NCAA Football week #8

[mckbln]

I think I will call this "Seperation Saturday"; a few teams clearly solidified their positions while several others fell. It was a bad week for my "gut instinct" as a few teams really layed some eggs.


ACC (pronounced "ACK"):
Florida St and Clemson both won and are the only teams in the Top 20 from the ACC. The 'Noles win came at the expense of Miami, 33-20. The Hurricanes have since been down graded to a mud puddle.

Big Least:
Cinncinnati lost to unranked Toledo from the MAC, while both Louisville and Rutgers stayed unbeaten. The Cards escaped with a narrow 27-25 win over South Florida.

Pig Ten:
Ohio St won the game vs Purdue 29-22 in OT but lost QB Braxton Miller to a concussion. With Ohio St BS, er BCS ineligible at this point, there isn't a single team in the Pig Ten ranked in top 20. Ouch.

Big 12:
The questions were, would West-BY GOD-Virginia be able to bounce back from the disaster last week in Lubbock, TX, and could their offense cover a defense so weak that even the local Morgantown highschool could score on them? What I thought might be a shoot-out turned into a shooting gallery with the Mountaineers bringing a musket to a machine gun fight. Coming off of a tough win in Ames, KSU wasted no time in mauling WVa 5-14 along with Geno Smith's Heisman hopes. On the other hand, Wildcat QB Klein put himself in the front of the race with a brilliant performance; 323yds passing, 3TDs, 41yds rushing, 4TDs. The KSU defense continued Smith's QB woes from last week, holding him to just 143yds, 1TD and 2INTs.
While OU thumped Kansas 52-7, the Sooners have little chance of catching KSU. It would take a complete meltdown by the Wildcats and OU would have to run the table, and clobber ND next weekend to have any BS, er BCS title shot.

PAC 12:
The Thursday night game featured a battle between PAC 12 South contender ASU against Oregon down in Tempe, AZ. I thought this might be a possible upset. The Sun Devils came in to the game fired-up, blacked-out, and opened the game with a TD drive to go up 7-0...and that was about it. Oregon scored 21 points in 2 minutes and ran up 43 points in the first half, while the Sunny-Side-Ups pretty much looked inept the rest of the game on both offense and defense.
In the meantime, both Oregon St and USC won. The Trojans demolished Colorado 50-6 and are now tied for the PAC 12 South lead. The Beavers won 21-7 vs Utah.

SEC:
Turnovers were the word of the day here. While Alabama breezed to a 44-13 win over Tennessee, Texas A&M blew an opportunity for an upset victory over LSU. After jumping out to a 12-0 lead, the Baggies managed to turn the ball over twice that led to 14 points for the Tiggers before the half. It just got worse; Texas A&M blew a 76yd kick return, first when the returner did some silly stutter-step when he clearly had the two pursuing defenders beat, and then gave up a sack and a missed 33yd FG. Ironically, A&M completely outplayed LSU offensivelly but, 5 turnovers (3 INTs) and two missed FGs led to a 24-19 LSU win.
South Carolina went to Gainesville in what promised to be a close game. LIES!!!! The Chickens fumbled away...literally...any chance at an SEC or BCS title hopes they had in the 1st half by committing 3 turnovers that led to 21 points for the Lizards. SCs defense actually played very well in the first half; if you looked at the Florida stats for the first half, 29yds and just two first downs, a 21-6 halftime lead would have seemed incredible. In the 2nd half, it was just a beat down; the Gators scored on 3 straight possessions in the 3rd Qtr and coasted to a 44-11 win.

Other:
Notre Dame faced the proverbial "Trap Game" vs BYU, coming off of a tight OT win over Stanford last week and facing Oklahoma next week. The Irish came out flat in the first half, trailing 14-7. Rees was shaky in his first start for the Mean Green Little Men, although the INT he threw was a ball that should have been caught. At one point Kelley put the 3rd string QB Hendrix in. Enter the running game. While the ND defense held BYU scoreless in the second half, RBs Riddick and Wood combined for 257yds rushing and the 'Domers escaped with a 17-14 win.

Looking ahead:
It is very apparent at this point that the ACC, Big Least, and Pig Ten have no dog in the BS, er BCS title hunt. With two losses, both South Carolina and WVa are also out. In the Big 12, KSU is clearly on top, and with no conference championship game, they won't have to face OU again. The Sooners have no real chance at a Big 12 title and it would take a miracle to put them in the BS, er BCS title race, starting with the game vs ND. Speaking of ND...if they play like they did vs Stanford and BYU in Norman when they play OU, they will get crushed.
Oregon has two speed bumps, vs Oregon St and USC. They could also face USC twice, if both teams win their divisions. The Trojans, despite the loss to Stanford, are still in it. They face Oregon Nov 3rd, and if they win that game, the PAC 12 South, and the PAC 12 title game, they are in the BS, er BCS hunt.
Lastly, Alabama is still both the SEC front runner and the top BS, er BCS contender, BUT...the way SEC teams tend to beat-up on each other, going undefeated may not be a reality. Alabama has consecutive games vs Mississippi St and LSU; if they win out they will win the SEC West. LSU get's to host Alabama. If they win and beat MissSt, they can win the SEC West. Florida has a simple path; they are the #2 ranked team in the poll. If they beat Georgia next weekend, they clinch the SEC East. If they win the SEC title game vs Alabama or LSU, they are in the BS, er BCS championship game. Considering that Florida was 7-6 last year, I would say that Will Muschamp is probably the coach of the year in NCAA DI.

That's it for now...

[mckbln]

What to watch on Saturday:

1. There are several key games this weekend, none bigger than Notre Dame at Oklahoma. Notre Dame struggled it's last two games at home vs Stanford and BYU, but remains undefeated. The Sooners gacked their season right out of the gate losing to KSU at home. When I look at ND they remind me a lot of LSU. Great defense, inconsistent QB play, and a good running game if they can get it going. The problem for the 'Domers is that OU is the first team they are going to face that has both a prolific offense AND a good defense. There is one thing in NDs favor; for whatever reason, the Sooners have a bad habit of playing really bad in primetime (night) games, be it at home (losses to KSU this year, Texas Tech last year), or on the road (Oklahoma St last year).

2. Alabama vs Mississppi St - Both teams are undefeated and vying for the SEC West title. The Bulldog's QB Manion just returned to the line-up, but this game is in Tuscaloosa and the way the Tide is playing right now, I just don't see them losing this one.

3. Florida vs Georgia - South Carolina demolished Georgia a few weeks ago, and Florida dismantled SC. The annual game held in Jacksonville is always a nasty one...these two teams HATE each other. Last year Georgia thumped Florida...this year expect the Gators to return the favor.

4. Texas Tech vs Kansas St - Both teams have common opponents; both KSU and Tech clobbered WVa but KSU beat OU in Norman, and TT lost to the Sooners in Lubbock. I can't imagine the Wildcats losing to Tech in Manhattan.

Enjoy the games!!!!