Straight up: 23-3 (missed Oregon State, Texas Christian, and Boise State)
Against the spread: 8-14-2
It's always easy to pick winners in college football early in the season, but as shown, its hard to pick against the spread (also I really suck...). Anyway, I tried to watch some games on and off, but it was hard to keep track of them without a USC game. Here are some of the highlights of a pretty good slate of games:
- LSU obliterated the Hokies 48-7, showing both the Tigers dominance on defense and VT's ineptness on offense. I stopped watching after halftime, when LSU led 24-0, but from what I saw, I have the Tigers as #1 in my top 25 (it also doesn't help that USC didn't play this weekend). What I do know, the Trojans have to start playing defense like LSUor we will be beat down the road, whether by Oregon (more later) or UCLA. Another scary thought is that the Tigers have the same two-headed quarterback that Florida had last year in Matt Flynn and Ryan Perriloux, with the former being the pocket passer and the latter being the designated runner (though I don't see any jump shot touchdown passes in Perriloux's future). Glenn Dorsey is as advertised, and they have a very opportunistic secondary, yanking down any picks that float back there. The only thing that may stop LSU is their difficult schedule, playing in the SEC.
- Oklahoma destroyed Miami 51-13 with another strong performance by QB Sam Bradford. The Sooners look very good so far this season and look to be the early favorite in the Red River Shootout. If they can get past Texas, they may finish undefeated.
- Texas looked flat again until TCU faltered late as the Longhorns pulled away 34-13. TCU looked primed for the upset, leading 10-0 at the half, but Texas finally kicked it into gear 6 quarters into the season for the win. The Horned Frogs didn't help matters with turnovers. After their first two performances of the season, it looks like Texas could face at least a couple of losses on the season.
- My two upset specials were South Florida over Auburn and South Carolina over Georgia. Neither Auburn or Georgia looked impressive in their season openers, and after both lost at home, they are both out of my top 25. South Florida just wanted it more, while South Carolina just took it to the Bulldogs.
- UCLA hung on for dear life against BYU, seeing a 20 point lead shrink to 3 before the Bruins finally sustained a drive that led to the final score of 27-17. Had the Cougars not fumbled at the UCLA 13, it would have been a different story. The Bruin defense looked decent, but their offense needs to get it together as they enter Pac-10 play. They have a game against a Utah team without their starting QB and TB, so they should use this game to get their offense going.
- Hawaii avoided the upset, as the 28 point favorites sweated out a failed two point conversion in overtime to escape with a 45-44 win over Louisiana Tech. Colt Brennan hurt his Heisman chances with 3 turnovers (pick, 2 lost fumbles), as he needs to play flawlessly, as well as avoid games like these to even have a chance.
- Boise State finally lost, this time to a very promising Washington team led by freshman QB Jake Locker, 24-10. I couldn't watch the game, but its hard to imagine the Husky defense stopping RB Ian Johnson. While its tempting to put Washington in my top 25, if they defeat Ohio State in Seattle, oh boy, the Trojans might be in trouble. In an era of college football where mobile QBs are popping up in smaller schools, Locker will look to give tOSU and USC trouble, like how App State and Oregon did to Michigan with mobile QBs.
- A third WAC team, Fresno State, made some noise as well, taking Texas A&M to the limit in a near upset, 47-45 in three overtimes, failing on the mandatory 2 point conversion after trailing 19-0 at halftime. Had they made that play, who knows, the Bulldogs could have done more damage against the Aggies, as both teams looked gassed at the end.
- Michigan and Notre Dame will face off in the pillow fight of the week next week. Michigan got creamed 39-7 while the Irish mustered only 3 offensive points again in falling to Penn State, 31-10. The Wolverines look done for the season. They may win a few games (only five guaranteed wins that I can count), but Oregon did their job, repeatedly kicking the Wolverines while they were done. I think Michigan can rebound to beat Notre Dame, only because their offense is so bad, but then again, the Michigan defense hasn't stopped anyone since, er, um, yeah... The Fighting Irish on the other hand, has looked equally bad on both offense and defense. Their star defender, Tom Zbikowski, looks nothing like he did against USC in 2005 when he returned that punt for touchdown, and their offense has mustered 6 points in two games (their touchdown was a pick-6). The Irish are realistically looking at a 0-8 start, though Michigan State is always good for one inexplicable loss, and at least Notre Dame can finish strong against Air Force, Duke, and Stanford.
- Louisiana State (2-0)
- Southern California (1-0)
- Oklahoma (2-0)
- Florida (2-0)
- West Virginia (2-0)
- Wisconsin (2-0)
- Louisville (2-0)
- Ohio State (2-0)
- Penn State (2-0)
- Texas (2-0)
- California (2-0)
- Rutgers (2-0)
- UCLA (2-0)
- Nebraska (2-0)
- Georgia Tech (2-0)
- Missouri (2-0)
- Arkansas (1-0)
- Oregon (2-0)
- Hawaii (2-0)
- Boston College (2-0)
- Virginia Tech (1-1)
- Texas A&M (2-0)
- Clemson (2-0)
- South Carolina (2-0)
- Appalachian State (2-0) (because I can...)
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