Thoughts and observations from Week Two of the 2011 season:
Oklahoma State are a dangerous team. They rolled quickly to a 21-point lead vs. Arizona and never looked back in Stillwater on Thursday night. Granted, the Wildcats were without QB Nick Foles' favourite target - and statistically the best wide-out in the Pac-10 last year - WR Juron Criner, but this was still an impressive game. The QB-WR combination of Brandon Weeden to Justin Blackmon was ably assisted by a strong ground game and good defense. The 9th-ranked Cowboys might be a Big XII sleeper.
Friday night appears to be the night for great games. Baylor vs. TCU last week, #21 Missouri vs. Arizona State this week. The Sun Devils won in OT, surviving a furious Mizzou comeback in the last, and almost snatched the win, but K Grant Ressel's 48-yard field goal attempt was no good at the death.
Louisville lost at home to Sun Belt champions Florida International. This was a loss they shouldn't have had. Another epically bad year for the Big East coming up?
Russell Wilson and Wisconsin keep rolling along, impressively beating Oregon State 35-0. They show such a balanced offense now, with Wilson handing off to their two-headed ground game monster, Montee Ball or James White, when he isn't working his own magic. Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez said recently that getting Russell Wilson was like winning the lottery. It seems like that win is going to pay off and keep paying off. Can't wait for Wisconsin vs. Nebraska in October!
Auburn survive another game, this time vs. Mississippi State. It must be horribly frustrating being a Tigers fan at the moment, with the roller-coaster way their season is progressing. Jury's still out on the defending National Champions for mine.
Every season, one thing that always seems to occur, no matter what else is happening, no matter where they are in the rankings, Michigan and Notre Dame play a spellbinding classic. This year was no different. In the first ever night game at Michigan Stadium - there were about 113,000 people in the Big House - the Wolverines and Irish made it memorable. Denard Robinson led a furious Michigan comeback for a 35-31 win. A wild last few minutes featured 3 TDs, some horrible defensive breakdowns on both sides, and large doses of Robinson brilliance. Is there anything he can't do?
BYU vs. Texas was a game of two halves. The Cougars controlled the first, the Longhorns the second. Thankfully for a somewhat nervous crowd in Austin, the Longhorns escaped with a 1-point win, thanks to the performances of QB Case McCoy and WR Jaxon Shipley, reminding the UT faithful of their older brothers.
Your weekly Case Keenum Update. Well, Case went about business as only Case can. 25-39 for 460 yards, 5 TDs and a QB Rating of 205.5 as the Houston Cougars rolled to a pretty easy 48-23 victory vs. North Texas. Keenum didn't even play much of the final frame. He destroyed them early, instead.
Iowa State defeated cross-state rivals Iowa 44-41 in 3OT, snapping a 3-game losing streak to the Hawkeyes. And they broke the trophy!
Georgia is off to its first 0-2 start since 1996, falling 45-42 to South Carolina in Athens, GA this afternoon. The pressure on Mark Richt has just been raised. The 'Dawgs just made too many mistakes and South Carolina capitalised on every single one. And, of course, they had Marcus Lattimore who had 27 rushes for 180 yards and a score on the day. Georgia just couldn't stop him! Nor could they stop big DT Melvin Ingram, who scored 2 TDs for the 'Cocks. What a big day out!!
Alabama seem to have solved their QB issues. At least, they didn't commit 4 INTs this week vs. Penn State like they did against Kent State in Week One. Trent Richardson is a beast. Nothing like having a solid running back to hand the ball off to when your team is suffering through quarterback blues. Really hard to split 'Bama and LSU as best team in the SEC.
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