After a little delay....

I'm back!!!! Sorry for the gap in posts, but here I am, returning to work like the U.S. Federal Government.

Honestly though, I've been a little busy. Getting prepared for my biannual golf trip and picking up more hours at the store to help mentor and grow striving wing men.

We've dumped the management and most of the counter men at my new store in Fort Worth, so I'll be filling in there to help out those in need (everybody).

I'll still be dropping by to insert my views and opinions on the happenings in the world (mainly sports), as I feel that's why you come here in the first place.

Like what happened with all the upsets in the SEC and are their defenses turning it around this year? Marcus Mariota leads the Ducks in the west, but will Oregon slip to some dangerous teams on its schedule? Also hockey is back and basketball is around the corner, begging me to ask, is there a better time of year than now? I've got the Cardinals beating the Red Sox in the World Series (six games), and Dusty Baker finding work somewhere in Major League Baseball.

So many stories right now and so little time, keep checking in for the latest and greatest view s on the sporting world.

In the meantime, the phone's ringing and I've got a hungry customer to save.

Wing Man out!

What a day of football, and food.

What a wonderful day it has been, am I right? If you were like me this Saturday, you took full advantage of a weekend filled with college football battles.

Alabama had Georgia State, so I was too worried about the Tide, but Northwestern was hosting Ohio State, Washington was traveling to Stanford, LSU was on the road again, Florida State was playing Maryland, and the list goes on and on and on.

Alabama cruised to its fifth win of the season, beating Georgia State. A.J. McCarron threw for four touchdowns in the first half and the Tide defense did what it has done for the last four years, dominate. Bama had this game put away after the first five minutes, but what head coach Nick Saban said at halftime really made me realize just how great of a coach he is. Saban never waists a chance to coach up his players and to teach, saying, “It’s an opportunity to get some experience and learn.” Saban seems to pick up his intensity with his younger players, making them better and more reliable when they are called upon in the near future. 

Roll Tide.

Florida State, who features a red-hot freshman quarterback, took on undefeated Maryland today, and the Seminoles didn’t disappoint. Jameis Winston threw for 393 yards and five touchdowns as his eighth-ranked Noles beat the Terrapins, 63-0, welcome back to earth Maryland.

Garrett Gilbert completed what may be the craziest play ofthe year, on a 2-point conversion to tie up the game with little time left. Gilbert dropped back, rolled left, turned and ran right, looked ahead and then chunked the football all the way across the field to an open receiver. But the Mustangs fell to Rutgers in overtime. #AACFootball

I thought I was going to get a nice nap in until the night games started, but the surprise of the day has to be Tennessee showing up against Georgia and almost beating the Dawgs in overtime. Before we start to think that Georgia played poorly, keep in mind that UGA was without Todd Gurley to start this game and lost Keith Marshall to a nasty injury in the first half. Georgia would also lose receiver Michael Bennett and its punter before Tennessee started to score the football. Aaron Murray was needed big time in this game and was helped by Chris Conley. Butch Jones may have won over the fans in Knoxville though, as this was the loudest I’ve heard Neyland Stadium in a while.

The night games began, and there were lots of selections. I stuck with LSU because I have a rooting interest there. Mississippi State’s offense was able to move down the field on the young Fighting Tiger defense, but the Bulldogs defense had no chance stopping the explosive LSU offense. Odell Beckham III and Jarvis Landry may be the best two receivers in the country and Zach Mettenberger is slowly becoming one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Mettenberger’s my Heisman frontrunner thus far in the season.

Arkansas boasts the top rushing offense in the SEC and has a skilled freshman running back in Alex Collins, but Florida still has its defense.  Florida may not be able to score the football, but they sure can stop it. Arkansas is much better than last year thought, and I love seeing the Hogs run the football.

I’m currently watching Ohio State at Northwestern and Washington at Stanford, so I won’t be able to recap those for you here. The Buckeyes are learning not to sleep on the Cats, and Pat Fitzgerald has to be one of the top coaches not to be on a top program. Stanford jumped out to a quick lead by returning the opening kickoff but the Huskies have moved the ball on the Cardinal defense, could make for a great finish, if you can stay awake.

While I have Zach Mettenberger leading my Heisman vote, as if I got one, Marcus Mariota made a case for himself, throwing for 355 yards and seven total touchdowns. Aaron Murray put up another big game and ranks third on my list, while Baylor running back Lache Seastrunk is in fourth, but can quickly gain some ground on the signal callers. Crazy to think I don’t have Teddy Bridgewater on this list, but his Cardinals haven’t played that good of a schedule. Bridgewater will be in New York come December though, write that down. Also Tajh Boyd deserves a trip, since the quarterback threw for 455 yards and five touchdowns for Clemson today. I hope they have some extra chairs in New York this year, lots of players deserve to be there.

The day was full of football, and I am full of food. I woke up this morning and ate a sandwich before the Bama game. I ran to Freebirds and picked up a burrito at halftime, getting a monster with carnitas and all my usual fixins. The night games rolled around and I got sidetracked, so I threw some pizza rolls in the oven and munched on 57 of those bad boys, leaving me with one full stomach as I write this.

You may be wondering, why is he telling me what he ate? But it got me thinking, what is the best game day meal? Since I am the Wing Expert, I think I’m required to say that chicken Wings are the best and go-to football watching meal. But I found out today, that you can’t go wrong with a burrito and pizza rolls are quick and plentiful.  Other options to consider and may get a tryout next week are nachos, tacos and burgers. Let me know what you think is the best game day meal, email me at thewingexpert@gmail.com or follow me on twitter @thewingexpert.

