ACC Week 3 Games - We Only Wish They Had Talent

(Disclaimer: watching ACC football is hazardous to your mental health and eye safety. Left Field Bluffs recommends keeping at least three stations between you and any ACC game at any given time, as god-awful offensive football can strike anywhere, anytime – and if you hurt your eyes we don’t have a Braille version of this site. If you’re unfortunate enough to get the Raycom ACC Game of the Week, LFB suggests drinking so heavily that you go blind. It’s for the best.)

This is the week that the ACC really steps up the level of difficulty: that’s right, they only play one 1-AA team this week! Shockingly, most of the other games are pretty even matchups (NC State / Clemson notwithstanding), meaning that we might actually see some interesting games. Please note the absence of “quality”, “entertaining”, or “exciting” in the previous sentence. (Ed: I thought we removed that line, you dumbass. That’s an aside!)

Florida State v. Chattanooga
Seriously? I mean, I guess ol’ Bobby B’s got to get his wins somehow – and Drew Weatherford has to have a halfway decent completion percentage at some point – but two 1-AA teams in a row is just ridiculous. (Note: Drew likely won't be playing in this game, as he's lost his job to not one, but two, freshmen QBs. It's got to be pretty sad when you're not only bad enough to be replaced as the incumbent starter, but you're replaced by a QB rotation. With freshmen. All I'm saying is that if I was Drew, I'd be lit like a Christmas tree come kickoff.) FSU should take a cue from most other teams and schedule that second 1-AA game for homecoming. Come on, at least TRY and hide the fact you need to go 4-6 against teams with a pulse to become bowl-eligible.

Clemson v. NC State
If Clemson decides to let Jeffy Bowden OC this game, this could be way closer than it has any right to be. However, barring that Tom O’Brien’s Wolfpack squad basically will get to spend 60 minutes chasing the backs of Spiller and Davis and looking good for the Heisman highlight reels. Clemson would be wise to put this game out of reach early. That's code for "45 passes, 12 rushes."

Virginia @ Connecticut
Last year, this game would’ve resulted in literal horseshoes being crapped out at midfield; this season, hopefully both these teams don’t get so fucking lucky. That being said, the Huskies are the more talented team and they’re at home, so they should beat the likely lackluster Virginia squad. If the 4th place Big East team can’t beat a fucking ACC cellar dweller at home, LFB may have to revoke the Big East’s title of Most Loved Conference Everyone Else Shits On. In that case, here we come MAC!

Duke v. Navy
This is an interesting little trial-and-error scheduling game by Duke here; I can’t think Duke’s AD was prescient enough to realize that Georgia Tech and Navy would be running basically the same offense, but now that they are, it’s a nice opportunity to get some free scouting in. Of course, most of the scouting they’ll get in this game will be of the “holy crap, our defense wasn’t designed to stop the run for 35 minutes” variety, and any offensive gains will likely be nullified by the 450 yards Navy’s going to roll up on the ground. As much as I’d love Duke to open 2-1, it won’t happen. That being said, I still expect the articles coming out of Durham to read like poster copy from Little Giants, so we're okay there.

Maryland v. California
Way to go, Terps! Seriously, I’m glad the Terrapins scheduled a game against an actual genius QB coach in Jeff Tedford. Maybe the Fridge can take notes, as Jordan Steffy Chris Turner that dude in the 4th row of the student section leading foes into battle over, say, Nate Longridge is like taking a rusty butter knife into a gun battle. Oh, and Jahvid Best might be the fastest guy Maryland sees all season. Yikes.

North Carolina @ Rutgers
To all those who said North Carolina can challenge for the ACC title: put up or shut up time, motherfuckers. Show you can hang with one of the better Big East teams and we’ll start to think about what you can do in your own conference. Get blown out and we’ll pencil the Tar Heels in for 6-6. The choice – much like Choose Your Own Adventure – is your own, Chapel Hill. Choose wisely. If UNC is able to win this game outright, this might be the best ACC non-conference win of the season, which is pretty depressing if you think about it too hard.

Virginia Tech v. Georgia Tech
This game could be either the Stupidly Entertaining Game of the Week or 60 Minutes of Fan Hell; shit, it could be both. It all depends on how well the Yellow Jackets execute their offense and if Virginia Tech can figure out a way to stop it. Either way, Virginia Tech on offense = sleep.

SEC Week 3 Games - Workin' Blue to Pass the Time

The first couple weeks’ worth of games hasn’t been too bad to the SEC; sure, Week 2 was pretty freaking boring (I mean, Vandy / South Carolina as your showcase game = go chug some Drano to pass the time), but at least these guys win their non-conference games unlike other conferences whose nAmes we Can’t reCall at the moment. We'll just ignore the fact that Tennessee completely forgot how to do that for now.

As for this week, this is kind of a weird amalgamation of games. There aren’t many true showcase games – Georgia @ South Carolina comes closest, likely – and there are a few duds in there (Ole Miss v. Samford? Really, that was the best they could do?), but the early-season slate of SEC games is a lot like vodka; pretty calm and soothing before it totally fucks you up come Week 4. In the meantime, keep on drinkin’.

Ole Miss v. Samford
Presumably Ole Miss will roll pretty easily here, as I don’t think anyone knows a) where Samford is, b) what NCAA division they’re in (are they NAIA?), c) what kind of classes they offer at Samford, and d) if their football team isn’t just 22 guys in tights. Stranger things have happened, but I have faith in the complete fucking insanity that is Houston Nutt.

LSU v. North Texas
Remember how the first week’s game for LSU could’ve been fun if LSU was a bit worse? Yeah, that’s totally not the case here; North Texas is going to get completely fucked here. Proper fucked, too. It’ll be painful; I fully expect LSU to go into a 3-4 after halftime because three guys are going to be enough to get pressure on the QB, and North Texas isn’t exactly known for their defense. The forecast calls for pain.

Alabama v. Directional (West) Kentucky
Because it’s not enough for Alabama to beat up and steal LSU’s oh-so-loved HC Nick Saban, now they have to go and schedule a provisional Sun Belt school over an actual one. Of course, the last time they played a Sun Belt school, the Tide lost, so maybe we’re a bit premature here assuming a win. But I’d say just a bit premature, not too premature; the Tide should – dare I say – roll.

Tennessee v. UAB
After an intense struggle against Bye Week, Tennessee comes back to face C-USA bottom-feeder UAB, who was best known last year for losing close to Florida State. I expect Tennessee to play only backups in this game, as the UAB game is merely the precursor to the fucking insane Florida-Auburn-(N Illinois)-Georgia gauntlet, two of which (Florida and Georgia) will get to rest up before playing the Vols. Ouch.

Your random "what on earth happened here" moment of the week comes courtesy of a little nugget of info from ESPN. I still have yet to figure out how Crompton should be responsible for the offensive sets when most of the time that normally falls on the offensive coordinator. So not only are we learning a new offense with a new QB, he's also moonlighting as the OC? We're not paying him enough for that. Who the fuck do you think we are, Ohio State?

Vanderbilt v. Rice
I actually like Rice in a mild upset here; sure, Rice can’t play defense to save their lives (much like the rest of C-USA), but it’s not like Vandy is really known for having an offense, ever. Chase Clement may be the second-best QB Vanderbilt faces all year, which is saying something, and Jarett Dillard may be the second-best WR. This won’t go well, but this is still your Stupidly Entertaining Game of the Week, even if the matchup screams Raycom Special.

Kentucky v. Middle Tennessee State
This is kind of a lateral move for MTSU, who go from getting Maryland at home to playing Kentucky on the road. Unlike last week, I do expect Kentucky to win pretty easily, as their game against Louisville means either the defense should be really good or the Cardinals are just that bad. My suspicion is it’s a bit of both, but the Wildcats should have plenty on D to contain the Blue Raiders, even if their offense resembles the orphans in a “We Are the World” TV special.

Arkansas @ Texas
(This game has been pushed back to September 27th. The preview, however, is going to remain.)
Fucking hell, why wasn’t this game last year? That would’ve been awesome and a half: strength v. strength with two of the best RBs in the country against a solid Longhorn front seven. Instead, we get a team that should’ve lost to Western Fucking Illinois playing a likely still-pissed Texas squad ready to rip their heads off their necks and stuff them so far up their ass they can see the stars. Yeah, I like Arkansas’ chances here, big time – provided they start the game up 21-0.

Auburn @ Mississippi State
I was a lot more excited about this game before I realized that Wesley Carroll was even shittier than expected. Now, there’s no real excuse why Auburn shouldn’t roll here, as Anthony Dixon is a good RB (but Ben Tate is better, and Brad Lester is about equal) and Carroll might be semi-competent in this game (and he still couldn’t hold Kodi Burns’ jock), but the defenses will tell the tale here. I expect the Bulldogs to need at least one defensive / special teams score to really have a shot here, and even with that they’ll lose by 14.

Georgia @ South Carolina
This game was fucking hideous to watch last year, even if the end result was schadenfreudically fantastic. If South Carolina is as good as (Phil Steele) advertised, they should make this game close. By the same token, Georgia has a weird habit of playing down to South Carolina’s level over the last few years; the Bulldogs should win the game, but just because they shouldn’t doesn’t necessarily mean that they will. Still, in terms of pressure, this game should be pretty low-key for UGA, as everyone will be watching (and likely voting) the USC-(t)OSU winner #1 in the polls. Nothing makes life easier like nobody paying attention to a potential stinkbomb, because this game was Special Olympics Central last year.

Big 10 Week 3

Hey look. We all know that this week is probably the biggest week in college football for at least the first half of the season. And once again, OSU faces a big time program in USC, this one being considered the "Clash at the Coliseum". Furthermore, Ohio State is facing criticism that they cannot win the big games, and Santonio Holmes said it best on the Jim Rome show yesterday: Does this mean we came out hot when coach first got here, and now can't get it done in the big games. I don't think anyone on the team wants that, and they're going to show that.

But the most recent news forced Vegas to take the game off the board: Beanie Wells was downgraded from Questionable to Doubtful. Is this Tressell setting expectations that they're going to lose this one? Maybe trick USC into preparing for a game without Beanie and then throw him in on crucial plays to get things done? What's with the silence on Pryor? Can Boeckman respond?

