What’s nice about college football wrapping up week number two is that most teams are done with their cream-puff part of the schedule. Although week three will still have some unimportant match ups, we can expect see more competitive conference games starting next week.
Here is a look at some games that should have caught viewer’s attention in Week 2:
(#1) Ohio State 24, (#2) Texas 7
Anybody looking for a complete wrap up of this game can check out my other posting on The Scores Report from last night. I was very impressed watching Buckeyes QB Troy Smith make the necessary plays for OSU while Texas freshman Colt McCoy did enough not to win the game for the Long Horns.
I wrote in my College Game of the Week on Bullz-Eye.com that this would be a high scoring affair. But OSU’s defense came up with two huge turnovers – one while Texas was in the red zone – to limit the Long Horns scoring chances.
The Buckeye defense has showed that they will allow yards on the ground early in drives, but is more than capable in shutting opponents down once they reach midfield. In order to truly be viewed as a dominating program, I think the Buckeyes need to sure up that run defense. As of right now, however, OSU is clearly the best team in the nation.
(#4) Notre Dame 41, (#19) Penn State 17
The Fighting Irish dropped two spots in the AP poll because of the unimpressive victory over Georgia Tech last week. If Notre Dame re-claimed its number No. 2 spot with its 41-17 victory Saturday over Penn State.
The Irish put on a show both offensively and defensively in this game against, what I thought, was a decent Nittany Lions squad. Hesiman hopefully Brady Quinn – who looked rushed in his decisions last week – commanded ND’s offense up and down the field to the tune of 287 passing yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Jeff Samardzija looked great in space and caught six passes for 56 yards and a score.
All-purpose back Darius Walker finished with 172-total yards and one touchdown for the Irish while Notre Dame’s defense smothered Penn State all game.
Quick Shots:
People can be overly shocked by (#9) Florida State’s squeaker over Troy, but any team coming off an emotional win over (#17) Miami and having to play just five days later will look sluggish…Four ranked teams shut out their opponents this weekend, which is obviously a great defensive statement for these programs: (#4) Auburn defeated Mississippi State 34-0, (#7) Florida beat UCF 42-0, (#13) Louisville crushed Temple 62-0 and (#12) Georgia got by South Carolina 18-0…(#14) Iowa barely got by Syracuse 20-13 in overtime, but this is another game that is deceiving because Hawkeyes QB Drew Tate never saw the field due to injury…Finally, (#10) Michigan had its first ever lightning delay in school history, but once play continued U of M hardly stalled in a 41-17 blowout of Central Michigan (a game I thought maybe the Wolverines would overlook because of Notre Dame being on the schedule in Week 3).
Most impressive showing from Week 2: Troy Smith and the rest of OSU’s offense. Smith made great reads, showed great pocket prescience and used every single one of his weapons in the Buckeyes win over Texas. How about finding wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez for 142-yards and a 17.8 catch average?
Least impressive showing from Week 2: (#11) Tennessee’s performance against Air Force. Granted the Vols did beat the Falcons 31-30, but this was a team that nearly jumped up 10 spots in the AP poll with a decisive victory over California last week and then they come out and barely beat Air Force? Maybe this is why Phillip Fulmer is on the hot seat this season – he can’t keep his team focused from week to week.
On tap for Week 3: There is plenty of great match up’s next week with (#10) Michigan traveling to South Bend to face (#4) Notre Dame, (#7) Florida playing (#11) Tennessee and (#18) Clemson going to Tallahassee to face (#9) FSU.
But the best game on the schedule might be (#8) LSU facing (#4) Auburn in a tremendous SEC match up on Saturday.
Update: Check out the new rankings after a second week of action.
