Week 8 College Football Newsletter

This was labeled "Survivor Saturday" and the day lived up to its name. There so many ranked teams that got scares on Saturday, but found a way to come out with the W. Texas, Tennessee, Notre Dame, and California are just four examples. The likes of Louisville and Michigan didn't have an easy time in their games either. While this may not have been quite as fun as Week 7, as the majority of close games were not of the upset variety, there were still plenty of great ball games, so much so, that I'll be listing off the top five games of the week, as opposed to the usual one.

The Bonehead Call of the Week
Ever hear the phrase that the prevent defense prevents teams from winning football games? Well, that phrase rang true for the UCLA Bruins on Saturday against Notre Dame. In Notre Dame's final drive, UCLA played soft and they lost because of it. Notre Dame's usually explosive offense was held in check in their first 13 possessions, limited to 13 points in those drives. Quarterback Brady Quinn was hit, sacked, and rattled and when the Irish entered the red zone, the Bruin did a nice job of bending but not breaking. But, with just over a minute left to go, UCLA punted the ball and decided to wear blindfolds and earplugs while doing somersaults on the field and allowing Notre Dame to march down the field in 30-40 seconds. The defensive coordinator for UCLA has earned himself this award for the bonehead defensive playcalling on Notre Dame's final drive of the game. UCLA had the game won until they decided not to put any pressure on Quinn and give receivers 25 yards of space.

The Bonehead Play of the Week
This didn't end up costing the Longhorns, but it was extremely stupid nonetheless. On the final play of regulation and Texas clinging to a 2-point lead on Nebraska, a 'Horns player roughed Husker quarterback Zak Taylor well after Taylor threw the football. This gave Nebraska one last untimed down. Outside of allowing a hail mary touchdown on the play, a penalty is the worst thing that can happen to a defense in that position. That's what the offense is praying for, a miracle touchdown or a penalty to give them a better chance.

The Conference Yo of the Week
For the second straight week, I'm going to award this to the Pac 10 conference. The only blow-out came in the Arizona State/Stanford game and anymore, that's to be expected. Ohio would probably blow-out Stanford. Arizona and Oregon State locked horns in a good one, with the Beavers pulling out a tough 17-10 victory in Tucson. UCLA beat Notre Dame for 59 minutes before they played soft on defense and allowed the Irish to score the game-winning touchdown. Washington State upset Oregon 34-23 on Saturday. Finally, Cal beat Washington 31-24 in overtime. Outside of Stanford, every team in that conference is competitive and outside of Stanford and probably Arizona, every team in that conference will be battling for bowl eligibility down the stretch.

The Conference Yo No of the Week
For the second consecutive week, I'm dishing this out to the Big Ten. Conferences are winning these in streaks, aren't they? I was not impressed with the Big Ten this week. Indiana went from upsetting Iowa to falling to Ohio State by 41 points. Penn State went from losing by only 7 to Michigan to beating Illinois 26-12 and even that score is a bit deceptive. Penn State scored on a 5-yard fumble return for a touchdown, a safety, and a punt return for a touchdown late in the game. If Illinois found a way to score touchdowns as opposed to field goals, they may have pulled off the upset. Minnesota beat Division I-AA North Dakota State by the score of 10-9! NDSU even had a chance to win the game at the end. The Bison attempted what would have been a game-winning field goal, but the GO-phers blocked it to seal the victory. Purdue got beat up by Wisconsin 24-3. Michigan didn't look dominant against Iowa, and yet the 'Hawks definitely didn't play their best football in the Wolverines' 20-6 win. Finally, Northwestern led Michigan State 38-3 before the Spartans woke up and decided it was time to play again, in their 41-38 comeback win over the Tamecats. After Ohio State, Michigan, and maybe Wisconsin, the Big Ten is weak. Iowa has been hampered by injuries this year. Purdue doesn't appear to be as good as their record indicates (5-3). Minnesota is 3-5 and almost fell to North Dakota State! Michigan State played for a quarter and a half against Northworstern and found a way to end their four-game losing streak. Penn State looks to be a decent football team overall, but not as solid as they were a year ago. Indiana has been a somewhat pleasant surprise. Illinois is too young to show much spark on a consistent basis. Finally, Northwestern can now be referred to as Northworstern. The Big Ten should thank the ACC, because as far as I see it, the ACC is the only major conference worse this year than the Big Ten.

