. UConn did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way, as Kemba Walker scored 11 points from that point to the end of the game to give the Huskies the 88-75 upset victory over the then #1 Texas Longhorns. After dropping two games in one week, the Longhorns are sure to drop a few spots in the polls, but are still considered one of the better teams in the nation.

Needing to win their final two games, with a little help, to get into the playoffs, the New York Jets traveled to Indianapolis and beat a Colts team that only played their starters for a half. They then waxed a Cincinatti team that was also resting some guys by a score of 37-0. So here they are. After beating Cincinnati again, and the San Diego Chargers yesterday, the Jets travel to Lucas Oil Stadium to take on a Colts team that definitely will not be resting their starters. After a scoreless first quarter, San Diego got on the board first with a touchdown pass from Phillip Rivers to Kris Wilson. The Jets then scored the next 17 points of the game, coming on a Shonn Greene 53 yard touchdown run,a Mark Sanchez two yard touchdown pass, and a Jay Feely field goal. Until Greene’s breakout run, the Jets were barely moving the ball on the ground, but somehow still managed to achieve almost their average, rushing for 169 yards. Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, save the interception, showed great poise leading his team into hostile territory and grabbing the win, but the defense is the unit that deserves all the credit. The held the Chargers to just 14 total points, and get the Chargers at bay long enough for the Jets to get back into the game. Now, the AFC Championship is on the line as the Indianapolis Colts take on the New York Jets, a team that they basically allowed to get into the playoffs in the first place.

Purdue came into Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern looking to shake a two game losing streak and get back into form, but Northwestern would have none of that. After being beaten at home earlier in the year by ranked teams Butler, Michigan State, and Wisconsin, Northwestern finally got over the hump and beat a ranked team at home. Led by Micheal Thompson’s 20 points and Drew Crawford’s 15 point, 7 rebound performance, the Northwestern Wildcats improve to 13-4 overall. Although they are only 2-3 in the Big Ten, Northwestern is in a good position to win some games and get back in the conference race.