Over 80% say that USC will win this one now with Beanie out. I tend to agree with them with some caveats: #1 - the defense is good - if they keep the Buckeyes in the game, there's always a chance, #2 - Pryor HAS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!, and #3 - no more dropped balls like last two weeks.

With the game of the week out of the way, let's look at the rest of the Big 10:

Louisiana-Lafayette vs Illinois - *sigh* Why does the media bash the Big 10? For non-conference games such as this.

Montana State vs Minnesota - This is the team that beat Colorado two years ago. Minnesota sucks as much as the Buffs did back then. I give them a 50/50 chance to come away with a win.

Southern Illinois vs Northwestern - Tyrell Sutton is the key to this game, like he is to every game Northwestern plays this season. Yet another Compass State university for the Big 10 to chew on. Woo hoo.

Iowa State vs Iowa - Now THIS is going to be a good game. Intrastate rivalries usually suck, because one program generally dominates the other due to better conference/recruiting due to status. Iowa State recruited Gene Chizik from Texas, and in his second year he needs this to show that the team is on the right path. Iowa found their running game in Week 1, and with Mitch King dominating the line I think the Hawkeyes will still walk away with this one.

Oregon vs Purdue - I'm leaning towards Purdue on this one, even though the Ugly Ducks blew away Washington in week one. It's going to be a high scoring game like the Mizzou/Illinois game was - neither team has defense to stop the spread option. Curtis Painter is still a big threat. It should be back and forth for 60 minutes, and turnovers and points off of turnovers will be the difference.

Syracuse vs Penn State - How many games must Syracuse play against the Big 10, and get walloped? One more, I guess. The Orange have no chance, especially after Daryll Clark showed he's got game and will only get better as the season continues.

Fresno State vs Wisconsin - Hey... a great non-conference game! I'm not sure if Alvarez really thought Fresno State would be as good as they are when this was scheduled, but the now ranked Bulldogs have shown they can overcome size to win games. Allan Everidge needs to step it up - PJ Hill can't win this one alone.

Florida Atlantic vs Michigan State - Hrm. Javon Ringer, Brian Hoyer who's improving vs a small but fast FAU. Still, Michael Dell has really come hot as Hoyer's go-to guy and it's very likely this can be a blowout.

Notre Dame vs Michigan - Are the Golden Domers really back, or will Jimmy Clausen spend most of his time on his back like Flower Tucci? Charlie Weis has had some good recruiting classes, but ever since 2006 they haven't done much. It's Rodriguez's first year, and last week they showed signs of improvement. Threet is the starter and he did okay last week... so we'll see.

Preview: Ohio State @ Southern Cal

In ten seasons, Ohio State and USC have been the two most frequent BCS Bowl participants along with Oklahoma. Ohio State has racked up a 4-2 record, including 1-2 in championship games with an upset of Miami in 2002. USC is 5-1 overall, the most BCS bowl victories of any program, including a 1-1 record in championship games with a blowout of Oklahoma in 2004. Notable, USC was awarded an AP championship after their Rose Bowl victory over Michigan following the 2003 season. These two programs have played in the last four BCS championship games, although they've also lost the last three.

Amazingly, the two programs haven't met since 1990, when USC came away with a 9-point victory in Columbus. (after destroying the Buckeyes in LA the season before)

Most people are picking the winner of this game to play in the national title game. There's a good chance for the loser as well, if they finish 11-1. (Yes this includes Ohio State, despite what some sportswriters are saying. These same people argued that OSU didn't deserve to be ranked #1 at the end of the 2007 regular season, then promptly ranked them #1.)

So let's get on with it.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State is a conservative offensive team who wins games by pounding the ball on the ground, playing unmovable defense, and quietly winning the kicking game. Tressel Ball 101. Ohio State is an extremely experienced team - returning nine starters on each side of the ball.

The 2008 defensive group is truly amazing. Led by James Laurinitis, this bunch has essentially been playing together for two complete seasons, and in those 28 games I have only seen one truly bad defensive performance. (vs Florida... vs LSU, a lot of that can be blamed on the offense as they only gave up 326 yards but had bad field position most of the game due to turnovers and penalties) Malcolm Jenkins is considered one of the best cornerbacks in the country as well. Two games into this season, the Buckeyes are surrendering an average of 164 yards and 7 points per game with 6 turnovers forced (4 interceptions in last week's game!) - indeed, defense is the reason OSU is 2-0 right now rather than 1-1.

The Ohio State offense is very hit-or-miss, and missing Beanie Wells could make that worse. Maurice Wells is a good inside runner and Brandon Saine has great speed as a former track star. The Bucks return four starting offensive linemen and this unit has been a dominant force so far. The receivers are dependable but not stellar, with Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline being much more effective when the ground game is already rolling and requiring safety help to stop. Quarterback, however, has been the position of inconsistency. Todd Boeckman was statistically the best QB in the Big Ten last season, but turnovers cost the Buckeyes in losses to Illinois and LSU in 2007. Already against Ohio U, Boeckman fumbled a snap that led to Ohio U's only points in the second half - a defensive score. He is an accurate short passer but his throws seem to fall apart beyond 20-25 yards. Not much has been seen or Terrelle Pryor, but I expect him to be a wild card up Tressel's sleeve.

OSU has already hit seven field goals this season in 8 attempts, more evidence that the kicking game is strong. Though punting has been average (40.0 average), punt returns have been a strong area for the Buckeyes - averaging 19 ypr compared to just over 2 ypr allowed, and already having returned one for a TD.

Southern Cal Trojans

USC is an explosive offensive team who plays both big and consistent, complimenting their beastly defense. Though the genius of Norm Chow is gone, the USC offense attacks opposing defense through such wide variety - power running, speed outside running, precision passing - that it seems like once you finally figure out a scheme to stop them, then next series they're out there running something completely different but equally effective.

The USC defensive group returns seven starters from a unit that was among the elite in 2007, and they started this campaign by allowing a mere 32 yards rushing (187 total offense) against Virginia. Three of the new starters are in the front seven, and this is where USC recruits best. Led by Rey Maualuga, this group has consistently been among the toughest to run against for years under Pete Carroll. Taylor Mays is one of the nation's best safeties and they are not easy to throw the ball against either.

USC's only real offensive question was how 4 new starting linemen would perform. Against a Virginia team starting four new faces on defensive line, they completely dominated. Mark Sanchez looks to be a nice upgrade at the QB position from Booty, with more velocity and range on his throws. The receivers he'll be looking for aren't the beasts that USC has had in the past, but this is still a very strong group. At halfback, USC has three legitimate stars who can come in and play different styles, from the bruising attack of Stafon Johnson to the speed of Joe McKnight.

It's hard to grade the USC punters and kickers as they've hardly seen any plays due to their extreme offensive efficiency, but from past experience we know that David Buehler is a reliable kicker. The return groups have looked average so far.

Breakdown

When USC has the ball:

Running

Statistically, Ohio State has had the #1, #15, and #3 rushing defense from 2005-07. Each of these groups has been led by a stellar linebacking corps and an underrated, deep defensive line. Against USC, they will face a rushing offense that is among the nation's best regardless of what the statistics say (their ability to pass in a balanced offense hurts the raw numbers). Last season, USC averaged nearly 5 yards per carry on the ground and it is their depth that is possibly their biggest weapon here, wearing down defenses with three fresh backs. Ultimately, this battle is going to come down to USC's offensive line. Ohio State has both skilled and fundamentally sound linebackers, and if the defensive line gives them penetration then it will be a long day even for these talented backs. However, OSU's linebackers aren't known for their speed, and if USC's o-line wins the trenches, then OSU's linebackers might not be able to seal plays from a positional disadvantage.

Edge: Even

Passing

When USC lines up with a fullback or two tight ends, I don't like Patrick Turner and Vidal Hazelton getting much done against this secondary, not with Jenkins as such an elite cornerback. Though while the receivers might have trouble getting open against this great coverage, Sanchez has shown both incredible power and accuracy in his throws, and should be able to thread the ball into the slightest opening.

Ohio State has shown susceptibility to spread offenses and USC does have the ability to bring in three legitimate WRs with David Ausberry as their third, and OSU's base defense will have trouble stopping this. Additionally, Joe McKnight has great hands and is a threat in the passing game.

A wrench that could be thrown into things is the unknown of USC's pass protection. The University of Virginia simply was an inadequate test. Again, Ohio State has a great front seven, and pass protection is tough for a group that has little big game experience together. I don't expect this to be an issue - USC's offensive lines have performed so well for so many seasons - but if we're looking for a wildcard, this is the biggest unknown for the USC offense vs OSU defense matchups.

Edge: Slight USC

When Ohio State has the ball:

Running

Like Ohio State, USC has had an elite running defense the past two seasons, ranking #9 and #4. Ohio State has the nation's top runningback on their roster, but the question is will he play? Obviously this is a huge factor that will swing this matchup. On the lines, you have a great OSU offensive line vs a USC defensive line that has two new starters. Just those factors, Ohio State wins. But then you have to factor in the linebackers, the heart and strength of this USC defense. That swings the pendulum in their favor. Beanie Wells is a good enough back to overcome the edge USC has in their front seven vs the OSU front five. Maurice Wells and Brandon Saine? I don't think that they will have nearly as much success.

A factor that might come into play late is the approx 30 lb differential between the average USC defensive lineman and the average OSU offensive lineman. We expect both teams to rotate players, the USC defense probably a little more often, so I don't think this will show until the 4th quarter. But if the game is close or especially if OSU has the lead in the 4th, this could be an advantage for the Buckeyes to exploit.

Edge: Slight OSU

Passing

Frankly, I do not expect Ohio State to have much success throwing against this USC secondary. Todd Boeckman puts too much air under his deep passes and Taylor Mays is great at closing on the ball and making plays. Furthermore, Boeckman is not the quickest nor the best decision-maker. Ohio U brought delayed blitzes with defenders finding lanes to get to the QB. He needed to quickly find the open man and make the Bobcats pay for opening holes in their coverage, but did this on far too rare occasions. Pete Carroll will be bringing far more sophisticated and creative blitzes than Frank Solich did, how will Boeckman respond to that? Not well is my guess.

