CFB Week 5 Recap

Welp, not sure if you can call it Upset Saturday (because the biggest one came on Thursday) but it was definitely what I will call "Shake Up Saturday". It was bound to happen that all these undefeated teams would lose a game. Didn't think it would happen before we reached October though. If this past week was a sign of things to come, then I am really excited.

THE BIG 10 THINGS I LEARNED THIS WEEK

1. Terrelle Pryor + Beanie Wells = Wins - Yes, you may notice I always start this section with OSU. It's my blog. Get used to it. But seriously, this combo looked really good in a 34-21 win over Minnesota. Yes, they were playing Minnesota but that's a step up from Troy and Youngstown State for sure. Pryor showed some throwing ability and some great pocket presence as well. Did a decent job with the deeper throws and looked amazing running the ball as usual. I don't like comparisons but he looks a lot like Tim Tebow and that's a good thing. Beanie looked like Beanie again and that was a great sign. Not only did his speed and agility look good, but he looked confident while running and not hesitant thinking about the toe. I mean, he eve hurdled a guy! This is a dynamic offense once again.

2. Road Sweet Road - Yea, apparently home fields aren't that important if you are a ranked team. Georgia takes on Alabama in Athens, GA and even calls for a blackout. Result: a 41-30 spanking. Florida welcomes a 2-2 Ole Miss team just hoping to be competitive at the Swamp. Result: a 31-30 shocker. Wake Forest welcomes the Naval Academy to Winston-Salem for a game that no one thought would be close. Result: Navy upsets the Demon Deacons 24-17. And finally, East Carolina looking for a rebound win against Houston in good 'ol Greenville. Result: ECU stinks up its home joint with a 41-24 loss. What is going on? Teams aren't scared anymore and the talent gap is getting smaller and smaller. It takes a lot of heart to win on the road, especially a place like Georgia or Florida. You have to just want the win more. Well, that was the case for these teams.

3. USC = University of Sudden Chokes - It's almost becoming as inevitable as the Cubs not winning the World Series. A loss by USC to a team that has no business being in a game with them. And while it is inevitable, you just never know when it is coming. For USC, it was this week after 12 days of preparation for the Beavers. So why did they lose? Maybe they knew they were the number one team and felt they didn't need to play 100% to win. Or maybe Oregon State just wanted the win more. It's sad to see a great team like USC fall just because they get too cocky and forget that you have to go one game at a time. You think it would be a lesson they would have learned in 2006 (loss to Oregon State) or 2007 (loss to Stanford) but apparently not.

4. Nick Saban knows how to coach (the college game) - You have to add the college game part in cause the NFL stint with the Dolphins was less than impressive. But hats off to Saban for getting his Bama team ready for that game and then just taking it to the Dawgs. If there was any doubt about how good Bama is, there's isn't much now. This is a team that can run the ball, pass the ball, and flat out defend. But most of all, they have a coach that knows how to gameplan. UGA looked out of sorts all game on both sides of the ball. The 41-30 score is not symbolic of how dominant Bama was. The 31-0 halftime lead is more like it.

5. Conference play is gonna be good - Let's start in the Big Ten. Illinois and Penn State in a scoring duel until the 4th quarter. Wisconsin with a 19-0 lead on a less than mediocre Michigan team just to see the Wolverines show some heart, grit and determination to pull out a victory. And Ohio State looking like they may return to glory. This is gonna be fun. And the same goes for the SEC. Already, UGA and UF have a loss and they are probably the best two teams in the conference. Auburn isn't great but good enough to win whatever game they decide to show up in. Ole Miss proved they will be no pushover. South Carolina seems to have found a quarterback in Stephen Garcia. LSU and Bama are the class of the conference now but it's not even October yet! And even the Pac-10 season may be a bit more exciting now that USC has gone down. Every team knows they are a vulnerable team now. And the ACC, Big East and Big 12 are getting underway next week. Should be fun.

6. Time to start thinking about BYU/Utah in BCS - Well, East Carolina looked like the BCS Buster but they were just leading us all on. TCU showed they weren't worthy against Oklahoma. Fresno State has already lost so count them out too. So it may be time to resign to the fact that the winner of BYU/Utah on November 22nd is gonna be in a BCS game. And as crazy as it sounds, may have an outside shot of making the national title. Again, it's not even October and a lot of good teams have one loss. And with two months to go and most of it conference play, many of those teams are gonna add another L. You just have to think that if there is just one team with one loss and a lot of others with two losses, can you really put a two-loss team in the title game over an undefeated BYU/Utah squad? Both have played and beaten (handily) BCS conference opponents so they have a better resume than Hawaii did last year. Just keep that in mind as we move thru the season.

