My Saturday Opinions Part II

I had a feeling going into this afternoon, that there was going to be only one good game. I was wrong. While I did need the help of a sling box in order to watch the Cal v. Oregon game, I was able to flip back and forth between some of the other games that happened in the late afternoon. There were quite a few upsets today. If I were ESPN and were able to name my Saturday’s in retrospect, I would call this “Upset Saturday”. But I’m not so I won’t.
Georgia Tech upsets Clemson to get their third win, and to remain relevant in the ACC. Clemson gets caught asleep at the wheel and loses a game they should win. This always seems to happen to Clemson. They’ll be ready for any big games, but unprepared for the irrelevant games. This goes on the coach.
Maryland upsets Rutgers. I may have been to high on the Big East. Rutgers was the complete team in the Big East, with an offense and a defense, and they struggled and lost to a mid-level Maryland team. The question now becomes, where does South Florida fit in. The National Media will praise them and likely put them into the top 10, but I am unsure. The Big East is apparently not that great, so should the Bulls be ranked higher for defeating inferior competition?
The Big 12 is up for grabs. Texas and Oklahoma both lose to teams from the Big 12 North. The South has been the dominant division for a decade and now the top teams in the South lose to northern teams that fall somewhere in the middle. This makes the Red River Shootout while still relevant, less exciting. Texas wasn’t really in this game. Kansas State won on special teams, but the Longhorns have been teetering on disaster for weeks now. The hope for Texas fans and coaches has got to be that Colt McCoy is alright after getting banged up by Kansas State for the second year in a row.
Michigan State had their chances. The could have beaten Wisconsin, but by losing they have assured that Wisconsin will continue to be ranked too high. The Badgers played well enough to win, but I don’t trust this team, and the wheels could come off at any moment, against any team.
Now on to the main event. Oregon v. Cal was everything that it should have been. The first half was actually more of a defensive struggle. I was impressed with the way the Ducks were able to contain Deshawn Jackson and Justin Forsett in the first half. The second half was all about offense. Jackson went crazy and took two touchdowns with him. Dixon played well and continued his streak of both a passing and a rushing touchdown in every game this year. The final play for Oregon, down by a touchdown, was a bonehead mistake by receiver Cameron Colvin. Dixon passed him the ball and he had a touchdown. Rather than reaching the ball across the plane of the goal line, he fumbles the ball into the end zone. At least that was the call on the field after many minutes of discussion from the referees. Because that was how they called it, the official video review could not bring forth indisputable evidence to overturn the call. It was a questionable call, and I think that the ref’s should have called the ball out on the 1 yard line. That still gives Cal a chance to stop Oregon, but if not, then the game would be decided in overtime, not by questionable calls.
There may be more upsets to come tonight, but I highly doubt it.

My Saturday Opinions

I never believed in the looking ahead excuse. I always felt that you should be looking no further than the team that you are playing next. That was the attitude I always had when I was a wrestler and so I never expected any other athlete to be looking ahead. But this week I could be proven wrong.
Oklahoma had been dominating their opponents all year. They had a streak of 50+ point games going for them. And they then go up to Colorado, a game that OU should win, and in the fourth quarter they fall apart and lose the game. Could this be an example of Oklahoma looking ahead next week to their rivalry game against Texas? I don’t know, but this hurts and nearly destroys their chances of playing in the National Title game. I say nearly destroys because I think that there may only be one team that goes undefeated this year.
Texas might be looking ahead as well. They haven’t been dominating the way that Oklahoma has been, but Texas is favored in this game. At the half Texas is trailing Kansas State 24 - 14. If Texas loses this game, that takes a lot of the excitement away from the Red River Shootout next week. It will still be a match up between two top 25 teams, but no longer will it be a match up between two top ten teams, if Texas loses. OU may not fall out of the top 10, but they probably should.
LSU may have been looking ahead to next weeks battle with Florida for the first half of their game with Tulane. But then the Tigers stopped looking ahead at the half and turned on their offense. I didn’t like the decision to have Perrilloux switching drives with Flynn. I know that they want to give the young QB some experience, but with the game still in question, I thought it was a poor decision. Although, we’ve seen this happen many times in a Gary Crowton offense.
I’m not happy with they way that ESPN has decided to broadcast their games. On ABC in the east for the early game, people we forced to watch a game between Uconn and Akron. I couldn’t think of anything less relevant. Ok, so Uconn happens to be 5 - 0, but I don’t expect that to continue too much longer. I just don’t like their regional broadcasting choices.
The Big 10 continues to baffle me. Penn State loses to Illinois. But after last weeks performance, I dropped Penn St. from my top 25. I suppose that Illinois could win the Big 10, but I think that Michigan will.

