Week 4: Day of the Underdog

Six of the top 25 lost on Saturday...five of those losses were to un-ranked teams. Ranked LSU and Georgia both made last second stands to pull off wins over un-ranked teams. Kirk Herbstreit (ESPN) said he knew his votes for spots 1,2 and 3 but had no idea in what order he would put the next eight teams and feel good about it. And in the course of a week we move from one, 1-loss team in the top 10 to four. Yea...we're seeing the start of what will be a messy bowl selection.

UGA: The Devils went down to Georgia...they were looking for a win to steal...and they almost did. Fortunately Cox, Green and the rest of the gang fiddled just good enough to walk out of the stadium holding the "golden football" instead of losing their souls. Up next: #4 LSU between the hedges! Bring it on (just don't wear the black jerseys)!

BYU: The defense showed up this week (mostly) but the offense looked sluggish. Unga finally (in the 4th quarter) showed the spark and strength we're used to seeing from him. But BYU continued to show a lack of passion and exposed more weaknesses (mis-communication on passing routes) - both must be corrected before TCU comes to town.

Surprised: Oregon over Cal and Cal only scoring six points.

Way Surprised: Ole Miss nearly dropping out of the top 25 from #4 (17 spots!).
Way, Way Surprised: South Fla over FSU...thanks, FSU, for helping BYU drop in the polls.

Not Surprised: Miami losing to VT...teams rarely make a comeback that fast. Pollsters should know better than to vote teams too high too fast (like moving Iowa from NR to #13 this week).

BCS Buster: Boise State, Houston or TCU? TCU and Houston are currently posting wins over bigger teams but the BSU win over Oregon hasn't been forgotten. (And I still have to throw BYU into the mix...but that will only happen if the above teams stumble and BYU doesn't).

Week 3: The higher they are...

Since Saturday was national "Talk Like a Pirate" day then all I have to say is, "Aaarrrgh" about BYU and I hope that Bronco has the defense walk the plank Monday morning. Bowden is not one to talk like a pirate but I think his quote after the game was "Dadgum that was easy...like catching fish in a bucket!"

The higher they are the farther they fall. Well not really...BYU fell further than USC (the team that loves to let the underdog win one annually...maybe drama-queen Carroll has a heart after all). And Utah - they just dropped out of sight after their offensive errors. Not a good day for the MWC...unless you are a BCS conference.

BYU and FSU

Barring the three interceptions and the other two turnovers, BYU's offense performed well. But the defense...yikes...they were schooled, routed, owned, non-existent (did I leave anything out?) by a faster, more talented, better prepared and hungry offense. BYU's defense was on their heels from the get-go and, well, defenseless, against the pass or rush and a very talented QB. Much like last year...what we thought was a good defense simply had a meltdown, self-destructed, failed to make in-game or half-time adjustments and just let the FSU offense move at will, throttling them for over 500 yards. Let's hope they learned from this and that they put that learning to good use the rest of the season.

BYU saw their BCS bowl dreams fade with each FSU offensive possession (only one of which resulted in a punt). Bowden, whom I respect, did run up the score just a titch. Maybe to prove his naysayers wrong, maybe to make a statement (or maybe he couldn't help it) - but in my book it doesn't matter. There is never a good reason for running up a score.

SHOCKERS

Hand it to the SS Huskies...taking Pete down from his lofty perch and setting the stage for a resurgent program. Good thing UW wasn't flagged for a celebration penalty on that last second field goal!

SEC DEFENSE?

What is going on with the SEC defenses this year? The UGA and USC game last week had over 80 points! The UGA and ARK had over 90 points! The PAC-10 scores look more like the traditional SEC scores.

CONTENDER or PRETENDER?

UW moved into the #24 spot and FSU jumped to #18 - two of 10 1-loss teams already in the top 25. Wow. I think BYU was moved too far up too fast and I find it hard to believe the voters are already doing the same with others.

Week 2: Funny Clip from UGA Game

South Carolina has the ball, about 30 seconds left, 4th and 4 on the 8 yard line, the game winning play fails...watch the two Georgia State Troopers behind Steve Spurrier as Spurrier turns around (click here).

Week 2: Blowouts and Close Calls

Lots of offense, lots of defense, very little middle ground. I actually nodded off during the less-than-3-hour BYU game and was on the edge of my seat most of the 4-hour Georgia game.

Although playing a team that hasn't has any success lately, BYU looked very good after a slow start. Things seemed to be clicking and they should be healthy and ready for FSU this week. That is FSU that barely pulled out a win over an FCS school...and they did that in the last two minutes.

Lots of close calls: OK State came back after being down and then let it slip away. UGA would have lost to South Carolina if the Carolina QB would have looked to his left on their last play. The USC - OSU and the ND - Michigan game came down to who had the ball last. Texas struggled initially with Wyoming and Utah was tied with San Jose State in the 4th quarter. There were plenty more: Colorado State - Weber State, UCLA - Tenn, Ore State - UNLV, and the list goes on...

I think this past weekend was a peek at things to come...more surprises and upsets that'll leave us scratching our heads.

Week 1: An NCAAF Cornucopia

Week 1 has come and gone and it did not disappoint. Blowouts, upsets, season-ending injuries, shockers, passion, "cheerleaders...with sweat on their backs" - it was all there as expected and we are finally underway.

BYU: Better than OK (and than most expected)

Cougar fans were hoping, maybe even praying, but very few actually expected, the low-scoring, down to the wire, near unbelievable win over #3 Oklahoma. All very reminiscent of the '84 season that also started with a high-profile win (over #3 Pittsburgh) and ended with all zeroes in the "L" column...and also reminiscent of the '90 early season win over #1 Miami...that ended with losses to Oregon, Hawaii and Texas A&M. Saturday nights performance was the best BYU defensive effort I've seen in a long, long time. There was also some of the most impressive and aggressive play calling down the stretch that I've ever seen (the 4th down call was the play of the game IMHO).

Judging solely on this one game, I think this is BYU's moment to make a big statement. BYU appears to have the talent, the experience, the coaching, the hunger and passion (that were absent last year) and more importantly - the schedule, to capitalize on what Boise State, Hawaii and Utah have been chipping away at the past few years. This is an opportunity not presented to those teams; an opportunity where BYU and the MWC conference as a whole can become the benefactor. Don't let this one slip away.

I like SI's Mandel column about the BYU possibilities.

The Sucker Punch

We love the passion in college football...no other sport can touch this level of heart and soul. But when that passion results in post-game blows and going after the crowd then its gone way, way too far. Kudos to the Oregon head coach for making a tough decision but one which will undoubtedly prevent such occurrences in the future from his and other teams.

The Not So Big 10

Wins over patsy teams - and some of those wins were a pretty close shave. Enough said.

Not So OK in Stillwater

UGA started out as expected but OSU found their defense and their offense eventually wore down the SEC defense. Ouch...that would have been a long, long drive back had I gone to the game as originally planned.