College Football Week 5 Schedule: Two top-ten matchups in Prime Time Separated by a stretch of Interstate-80 that is a little less than
500 miles long are cities home to a pair of top-ten programs in college football
and the sites of the two biggest games in week five of the 2018 schedule. South
Bend
Womens Bryan Bulaga Jersey , Indiana is home to Notre Dame, the 8th-ranked team in the country, while Penn State University resides in University Park,
Pennsylvania, nearly due east.Both teams will kick off at 7:30 on Saturday, with
#8 Notre Dame hosting #7 Stanford as #4 Ohio State visits #9 Penn State. College
GameDay is in Happy Valley today for the Big Ten clash, with the winner taking
command of the Big Ten’s East division in the early going. Those two teams
represented the division in the Big Ten Championship Game the last two years,
with Ohio State winning in 2017 and Penn State doing so in 2016.Meanwhile, Notre
Dame hopes to continue its climb up the rankings by beating a second ranked team
this season. The Fighting Irish beat Michinga in week one but defeated Ball
State and Vanderbilt by single digits before finally exploding for a 56-27 win
over Wake Forest a week ago.Wisconsin Badgers fans get the week off, as Paul
Chryst’s team gets a breather before hosting Nebraska next week at Camp Randall
Stadium.Here’s the full schedule of top 25 games and other notable
matchups.Early GamesSyracuse Orange at #3 Clemson Tigers12:00 Noon ETMemorial
Stadium, Clemson, SCABCArkansas Razorbacks vs. Texas A&M Aggies11:00 AM CT
(12 Noon ET)AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TXESPN#12 West Virginia Mountaineers at
#25 Texas Tech Red Raiders11:00 AM CT (12 Noon ET)Jones-AT&T Stadium,
Lubbock, TXESPN2Central Michigan Chippewas at #21 Michigan State Spartans12:00
Noon ETSpartan Stadium, East Lansing, MIFOX Sports 1Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’
Cajuns at #1 Alabama Crimson Tide11:00 AM CT (12 Noon ET)Bryant-Denny Stadium,
Tuscaloosa
Womens Aaron Jones Jersey , ALSEC NetworkAfternoon GamesBaylor Bears at #6 Oklahoma Sooners2:30 PM CT (3:30 ET)Memorial Stadium, Norman, OKABCTennessee
Volunteers at #2 Georgia Bulldogs3:30 PM ETSanford Stadium, Athens, GACBS#18
Texas Longhorns at Kansas State Wildcats2:30 PM CT (3:30 ET)Bill Snyder Family
Stadium, Manhattan, KSFOX Sports 1Pittsburgh Panthers at #13 UCF Golden
Knights3:30 PM ETCamping World Stadium, Orlando, FLESPNUSouthern Mississippi
Golden Eagles at #10 Auburn Tigers3:00 PM CT (4:00 ET)Jordan-Hare Stadium,
Auburn, ALSEC Network#14 Michigan Wolverines at Northwestern Wildcats3:30 PM CT
(4:30 ET)Ryan Field, Evanston, ILFOXEvening KickoffsFlorida Gators at #23
Mississippi State Bulldogs5:00 PM CT (6:00 ET)Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville,
MSESPNVirginia Tech Hokies at #22 Duke Blue Devils7:00 PM ETWallace Wade
Stadium, Durham, NCESPN2#4 Ohio State Buckeyes at #9 Penn State Nittany
Lions7:30 PM ETBeaver Stadium, University Park, PAABC#7 Stanford Cardinal at #8
Notre Dame Fighting Irish7:30 PM ETNotre Dame Stadium
Womens Reggie White Jersey , South Bend, INNBCSouth Carolina Gamecocks at #17 Kentucky Wildcats7:30 PM ETKroger Field, Lexington, KYSEC Network#20 BYU
Cougars at #11 Washington Huskies5:30 PM PT (8:30 ET)Husky Stadium, Seattle,
WAFOXOle Miss Rebels at #5 LSU Tigers8:15 PM CT (9:15 ET)Tiger Stadium, Baton
Rouge, LAESPN#19 Oregon Ducks at #24 California Golden Bears7:30 PM PT (10:30
ET)California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, CAFOX Sports 1 Whether it was
mismanaging personnel, failing to evolve and adapt, or simply coming up short in
big games, Dom Capers cost the Packers a chance at more sustained success. The
blame should be squarely on Capers, and by extension Mike McCarthy, for wasting
Rodgers’ prime."Around 2011, one could be forgiven for believing Aaron Rodgers
was capable of controlling space and time. Rodgers manipulated defenses with
alacrity, pulverizing them to meet his will. What he never could master was
manipulating his own defense toward those same ends. That task fell on Green Bay
Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers, and too often, his unit wasn’t up to
the task. That
Womens Davante Adams Jersey , above all else, before the lack of aggression from Ted Thompson or schematic stagnation from Mike McCarthy, will
come to define the underachieving near decade with Rodgers at the peak of his
powers. No Packers fan doubts the case for the defense costing Green Bay the
chance at a wider window with Rodgers. The team’s failures in big games as it
relates to the team’s future Hall of Fame quarterback have been stated and
restated ad nauseum. This case presents a slightly different, though related
argument. Had the Packers had the foresight to move on from Dom Capers when it
became clear such a move was necessary, much of that heartache could have been
avoided. The signs started in 2008, Rodgers’ first season under center as the
franchise quarterback, a time before we even knew that’s what he was. It was
also a season before Capers arrived. Green Bay’s defense blew six games that
season in which Rodgers and the offense had either tied the game or taken the
lead in the fourth quarter, including a late-season stretch with four blown
games in a row. Capers replaced Bob Sanders specifically to avoid these precise
issues. In 2009, Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews combined to provide a lethal
combination and the defense finished second in total defense adjusted for
schedule, according to Football Outsiders.Problem solved right? That unit,
complete with the Defensive Player of the Year, gave up 45 points on the road to
spoil perhaps the most auspicious playoff debut by a quarterback in league
history at the time.No doubt, a Super Bowl quelled concerns of Capers and 2010
produced an excellent defense to be sure. However, the following season brought
chaos, particularly following Nick Collins tragic and untimely neck injury,
cutting a sparkling career short. Green Bay finished with one of the worst
defenses in modern history, setting a record for yards allowed. Eli Manning (!)