Game(s) of the Week
As I noted at the start, since there were so many quality games this weekend, I'll be counting down the top five.

5. Tennessee 16 Alabama 13- If you like those SEC slugfests, then this was the game for you. 'Bama did what they had to do to stay in the ball game and potentially win it at the end. They hung on to the football and kept the 'Vols offense in check. Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge, whose been superb almost all year, threw three interceptions and did not throw a touchdown pass against the stingy Tide defense. But, as good teams find a way to do, Tennessee found a way to win the game, scoring a touchdown late in the 4th quarter (their only touchdown in the game) to go up 16-13.

4. Michigan State 41 Northwestern 38- I was in utter shock when I saw the score of this one. Northwestern led 38-3 in the 3rd quarter! The worst team in the Big Ten was about to send the reeling Spartans to their 5th consecutive loss and John L. Smith a couple words from Donald Trump. Somehow, someway, MSU came back to kick a game-winning field goal with 13 seconds on the clock to win 41-38. The 35-point deficit marked the biggest comeback in Division I-A football history. How do you lose a 35-point 3rd quarter lead? Perhaps MSU should be patting their own backs (in more ways than one). Maybe NW had watched MSU's performance against Notre Dame and were inspired by that video to blow the lead against the Spartans.

3. Notre Dame 20 UCLA 17- To my surprise, this game was more similar to the SEC battle than the shootout between Michigan State and Northwestern. With Charlie Weiss on the sidelines, Brady Quinn behind center, Darius Walker at tailback, and the likes of Jeff Samardzija and Randy McKnight at receiver lined up against a Pac 10 defense, that's usually a good matchup for the Irish. The same goes the other way, with a UCLA offense that isn't bashful about putting up points and the Irish defense has been anything but superb. UCLA had a slight edge throughout. They didn't do much on the offensive side of the ball, but pressured Brady Quinn, rattled him, and kept the usually explosive offense in check. Like the MSU/NW game, this one went right down to the wire, when Quinn completed a 47-yard touchdown pass to the always dependable (and clutch) Jeff Sarmardzija with 27 seconds left.

2. Texas 22 Nebraska 20- It was cold, windy, snow even fell during a portion of the game. It was Texas freshman quarterback Colt McCoy's first road game outside of Texas. Some tell me it was his first GAME outside of Texas, but if the road games aren't outside the state, it's pretty obvious that the home games aren't either. So, it was Colt's first road game in these type of weather conditions. While Texas appeared to have control throughout most of the game, Nebraska came back swinging and took a 20-19 lead late in the contest. NU appeared to have the game toward the end after Zak Taylor completed a pass to wideout Terrence Nunn which would be good enough for a first down, but Nunn fumbled the ball and the 'Horns recovered. This led to a game-winning field goal with just a few seconds left on the clock.

1. California 31 Washington 24 OT- This was back and forth all throughout. Just when Cal looked to be taking control, Washington would strike back and vice versa. Late in the game, Cal led 24-17. Washington was at around the Cal 40 when they launched a hail mary on the last play of regulation. Three Cal defenders tipped the ball at the goalline and it went right into the hands of a Husky who scored the touchdown. With the PAT, Washington tied the game at 24 and sent it into overtime. In the OT session, Cal running back sensation Marshawn Lynch scored on a lengthy touchdown run to lead 31-24 and the Huskies didn't respond. There were plenty of great games this weekend, but from start to finish, this had to of been the best and most exciting of them all.

Biggest Disappointment of the Week
This definitely goes to Georgia Tech/Clemson. These were (possibly are) the top two teams in the ACC conference. It was such a hyped up matchup that the GameDay crew were there and it earned the primetime spot on ESPN. Clemson dominated from start to finish (even though the score may not have indicated that). Tech's quarterback Reggie Ball looked unhealthy and played like it. He did not connect with stud wideout Calvin Johnson for the entire game! The offense was ineffective, so the Yellow Jacket defense was out on the field the majority of the game and they got worn down because of it. Two Clemson backs ran for 100 yards each in the 31-7 beating.

