The big news this week is Stanford's "upset" of USC late last night, but there was a lot of good football yesterday and a few shocking games. Lets run through:
#1 Alabama 52 Arkansas 0
Who would have called this one last March? A few things happened between then and now, and one of the most anticipated games of the pre-season turned into a sloshy laugher. Even the weather turned against the Razorbacks, a downpour grounding the already hampered passing attack. The Tide roll on while the Hogs pick up the pieces of a much-hyped season and wonder what could have been. At least Arkansas can claim one of the most interesting halftime interviews ever by halftime interview expert John L. Smith.
#21 Stanford 21 #2 USC 14
The headline on ESPN.com this morning read "Can We Even Say We're Surprised?" That just about sums it up. There's no more surprise in this anymore, little 'ol Stanford has won 4 straight against the mighty Trojans and ruined another National Championship season. The Cardinal did it by holding the high flying Trojan offense to 280 yards, picking off Heisman frontrunner Matt Barkley twice. Stanford went ahead with 10 minutes left and held USC off the scoreboard for the rest of the game, despite two Heisman candidates on the other side of the ball. Now the national media is backpedaling and saying that the Trojans really weren't all that good to begin with. Priceless.
#3 LSU 63 Idaho 14
When I saw the score alert that said LSU 21 Idaho 14 midway through the second quarter, I thought to myself "What the heck? LSU?" But LSU did what LSU does, using defense and a strong running game to break away and coast to the victory. The Tigers won't be tested until October.
#4 Oregon 63 Tennessee Tech 14
Oregon's final non-conference game went pretty much the same way as the other two: lots of points, lots of yards, zero drama. It gets harder next week as the Ducks start their PAC-12 schedule with a game against a resurgent Arizona team.
#5 Florida State 52 Wake Forest 0
We still don't know just how good this Seminoles team is, but we have a little better idea after they throttled their ACC nemesis for four complete quarters. The Demon Deacons (for my money, one of the best nicknames in sports) were only able to gain 126 yards of offense and they couldn't stop Florida State's ground game, which rolled up 385 yards, 4 TDs, and an 8 yard per carry average. I'm still not sold on QB EJ Manuel as a Heisman candidate, but he was more than enough for FSU to beat a team that always seems to sneak up on them. We'll know more next week when the Seminoles welcome #11 Clemson to Tallahassee.
#7 Georgia 56 Florida Atlantic 20
Carl Pelini went to Athens and made a game of it for a quarter and a half before the Dawgs pulled away. Nothing really to be ashamed of for the Owls, but you wonder how two consecutive losses will affect the team's confidence going into the game with Alabama next week. Georgia is looking more and more like the team to beat in the SEC East.
#8 South Carolina 49 UAB 6
Quick quiz: how many active D1 coaches have 200 collegiate wins? Answer: 4; Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech, Chris Ault at Nevada (yes, really), Mack Brown at Texas, and now Steve Spurrier at South Carolina. This one doesn't feel so sweet though, as Spurrier loses starting QB Connor Shaw to the same shoulder injury he suffered against Vanderbilt. The Gamecocks are going to need Shaw to recover quickly; Oct. 6th begins a stretch of games against Georgia, LSU, Florida and Tennessee, and the Gamecocks will probably need to win all of those games to win the division.
#9 West Virginia 42 James Madison 12
It's been three weeks and we've talked more about West Virginia than we've see them play, but what we have has been pretty darn impressive. 411 yards and 5 TDs out of QB Geno Smith are a good start, but before I become a true believer, I want to see how the Mountaineers handle a step up in competition.
#20 Notre Dame 20 #10 Michigan State 3
Michigan State couldn't handle the stress of being the only Big Ten team realistically in the National Title race, and lost in embarrassing fashion to the Golden Domers. The fast and mean Spartan defense got stop after stop in the second half, but the pathetic offense couldn't move the ball with the Irish keying on RB Le'Veon Bell, and the Spartans lost a winnable game, and the Big Ten suffered another embarrassment. Notre Dame is pretty solid on defense, but there's no reason Michigan State couldn't score more than a measly field goal. This team has a lot to figure out before they face Ohio State in two weeks.
#11 Clemson 41 Furman 7
The Tigers finally have their best player back, and WR Sammy Watkins did not take long to re-instate himself as one of the most explosive players in the country taking an inside handoff 58 yards for a score. Watkins had 110 yards of total offense and Clemson rather lazily handled an FCS team in advance of their big matchup with Florida State next week.