hung 37 on that defense in the worst loss of the McCarthy/Rodgers era and what
will likely go down as the ugliest blemish on Rodgers’ otherwise spectacular
resume. Another top-10 defense by DVOA in 2012 gave Green Bay hope. Clay
Matthews looked to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory, Charles Woodson was still
making plays and they finished 8th in total defense. But with the chance to
secure a first-round bye in Minnesota against Christian Ponder, Capers’ defense
gave up 37 points including the game-winning drive with under three minutes to
go. In the immortal words of N’SYNC: bye bye bye. Sure
http://www.packerslockerroom.com/authentic-aaron-rodgers-jersey , Green Bay walloped Joe Webb’s version of the Vikings the next week, but Colin
Kaepernick put together his own historic performance, tuning up that top-10
defense for nearly half a hundo. In two straight seasons, and now three out of
four, the Packers defense cost them their season. The death blow should have
come following the 2013 season. Regardless of the collarbone injury that cost
Rodgers have a season, the Packers finished 29th in DVOA and actually got worse
as the season went on. When yet another season ends with the defense on the
field, this time at home to Kaepernick and the 49ers, McCarthy needed to
intervene. This should have been the end of the Capers administration. And while
the team numbers remained solid in 2014 and 2015, Capers made essential
personnel mistakes that held the team back. Casey Hayward’s playmaking never
flourished under Capers, who insisted on asking him to do things to which he
wasn’t ideally suited. He failed to realize the best free safety they could have
was already on the team (Micah Hyde) and a first-round pick on a player who
wouldn’t earn a second contract at that position could have gone elsewhere.
Imagine how different the fortunes of the Packers may have been had Capers been
replaced by a defensive coordinator who moved Hyde to free safety, pairing him
with Morgan Burnett who ultimately became more of a box player eventually even
without such a switch. That theoretical defensive coordinator may have also
realized that in the right scheme Casey Hayward was an All-Pro cornerback. There
wasn’t enough talent on this defense to insist he had to play a certain type of
way. Sam Shields could have handled whatever was asked of him and Tramon
Williams wasn’t long for the Packers world, so why insist on playing Hayward out
of schematic position? There’s no doubt the timeline alters if those moves are
made at that time. Certainly, we can’t guarantee a new DC would have seen what
we now know in hindsight, but given the contracts Hyde and Hayward signed in
free agency and their immediate success on new defenses, there’s pretty good
evidence it shouldn’t have taken a rocket scientist. Ted Thompson often receives
the lion’s share of blame for not re-signing Hyde or Hayward, but he made the
best decision he could with the available information at the time, information
that included Capers’ mismanagement of his personnel. It’s easy to forget now,
but the Packers veterans had serious problems with Capers even when they were
good, dating back to Woodson’s insistence they needed to play more aggressive
and be allowed to play more man coverage. Capers never allowed Damarious Randall
to play his more natural safety position
Womens Antonio Morrison Jersey , as borne out by his recent success there in Cleveland. That makes twice he overlooked better potential safety options to
play Ha ha Clinton-Dix, a mistake he never should have been given the
opportunity to make. Ultimately that blame falls at the feet of Mike McCarthy.
Imagine how different the questions around MM might have been if they’d hired
Wade Phillips following the 2013 season when he was fired by the Texans.
Phillips isn’t the ideal fit tomaximize a player like Hayward, but he is smart
enough to understand how to play the strengths of his players. It was his call
to hold onto Capers, and ultimately McCarthy’s reluctance to move on when he
should have, cost McCarthy his job as well.The Packers likely don’t fire
McCarthy if not for second-half collapses in the 2014 NFC Championship Game, the
‘15 playoffs, or the annihilation by Matt Ryan in the ‘16 NFC Championship Game.
What happened after that falls squarely on the shoulders of McCarthy, who failed
to evolve his offense, couldn’t develop a reasonable backup to Rodgers, and
eventually lost the locker room. Part of the reason players lost faith in the
head coach stems from his faith in Capers when the players lost faith in him
years ago. It’s harder to blame Ted Thompson for not surrounding Aaron Rodgers
with defensive talent when that defensive talent goes on to thrive elsewhere.
That’s a coaching problem. Had McCarthy had the fortitude to move on from Capers
when it was clear such a move was necessary, he may still be the head coach and
the Packers might have more hardware in their trophy case. Now, the burden falls
on Matt LaFleur and Mike Pettine to make up for lost time. They may still find a
way to restore the Packers place among Super Bowl contenders and bring the
Lombardi trophy back to Lombardi avenue, but it won’t replace the time wasted in
the interim.
