Code Orange

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Update 9:24 PM

By the way, this will not be the first time Maryville has played in 4 straight state titles. They also played in the state title game 4 straight times between 1976-1979, winning it in ‘76 and ‘78, both against Brentwood Academy. Maryville is going for their 11th state title in 37 years and is playing in their 14th title game (they have 8 additional semifinal appearances. Think about that. In 37 years, they have reached AT LEAST the semifinals 22 times).

Update 9:13 PM

Here are some stats:

First downs: 22 first downs for Maryville, 21 for South

256 yards rushing, 255 yards passing for Maryville for 511 total yards.

264 yards rushing, 86 yards passing for South for 350 total yards.

Maryville also picked up 6 of 7 third down conversions. The only one they missed was that 3rd and 15 on their 2nd drive of the game. On every other drive Maryville put it in the endzone save the two drives that ended in fumbles.

The backbreaker in this game was when South was down 28-14 and inside the Maryville 10 yard line and fumbling the ball away. Maryville then rushed all over South for 94 yards and went up 3 touchdowns. From that point, South had to take more risks offensively to try to get back into it, and it just didn’t work, and the defense just couldn’t stop Maryville’s rushing game for the rest of the contest.

Just one other bit of trivia. This is, as far as I’m aware, only the 2nd meeting between these teams. The only other meeting was in the first round of the 1995 playoffs when Maryville won 17-10.

Update 9:09 PM

And it’s over, 48-21. Maryville goes on to the state championship for the 4th straight year and for the 7th time in 8 years as they win their 59th straight.

The 21 points ties South’s lowest offensive output of the year along with South’s only other loss when they lost to Greeneville 24-21. The 48 points is twice the previous high number of points South has allowed this season - with that 24 points by Greeneville being the previous high.

Meanwhile, this is the 5th time Maryville has scored over 40 points and the 2nd straight week they have done so. Maryville has now scored 100 points in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds in the playoffs. The 21 points by South ties the 2nd most points Maryville has allowed this season, tying Knoxville West at 21 points, and is only beaten by the 30 points Maryville allowed against Knoxville Halls.

Update 9:04 PM

Maryville intercepts Phillips for the first time tonight and returns it 50 yards for a touchdown. It’s now 48-21 with only 22 seconds to go.

Update 9:01 PM

Maryville fumbles it again when trying to put the game and South recovers on the Maryville 10 with 2:05 to go. However, with the score sitting at 41-21, South probably just doesn’t have enough time.

Update 8:54 PM

South forgoes the onsides kick and kicks it off. However, Maryville returns it back to their own 47 yard line.

Update 8:52 PM

Phillips gets his 3rd touchdown of the game as South finally is able to get down the field again to make it 41-21. But there is only 5:57 to go in the game.

Update 8:44 PM

Maryville quickly runs all over South once again and what had been a pretty close game is turning into a rout as it’s now 41-14 Maryville (Maryville pissed the PAT).

Update 8:41 PM

Sullivan South goes for it on 4th down on their own 38 yard line and fails to convert.

Update 8:38 PM

South takes a fair catch on the kickoff at the 32 yard line as South now has their work cut out for them as they now will have to score 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter plus have to stop Maryville’s offense.

Update 8:36 PM

Maryville gets a 39 yard touchdown run to probably score the game-clenching touchdown as Maryville runs all over South on a 94 yard drive to take a 35-14 lead.

Update 8:29 PM

South gets the kickoff and takes it out to the 36 yard line. South was held to a 3rd and 6 but South is able to get their first completion down field down to the Maryville 31 yard line. Maryville is able to tackle South for a 7 yard loss on the next play, putting South back into a hole. However, on 3rd down South once again hits another pass down field down to the 19 yard line. South then passes it down to the 5 yard line, only to fumble and Maryville recovers just as South is about to bring the game back to within one score.

Update 8:20 PM

Maryville marches into South’s territory then is held to 3rd and 10, but picks it up down to the 22 yard line. The next play Maryville tosses it into the endzone for another Maryville touchdown and it’s 28-14 Maryville.

Update 8:16 PM

It’s time for the 2nd half and South pooch kicks the kickoff and Maryville starts their drive at their own 40.

Update 7:50 PM

Maryville gets the ball again at about the 30 and engages in their hurry-up offense and quickly get down to South’s 20 yard line. However, Maryville fumbles the ball and South recovers and so Maryville not only doesn’t score a touchdown, they can’t pick up any points. As a result, Maryville goes into halftime with a 21-14 lead on Sullivan South.

