Strange weekend of college football. Let's dive in. I'll try to figure it all out with a poll on Tuesday.
1. The Big East has flaws
By this I mean Rutgers has flaws. The Scarlet Knights completely fell on their faces at home against Maryland. With Louisville floundering, West Virginia turning the ball over six times on the national stage and Rutgers losing the 3:30 ABC game, the Big East had a pretty bad weekend. Luckily, they have a darling in the form of South Florida. More on them in a few.
2. Parity is alive
Ask any team in the country. ANY team. Of the winners, LSU was somewhat sluggish against Tulane. USC was real sluggish against Washington. Wisconsin was sluggish again. The list goes on. We'll find out if this year is just filled with a lot of so-so teams (which I think is the case) or it's just a bunch of monsters beating up on each other.
3. Fundamentals are important
South Florida blew me away with two things on defense: tackling and discipline. West Virginia's spread, read-option attack isn't exactly easy to slow down, especially with the weapons it features. What had been an unstoppable rebel force early on was nothing more than a middle school offense because South Florida stayed true to all of its assignments and filled every gap. When West Virginia attackers got in space, USF defenders made open field tackle after open field tackle. It was flat-out impressive.
4. DeSean Jackson is very fast
Remember when he told Campus Confidential he was the most electrifying player in college football? I think he was on to something. His second touchdown of the afternoon is the least-talked about play of the weekend. He caught an out along the sideline, looked to the inside and went from 0-100 in .2 seconds and threw a mean high step at the 5. This dude is lethal, but I don't know that he'll put up enough touchdowns to be invited to New York for the Heisman.
5. Wisconsin needs to take a good look at Texas
The Badgers are letting teams hang around. Three of their five wins this year have been by 7 points or less. This is going to come back and haunt them. Texas had been extremely lack-luster in the first three weeks and Kansas State trounced them on Saturday. Here's what Wisconsin has ahead: at Illinois and at Penn State ... two teams you can't sleep on. ASK TEXAS!
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6. I was right about Oklahoma
They lost. I told you they weren't the real deal. They were looking like it, but nope. I was right. I'll still say I was WAAAAY wrong about Texas A&M though. But a loss to Colorado? There's no excuse. It automatically takes you down from the elite peg this year.
7. We still don't know what's cookin' in Miami
Will it be the team that roughs up Texas A&M? Or the team that gets smoked by Oklahoma and edges lowly Duke? This year's version of the Miami schedule is rear-heavy with trips to Florida State, Virginia Tech and Boston College.
8. Virginia is better than I (and a lot of people) thought
Virginia is 3-0 in the ACC and kicked the snot out of Pitt (Pat Bostick watch...not good after career start one). Will Al Groh keep his job after falling to Wyoming? The Cavs could end up winning nine games this year and be in the hunt for a trip to the ACC title game. That'll keep you employed. The Cavalier defense has really shown some signs of life and Cedric Peerman is running the ball extremely well. Things aren't as bad as they seemed in Charlottesville.
9. Evan Sharpley > Jimmy Claussen
Maybe Purdue's defense was playing softer. Then again, how much softer could they have been playing when Sharpley came in and engineered some scoring drives for Notre Dame? We'll talk more about this later in the week.
10. Flying is better than driving
Planes go faster than cars. I don't know that I can drive to DC anymore after flying this weekend.
Comments (4)
UVa @ home ≠ UVa on the road. C'mon, you know this. @MTSU (hung w/ Loserville), @UMD, @Miami will be very tough games for the Cavs. Having VT at home after a bye could be good news for them, but who knows in rivalry games.
I'm really surprised in the differences between AP and coaches polls this week. I'm eager to see the only ranking that matters -- Adam's.
Also, am I the only one who thinks a coach is a tool if he tries to ice the kicker?
Icing the kicker is such a lame thing ... but if it works 1 of 20 times, what's to lose by doing it? Worked in back-to-back weeks in the NFL.
So, LSU struggles with Tulane for a half at home...and USC edges Washington
on the road ,yet LSU moves up and USC down. Adam, still think I am crazy
about there being a anti-west coast sentiment?