November Notes

PYB is back after our unexcused absence with some quick hitters this fine morning:

--The win over Michigan State was a nice one. The defense played its best game all season. The offense did what teams need to do to grind out wins consistently in conference play. Hell, even Bill Callahan had that formula down -- for one season, anyway.

But we get the feeling that the win over the Spartans is like that yearly win over Missouri. Sure, they're ranked. Sure, they present a mild challenge. But, in all honesty, it was Missouri. A team with some nice talent but many flaws and a history of meltdowns when the bright lights are on. A win like that is expected.

This year's NU squad will make its bacon in the upcoming weeks, as we all know, with trips to Penn State and Bitchigan. The fact that the offense has been more consistent and that the defense woke up is encouraging. Taylor Martinez will have to keep holding on to the ball and will have to break a few big plays to get wins in both those contests. We shall see.

--Speaking of Martinez, PYB never thought he could become a bigger pussy than he already was. Then he started wearing two gloves. Unless you're Kurt Warner and throw for 400 yards at will, or Dirty Doug Flutie in -22 temps in Buffalo/Canada...there is no excuse.

--Speaking of Martinez, it is sad to see that Ameer Abdullah has recently attended the QB's seminar on ball security. The last two games, Abdullah has had a few bobbles, fumbles and muffs. Not good stuff for your biggest special-teams playmaker at the time where he'll be needed the most to flip the field and win games on the road.

--Barney Cotton. What has happened to his status as annual PYB whipping boy? Well, it's gone away due to the offensive line's encouraging improvement. And let's not call it anything more than that. It's still far from dominating.

But our question is...is it any coincedence the OL can finally open some holes once Cotton outsourced the coaching to John Garrison and Brenden Stai? We say not. Cotton's units have always sucked. And in year one with some real tutelage available, the line can actually block. You do the math.

--Twenty Blackshirts were given out this week by the Pinelli brothers. Jason Peter isn't a fan. We can see his point, when stiffs like Austin Cassidy are wearing the same jersey he wore -- when it actually meant something. No word on whether Peter wore his black jersey while banging crack whores in New York City while he was strung out. We'll work on that story.

--Switching gears...why does Carson Palmer need more receivers for his new team in Oakland? He does just fine throwing balls to the other team and losing games that way.

--Suh going corporate. Ouch.

--Funny that Georgia's administrative process worked at JUST the right speed to suspend its players AFTER the Florida game last Saturday.

--PYB hopes to be back for analysis before the Northwestern game Saturday. However, our travel schedule may prevent that. What do we know about this year's Mildcat team? They're 0-2 in covering for us.

All for now....we can line you up with a sweet Blackshirt jersey like you see here for just $59.95 if you're interested....