College Football: Week 5 and Week 6 Round-Up with Da' Whiz

By Brian Wisowaty

I wrote only two short weeks ago that this college football season was becoming bland.

Then, the Beavers struck.

Perhaps Oregon State read the WSOU Sports Blog and thought it was absurd to declare Southern Cal the runaway national title favorites after only five short weeks. Their stunning upset of the (at the time No. 1) Trojans, 27-21, has opened up the door for many programs across the land.



The problem with USC may not be that they have been overrated or overhyped, but rather that the Beavers play them extremely close in Oregon State. Consider the two most recent scores for Beavers/Trojans matchups in Corvallis, excluding this year:

Oct. 28, 2006: OSU 33, No. 3 USC 31
Nov. 6, 2004: No. 1 USC 28, OSU 20

Aside from the win/loss split, the Beavers rose to the occasion against the Trojans in both meetings, despite being big underdogs against a highly-ranked team. Impressive to say the least. So, here we are in early October with Southern Cal playing catch-up. Oklahoma will prove whether or not they are for real with Saturday’s Red River Rivalry game versus Texas.

And, if the Longhorns follow suit like Oregon State, my two “solid” predictions may be shattered.

Time to restore some credibility around here and reexamine the national title picture. In doing so, we’ll be able to see how exciting of a college football ride is coming up.

The contenders:

Missouri
The Tigers have stars all over the offense and an easy end to regular season play. I still get worried about the Big 12 Title game, let alone the Oct. 18 date with Texas. Essentially, the fate of Missouri may lie with the Longhorns. If UT can beat Oklahoma on Saturday, they’ll be among the top in the nation and ready for Mizzou come the 18th. But if the Longhorns fall to the Sooners, they might be just in position for the “angry upset”. Regardless, I’ll go with Texas to get it done versus the Tigers.

Texas
As to not rehash the above, the Longhorns have two key tests coming up. Look for UT to split. (That essentially gives my Saturday pick away – I like OU to win the Red River Rivalry.)

Penn State/Ohio State
I combine both here because of their Big Ten status. The Nittany Lions may be for real, but the Buckeyes are not. Terelle Pryor has done a nice job under center for OSU, however the ground game has not been the same since Chris Wells was hit with injury. Penn State will be the best in the Big Ten at the end of November, and should avoid upset through the next two months. It won’t be easy though, at Joe Paterno’s squad will meet Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio State consecutively in October.

The SEC field
Florida proved they can be beat, as I mentioned, when QB Tim Tebow is pressured on defense and a coverage unit can lock down the speedy receivers for the Gators. Nicely played by Ole Miss.

Georgia looked like they left their poise on the team bus when Alabama drubbed them with over four touchdowns in the first half en route to a 41-30 win. You cannot take a national title with an effort like that, or lack thereof.

Alabama escaped by three over Kentucky last week. That’s a legit problem, but the Crimson Tide look defensively ready to be a national title and BCS player. They’re the best in the SEC overall and should win the conference.

LSU, too, has taken care of business despite a scare or two (see:Auburn).

Again, I cannot see one of these teams running the table completely in such a rough conference. The Gators and Bulldogs have fallen, and I see Alabama (at LSU on Nov. 8) and LSU (within the three game stretch of at Florida, at South Carolina, and vs. Georgia) picking up the proverbial “L”. Though the Crimson Tide might win the SEC with only one loss, that might not be enough to hoist the glass football in early 2009.

Brigham Young
They don’t deserve to be in the national title hunt because they play in the Mountain West. Going to Utah on Nov. 22 should make it official.

To reevaluate, I’ll take Penn State running the table of the Big Ten to be undefeated at year’s end. I’ll keep with Oklahoma, also without a loss, to meet them and win it all.

Then again, this weekend (for a second time) could change all that. The joys of college football: every week counts.





The opinions mentioned here are solely those of the author of this post and are not shared by other posters on this site or the site creator

The surprises are just about over – it’ll be USC and Oklahoma

By Brian Wisowaty

Has the 2008 college football season begun to lose its luster?

The feel-good story of my last post, East Carolina, seems to be no more. A dramatic 30-24 defeat in overtime at North Carolina State bumped the Pirates all the way out of the USA Today poll. Seemingly, a pretty harsh response to the team’s first loss of the season.

Now the eyes of the nation can shift to Brigham Young, the No. 11 team in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today poll. That victory for the Cougars over Washington on the heels of Jake Locker’s “excessive celebration” (and I use that term loosely) is now key as BYU preps for Utah State, New Mexico, and TCU in October.
In other words, we’re left with a BYU team that, at best, is questionably undefeated at this point.

Meanwhile, on the national title hunt, an injury and conference quality has almost trimmed the “legitimate contender” field down to two or three. Consider Ohio State, the clear class of the Big Ten. While that matchup at Southern California two weeks back would have been difficult no matter what, the loss of Chris Wells at halfback for the game made it a blowout.



Moving up and down the AP’s top ten teams, it can only be expected for LSU and Alabama to find out the hard way that the SEC is the toughest conference in the land. As happens every year, these teams will catch a hungry rival this fall, probably on the road, and get beat for the first time. In fact, it nearly happened to the Tigers the past week, just escaping Auburn with the 26-21 win.

I’m also not a big believer in the back end of that top ten, Wisconsin (No. 9) and Texas Tech (No. 10). The Red Raiders can score a ton, but do not belong defensively on the same field as many of the programs in front of them in the polls. And, the Badgers have not played anyone yet. Let’s see them get past back-to-back home contests versus Ohio State and Penn State in early October without a loss.