That said, USC's corner situation is strong but not excellent, and the OSU receivers run good short routes, where Boeckman is also very accurate and doesn't really need to think on the fly. This becomes more important if OSU is creating yards in the ground game and preoccupying the USC linebackers who are very strong in coverage. Brandon Saine is also a solid receiver, should he get more playing time due to Beanie Wells' status.

Edge: USC

Pryor/Spread(?)

For those keeping track, we've got an even matchup, two advantages for USC, and one for Ohio State. Even if OSU wins the kicking game, which they have decent odds of doing, USC also has home field advantage, so the Buckeyes have ground to make up! If it's going to happen, it has to be with Terrelle Pryor running 2-4 offensive drives and getting positive results. We're not going to see a freshman come in against USC and just lead the team to victory, but providing 10 points could be the difference in a close defensive game. If it's a shootout, OSU is toast anyway.

If you have watched much USC football the last four years, dual threat QBs are about the only thing that has really given this defense trouble. (Fresno State game in 05 aside) In their 2004 opener, VT's Randall avoided the rush with his feet and made huge plays - indeed, USC was fortunate that the Hokies killed themselves with procedural penalties. Of course we remember Vince Young's epic Rose Bowl performance against a USC team in their offensive prime. Then there was last season's late loss to Oregon, in which Dennis Dixon turned in a strong enough option performance to overcome USC handling the Ducks' receivers and being +120 yards through the air.

A plus about the Pryor spread packages is that it minimizes the impact of Wells' injury, and for that reason we may end up seeing as many as six drives led by the freshman. Texas ran the VY option better with speedy Jamaal Charles than they did with Cedric Benson. I would really like to see Pryor running option with speedster Brandon Saine in the backfield, even if Wells is available, as a threat to turn the corner and make a big play. This would also allow Wells to rest, as he is absolutely essential to the offense when Boeckman is in the game. Like Young (unworthy as the OSU freshman may be of this comparison), Pryor should actually be the #1 option on his reads, picking up yards in consistent chunks. Saine should be used to punish the defense for over-committing to Pryor or for committing too soon.

Edge: Ohio State

Injury Update

As I finalize thoughts on this, word has come in that OSU star running back Beanie Wells is listed as doubtful for this weekend's game. Obviously this is going to have an impact, but let's not forget that Ohio State's running game is halfway based on their mammoth offensive line and the Buckeyes are deep at the RB position. This makes the game more of an uphill battle for the Bucks, but not unwinnable if the players who are available bring their A game and if the gameplan takes full advantage of all weapons at the team's disposal.

Pick: USC

Big 12: Week 2 Review

Baylor
Robert Griffin emerged as the new face of the Baylor offense, accounting for 336 yards and 4 TDs in a route of FCS foe Northwestern State. A star receiver has yet to step up, and we're not sold either way on Jay Finley as a running threat despite a solid performance on Saturday.

The Bears have a secret weapon in punter Epperson, who blasted punts of 56 and 61 yards Saturday. The punter averaged 40.2 in the week 1 loss to Wake Forest with a long of 58. Despite Griffin, we don't expect Baylor's offense to be scoring more often than not, so having a solid punter is a big plus in the field position game.

Week 3: vs Washington State
After getting dominated by Oklahoma State, Washington State was run off the field by Cal, 66-3. In two games the offense has failed to top 200 total yards and completely lacks an identity. This is the kind of game Baylor needs to win to avoid double-digit losses, and I think they'll get the job done.
Pick: Baylor

Colorado
After an impressive week 1, Colorado remembered who they are and struggled to put away Eastern Washington. Cody Hawkins had a decent outing and Smith had another good game returning the ball - which was about all the Buffs had going for them. Darrell Scott was held under 40 yards as the leading rusher and the defense was gashed by an FCS foe. CU scored the tying TD with 2 minutes to play then breathed a sigh of relief as EWU quarterback Matt Nichols tossed a pick 6 to Cha'pelle Brown to seal the comeback victory.

Week 3: Bye
Colorado has a Thursday night matchup with West Virginia in ten days and will really need to improve to have a chance in that one.

Iowa State
The Cyclones again looked suspect on defense, giving up 410 yards and 28 points to a Kent State team who didn't score against Boston College. Fortunately the Flashes coughed the ball up four times on fumbles or this one might have gone the other way. Austen Arnaud was really the lone star on offense, as no receiver caught five passes and Phillip Bates contributed two big plays while everything else was shut down.

Week 3: at Iowa
The Iowa Hawkeyes have blasted Maine and Florida International, making them tough to read. Last year this game was a real cripple fight that ISU won 15-13 after starting the season 0-2. This season doesn't look a whole lot more promising, but bonus that Drew Tate is gone.
Pick: Iowa

Kansas
For the second consecutive game, KU held an overmatch opponent to less than 40% completions in another strong defensive performance. The ground game looks like a real concern, but I guess you don't worry too much when your QB completes 85% of his passes for over 400 yards.

Week 3: at South Florida
USF starts the season 2-0 after a close, close victory over intrastate rival UCF. The Bulls had running problems of their own, while Grothe accounted for big plays and big busts with his arm. USF has superior talent but Todd Reesing is a superior decision-maker than Grothe. Taurus Johnson was the Bulls' go-to receiver on Saturday; the game may come down to how this high-performing Kansas secondary is able to handle him.
Pick: Kansas

Kansas State
Josh Freeman had yet another huge game as KSU destroyed yet another cupcake team.

Week 3: Bye
The Wildcats have an extra half-week to prepare for a trip to Louisville, whose offense awakened last weekend after being embarassed by Kentucky.

Missouri
Even against FCS opposition, 42 points in just over 21 minutes is impressive. The Tigers scored TDs on each of their first five drives, with Daniel going 16/17 for 245 and three TDs while Derrick Washington accounted for 3 TDs of his own. Jeremy Maclin scored on the ground and Sean Weatherspoon had a pick-six for the second consecutive game, furthering his status as an elite linebacker.

Week 3: vs Nevada
The Wolfpack shut down one elite Big 12 offense, but they won't be able to do it against the better, more well-rounded Missouri attack. Chase Daniel is playing like the best QB in the country (though don't say that to Sam Bradford) and the defense is once again opportunistic with the turnovers. Expect a route.
Pick: Missouri

Nebraska
The Nebraska offense had surprising troubles, putting up just seven points in the first 50 minutes against San Jose State. Two turnovers and a dozen penalties spoke of the poor execution as NU appeared to be sleeping through this one. Defense and special teams provided the difference in a game that was much closer than it should have been. Also fortunately, SJSU left seven points on the field in missed kicks.

Week 3: vs New Mexico State
With their game against Nicholls State postponed due to the hurricanes, NMSU will be playing their season opener in week 3! This team will probably lack the execution needed to upset Nebraska, even if the Huskers' offense lays another egg.
Pick: Nebraska

Oklahoma
Much as I was expecting a better performance, this was still a strong one overall. Sam Bradford shredded this defense, Demarco Murray ran all over them, and actually Chris Brown had a pretty good day as well. Freshman receiver Ryan Broyles had a huge day, giving Oklahoma three big time receiving threats. The defense really only had difficulty in the second quarter... all of Cincy's second-half points came off a KO return and a meaningless drive to end the game.

Week 3: at Washington
Much as Jake Locker is not to be overlooked, this is a 2-0 team vs an 0-2 team, and there are reasons for those records. Washington is going to find Oklahoma's offense a lot tougher to stop than BYU's, and will probably find their defense as tough as Oregon's was in Autzen.
Pick: Oklahoma

Oklahoma State
After sleeping through the first half, OSU's offense scored a TD on six of their final seven possessions - with the seventh running out the game. Dez Bryant had a performance which in Big 12 country we'd describe as Maclin-esque, racking up 300+ total yards and 4 TDs. Kendall Hunter ran rampant on an overmatched defense, and the Cowboys ended up with 864 total yards! (includes 165 in kick returns) Of concern was the fact that the defense surrendered 483 yards to a team whose offensive firepower doesn't compare to what OSU will face in conference play. In part, though, this was due to the sheer number of plays Houston ran, as OSU averaged 9.7 yards per play themselves and scored very quickly.

week 3: vs Missouri State
Yawn, FCS opponent.
Pick: Oklahoma State

Texas
To the surprise of many, Texas looks like they could be the third-best team in the conference, despite huge hype for Texas Tech and Kansas. Colt McCoy has been sizzling in these opening games, and freshman Foswhitt Whittaker stepped up to lead the ground attack. Quan Cosby was the go-to guy this game for McCoy, but was hardly a factor in week 1, signs that receiving targets are plentiful in Austin. However, Texas gave up 412 yards to a weak team and it was penalties and two missed FGs that kept UTEP from making the game a little closer.

Week 3: vs Arkansas
The Razorbacks have struggled mightily in their opening two games. Unless their execution improves, they won't put up much tougher resistance than FAU and UTEP have.
Pick: Texas

Texas A&M
A&M struggled once again, but unfortunately they were able to defeat New Mexico. The Aggies were actually outgained by 134 yards, were penalized ten times, but were +3 in turnovers which was the difference.

Week 3: Bye
A&M has an extra week to prepare for the Miami Hurricanes, who played a tough three quarters against Florida before eventually being worn down.

Texas Tech
Just as I was singing his praises, Graham Harrell turned in one of the worst performances I've ever seen from him, completing just 41% of his passes with a 1:2 ratio. Crabtree was really the only player with a good offensive outing, as strong red zone defense and a special teams TD kept the Red Raiders in the lead until the offense finally woke up in the 4th quarter.

