It was another great weekend for college football. With more on the line late in the year, some teams are measuring up while others are melting down.
1. Speechless. The 83-20 score to the Wisconsin Badgers-Indiana Hoosiers game left me speechless. Do you still get style points for this, or is putting up that many points bad taste? Oh, and the Badgers did it without starting running back John Clay. What about Indiana? Why should the Hoosiers get to be in a BCS automatic qualifying conference? Interestingly enough, the game was tied at 10 early in the second quarter. Nothing like a 66-3 run to put a game away.
2. A Novelty No More. Georgia Tech is just 5-5 this year, only 10 games removed from a BCS Bowl. Now that Paul Johnson and his triple option are in their third year, the novelty of the option has worn off. Defenses are used to it and we see just how good the Yellow Jackets really are. It was fun while it lasted.
3. Not This Time. Days after finally firing Dan Hawkins, since he blew a 28 point lead against Kansas in the final 11 minutes. This week against Iowa State, Colorado led by 27 with 11 minutes to play. The Buffs gave up only seven points this time for a 34-14 win.
4. Burning the Midnight Oil. Why are most Pac-10 games played at night? Pac-10 people complain about an East Coast Bias and that they have a bad TV package. Well, play your games when people outside your time zone are still awake and more people will tune in and you will be treated more fairly.
5. Overrated? The Utah Utes rose to number 5 in the BCS with their 8-0 start. They have been outscored 75-10 in back-to-back losses to TCU and Notre Dame. TCU I can understand, but Notre Dame? They have been the Fight less Irish for almost 5 years now.
6. Down year for the…Sun Belt Conference. May sound like an oxymoron since the Sun Belt is considered the weakest FBS conference. I predicted five bowl eligible teams at the beginning of the year. Right now, they will be lucky to have two. FIU (4-5) leads the conference after they beat Troy (5-4). It looks like that hard out of conference schedule is paying off for FIU. Troy is the only team with a winning record. Middle Tennessee State was supposed to be the new king of the conference, but the Dwight Dasher mess to start the year seems to have had lasting effects.
7. Validated. Northwestern finally got a quality win when they beat Iowa, 21-17. The Wildcats had previously beaten Vanderbilt, Illinois State, Rice, Central Michigan, Minnesota, and Indiana (four of those wins were by 5 points or less). Losses had come to Michigan State, Penn State, and Purdue.
8. Points In A Hurry. Teams that didn’t need the ball very long to score this week included San Diego State (35 points in 19:09, 1.83 points per minute), Boise State (52 points in 27:16, 1.91 points per minute), and Wisconsin (83 points in 32:27, 2.56 points per minute). Not sure which is more impressive: Wisconsin’s 83 or San Diego State’s 35. Normally, when you have the ball less than 20 minutes in a game you get blown out, but the Aztecs gave the number 3 team in the nation a pretty good scare.
9. Touch = Touchdown. BYU wide receiver Luke Ashworth caught four passes Saturday. All four touches resulted in touchdowns. If that is not impressive enough, he did it all in the first half.
10. Was it worth it? Texas Tech desperately wanted to get out of Mike Leach’s expensive contract last year. He had only been the most successful coach in Texas Tech history. This year the Red Raiders are 5-5, so far. Is a 0.500 record really worth saving $800,000?
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College Football Haven Top 25, Week 11, 2010
Game of the Week: South Carolina Gamecocks at Florida Gators
Game Predictions, Week 11, 2010
Weekly Trivia: Conference Championships for UCF Golden Knights
Boise State Broncos Got The BCS Blues
Heisman Hopefuls: Auburn QB Cam Newton Controls The Race In More Ways Than One
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