Week 4 College Football Newsletter

While there weren't nearly as many big-time matchups this past weekend as there had been the week before, there were still some pretty solid games, capped by an unbelievable primetime game in East Lansing. With week 4 behind us, we'll begin to see many more conference battles. This is the final week where a Top 25 will not be posted by me. As I mentioned at the outset, I'd post my first Top 25 after the Week 5 games and it's hard to believe, but that'll be at the end of this upcoming weekend's contests.

The Bonehead Call of the Week
This goes to the Michigan State coaching staff. They lead Notre Dame 31-14 at halftime, with no signs of slowing down. The Spartans led 37-21 going into the 4th quarter. Hypothetically, that's a two score game (two touchdowns and two two point conversions), but in all probability, it's a three score game. The Spartans then ensued to turn the ball over three times en route to Notre Dame's improbably 40-37 come-from-behind victory. The coaching staff lost the game against the Buckeyes a year ago which brought Sparty into a downward spiral the rest of the season. Luckily for them, they have Illinois to bounce back against this Saturday.

The Bonehead Play of the Week
This goes to the kicker at Alabama, Mr. Tiffin. The Tide had the game against the Razorbacks. It was their game to lose and lose it they (he) did. Tiffin didn't miss one, not two, but three field goals and an extra point. As I watched the game, I began seeing a Florida State helmet on Tiffin's head with the Razorbacks unis and helmets suddenly transforming into the Miami Hurricanes. Why? All four kicks were missed wide right. Tiffin missed two in regulation, one in the first overtime, and missed the extra point in double overtime.

The Conference Yo of the Week
Do I have to even dish out this award this week? No major conference impressed me. The Big Ten fell victim to the likes of Nevada, UConn, Notre Dame (after having a 37-21 lead starting the 4th quarter), and some rather unimpressive performances by the likes of Ohio State, Iowa, Minnesota, and even Michigan to an extent. The Big XII found a way (as only Colorado and Michigan State know to do) to lose to Georgia, fell to Houston, Army, and beat some cream puffs. Iowa State didn't impress me either. The ACC, as has been the case so far this year, was anything but spectacular. Virginia Tech struggled with Cincinnati for 3 1/2 quarters. Virginia continued to struggle. Maryland just snuck past Florida International. The most impressive performance? Wake Forest's 27-3 over Mississippi. The Pac 10 was anything but outstanding (go figure). Yeah, I'm awarding this to the Big East. West Virgina and Louisville didn't play to their potential, but even with that, looked dominant at times against their opponents. UConn beat Big Ten Indiana. Cincinnati gave Virginia Tech all they could handle at Lane Stadium. South Florida did likewise to Kansas, falling 13-7 to the Jayhawks. Syracuse beat up on Miami (Ohio). Rutgers and Pitt beat up on some cream puffs. Yeah, very impressive? No, not really, but compared to the other conferences, I'll have to award the Big East this week.

The Conference Yo No of the Week
I didn't mention the SEC in the previous category for a reason. They earned this award. It took a Georgia touchdown with 46 seconds left to beat the now 0-4 Colorado Buffaloes. South Carolina beat lovely Florida Atlantic. Florida beat Kentucky, but not by as much as the "experts" thought. Ole Miss got blown out by the banged up Demon Deacons of Wake 27-3. Tennessee struggled early against Marshall, before pulling away in the 4th quarter. Vandy beat a nobody. LSU beat up on Tulane. Auburn struggled with Buffalo, yes, Buffalo, for three quarters. The most impressive performance? Slyvester Croom's Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated UAB 16-10 for their first victory of the season.

Game of the Week
This has to go to the primetime battle between Michigan State and Notre Dame. If it hadn't of been for last year's comeback by the Irish against the Spartans, I probably would've tuned out before halftime. But, I'm glad I went with my instinct and stayed glued to the television set. The Spartans looked unstoppable in the first half, scoring 31 points. They pounded the Irish on the ground, threw the ball all over the Irish secondary, and even had some trick plays up their sleeve that worked very well. Brady Quinn was anything but consistent. The Irish couldn't get their ground game going. The Spartan offense looked twice as fast and focused than the Irish defense. What happened? Bad playcalling in the second half by the Spartans, a team that wasn't as focused, thinking they had already won the football game, and playing sloppy, turning the ball over three times. To give the Irish, their coaching staff, and players some credit, they made the most of their opportunities in the second half. While the Spartans were sleepwalking, the Irish finally decided to step forward and do what they could to make it a football game. The Irish came back to score twice, to pull within a 37-33 score. Then Drew Stanton, did what he did best in that second half and threw an interception and the defender didn't stop until he reached the end zone to put the Irish up for good in their 40-37 victory. While the first half was anything but good in terms of competition, the second half more than made up for it.

Biggest Disappointment of the Week
I'm giving this to the Pac 10 battle (not so much of one) between Cal and Arizona State. ASU came into the game 3-0 with an offense that hadn't been stopped in their first three games. Cal looked dreadful in their opening loss to Tennessee, but then rebounded with a strong performance against Minnesota. While this game was played in Berkeley and most of the "experts" picked Cal, I was expecting a more tightly knit game than what it turned out to be. Cal dominated from start to finish in their 49-21 blowout victory. If Cal is half as good as they displaying on Saturday the rest of the way through, they have a legitimate shot at the Pac 10 crown.