Week 3: vs SMU
What we'd really like to see here is a game where both the offense (week 1) and the defense (week 2, kinda) show up. Harrell and Crabtree should have a huge week, but as we just saw anybody can take a day off.
Pick: Texas Tech

Week 2: message from Phil

Dear James & Friends,

Hey guys it's been a fun season so far picking college football games in your pick'em league on Yahoo Sports. I'm sitting atop the standings after two weeks, but it's cool. I'm used to sitting atop the Stassen ratings every season, after outpicking all the other college football magazines. Truth be told, you guys are giving me a tougher run for the money than those clowns at Lindy's ever do! That's why I'm not even going to get into this other than to simply say that I'm looking forward to continuing this contest of prognostication skill through the beginning of December. It's been close so far; may the best (wo)man win!

Fooled you, didn't I? On Sept 4, 2008, I picked East Carolina to upset West Virginia who at the time was ranked #8... and it happened! Happened, happened, happened. Some people out there were picking Wake to lose to the only white quarterback in the world named Jevan, or Zombie Joe's team to lose to a defense that got run all over by Stanford. WRONG. You guys are never going to catch me because I don't make predictions, I make announcements. I don't miss picks; the teams occasionally miss outcomes.

Did you know that I picked Georgia to tie for first in the SEC East in 2007? Despite them only returning eight starters? Oh yes, it happened. Totally called not finding the WMDs in Iraq, too. Like that was hard. (They're in North Korea... christ, sometimes I think Bush is reading Athlon's International Armed Forces previews.)

Which brings me to my friend, let's just call him Steven. Steven is the coach of a major college football program in the SEC. I won't say which one, but I will say that he's a former quarterback and that he's already won a national title with a different school than the one he is coaching for now. Steven totally screwed the pooch last week by not starting the correct quarterback. I picked Vandy's freaking total yardage within one yard and was within eight on South Carolina's passing. (Oh, did you figure out who Steven is now? Sorry, ol buddy.) However, I said that the turnovers would be about even. Vanderbilt was +2... the two interceptions thrown by Chris Smelley. You see, my announcements can't account for things like human stupidity. I know Tommy Beecher threw four picks in his first game ever, but you still won, right Steven? I guarantee you that His Coachness is still going to go with Kevin Craft after his four-interception victory, because Rick Neuheisel is a beautiful man who knows the value of my advice. With Beecher in the game, South Carolina scores more points, which also forces Vandy to play more aggressively and so they turn the ball over a few more times, therefore scoring less points. It's all very simple, and yet this is why Steven keeps screwing up my announcements of his team as SEC sleepers.

But it's cool, because I'm still #1. Despite Steven's collossal failures and inability to follow even the simplest instructions, I'll outpick the chumps at Street & Smith once again.

(I'm the) Best,
Phil

Week 2 impressions

Impressions on some of the more meaningful games & teams, across the conferences:

Ohio @ Ohio State
No use delaying this one. How the HELL does Ohio State get into a battle against a crappy team like Ohio U? I understand Beanie Wells was out. I understand they might not wanted to show USC too much Terrelle Pryor. But wtf is up with having Boeckman throw the ball 26 times (more like 35 when accounting for forced scrambles and sacks) while your offense repeatedly sputters out, and not really figuring out until the 4th quarter than the other team can't stop any of your runningbacks because they're getting blown off the line? I don't know how to rate the defense, because on the one hand they forced 5 turnovers and allowed about 35% completions... but on the other hand, Ohio U racked up over 100 yards on the ground and actually looked decent in the first half. As I'm writing this, OSU got dropped to #5 in the AP rankings, and frankly they didn't even play like a top 10 team. Let's hope for their sakes this is out of their systems.

Georgia Tech @ Boston College
In the traditional Saturday all-day-long college football AIM chat, I revealed that I will be openly rooting for GT to win the conference on account of the fact that they're clearly installing a system offense because it is a system offense, with minimal regard for having the personnel to actually run it. I'd like to think that's good enough to cut it in the ACC, and after this game it looks like it is. In the end it came down to the simple football poker rule where a safety, missed FG, two interceptions, and a fumble loses to two missed FGs and three fumbles. Hey, that's why they call it a full house. Or maybe it was a case where if you're throwing it at about 50% completions for under 6 yards per pass, 13 attempts in a better idea (IDEA) than 36 attempts. Hell, I don't know.

BYU @ Washington
Fittingly I'd picked the Huskies on here and the Cougars in my league, as this game was as evenly matched as it could be. BYU had no answer for Jake Locker, but apparently Washington had plenty of answers for Locker as every Huskies' drive but one either went for a TD or less than 20 yards till punting. Forget the BS celebration call, UW could have won this one by being just a little more consistent, as a mere FG more would have won it regardless of the XP. BYU played a strong offensive game as expected, gaining a +138 yardage advantage, but a goalline turnover nearly proved costly.

Oregon State @ Penn State
This game simultaneously answered the question of whether OSU plays anything resembling a defense and whether PSU has a legitimate offense. No, and yes. PSU with an offense is a frightening thing for the rest of the Big Ten.

Mississippi @ Wake Forest
This was a game where I was openly cheering for the upset, just because it would boot the last remaining ACC team from the top 25. Truth be told, WF didn't look like a top 25 team, but fortunately rather than playing the 4th or 5th-best team in the SEC like Clemson did, Wake settled for a team who will probably finish 7th or 8th. Jevan Snead had a strong game for the Rebs, and were it not for the questionable call to have WR Dexter McCluster attempt a pass in the third quarter which led to a WF field goal, this "shocker" might have happened.

Cincinnati @ Oklahoma
The first, third, and fourth quarters went according to script, but whoa Cincy decided to make a game of things in the second. The end result was still a 52-26 victory, complements of Bradford's 395 yard 5 TD performance and a +266 yardage edge overall.

Central Michigan @ Georgia
The Bulldog defense showed Dan LeFevour what it's like to play in a BCS league, taking away his ground game and limiting the Chips' offense to 36 total yards until the game was over at 28-0. Knowshon Moreno was dominant and this was what we'd expect from a title contender.

West Virginia @ East Carolina
This'll be the game that's talked about for week 2. ECU came out with the gameplan of not allowing any big plays (just two plays over 20 yards), controlling the ball (71 plays to 54), and not hurting themselves with mistakes (0 turnovers to 2, and we'll forgive the one missed FG). This was the coupling of a great strategy with superior execution, and the way I see it there's only one explanation. Somebody told the Pirates that WVU was the only ranked team Phil Steele picked to lose this week. With the confidence of knowing that, all they had to do was come out and make it happen. AND IT HAPPENED. Expect to read about this pick until at least 2013.

Maryland @ Middle Tennessee
AAY! CEE! CEE! Dear god, it's worse than we thought...

Miami @ Florida
We said this would be a good barometer of the Hurricanes' status as a team. Despite the 23 point margin, I was impressed. Miami outplayed Florida for most of the first half and managed to control the lines; only trailing at halftime because of a prayer TD pass heaved by Tebow. However, their own offense never got on track - not even for a single drive - and eventually the defense could not hold the Gators who added 17 points in the final 9 minutes. Nonetheless, only trailing Florida 9-3 51 minutes into the game confirms Miami as an ACC contender.

Stanford @ Arizona State
This game went from entertaining and competitive to... whoa, is this really over... in about 15 minutes starting midway through the second. It didn't feel over, and yet ASU was clearly in the middle of a 24-3 outburst. The Sun Devils shut down the Cardinal running game that had baffled Oregon State while showing pretty good offensive balance on their own thanks to RB tandem Dimitri Nance and Keegan Herring.

Sunday Reading: Georgia Tech / Navy's Offense

So it's the first week of that other group that plays football games - what are they called again? - and because everyone's going to end up watching those games anyway, here at LFB we have some reading for you. We'll start over at Smart Football, who covers a few things he saw from last week, one of which is a comment on the new Georgia Tech offense. He doesn't post that often, but what he lacks in posting frequency he makes up for in content. (We only wish we had that excuse.)

From there, head over to Sunday Morning Quarterback for a quick breakdown on how the offense - oddly, yet aptly, termed the "Flexibone" - operates. Bonus footage: links back to old-school Nebraska football (Tommie Frazier sightings!) and numerous mentions of beer-truck running.

But no, it gets better, because we finally end here (yes, this is linked off SMQ too) - a play-by-play, drive-by-drive breakdown of Navy's game against Notre Dame last year. And while this is as in-depth as we dream of, the fact that this is a Notre Dame blog describing exactly how Notre Dame lost after nearly 50 years of winning against Navy makes it even better. So have your Sunday reading with a dose of making fun of Notre Dame. After nearly blowing a game against one of the worst (if not the worst) FBS programs of this season (plus the unveiling of Jimmy Clausen's modern take on Flock of Seagulls), it's really only fitting that we devote more time to this.

Big East Week 2

Everyone says that West Virginia should have played in the National Championship game if they had gone undefeated last year. This year, they have a great chance at going to the BCS again, but their conference lost a lot of star players that could break a game their way. This year, with the exception of West Virginia, each team must get it done as a team... and the cream of the Big East crop have some pretty tough paths to take. Week 2 is one of them.

GAME OF THE WEEK - Cincinnati vs Oklahoma - There's no doubt that Bradford's growth this year is crucial to winning the Big 12 this year, especially with Missouri being just as strong or stronger than last year. Cincinnati is stacked with upperclassmen on the defense, but OU has too much sheer talent. I expect this to be a good game, as long as the Cincinnati corners can stand the vertical onslaught.

Connecticut vs Temple - The Huskies made a surprising run last year in the Big East, and they're a rising power as others in the conference have fallen. But Temple won their first game! The won't go winless this year? Oh wait, they'll just go 1-11.

Louisville vs Tennessee Tech - Who knew that losing your starting QB, star running back, and star wide receiver would make your team suck? Oh yeah... it generally does. It hurts even more when your recruiting is insufficient to reload those crucial positions. I really don't know what to expect out of this game except that I do expect Louisville to win. By how much? not sure.

Pittsburgh vs Buffalo - How the hell does a Big East team with good prospects lose to a MAC team? The same team that unseated West Virginia from their title game hopes last year? Well, it's possible if your team is coached by Dave Wannstadt. And since it's another MAC team coming, we don't know which Pitt team to expect.

Rutgers vs North Carolina - Rutgers faces the team whose game ball was delivered to the wrong stadium last week, and coincidentally won their game against an FCS team. Without Ray Rice, they're struggling to find something positive... but I see another L in their record before the good arrive.

