Ouch #2

After a one-week hiatus I’m back for the week-7 rundown. We are (roughly) at the mid-point of the season and things are clearing up, but still very cloudy. USC proved what we all knew; they are more talented and better coached than Notre Dame. I will give Weis credit, however. Using the wildcat was a nice change of pace and it worked fairly well for the Irish. People in the South have said this for a few weeks, but it looks as though the national media may be catching on: Florida has some serious issues on offense. As weird as it sounds, Florida is devoid of any wide out that scares anyone. I knew losing Percy Harvin was going to be a blow to the Gators, but I did not think it would hurt as bad as it has. Alabama may have the Heisman frontrunner in Mark Ingram and the Big 12 North continues to prove that it is a second class division.

This week’s rundown will be a bit different as I will have a mid-season report and a Heisman update. Without further ado, let’s rundown week 7 and look ahead to the rest of the season.

Teams of the week:

Georgia Tech: The rambling wreck defeated a top-5 Virginia Tech team to put them on the fringe for a shot at a BCS title game. Paul Johnson has done a fantastic job in Atlanta running his spread option system. Josh Nesbitt runs the option very well and Jonathan Dwyer is one of four very capable running backs. The Tech defense is not as good as it has been in the past, but with a very strong offense Tech is a turnover or two away from opening big leads. Don’t confuse this offense with a ball control unit. This team can break runs as fast as Florida could hit a deep bomb. Tech may find itself on the outside of the BCS due to the loss to Miami, but should Miami slip up inside the conference the Yellow Jackets will be a lock for the ACC title game…unless they lose to Virginia this week. The Jackets have not won at Virginia since 1990.

Texas Tech: Or I should say, Texas Tech’s defense. The vaunted Red Raider offense was held to 254 total yards against Nebraska, but the defense rendered Nebraska’s impotent offense limp. Texas Tech played Texas very tough on the road (34-24) and still has games against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. While the Red Raiders are perennially hammered by OU, a split in the two games would leave them at 9-3 on the season (most likely) and in the top-15 for the second consecutive year.

Cincinnati: The Bearcats traveled to Tampa and took on a tough defensive front on national television. After losing quarterback Tony Pike to injury in the second quarter, backup QB Zach Collaros came in and ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 72 yards passing. Collaros led Cincy to a 34-17 victory and he kept the team in the title hunt. There are still several tough outs for the Bearcats, but the team plays with an attitude on defense and they have one hell of an offense. Now, if Pike can’t go for the rest of the season, Cincy’s chances will take a huge hit. Sure, Callaros looked good for one game, but what will he do when teams scheme against him?

Fraud City:

Kansas, Mayor: I think most fans knew that Kansas was overrated after reaching as high as 17th in the polls due to beating up on some weak teams. Well, we were all proven right after Kansas traveled to Boulder and dropped a conference (and divisional) game 34-30. The Buffs benched Cody Hawkins in favor of Tyler Hansen. Good call, Dan. Kansas has one hell of an offense, but that defense will send them to the Alamo Bowl…maybe. The Jayhawks still have Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech left on the schedule as well as Nebraska and Missouri. Methinks a five-loss season is in the future.

Terrelle Pryor, Deputy Mayor: The super-recruit who was to lead Ohio State to the promise land appears to be regressing as a quarterback. In the last two games, Pryor is 22 of 44 for 308 yards, two touchdowns and five turnovers. If not for 21 points from his defense and special teams in the Wisconsin game, Ohio State would be 4-3 right now. Pryor is a freak in terms of his athletic ability, but he has not been able to develop a consistent ability to throw the ball. He needs a competent quarterbacks coach and he needs one ASAP. The bulk of the blame should fall of Jim Tressel. He needs to take a page out of Mack Brown’s playbook and get out of Pryor’s way and let him be the athlete that he is.

Zac Lee, Chief of Staff: Lee would be the MVP of the Sun Belt. Too bad he plays in the Big 12. In the three games Nebraska has played against teams with a pulse, Lee is 41 of 86 for 423 yards with three touchdowns and two picks. The three scores all came in the 4th quarter of the Missouri game and two of them were on drives that began inside the Tiger 20. Against Texas Tech, Lee was 16 of 22 for 128 yards. Again, this was against Texas Tech. The future is bright for Nebraska at quarterback as ballyhooed freshman Cody Green will likely start the rest of the way out, but this means that the Huskers have zero shot at winning anything of note this season. Well, there’s always next year, right?

