Anyways, to the football. I will first start (as I normally do) discussing the teams important to me. My Alma mater, the University of South Florida, is heading in to a huge game this Thursday against Big East foe Cincinnati. Both teams are 5-0, and have been quite impressive this year. Cincinnati is ranked #9 and boast an impressive offense led by quarterback Tony Pike. A kid whom many have on their Heisman Trophy watch list. However, Cincinnati has not been truly tested this season, with their toughest game thus far being at Oregon State (no disrespect to the Beavers, but they are not the same as last year). #21 USF has not been tested too much either. In week 4 we went up to Tallahassee, and beat then #18 Florida State 17-7. As the weeks go by this win looks less and less impressive since FSU is now 2-4 with what seems as the worst having yet to come. More on them later. Hopefully the people of Tampa will unite and come together for this big game. A full Raymond James Stadium is tough for the opposition, and I will be there full force screaming my head off for my beloved Bulls. I expect this to be a close game, and too tough for me to call. My heart says the Bulls, but I have not had a great feeling about this one since the end of the first half against Syracuse two Saturdays ago. The defensive line will need to repeat the performance they had against FSU, and BJ Daniels will have to put the offense in a position to score. Our running game has been less than stellar, so it is going to lie on the freshman signal caller's arm and legs.
My other team, the Miami Hurricanes, are off to a more than impressive start. If anyone would have told me at the beginning of the season, they would be 4-1 after playing Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, and Florida A&M, I might have considered them clinically insane. FAMU was the only sure lock in my book, with them most likely losing the rest. Jacory Harris has looked very poised, and the offense has been great under Mark Whipple thus far (with the exception of the VaTech game). The defense has been great as well. Allen Bailey is the best player you never heard of. No doubt in my mind he should be a first round pick in the 2011 draft. The Canes handled FAMU quite easily, winning 48-16. Miami travels to Orlando to take on Central Florida this Saturday, and I fully expect the Canes to be 5-1 after that game and continue to their ascent up the polls.
In other recaps, #21 Nebraska won 27-12 over #24 Missouri last Thursday. I have been skeptical of Nebraska all season, but with this win and losing only 16-15 to Virignia Tech, I am becoming a bit more of a believer in them as a Big 12 favorite. Their game against Texas Tech will be a good measuring tool. Let's see how they handle two decent opponents back-to-back.
The big contest Saturday saw #1 Florida head into Death Valley to take on #4 LSU. The big story of the game was if Florida's Tim Tebow would be able to play after suffering a pretty severe concussion two weeks earlier. Sure enough, Tebow was out on the field and led his team to a 13-3 victory, ending LSU's 30+ (I believe 32) game winning streak at home during night games. Florida's defense was dominant, but their offense was less than stellar. In my opinion this was due to Tebow coming off the injury, and because LSU's defense is underrated. No one gave the Tigers a chance, but they killed themselves with several stupid offside penalties. Florida is definitely beatable, and at the moment they are not looking like the the number 1 team in the nation.
That title should go to Alabama. The Tide rolled into Oxford and beat #20 Mississippi 22-3. Jevan Snead is very overrated as his offense was only able to muster a field goal. And love him or hate him (I'm on the hate side), you have to respect Alabama coach Nick Saban. The man has returned that program to glory in only a couple seasons.
The only unbeaten team that went down was #17 Auburn, losing 44-23 to unranked Arkansas. I feel Arkansas is a lot better than advertised, and their quarterback Ryan Mallett is a first rounder in my opinion. Florida may have a tough time with Arkansas this week.
Sam Bradford made his return from his shoulder injury and #19 Oklahoma handled Baylor easily, 33-7. This was a good warm up for Bradford as they will take on #2 Texas this week in the Red River Shootout. Texas defeated Colorado 38-14, surviving a rough first half in which Texas was down 14-10.
#12 Iowa is still undefeated after a thrilling 30-28 win over Michigan. The Hawkeyes are looking pretty good, but I do not see them winning out. They have to play at Ohio State in November.
#22 Georgia Tech defeated Florida State 49-44, in what was the worst display of defense I have ever seen. You have to feel bad for FSU quarterback Christian Ponder whom has done everything he can for this team. If his defense was not so bad, he could be the front runner for the Heisman. Unfortunately that award has become more about team rather than individual performance. The end of Bobby Bowden is near, but since that has been all over the news, I will not discuss that situation anymore. Just know that he should be gone after this year, and all Bobby apologists (seasoned FSU fans in particular) do not care about that program getting better.
Games of note for the coming weekend:
#8 Cincinnati at #21 South Florida
#20 Oklahoma vs. #2 Texas
Arkansas at #1 Florida
#6 USC at #25 Notre Dame
#4 Virginia Tech at #19 Georgia Tech
#22 South Carolina at #2 Alabama
Here is my Top 25
1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Virginia Tech
5. USC
6. Boise State
7. Miami (FL)
8. Cincinnati
9. LSU
10. Ohio State
11. Iowa
12. Oregon
13. Penn State
14. TCU
15. Georgia Tech
16. Nebraska
17. Kansas
18. Oklahoma State
19. South Florida
20. Oklahoma
21. South Carolina
22. Houston
23. BYU
24. Notre Dame
25. Utah
That title should go to Alabama. The Tide rolled into Oxford and beat #20 Mississippi 22-3. Jevan Snead is very overrated as his offense was only able to muster a field goal. And love him or hate him (I'm on the hate side), you have to respect Alabama coach Nick Saban. The man has returned that program to glory in only a couple seasons.
The only unbeaten team that went down was #17 Auburn, losing 44-23 to unranked Arkansas. I feel Arkansas is a lot better than advertised, and their quarterback Ryan Mallett is a first rounder in my opinion. Florida may have a tough time with Arkansas this week.
Sam Bradford made his return from his shoulder injury and #19 Oklahoma handled Baylor easily, 33-7. This was a good warm up for Bradford as they will take on #2 Texas this week in the Red River Shootout. Texas defeated Colorado 38-14, surviving a rough first half in which Texas was down 14-10.
#12 Iowa is still undefeated after a thrilling 30-28 win over Michigan. The Hawkeyes are looking pretty good, but I do not see them winning out. They have to play at Ohio State in November.
#22 Georgia Tech defeated Florida State 49-44, in what was the worst display of defense I have ever seen. You have to feel bad for FSU quarterback Christian Ponder whom has done everything he can for this team. If his defense was not so bad, he could be the front runner for the Heisman. Unfortunately that award has become more about team rather than individual performance. The end of Bobby Bowden is near, but since that has been all over the news, I will not discuss that situation anymore. Just know that he should be gone after this year, and all Bobby apologists (seasoned FSU fans in particular) do not care about that program getting better.
Games of note for the coming weekend:
#8 Cincinnati at #21 South Florida
#20 Oklahoma vs. #2 Texas
Arkansas at #1 Florida
#6 USC at #25 Notre Dame
#4 Virginia Tech at #19 Georgia Tech
#22 South Carolina at #2 Alabama
Here is my Top 25
1. Alabama
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Virginia Tech
5. USC
6. Boise State
7. Miami (FL)
8. Cincinnati
9. LSU
10. Ohio State
11. Iowa
12. Oregon
13. Penn State
14. TCU
15. Georgia Tech
16. Nebraska
17. Kansas
18. Oklahoma State
19. South Florida
20. Oklahoma
21. South Carolina
22. Houston
23. BYU
24. Notre Dame
25. Utah
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