South Florida vs Central Florida - their final warm-up before facing Kansas. Grothe had a heck of a game last week, and this one should be no different. With a good completion percentage (75%) and 2 TDs (no INTs), he seems to be on pace to do the same thing he did last year. UCF wasn't so bad last week either, but only pulled off 17 points against a weak SC State.

Syracuse vs Akron - If the Orange don't win this one, expect Robinson to be gone before the end of the season.

West Virginia vs East Carolina - So ECU won against Va Tech. And that's Va Tech without Tyrod Taylor... and they Beamer-balled the Hokies to win it. Even though Devine is no Slaton, Pat White is much more dangerous than Glennon and will tear them to shreds. Too easy for last year's Big East champions.

Big 10 Week 2

Holy crap there seems to be a lot of off field issues this year, and Penn State has bitten the bug again. This week has very few interesting matchups, and the conference as a whole should come out unscathed... so here goes!

Illinois vs Eastern Illinois - if last week showed us anything, it was that Illinois can compete with the best in the nation. Take away a crucial interception in the fourth quarter and the game's outcome would have been VERY different... and that's something they still need to improve. However, Eastern Illinois? My left nut could beat them.

Michigan vs Miami (OH) - Last week the Wolverines looked pitiful in the first half, but in the second half they were brought up by Threet's performance. However, their offensive line is WEAK - even with three big seniors manning the line. If their play in the second half continues into this weekend, Threet may quickly become the set starter and the Wolverines my pull off an 8 win season.

Michigan State vs Eastern Michigan - see Illinois above. Pretty much the same script, but at a lower level.

Purdue vs Norther Colorado - The Boilermakers had a bye week last week, and their first game is agains a weak Bears team. It's just not fair - the Boilermaker defense starts ZERO underclassmen, and the size differential between their O-line vs the Bears' D-line makes this a laughable game.

Indiana vs Murray State - Last week Indiana gave up only one touchdown to Western Kentucky. Look for them to repeat that this week. And look for the offense to get to a better roll, reaching at least 28 by half and Kellen Lewis will sit the latter half.

Iowa vs Florida Int'l - Poor Florida International. First it's Kansas. Now it's Iowa. For this young program, it might be worth getting the amount of money they do to play these teams, but Iowa finally found their running game. Their receivers are still nothing to shout about, but another weak team for the Big 10 = easy win.

Northwestern vs Duke - Hah! Tyrell Sutton looked really good last weak, and it is Duke that we're talking about.

Ohio State vs Ohio - Pryor won't play much. Beanie won't play. It'll still be a blowout. It's like the 4th preseason game in the NFL.

Wisconsin vs Marshall - Okay, we got it, Badgers. PJ Hill is one hell of a running back. But the only redeeming aspect of your vertical game is at the TE position - you have two excellent tight ends and your receivers suck. But you'll still win...

UPSET ALERT - Minnesota vs Bowling Green - Yes, Bowling Green already has one BCS6 team under its belt this year, even though it's a Wannstedt led Pittsburgh Panthers. However, last year the Gophers couldn't get it done against BG... and their pass defense will have to step up if they're going to have a chance at all. Most of the sports pundits say that the secondary is the biggest weakness on the Gophers team... This may be the start of another miserable Gopher season.

GAME OF THE WEEK - Penn State vs Oregon State - Way to go idiots! Stoke up a little weed AND get caught doing it. Don't you know that unless you live in California or Boulder you actually get arrested for that crap? No? Man, then you do deserve to be suspended for a game... because you're STUPID. It's PSU's most important non-conference game and they're going to be missing three pieces on defense.

Oregon State still sucks and I figure that with a game under his belt Daryll Clark will be more confident. But if the Littany Lions lose, it'll be really easy to find who to blame the loss on.

Pac 10 Week 2 Games

The Pac 10 had a strong week 1 outing, capped by USC's thorough dismantling on Virginia and UCLA's upset/comeback victory over Tennessee in a flagrantly bad game... but sometimes games go like that and you'd still like the W.

USC and UCLA have the week off while we've got two conference games and two games against ranked nonconference foes on the plate. Exciting week for those of you on the east coast who can stay up till 3pm to see it!

BYU @ Washington
Fortunately for the Huskies, I don't see BYU's defense as being too strong, and Jake Locker could be trouble for such a unit. Max Hall and his receivers will probably light up the UW secondary, so expect a shootout here.

Oregon State @ Penn State
Happy Valley is not a fun place to travel for a team who started out 0-1 and had blatantly obvious issues with stopping the run. Luckily, PSU will be without two starting defensive linemen, although I'm still not sure how the Beavers will handle this front seven. For that matter, I'm still not sure how good Daryll Clark actually is, so Penn State might not be scoring too much themselves. Still, they have a dedication to the running game and surprising skill at receiver. Bottom line, I don't like the prospects of winning this one of the road for OSU.

A victory in either of the above games would be yet another big early accomplishment for the Pac 9. (Pac 10 - USC; ie, the teams that sometimes struggle to gain national respect)

Utah State @ Oregon
Oregon just brutalized Washington in their opener, racking up tons of rushing yards by Jeremiah Johnson and Chris Harper while holding opposing QB Jake Locker to a sub-par outing. Utah State is just terrible. Blowout!

California @ Washington State
I mentioned earlier that this game would be interesting if both teams were 1-0. Well, they're not. Cal is, but the Cougars didn't even come close. The WSU offense looked awful against Oklahoma State, while Cal moved the ball up and down the field with ease against Michigan State. With Kevin Riley now taking all snaps for Cal, this one won't even be close.

Toledo @ Arizona
Arizona faces much stiffer competition this week than they did in week 1 when they beat Idaho 70-0. I'm thinking, 41-6?

Stanford @ Arizona State
Stanford dominated the ground against Oregon State, while Arizona State couldn't get a ground game going against Northern Arizona. Stanford was also horribly outpassed by OSU, while ASU may have the 2nd-best QB in the conference. Bonus that we've got two pretty good coaches going at it (yes, I think Harbaugh's 4-8 was a good record last season considering the injuries and what he was working with and against) here, this could actually be a good games despite Arizona State being the heavy favorite.

Big 12 Week 2 Games

The Big 12 spent most of week 1 doing what they were supposed to do. Three flagship teams won by giant margins. Missouri beat Illinois. Tech's game was closer than they'd like, but Harrell still got halfway to his first 1000 yards. A&M looked worse than expected, but OSU and CU looked better. In the end, one week into the season, they appeared weaker than the SEC but slightly ahead of the rest of the pack - this season should be tougher than usual for teams trying to make it through the Big 12.

San Jose State @ Nebraska
Joe Ganz threw for four TDs and 345 yards last week as Nebraska struggled to run the ball against Western Michigan. SJ State was barely able to sneak by Cal-Davis and shouldn't provide as much of a challenge to the Huskers' defense as Western Michigan somehow did. (which will be a real concern later in the season) Expect a blowout here as Pelini will want Nebraska to ramp up their execution with an upcoming game against Virginia Tech followed by conference play.

Cincinnati @ Oklahoma
Both teams had impressive week 1's, but we know who the juggernaught here is. The game is also played in Norman, where OU now has a 55-2 record under Stoops. This game will probably be more ugly than midwest fans think, as the Sooners will dominate both lines and Sam Bradford looks even better than he did a season ago. I'm expecting big games from him and Demarco Murray, while Cincy gets held to 14 or less.

Eastern Washington @ Colorado
Colorado looked sharp in an unusual rout of inter-state rival Colorado State. Dan Hawkins clearly liked the production of Darrell Scott and will probably increase his workload as the season goes on. Cody Hawkins looked very efficient and accounted for three TDs, showing a new wrinkle in the offense by running the ball a little more often than we've seen in the past. EWU threw the ball with great success against Texas Tech but was held to just 23 yards rushing. Colorado's defense appeared susceptible to the power run but relatively good against the pass (high completion percentage due to many flares and bubble screens), so I'm not sure what to expect from the EWU offense. Probably not enough to upset the Buffs.

Texas A&M @ New Mexico
Can they go 0-2? Sadly this is going to be a good game; I expect A&M will win but it will be something like 16-10 as both teams showed horrible offensive ineptitude in week 1. If you're reading this for fantasy, do not start any A&M players. In fact, don't do that ever again for the rest of this season.

SE Missouri @ Missouri
This has all the makings of a Spurrier-esque week 2 blowout. Jeremy Maclin is probable, and that's a tough call for fantasy owners because if he plays he'll probably put up big numbers. Of course Daniel, Washington, Coffman, and anybody else on this offense are going to have big games. The defense will probably be looking for some respect after giving up 42 points last week - expect a single-digit score given up on their part.

La Tech @ Kansas
La Tech won an improbable victory over Mississippi State, and their reward is to play a much tougher opponent in Kansas. The Jayhawks didn't have the strongest offensive outing against FIU but surrendered just 139 yards and created 3 turnovers. The secondary in particular was fearsome, allowing a 35% completion rate for 0 TD and 2 picks. I expect a better offensive performance out of Reesing, but I'm not sure how the ground game will fare. Regardless, the defense isn't going to allow many points to a team like La Tech.

Kent State @ Iowa State
Kent State was shut out by Boston College in their opener and now face an improved Iowa State team. Austen Arnaud had a strong week 1 outing but it was the Cyclones defense with five interceptions that made the lopsided score. The reality is that, while improved, ISU is still in the cellar of the division. This is a possible upset, but I'd still give ISU the nod.

Northwestern State @ Baylor
Baylor gave a pathetic performance against Wake Forest, turning the ball over 5 times while getting blown out at home. The bright side is that the yardage differential was just 126, something they'll more than reverse against the likes of NW State. Robert Griffin appears to be the focal point of this offense; keep an eye on him... um, if for some reason you watch this.

Montana State @ Kansas State
Montana State looked amazing in their opener, just blowing out Adams State 59-3. Oh what am I saying, I don't even know what division Adams State is in. It'll probably play out like the North Texas game did, which means big numbers for Josh Freeman and Brandon Banks.

