2011 - week 7

The BCS standings were released, with no surprises at the top. The season is shaping up to have a wild, intense finish. The top 4 teams in the BCS all have to still play each other. But, we have a long way to go.

Speaking of the top two teams.

Who reside in the same conference, in the same division. Both LSU and Alabama took care of overmatched opponents. LSU turned in another wear you down performance over Tennessee. The Vols had no chance. Even if Tennessee starting QB Tyler Bray would have played, it wouldn't have mattered. Final score 38-7. Alabama started somewhat slow at Ole Miss, holding onto a 14-7 lead at half. But then blew the doors off in the second half. Trent Richardson continues to make his Heisman campaign bigger, rushing for 181 yards and 4 touchdowns. Bama had 615 total yards of offense, to Ole Miss' 141. Ouch. That's about as mismatched a game as you will see. Ole Miss is a conference opponent too, not an early season FCS school. Final score 52-7. These two teams play in two weeks. Armageddon ensues.

Two in a row.

The theme for the matchup between Oklahoma State and Texas was two in a row. Texas had not lost a game after losing the Red River Shootout in 10 plus years, and OSU had not beaten Texas two years in a row in, forever. Well, both happened. The Pokes were able to get big plays, and make just enough plays on defense to hold on, in Austin. That is still the question for Okie State. Are they going to make enough plays on defense in key situations to go to the next level. Their offense will certainly keep them in games, but, wait for it, defense wins championships. Texas' Fozzy Whitaker returned his second 100 yard kickoff return(in a row) for a touchdown, but Texas' offense sputtered at the end. It looks as though David Ash is taking over at QB full time for the Longhorns. Sorry, no more McCoy to Shipley references, I'll miss those. Final score 38-26, Oklahoma State.

Boise State beat Colorado State 63-13. Did their schedule get even easier when they moved to the Mountain West?

Rolling along.

In case you didn't know, Stanford has won 14 games in a row. Yes, the same Stanford that went 1-11 back in '06. The loss that came before that win streak was to Oregon, who only made it to the national championship game last year. Of course they didn't have Andrew Luck back then, who this week passed for 336 yards and 4 td's against poor old Washington State. The guy is a machine. He may or may not win the Heisman, but he is the most complete quarterback we've seen in college in quite some time. Final score 44-14, Stanford.

Still?

I keep waiting for Clemson to pull a, well, Clemson. A team that always seems to find a way to lose games they shouldn't when they are highly ranked. It almost happened last weekend, but thanks to Sammy Watkins, it didn't. With Maryland leading 35-17 early in the third quarter, Watkins took over. He caught td passes of 13 and 15 yards in the third quarter, then ran a kickoff back 89 yards in the fourth! He accounted for 375 total yards, and 3 touchdowns, all in the second half. Clemson somehow stays undefeated. Final score 56-45, Clemson.

Not anymore.

Speaking of somehow undefeated, until last week. Michigan took care of business in the first half of the season, something I didn't think they could do. But their first real test, a road trip to Michigan State was failed miserably. First of all, the uniforms they busted out were horrendous, some throwback looking things. Michigan's uniform is maybe my favorite looking uniform, and they've worn this get-up twice now this season. Michigan State also brought out some new unis, which were not bad. But let's get to the actual football. The Spartans were able to contain Mr. Explosive Denard Robinson, and only allowed 250 total yards of offense. MSU also returned an interception back for a td, which always helps. Look for Michigan to do what they always do, start the season fast, and end slow. Final score 28-14, Michigan State.

Speaking of taking care of business.

And also start slow. Oklahoma looked to have a bit of a Red River hangover to start against the worst team in the Big12, Kansas. Tied 10-10 early in the second quarter, OU turned it on. After a td run by Roy Finch, it was also time to get Ryan Broyles the record for most receptions in college football history. So they sent him deep and connected on a 57 yard td pass to break it. Good for him. In what feels like his 15th season in Norman, Broyles has been the ultimate receiver at OU. He catches double digit passes just about every week, and seems to score when you need him to. OU continues to be in cruise control. Final score 47-17, Oklahoma.

Reason I never talk about them.

West Virginia is the only good thing that has come out of the Big East in a good while. On the national scale, they are easily the worst conference. Utah was 2-3, and 0-3 in the PAC 12 going into their mid-season matchup with Pittsburgh. Pitt was of course heavily favored, and playing at home. And to no one's surprise, they stunk it up, and got run out of their own stadium. Utah's three losses were a combined 89-42 margin of loss, yet were able to run all over the Panthers. Pitt amassed 120 total yards of offense, and their two touchdowns came on a kickoff return and a blocked punt. Pitiful. If I don't mention the Big East the rest of the season, you know why. Final score 26-14, Utah.

Just keep winning.

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that Bill Snyder's second tour of rebuilding at Kansas State was going well this year. Even after giving up 580 yards of offense to Texas Tech, and being down 28-20 at half, K State found a way to win. I only know one player's name on that team, Collin Klein, the QB of course. They haven't had the toughest schedule in the world, but they are another team that no one thought would be in this position. I mean they won their first game 10-7 over Eastern Kentucky! Come on. The road gets much tougher starting two weeks, with games against OU, Okie State, A&M, and Texas all in a row. We'll see what they are made of after that stretch. Speaking of Texas Tech, I'm wondering when Tommy Tuberville is going to give up the "Air Raid" offense. I give it one more year to please the fans, then he'll switch to what made him successful at Auburn, a power running game and good defense. Final score 41-34, Kansas State.

Where's the offense?

A few weeks ago, the Auburn versus Florida game sounded like a good one. Well, with Florida having to go through LSU and Alabama in consecutive weeks and getting dismantled, and Auburn being run out of Arkansas, it lost it sizzle. And when the game started, it wasn't much better. Both offenses got a whole lot of nothing going throughout the game. Barret Trotter for Auburn was benched in favor of Clint Moseley, who looks to get the nod the rest of the way. And Florida used everyone but the waterboy in the game at QB. It resulted in less than 500 yards of offense total from both squads for the game. Miserable. Thanks to two muffed punts by Florida, Auburn was able to capitalize on short fields. If not for that, the score might have been 7-3. Florida already looking to next year. Final score 17-6, Auburn.

Until next week.