I’m currently working on a piece that could explain why the defense in the SEC this year is missing. I may have an idea of why they are getting gashed.

Until then though, enjoy these late games and good luck to fantasy teams, especially if you’re playing against me, you are going to need it.

Thanks for dropping by and I’ll talk to you later,

Wing Man out.

The power of "M"

I told you guys I would be back midweek, and like you, I honestly did not know if I would get around to this post. But here I am, watching baseball and hockey, yes hockey.

I listed some topics that I would be writing about in my last post and I’m here to discuss the power of the letter “M” in college football this year.

Zach Mettenberger is off to the best start at quarterback in LSU history, throwing for 1,398 yards and 13 touchdowns with just one interception. Mettenberger is flourishing under offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, completing 64.1 percent of his passes. But most importantly, he's shaved that dang mustache.

The quarterback who bested Mettenberger last week is Aaron Murray of Georgia. Murray has the Bulldogs off to a 3-1 start with 1,338 yards passing, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. But bigger than the senior gunslinger’s numbers are his two wins over top-10 teams, the one fact that has plagued Murray through his career.

It seems silly to list Heisman-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel third, but after that matchup between the Tigers and Bulldogs, do you blame me? Manziel is having another big season by the numbers, throwing for 1,484 yards, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions, while rushing for 314 yards and three more scores. Texas A&M is 3-1 this season, but have road games against LSU and Ole Miss coming up.

Alabama has won three of the last four BCS National Championships and are led by three-year starter A.J. McCarron, who has thrown for 882 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. McCarron might not have the glaring numbers, but he finds ways to get his team the win as his Crimson Tide are 4-0 and ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll. Roll Tide.

*Side note* These last four signal callers could be the reason SEC defenses are suffering and playing into some Pac-12 and Big-12 like shootouts.

Back to action, I’m going to move away from the SEC for a minute, but stick with the theme of “M.”
Marcus Mariota has Oregon 4-0 and ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll, throwing for 1,003 yards, nine touchdowns and zero interceptions. Mariota has also rushed for 295 yards and five touchdowns in the Ducks explosive offense.

Braxton Miller has returned to his position as the starting quarterback for No. 4 Ohio State, throwing for 406 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. Miller reminded Buckeye fans just what he could do, completing 17-of-25 passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns against Wisconsin, who is a little better team than Florida A&M.

Keith Hogan, hold on, I realize his name does not start with an “M,” but Hogan is from McLean, Virginia. Hogan has Stanford 4-0 this year and ranked No. 5 in the AP Poll, throwing for 832 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.

Moving on from the list of quarterbacks (see what I did there?).

Maryland, Miami, Missouri and Michigan are all off to 4-0 starts this season, but are heading into the teeth of their schedules. Maryland is coming off a 31-0 win over West Virginia and faces Florida State this weekend. FSU has a young quarterback that didn’t make my list, but only because he lacked a certain letter to flow with my story, but definitely has the skills to contend with those others. Miami has a win over Florida earlier this year, forcing five turnovers against the Gators. The Hurricanes have Georgia Tech this week and a matchup with Florida State on Nov. 2 looming. Missouri is a big surprise at first, but then I dug deeper for you. Mizzou has wins against Murray State, Toledo, Indiana and Arkansas State. The Tigers are about to find out just how good they are with games against Vanderbilt, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina coming up this month. Michigan is lucky to be 4-0, and could very well be 2-2, with losses to Akron and Conn. Devin Gardner wearing #98 is pretty funny though.

Louisville limps in as an “M,” and it’s only because I want to see more out of the Cardinals. They have found ways to win and Teddy Bridgewater is tearing it up, throwing for 1,214 yards, 14 touchdowns and just one interception, but I’d still like to see a little more from the No. 7 team in the country.

Alright, enough of this “M” theme, three players that deserve some mention this week are as follows.
Tajh Boyd has Clemson at No. 3 in the AP Poll, throwing for 994 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions with a big win over Georgia. However Clemson is looking to take the next step and that involves wins over Florida State and South Carolina.

Blake Bell has taken over the starting quarterback job for Oklahoma, hopefully for the rest of the season, as the “Belldozer” has shown he’s just as capable throwing as he is running. Bell has thrown for 683 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions this year, while also rushing for 114 yards but no scores on the ground. Bell has the Sooners rolling and hopefully for my father’s sake, the defense holds up.

Finally, I come to the part of the story that has my roommate doing back flips. Lache Seastrunk I think will be the top pick in the NFL Draft next June, or whenever it is. Seastrunk has rushed for 417 yards and six touchdowns in the Baylor high-flying offense, which I think is quickly challenging the Ducks for the most efficient and higher-scoring offense. Seastrunk is strong and quick out of the backfield, a lot like that fellow in Minnesota, Adrian Peterson.

If you’re looking for something to watch Saturday, Bama starts at noon. But if you want the games that are going to shine and impress, Ohio State travels to Northwestern in a Big Ten battle, and Stanford hosts the high-flying offense of Washington in the nightcap on ESPN. I’m calling an upset in at least one, but coming on here to say that Northwestern gives the Buckeyes a run for their money. OSU wins, 38-32, and Washington wins on the road, 44-35.

No matter who you watch though, its college football and its fun.

Thanks for checking in and I’ll be back later this week.

Wing Man out.