Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1475 of 1503)

Boy, did we learn some things in college football this week or what?

Or did we really learn anything about any of these ranked teams?

What an interesting third week of the season – some teams bombed with opportunities to really set themselves apart, while others just made the race for a nation championship that more exciting and close.

Here is a look at some games that should have caught viewer’s attention in Week 3:

>(#3) Auburn 7, (#3) LSU 3
My Bullz-Eye.com game of the week proved to be anything but exciting as far as scoring is concerned, but what a thrilling finish between these two SEC powerhouses.

What an incredible job by Auburn’s defense in holding LSU to just 42 yards on the ground. The combination of Alley Broussard and Justin Vincent for LSU never got going, which put a lot of pressure on quarterback JaMarcus Russell (who I thought showed excellent veteran savvy late in the game) to try and win the game solely through the air.

As good as Auburn’s defense played, this was LSU’s win for the taking.

With only a minute to play in the game and LSU on its own 20-yard line, Russell led the Tigers into Auburn territory by connecting with receiver Craig Davis on two passes of over 20 yards. On a third down play from Auburn’s 39-yard line, Russell hit Dwayne Bowe for 20 more yards as Bowe broke three tackles while successfully getting out of bounds and stopping the clock. That play might have been the best effort by any individual I saw today in college football.

After an illegal formation penalty was called against LSU, Russell fired a pass intended for Bowe that was incomplete. However, an Auburn defender dragged Bowe down on the play and the back judge threw a flag to call pass interference. After only a couple of seconds, the official that threw the flag went back on the call because another Auburn defender had tipped the ball while Bowe was being dragged down – nullifying any pass interference that could have been called on the play.

It was a sham call that eventually costed the game for LSU, handing Auburn a 7-3 victory and putting the Tigers on easy street to a possible SEC title appearance.

I don’t want to take anything away from Auburn, but LSU deserves to be ranked in the top 10 and could have very easily defeated Auburn on its home turf. Will Auburn be ranked #2 with Notre Dame losing?

>(#7) Florida 21, (#13) Tennessee 20
This was a closer game than I expected. I really thought Florida was a much superior team, but I figured that the game being played in Knoxville would keep the game close.

But after watching the Volunteers rack up a 17-7 lead on the Gators half way through the third quarter, I see that Philip Fulmer does have his team playing at a high level again. However, you can’t deny the savvy that Florida displayed in coming back from behind.

What a performance by quarterback Chris Leak. He did have the one interception, but throwing for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns is impressive – especially coming from behind on the road.

Leak’s best play was on a third down and six from Tennessee’s 33-yard line with just under 10 minutes to play and Flordia down 20-14. Leak picked up the first down using his legs and then proceeded to connect with receiver Dallas Baker for 20 yards for the Gators game-clinching score just two plays later.

Erik Ainge came back down to earth a bit by throwing two interceptions and no TDs. He was able to find Jayson Swain six times for 78 yards, but Ainge’s other go-to-guy, Robert Meachem, was virtually shut down.

The real question now for Florida is – where do the Gators sit in the AP Poll? With Notre Dame and LSU losing, should the Gators be ranked in the top five? West Virginia holds that fifth spot right now and did crush Maryland 45-24 on Thursday night.

But a win on the road against a formidable SEC rival might get Urban Meyer’s group ahead of the Mountaineers.

Quick Shots:
(#18) Oregon knocked off (#15) Oklahoma 34-33 in possibly the most thrilling game of the day. The Ducks took advantage of a controversial call on an onside kick to score twice in 22 seconds. The Sooners will surely cry foul, which they should, but come on – you can’t allow a team to roll up the field on you twice in 22 seconds…(#4) USC smoked (#19) Nebraska 28-10, scoring seven points in every quarter. John David Booty threw three touchdowns – two to receiver Dwayne Jarrett who had a great day with 11 catches for 133 yards…The upset of the day by far, was unranked Clemson knocking off (#9) Florida State 27-20 in Tallahassee. I guess that narrow victory over Troy last week was a telltale sign for the Seminoles after all, huh?…(#12) Louisville defeated (#17) Miami (FL) for the first time ever and did it rather convincingly too. In the Cardinals 31-7 victory, however, Louisville lost another Heisman trophy candidate (the first being running back Michael Bush who broke his leg in week one) when quarterback Brian Brohm strained thumb ligaments in his right (throwing) hand in the third quarter. The QB will miss 4-6 weeks… Top ranked Ohio State had a minor hiccup early in its 37-7 victory over Cincinnati, falling behind the Bearcats 10-7 in the first quarter. Then Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. remembered that it wasn’t a bye week and hooked up five times for 34 yards and two scores. The Buckeye of the day was running back Antonio Pittman who rushed 16 times for 154 yards, including a 48 yard scamper in the fourth quarter…(#16) Iowa battled back to beat its arch nemesis Iowa State 27-17 after being down to the Cyclones 14-10 at halftime. 14-10 isn’t a huge margin by any means, but Iowa State did knock off the Hawkeyes last year and were close to accomplishing the feat again this season.

