Yes, Texas is young. Yes, the Longhorns were overrated at No. 11 in the country. But the beating Oklahoma put on Texas today was one normally reserved for early-season patsies and not top-15 rivalry opponents.

I figured the Texas offense would struggle, and it did, managing just 10 points (one score came on a kick return) and turning the ball over five times. Freshman quarterback Case McCoy and David Ash combined to go 20-of-36 for 223 yards a touchdown and two interceptions. They had zero help from the run game, as it gained just 36 yards.

I did expect a bit more from the Texas defense, however, which was used and abused to the tune of 453 yards, most of it coming on the arm of Landry Jones (367 yards). All of these yards, and this game was well in hand at halftime.

As impressive as Oklahoma was, the one worry could be the run game, which gained just 86 yards. Texas’ run defense is certainly not as good as what the Sooners will see in a possible national title game against LSU or Alabama. They only had 19 carries, however, and averaged 4.5 yards per carry. Starting running back Dominique Whaley had 83 of those yards on 13 carries (6.4 ypc), so maybe I’m just looking for negatives in a game filled with positives.

This win, combined with the Florida State victory and a preseason No. 1 ranking, is normally good enough to be the consensus No. 1 team in the country. Not this year, however. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost a year ago we decided to try to quantify the stature of college football programs so that we could rank them against one another. (Click here for the 2010 Rankings.) Then our football guru, Anthony Stalter, wrote a little bit about each program and the direction that it’s headed.

Here’s how the total points are determined — 20 points for a national championship, 10 for a BCS title game loss, seven for a BCS bowl win, five for a BCS bowl loss, five for a BCS conference championship, three for a mid-major conference championship, two for a BCS conference runner-up and one for a major bowl appearance (i.e. a bowl that has a recent payout of more than $2 million, so for 2011 that would be Capital One, Outback, Chick-fil-A, Cotton, Gator, Insight, Holiday, Champs Sports and Alamo.) You’ll see the total points in parenthesis after the team’s name.

We put some thought into the point values for each accomplishment, paying special attention to how the point values are relative to one another. For example, we figured that one national championship would equate to four BCS conference championships, or three BCS bowl wins. We only looked at the last five years, as college football has increasingly become a fluid and fickle sport, and that’s about how far back a recruit will go when deciding amongst a list of schools.

Lastly, since a program is so dependent on the guy in charge, we added or subtracted points if the program saw an upgrade or downgrade at the head coach position in the last five years. A max of 10 points would be granted (or docked) based on the level of upgrade or downgrade. Again, we tried to quantify the hire relative to the program’s other accomplishments. For example, hiring Nick Saban is probably worth two BCS bowl appearances, or 10 points. (Sure, he might lead Alabama to more, but he also might bolt for another job in a year or two.)

So, without further ado, here are the rankings. Every year we’ll go through and update the numbers based on what the program did that year (while throwing out the oldest year of data), so don’t fret if your team isn’t quite where you want them right now. Everyone has a chance to move up.

1. Ohio State (58)

Previous Rank: #2 (+1)
Some college football fans will take issue with the Buckeyes being No. 1 because of their “soft schedule.” But this is a team that has dominated its conference five of the past six years and has finished no worse than second in each of the past six seasons. They’ve also appeared in two title games (though they lost both) and nine straight BCS bowl games, winning the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl in the past two years. They’ve got an interesting season coming up though. Five of their players including quarterback Terrelle Pryor, running back Dan Herron and receiver DeVier Posey will miss the first five games next year after being suspended. Can the Buckeyes stay unscathed until those players return?

2. Florida (51)

Previous Rank: #1 (-1)
If it weren’t for Urban Meyer leaving the program (and their lousy 2010 season), the Gators would probably still be ranked No. 1. They have three conference championships and two national championships in two years, but the lose of Meyer hurts big-time in these rankings. But don’t fret Florida fans, if Will Muschamp gets the program back on the right track then the Gators won’t be at No. 2 for long.

