Vanderbilt-3, #1 Florida-27
One of the better teams in the SEC beat the worst team in the SEC. Heck, they didn't even need the ref's help to do it, an improvement over the Gators' normal routine.
Don't get me wrong, Florida is an excellent school with a fine football program, but you can't deny that some crummy calls have helped them along the way. Also, one of the students here at the group home desired me to write "gators suck, georgia rules" somewhere in here (all lack of capitalization is [sic]). Since Georgia isn't ranked, and Florida is, I figured I would put this here, if only to prove him wrong.
Aaaaand, that's all I got for this game. Guess we should move on, eh?
UCF-3, #2 Texas-35
Texas finally rounds out its horrific non-conference schedule with what might have been their toughest non-conference game. (Take that for what it's worth. In case you don't remember, their other non-conference games were Louisiana-Monroe, Wyoming, and UTEP)
I'm not sure if I should analyze this. Texas is pulling the same stunt that USC and Ohio State did during the early years of the decade: playing non-conference nobodies and playing in a weak conference, leading to a cheap and undeserved bid in the national title game. Congrats, Longhorns! Your first and only real test of the season will be a game against Alabama or Florida in the National Title game...
#9 LSU-15, #3 Alabama-24
Another big fuss gets made over a crummy call or two in an Alabama game. The big case in this game? An interception that was called a non-interception after a video review. I will now let ESPN writer Ivan Maisel write something idiotic, then I will correct him. Ivan:
"The fourth-quarter interception that LSU corner Patrick Peterson did (according to video) or didn't (according to the SEC officials) make enthralled conspiracy theorists. I think they need a hobby. If the Tigers had gotten the ball, they would have been on the Alabama 37, trailing 21-15, with a backup quarterback and a backup tailback. On the Tigers' last two possessions, Jarrett Lee went 1-for-7 with two sacks and one pick. In other words, that call didn't decide the game." (BLOGGER'S NOTE: link here just in case you think I'm making this quote up. Quote is taken from the "Weekend observations" section in the right sidebar)
OK, so there's the quote. Now that's from someone who gets paid real money to write about college football. Why am I so up in arms, you wonder? Well, discounting a team's chances simply because their backup is in or because they don't show any signs of life is a hideous mistake. I mean, Stanford had their backup in on the road in 2007, AND they were down 16-7 at the start of the 4th quarter, when they pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time. (Story of that game here. Gloriously vindictive video here) So don't you think that LSU, a ranked team playing at home might have stood a chance against another ranked team? You think that might be a possibility, especially since they would have had the ball, and would have been trailing by 6 points? I'm not saying LSU would have marched down and won the game, but casually dismissing another missed call by the SEC officials as irrelevant is absolutely stupid. LSU could have won this game, but they weren't even given a chance.
Northwestern-17, #4 Iowa-10
So, uhhhh, Iowa. What happened? Wait, why am I asking you? No one from Iowa reads this thing...
OK, I will answer that question. Iowa is, much like the 2004 Carolina Panthers, a .500 team masquerading as a championship contender. Of their 9 wins prior to this game, they should have lost to Northern Iowa, Michigan State, and Indiana. They could have lost to Arkansas State, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The only games they won convincingly were matchups against their perennially pathetic rival Iowa State, non-conference foe Arizona, and Penn State. In this game, they lost their quarterback to injury in the 2nd quarter, and many people are saying that is why they lost the game. Lest we forget, this is the same quarterback who tossed up 5 INT's last week in Iowa's near-loss to Indiana. I don't think this individual player is responsible for Iowa losing this one...
The Hawkeyes caught more than a few lucky breaks during their long undefeated run, and they still have a legitimate shot to go to Pasadena and play in the Rose Bowl. To do that, however, they have to go into the Horseshoe and beat Ohio State, and beat Minnesota in Iowa City. And the way Iowa's season's going so far, they'll beat Ohio State by 10 on the road, but beat Minnesota by 2 on a freak safety at the very end of the game. I look forward to it.
Connecticut-45, #5 Cincinnati-47
Cincy hangs on to win a defense-optional game. UConn continues to amaze me by playing great football, despite the serious emotional hangover that they'll have for the remainder of this season.
The big story of the game is that Cincinnati's backup QB has been unreal ever since starter Tony Pike went down with an injury. Zach Collaros doesn't screw around, it would seem. It will be interesting to see, if Cincinnati gets in trouble down the road, what their coach does with the quarterback situation. I'm curious as to whether they'll try to play musical quarterbacks, or if a talented young man (Collaros or Pike) will be forced to ride the pine because of the other's performance. In fairness, Cincinnati went through, like, 5 quarterbacks last season, so I don't know why this year is the year that the national media chooses to focus in on their quarterback situation
Oh, and I still hate that awful "Oh! Oh! Oh! *clap clap clap* U-C!" chant that the Cincinnati faithful do. Because, like USC's fight song, they do that 7,000 times a game, even when nothing is happening. It's really irritating....
