1. Georgia should have won against LSU, or at least had a proper shot at stopping the Tigers in the last minute-and-a-bit of the game after Joe Cox's stunning TD lob. Absolutely bogus celebration penalty after TD which set LSU up with good field position with which to win the game. You wonder what the umpires and referees are sometimes watching. Clearly it isn't what we are seeing at home. CBS's coverage of the call was interesting. When Gary Danielson, an NCAA apologist of the highest order, has a problem with the call, you know something's weird. This was weird!!
2. Stanford. The Stanford Cardinal are leading the PAC-10. Following their 24-16 victory over UCLA, the Cardinal have a 4-1 record and stand ahead of Oregon and USC. Just two seasons ago, these guys were the easy-beats of the conference (except when playing USC...) and now they're leading. Of course, Oregon and USC can leapfrog the Cardinal with a win, but still, impressive effort by the minnows of the conference.
3. Defense? What defense? The Houston/UTEP match-up was one for the ages. Houston QB Case Keenum, fresh off a HUGE game vs. Texas Tech a week earlier, went 51/76 for 536 yards and 5 TDs. The Cougars had 664 yards of offense and still lost by 17, 58-41. For the Miners, running back Donald Buckram went for 262 yards on the ground and 4 TDs. No other UTEP running back rushed for more than 16. Incredible stuff.
4. What to say about the Cal Golden Bears? They looked like world-beaters against Maryland and Minnesota. They looked bad against Oregon. They looked terrible against USC. The wheels have fallen off the Golden Bears bandwagon mighty quick these last two weeks. Jahvid Best has been held well the last two weeks and the offense has seemed ineffectual and unmotivated without them. The pressure falls back on Kevin Riley, and he's not leading his football team down the field. Trouble for Jeff Tedford.
5. Ahh, Boise State. Beat UC-Davis today. National Championship caliber team right there!! Have a big game next week against Tulsa. Aside from that...their strength of schedule, or lack thereof, is going to see them fall in the BCS polls. But they are a pretty good football team. It's just that the computers will hate them for a poor schedule. A lot of human pollsters already do. My girlfriend is back in Boise for a few weeks and went to the game last night. She called afterward to tell me how good the Broncos looked. They didn't look quite good enough. They should have pounded on UC-Davis, but didn't. The missus reckons they'll get to a BCS Bowl. Probably they will, but not the Championship Game.
6. Cincinnati are my dark horses for the BCS National Championship Game. They just keep on keeping on in the Big East. Their QB, Tony Pike, is a star. Watch out for these guys!!
7. Oklahoma. Not sure what to say here, but again, as with the BYU game, Sam Bradford doesn't play defense and he couldn't have stopped Jacory Harris and Javarris James from having huge games even if he was available. Oh yeah, did I mention that the swagger is back in Miami, baby? All they needed there was Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer and it would've been the 80's all over again. You have to think that OU's chances of reaching the National Title game are goneski. Their only saving grace is that their two losses have been out of conference. They can still throw a proverbial spanner in the works by beating Texas in a couple weeks time!
8. USC. Yes! They are back and in contention. They are sitting in 7th and figure to move up. You must assume that at least one of the three SEC teams above them will lose - it's a certainty, with Florida and LSU facing off this Saturday night. Then, Boise State fall a few positions on lack of strength of schedule. Say, also, that Oklahoma beat Texas and suddenly the mighty Men of Troy - who look dangerous again, thanks to solid offense, good special teams and a defense that's hittin' hard - are back in National Title contention. Of course, it all hinges on a HUGE tilt with Notre Dame in two weeks time. And another tilt vs. Oregon. And another against a bogey team, Oregon State. Two of those three games are away from the Coliseum. We'll see. Fingers crossed.
Player of the Week:
Touched on this guy before: Case Keenum. Career night, even in a losing effort for the Houston Cougars. An easy 51 of 76 for 536 yards and 5 TDs. On any other night, that's a huge win. As is 600+ yards of offense. Sadly not this night, but Case still wins Kitch's Player of the Week!
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