Most impressive showing from Week 3: It has to be Michigan’s 47-27 victory over Notre Dame in South Bend. There weren’t a lot of people (including myself) who envisioned the Wolverines beating the Irish period – never the less by 26. Nice job by the Michigan coaching staff (especially offensive coordinator Mike DeBord) for opening up the playbook and not standing pat when they had the lead. We now have your undivided attention Michigan – now don’t go out blow this momentum against Wisconsin in Ann Arbor next week.

Louisville crushing Miami 31-7 was big too. Although the Cardinals lost their stud running back (Bush) and now their All-Pro quarterback (Brohm) to injury, Louisville keeps putting up points at a rapid pace and now deserves top 10 consideration.

Least impressive showing from Week 3: How about a team that was supposed to be the second best in the nation laying an egg on its home grass? Besides being physically abused 47-21 by Michigan, what really shocked me was Notre Dame’s toughness (or lack thereof). I’m not talking about physical toughness, but the toughness a good team is supposed to have when they get punched in the mouth, but bounce back and persevere. As soon as Prescott Burgess returned his first interception off of Brady Quinn for a touchdown in the opening minutes of the game, the Irish shut down shop and called it a day. Even after tying the game 7-7, Notre Dame never showed its mettle and got destroyed in South Bend.

On tap for Week 4: There are some weak games on the schedule next week in terms of ranked teams facing other ranked teams. However, Penn State travels to Ohio State to kick off Ben Ten action and Notre Dame will try to throw away its season by traveling to East Lansing to face the Spartans of Michigan State (who by the way, knocked off the Irish in South Bend a year ago and who also played excellent in a 38-23 win in Pittsburgh today).

Date: Sept. 13
Time: 8:00pm ET CBS

Why to tune in:
What did the Volunteers have to do to get their first four games to all be at the friendly confines of Neyland Stadium? Before its convincing 35-18 victory over California in the opening week of the season, Tennessee was 5-9 under coach Phillip Fulmer against top 10 teams. Urban Meyer will travel to Knoxville for the first time as a head coach, but he has experience coaching against Fulmer as the Gators beat UT 16-7 in Gainesville last year. Although Florida comes into this game ranked #7, it really didn’t fair well on the road last year, going just 1-3 in the SEC. With both of these teams vying for supremacy in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference, this is shaping up to be a one of the biggest games in a weekend chalked full of great showdowns.

When Florida has the ball:
Florida is ranked number four in the nation through the air and with Chris Leak already throwing for 600 yards in two games; he’s ready to roll. Meyer loves to spread the field with multiple receiver sets and run the misdirection to try and open up lanes for his backs. Leak has seven touchdowns and loves to get the ball in the hands of his favorite target Dallas Baker. Tennessee will be without cornerback Inky Johnson who may never play football again since having to undergo vascular surgery to repair torn blood vessels in his right shoulder area and faces additional surgery to correct nerve damage in his right shoulder and arm. The Vols will counter with Jonathan Hefney who will move from free safety to cornerback to replace while Demetrice Morley entering the starting lineup at safety. The UT defense did get a lift when DT Justin Harrell, after being declared out for the season with a ruptured left biceps tendon, decided to push back his surgery so he could play more game against Florida.