#6 TCU-56, San Diego State-12
TCU is pretty good, but like Boise before them, they play in a horrible conference. TCU even tried to schedule some semi-good non-conference foes. Unfortunately, their two major non-conference foes were both bad-to-mediocre teams from the ACC. So those wins don't really help the Horned Frogs case. So their only recourse is to win with "style." Unfortunately, in the eyes of the BCS computers and voters, "style" is a synonym for blowout. The result? Games like this one...
#7 Boise State-45, Louisiana Tech-35
Boise survives an upset scare, thereby proving, uhhhh, something...I'm not sure what, honestly.
Look, Boise's the best team in their conference, but that's not saying that much. I'm curious to see how they'd perform in a BCS Conference. They'd probably get the bid in the ACC or Big East or Big 10 this season.
The real question for me is: How did Louisiana Tech wind up in the WAC? Seriously, the other schools in that conference are located in Idaho, Hawaii, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. How the heck did a school from Louisiana get in there?! If anyone has the answer, please let me know...
#8 Oregon-42, Stanford-51
Ugh. It's happening again. The annual unraveling of the PAC-10's decent teams that let's USC escape from its egg-laying and grab a Rose Bowl berth. In this case, Stanford shocks the Ducks in an amazingly offensive (forgive the pun, please) performance.
The Ducks looked fairly flaccid. Either the win over Southern Cal tired them out, or Stanford had the answers on offense that the Trojans didn't. One thing that is certain is this: Stanford did not have the answer on defense. This game was, like the Cincy-UConn game, what the analysts like to call a "shootout." I like to call it "crummy defense."
Seriously, I do not understand why it's "exciting" to see an offense tear off chunks of yards and put up gaudy numbers, but it's "boring" to see two defenses grind it out. Wouldn't a touchdown mean more in a 13-10 game than a 51-42 scorefest? Maybe I'm in the minority, but I'd rather see a good defensive game than watch defenses roll over and have points stacked to the ceiling.
Oh, and hats off to Stanford for beating another highly ranked foe...seems to happen once every 3 years or so.
Wake Forest-27, #10 Georgia Tech-30
Well, the good news for the ACC is that its highest ranked team didn't lose. The bad news for the ACC is that its highest ranked team had to go into overtime at home to beat Wake Forest.
As a side note, Wake is like Iowa, if all the breaks in a game went against the Hawkeyes. Wake has lost many close games this year, including their last 3 by a total of 7 points. Mind you, the game before that they lost by 35, so take my analysis for what it's worth...
As for Georgia Tech, they lived dangerously this game, going for it on 4th down 5 times, and only coming up with one successful conversion. Mind you, that conversion came in overtime and led to the game winning touchdown, so it's hard to argue with that decision. Personally, I like teams that aren't afraid to go for it on 4th down, but I would have hated to be Paul Johnson if that last attempt in overtime had failed like the 4 attempts during regulation. As is, it'll be interesting to see who Georgia Tech plays in their bowl (which will likely be the Orange Bowl against...either TCU, Boise State, or Cincinnati). No one runs the triple option better than Georgia Tech right now, and it's wreaking havoc in the ACC. I'm curious to see how other teams fare against the run-happy attack.
#16 Ohio State-24, #11 Penn State-7
The Buckeyes crushed Penn State in Happy Valley, surprising many analysts. I'm surprised as well, but I guess I shouldn't be: Penn State's only loss prior to this one was at home against Iowa...
As for Ohio State, their QB, Terelle Pryor played extraordinarily well, in the type of game he was expected to have for the last one and a half seasons. It remains to be seen if this is one of those once-in-a-career games, or if he was just trying to show up PSU, a school he turned down 2 years ago to go to Ohio State. Before anyone points to the huge stats he's had in some games this season, allow me to point out that the most awesome of those awesome stats have come against Toledo, Purdue, and Minnesota. Less than impressive, especially considering that they lost to Purdue. Oh, well, let's move on...
Penn State...sorry guys. Enjoy your trip to a semi-obscure bowl. Ohio State and Iowa will play for the de facto Big 10 championship game this weekend. Unless, you know, something bizarre happens...
#12 USC-14, Arizona State-9
A fairly mediocre game for the Trojans offense, and a normal game for the Arizona State offense. Arizona State has only beaten bad teams this year (Best win: Washington) yet, because they have played 4 bad teams (Washington, Washington State, Idaho State, and Louisiana-Monroe) they can still make a bowl if they win 2 of their remaining 3 games. One of those games is against awesomely underachieving UCLA, so all they have to do is beat Oregon or Arizona. I doubt either will happen, but wouldn't that be awesome? To reward a team for beating 4 crappy teams and scraping up 2 legitimate wins with a bowl game! College football is fast becoming one of those kindergarten baseball leagues: There's no winners or losers, EVERYONE gets a trophy!
