Week 4 - Week in Review

Clemson Takes Charge

Clemson shocked a lot of people in week 3 by knocking off defending-champ Auburn.  This week they faced the downtrodden Florida State Seminoles in what was supposed to be an important matchup only for the ACC.  That was because Clemson and FSU were both strong ACC title contenders.  But after the Tigers put away the highly-ranked Seminoles, this matchup became important for the National Title race as well.  This Clemson team is starting to feel like Auburn did last year.  They have a tough test at Virginia Tech this week, but if they come away with a win, all the title talk could turn their way towards the end of the season.  This could be the team that comes out of nowhere and reaches the title game, but this time they're from the ACC!

All Three Options Look Good at GA Tech

Hand it off to the fullback?  Run the QB?  Pitch to the running back?  It doesn't matter which option the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets choose, this super-productive offense is rolling its way onto the national stage one 8-yard play at a time.  With fast backs and a lethal option attack, Georgia Tech is 4-0 after beating UNC at home this week.  Tech is a team that received a lot of national attention a very short time ago in 2009, reaching the Orange Bowl where they lost to Iowa.  (Tech's only losses that year were to teams that had more than a week to prepare for the defensive coordinator-stumping option attack).  But the Yellow Jackets had a forgettable 6-7 year in 2010, and consequently they were forgotten.  But in 2011 through week 4, this is the number one offense in the country - and if it can keep rolling, Tech could be looking at another BCS appearance.  Watch out for Clemson October 29th, and for VA Tech two weeks after.  Both those games are at home for the Yellow Jackets, and could secure their BCS spot. 

I mentioned how Clemson could make a title run.  If they get past VA Tech next week, they won't be in the clear since they have to face the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta.   

LSU Rolls On

LSU won in Morgantown, West Virginia 47-21.  Can the doubts about this team be laid to rest?  The defense proved they are as vicious as advertised, and the scary part is the offense is coming on.  QB Lee finished the day with 180 passing yards, 3 touchdown tosses, and 0 interceptions.  The team rushed for 182 yards.  West Virginia was held to 70 rushing yards and forced to turn to the air, where they did find success - they finished the day with 463 passing yards.  About all you can do against a defense like LSU's is try to attack the secondary, but they were still too tough.  WVU's 533 yards only led to 3 scores. 

The Tigers play at Bama, but may even still be favored if they keep on rolling.  A National Title is a very real possibility for the Bayou Bengals.     

Cowboys Outgun Aggies Late

In our prestigious pick 'em pool, I picked Oklahoma State over Texas A&M.  And for the longest time, I wondered why.  A&M jumped out to the lead and didn't look back.  They led 20 to 3 at the half, and OSU's offense looked so out of sync that a victory seemed out of reach.  But I should have learned by now, it's a long game.  OSU scored 27 unanswered points.  They would have scored more if star wide-out Justin Blackmon hadn't gotten cocky and dropped a walk-in-the-end-zone touchdown catch, resulting in a touchback.  But the Cowboys didn't need more.  The Aggies rallied to pull within 3, but OSU held them off, taking a safety to secure a one point victory as the clock ran out.  That's good football!

Weeden put up 438 passing yards and 2 TD passes, furthering his Heisman hopes.

Quick Hits:

Arizona State puts Trojans Away

ASU handled the Trojans at home this week.  Did they just bounce back, or should Illinois (who beat ASU in week 3) be feared?  Or is USC just that bad?  They were able to beat Utah, who demolished BYU at BYU in week 3.  Is BYU that terrible?  They beat Ole Miss.  What does that say about the Rebels?  Well, we already knew they were pretty bad….  Ok, this can go on forever, and now you know what we have to go through when making picks.  Whatever it means, things are looking up for the Sun Devils, who picked up their first win over USC in the last 11 tries.

Bama Bashes Razorbacks

Arkansas has one of the best wide receiver groups in the nation, but without Ryan Mallet slinging the ball around, that wasn't enough to best the ridiculously stout Alabama D.  Bama rolled to a victory 38 14 behind a couple of defensive and special teams scores. 

Boise State beat Tulsa

No surprises, I'm just happy for Kellen Moore!     

Week 3 - Week In Review

We put together a few quick highlights from this past weekend:

LSU Tigers Topple Bulldogs in Starkville

LSU proved that they are for real, at least on one side of the ball.  The vicious Tiger's defense held Mississippi State to two field goals, and 193 total yards - with only 52 on the ground.  We all know it's hard to win in the SEC if you can't run the ball, and the Bulldogs found that out first hand last Thursday night.  Meanwhile LSU's offense put up 19 points and 361 yards.  Their performance was neither terrible nor outstanding, and will leave some still wondering if LSU can win a championship with a mediocre offense.  But QB Jarrett Lee and company continue to improve, and Thursday night the Tiger's D made a strong case for a title based on their exceptional play alone.  The Tigers travel to West Virginia this Saturday with plans to keep on rolling.  