#12 Ohio State 35 California 28
The first real test of the Urban Meyer era was supposed to be against #10 Michigan State in two weeks, but the Buckeyes got all that they could handle from the Golden Bears and if not for 3 missed field goals and a badly blown coverage late in the 4th, the Big Ten would have endured the most embarrassing defeat yet at the hands of the PAC-12. The Buckeyes escaped thanks to another fantastic performance by Braxton Miller, who added another highlight reel 55 yard run to his Heisman resume. The Buckeyes need to get better on defense after allowing 512 yards to a team that lost to Nevada.
Pittsburgh 35 #13 Virginia Tech 17
Virginia Tech is usually one of the most disciplined teams in the country year in and year out, but they must have left the discipline on the dresser at home this week. 4 turnovers and a crushing offsides penalty that turned a Pitt field goal into a TD brought the Hokies crashing down in the upset of the week. After dropping games to Cincinnati, and FCS Youngstown State, the Panthers finally got it to click on both sides of the ball, allowing 59 rushing yards while rolling up 284 of their own. Pitt coach Paul Chryst needs this effort every week to make the most of his fairly considerable talent.
#14 Texas 66 Ole Miss 31
Who would have expected this? Texas has been pretty bad on offense since Colt McCoy left, but they exploded for 676 yards, and finally got their power rushing game going to the tune of 350 yards. Ole Miss obviously isn't the greatest team to draw a lot of conclusions from, but it has to be encouraging for the Longhorns to dominate any SEC team after their recent struggles.
#15 Kansas State 35 North Texas 21
The Wildcats probably thought they could coast against one of the worst teams in the FBS, but they got all they could handle from the Mean Green, not putting this game away until the fourth quarter. QB Collin Klein carried his team to victory with 315 total yards and 3 TDs, and if the Wildcats were peeking ahead to Oklahoma, now they can focus their full attention on the Sooners.
#16 TCU 20 Kansas 6
This was not an overly impressive debut for the Horned Frogs' first Big 12 game, but a win in the cold rain on the road is a win, even when you fumble the ball four times, twice inside the red zone. As always, TCU leaned on their stout defense, which forced 2 turnovers and shut the Jayhawks out in the 2nd half. The Frogs won't get any more easy games like this in the Big 12, but they're 2-0 going into next week's game against Virginia 2-0 with plenty of momentum.
#17 Michigan 63 UMass 13
After the first two weeks of the season, a gimme like this has to feel good for the Michigan program. QB Denard Robinson accounted for almost 400 yards and 4 touchdowns as he tries to claw back into the Heisman discussion. Michigan gets Notre Dame next, and then jumps into the Big 10 schedule. The Minutemen didn't score after halftime and fall to 0-3 in their inaugural year as an FBS program.
#18 Florida 37 #23 Tennessee 20
Tennessee has to feel like they let one slip away. The Volunteers were controlling this game at home until Florida FB Trey Burton busted loose for an 80 yard TD sprint at the end of the third quarter. At that point it was 20-20, but Tennessee threw a pick on the next series and set off an avalanche of Florida touchdowns and when the smoke cleared, Tennessee had suffered its eighth straight loss to the Gators, and a promising season seems to be in the tubes already. For Florida, the offensive woes seem to be resolving, and after two come-from-behind wins, the SEC East title looks possible.
#19 Louisville 39 North Carolina 34
At halftime of this game, Louisville was leading 36-7 after the Cards went up, down, around and through the Tar Heels for 2 quarters and it looked like a strong statement win for the Big East was in the works. 30 minutes later, the Cardinal fans were exhaling after blowing their comfortable lead and allowing the Heels to come within a dropped TD pass of victory. Credit Louisville for hanging on, but this was a true tale of two halves, and the Cardinals are lucky to be 3-0.
#22 UCLA 37 Houston 6
Houston managed to "hold" Bruins RB Johnathan Franklin to 110 yards rushing, and no TDs. Problem is, the rest of the Bruins managed to rack up 567 yards and 37 points, and the defense held the Cougars off the scoreboard until the 4th quarter as the Bruins coasted to a third win. Hard to say just how good this UCLA team is, but they have a great schedule, plenty of talent, and a nice pelt on the wall already after beating Nebraska.
#24 Arizona 56 South Carolina State 0
Rich Rodriguez has turned around this Arizona program in a hurry. I'm not sure that they're quite as good as they've looked so far, but the Wildcat faithful have to be pleased with this hire so far. The Wildcats rolled up 689 yards of total offense, while holding the Bulldogs to just 154. Nice game, but there's a much tougher test next week at Oregon.
Utah 24 #25 BYU 21
Wild finish to this one; after blocking BYU's 51 yard FG attempt, Utah fans rushed the field, BYU gets another shot because of the penalty against Utah fans, and then misses the 36 yarder. They call this game the "Holy War" and I'm betting the postgame celebration was anything but. Utah gets some fresh life to their season after dropping a game to Utah State last week. The PAC-12 is a pretty good looking conference this year.