Read the rest of this entry »

One of the beauties of getting XM radio is that I get to listen to the Paul Finebaum show on a daily basis. For those that don’t know, Finebaum’s show is technically now a national college football radio show, but it can’t get away from its southeastern roots.

Every four out of five callers is from Alabama or Mississippi, and they’re crazy. The conspiracies they come up with on the officiating and play-calling from week to week would make Glenn Beck proud.

But the Cam Newton scandal has sent these folks into overdrive, and forced me to spend more time inside my car while it was sitting still in my driveway than one person should. People are blaming the press, Mississippi State, the press, Florida, the press, Nike, the press, Florida and the press. One caller, minutes after ESPN’s Joe Schad hung up with Finebaum, basically threatened to beat him up. It was amazing.

I don’t have a conspiracy theory on this, which is sad. But it will be really interesting to see how Auburn and Newton play today after having to listen to all of this over the last week.

I’m not picking the game because I have no idea who’s taking the field, but if Newton doesn’t play, expect the Bulldogs to win. A.J. Green has made them a legit SEC team. If Newton plays, however, the Tigers will roll on. Read the rest of this entry »

With the prospect of a bowl game or a Pac-10 championship taken away from it before the season even began, USC’s football program has had to look elsewhere for motivation.

After a lackluster showing in early-season matchups against Hawaii, Virginia and Minnesota, and a loss at home to Washington, many wondered if the Trojans really even cared. A last-second loss at Stanford and a blowout of California, however, has shown that not only do the Trojans care, but they’re still a pretty darn good football team.

There was attrition at the school this offseason when the NCAA instituted a two-year bowl ban and a reduction in scholarships, but it’s still USC. It’s still the same team that has been bringing in top five recruiting classes year after year, and putting more five stars on the bench than many teams have seeing the field.

So now nobody’s thinking of the Trojans, as they cannot be a part of the title discussion themselves. They can severely alter the landscape today, though, and I’d imagine they’ll be real excited to try and take advantage of that opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »

For once this season, the noon slate of games gave us something to follow.

Notre Dame was whooped by Navy, Texas lost to Iowa State and Michigan State survived a close matchup with Northwestern.

Let’s start with the Spartans, who for the second time this season, were aided by a fake kick in a big situation. This time, however, it was a fake that I, you and everybody watching the game except for Northwestern, apparently, saw coming. The Spartans pulled off a nice fake punt in the fourth quarter, and one play later, scored a touchdown to pull within a score. After a Northwestern field goal, the Spartans drove down the field again to score the go-ahead touchdown.

People around me here in Michigan think the Spartans are in the middle of a special season, and stuff like that — which had gone against them for years — is now starting to go their way. It’s tough to argue that, considering the way MSU has won a couple of its game. But at the same time, they soundly beat Wisconsin and Michigan, meaning they could just be good. Next week’s the biggest test of the season, of course, as they travel to Kinnick to play Iowa. If you asked me to put money on it, I’d put quite a bit on Iowa right now. But I’m nowhere perfect on “putting money on it” games.

Texas, meanwhile, is going through the kind of season you would expect a team to go through every few years. After four years of having Colt McCoy at the helm, the Longhorns are learning that without a dynamic run-pass threat at quarterback, they’ll need other weapons. Garrett Gilbert is a talented kid, but he’s young and he’s not getting much help.

Even so, this is a team that just shut down Taylor Martinez and Nebraska. A team that looked like it was starting to trend up after the bye week. Now the Longhorn faithful will have to deal with a non-10-win season. God forbid.

Taylor Martinez went off a week ago against Kansas State, leading many (including myself) to think he could be the second coming of Tommy Frazier and lead Nebraska back to the promised land.

Not so fast.

