Week Two Thoughts
ACC:
I surprised to see The Citadel hanging around with Florida State before the Seminoles overwhelming amount of talent led to a blow out. I really don't think the Seminoles are among the elite in the league this year as Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Boston College have impressed me far more.
Big East:
After a poor showing in week one, week two may have been even worse for the Big East solely based on one game. Pitt was absolutely embarassed on Friday night when they lost to Ohio, one of the worst teams in the MAC. Tyler Palko looked lost and the lowly Bobcats, beaten handily by Northwestern the previous week, shut down Pitt's stud wideout, Greg Lee. The Wannstedt Era is off the a very shaky start.
Connecticut, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, West Virginia all dominated far inferior opponents, including shutouts pitched by Connecticut against Liberty and Syracuse against Buffalo. The rest surrendered a touchdown or less.
Big Ten:
This weekend proved to be a very poor one of the Big Ten overall. Iowa lost to Iowa State, Texas squeaked out a victory over Ohio State and Michigan was stunned at Notre Dame at home. Barring collapses by some other programs, the Big Ten is likely out of the national championship picture. Iowa's offense looked pitiful against the Cyclones after Drew Tate was knocked out of the game with a concussion. Chad Henne showed signs of a sophomore slump against the Irish. Without Braylon Edwards to bail him out, it might be a long season for Henne and the Wolverines.
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State and Penn State are all 2-0 thus far. Michigan State and Penn State are the only two in the group who have played anyone worth mentioning (Kent State and Hawaii for MSU and South Florida and Cincinnati for PSU). With some of the early favorites losing early on, the Spartans and Lions could make some noise in the Big Ten race. Indiana struggled to beat 1-AA Nicholls State.
Big 12:
Texas clearly looks like the team to beat in the Big 12 this season. I'm not sure there is any team in the Big 12 even close to being on the same level as them right now. If the Longhorns can get past Oklahoma, they will finish undefeated and participate in the Rose Bowl once again.
Oklahoma played another pitiful game against Tulsa, winning just 31-15. If not for two late touchdowns, this game would have been a lot closer. The Sooners passing attack is so bad that they didn't attempt a pass the entire second half. This team looks remarkably like the 2004 N.C. State and Penn State teams that finish 5-6 and 4-7, respectively. Both had tremendous defenses but couldn't put points on the board. I keep getting the feeling that OU might be in for a 5-6 season if they don't find offensive production outside of Adrian Peterson.
Iowa State looks like the team to beat in the Big 12 North after pummeling Iowa at home 23-3. Colorado and Nebraska should both be in the mix but Bret Meyer is a Vince Young Lite at QB and he has a terrific wide receiver in Todd Blythe.
Mountain West:
TCU made Oklahoma's loss to them look even worse as the Horned Frogs lost to lowly SMU. After being touted as this season's Utah for the past week, the Frogs are slammed back to the reality of what they really are- a middle of the road Mountain West team.
Pac-10:
Arizona State looked good against LSU despite losing a game they had well in hand at one point. With both Cal and ASU on the road, one of them will end up with a good shot at knocking off the Trojans.
Cal dominated Washington 56-17 and despite a relatively weak conference overall, the Pac-10 has three pretty strong teams. The Huskies program is in shambles and there will not be a quick fix. People have revelled in the fact that Penn State has fallen off the college football map in recent years but Washington is much worse shape than my Nittany Lions.
SEC:
South Carolina played Georgia much tighter than most expected. A lot of experts say that South Carolina is a 6-5 team at best but I think this team could win 8 games if they show the same effort every week that they brought to Athens with them. I'm sure the Bulldogs didn't expect to escape with a 17-15 win.
LSU had a nice come from behind win against Arizona State. Granted, it was the first game after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and the team was playing with heavy hearts but the Tigers don't look like a national championship contender at this point. I picked them to reach Pasadena but they are going to need marked improvement to win the SEC, let alone a national championship.
Vanderbilt defeated Arkansas 28-24. Vandy isn't supposed to be capable of beating anyone other than Kentucky or Mississippi State so this is a devastating loss for the Razorbacks to say the least. If Houston Nutt doesn't get this team to a bowl game, he may be out of a job at the end of the season.