We are then left with the top tier of a few select programs and the teams chasing them.

Can Missouri stay on the field and compete with Oklahoma?

Will Texas be able to take their annual meeting with the Sooners in the Red River Rivalry game?

Again, I stand by the Sooners explosive offense and physical defense. The answer to both those questions: a resounding no.

Moving forward, can Georgia and Florida run the table in the SEC?

I really don’t think anyone can survive the overall top-to-bottom talent in that league. Florida is very good, but Miami (FL) proved that an effective blitz scheme can stop Tim Tebow in his tracks for a bit. The Gators can be beat. I’d go out on a limb and say it will be Georgia getting it done against the Gators with their November 1 matchup “between in hedges” in Athens.



In regards to the Bulldogs, the SEC Title game can be what hurts their national title hopes most. It’s a tough spot, especially if Georgia goes in undefeated against a one-loss, angry conference foe trying to play spoiler. Nonetheless, prior to postseason play, I’d keep an eye out for Bulldogs’ November 15 game at Auburn as a legit chance for a regular season loss. We’ll learn a lot about Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno and company on that day. I’m not confident enough in the Tigers that late in the season to call the upset, but it will be close no matter what.

That leaves the Trojans all alone at the top. Enjoy the Pac 10, no conference title game, and talent far better than Oregon has. They will cruise to the BCS Championship Game.

The Sooners will also have enough to join them there. No national title “BCS-busters” this year. For better or for worse, a big element of this college football season is simply waiting for the SEC to catch up with Georgia and Florida, respectively.



The opinions mentioned here are solely those of the author of this post and are not shared by other posters on this site or the site creator

College Football Week 2: Lets Go ECU Pirates!

By Brian Wisowaty

By virtue of team nickname, maybe Seton Hall fans can jump on the red-hot East Carolina bandwagon. After stunning the Virginia Tech Hokies on the first Saturday of the college football season, the Pirates put a beat-down on Pat White and the visiting West Virginia Mountaineers, 24-3.



Keep in mind, West Virginia came into the game as the number eight team in the nation.

Is this a case of a hot start, or perhaps was ECU just underrated from the start? Consider the leader on the field for the Pirates, quarterback Patrick Pinkney. His father was under center at QB for the team way back when, thus giving us a nice father-to-son overture in this story. Statistically, younger Pinkney went 22 of 28 against West Virginia, including a touchdown and 236 passing yards.

Against the Hokies on August 30: 19 of 23 for 211 yards and a TD. Looking at the line scores for him, he has two individual quarterback ratings above the 160.0 mark to start a season. Not bad for a player that not many people even knew about three weeks ago.

And for East Carolina, the road gets a bit easier as the year goes on. A trip to Tulane is on the radar for next Saturday, with contests at Virginia, at UCF, and versus UTEP later on this season. Other than those, the schedule isn’t too daunting.

It can get rough if the Pirates stay hot, simply because the lower-level teams on the schedule will circle the upcoming match-up against them and try to play spoiler. Plus, the emotional drop-off after beating two ranked major-conference teams might keep need week’s game “closer than the experts think”.

But, I’d trust Pinkney and the Pirates to keep it rolling. East Carolina should hit the polls this week ranked somewhere between 15 and 25. But, most importantly, it’s way too early to mention BCS talk for these kids.

Quick hits:

• Gosh, did Notre Dame ever give its fans a scare at home versus San Diego State. Quarterback Jimmy Claussen bailed the Fighting Irish out of a loss that could have set things back painfully for the team. It could be a long season in South Bend if this keeps up.

• The personal foul for excessive celebration assessed to Washington quarterback Jake Locker was absolute ludicrous in their game versus Brigham Young. In case you missed it, a last second scramble run by Locker brought the Huskies within one point, but the penalty pushed the PAT attempt back 15 yards. Of course, BYU blocked the kick and escaped with a one point win. The foul came, as the officials said, because Locker flipped the ball over his shoulder, or “tossed it into the air” (not to the official or near the line of scrimmage). Give me a break. Interpret the rules to keep the game in the players’ hands. On a related note, kudos to the Washington coaches and players in staying respectful of the atrocious decision by the Pac 10 officiating crew.

• USC and Ohio State have survived weeks one and two. Now, we have a week three showdown in The Coliseum to shake up the national title mix. The injury to Buckeyes HB Chris Wells in week one hurt them versus Ohio in game two, but he should return against the Trojans.

• Pitt, after embarrassing themselves last weekend and proving head coach Dave Wannstadt may be on his way out, picked up a redemption win against Buffalo. Though the Bulls aren’t a conference foe, a loss to them would have sent the Panthers into an early tailspin.

• The Rutgers loss to Fresno State in week one showed (a) HB Ray Rice will be greatly missed and (b) QB Mike Teel still has work to do. The problem is that we’ve been saying this about Teel for years.

• Miami hung tough with Florida, despite the final score not indicating such. Aside being disgusted with UF coach Urban Meyer in seemingly trying to run up the score late (QB Tim Tebow was launching deep passes for no reason in the fourth quarter), I leave the game as a Hurricanes fan very optimistic about the future. It’s also worth noting that a questionable and controversial overturned call gave the Gators a red zone visit that broke the 9-3 barrier down and started the scoring. Had the call stood, and it probably should have in my opinion, “The U” would have forced a punt and maybe kept the upset brewing at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Nevertheless, it’s onto Texas A&M for Miami in two weeks, while Florida preps for a trip to Knoxville, Tennessee and an SEC showdown with the Vols.




The opinions mentioned here are solely those of the author of this piece and are not shared by other posters on this site or the site creator