College Football - Week 8 Review

Random Musings on Week 8

Editors Note: Special thanks to the hottest band in the land, KISS, for providing the titles for each of this week's musings...and on a related note, if you get a chance to see the Paul Stanley solo tour this fall, be prepared to have your face rocked off for 2 hours

1. Hard Times - Just last week, University of Miami, Florida football was the talk of the college football world after their brawl with Florida International. The once-mighty Hurricanes came very, very close to being the fodder for sports radio shows across the country, but this time, an interception on the goal line saved Larry Coker's program from a loss at the hands of Duke. Sure, Miami(FL) was without 13 players against the Blue Devils, but this is Hurricane football where depth should not be an issue when playing one of the worst football programs in Division I football. A 20-15 victory on the road over Duke is an embarassment to the once proud Hurricane football program, and should the Blue Devils have punched in that final touchdown to win the game, Larry Coker's tenure in Coral Gables would have immediately ended. I don't even think Butch Davis can save this program right now. Something just seems to be missing from the "U" - and the obvious answer is a running game. Against a less than formidable Blue Devil defense, the Hurricanes managed only 37 yards on 25 carries - that's less than 2 yards per carry! Nevertheless, Miami(FL) is 5-2 overall and could take the lead in the ACC's Coastal Division with a win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta this coming weekend. How sad is it?

2. Easy As It Seems - There are not many freshmen quarterbacks in the history of college football that can step under center for a powerhouse program and have the kind of success that Colt McCoy is having for the University of Texas this season. Not only is McCoy taking over for one of the most exciting players in the last decade of college football, but he is guiding a Top 10 ranked team to what could be back-to-back national champioships...and he is making it look easy. Through eight games this year, McCoy has 20 touchdown passes and only 3 interceptions. This past weekend, he took his Longhorn team on the road against a Top 25 ranked Nebraska team and played almost flawlessly in less than savory conditions (snow falling, 20 plus mph wind blowing in his face). Of course, what impressed me the most was that he engineered the game-winning scoring drive with less than 2 minutes to go, on the road...and oh yeah, with Vince Young watching him from the sidelines...and what he was one cool customer in taking the Longhorns down to the 5 yard line before Ryan Bailey nailed the game winning field goal. I'd say the quarterback position in Austin is going to be in good hands for the next 4 years.

3. Two Sides of the Coin - Michigan State may be the most hard to figure out team in college football. The Spartans play an almost flawless three quarters of football before blowing a 17 point lead to Notre Dame in East Lansing. Then, the next week, Michigan State loses to Illinois at home to give the Fighting Illini their first conference win since 2004. So, I'm sure that Michigan State fans were ready to give up any chance of a bowl game this year when they watched a 2-5 Northwestern team go up 38-3 over the Spartans with under 10 minutes to go in the third quarter. But what transpired over the final quarter and half was truly magical...the Spartans reeled up 38 straight point to stage a dramatic 41-38 victory in Evanston, Illinois. This is the type of win that inspire a team to finish the year on a roll and perhaps even save a coach's job. I know that this is what Coach John L. Smith is hoping for from his Spartans. At 4-4 and with upcoming games against Purdue, Indiana, Minnesota, and Penn State, there is a good chance that the Spartans could roll off 4 straight wins to end the year and get to a respectable bowl game. Of course, Michigan State fans have to wonder what might have been for this season if the Spartans had been able to knock off Notre Dame and Illinois...and John L. Smith has to wonder just what it will take for him to keep his job with Steve Mariucci waiting in the wings.

4. Got to Choose - Will the real Erik Ainge please stand up? Tennessee Volunteer fans never know what to expect from the junior quarterback, even though most of the chatter this season regarding Ainge is that new offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe is finally getting Ainge to perfom up to his ability. If that's the case and Ainge is performing up to his ability, I think everyone has misjudged just how good Ainge is. Sure, Ainge can pile up great stats against the Marshalls, the Air Forces, and even the Californias of the college football world, but when it comes to playing in tough rivalry games in the SEC, Ainge just doesn't seem up to the task. The latest chapter for the Vols and its inegimatic quarterback took place in Knoxville against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Yes, the Volunteers did come away with a gutty win after trailing for over 56 minutes of the game, but Ainge threw 3 interceptions and missed terribly on several first half passes while still throwing for over 300 yards on 28 of 46 passing. With not much of a running game to support Ainge, - just 57 yards of 21 carries against the Tide - this is Ainge's team. He will have to carry the Vols on his shoulders if Tennessee is going to remain in the hunt for the SEC East title. So, for Ainge, it is time to choose what type of quarterback he will be down the stretch..and just how far the Vols will go.