Mid-Season Review:

The season is now in full swing and we can now get a better hold of what is what. Now that every team has played at least 6 games, there shouldn’t be any surprises as to which teams are capable and which teams aren’t. Here is what I think I know about the first half of the season.

 The Big 12 North is soft and will be that way until they can actually beat someone from the South. Missouri and Nebraska each laid a massive egg on national television against 2nd tier teams from their southern counterparts.
 The SEC has two very good teams and 10 teams that can look like shit on any given week. The conference is still better than any other, but that says more about the weak season in college football than it does the strength of the SEC.
 Matt Barkley is going to make Matt Leinart look like a JV quarterback. He has more pocket presence as a freshman than any quarterback I’ve seen in 10 years.
 Charlie Weis was 10 minutes away from being fired. With USC leading 34-14 in the fourth quarter, one more Trojan touchdown and he would have been on Monster.com. Now he has people calling for him to get an extension.
 If Florida is to repeat as national champions, they will have to do by running Tim Tebow into the ground. As crazy as it sounds, the Gators may have some of the weakest wide receivers in the SEC.
 Sam Bradford should have been saved from himself. Bob Stoops scoffed at the notion that Bradford should have never played again for the Sooners following his injury against BYU by saying that Bradford was a smart guy who knew what he was doing. No, Bradford was a player who wanted to play, just like any other. Stoops should have sat him down and told him that his future did not depend on him leading Oklahoma to the Fiesta Bowl. He should have been shelved for the season. The shame of it is Bradford will now be evidence used by agents to get kids to come out early.
 The Oregon-USC on Halloween is a top-5 game of the year. Is Oregon legit, or are they living off of beating an average Cal team? Can USC continue to own the Pac 10? An Oregon win helps Boise State as much as it does Oregon. A loss and two teams take a huge hit.
 UGA needs to look towards Lincoln, Neb., and follow suit. The Huskers benched a more experienced quarterback for a more talented freshman and the Dawgs should do likewise. Aaron Murray is the future, and with 5 games and a bowl game left, Georgia would be wise to get the future some much-needed experience.
 Iowa is the cream of the crop in the Big 10, but a loss to either Michigan State or Ohio State and the Big 10 will have to accept having just one BCS team this year. While the Hawkeyes have been impressive, the Big 10 is a very average league right now. If Iowa is the best that it has to offer, USC or Oregon should have another cakewalk for a Rose Bowl.

Heisman Hopefuls:

I can’t do a top-5 because, frankly, there is too much football left and no one wants to take the reigns. So, in alphabetical order, here are the five hopefuls for making it to Manhattan.

Matt Barkley
Jimmy Clausen
Mark Ingram
Ryan Mallett
Ndamokung Suh

Top-10:

1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. USC
5. TCU
6. Cincinnati
7. Iowa
8. Miami
9. Georgia Tech
10. Boise State

Just outside: Oregon

Games of the week:

Penn State vs Michigan: JoePa and Co. hasn’t looked very good this season, but a win over Michigan will go a long way towards changing that perception. The Wolverines lambasted Deleware St last week, and they now must face a stout Nittany Lions defense. Michigan has looked good at times this year, and even though I think Forcier makes too many mistakes, I like the home team (of course this is contingent on Forcier playing). Michigan 24 – Penn State 23.

TCU at BYU: The Horned Frogs are the most under-discussed team in the nation. They are consistently great of defense and special teams and they play well enough to win on offense. BYU was flying high (on life, of course) after beating Oklahoma, but then they were drubbed by a bad Florida State team at home. I will take defense over offense any day of the week. TCU 27 – BYU 20.

Oklahoma at Kansas: This game lost almost all of its luster after last week, but what makes this game very interesting is that the loser is staring at a very bad season. If the Jayhawks lose, as expected, it will be back-to-back conference losses with Texas, Texas Tech, Nebraska and Missouri still on the schedule. If OU loses it will also be back-to-back conference losses and they have Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Nebraska still to play. In Stoops I trust (he wins the small games). OU 38 – Kansas 24.

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