Houston @ Oklahoma State
OSU was very impressive on the road against Washington State, even if the Cougars are expected to take one of the bottom spots in the Pac 10. Kendall Hunter had a strong first game and should be utilized effectively again -- I'm not reading too deeply into UH allowing just 35 yards rushing vs Southern. Of course I expect Zac Robinson to throw a couple TDs this time, perhaps to favorite target Dez Bryant who WSU had no answer for.

Texas Tech @ Nevada
The Red Raiders' defense was embarassed by Eastern Washington's passing game, now they face a Nevada team who ran the ball for 426 yards in their opener against Grambling State. I'm not making picks on GSU's point totals either way, but is Nevada really going to stop Graham Harrell fresh off a 536 yard outing? The answer is no. Harrell has found his new targets and it'll be another 500 yard performance -- enough offensive firepower that the defense merely determines how close this one is.

Texas @ UTEP
Texas gave one of the stronger week 1 performances in the Big 12. John Chiles gave the offense more of an option look, but indeed Colt McCoy showed that he also has wheels as the team's leading rusher! McCoy's performance was everything Longhorn fans wanted to see last season. The Horns used three backs and really spread the ball out amongst receivers - great for an offense, not great for a fantay owner. McCoy is probably in for a big game against UTEP though. Meanwhile the Miners lost a blowout to MAC foe Buffalo. How does that even happen? This week's game will be a blowout of epic proportions.

ACC Week 2 Games: Believe it or not, the ACC Is Still a FBS Conference

(Disclaimer: Chris drew the short straw and got stuck writing about the god-awful football abomination known as the ACC. If you’re actually a fan of any of these teams and/or enjoy watching these guys play, we at Left Field Bluffs kindly suggest shock therapy.)

After spending most of Week 1 getting their respective teeth kicked in, the ACC decided as a collective to lower the degree of difficulty. True, most teams are in action, but we see a total of 5 (!) 1-AA opponents roll onto the schedule. Alabama gets replaced with The Citadel, East Carolina gets replaced with Furman, USC gets replaced with Richmond, and (t)USC gets replaced with William & Mary. Good show. Presumably the conference will improve their winning percentage, although since we do have an in-conference game it’s guaranteed that at least one ACC team will win against a 1-A team. Who had week 2 in the pool?

Clemson v. The Citadel
Presumably Clemson will roll out the first ever non-QB formation as punishment for not running the fucking ball at all against a defense that has no freaking linebackers whatsoever. Seriously, what the fuck? It’s that kind of incompetence I’ve come to expect from Florida State, not early-season Clemson. Of course, it won’t matter here if Clemson decides to actually shit on the field during play.

Virginia v. Richmond (-3)
Okay, so Richmond really isn’t favored here, but you had to think about that for a second, didn’t you? Admit it. This game will be about as useful as the USC game for determining how good Virginia actually is; I’ll give the Cavaliers the benefit of the doubt and assume they have more talent than a 1-AA team nicknamed the Spiders. That being said, I wouldn’t be too surprised at a total fail here.

NC State v. William & Mary (-4.5)
In case NC State didn’t look bad enough last week, now we get to watch them (likely) struggle against a William & Mary team apparently named the Tribe. Who knew? They should win, but …ehhhhh. We’ll have to see.

Virginia Tech v. Furman
Okay, this time I’m reasonably confident that the ACC team will be favored to win here, as bad as the Hokies looked against ECU. Bonus points: not only is one of the prominent colors of Furman purple, they are actually named Furman University. That’s right, who’s ready to turn 12? It’s a shame they can’t play South Carolina. As for this game, I suspect it’ll border on hideous game quality with Virginia Tech winning by 17 or so. That qualifies as a blowout.

Florida State v. Directional (West) Carolina
Not content to open the season with just a bye week, Florida State has also scheduled two 1-AA opponents in a row. Western Carolina is the first of them; presumably after these two games Drew Weatherford (now entering his 14th year of eligibility) will have a completion percentage around, oh, 65%. This will give him a buffer to suck for the rest of the season.

Maryland @ Middle Tennessee State
I have no idea how MTSU conned Maryland into doing a home-and-home series. This will be a huge step up in difficulty for the Terrapins, who go from struggling to beat a 1-AA team to playing a Sun Belt team on the road. The good news for them is that the field quality between MTSU and Maryland is approximately equal, so that part won’t be different for them. Actually, I wouldn’t be too surprised if MTSU wins this game, as Maryland has a pretty craptastic offense and Sun Belt teams have sneakily good offenses (to go with crazy bad defenses). I like MTSU in a mild upset, but I also have a big-ass disdain for Maryland football, so keep that in mind.

Miami (FL) @ Florida
I love the scheduling choice / decision to head up to the Swamp; I don’t love the inevitable teeth-kicking that will result. I don’t think Miami has much of a shot to actually win the game, but watch for improvement in schemes; if the offense can at least look competent against the Florida D, the Hurricanes could be in good shape in-conference. The defense has no shot, but that’s okay – not many defenses do. If Miami can keep it within three scores (without Florida letting up), then they’re in good shape.

Duke v. Northwestern
Duke aims for two wins in a row – both period and against Northwestern. I’m not sure how they won the game last year, but this Duke team is much improved. It’ll be interesting to see how they fare against a quality opponent, even if we have to at least consider adding air quotes around quality. This could be the ACC’s version of the Bizarrely Entertaining Game of the Week. I’d love it if Duke won, but I’m not too sure it’ll actually happen, as I’m sure Northwestern has had this game circled on their calendar for days. If this game was in Week 10, I’d feel better about picking Duke, but now? I’m not so sure.

Wake Forest v. Ole Miss
Holy cow, it’s actually two teams with talent! After the shit-kicking Alabama laid on Clemson, it wouldn’t surprise me too much if Ole Miss wins this; however, I’d much rather see Wake Forest take this game to at least kind of restore some dignity to the ACC …..oh, who am I kidding? Rebels by 28! That being said, this game is the front-runner for the coveted 60 Minutes of Fan Hell award of the week. The real winner of this game will be anyone who bought advertising, as they’ll get their money’s worth due tot the sheer quantity of punts likely to occur.

Boston College v. Georgia Tech
This is going to be an interesting in-conference tuneup for Georgia Tech, as Boston College is kind of a poor man’s Virginia Tech this year. I suspect that the Yellow Jackets will be able to mostly do what they want on offense, provided they can get out of their own way. Boston College is in a similar boat, trying to adapt the offense to their new QB. I wouldn’t recommend watching this game, although if you’re the type of person who likes watching ACC football (and self-immolation), this would be your Game o’th’ Week.

SEC Week 2 Games - This Time Published in Advance

So, what’d we see last week? South Carolina looked like ass for three quarters, then put in Chris Smelley and destroyed a horribly overmatched NC State team. Vanderbilt decided they were actually going to try this football fad for real this season, and Chris Nickson turned in the best performance of his career. (We won’t see that again.) Florida, and Georgia rolled pretty comfortably. Alabama inexplicably won, in some part thanks to the return of Jeff Bowden as unbilled offensive coordinator for Clemson. Memphis did what they did best - lose to Ole Miss - and Mississippi State wished they had it so lucky, blowing a game to Louisiana Freaking Tech. (Apparently Wesley Carroll did just enough to lose that game.) Tennessee decided to choke away a nice statement win, and Louisville choked at the prospect of playing FBS competition. Way to go, Wildcats. We assume LSU won handily, since we didn’t hear anything about them not winning handily and that’s good enough for us.

So what’s in store this week? Well, a lot of this looks like Week 1 – lopsided out-of-conference games, one somewhat interesting matchup – except we actually have a conference game this time around! Of course, we don’t have anything on the magnitude of Alabama / Clemson, so that’s the tradeoff. Let’s get to it:

Alabama v. Tulane
This game would’ve been a lot of fun last year, as I suspect it would’ve turned out a lot like UCF-Texas only with Tulane winning. I’m not sure ‘Bama would have an answer for Matt Forte, and I’m not sure they do now. The problem is that Forte’s at the next level now and while Andre Anderson is good, he’s not game-breaking good, not in this game. Alabama should roll, and we’ll see a few Julio Jones highlights, up to and including every single Alabama fan you know talking about how Jones is going to do the same thing to SEC defenses and completely ignoring that Tulane has one of the worst defenses in C-USA, which is like being the poorest person in Haiti.

Arkansas v. UL-Monroe
UL-Monroe continues their SEC swing, this time playing a team who’s a bit closer to them in talent level. This should be their best chance to pull off a marquee non-conference win, but after upsetting Alabama they’re not sneaking up on anyone this time around. I expect a pretty closely-fought game here, but Petrino ends up opening up the playbook big-time come the second half and ULM can’t quite keep up. Honestly, I hope that doesn’t happen – I really want to see ULM roll big here, as I’m still annoyed at what the Arkansas fans did to Nutt – but I think there’s just enough of a talent disparity to throw it in Arkansas’s favor. In addition, getting pushed to the limit by Directional Illinois probably scared the shit out of them.

Mississippi State v. Directional (Southeast) Louisiana, Georgia v. Non-Directional (Central) Michigan
Look, both these games are going to be non-factors. Do you even know what conference SE Louisiana is in? I don’t. I know which conference Central Michigan is in, but that’s because I’m a nerd – and the MAC is apparently the Michigan Athletic Conference. Still, there’s no reason both Bulldogs shouldn’t roll here. Although I said the same thing last week about MSU, so ...yeah, I should know better.

Kentucky v. Norfolk State
Norfolk isn’t a state; it’s barely even a freaking city. I hope Kentucky at least sprung for plane tickets for these guys; nothing would suck more than taking a bus from Norfolk to Lexington to get rocked, and then driving back. But at least they tried.

LSU v. Troy
Again, this game would be awesome if it wasn’t for LSU being so obviously better than Troy. Still, Troy is turning into the East Coast version of Fresno State, which is pretty freaking badass. They’ll get their skulls caved in here, but they’re a quality team. Troy @ Alabama? I’d watch that. But this – this is going to be a mess, especially because LSU will still be in early season, fuck-you-up-so-bad-your-mama-won’t-recognize-you mode.
Edit: this game was postponed due to Hurricane Gustav. So much for that early-season mode, but let's hear it for bye weeks and hope for the best in Baton Rouge, as Louisiana's kind of been shit on by Mother Nature lately. Bitch better pay her child support is all I'm saying.

