College Football Saturday: Kiffin's Mouth Almost Cashes Check; Carroll's Protege Makes Him Pay
Some thoughts from yesterday:
Give it up for Tennessee against #1 Florida. In a game Florida had to be motivated for, the Vols gave the Gators everything they could handle. Defensively, the Vols annoyed Tim Tebow all day, ending his streak of games with a passing touchdown. Florida's run attack is good, but it appears, at least at this point, that their passing game leaves a lot to be desired. The big winner in this game was Alabama. Once Nick Saban studies these game films, he'll realize Florida isn't nearly as scary as they were last year.- #2 Texas toyed with Texas Tech before putting the Red Raiders away. One big game for the Longhorns in the win column.
- #3 USC couldn't couldn't generate enough offense to beat Washington. At least Pete Carroll's team lost early enough to recover, provided they get help.
- #4 Alabama did what good teams do against cream puffs: Won big. Arkansas will prove a worthy opponent next week, but the biggest date on Alabama's schedule early in the season is the October 10th meeting with Ole Miss.
- #5 Penn State celebrates it's annual victory over Temple. The Nittany Lions need to actually play a good team to see what they are made of. That may not come until the Ohio State game.
- #5 Ole Miss had no problems pounding their cream puff yesterday. I wonder if anyone in Arkansas misses Houston Nutt? Of course, Nutt's teams always start the season strong and then "poof."
- Dad gum Florida State went out to Utah and sent a message to BYU: Not this year. BYU will sink like cookie crumbs in Donny Osmond's milk in the next poll. When you hear the small conferences complain about being slighted in the BCS, remember this game..
- #8 Cal survived a game Minnesota team. They'll have to play better if they want to win the Pac 10, but destiny in that conference is theirs if they can run the table. A fourteen point road win against an opponent from a quality conference is always impressive.
- #9 LSU beat their cream puff handily as they took out NE Louisiana 31-3. After they tune up against Mississipi State next week, it gets tough as the Tigers have to face Georgia and Florida in consecutive weeks.
- #10 Boise State may be only chance the smaller conferences have at a BCS birth. Given their schedule, they could go undefeated, but given the quality of their opponents, another controversy may occur.
- #11 Ohio State looks like they have recovered from last week's loss to USC with their drubbing of Toledo. Illinois is nest for the Buckeyes who are probably safe until November 7th when they meet Penn State..
- #12 Oklahoma looked like they didn't miss Sam Bradford, at least yesterday, blanking Tulsa 45-0. Let's see how they handle surging Miami next weekend.
- #13 Va. Tech struggled with #19 Nebraska, but found a way to win at the end. Bo Pelini's program is getting better and could have something to say about the Big 12 as a spoiler.
- #15 TCU had a big win over a cream puff. They may be one of the better teams that you haven't heard about. Probably not good enough to make the BCS, but good enough to cause some problems.
- Like Uncle Ben, #16 Oklahoma State had no problems with Rice. The Cowboys next meaningful game isn't until October 10th when they play Texas Tech in a double elimination game.
- #17 Cincinnati scored an impressive win over Oregon State. They could be the class of the Big East. Their biggest challenge may be Pitt on December 5th.
- #18 Utah-Thanks for playing. The Utes, along with BYU deal the Mountain West out of the Rose Bowl for this year after getting beaten by Oregon.
- Time to call a Realtor: Steve Kragthorpe, Ralph Fridgen
- Teams who may move into Top 25: Pittsburgh, Auburn, Florida State
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