Sunset Vette

This was a wild weekend for college football, wasn’t it?

LSU won the game they were supposed to win by taking down USL. (Yes, I know they’re called “Louisiana Lafayette” now, but they’ll always be USL to me.) There’s not really too much to say about the game. LSU could have used this to tune-up for the SEC battles looming over the coming weeks. Instead they finished with a lackadaisical 330 total yards of offence, Jordan Jefferson’s first interception, and only 63 yards from their top tailback Charles Scott. Meanwhile Alabama was putting the hurt on North Texas 53-7.

Georgia and Arkansas put on a surprisingly interesting show. Then again, that seems to be the theme for the Dawgs this year. First they lost on the road to Oklahoma State, then beat the “other” USC on a last second defensive stand. Georgia plays Arizona State next week (don’t really know about the Sun Devils yet as they haven’t played anybody) and then hosts LSU the week after that. LSU could come into the game 2-0 in the SEC West, assuming they take care of Mississippi State next week as expected.

LSU opened the season by defeating the Washington Huskies in Seattle. Washington has since responded by beating their next two opponents, including #3 USC. Does this mean LSU is better than USC? Of course not, but it’s always fun to see the chains that people try to draw out only a few games into the seasons.

Florida won the game they were supposed to win by beating Tennessee at home, but it was hardly a blowout. I watched that game (which featured the first in the last 31 games that Tebow started where he did not throw a TD pass) and Florida looked… mortal. They have good backs, and say what you want about Tebow the man can play the game. What Florida lacks is the threats they had last year at wide receiver. I think Florida is beatable.

USC, Texas Not As Good As Advertised?

Last week I said USC would finish the season with three losses. One down, two to go. Teams with freshman quarterbacks do not win national championships.

Many people expected Texas to play Florida for the national title this year. Of course those opinions were based on performance from last year, not this year. Unlike USC, Texas does not have a freshman QB. Texas has a returning finalist from the Heisman race last year in Colt McKoy. Yet they have struggled a bit this year. Wyoming gave them trouble (until the second half) and this week Texas Tech gave them all the game they could have, and should have done more. Other than a punt return in the first half, Texas was kept out of the end zone. And Texas Tech got ripped off of a chance to score a “surprise” touchdown when the referee blew a play dead before it should have. On the last play of the first half, Potts faked taking a knee to end the half and then popped up to try to through a long pass. Instead the play was over because they faked out the ref.

Memo to Mike Leach: next time give the refs a clue before you try to pull this play, and you’ll be happier.

BCA Busters Busted

BYU’s run at a national championship was short lived as they got routed by Florida State. Florida State got beat last week by Miami, which has been perceived as being in rebuilding mode for years. Is Miami for real now? Clearly BYU isn’t. Does this mean that Oklahoma isn’t as good as advertised? Sam Bradford and Dez Bryant are clearly a force (when they’re both playing to their abilities) but Bradford is out now.

The Mountain West took another blow when Utah got beat. Somewhere the BCS committee is already breathing a sigh of relief and their poll hasn’t even started yet. For those keeping track of this sort of thing, Florida now has the longest winning streak in the country after losses by USC and Utah.