Update 7:45 PM

South runs all over Maryville as Phillips picks up his 2nd rushing touchdown of the game. It’s now 21-14 Maryville with 1:21 to go in the 1st half.

Update 7:35 PM

Maryville gets another bomb, this time for 59 yards and it’s now 21-7 Maryville.

Update 7:31 PM

South ends up going 3-and-out on their next drive and is forced to punt to Maryville. Maryville gets the ball at their own 29 yard drive to start their next drive.

Update 7:27 PM

Maryville throws a 62 yard touchdown pass to take a 14-7 lead.

Update 7:24 PM

It was a first down, and South Quarterback Curt Phillips gets a big gain down to the 11 yard line for another first down. On the next play Phillips runs it in for a touchdown for Sullivan South and they make it 7-7 with 11:37 to go in the 1st half.

Update 7:21 PM

South RB Taylor Fletcher rushes the ball twice and picks up 20 yards and puts South back into Maryville territory. End of the 1st quarter, 7-0 Maryville over South. It’ll either be 3rd and inches or 1st and 10 for South around the Maryville 30 yard line.

Update 7:18 PM

Two straight plays for losses puts Maryville in a hole, putting them in a 3rd and 15 and South is able to cause an incompletion. We have a the first 3-and-out of the game courtesy of the Sullivan South defense. Maryville punts and South returns will get the ball on their own 40 yard line. 1:25 to go in the 1st quarter.

Update 7:15 PM

South moves the ball into Maryville territory, but once again after a single first down the drive stalls. South attempts a fake punt, but it fails and Maryville gets the ball back.

Update 7:11 PM

By the way, the South quarterback Phillips also returns kicks and plays Linebacker. South gets the ball over the 40 yard line on the kickoff after a pooch kick.

Update 7:09 PM

Maryville mixes up passes and rushes and is able to pick up two 3rd downs on the drive to march the field and strike first. It’s Maryville 7 South 0. 5:49 to go in the 1st quarter.

Update 7:03 PM

Maryville kicks and South gets a touchback and gets the ball at the 20. Sullivan South gets down to about the 45 yard line before having to punt the ball away. Maryville calls for the fair catch at their own 25 yard line. Now Maryville goes on offense for the first time.

6:58 PM

Well, it’s the Rebels vs. the Red Rebels. Here we go. Sullivan South, my high school, vs. the 3-time defending state champion with the 58 game winning streak.

My former high school, Sullivan South, is in the Tennessee State semifinals for only the 2nd time in it’s history.  The first time was in 1993 when a RB/DB combo player named Jeremy Osborne carried the team to a 12-0 record into that game - the last time Sullivan South finished the regular season undefeated.  Osborne ended up going to Furman, one of the few Division I prospects to come out of this northeast Tennessee high school.

Well, tonight once again South is in the semifinals, though this time they aren’t undefeated - they’re 12-1, having avenged their only loss of the season last week in the quarterfinals against Greeneville 41-21.  This team is also lead by a Division I commit - Curt Phillips - who has been described as Tennessee High School’s Tim Tebow, and is heading off to play at Wisconsin next year.  He’s also a Mr. Football finalist in the state, having scored at least 21 points in every single game this season.  He has 3,788 total yards this season - 1,748 on the ground and 2,040 in the air.  He also has 36 rushing touchdowns and 17 passing touchdowns to 7 interceptions this season (that’s 53 total touchdowns if you don’t feel like doing the math).

However, like in 1993 when they were faced 2-time state champion Cleveland - who ultimately defeated South 28-0 - they play 3-time defending champion Maryville this time.  Maryville is a team who has won 6 of the 7 seven state titles and ride a 58 game winning streak into this game.  Their last loss was in the 2003 state semifinals by a field goal.  Maryville too has a Mr. Football finalist - Brent Burnette -  Maryville’s senior quarterback who is very pass happy - and very good at it hitting 200 of 291 passes this season.  He’s looking at possibly going to UNC, Virginia, and MTSU.

With the biggest threat in the west half of the state (Hillsboro) eliminated last week, the winner of this semifinal should be favored in win the state title next week in Murfreesboro.   However, this game may also determine who will win the Mr. Football award at the back position in Class 4A.

If I can find this game on the radio anywhere online I’ll try to blog it, but prospects seem rather dim on that front (unless I want to pay for it).

Just looking at the polls, several big changes are probably going to occur once the polls get released later today. Some of these include:

1) LSU taking over #1 in the AP Poll

USC’s #1 ranking in the coaches poll appears to be pretty safe, but it is anything but safe in the AP poll where USC has 43 #1 votes to LSU’s 22. All we need are a swap by about 12 voters of those two and LSU should be sitting on top, and given USC’s near-loss yesterday, that isn’t hard to imagine.