Thayne's Top 25

It took me a while to get the formatting right, but here is my inaugural Top 25 rankings for College Football. I decided to wait until after Week 4, so I could see who was really good and who was faking it (Michigan anyone?).

1	OKLAHOMA 4 - 0 The Sooners have done nothing but destroy every opponent they have faced and weren’t afraid to go into Tulsa to play the Golden Hurricanes on their home turf. Beating down two Hurricanes puts Bob Stoops’ team on top.
2	SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 3 - 0 I don’t think that the Trojans will go undefeated, but they’ve done nothing yet to demote them. Were it not for the outstanding play of Oklahoma, USC would be on top.
3	LOUISIANA STATE 4 - 0 These Tigers have a bite. Even with Matt Flynn being not completely healthy, they are able to win. The Old Ball Coach gave them a fight, as I expected he would, but LSU still wins.
4	FLORIDA 4 - 0 Urban Meyer could motivate a Vegan to open a Steak House. He has the talent to compete in the SEC. With Urban, that is worth at least a touchdown a game.
5	WEST VIRGINIA 4 - 0 They have a potent offense with 3 great players. Their defense isn’t as good as it should be and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them fall to someone in the Big East.
6	CALIFORNIA 4 - 0 They could be the best team in California, but they will need to prove it. They will get their chance when they play USC. If West Virginia or Florida fall before then, that could be a game for a place in the Title game.
7	TEXAS 4 - 0 Mack Brown has had a lot of problems with his team this year. Aside from the legal trouble of his players, there are offensive line issues. That is the reason that Colt McCoy isn’t playing like he was last year. They are just under 2 weeks from a loss.
8	OREGON 4 – 0 The Ducks are playing the best they have in years. Dennis Dixon is playing like a Vince Young. The question for Oregon is whether Dixon can keep it up, or will he start to fade as the season goes by again.
9	BOSTON COLLEGE 4 – 0 Matt Ryan is making a name for himself as a quarterback in Boston. That territory normally belongs to Tom Brady. The Eagles should win the ACC, but have some tough conference games ahead playing at Virginia Tech and Clemson. At least they get Miami at home.
10	RUTGERS 3 – 0 Idle this last week. They look like a complete team, with an offense and a defense. Some of the other Big East teams should consider trying this.
11	OHIO STATE 4 – 0 I just don’t believe in the Big 10 this year. That said, Ohio State has a chance to run through it. They get Wisconsin at home, but play Penn State on the road. If they get through these games, then a trip to the Big House could pit two ranked teams again, but won’t be playing for a spot in the title game.
12	KENTUCKY 4 - 0 Two big wins in two weeks. Upsetting Louisville was big, but then winning at Arkansas showed that this team is no longer a SEC whipping boy.
13	CLEMSON 4 – 0 When will the Tigers fall? I expect it to be against a “should win” opponent. But Georgia Tech could prove to be their undoing this week. If not them, then Virginia Tech. Until they fall, they will stay put.
14	WISCONSIN 4 – 0 They struggled against an Iowa team that lost to Iowa State. I don’t think that these badgers are as fierce as they appear.
15	SOUTH FLORIDA 3 - 0 I can’t say much about the Bulls, mostly because I don’t know much about them. But playing in the Big East is no longer the joke it used to be, even just a few years ago when Pitt won it. We’ll see if they are the real deal this weekend when they play West Virginia.
16	MISSOURI 4 – 0 They are going to be 5 – 0 when they play Nebraska, likely for the right to play Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game. Missouri plays Oklahoma after Nebraska.
17	GEORGIA 3 – 1 A conference loss to South Carolina hurts. But then they beat Bama in Bama. Matt Stafford got a big confidence boost there and these Bulldogs are here to play.
18	SOUTH CAROLINA 3 – 1 I know they beat Georgia on the road. But they are coming off a loss and Georgia is coming off a win. This is why they are here. If I flipped them would anyone even notice?
19	HAWAII 4 – 0 I think I might have this team a little high. They haven’t played anyone at all. The toughest game they have on their schedule is Washington at the end of the year. Boise State could cause problems, but they are also at the end of the year. And both games are played on the island.
20	VIRGINIA TECH 3 – 1 Their offense sort of turned it on against William and Mary. That’s I guess a confidence booster. Defense and special teams outscored W&M. Their defense is what will keep them in games, but won’t win it for them.
21	ARIZONA STATE 4 – 0 They have some tough games ahead, but they look ready to compete in the Pac 10. If they can keep winning until late October, that puts them against Cal undefeated. Will Cal be undefeated too?
22	MICHIGAN STATE 4 – 0 Another Big 10 team undefeated. I don’t like their chances against Wisconsin this weekend, but they could surprise some people. I mean Iowa did.
23	ALABAMA 3 – 1 Overtime loss at home. Nothing stings worse than that. That is a tough thing to recover from. Fortunately for the Tide, they have some easier games on their plate until LSU comes to town.
24	CINCINNATI 4- 0 This team is somewhat of a surprise. They are likely to win this weekend too. They haven’t just been winning, they’ve been destroying their opponents. Outscoring their opponents by a total of 180 – 30.
25	PURDUE 4 - 0 I really don’t like that this is my fourth Big 10 team in the top 25, but they have won. Penn State could go here, but I they looked bad against Michigan. Curtis Painter can put points up on you, throwing for 16 touchdowns through 4 games and only 1 interception.

