As Is the Norm, Football News From Around the Globe

 

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

A new month, but still the same old overall emphasis, American football throughout the world.

We start with news from the team

that I will be coaching in Spain

starting in January

The Gijón Mariners announced our

coaching staff for the upcoming

Spanish Serie A season

Nacho Valdes

Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator

Angel Mangado

Wide Receivers Coach

Alvaro Palacio

Offensive Line & Defensive Line Coach

Early in my coaching career, much revered Coach Joe Howell told me that "A good line coach is worth his weight in gold."

Iván Canto

Defensive Back & Linebacker Coach

Isaac Abio

Defensive Back Coach

George Contreras

Defensive Coordinator

Our Mariners will do battle in Spain's ten team first division in Serie A's five club Western Conference against the Coslada Camioneros, Las Rozas Black Demons, Osos Rivas and Zaragoza Hurricanes.

In total, Spain has three divisions of American football.

The Spanish Federation announced

a two conference, eight team setup

for the 2025 DII season

The Army-Navy game could

be a classic this year

Only 19 undefeated teams are

left in the NCAA's FBS Division

Army and Navy are two of them from a Group of Five conference.

Also undefeated are James Madison, Liberty and UNLV, three other schools vying for the one guaranteed playoff spot to a Group of Five conference team.

Military Battle in the

Rockies on Saturday

The Navy Midshipmen (4-0), representing the American Athletic Conference, will be on the road to play the Mountain West Conference's Air Force Falcons (1-3).

The series between these two proud academies started in 1960 with a 35-3 Navy win. Air Force leads the overall series 34-22-0, in large part thanks to an 11 game win streak in the series dating from 1982 to 1992. The Falcons have won the last four meetings with the Midshipmen including last year's 17-6 win in Annapolis.

 

The revamped PAC-12 announced the

addition of Gonzaga University

This is the current make up of an eight team conference for 2026. Gonzaga is a long time basketball power who does not currently field a football team.

Funny

The historically liberal University of California Bears will play the historically sketchy University of Miami Hurricanes in Florida this coming Saturday.

Still CONFIDENT despite the record

The Los Angeles Rams (1-3) will host the Green Bay Packers (2-2) in an NFC game on Sunday.

The MLB playoffs are now

in full swing

Our Los Angeles Dodgers are seeded #1 in the National League giving them a Wild Card round bye. The Boys in Blue await the winner of the #5 seed Atlanta Braves vs. #4 seed San Diego Padres series.

GO DODGERS!

Las Colinas Mustangs Hit the Flag Football Gridiron Again

Monday, September 30, 2024

If it's Monday, it must be a BEAUTIFUL day for American flag football!

Grandson Jacob's Las Colinas co-ed flag football team was back in action playing their second straight road game to start the season.

1 Win - 0 Losses

at

Season Record Unknown

Las Colinas wore black uniforms today

The Mustangs blocking looked

good on this play

A Sweep was the call . . .

. . . and she gained good yardage

Good punts like this one aided

the Mustangs efforts on what

proved to be a difficult day

The Mustangs Defense was

up to the task on this Eagles run

GREAT pass rush pressure

This was a Fourth and Goal pass play that fell incomplete. Unfortunately, the Mustang DL touched the Eagle QB's arm which is strictly VERBOTEN in flag football.

This "roughing" the passer penalty led to a fresh set of First and Goal downs, an opportunity which Santa Rosa did not squander.

End of the First Quarter

Santa Rosa - 7

Las Colinas - 0

More pressure, no penalty

A fine broken up pass by the Mustangs #14

Wait, what the heck are those two cones doing on the field?

Player safety is paramount!

The cones were placed on the Goal Line to alert the players to the possible dangers of this man hole cover in the field of play.

Pull those Eagles flags!

Exploding up the field on a

Mustangs Punt Return

Las Colinas QB on the Sprint Out pass

Mustangs Defense surrounding

this Santa Rosa receiver

The Eagles scored again in the Second Quarter. Things were definitely not going well for the Mustangs.