As for Southern Cal, they're having an off year. It gives me joy, but we all know they'll be back next year. The Trojans still have a very legitimate shot at winning the PAC-10 (excuse me while I go vomit after typing that...)
OK, I'm back. And you can look for the Trojans to close out the year with 3 straight wins, since they play Stanford, UCLA, and Arizona, all at home. Yes, 2 of those 3 are ranked, but we all know that USC inexplicably only loses to unranked teams. Final note from this game: The new rankings are out. 2-loss Southern Cal is ranked 9th, Oregon is ranked #12 and Arizona is ranked #17. They are currently tied for 3rd in the conference behind Oregon and Arizona. Please explain how the highest ranked team in the conference is in 3rd in the actual conference standings! Augh! I hate USC!
Syracuse-10, #13 Pitt-37
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this surprises no one. Syracuse hasn't been good since Virginia Tech and Miami were in the Big East, and even then they weren't exactly a huge threat in the Big East. Ever since 2002, however, the Orange (Or Orangemen as they used to be known) have been nothing shy of awful.
So, really, good job Pitt, in that you beat a team that you were supposed to beat. Your real test comes November 27 and December 5, when you play West Virginia and Cincinnati back to back. Oh, and you play Notre Dame in there as well, but don't worry about that one. Even if you lose, you can still easily win the conference, since Notre Dame defends its independent status the way the Swiss defend their neutrality...
New Mexico-14, #14 Utah-45
Utah is a boring state, and New Mexico's 0-9. What more do you need to know?
#15 Houston-46, Tulsa-45
I really can't wait until Houston plays a team with some kind of defense. Seriously, in the bowl season when they wind up going against some Big 10 or ACC or low-caliber SEC school, I cannot wait. Because when they play a team with a defense, they will get destroyed. Sure, they beat Mississippi State, but does MSU really count? We all know Oklahoma State and Texas Tech don't because no one in the Big 12 plays defense well. So, seriously, enjoy it Houston. You will eventually play someone who can play defense, and when you do, it will not be pretty.
Virginia-17, #17 Miami-52
Miami cruises over UVa at home. Considering that the Cavaliers aren't that good, and that Miami is at least decent, this outcome isn't surprising at all. Heck, UVa normally plays better on the road than at home (See victories over UNC and Maryland) but they still lost to a Miami squad that looks primed to go to the Gator Bowl at the end of the season. They're not great, but they're better than UVa for whatever that's worth... (Answer: Not much)
Washington State-7, #18 Arizona-48
Wazzu hasn't won a PAC-10 game since they beat last year's winless Washington team. What does this tell us? Simply that Arizona won a game that I would have ruthlessly mocked if it were non-conference. One cannot help in-conference cupcakes, but anyone who schedules Washington State as a non-conference game is officially a pansy school. (I'm looking at you, Notre Dame!) (No, you don't have a conference, but you could play anyone and you choose Wazzu!)
#19 Oklahoma State-34, Iowa State-8
Rough week for the Iowans, eh? Well, rough week for Iowa fans. ISU fans should be used to this by now. Oklahoma State fans should, too.
Let's recap OSU's season: They have played 2 good teams. They have lost to both of said teams. They have beaten a total of 3 teams with winning records: Georgia, Missouri, and Texas A&M. None of those 3 teams have winning conference records, and all 3 of them are only one game above .500. Meaning that OSU is defining mediocrity: Beating bad teams, losing to good ones. And, in the screwed up world of college football, this means that they get to be ranked among the top 20 teams! I think OSU might be the team I hate the most this season. As much as it pains me to write it, at least most of the other teams I criticize are good (Texas, Southern Cal, Florida). Oklahoma State really has done nothing to vindicate where they're ranked! Let's move on.
Oregon State-31, #20 Cal-14
You know what's funny? I looked back through the records of this season: Cal is 4-3 as a ranked team this season, but 2-0 as an unranked team. Maybe they should try and stay unranked for the rest of the year...
As for the analysis, there's not any. Cal lost their star, Jahvid Best to a scary looking injury, and the best thing to come out of this game was the fact that he's still alive and is not paralyzed. Best has had 2 concussions in the last 2 weeks, and since Cal isn't a contender for the PAC-10 or National Title, I am absolutely of the opinion that Best should sit out the remainder of the regular season. He's an excellent running back with a bright future, but more importantly he's a human being, who needs to be treated as such. A quick nod to Cal coach Jim Tedford, who said basically the same thing. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for one of the PAC-10's finest.
