The Jock

by Tom Weppel

JAGUARS
This weekend the Jaguars will open their home schedule against the Arizona Cardinals, a team that lost last week at home, 20-16, to the San Francisco 49ers.
Last week, the Jags opened their season with plenty of questions in all respects. After their 14-12 loss to the Colts, there are even more questions. Fans have plenty to wonder about. And while they did a solid job on defense last week, it seems the offense is the side where people are curious as to what’s going on.
In the Colts game, it seemed Maurice Jones-Drew was the main weapon, either rushing or catching balls out of the backfield. He did a formidable job, as we’ve seen. In the meantime, a lot of people are wondering what’s the deal with the passing game? Did the WR’s not get open, or were the Colts DB’s that good? Was it more David Garrard and his lack of finding open receivers? Was MJD used too much? Does he have any help? Are there no other weapons?
And what about Torry Holt? Why did we not see more balls thrown to the veteran receiver? You would think Garrard could and would go to him and feel good about it. But it seemed Garrard went to TE Marcedes Lewis a number of times, and he didn’t necessarily produce when given those chances. All that said, a lot of fans will have their eyes on the offense to see if it can produce, using the backs and receivers that we all thought were available.
Last week the Cardinals lost the home opener to the 49ers of all teams, 20-16. That score was certainly not expected at all! Since they were in SB 43, the Cards are under some rather lofty expectations. QB Kurt Warner has a great tandem of WR’s, in Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston. They also have good backs, in Tim Hightower and rookie Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells. The Cardinals can score points, as they showed last season.
This is the fifteenth season of Jaguars football here in the city. As many of you know, this game is not sold out! What that means is that the game will be blacked-out. So, it should be interesting to see how things play out here. Perhaps a Jaguar win will entice some fans to come out and support a team that is trying its best to be competitive and entertaining. The Cardinals are not a great team when playing on the East Coast. We’ll see how it goes…

COLLEGE FOOTBALL
As you all know, the Tennessee Volunteers visit Florida Field to play, or should I say get their ass beat by, the Gators. At least that’s the way it seems, if you listen to the media pundits, both locally and nationally.
A lot of the discussion centers around the comment Lane Kiffin made when he was hired, that suggesting the Vols would come into Gainesville and beat Florida. Obviously, the Florida players didn’t like that very much, and they haven’t forgotten. It should make for some interesting possibilities on Saturday.
Florida has looked very good so far in their first two games. Tim Tebow has led an offense that is scoring points at will. Meanwhile, Tennessee lost at home last week to UCLA, which is something they hadn’t planned on doing.
The Gators are about a 30-point favorite for this one, which is a very high number for two schools of this stature. Florida has beaten UT the last four years, and it looks like they could easily make it five. It could get quite ugly. I’m sure Gators fans are licking their collective chops…
While Florida is at the top of the charts, the Florida State Seminoles are not in good shape whatsoever. They come off a game last week that was close to being an abomination, barely beating Jacksonville St., of all schools.
The Seminoles are looking like a very mediocre, very paltry, football team. Its not a good thing at all, especially for ‘Nole fans who are used to seeing their team dominate. With that being said, this game on Saturday could get a little ugly, as they head out West to take on BYU. The Cougars have played very well to start the season, especially on offense. If Florida State doesn’t step up their play, they might be in big trouble against the Cougars. FSU is at least a touchdown underdog, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they lost this game by a whole lot more…