I surprised to see The Citadel hanging around with Florida State before the Seminoles overwhelming amount of talent led to a blow out. I really don't think the Seminoles are among the elite in the league this year as Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Boston College have impressed me far more.
Big East:
After a poor showing in week one, week two may have been even worse for the Big East solely based on one game. Pitt was absolutely embarassed on Friday night when they lost to Ohio, one of the worst teams in the MAC. Tyler Palko looked lost and the lowly Bobcats, beaten handily by Northwestern the previous week, shut down Pitt's stud wideout, Greg Lee. The Wannstedt Era is off the a very shaky start.
Connecticut, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, West Virginia all dominated far inferior opponents, including shutouts pitched by Connecticut against Liberty and Syracuse against Buffalo. The rest surrendered a touchdown or less.
Big Ten:
This weekend proved to be a very poor one of the Big Ten overall. Iowa lost to Iowa State, Texas squeaked out a victory over Ohio State and Michigan was stunned at Notre Dame at home. Barring collapses by some other programs, the Big Ten is likely out of the national championship picture. Iowa's offense looked pitiful against the Cyclones after Drew Tate was knocked out of the game with a concussion. Chad Henne showed signs of a sophomore slump against the Irish. Without Braylon Edwards to bail him out, it might be a long season for Henne and the Wolverines.
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State and Penn State are all 2-0 thus far. Michigan State and Penn State are the only two in the group who have played anyone worth mentioning (Kent State and Hawaii for MSU and South Florida and Cincinnati for PSU). With some of the early favorites losing early on, the Spartans and Lions could make some noise in the Big Ten race. Indiana struggled to beat 1-AA Nicholls State.
Big 12:
Texas clearly looks like the team to beat in the Big 12 this season. I'm not sure there is any team in the Big 12 even close to being on the same level as them right now. If the Longhorns can get past Oklahoma, they will finish undefeated and participate in the Rose Bowl once again.
Oklahoma played another pitiful game against Tulsa, winning just 31-15. If not for two late touchdowns, this game would have been a lot closer. The Sooners passing attack is so bad that they didn't attempt a pass the entire second half. This team looks remarkably like the 2004 N.C. State and Penn State teams that finish 5-6 and 4-7, respectively. Both had tremendous defenses but couldn't put points on the board. I keep getting the feeling that OU might be in for a 5-6 season if they don't find offensive production outside of Adrian Peterson.
Iowa State looks like the team to beat in the Big 12 North after pummeling Iowa at home 23-3. Colorado and Nebraska should both be in the mix but Bret Meyer is a Vince Young Lite at QB and he has a terrific wide receiver in Todd Blythe.
Mountain West:
TCU made Oklahoma's loss to them look even worse as the Horned Frogs lost to lowly SMU. After being touted as this season's Utah for the past week, the Frogs are slammed back to the reality of what they really are- a middle of the road Mountain West team.
Pac-10:
Arizona State looked good against LSU despite losing a game they had well in hand at one point. With both Cal and ASU on the road, one of them will end up with a good shot at knocking off the Trojans.
Cal dominated Washington 56-17 and despite a relatively weak conference overall, the Pac-10 has three pretty strong teams. The Huskies program is in shambles and there will not be a quick fix. People have revelled in the fact that Penn State has fallen off the college football map in recent years but Washington is much worse shape than my Nittany Lions.
SEC:
South Carolina played Georgia much tighter than most expected. A lot of experts say that South Carolina is a 6-5 team at best but I think this team could win 8 games if they show the same effort every week that they brought to Athens with them. I'm sure the Bulldogs didn't expect to escape with a 17-15 win.
LSU had a nice come from behind win against Arizona State. Granted, it was the first game after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and the team was playing with heavy hearts but the Tigers don't look like a national championship contender at this point. I picked them to reach Pasadena but they are going to need marked improvement to win the SEC, let alone a national championship.
Vanderbilt defeated Arkansas 28-24. Vandy isn't supposed to be capable of beating anyone other than Kentucky or Mississippi State so this is a devastating loss for the Razorbacks to say the least. If Houston Nutt doesn't get this team to a bowl game, he may be out of a job at the end of the season.
posted by The Nittany Blog at 9:37 PM
1 Comments:
You forgot Purdue ... of course!
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