Weekend Wrap Up

While it has been sometime since I last wrote concerning the state of college football, I have nonetheless been following it with the same intensity. I have also been almost at a loss for words concerning the things that have happened in the past few weeks in college football. The two teams that I felt were the best in the nation lost their starting quarterback for the season and for a game respectively, and ended up losing at least one game. Oregon lost their Heisman candidate for the season, and lost to Arizona, and now to UCLA. Oklahoma lost their nation leading quarterback and lost to Texas Tech. Oklahoma’s Bradford returned for their last game against Oklahoma State. Bradford didn’t throw for many yards, but was able to throw 4 touchdown passes, to get the Sooner’s back on track. When the Sooner’s are playing healthy, they are the best team in the country. They get a chance to play against the currently ranked #1 team in the polls and in the BCS this coming weekend when they play Missouri for the second time. If you remember, Missouri’s one loss this year came from the Sooners.
Another quick note about Sam Bradford. He has broken the NCAA freshman record for touchdown passes, and still has a game to go. He has played phenomenally, and the Sooners are not getting the credit they deserve in the polls, and Bradford is not getting the credit he deserves. Though I normally disagree with pre-season Heisman watch lists, I’ll play the game and say that Bradford should be on everybody’s list next season. Bradford this season has thrown for 32 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. His completion percentage is 70.2% and 2670 yards. He still has two games to go, with the Big 12 Championship game, and whichever Bowl game they attend.
The tragedy of the BCS this year is that Ohio State may still end up in the National Championship game. Should West Virginia or Missouri lose, the Buckeyes will have gained admission through doing nothing. West Virginia plays Pitt this weekend, and should win, locking up a spot in the title game, while Mizzou faces a tougher test, as previously mentioned, against the team that has already beaten them this year. If Mizzou loses, we will see a similar NC game as last years. Ohio State doesn’t have the speed or the talent to play with West Virginia. In one writers opinion, that is one reason the BCS is again flawed. Do I have a solution, sure, but it won’t happen, so I won’t discuss it.
One game I’d like to talk about is the rivalry game known through out the country as the Holy War, or the battle for the Beehive Boot. BYU v. Utah. BYU has scored more than 30 points in six of their games this year, and had two other games where they were on the verge of 30. Utah was on a roll scoring over 27 points in their last 4 games, and 50 in their game against Wyoming. This was lining up to be a high scoring game with the last team with the ball winning. But with this rivalry, you never really know.
The first half was a defensive struggle, with the only points coming off the foot of BYU’s kicker, Mitch Payne. The Utes definitely had the edge in special team play, but were unable to take advantage of that. BYU had been able to move the ball effectively against the Utes, but couldn’t seem to get in the end zone. In the fourth quarter, the Cougars were up 9 - 3, with no one in the end zone. BYU had multiple chances. A couple were just out of reach or off the fingertips of the receivers, and another was nullified by an offensive pass interference call on Austin Collie.
The Utes also had their opportunities. They were put into scoring position after an interception by BYU quarterback Max Hall, but rather than scoring Utah quarterback in turn threw an interception, that would have gone the distance had Cody Hodgkiss not tripped over his own feet.
Utah was finally able to get into the end zone on a 1 yard run by Darryl Mack. They had taken the lead, but left BYU with just over a minute and a half to take back the lead. Max Hall fumbled the snap on first down, putting BYU in a second and 18. Failing to convert on second and third down, BYU now faced a 4th and 18, and the game. Utah played a prevent defense, and Hall scrambled around, until he found Austin Collie standing alone in the field for a 49 yard gain. This kept BYU’s hopes alive. Utah then proceeding to give the game away with a personal foul, and a pass interference call. BYU was now 11 yards out, and freshman sensation running back, Harvey Unga rumbled into the end zone for the go ahead touchdown. BYU lead by 5 points, and opted to go for a two point conversion. Hall found Collie in the back of the end zone to convert the two points.
Utah had some time left, but their hopes ended when Johnson threw a 50 yard pass into the end zone that was batted down. BYU had won another nail bitter against their rival. This is a team that should be good for years to come. They have a good discipline and a good coach.

Top 25 - November 6, 2007

I must apologize to my faithful readers. I was able to watch some of the games on Saturday, and caught the big ones, but I was away from my computer and unable to write up what I saw and what I thought. Unfortunately, that may again be the case this weekend, and also in a couple weeks. Because this isn't my full time job, and I do actually have other responsibilities, we will need to bear with it, and continue on.
That said, it was an exciting week in College Football. Though I still feel that some of my rankings may not fully reflect the actual state of College Football, they are an accurate representation of what has happened so far. You may notice some changes in my top 10, and not just because Boston College lost.