Point of interest: A fired-up Mountaineer squad looks to gain more momentum after a big win at Maryland, and will do everything they can to protect their turf from the Bayou Tigers.

Boise Bests a Feisty Toledo Team

What started as an uneasy feeling in Bronco fan's stomachs - watching a Toledo Rocket squad hold Boise to 3-and-out, then easily put up 6, shredding this hyped up Bronco defense - turned into another career day for Boise QB Kellen Moore.  What can this kid not do?  With 455 passing yards and 5 touchdowns, Moore made a strong case that, with a football in his hand, he can do just about anything.  Except of course turn down-field, but senior tailback Doug Martin has that part covered.  Martin was responsible for one of those touchdown passes, taking a screen pass 71 yards to the end zone.  With this 40-15 victory, Moore puts up his 40th win.  He is only 6 more wins away from passing Colt McCoy for most all-time.  With a fairly soft schedule ahead, that won't be too much of a problem. 

Point of interest: On October 1st, Nevada comes to visit Boise, Idaho.  Look for the Broncos to get revenge after last year's upset. 

Auburn Goes Down!

After the Wofford Terriers put up one heck of a fight at Clemson, conventional wisdom, in fact, plain common sense, told us that the Auburn Tigers would roll into Clemson and continue their winning streak that includes last year's National Title.  In this instance, common sense was wrong.  When the Clemson Tigers pulled up alongside the Auburn Tigers at 21 points going into halftime, it looked like the Auburn faithful would have to sweat out another close one.  But hey, they've seen close wins 17 times now, there's no real reason to worry.  Auburn will take care of things late like they always do… right?  Clemson QB Tajh Boyd had something else on his mind: the first 3-0 start by Clemson since 2007.  It took the Clemson defense holding Auburn to just a field goal in the second half, two touchdown tosses by Boyd, and a nail-in-the-coffin field goal to do just that.  Auburn goes down, 38 - 24!

Point of interest: How will Auburn recover in conference play?  They have an easy game against Florida Atlantic next week, but then SEC play hits full stride with games at South Carolina and at Arkansas.  Also, how far can Clemson go?  They have a tough test at home against a downtrodden Florida State team.  Can Clemson take advantage of the Seminoles while they're down, and move ahead in the ACC race?

Quick-Hits:

Oklahoma Isn't Going Anywhere

After a 23-13 victory in Tallahassee, it's clear that Landry Jones and the Sooners are going to stay on the national stage this year.  Jones came through when needed, but it was the outstanding Sooner defense that won the game.  They held the 'Noles to 13 points, and came up with a total of 3 turnovers that ultimately kept Oklahoma in position to stay ahead.  Look for FSU to try to bounce back at Clemson next week.  Oklahoma looks to slaughter a Missouri team after their confidence building win against Western Illinois.

Has Mack Brown Righted the Ship?

The Longhorn faithful may have been a bit nervous to travel to UCLA after last year's loss at the hands of the Bruins, but are feeling much better after a dominant 49-20 win.  The Longhorns led in every statistical category, with more points, yards, first downs, time of possession, and fewer turnovers and penalties.  The always-risky quarterback switch paid off, with Case McCoy leading his team to victory with 168 passing yards and two TD's.  The Longhorns look legit again, but after a bye-week they travel to upstart Iowa State, then face Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in their next 3 games.  That stretch will tell us a lot about how far last year's 5-7 Longhorns have come.

Are the Cyclones Legit?

Iowa State is 3-0 after last week's big triple overtime victory over the Hawkeyes and this week's win at UCONN.  Quarterback Jantz leads a fast, dynamic offense that bested a tough Huskie's D.  We will find out if the Cyclones are for real when they face Texas at home after a bye-week.

Notre Dame No Longer Losing

This time it was the Fighting Irish that were outgained and out-possessed but came up with the win.  The Irish still turned the ball over 3 times, but with 31 points to Michigan State's 13, they picked up their first win of the year.  After last year's embarrassing loss to Alabama, I didn’t trust the credibility of this Michigan State team, or their number 15 ranking.  I think this game says more about the Spartans than the Irish, and because of this I wouldn't necessarily call it an "upset".  The Irish travel to Pitt this weekend to try to up another W.    

Tressel No More
The scandals and loss of head coach Jim Tressel have left the Buckeyes in a sad state.  They put up a measly 6 points in a loss at Miami.  And this is not the Miami team of the 1980's, this is a sorry-looking Hurricanes team that lost at Maryland and will have a lot of work to do to be respectable in the ACC.  It's going to be a long season in the Big 10 for Ohio State.