2) California at #3 in the polls

With #3/4 Oklahoma, #4/3 Florida, and #5 West Virginia all losing, that clears the road for California to head into 3rd place in the polls. Now imagine this scenario: LSU loses to someone in the next 4 to 5 weeks. It isn’t difficult to imagine - they play Florida, Auburn, Kentucky, and Alabama - all capable of such an upset. That sets up a situation where the Nov. 10 game between USC and California could be a #1 vs. #2 match-up.

Even if LSU doesn’t lose, if both USC and Cal win all their games before November 10, it will decide who is either driving or riding in the front of the car as far as the national championship game is concerned

3) Kentucky in the Top 10?

This one will be a little harder to get, but it’s still quite possible. Kentucky needs to jump 4 spots to get to #10 in the rankings. They should jump at least 2 with Clemson and Rutgers losing ahead of them. However, that also means that #7 Texas and one of the 3rd through 5th ranked teams would have to fall enough. People thought a team from Kentucky would be hanging out in the Top 10. They just didn’t think it would be the one wearing blue.

4) Ohio State and Wisconsin

That November 3rd game between the Buckeyes and the Badgers suddenly got a lot more interesting now that those two teams will probably be ranked 4th and 5th after the polls are released. Of course, they’re biggest problem is the Big Ten, where the conference seems to be turning itself inside out with teams like Indiana and Illinois winning games (they’re a combined 8-2!) while other teams like Michigan and Penn State struggle.

5) Who will Win the Prize?

Despite the fact that we had 9 AP top-25 losses yesterday (10 in the coaches poll) , we’re only likely to see two teams in the AP (Alabama and Penn State) and 3 in the Coaches (add Michigan State) drop out of the top 25 because most of the other losses were by teams ranked so high that they probably won’t drop completely out of the rankings.

Purdue seems to be the logical first team to get into the AP rankings. They’re the first team out in that rankings, they’re already 25th in the coaches poll, and it seems that you gain a lot of spots whenevr you beat Notre Dame, no matter how good they are. So I think Purdue is probably a shoe-in for the AP poll.

Meanwhile, Arizona State seems like a shoe-in for the Coaches poll. They’re the first team out, they’re already ranked in the AP, and they just obliterated Stanford last night. That seems like the obvious first team to put in.

But what about the 2nd team? Next in line for the AP poll is Miami (FL). However, do voters really want to put a team who hasn’t had very many impressive wins, despite playing a cupcake schedule (sans Oklahoma and Texas A&M), and who had to play well into the 4th quarter before disposing of Duke, into the top 25?

The next best team would be UCLA, who has not only beaten someone, but beaten them convincingly. Their only splotch is their blowout to Utah. UCLA would be my guess for the 2nd team that gets into the rankings.

My sentimental favorite to get ranked would be Illinois, but they didn’t even receive any votes last week, so going from no-votes to ranked is quite a jump. They should get votes this week, however, and teams like UCF, Connecticut, Kansas, and Virginia will inch themselves ever closer to being ranked.

How about the coaches poll? I already said Arizona State was the obvious first pick. Cincinnati seems like an obvious 2nd pick to me as well. They’re next in line, they’re undefeated, and they’re already ranked in the AP poll. And guess who is next in line after them? UCLA. All too easy.

6) My Top 25

Finally, if I had to rank teams, here is how I would do it?

1. LSU
2. USC
3. California
4. Ohio State
5. Wisconsin
6. Boston College
7. Kentucky
8. Georgia
9. West Virginia
10. Oklahoma
11. Florida
12. South Florida
13. Oregon
14. Texas
15. South Carolina
16. Virginia Tech
17. Cincinnati
18. Hawaii
19. Missouri
20. Rutgers
21. Clemson
22. Arizona State
23. Nebraska
24. Purdue
25. UCLA

I’m striving for Code Orange to be a college football blog in which I blog about college football in general, but may get off on tangents about particular teams such as Syraucse (because I went there), Virginia Tech (because I work there), or Appalachian State (because my family has numerous connections to them).

So, while I named this blog after my alma mater, I won’t really focus on them unless something just catches my eye in particular. In any case, I hope you enjoy this blog.

Also, you can visit my now defunct ratings system if you wish, which has a computer ratings system that I devised for the years 1996-2006.

I hope you enjoy the site. I know that week 4 is a little late to start blogging about the season, but oh well.