1 Previous 1	OHIO STATE 10 – 0 They are yet to be tested fully. Wisconsin had a chance, but Wisconsin doesn’t appear to be in my top 25 either. Their first real test will be their last game of the season.
2 2	OKLAHOMA 8 – 1 They bounced back. Sam Bradford threw for 5 touchdowns against Texas A&M. I view this as the best team in the nation, but there is something to be said about winning all of your games.
3 4	OREGON 8 – 1 I think Oregon would like a do over against Cal. The Ducks asserted their dominance over ASU and Dixon just became the front runner for the Heisman trophy.
4 5	LOUISIANA STATE 8 – 1 Close game against Alabama. The tigers could just as well be on a four game losing streak. They win their close games, and that is better than most.
5 8	KANSAS 9 – 0 I think that the Jayhawks could have hung 100 on Nebraska. I moved them up despite other teams winning because that was just too impressive.
6 7	WEST VIRGINIA 7 – 1 Idle this last week. They have some tough games ahead, and will get a chance to prove themselves as the class of the conference.
7 8	MISSOURI 8 – 1 I said that they would not drop below Kansas until they played, but Kansas just played too well. This isn’t a knock on Mizzou, they are still a top ten team, and could still win the conference.
8 10	TEXAS 8 – 2 Texas is playing well. They are the best two loss team. One of their losses was to Oklahoma, and the other was a let down. But how they are playing now gets them here.
9 3	BOSTON COLLEGE 8 – 1 They were playing on borrowed time. They should have lost earlier, but they are still the class of the ACC.
10 6	ARIZONA STATE 8 – 1 In a battle of the best of the Pac 10, Arizona State was blown away. They have their other tough games still ahead of them. If they beat USC, UCLA, and AZ, they deserve an at large bid to a BCS bowl.
11 11	GEORGIA 7 – 2 These bulldogs are still barking. This week is a tough game against Auburn and then against Kentucky. Winning these games should give the Bulldogs the confidence to beat LSU in the SEC championship.
12 13	BOISE STATE 8 – 1 After another dominating performance, Boise is playing the best football in the WAC. They have a loss, but have played a tougher schedule than Hawaii.
13 14	MICHIGAN 8 – 2 Tough win against the Spartans. The Wolverines are on a roll. They faced tough games and learned from them. As I’ve been saying they will be the Buckeyes real test.
14 12	HAWAII 8 – 0 They didn’t play, and that shouldn’t drop them. It didn’t, it was the outstanding play of the other teams.
15 15	SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 7 – 2 They got their payback against Oregon State. But now they face Cal, who is looking for payback and to justify their season. Look for USC to lose this weekend.
16 16	VIRGINIA TECH 7 – 2 With Boston College losing, Vatech has a chance to win the ACC title now. They face 3 tough games and would need to win all of them in order to play BC again for the title.
17 17	CONNECTICUT 8 – 1 This is the surprising team of the season. They have come out of nowhere and are the leading team in the Big East. They still face West Virginia and
18 19	FLORIDA 6 – 3 Tim Tebow is good enough to justify Florida in this position. Also let’s not forget what a great motivator Urban Meyer is.
19 24	CLEMSON 7 – 2 Clemson lost their games that were tough. This week is another tough game against Wake Forest. Follow that with another tough game against Boston College, and Clemson could be out of the picture.
20 22	BRIGHAM YOUNG 6 – 2 The Cougars asserted their dominance against a struggling CSU team. They face TCU who may have found themselves in time for the game. BYU has too many weapons to fall this week.
21 21	AUBURN 7 – 3 They have a chance to play spoiler. If they can upend Georgia the way they did with Florida; that will really be something.
22 25	VIRGINIA 8 – 2 Their end of the season game against VaTech will likely decide who faces the Eagles for the ACC title. This is a good team, so don’t automatically give it to the Hokies.
23 23	TENNESSEE 6 – 3 Tennessee still could represent the conference in a BCS game. They need a couple things to happen, like a Georgia loss, but if they win out, and Georgia loses once, Tennessee is your SEC champ.
24 NR	CINCINNATI 7 – 2 They handed South Florida, the media darlings, their third straight loss. This week is a big game against Connecticut. I never thought I’d say that in football.
25 NR	AIR FORCE 7 - 3 Will the Falcons hand Notre Dame another loss. I think, and most would agree, that they will. Notre Dame is that bad, and the Falcons are actually a good team.

Dropped Out : Wake Forest, Alabama, South Florida

Also Considering: Texas Tech, Tulsa, Illinois, California, Kentucky