Nebraska fell 20-13 today to a Texas team that has been listless at times this season. The Longhorns held the explosive dual threat quarterback to 21 yards rushing on 13 carries. Nebraska only mustered 125 yards on 44 carries as a team. It wasn’t much better through the air, as Martinez and backup Zac Lee combined for 77 yards on 8-of-21 passing. On the bright side, they didn’t throw any interceptions. So there’s that.

It’s a big step for the Texas defense, which three weeks ago was embarrassed by UCLA. But mostly it’s a big wake-up call for Martinez and the Cornhuskers, who had moved all the way up to No. 5 in the rankings despite really not having beat anyone of consequence.

It’s too early to completely write off the Cornhuskers. Texas was coming off of a bye week, so that definitely helped. Plus, Martinez is young and he’ll have games like this every once in a while. Nebraska will just have to hope that when that happens, its defense can do enough for the win.

This is a stark reminder, however, that what you think you’re seeing in college football is normally not what you’re really seeing. This is one of the only sports in which that sentence makes sense.

Two of the best quarterbacks in the nation will square off today when unbeaten Auburn plays host to Arkansas. Auburn’s Cam Newton is a big, physical dual threat, while Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett is a big-armed gun-slinger who can make all the throws.

Both are dynamic players in their own right, and with the success of their respective teams, they’re also right in the middle of the Heisman Trophy conversation. Today’s game could push even further up the chart, and perhaps even to the top.

Both should be able to put on a show, as well, as neither defense is overpowering. Arkansas is improved on that side of the ball from last year, but not by a ton. Auburn, meanwhile, just allowed 34 points to Kentucky. So expect some serious fireworks.

It’s one of — if not the — biggest games of a weekend that isn’t exactly as strong as the last couple have been. But there’s still plenty to take in. Read the rest of this entry »

Courtesy of the fine folks at Ram trucks, Jamey Codding of Bullz-Eye.com got the opportunity to head to Dallas to experience the Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma this year. (He also got to survey the annual State Fair of Texas.)

To read about Jamey’s experience at the 105th meeting between Texas and Oklahoma (a 28-20 victory for the Sooners) and a closer look at Ram trucks’ new Laramie Longhorn, head over to Bullz-Eye.com.

Say what you want about Nick Saban and Urban Meyer (and believe me, there’s plenty to say about both of them), but they are very likely the two best coaches in college football right now.

The duo has combined for four national titles since 2003, and it wouldn’t be that far fetched to say they’ll combine to win another four in the next eight seasons. Alabama and Florida are at the top of the college football heap, and will continue to be there as long as these two men are at the top.

Apparently, they could have been together, but Saban big-timed Meyer and didn’t return his call in 1990. In Saban’s defense, 1990 was before caller ID (right?) and maybe his wife lost the phone number, or took it down wrong. Or maybe Saban is a big-timer (this is probably more likely). Either way, Urban seems to have forgiven him. Probably because he’s done well enough for himself since then.

Their teams play each other today, in what’s probably the game of the day when you consider everything (records, rankings, history, etc.). Click ahead to see who wins that one and more. Read the rest of this entry »

The Texas-Texas Tech matchup was being billed as the best game in Week 3, but it certainly didn’t live up to the hype.

That’s because the Longhorns’ defense held Tech to 144 total yards and forced three turnovers in a 24-14 victory.

The Tech offense never really got going and even when it started to show signs of life, somebody would turn the ball over. A Jarvis Phillips 87-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the first quarter was huge because Texas was driving for another score already up 14-0. But even when Tech tied the game 14-14 on a Lyle Leong 15-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Potts early in the second, the Raiders still couldn’t drum up much offense against UT.

The decisive blow for Tech came in the fourth quarter when Garrett Gilbert orchestrated a 23-play, 80-yard drive that took 9:25 off the clock and resulted in a Barrett Matthews 1-yard touchdown catch. Even with over nine minutes left on the clock, you got the feeling that the Raiders were finished.

Tech rushed for minus-16 yards on the night, which was their worst total since October 24 (also against Texas). Ouch.