That was a good college football weekend, I really enjoyed watching all of the games. I talked about a few trap games in my Week 4 preview but it ended up being even more interesting than I thought it would. If there is one thing we know after 4 weeks of games it is that any preseason polls are educated guesses at best. This season is a prime example of why there should be no polls of any kind until at least October. With that here is my 2 cents on the games I had an eye on this week.
Ole Miss 10 at South Carolina 16- I suppose we can consider Ole Miss and Jevan Snead officially exposed at this point. They kind of started out the same way in 2008 then had a strong second half. Maybe they can get it together again this year but they definitely didn’t look at all formidable on Thursday night. Interesting that after all the preseason hype both Okie State and the Rebels got as fashionable picks they have both taken some lumps before the end of September.
Missouri 31 at Nevada 21- This game was pseudo interesting. I tend to DVR the week night games and then watch them in 30 minutes. Great time saving technique if you want to see the game without a 3+ hour investment. That said Nevada traded punches with Mizzu pretty good despite injuries to both of their good tailbacks. After watching Nebraska, Kansas and Mizzu I think the Big 12 North is Nebraska’s to lose.
Notre Dame 24 at Purdue 21- I already discussed this one at length. Just scroll down one post.
Michigan State 30 at Wisconsin 38- The Big Ten is bizarre. I’m fairly convinced that the league is full of teams that are 50/50 on showing up any given week. The way things are shaking out early the Big Ten has all but eliminated itself from having a BCS Championship contender. Only Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin remain undefeated and all of those teams were fortunate to escape September unscathed. Whoever floats to the top of this mess can look forward to a trip to Pasadena. As for Michigan State they should still end up going bowling. Their fans need to lay off Dantonio, he’s as good as they are going to get.
Southern Miss 28 at Kansas 35- I was on Southern Miss early as a potential BCS buster and I thought they might be able to win this game. As it turns out I was on the wrong CUSA team as Houston is the one that continues to roll. Southern Miss was able to trade punches with the Jayhawks but ran out of gas in the end.
North Carolina 7 at Georgia Tech 24- Paul Johnson and the Wreck got back on track by rolling North Carolina in this thriller.
Fresno State 20 at Cincinnati 28- Fresno State keeps competing and coming up short. Things to remember when it comes time to pick the bowl games. Meanwhile Cincy keeps winning and is set up for a showdown with Pitt to claim the Big East.
Arkansas 7 at Alabama 35- Bama looks like the best team in the country right now. Their defense will shut you down and their offense just gets it done. As a side note regular commenter Dimes is currently living in exile down in SEC country reports that Bama had two decommits this weekend due to "pending NCAA sanctions." Since we are talking SEC country there could be something to that or it could just be total BS that some Geaux Tiger booster made up.
Cal 3 at Oregon 42- Like most others I really didn’t see this one coming then again I don’t know why I’m surprised. This is par for the course in the Pac 10 where you never really know what you are going to get week to week. With USC looking less formidable than usual this race might get interesting down the stretch but will probably also fail to produce a BCS Championship contender.
Illinois 0 at Ohio State 30- The Zooker, Juice and Arrelious Benn have yet to show up this season. They are going to have to work to be better than .500 at this point.
Miami 7 at Virginia Tech 31- I was expecting this to be a close game and ended up being pleasantly surprised by the Hokie domination. With VT’s offensive struggles prior to this game I thought Miami had an edge but the Hokies punched them in the mouth, jumped on their chests and never stopped swinging. Jacory Harris looked shell shocked for 4 quarters. I wonder if Herbstreit still thinks he's a Heisman candidate? The rain played right into the hands of the Hokies who capitalized on the wisdom of a coach I played for in high school. Any time we played in inclement weather he would say "Boys the weather is going to beat someone today, and it had better not be you." I wonder if Beamer busted out something similar in his pregame speech?
Florida 41 at Kentucky 7- The only interesting thing that happened in this game was Tim Tebow getting knocked out cold. It looked pretty brutal. I hope the wonderkid bounces back next week. That one was a little scary. As for the game Kentucky had no answer for the speed that Florida brings to the fight.
Texas Tech 28 at Houston 29- I watched the second half of this one after the ND game. Texas Tech had the Coogs on the ropes and let it get away from them. Case Keenum is a solid QB and with their second defeat of a Big 12 team the Coogs are truly a potential BCS buster.
TCU 14 at Clemson 10- TCU plays outstanding defense year in and year out. Gary Patterson knows his stuff. They shut down another BCS team and also look primed to bust the BCS. It is interesting that two non-BCS conference Texas schools are hanging around this year.
Washington 14 at Stanford 34- Was this a classic let down after a big win for Washington? I think both Washington and Stanford will end up having good seasons and both of them are a little dangerous. Outside of USC they might be the toughest two teams left on the Notre Dame schedule.