Halftime

Santa Rosa - 14

Las Colinas - 0

Nice move by this Mustang but

his flags had already been pulled

Jacob, #24, covering on a Kickoff

Jacob got a carry!

It was a Jet Sweep to his left that the Eagle DE's penetration contained effectively thus forcing Jacob to cutback.

The Cutback

Back on Defense, Jacob hustling

to pull the flag of this rather large

Santa Rosa Eagle

Almost tipped but an Eagles

completion nonetheless

Trying to get to the edge again

The Mustangs played much better Defense in this stanza but the Offense was still struggling.

The obvious was becoming more and more apparent, Santa Rosa was the better team today.

End of the Third Quarter

Santa Rosa - 14

Las Colinas - 0

Jacob at WR releasing aggressively

Jacob pursuing the ball

Backside pressure is not as

dangerous in flag football

It is more of a nuisance actually.

Jacob defended this pass quite well

The Eagles were able to score two more times in the Fourth Quarter.

Eagles pass rush was a key

to their success today

The last gasp Las Colinas pass

It would be intercepted.

Final Score

Santa Rosa - 27

Las Colinas (1-1) - 0

The Mustangs will try to bounce back at home this coming Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. against the University Preparation Charter School Dolphins.

Odds and Ends From the Last Few Days

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Loose ends usually need tying up . . .

This scenario would be most interesting

Army (4-0) routed Temple (1-4)

this past Thursday

Army is tied with Missouri (4-0)

with an eight game winning streaks

going back to the end of last season

Navy (4-0) had little trouble

dispatching UAB (1-3) on Saturday

Army and Navy continue on their potentially AWESOME collision course.

The question is, can either Army or Navy make it to the new 12-team National Championship playoffs?

The highest ranked Group of Five conference champion is guaranteed an automatic playoff berth.

The Group of Five Conferences are the American Athletic Conference (AAC), Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.

Army and Navy are tied atop the 14-team AAC's standings with 3-0 conference records.

The teams with the best current overall records in the other four Group of Five conferences are Liberty (4-0) in Conference USA, Eastern Michigan (4-1) in the Mid-American Conference, UNLV (4-0) in the Mountain West Conference and James Madison (4-0) in the Sun Belt Conference.

It is possible for Army and Navy to meet in the AAC Championship Game on December 6th. Their traditional Army-Navy game on December 14th is not considered an AAC game.

Back-to-back Army-Navy game weekends would be highly interesting!

Here are the remaining schedules for our two favorite Military Academy juggernauts:

ARMY

Oct. 5 at Tulsa (2-3) *

Oct. 12 vs. UAB (1-3) *

Oct. 19 vs. East Carolina (3-2) *

Nov. 2 vs. Air Force (1-3)

Nov. 9 at North Texas (4-1) *

Nov. 23 at Notre Dame (4-1)

Nov. 30 vs. UTSA (2-3) *

Dec. 14 Navy (4-0) at Washington D.C.

* American Athletic Conference Game

NAVY

Oct. 5 at Air Force (1-3)

Oct. 19 vs. Charlotte (2-3) *

Oct. 26 Notre Dame (4-1) at East Rutherford, N.J.

Nov. 2 at Rice (1-4) *

Nov. 9 at South Florida (2-3) *

Nov. 16 vs. Tulane (3-2) *

Nov. 30 at East Carolina (3-2) *

Dec. 14 Army (4-0) at Washington D.C.

* American Athletic Conference Game

There are still a lot of games to be played before any of this sorts itself out.

Only two Group of Five conference

members are in the newest AP Poll

Both are from the Mountain West Conference.

Boise State (3-1) is ranked #21 this week and UNLV (4-0) sits at #25.

The Utah State Aggies are the

latest school to commit to the

new look PAC-12 in 2026

Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State will be bolting from the Mountain West Conference to join Oregon State and Washington State in this revamped PAC-12 Conference with hopes of being considered a Power Five conference again. 

The Chicago Bears (2-2) beat the

Los Angeles Rams (1-3) on Sunday

It may be a long season for the Rams, our favorite NFL club.

Thought from the net . . .

Another Taco Tuesday experience

is just around the corner