Very in your face, I like it.

But I’m nervous about the game – a, likely, new QB’s first game is against a Pac-10 opponent, never a good plan. Plus I know Locker was rough at the end of the season last year, but I thought he looked strong at the beginning. Finally, Willingham has had some rough years, but he always makes me nervous.

insert SEC dominance quote…here: http://miamisportsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/sec-coaches-south-park.jpg

The new look frightens, yet intrigues me.

Go Ducks. Go Vols.

I think every coach should think that his team has a shot at winning. I wouldn’t want a coach saying to me as a player “well we don’t have a snowballs chance in hell, so lets get this over with” But to come out publically and say it shows big balls or small brains.

Hey he is on the hotseat and he sees our inexperience at QB to be an advantage for him. At least he is getting publicity for himself and his team.

It will be fun though when they come here at get waxed. I am sure he won’t hear about these assanine comments afterward.

Why would a coach create bulletin board material for the opposing team, especially the first game of the season, which can sometimes just be a cluster f-word?

Jake Locker will be fun to watch this year, I just hope it’s watching him lose.

1. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Ty Willingham’s career is hanging by a thread and, with Jim Mora waiting in the wings, he has to do something to boost his credibility with his fan base. It’s a crazy gamble that is highly unlikely to succeed, but, if a coach makes a bold declaration that his team will start the season with a road win in a conference rivalry game, it provides bulletin board material not just for the opponent, but also for the players he recruited, who know their coach’s job is on the line. I doubt if it will succeed, but a drowning man will reach even for the tip of a sword and, as motivational ploys by coaches on the hot seat go, it’s not the worst idea in the world, even if it does amount to putting all of his eggs in one basket. If he loses, he’s gone, but, if he somehow manages to deliver, it’ll be hard for Washington to fire him.

2. Every conference, and every fan base, has its fair share of mouth-breathing message-board yahoos. We heard them braying in the Southeast when Tennessee convincingly beat Cal in Knoxville two years ago and we heard them braying on the West Coast when Cal convincingly beat Tennessee in Berkeley last year. They’re loud, they’re everywhere, and they make everyone look bad. The important thing is that these intersectional games are taking place. Nick Saban’s comments at S.E.C. media days last summer made it clear that the league learned its lesson after Auburn’s weak non-conference schedule deprived the Plainsmen of the right to lose to U.S.C. in the Orange Bowl at the end of the 2004 season. (I hate Auburn.) The Volunteers have been scheduling games on the West Coast for a generation, the Bulldogs will play at Arizona State this fall and have a home-and-home upcoming with Oregon, Auburn and Arkansas have played regular-season games against Southern California in the last few years, and now L.S.U. has added Washington into the mix after recently playing games against Arizona State and Oregon State. It’s good to see some cross-sectional scheduling between major-conference teams in the Pac-10 and the S.E.C. College football can only benefit from the scheduling of such games.