Kudos
Survival. Even though I don't like a lot of the teams who did the surviving this weekend, I have to give them props. The likes of Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, Louisville, Notre Dame, California and others got scares on Saturday, but found ways to win. Texas battled Nebraska, cold weather, snow, and a noisy crowd. Tennessee was forced to play an Alabama-type game. Michigan was held in check offensively for the most part. Louisville looked out of sync for the second straight week with Brian Brohm returning as quarterback. Notre Dame was pounded by the UCLA defense for 59 minutes. Washington tied the game with Cal on a last second hail mary. Yet, even with all these distractions in the face of these teams, they found a way to win.

No Kudos
Minnesota. Glen Mason has done a very solid job at Minnesota. They've been a regular in bowl games since he took over. But, I'd be shocked if they went bowling again this year. After Saturday, Minnesota is 3-5, with those wins coming against 0-8 Temple, Division I-AA North Dakota State by 1 point, and an early season win against 5-2 Kent State. Kent State, Temple, and North Dakota State. That's quite the resume'. If Minnesota were to play Kent State again, I'd pick the Golden Flashes. I don't know why Minnesota has fallen so fast this year, but Mason's got to turn them around and in a hurry if he wants to see a 13th game this year.

Player(s) of the Week
This goes to the Clemson Tigers' backfield and the job they did against the usually stingy Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets' defense. Remember, Tech is a team that held Notre Dame to 14 points. Clemson's starting back Davis ran for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns and his backup Spiller ran for an additional 116, a touchdown, and also caught a 50-yard touchdown reception. They combined for 332 yards on the ground and three scores and that doesn't even include their receptions.

Surprise of the Week
I'm going with San Diego State's 19-12 win over Air Force and Eastern Michigan's 17-13 victory over Toledo. Why? Well, SDSU came into their meeting with Air Force 0-5. Air Force was 3-2 with one of those losses coming by 1 point to Tennessee. Eastern Michigan was 0-6 going into their game with Toledo before notching their first victory against the Rockets.

Nebraska Game (from an unbiased person's viewpoint)
While Texas may have been the favorite and may have had the more talent of the two clubs, everything else worked against the Longhorns in this game. Redshirt freshman quarterback Colt McCoy was going into a foreign environment: cold, loud, windy, and snowy. Texas hadn't played a road game outside the state of Texas this season. A road game in Lincoln was to be McCoy's first test. It was cold and ugly on Saturday, with winds that blew the ball away just before the center was to snap it to the quarterback. I've seen that happen on kickoffs, but not just before a snap. And Chicago calls itself the windy city!

Even with all those factors, Colt McCoy was not phased. For a redshirt freshman, he was very poised and aware in the pocket. He didn't make any dumb decisions and even managed to gain a few yards on the ground when the time called for it.

As for the rest of the Texas offense, they ran a fairly balanced attack. but outside of one long touchdown pass from McCoy to Sweed, Nebraska's defense played a solid bend but don't break. While Texas ran for over 100 yards, they only had two lengthy runs, one by both Charles and Young, they weren't able to run the ball successfully on a consistent basis. Outside of the long touchdown pass to Sweed, the passing game wasn't too efficient. McCoy completed the majority of his throws, but for a minimal amount of yards (especially if one excludes the long touchdown pass).

On offense, Nebraska showed spark off and on, because of one man, tailback Brandon Jackson. He ran a shovel pass in for a key touchdown and was the only semi-successful tailback on the day for NU. On the day, Nebraska averaged less than two yards per carry. Zak Taylor's completion percentage was average, but for the amount of completions (even attempts) he had, the yardage was very efficient. There was just too few sparks on the offensive side of the ball and not enough on the ground for NU to pull out the victory.

Special teams is the area that Texas almost beat itself. Perhaps due to the wind (who knows), Texas missed two field goals and not long ones. They also had an extra point blocked.

The playcalling was solid for Nebraska. While they didn't run the ball well, Callahan wasn't as stubborn as he had been in the past (ahem: USC). When the running game wasn't working well, Callahan accepted that and went to the passing game, which opened a couple decent runs in the second half. He also pulled out his bag of trick on NU's final drive. They ran a double reverse that gained significant yardage and also a halfback pass that resulted in the go-ahead touchdown. Defensively, Nebraska got some pressure on McCoy, didn't allow the running game to beat them time and time again, and outside of one long pass play, held the aerial attack in check.