Kudos
Wake Forest. While the Deacs have done anything but beat up on "quality" competition this year, they are now 4-0 thanks to their blow-out win against Mississippi on Saturday. This was without their starting quarterback or starting running back in the lineup, because of injury. Most "experts" and "analysts" claimed that the Deacs winning streak would end on Saturday because of a "tougher" SEC opponent and their injury situation. While Wake may not be a Top 25 caliber team, with the ACC being as mediocre (that's being nice) as it is this year, they have a very good chance at going to a bowl game at season's end.

No Kudos For You
The official in the Boston College/NC State game. Is it just me or does it seem that the home team receives the benefits more times than not when it comes to calls and instant replay? Oklahoma received a big break at home in their opener against UAB. Auburn caught a break at home last week against LSU. Oregon got a couple breaks in Eugene against Oklahoma a week ago. Last year, LSU caught a big time break against Arizona State in Baton Rouge. This past week, the game was played in Raleigh, North Carolina and with NC State down 15-10 late against BC, they threw up a pass into the back right corner of the end zone. The receiver bobbled the ball and never had complete possession of the ball. Heck, when he finally hit the ground, the ball was on the ground as well. Yet, it was called a touchdown. The officials reviewed the play for about 5 seconds before saying that it was a touchdown. I saw the play and if one looks very closely, they could clearly see that the receiver never had possession of the football. It wasn't even discussed by the announcers and I haven't heard any fuss from anyone in the press. When people talk about a team having home field advantage, that's very true it seems when it comes to instant replay and penalties.

Player of the Week
I finally get to dish this out to one of my favorite college football players, Georgia Tech wideout Calvin Johnson. He went into the Thursday night game against Virginia listed as questionable with a deep thigh bruise. What did the guy do? Caught 6 passes for 165 yards (27.5 yard average) and two touchdowns. Those two touchdowns would be all that the Jackets needed against the now Division I-AA Cavaliers. Even when Johnson is at home 60-70%, he lights up defenses. Unbelievable!

Surprise of the Week
Again, I've got to go with Cal's blowout win over Arizona State. Cal allowed 35 in their opening loss to Tennessee and that was with the 'Vols playing ultra-conservatively in the second half. Arizona State came to the game with their offense rolling (as usual) and was held to 21. Meanwhile, Cal couldn't be stopped, racking up 42 points in the first half alone! They played their coaches and cheerleaders in the second half, who came away with a touchdown. After watching this game, I have to say, I'm really looking forward to the USC/Cal matchup this year. Cal has played them tough the past few seasons and this year should be no different.

Nebraska Game (from an unbiased person's viewpoint)
Well, as with the Nicholls State game, this was not televised and I was not going to spend $30 on a game against Troy State. Statistically, the Huskers looked very impressive and they seemed to rebound quite nicely from their loss a week ago to USC. But, I didn't watch the game, so I can't say too much about it.

Solich Update
Ohio played 4-0 Missouri tough through the first half, but the Tigers took control in the second en route to a 31-6 victory. With the loss, Ohio falls to 2-2 overall and are still 1-0 in the MAC. Props to Frankie (first time I've said this), Ohio has played pretty well thus far. They've beaten Northern Illinois, a usual contender for the MAC crown and their only two losses are to Rutgers and Missouri, two teams that are a combined 8-0 this season.

Gill Update
While it was a certainty that Buffalo would fall to SEC powerhouse Auburn, kudos to the Bulls. They hung in their with Auburn for almost three full quarters, until finally falling 38-7 to the Tigers. With the loss, the Bulls fall to 1-3, but have played significantly better this season than they did a year ago.

Rant of the Week: Playing Too Conservative
I cannot stand when a team gets off to a great start, have a good solid lead at halftime, and then decide to play conservative in the second half only to allow the opponent back in the game. Last week in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles led the New York Giants in Philly by a 24-7 score starting the 4th quarter. Philly played it ultra-conservative in the 4th quarter and the G-Men came back to tie the game and win in overtime. Did Michigan State learn from seeing that? No. The Spartans were up 31-14 at halftime and 37-21 after three and found a way to let Notre Dame back into the game and eventually win with their extra-conservative play calling. Yesterday, the Seattle Seahawks were up 42-3 on the New York Giants and the G-Men almost came back again, losing by the score of 42-30. When will coaches learn? It does not pay off to do a complete 360 at halftime and go from doing what the team does best to sleepwalking and playing to end the game, as opposed to win the stinking thing. If an offense is in a rhythm, why take them out of that rhythm? Stick with what's working. If the offense keeps driving and scoring, there's no way the opposition can come back. However, if the offense runs the ball three times and goes three and out for the majority of a second half after building a four touchdown lead at the half, they have a chance to lose the football game. Then, when the opposition gets back into the game, the offense has to attempt to get back into the rhythm that they were in early in the contest. That's difficult to do and they'll be more prone to turning the ball over and not being nearly as crisp as before. I'd think that coaches would learn by now. Playing ultra-conservatively on offense is like playing the prevent defense. Both set-ups may take some time off the clock, but more times than not, they allow the opposition to close the gap on the scoreboard, which is why I'm not a proponent of either.