5. Tears are Falling - Poor UCLA....I truly feel sorry for the Bruins, and I'm sure after Saturday's gut wrenching loss in South Bend, Indiana to Notre Dame, plenty of tears were falling back in Los Angeles. To have the Fighting Irish down by 4 points with 62 seconds left in the game and starting 80 yards away from the end zone and still lose is the type of loss that often will ruin a team's season. It will be interesting to see just how the Bruins respond to this loss. I still am just baffled at how a solid defensive team like UCLA could let Brady Quinn move his team 80 yards in just three plays! I loathe the prevent defense, but isn't the prevent supposed to prevent big plays when the offense is in need of a miracle. Everyone in America knows that Quinn is going to look for WR Jeff Samardzija when the game is on the line. But nevertheless, this was a game everyone expected Notre Dame to win...so in regards to the bigger picture, this dramatic win keeps Notre Dame in the hunt for not only a BCS bowl game, but possibly a trip to the BCS title game in Glendale, Arizona. And if by some chance Notre Dame does manage to work its way into the national title game, there will be more tears falling than those that fell in the wake of UCLA's loss on Saturday. Notre Dame has proven itself to not be among the nation's elite teams with close calls against Georgia Tech, Michigan State, and now UCLA. Add in the thorough dismantling of the Irish by Michigan, and it is quite obvious that Notre Dame is living on borrowed time. Unfortunately, for those of us pulling against the Fighting Irish, upcoming games against Navy, Air Force, North Carolina, and Army are going to keep Charlie Weis and his team in the national championship hunt. I would consider it a personal favor if Notre Dame would 'man up' (to borrow a phrase from ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike show) and join a freaking conference!

6. Rise to It - The center of the college football world was in Clemson, South Carolina this past Saturday. It has been a long time since a Clemson football game mattered on the national stage...well, other than the overhyped Bowden Bowls we have all had to sit through the past seven years....but on Saturday, the Tigers of Clemson had College GameDay on their campus for the first team ever to taunt the battle for ACC supremacy between Clemson and Georgia Tech. With the national spotlight on Tommy Bowden and his Tigers, Clemson certainly rose to the occassion...and even went beyond what anyone could imagine. Aside for the dynamic running tandem of James Davis and CJ Spiller gaining a combined 332 yards on the ground and blowing the Jackets out by a score of 31-7, the most astonishing stat of the game was that Georgia Tech star receiver Calvin Johnson was held without a catch. Yes, for the first time in his career, Johnson did not catch a pass. I'm sure prior to Saturday night's blowout, the Clemson coaching staff and fans had to reliving the 2004 game against Georgia Tech when Johnson stole a win away from the Tigers in Death Valley. The Clemson defense was the story on Saturday night, and Coach Bowden even gave the game ball to defensive coordinator Vic Koenning in honor of his squad's performance. In his tenure at Clemson, Tommy Bowden has never had a strong defense, but this could finally be the year his team is able to produce on both sides of the ball. Clemson is now clearly in the driver's seat for the ACC Atlantic Division title and a berth in the ACC Championship Game in Jacksonville....but Clemson fans may want to start keeping their eyes on the national picture as well. If Clemson can survive this weekend's visit to Blacksburg to battle Virginia Tech, then a 11-1 regular season could be very likely as the Tigers close the year with Maryland, NC State, and South Carolina at home. How big does that missed extra point against Boston College look now for the Tigers??

7. Great Expectations - Okay, it's time for everyone to realize that Rutgers is a legit Big East team and that the expectations in the sixth year of the Greg Schiano era are now at an all-time high. With a 20-10 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday night, the Scarlet Knights are now 7-0 on the season and look like a team ready to challenge West Virginia and Louisville for a trip to a BCS bowl game. Rutgers went undefeated 30 years ago, and this year's team appears to have the kind of savvy and determination to run the table in the Big East. Most of the so-called 'experts' (Corso, Herbstreit, and myself included) predicted Pittsburgh to end the Rutgers' winning streak after Pittsburgh had won its previous four games. What is truly amazing about this Rutgers team is that the Scarlet Knights have the 113th ranked passing offense in the country, and opposing defenses STILL cannot stop the running back combo of Ray Rice and Brian Leonard. With games against #6 Louisville and #4 West Virginia still on the schedule, Rutgers will get a chance to prove just how good they really are. Should Rutgers knock off Louisville in New Brunswick on the national stage - Thursday night, ESPN primetime - then, the Scarlet Knights will truly know great expectations.

8. I've Had Enough - I imagine that Chuck Long didn't think that it would take this long into his inaugrual season as the head coach of San Diego State to get his first win, but for Coach Long, the wait is finally over. With a 19-12 victory over 3-3 Air Force, the Aztecs are winless no more. Chuck Long will always hold a special place in my heart after he finished a close second to Bo Jackson in the 1985 Heisman race...how anyone could think that Chuck Long is even close to as good a football as Bo Jackson is unfathomable to me, but I digress...back to the Aztecs. San Diego State, the school that produced Marshall Faulk and the team that I used in 1996 to win the Auburn University Sega College Football championship (because George Jones was unstoppable!), is not supposed to lumped into the winless category with schools like Temple, Florida International, and Duke. It appeared that the Aztecs were spinning out of control after tough losses to UTEP and Wisconsin to start the season but a hard fought win over a solid Air Force team should give Coach Long a good foundation on which to build, especially since the Aztecs take on Cal Poly next week...so a two game win streak is very likely. Still, a bowl game this year doesn't seem like a tangible goal for San Diego State, but getting back to respectability should be the goal for this once proud program.



And now, one man's attempt to rank the Top 25 teams in the country....

1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. USC
4. West Virginia
5. Auburn
6. Texas
7. Louisville
8. Florida
9. Clemson
10. Tennessee
11. Notre Dame
12. California
13. Rutgers
14. LSU
15. Arkansas
16. Boise State
17. Boston College
18. Oklahoma
19. Georgia Tech
20. Texas A&M
21. Nebraska
22. Wake Forest
23. Missouri
24. Wisconsin
25. Oregon