Nebraska does need to be careful about next week's game in Stillwater. It has all the makings of a trap. It's placed right between their 22-20 home loss to Texas and a potential Big XII North decider with Missouri. Okie State is 4-3 and have had a recent history of upsetting teams in Stillwater. The Cowboys can score in chunks. Their problem has been on the defensive side of the ball. If NU is able to avoid mistakes, they should be able to outscore the Cowboys. If they play carelessly at all, though, or look ahead to their matchup with Missouri, it has all the ingredients of a loss.

Solich Update
In an intense nationally hyped matchup between former Husker greats Frank Solich and Turner Gill, Solich's Bobcats won a squeaker over the Bulls 42-7 to improve to 3-1 in the MAC and 5-3 overall.

Gill Update
Just look above and also, Gill's Buffalo squad is now 0-5 in the MAC conference and 1-6 overall.

Rant of the Week: BCS
Why is Auburn ranked #5 and Notre Dame #9 in the BCS? The top three spots are fine. All three teams are unbeaten and two of the three square off in a few weeks, so it'll all play itself out without any problems. But after those top three is where we run into major problems. Did you know that three of the seven unbeatens left in Division I-A college football reside in the Big East conference? Louisville is #8 in the BCS, West Virginia is #4, and Rutgers is way down there, around #15 I think. West Virginia and Louisville square off in a couple weeks, so, following that, there will be, at the most, 2 unbeatens left in the Big East. There's a very good chance that a Big East team will finish the regular season undefeated. But, with Auburn at #5, Florida at #6, Texas at #7, Notre Dame at #9, and even California at #10, will those teams be able to leapfrog the Big East schools because of the perception that the Big East is the weakest major conference in football? Also, with the SEC and Big XII having a conference championship game, will that up the chances for an unbeaten Big East school to get leapfrogged as the season progresses? Outside of an early season game with Washington State (who I think would put up a much better fight now), Auburn has not played a tough non-conference. They even had problems with 1-6 Buffalo. Their loss was a 27-10 defeat at the hands of Arkansas. Texas got crushed by Ohio State 24-7 and that was their only tough non-conference game. Their two most impressive wins are inner-conference victories against Oklahoma and Nebraska. Notre Dame got annihilated by Michigan, had to make a comeback against an average Michigan State (4-4) squad, beat a fairly average Purdue (5-3) team, beat the winless Stanford Cardinal, and needed a miracle against UCLA (4-3). Cal got hammered by Tennessee to start the season. Meanwhile, Clemson's only loss was a 1 point overtime defeat at the hands of 6-1 Boston College. Louisville, Rutgers, and Boise State are undefeated. Who have they beaten? Louisville demolished Miami (Florida) 31-7 and beat Kansas State in Manhattan (without Brian Brohm or Michael Bush) 24-6. Rutgers shutout Illinois, beat 6-2 Pittsburgh this past Saturday, 5-3 Ohio, and the always stingy South Florida Bulls. Boise State beat the Pac 10 Oregon State Beavers 42-14. OSU has a 14-0 lead in that game, before BSU scored 42 straight points. They also beat the high-flying Hawaii Warriors (5-2) and the pesky Wyoming Cowboys (4-4) who are a few points away from being undefeated. What's the only way to settle this? A playoff. It's too early to tell at this point, but as usual, I can see the BCS transforming into the BS by season's end.