#21 Wisconsin-31, Indiana-28
You know, Indiana's been playing very well these last two weeks. They might just pull off an upset sometime soon.
Wisconsin is an middle-of-the-road team in a fairly bad conference. So...take this win for what it's worth, which is not too much (Second time I've used that line in this post. Gotta come up with some new material...)
Navy-23, #22 Notre Dame-21
Well, Charlie Weis may just get himself fired. You don't pimp Notre Dame as "back," then lose to Navy at home. That's just not good for job security. The good news? Charlie will get a ton of money if he does get fired! So that's something for him to cheer about.
Notre Dame is struggling. The NBC broadcasters were talking about a possible BCS berth for the 2-loss Irish during the Navy game. Really? With 6 automatic qualifying conferences, 2 undefeated teams from non-AQ conferences, and a host of 1-loss teams with better schedules than Notre Dames, you're thinking of one of the 8 berths available in BCS Bowls? (No one but Lou Holtz thought that the Irish might still go to the championship game.)
As for Navy...they scared Ohio State in the Horseshoe earlier this year, so this game does help prove that the Midshipmen (still one of the most awesome mascots ever, by the way) are a pretty good team. The Middies have Delaware, Hawaii, and Army coming up, plus a berth in the Texas Bowl that they've already accepted. Navy could realistically win 10 or 11 games this season! Welcome to the twilight zone...
#23 Virginia Tech-16, East Carolina-3
The Hokies avenge last year's season-opening loss with a win against the Pirates in the rubber game between the two schools' home-neutral-home setup. Sadly, this game was how Virginia Tech had to break their losing streak: Against their second-worst non-conference foe. (Sad fact: The ACC is so mediocre that ECU isn't even the second-worst team on Virginia Tech's schedule)
As for coverage...it was a defensive struggle through most of this game, though the Hokies should have had 23 points were it not for a Tyrod Taylor fumble on the 1-inch line early in the game. Mind you, ECU had a touchdown called back on a pretty bad holding call, so both teams lost points during this exchange.
My favorite part of this game? ECU's midfield logo, painted up nice because they were on ESPN. Have a look:
Pretty awesome, eh?
#24 Oklahoma-3, Nebraska-10
Mark my words: If Nebraska keeps playing good defense (5 INTs in this game) they will be back on top of the Big 12 in a season or two. Sure, beating this year's Oklahoma team is nowhere near the accomplishment it would have been last season, but give credit where credit is due. Even the "mighty" Texas Longhorns allowed 13 points to the Sooners. Good job by the Huskers, who became bowl eligible with this win.
As for Oklahoma...ugh. This is a team that's in rough shape. Their QB kept tossing the ball to the wrong team, their star players are almost universally injured, and they're 1 game above .500 after the 9th week of the season. It's been a long, rough fall from that #3 spot they held so very long ago in August...
#25 BYU-52, Wyoming-0
Isn't it ironic that the team that torpedoed Oklahoma's chances this season is the team that rounds out this week's Top 25? It's not ironic? Oh, well. It is interesting that I said something good about Wyoming last week and, well, look what happened. No shame in losing to a good team, the shame is found when you lose to a good team by 52 at home. To be fair, BYU probably is one of the 25 best teams in the country, meaning that, unlike so many others, their ranking was appropriate.
Oh, and for continuity's sake: Utah is a boring state.
And now...Tales from the Bottom 95
Carolina gets its second conference win by beating Duke. Look out Tire Bowl, here come the Tar Heels!...Yes, I'm a vindictive jerk. Isn't that why you read this thing?...West Virginia got their 6th win at home by beating the awful Louisville Cardinals this week. Yes, their 6th win at home. They've played 9 games total. Isn't that some bold scheduling? Here's hoping their road trip to Cincinnati serves up some poetic justice for that cowardly schedule...Georgia bounces back from that trouncing by Florida. Mind you, they did so by beating Tennessee Tech...Arkansas, proving that they are a team capable of beating semi-OK schools, defeats South Carolina...Auburn boldly defeated Furman, one of the Tigers' 8(!) home games...Last week I wrote that Michigan's season had hit rock bottom. I was wrong. They hit the bottom this week when they lost to Purdue...How much does Rich Rodriguez make again?...Must've been cupcake week in the SEC East. Tennessee beat up on Memphis, Auburn played Furman, Kentucky played East Kentucky, Georgia played Tennessee Tech, and Florida played Vanderbilt (cue rim shot)...CJ Spiller proved just how good he is (again) when he ran over Florida State...Pity that Clemson's so bad...Finally, pre-season #8 Ole Miss proved how good they were by defeating awesome 1-AA foe Northern Arizona...
That's all for this week. See you later...
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