Ah, the flattery and attention are so exciting. The support from promoters, fans, students, fellow athletes and the media is incredible. You are unbeatable, unstoppable and perhaps the best team ever formed.
They tell you all this and say nothing to your opponent. Your opponent is just another game ride. You’re flying at 4-0, you’re Southern California, the team that has enjoyed 5 straight seasons of top-4 national finishes, BCS bowl appearances, and Pac 10 Conference titles.
You’re playing a 6-touchdown underdog, a team that lost 41-3 last week, a team you beat 42-0 last year, a team that finished with a lousy 1-11 record.
So, Southern California, number 2 in the ranking, loses on Saturday (10-6-07) against Stanford 24-23. Don’t you just love college football? The excitement of college football makes professional football seem boring. I’m not surprised USC lost a game. The Trojans were lucky to get past Washington a week earlier, winning by a field goal, 27-24, while committing many penalties and turnovers. I’m surprised it was Stanford who did it.
A team that is loaded with talent like USC will win every time, unless the talent is “in” the game but not “in” the game. Talent simply has to show up every week or even a powerhouse like USC is embarrassed. The Trojans are now the new team ranked #10 in the AP Top 25 poll.
Louisiana State stayed at No. 1 by scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 9-ranked Florida and last year’s national champion, 28-24. Florida led at the half 17-7. LSU is 6-0.
Undefeated, No. 5-ranked Wisconsin, a team I’ve said all year was overrated, finally proved it by losing to unranked Illinois 31-26 on the road.
Undefeated and No. 8-ranked Kentucky, another team I’ve said is overrated, proved it by losing to No. 11-ranked South Carolina, 38-23.
Undefeated and No. 23-ranked Purdue, another team I’ve said is overrated, proved it by losing to No. 4-ranked Ohio State, 23-7.
Undefeated and No. 6-ranked South Florida, they were more than busy to edge out Florida Atlantic 35-23.
Missouri, undefeated and ranked 17th, gave a big blow to Nebraska, ranked 25th, 41-6. I have been railing against Nebraska as unworthy of any ranking for weeks and finally the Cornhuskers have been kicked out of the Top 25 poll. Amen. Undefeated and unranked Kansas defeated No. 24-ranked Kansas State 30-24 and the Jayhawks are now ranked No. 20. Kansas is off to its first 5-0 start in 29 years.
22-ranked Clemson lost to 15-ranked Virginia Tech 41-23 and was left out of the poll.
Undefeated and No. 16-ranked Hawaii tore through hapless winless Utah State 52-37. Utah State is 0-6; Hawaii is 6-0.
Cincinnati, undefeated and ranked No. 20, defeated No. 21 Rutgers on the road, 28-23. Cincinnati is now 6-0, but faces a much tougher schedule as it travels to Pittsburgh and South Florida and faces Connecticut and West Virginia at home.
Three teams that I wished well for and hoped would do well have now fallen in my estimation.
One is Alabama with new coach Nick Saban. Alabama went to 4-2 by beating Houston, 30-24, but that’s not saying much. Apparently, Saban doesn’t have much talent in the Crimson Tide country. It will take him two more seasons to put the real winners in his shoes. Another is Michigan State with new coach Mark Dantonio. The Spartans lost at home to Northwestern, 48-41, in overtime. It is not a good sign for Dantonio. MSU lost last weekend in Wisconsin to an overrated bunch of Badgers 37-34.
Spartan players are going to have to learn how to win, and that’s not easy when you have a culture of choking and losing even to mediocre teams. Dantonio, a great defensive coach, can score points but apparently has very little defense when it matters. You can’t win in the Big 10 without a great defense.
A third disappointment is Arizona State, and the Sun Devils under new first-year coach Dennis Erickson remain undefeated at 6-0. Ranked at No. 18, the Sun Devils just barely edged out Washington State, 23-20, a poor showing given that the Cougars, a team Erickson used to coach, have lost 4 of 6 games. The Cougars missed a 46-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining that would have sent the game into overtime.
Granted, Arizona State was on the way, but it needed to beat Washington State by at least three touchdowns to be impressive and it couldn’t. Games like Texas-Oklahoma, Boston College-Bowling Green and Georgia-Tennessee don’t interest me. Thank goodness for my bottom feeders: Buffalo, Wyoming, and UTEP.
God bless the Buffalo Bulls who beat the Ohio Bobcats 31-10 for a homecoming victory. Let’s go bulls! I would like to see Buffalo defeat Toledo at home this weekend. Buffalo has been one of the lowest-rated teams in college football in recent years, and I’m happy to see the Bulls have real success.
Take heart Buffalo fans, the Bulls really do have an offense! James Starks rushed for a career-high 183 yards against Ohio. Maybe we should call him James “Scamper” Starks. Hello University at Buffalo, is anyone home?
Another team I like is Wyoming because the Cowboys win at home. TCU found that out again this week when the Cowboys led them to a 24-21 victory. Wyoming defensive end Mitch Unrein was listed as the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week. I’m convinced that if any ranked team entered cowboy country, it could leave behind an underdog. Heck, Wyoming is now 4-1 on the season. Come on cowboys!
Mike Price’s Texas-El Paso team edged out Tulsa in a typical high-scoring game, 48-47. UTEP climbed to 4-2 and the Miners have the same chance as any other team to win the Conference USA title.
UTEP redshirt rookie quarterback Trevor Vittatoe was named Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for 319 yards and 3 touchdowns against Tulsa. Mike Price turned UTEP football upside down in a hurry. Football is not just a conversation in Texas, football is serious business in Texas. Everything is big in Texas, including UTEP wins. Let’s go miners!
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley