Fall of the Trojans

What a great weekend, Indiana played well and won on the road and the USC Trojans lost to a team that went 0-12 last season.  I thought there were quite a few entertaining games and some very telling results.  Most teams have played three games and we can get a pretty good idea on how good some of the tested teams are.  Do we know how Penn State is?  No, they haven't beaten anyone.  But there are some teams that we can gauge after three weeks.  Notre Dame and Georgia Tech are not as good as I thought they would be.  Miami is much better than I thought they would be.  Three weeks does not make a season but we can at least get a little bit of the big picture.  

Observations from the Couch

-Florida was not physically ready to play an SEC game.  The Gators played Charleston Southern

 and Troy before they took on the Volunteers.  Tennessee had played a tough UCLA prior to their contest with Florida.  I think the two cupcakes games left Florida a little bit unprepared to play a real physical game.  I am not saying they were out of shape but they simply weren't quite ready for a big-time physical game.  Lane Kiffin is not my favorite coach but I congratulate the Volunteers for not getting blown out.  They don't have a quarterback capable of doing anything but their defense is salty.  Bottom line, Florida did not look like national champions and they did not have to.  Florida just needs to win.  They don't have to worry about style points, if they run the table they will make the title game.  The only day they have to look like national champions is on the day of the national title game.  

-This one goes back to Thursday night.  How impressive has Miami been?  I expected the Hurricanes to get back to this level next season, not this year.  They are back in the top ten after a thorough butt kicking of Georgia Tech.  Jacory Harris is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate and the Canes offensive coordinator Mark Whipple has made Miami's offense explosive.  They play Virginia Tech in Blacksburg this Saturday and host Oklahoma on October 

3.  If they can win both of those, Miami will be in the national title picture.  

-Charlie Weis had his job saved by two brain farts from Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins.  Cousins missed a wide open receiver in the end zone and then threw an interception and the Irish hung on for a 33-30 win in South Bend over the Spartans.  Star receiver Michael Floyd is out for the regular season with a broken collarbone and the Irish are in for at least two more losses this season.  

-The Georgia at Arkansas game was one of the most entertaining games I have seen in a while.  Quarterbacks Joe Cox and Ryan Mallett both threw for five touchdowns and the teams combined for over 1,000 yards as Georgia won 52-41.  Defense was optional in Fayetteville and I enjoyed it immensely.  

Kudos

-This was a very nice week for the ACC.  Miami looks like a legitimate top ten team, Florida State pounded BYU, Virginia Tech survived Nebraska and North Carolina handled East Carolina.  This conference needs Miami and Florida State to be at their best and it looks like they could be on their way.  

-Kudos to the Iowa Hawkeyes.  Iowa almost lost to Northern Iowa in week one.  Since then, they blasted Iowa State and manhandled Arizona.  The Hawkeyes beat the Wildcats in Iowa City 27-17.  They now face a major test, a night game in Happy Valley against the #5 Nittany Lions.  

-California running back Jahvid Best announced his Heisman Trophy candidacy was for real with a great performance against Minnesota.  I give California credit for playing this game.  The game started at 9 am pacific time and Cal never plays well on the road.  They were playing in front of a jacked up crowd in Minnesota's new stadium but they started well and finished well for a nice win.  Best had 131 yards and five touchdowns in front of a national television audience as Cal took the victory 35-21.  Cal now begins a very tough stretch, at Oregon, hosting USC and at UCLA.  

-Obviously, Washington deserves to be here.  They were 0-12 last year and fired Ty

 Willingham.  Steve Sarkisian was hired away from USC and people were talking about a good energy around the program.  They played LSU pretty tough in the opening week but fell to the Tigers.  Matt Barkley and Taylor Mays did not go for the Trojans but they should not have had any problem with the Huskies.  Jake Locker played well and the defense was awesome.  A late field goal gave UW a fantastic win and the Huskies vaulted into the Top 25.

Shame on You

-I am an IU fan conditioned to hate Purdue.  But, I root for Big Ten teams in the nonconference portion of the schedule.  Purdue had looked very good in a dominant win over Toledo and a close loss at Oregon.  On Saturday, everything fell apart.  Purdue was outplayed in every aspect of the game by the Northern Illinois Huskies.  NIU held Purdue to three first downs in the first half and had the ball for almost 42 minutes.  They won 28-21 and it wasn't that close.  

-Oregon beat Utah on Saturday.  Nice job.  But the uniforms the Ducks trotted out on Saturday were absolutely horrible.  

-Northwestern lost to Syracuse.  That is not horrible, the 'Cuse are certainly improved.  They should be embarrassed that they gave up over 300 yards of passing to Greg Paulus.  Come on, the guy hasn't played in almost five years!  

It was another great week, stay tuned for a preview of week four and IU's big test in the Big House.  Until next time, stay vigilant and God Bless America.