Penn State 34 Navy 7
Penn State finally put together a full game on both sides of the ball, and it showed with a beat down of Navy and Bill O'Brien's first victory. Navy got their yards on the ground like they always do, but Penn State forced 4 turnovers, including a 76 yard fumble return for a TD in the fourth quarter, and the offense moved efficiently through the air with Matt McGloin tossing 4 TDs. Penn State usually wouldn't celebrate such a win, but they usually don't play games without Joe Paterno either, so...
Purdue 54 Eastern Michigan 16
Purdue benefited from a stable QB situation and flattened a weak MAC team. After the letdown against Notre Dame last week, this was the best possible medicine. Even if Robert Marve returns from his knee injury, Purdue should stick with Caleb Terbush, as he guided the Boilermakers to 576 yards. The Boilermakers rushed for 392 yards and the defense allowed only 7 points after halftime as Purdue cruised to the win.
Minnesota 28 Western Michigan 23
Minnesota's best player, QB MarQueis Gray was lost in the 2nd quarter, but the Gophers managed to keep it together, and rally behind backup QB Max Shortell's 3 TDs. The Gopher defense came up with 2 turnovers, and held the Broncos on a late 4th down to preserve the victory. Don't look now but Minnesota is 3-0 and they have a favorable remaining schedule. Bowl game? Don't bet against it.
Illinois 44 Charleston Southern 0
Even without injured QB Nathan Scheelhaase, the Illini had no trouble with the hapless Buccaneers. Illinois only allowed 125 yards, and rang up 479 of their own. The game lacked any real drama, and after the shellacking the Illini endured at the hands of Arizona State last week, I'm sure nobody really minded.
Northwestern 22 Boston College 13
Is there a bigger surprise in the Big Ten than Northwestern right now? The Wildcats have played three BCS schools, and have won all three contests. If you want to quibble, you can say that the Wildcats are kicking too many field goals (5 this game), but when you're the only Big 10 team beating Big 6 opponents every week, then you have a right to do it any way you want. The two QB system is working out pretty well for the Cats as both Kain Colter and Trever Siemen were effective throwing the ball. This is a dangerous team; not like 'gonna win the Legends' dangerous, but 'good enough to beat any team once' dangerous.
Iowa 27 Northern Iowa 16
Yeah it's a win, but you won't find a whole bunch of happy people in Iowa City this week. The Hawkeyes are averaging 1.3 TDs per game so far this year, and they allowed 339 yards to the Panthers. And the game was never really out of reach until late in the fourth quarter. This is shaping up to be a rough year if things don't improve rapidly.
Ball State 41 Indiana 39
Indiana probably wins this game is their best QB isn't hurt, but that's the game. There's no excuse for a Big 10 team to run up 558 yards, and still lose. The Hoosiers are not any more talented then a lot of MAC teams, and so they need to execute and win games like this if they want to get to a bowl game. It's probably going to be a long year in Bloomington, and the Hoosiers are probably the only team in the Leaders division that doesn't have a legitimate chance to win the division.
Wisconsin 16 Utah State 14
If Utah State makes that 37 yard field goal at the end of the game, you might see more than an offensive line coach get the ax in Madison. As it is, the Badgers are in a very bad state right now. They probably should have lost that game last night, and gaining only 234 yards against the Aggies is making the rest of the Big 10 defensive coordinators drool. It's a young season, and the Badgers are 2-1, but the kids are not alright in Madison.
Washington State 35 UNLV 27
Loyal readers will remember that I am a big Mike Leach fan, and it's good to see the Pirate captain back on the sidelines again. This was a typical Leach victory: lots of yards, passing and points; not so much defense. The two teams combined for more than 900 yards of offense and the Cougars came away with the win, despite starting a backup at QB. Wazzu moves to 2-1 with a chance to get a third win versus Colorado next week. It will be a year or two before Leach's teams get in gear and challenge for PAC-12 titles, but a bowl game is not out of the realm of possibility this year.
Ohio 27 Marshall 24
If Frank Solich's Bobcats want to crash the BCS party, they need Penn State to win a bunch of games, and they need to win their own games in more impressive fashion. Ohio gave up almost 500 yards and trailed for most of the game, but they scored the last 10 points, and a win on the road is always impressive. This is a talented team, but they aren't talented enough to sleepwalk through any of their MAC games.
That's all for week 3. Obviously the Huskers have plenty to worry about with Bo Pelini's health issues, but the game is larger than Nebraska and it pays to keep an eye on what the competition is doing. The Big 10 didn't do much to enhance its image this week, but every other conference had its own struggles. Alabama looks invincible, but LSU and Oregon are right there at the top as well. It's shaping up to be a fun season and I look forward to week 4.
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