.....The interest and scrutiny of practices is SO much higher than it has been in the past. There's no way you'd see the 1969 tigers secretly install a pro-passing attack, or the 1971 tide surprise folks with the wishbone. For one thing, the players leak things. They've got internet, phones, myspace pages, etc.

.....I will say that knowing what the other team's likely to do is a HUGE advantage, and there have been various spying incidents throughout football history. Generally, when the spy is found out by the opponent, he's tossed out, with threats of bodily harm (or maybe actual bodily harm!) The home team does not publicize this, because their spy on someone else's campus could get caught. Keep it down home, cuz, indeed! We don't need mom and pop (the NCAA) involved in this... I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't some nasty payback the next time Bellicheck catches a spy!

.....My son and I have been battling each other this week in football on the X-Box 360. A couple of days ago, I sat down and created a custom playbook. Unlike modern offenses, I run MY ENTIRE OFFENSE from the same formation. 2 wide, tight-end, split backs, QB under center. It's driving my son nuts! He has absolutely no clue what play I'm running, before the snap. He's trying to watch what I select, but I've been selecting one play, then checking to the one I really want at the line.

.....Not only does spying go on, but film analysis, and charting of tendencies is ubiquitous, too. They KNOW that you run that 5-yard drag route 75% of the time on 2nd and five! I think, in this day and age, you have to assume that the opposing coordinator has a pretty good idea what you're going to do in any given situation. There are just too many ways to get that info, these days.

.....And so, I wonder if more time spent on fundamentals like blocking, holding onto the ball, catching, etc. would help, and less time on fancy shifts, formations, etc., would help us? Find the defense's weaknesses, relentlessly attack them, and re-evaluate when they get that avenue shored up.

.....One of the things that makes me maddest, is when a play works well among a game-plan full of stuff that hasn't, and you never see the OC go back to the one that worked. Case in point? USF game. We hit Prechae Rodriguez in the 2nd quarter, on an 8 yard square in, and he galloped though open space for a big gain. We didn't try that play again till the 4th quarter, and Prechae dropped it, and we never saw it again. I'd have run it again on the next possession. Picking up 15 yards every other play is fine with me! Club 'em with it till they prove they can stop it!

...that I like to follow Troy a bit, and root for them to make some upsets.  I had forgotten about last Friday's game against OK State.  That's two L's the Cowboys have received from teams in the deep South this year.  You certainly can't say that they won't play the big boys and take their lumps (in addition to paying their dues) They've been clubbed 4 times this century in Lincoln, Nebraska,  although I think they led at halftime for one of those games

I'm glad that Troy (God, it's so hard not to say 'State' after that) jumped up to Division 1-A, too.  Isn't it amazing that of the states of Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia, that the smallest of the three (AL) has four 1-A teams, the middle (TN) has three, and the largest, my home state of Georgia, has only two 1-A schools. (Well, three if you count honorary Georgia school Auburn in that total) In western Georgia, you find more Auburn fans than UGA ones...

Jay, I find it hard to believe that Damyuene Craig never had a 100-yard rushing game.  Doesn't that seem strange?