When Tennessee has the ball:
The Vols love to throw the ball themselves, but will be tested by an extremely talented secondary of the Gators. Florida has given up an average of just over 78 yards through the air in two games and gets great play out of Reggie Johnson, Tony Joiner and Reggie Lewis. The play of Florida’s secondary won’t stop Erik Ainge (who also has over 600 yards passing in two games) from trying to get Robert Meachem involved early. Meachem has close to 300 yards receiving and four touchdowns. UT will split carries with Montario Hardesty and Arian Foster, but Foster left the game last week against Air Force because of an ankle injury. If he can’t go, Hardesty can handle the load, but look for Fulmer to run off tackle to counter Florida’s tough run defense and limit whichever runner he uses to one cut so they can get as much positive yards before contact.

Prediction:
After a heralding performance by Tennessee in the rout over California, the Volunteers almost succumbed to looking past Air Force in a one-point victory last week. Although it seems like Fulmer has his team playing at a high level at home again, his defense is really banged up and the Gators have to be chomping at the bits to throw the ball all over that remade secondary. Fulmer will try to use a balanced attack against Florida and try to keep the Gators off-balanced throughout the game. However, if Florida just has to key on one facet of Tennessee’s game, the Gators can swarm on defense and possibly cause a key turnover or two and turn the Volunteer’s momentum upside down.

Florida shows it is better equipped for big games on the road this year: Florida 30, Tennessee 21.

Date: Sept. 13
Time: 3:30pm ET NBC

Why to tune in:
Why? It’s Michigan-Notre Dame, that’s why. Two of the most storied franchises in NCAA history will square off again in one of the most heated rivalries. Here’s a bit of a history lesson on this series: Michigan and Notre Dame once had a gentlemen’s agreement a few decades ago that the schools would play each other in its first game every season. After a few battles, the Fighting Irish started to sneak teams onto their schedule before playing U of M so that they would have a tune-up game (much like today’s college programs have) in order to be sharper for the Wolverines. Needless to say, Michigan didn’t appreciate what ND was doing and called off the agreement. That’s why every time these two schools play each other it’s usually the third game of the season. These programs, coaches and players hate each other and that usually leads to one heck of a battle.

When Michigan has the ball:
In last season’s defeat at the hands of Notre Dame in Ann Arbor, Michigan was without one of its best linemen in Jake Long. The Wolverines also didn’t have All-Pro running back Mike Hart for more than three plays and that left too much pressure on then-sophomore quarterback Chad Henne and freshmen Kevin Grady. Offensive coordinator Mike DeBord and the Wolverines offense love to play smash mouth football and rely on their defense late in games. When Michigan has a lead, it will run in between the tackles and lean on the offensive line to get the job done. One weakness ND has on defense is that so far in two games, the Irish have allowed an average of 138.5 yards on the ground. Notre Dame has faired much better in pass defense, but don’t expect with Hart fully healthy that the Irish are going to be dropping into coverage all day.

When Notre Dame has the ball:
Quarterback Brady Quinn looked much more comfortable in the pocket throwing for three touchdowns and 287 yards against Penn State last week than he did in the opener. Running back Darius Walker has had a lot of success running in this series, but Michigan has also made marked improvements in its run defense. As much as Charlie Weis might want to open up the passing game in this contest, the Wolverines are third in the nation in sacks and can put a lot of pressure on Quinn. If the Irish do deciede to throw the ball often, the best match up to watch of the day will be ND receivers Jeff Samardzija and Rhema McKnight vs. cornerbacks Leon Hall and Morgan Trent for Michigan.

Prediction:
Even though I like Michigan’s team a lot better than the two previous seasons, Notre Dame has already played two decent opponents (including Georgia Tech on the road) where as the Wolverines are coming off of two cupcakes. I just don’t see U of M as mentally prepared as ND is right now. Quinn won’t be the difference maker against Michigan this week – Walker will be. As a nobody underclassmen two years ago, Walker tore up the Wolverines for 115 yards on the ground. Last year, Walker rushed for 104 yards and also caught five passes out of the backfield. Although Michigan has shored up its run defense this season, Walker is still going to get going and the Irish won’t have to rely on Quinn to get pummeled by the Wolverines pass rush. Even though I think both teams will try to establish the run early and often, I still expect a high scoring affair.

It will be close, but I like the Irish to make it three in a row: Notre Dame 30, Michigan 24.