It has arrived!

Today is the first full day of College Football. What a great day it is. Although, most of the games are mismatches, it is still exciting to football again underway. I have spent this morning watching College Football Gameday with Corso, Herbstreit, and Fowler. They are in Blacksburg, Virginia for the first game of the year. Is this the best game of the day? No, of course not. But I doubt that many would argue with their choice after the tragedy that happened at Virginia Tech this past spring.

Virginia Tech is being pushed as America’s team this year. I don’t really think that is the case, as anyone who follows college football already has their own team, and allegiances don’t change in that manner. One thing that bothered me during the pre-game ceremony of the VaTech v. ECU game was that during the National Anthem, they kept showing students during the song. Every student that was shown did not have their hand over their heart, and they were not singing along with the National Anthem. Many weren’t even paying attention. Two students were actually flirting and attempting to cuddle during the song. If you want to attempt to represent America, then give America Her due, and respect Her during Her Anthem.

Considering the alleged mismatches, there are actually some good games going on. VaTech v. ECU is turning out to be quite a game. Near the end of the 3^rd quarter, the score is 10-7 and the only reason that VT is leading is due to a mistake made in the 2^nd near ECU’s own endzone. ECU’s quarterback threw an interception which was returned for a touchdown. Still quite a game.

The other game which is surprising is Michigan v. Appalachian State. App. St. leads Michigan the #5 team in the nation, 31-20. App. St. is a school that was considered a I-AA school, now know as Championship Division. Michigan may need to reevaluate their scheduling and play some easier teams, like the ones in their conference.
The better games will be played later on today and I hope that I’ll be able to continue to watch them.