Florida v. Miami (FL)
There’s no reason Florida shouldn’t walk in this game, but dear god, let’s hope Randy Shannon has the troops ready to roll here. I mean, if you have the Miami Fuckin’ Soldiers against Ronnie “AK-47” Wilson, this should turn into a regular firefight. I suspect this game will come down to who can generate better coverage on D and effectively blast between the tackles on offense. Florida should win this, simply because they have so much more ammunition than the ‘Canes..

Auburn v. Southern Mississippi
Here’s your most likely candidate for “Stupidly Entertaining Game of the Week” – at least from the SEC. Southern Miss can normally put together a solid 45-50 minute effort against most SEC teams, and I don’t think it’s too likely Tony Franklin will totally unveil the playbook for the Tigers just yet, meaning Auburn will go into this game with an underdeveloped offensive game plan. That would be okay against most teams, but Damion Fletcher will be the best RB on the field and it’s not even close. Fortunately for Auburn, they have a passing game to complement their running game, which is something that USM has been hearing rumors about for a while but haven’t actually done anything about yet. Still, Southern Miss will keep it close enough that you’ll wonder if they can pull the upset once they’re down 10-7 at halftime.

Ole Miss @ Wake Forest
For the love of god and all that is holy, don’t watch this game. I’m not even kidding. I want to like watching Wake Forest, but they play a freaking hideous brand of football, which apparently the entire freaking ACC has copied. Houston Nutt will be all too eager to play a whose-dick-is-bigger contest of smashmouth football, which will play right into Jim Grobe’s hands. It’s weird – I like Wake Forest the team and yet I have no desire to actually watch them. I suspect I’m not giving Ole Miss as much credit as I should, but this really looks like a 13-10 type of game, and if it comes down to kicking, Sam Swank is way better than anything the Rebels can muster.

Vanderbilt v. South Carolina
The “main event”! I suspect this game might actually end up somewhere other than Jefferson Pilot Raycom ESPN360 if only because it’s the second week of the season – and by god, it’s a conference game. Will it be great football? Hardly. Will be exciting? Possibly. Will you watch it because it’s a fecking conference game, and by god, that’s what you’re supposed to watch when it comes to college football? Absolutely. But don’t say you weren’t warned.

College Football: Week 2 Preview (updated)

Week 2: Um, Yeah... Weekend!

It's week 2, which we all know is the week that comes between week 1 and week 3. And there are some games this week! Woohoo!

Georgia Tech @ Boston College
Don't laugh now, but ACC title position could be at stake here. OK, go ahead and laugh.
Analysis: I don't even want to think about what this atrocity is going to look like.
Pick: not the fans. Maybe BC?

BYU @ Washington
I originally had this slated as an upset in the Huskies' favor. Then BYU looked a lot better than I thought on opening week while Washington got killed by Oregon. I'm going to stick with my guns here, but without a lot of confidence.
Pick: Washington

Oregon State @ Penn State
Meh. Ehhhhh. This is one of those games where, if they played it ten times, one of them would be good. Are you feeling lucky, punk? I'm not.
Oregon State's last trip to the Midwest didn't go so great.. and that was Cincinnati. (when does a trip to Cincy ever get described as "great" though? by going there, you've already lost something) The Beavers' offense looked great against Stanford, but they were also gashed on the ground by a team much less physical than Penn State. PSU is a superior defensive team and without Morelli they won't throw enough picks to lose this one.
Pick: Penn State

Sandy Eggo State @ Notre Dame
It never gets old writing San Diego like that. You know what else never gets old? Watching Jimmy Claussen take shot after shot when this line can't hold long enough to take a three-step drop. I don't know if Notre Dame is bad enough to lose to SDSU, but... maybe.
Realistically, neither team's offense is going to look great, but Charlie Weiss will have just enough of a "decided schematic advantage" drawn up for the Domers to win by two TDs.
Pick: Notre Dame, dammit

Mississippi @ Wake Forest
This one got promoted to key game status when we realized exactly how awful the ACC really is this season. Wake looked strong against Baylor, while Ole Miss handled Memphis.
2-3 years ago, most of the shit-talk I personally heard about the Big East was coming from ACC fans. Was it a regional thing... or was it conveniently deflecting criticism of this awful conference? Bottom line is, karma is catching up with the ACC. Wake's (probably?) the better team, but this is the year shit hits the fan out east.
Pick: Mississippi

Cincinnati @ Oklahoma
This game appears relevent because Cincinnati beat Oregon State, Rutgers, USF, and UConn last season in addition to winning 10 games. In reality, it's not. The Bearcats pull off a couple conference upsets each season, but on the road at Oklahoma they're going to get massacred.
It'll go something like this: Oklahoma scores on every drive, Cincy gets a lucky TD in the third quarter.
Pick: Oklahoma

West Virginia @ East Carolina
Not what I thought would be a key game a few weeks ago. East Carolina pulled off an upset-in-name-only last week at Virginia Tech. They'll need a stronger performance against WVU to win, but fortunately this is a home game and the Mounties just gave up 400 yards to Villanova. It's tough to beat WVU in a shootout, but with White's new pass-oriented offense maybe the Pirates can get some turnovers to swing things.
I'm not feeling this, though. I think it'll be a great game, but ECU isn't sneaking up on anybody thing week. Stopping VT's offense and stopping WVU's offense are two entirely different stories.
Pick: West Virginia

Northwestern @ Duke
Last season, Northwestern made history by giving Duke their only win in two seasons. Along with Clemson, the Wildcats are one of just two division FBS teams Duke has beaten in the last four years. In week 1, Duke stomped James Madison while Northwestern struggled for a half against Syracuse before putting the game away in the third quarter.
Don't watch this, but have the jokes ready to send to Big 10 fans should the Devils beat the same opponent in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1998-99 (Wake Forest). Can Cutcliffe make the difference at Duke? Who cares - I'm picking the result based on how comic it would be. Pick: Duke

Miami @ Florida
We think the Hurricanes finally found an offense, though playing Charleston Southern has a lot to do with that. We don't expect Miami to have much chance of winning, but seeing how they fare against an elite SEC team could give insight as to how this team will fare in a weakened ACC. Frankly, if they do have an offense, they have a shot at winning the conference.
Pick: Florida

Projected ESPN/USA Top Ten
1. USC
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Oklahoma
5. Florida
6. LSU
7. Missouri
8. Texas (+1)
9. West Virginia (-1)
10. Auburn

Week 1 Pac 10 recap

Arizona - So it was Idaho. Willie Tuitama looked great as did Nic Grigsby. The defense gave up just 112 yards and it was a 70-0 blowout. If nothing else, that says good execution.

Arizona State - This was not a very impressive outing as the Sun Devils' running game was held in check by a weak FCS school.

Cal - A win is a win, but they allowed a weak/overrated Michigan State team to hang around too long. On the bright side, Nate Longshore threw two interceptions in just five passing attempts, which means Kevin Riley will be the sure starter now and taking 100% of the meaningful snaps. Indeed, without Longshore mucking up the offense and giving MSU free points, this game would not have been so close. Jahvid Best had a strong all-around game and it looks like the offense will be balanced.

Stanford - Stanford showed dedication to the ground game and controlled key parts of the second and third quarters against Oregon State. However, they got shredded through the air as well as not being able to move the ball with their own passing game, and that doesn't bode well as we get deeper into the Pac 10 season.

Oregon - Other than USC, Oregon is the Pac 10 team who impressed me the most in week 1. Washington just got run out of Autzen in a very thorough effort that included a strong rushing performance by Jeremiah Johnson. Jeremiah Masoli came in unexpectedly at QB because of Roper's concussion, and I think if he is asked to play again he will give a stronger performance with better preparation. Definsively this looked like the Ducks of 2007, although obviously the offense will fall a little short of last season's Dixon-led juggernaught.

Oregon State - You have to feel for Darrell Catchings whose goalline stretch and subsequent fumble cost the Beavers an opportunity to tie the game. Of course, it still would have come down to needing a two-point conversion, so the tie was far from a certainty. Lyle Moevao was inconsistent and everything else was crap - how do you let Stanford run for 210 yards on you? Oregon State gets a shot at redemption next week when they face Penn State.

UCLA - You have to credit Kevin Craft for playing a strong second half after getting intercepted four times in the first half. That's all the credit we're giving here, though, as Tennessee would have won this game if a) they'd run the ball a little more often with two backs averaging over 6 ypc between them or b) they hadn't missed 3 FGs and gotten a punt blocked by going to a screwy formation. Mental toughness and determination are awesome, but we'll want to see the real Kevin Craft please step up.

USC - In summary, they made Virginia look like Youngstown State. Not that the Cavs are that much better than the Penguins, but... um, fuck it, yeah I can't give credit for beating UVA when I rant about how lucky they were last season, how much the ACC sucks, etc. However, I can give credit for thoroughly annihilating UVA in literally every aspect of the game, which is pretty much what happened. The Trojans gave the strongest performance of any team in week 1.

Washington - Give props to Oregon as a better team, but WOW. Jake Locker really needs to step up and be the leader of this team. He played a good second quarter, but the Huskies will need four of those, per game, to win.

Washington State - I had picked Oklahoma State to win this, so it isn't a big surprise - except, I thought it'd be close. Instead we watched Zac Robinson & co walk all over this defense while the Cougars looked content to go 3 and out. Five minutes into the third quarter, WSU's offense had moved the ball a net total of 24 yards! The Cowboys are not an elite defensive team or even a good defensive team; WSU needs to find a quarterback and an offensive identity.

Week 1 Big 12 recap

Baylor - The Bears saved the ACC from complete and utter humiliation, refusing to upset Atlantic division contender Wake Forest. In fact, they really got blown out here, and given how bad the Deacon offenses is that's a bad sign. Robert Griffin was the leading rusher with 29, passer with 125, and scorer with one TD. Yeah...