My Top 119 Poll
1. Ohio State (8-0): 186.0
2. Michigan (8-0): 177.4
3. USC (6-0): 175.9
4. Louisville (7-0): 169.5
5. Rutgers (7-0): 165.8
6. Boise State (8-0): 165.3
7. Florida (6-1): 164.5
8. Clemson (7-1): 163.7
9. Texas (7-1): 163.1
10. West Virginia (7-0): 162.7
11. Tennessee (6-1): 158.5
12. Auburn (7-1): 158.4
13. California (7-1): 156.2
14. Wisconsin (7-1): 152.1
15. LSU (6-2): 150.1
16. Boston College (6-1): 149.9
17. Missouri (7-1): 149.8
18. Notre Dame (6-1): 149.2
19. Texas A&M (7-1): 148.8
20. Arkansas (6-1): 143.7
21. Nebraska (6-2): 141.2
22. Tulsa (6-1): 139.3
23. Oklahoma (5-2): 137.1
24. BYU (5-2): 136.6
25. Pittsburgh (6-2): 135.3
26. Georgia Tech (5-2): 133.6
27. Oregon (5-2): 129.8
28. Washington State (5-3): 129.5
29. Wake Forest (6-1): 128.0
30. Virginia Tech (5-2): 127.0
31. Hawaii (5-2); 126.9
32. South Carolina (5-2): 122.7
33. Iowa (5-3): 121.6
34. Oklahoma State (4-3): 120.6
35. Penn State (5-3): 120.4
36. Georgia (6-2): 120.1
36. Texas Tech (5-3): 120.1
38. Navy (5-2): 119.7
39. Florida State (4-3): 119.0
40. Alabama (5-3): 118.1
41. TCU (4-2): 117.9
42. Houston (5-3): 117.7
43. Ohio (5-3): 116.9
43. Oregon State (4-3): 116.9
45. Maryland (5-2): 116.5
46. Western Michigan (5-2): 116.3
47. Miami (Florida) (5-2): 115.4
48. Central Michigan (5-3): 113.3
49. UCLA (4-3): 111.8
50. Southern Mississippi (4-3): 110.4
51. Michigan State (4-4): 110.3
52. Louisiana-Lafayette (4-2): 109.6
53. Washington (4-4): 109.2
54. Air Force (3-3): 107.8
55. Kent State (5-2): 107.5
56. Cincinnati (4-4): 107.1
57. Wyoming (4-4): 106.0
58. Arizona State (4-3): 105.3
59. Northern Illinois (5-3): 104.5
60. Purdue (5-3): 104.3
61. Nevada (4-3): 103.6
62. Kansas State (4-4): 102.8
63. South Florida (5-3): 101.8
64. Utah (4-4): 101.2
65. UTEP (4-3): 100.9
66. Minnesota (3-5): 99.3
67. Arkansas State (5-2): 98.7
68. East Carolina (3-4): 97.8
69. North Carolina State (3-4): 97.2
70. Connecticut (3-4): 97.1
71. Middle Tennessee State (4-3): 96.2
72. Syracuse (3-5): 96.0
73. Kentucky (3-4): 94.8
74. Bowling Green (4-4): 94.2
75. Baylor (4-4): 94.0
76. Indiana (4-4): 93.5
77. SMU (4-4): 92.5
78. San Jose State (4-2): 91.7
79. Vanderbilt (3-5): 90.4
80. New Mexico (4-4): 90.3
81. Army (3-5): 88.9
82. Akron (3-4): 88.0
83. Virginia (3-5): 87.5
84. Colorado State (4-3): 86.9
85. Kansas (3-5): 85.8
86. Idaho (4-4): 84.0
87. Arizona (3-5): 78.8
88. Rice (3-5): 78.5
89. Iowa State (3-5): 77.6
90. UAB (3-5): 75.6
91. New Mexico State (2-5): 74.6
92. Mississippi State (2-6): 74.5
93. Mississippi (2-6): 74.1
94. Illinois (2-6): 71.0
95. Marshall (2-5): 69.8
96. Tulane (2-5): 69.7
97. North Texas (2-5): 67.4
98. Ball State (2-6): 67.0
99. Troy (2-4): 66.7
100. Louisiana Tech (2-5): 66.2
101. San Diego State (1-5): 65.0
102. Central Florida (2-5): 64.8
103. Colorado (1-7): 64.0
104. Toledo (2-6): 61.3
105. Fresno State (1-6): 59.4
106. Northwestern (2-6): 58.1
107. Florida Atlantic (2-5): 56.0
108. North Carolina (1-6): 55.8
109. Memphis (1-6): 53.4
110. Miami (Ohio) (1-7): 49.9
111. UNLV (1-6): 49.8
112. Louisiana-Monroe (1-6): 49.4
113. Florida International (0-7): 48.2
114. Eastern Michigan (1-6): 45.0
115. Utah State (1-7): 42.2
116. Buffalo (1-6): 39.6
117. Stanford (0-8): 39.1
118. Duke (0-7): 34.5
119. Temple (0-8): 25.0