Colorado - Offense has returned to Boulder as Colorado rang up 38 points on interstate rival Colorado State. The Rams are a pitiful team but these rivalry games have been extremely close the last four years, making the 21 point cushion a little more impressive. Cody Hawkins has matured a lot entering his second season at the helm and freshman recruit Darrell Scott has the markings of an elite runningback. The secondary has to be concerned about allowing CSU to complete 73% of their passes; however, the Rams threw a lot of screens and bubble screens which inflates that.

Kansas - The Jayhawks defense turned in a fantastic performance, allowing just 139 total yards and a field goal by the defense. Special teams did allow a PR TD but made up for it with one of their own. Overall, about what you'd expect.

Kansas State - Josh Freeman looked strong and the Cats established some sort of running game. -2 net turnovers would be cause for concern against better opposition.

Iowa State - The Cyclones got into an ugly game in which yardage was about equal but turnovers were 6-3 in their favor. This wasn't an impressive outing and we can expect them to occupy the Big 12 North cellar once again.

Missouri - Whether Jeremy Maclin plays against Southeast Missouri State doesn't matter; the good news is that he's not lost for the season. Missouri's entire offense and special teams units looked great and the defensive performance for 2.5 quarters would be good enough for them to contend for the conference title. Key word contend. However, the overall performance for the last 18 minutes of the game was incredibly poor and it's that kind of effort that's going to result in a comeback by any one of these Big 12 teams with solid quarterbacks.

Nebraska - Joe Ganz completed a low percentage of his throws (given the opposition) and Marlon Lucky was held in check throughout the game. The defense did not do a good job defending the Western Michigan passing game, which is a horrible sign as the Big 12 schedule rolls around.

Oklahoma - It was really what we'd expect given the matchup.

Oklahoma State - OSU came out with a balanced attack and Zac Robinson looked good even without his two biggest weapons from last season. This was an all-around dominant effort against Washington State in Seattle, which is a strong start to the season for this team.

Texas - The Longhorns played like a real finesse team, rushing a mere 46 times for 232 yards. Yeah, I didn't get why ol' Schnelly chose that line of attack. McCoy looked more the way he did as a freshman, and the verdict on the secondary is still out. (big yardage, but less than 50% completions allowed)

Texas A&M - As summarized with two letters: AAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AAAAAHHHHHH-HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH!

Texas Tech - Harrell had an outstanding game and three receivers caught nine passes. The running game was mediocre and the defense left a lot to be desired.

Big 10 Network comes to cable

For those of you that live in Big 10 country, there was a lot of flaming going on last year when the new network started and put at least 2 games from each team on that network. Only available on satellite due to contract issues with the cable companies, a lot of fans flocked to local bars and restaurants when they couldn't see the games on regular cable.

Well, last week around this time, Time Warner finally came to an agreement to carry the network on the regular cable tier in the Big 10 regions. I don't have ESPN, but I do have the B10 Network because the signal comes in on a channel that comes with local channels.

So why is this important?

One of the biggest problems in covering all the teams of each conference is being able to watch all the games. And frankly, watching all the games is nearly impossible all in one day! So with this network that is dedicated only to this conference, they fill their times with game rebroadcasts and coaches' shows from all the teams. They also play historical games, meaningful games from the conference's past. This gives you a sense of the ups and downs of the conference, the styles that have changed and the eras that defined this conference.

However, the biggest detriment is the lack of talent on their sportscast. I don't know who they hired for the OSU game this past weekend, but listening to Paul Keels on the radio was 10 times better than the ones on TV. And what made it so different? I fathom that Keels' long history as an announcer for Ohio State games, from football, basketball, and anything that's broadcast over the airwaves gives him a depth of knowledge that these new casters don't have.

The SEC signed a multi-billion dollar deal with ESPN. Good for them! They will have ESPN quality sportscasters broadcasting their games - however you won't get the breadth of coverage that the B10 Network gives to each team.

So I'm sitting watching the B10 network, catching in depth coverage of Illinois, Michigan State, and Indiana. And it's free. And somehow, it's better than scrounging for information on paid and free sites across the internet.

James' Week 2 Rankings

These rankings are hastily done basically because I didn't want to be influenced at all by the AP's poll which comes out tomorrow morning. Excuse the higher-than-usual crappiness...

1. USC - Questions about the offensive line and quarterback were answered emphatically. The defense completely shut down the UVA offense and the Trojan offense made scoring look effortless. I'd rank them #1 even if Wells was 100%.

2. Ohio State - Losing Beanie Wells only makes this easier, thought I expect him to be back for the USC game. The defense was fantastic, equal to USC's. However, the offense was a little shaky. Now the issue of the first half field goals (rather than TDs) can be answered by the fact that Tressell was rotating QBs from the beginning to give everyone playing time, which destroyed offensive continuity, but if Pryor's going to be playing against USC you want him scoring TD after TD against the likes of Youngstown State.

3. Florida - After dozing through the first quarter, Florida woke up and looked scary. We don't like seeing Tebow still getting more running attempts than any back, but at least it was only 9.

4. Georgia - The loss of Jeff Owens is going to hurt, but that's not why they're here. I was just more impressed by USC, Ohio State, and Florida on opening weekend. UGA could step it up a little more. On a related note, why is ESPN calling Stafford the #1 dropback QB if the 275 yards he threw for is a career high? That's probably a career low for Harrell.

5. Oklahoma - Yes, the 50-0 halftime score was impressive and so was Bradford basically not throwing any incompletions for his first 30 passes or whatever. The second half score was a mere 7-2; we think this is symbolic of how OU always looks great in September and October, not so much in December and January.

6. Missouri - The offense and special teams can beat anybody, and the defense is better than the 42 points indicates. So will you please play an entire game? 60 minutes? There is no mercy rule and Juice Williams isn't going to stop playing just because it's 45-20. (for that matter, realize that Texas Tech holds the all-time bowl record for greatest comeback)

7. Auburn - Passing is still clearly going to be an issue, but Burns ran the read option very well. The defense pitched a shutout and scored on their own.

8. West Virginia - I don't know that I like seeing West Virginia attempt 50% more passes than rushes, and I really don't like seeing them give up 400 yards offense to Villanova. This ranking is based more on talent, because the execution left something to be desired.

9. Alabama - The Tide just came in and played smashmouth football, as well as completely shutting down Clemson's offense. Yes, every ACC team's offense is coached by Jeff Bowden. This was still eerily reminiscent of what we would have expected from Saban's LSU Tigers back in 2003.

10. LSU - Speaking of LSU, the defending FBS champions rocked the FCS champions, proving once and for all that the bowls are better than a playoff! Wait, no.

11. Texas - Rocking the hell out of ol' Schnelly isn't the impressive thing so much as having two QBs complete 80% of their passes - McCoy on a legitimate number of attempts, too. McCoy's play was my key to success for the Horns' 08 campaign, and so far so good.

12. South Florida - In a blatant showing of Rocky Mountain Bias, I didn't even watch this game. Not a single damn snap, and I haven't seen any highlights either. However, looking at the box score, 520 yards to 97 is nice, so I'll assume they played great on both sides of the ball.

13. Wisconsin - All of the sudden their game against Akron became way too close at halftime. Reminds me a little of the UNLV game last season, which makes me think they're about as good as last season.

14. Kansas - It was Florida International! And Reesing's 256 yards on 71% completions for 3 TDs was one of the less-impressive outings by a Big 12 quarterback not playing for Baylor or A&M.

15. Texas Tech - Rumors of the Raiders fielding a defense have been greatly exaggerated. Rumors of Graham Harrell throwing for less than 500 yards to start the season have also been exaggerated.

16. Penn State - I'm curious about why they call it "Coastal Carolina." Is there a Carolina that doesn't border the Atlantic Ocean? Thank you for playing a real team in week 2, JoePa, because frankly I don't trust the 66 points your offense scored against this bizarre twist of Directional State University as representative.

17. BYU - They beat the tar out of a complete cupcake just like you'd expect somebody like Kansas or Arizona State to do. Max Hall was ridiculous.

18. Utah - The loss was more about Michigan ineptitude, but hey - road win against a decent Big 6 squad.

19. Oregon - The Ducks really blew out Washington, and I was expecting Washington to be an improved team in 2008. Way to take the departure of Dennis Dixon in stride.

20. Illinois - Not too many defenses are going to slow down Missouri, so we can't hold that against them. Juice Williams looked great and they kept it close against a top 10 opponent.

21. Arizona State - The complete lack of a running game against even Northern Arizona is a little troubling.

22. Fresno State - They were pretty fortunate not to lose at Rutgers given the way the first half went, then again that's kind of a theme this weekend. Just surviving week one on the road on the nation's other coast is good enough.

23. UCLA - His Coachness, Sir Rick Neuheisel, orchestrated a comeback almost as beautiful as himself, surely surpassing the beauty of every pony ever born. The defense looked decent; good outing against the pass, a little shaky against the run but Tennessee has a strong o-line. Their own offensive line is a major liability. I'll say that the verdict's still out on Kevin Craft; by the numbers it was an awful outing, but he gave a good second half.

24. Tennessee - ESS EEE CEE speed clearly doesn't refer to mental agility, as the Clawfense rang up 55% of its plays as passes despite gaining 5.2 ypc on the ground compared to only 4.5 ypa through the air. Still, who else am I going to rank? With the exception of two drives, this defense shut down Norm Chow's UCLA attack. The running game was strong; playcalling and special teams cost them a probable victory. These are fixable and nobody else did much to merit ranking, so I'll put them one spot below the team they went to overtime against on the road.

25. Colorado - I've gotta give my graduate alma mater some props here as the Buffs beat the shit out of CSU. I'm not sure they're this good, but the only other team I can even think of deserving a ranking is Wake Forest, and after their collective week 1 abomination I am banning the ACC from my rankings until somebody does something. (beating Delaware in a hard-fought game decided by one score doesn't count, Maryland) So frankly, I don't care if this ranking holds or not... and who knows, Colorado is probably good enough that they could challenge for the ACC title this season if they played in that conference.