7. Gameday has nowhere to go next week - It's impossible for this show to map out where they are going to go before the year because if they did, they'd probably be stuck at a pointless OSU/Mich or Pitt/WV game. But after being handed UGA/Bama last week, look at the possibilities for this upcoming Saturday. Oregon/USC, Auburn/Vandy and OSU/Wisconsin are the three games with ranked teams playing each other. And while those look to be good games, you have to remember. Three weeks ago, Gameday covered USC and OSU. Two weeks ago was LSU/Auburn. And last week, they did the SEC and you hafta try and not get stuck doing one conference all the time, especially the SEC where there is always a marquee game. Something tells me they were really hoping Nebraska would beat VT so that they could do Mizzou/Nebraska or at least have Wisconsin win so that game would feature a top 10 team. But now those games just aren't as big anymore. Something tells me they'll go for Oregon/USC but no matter what, tough week to choose.

8. Washington is not a football state right now - Is it me or has the state of Washington just fallen off the college football map? Washington is 0-4 and Washington State is 1-4. Ouch. Nothing like when the two teams in your state are a combined 1-9 and the future looks bleak in getting any more. And it wasn't that long ago when both these teams were national title contenders. In 2000, the Huskies went 11-1 behind Rick Neuheisel and QB Marques Tuiasasopo. Meanwhile, the Cougars were 10-3 in 2002 behind QB Jason Gesser and at one point were 9-1 before losing to UW. But now, both teams are running on fumes. People think the pro football in Ohio is bad. Well, that may be true but the college football scene in Washington is definitely worse.

9. The Heisman race is quiet right now - and I like it that way. I hate a lot of talk about the Heisman race in September and thankfully, there wasn't. Besides the preseason talk, it has been fairly quiet. And that may be because the best players haven't played anyone substantial yet to get real talk. Sam Bradford of Oklahoma has not played anyone special. Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin are good but so far, the competition has been weak. Javon Ringer's best performance came against Notre Dame. And names like Tim Tebow, Beanie Wells, Knowshon Moreno and Pat White have almost played themselves out of contention due to bad losses or injuries. The unnecessary hype will pick up but for, I am enjoying the clam before the storm.

10. If you want to play QB in college, don't go to Cincinnati - Talk about bad luck. Week 2 vs. Oklahoma in what the Bearcats hoped would be a statement game, they lose their starting QB Daniel Grutza for the season to a broken right leg. As if that wasn't bad enough, in this week 17-15 win over Akron, the Bearcats lose their 2nd string QB Tony Pike for 3-4 weeks with a broken left arm (his non-throwing arm). So now, the team that is hoping to make a run at the Big East title is on to their third string quarterback and it's not October yet. Yikes. And while this is a college football recap, it is ironic that Carson Palmer is injured as well and missed Sunday's game with an injury. Some call Cincinnati the Queen City. Some call it the Nasty 'Nati. May wanna call it the QB cemetery.

11. This is the best catch of the year - Hands down. I know it's only Week 5 but I don't think anything can beat this.



I bet you he couldn't do that again if he tried.

BEST GAME - Ole Miss vs. Florida
This was a tough decision considering the amount of good games there were but this game wins because of how Ole Miss won. They had to come back from a 17-7 deficit. They had to win on the road in a raucous environment. They forced 3 fumbles from a team that had none going into the game. They blocked an extra point to keep the lead they had. And to top it all off, they stopped the defending Heisman trophy winner on 4th and 1 to secure the win. It had all the drama and big plays you want in a great game. And the faces of the Florida fans and players was priceless. They were simply outplayed by a team that wanted it more and quite frankly, it was fun to watch.

WORST GAME - VMI vs. Ohio
I didn't even get to see this game on TV or even see highlights but watching the game on GameTracker just told me how bad this game was. Yes, my alma mater Ohio won 51-31 and put up a lot of points. But they also gave up a ton of points. That's not a good sign. The defense had been playing so well in the previous 4 games so to see them give up 24 points in the first half was disheartening. I'm afraid they used all their energy in those first four games OR they can't get motivated for teams that are equal or lesser than them. Again, this team has the talent to win the MAC. Now, it's just up to them to want to.

OVER/UNDER
Well, you could put a lot of names here but I am going to go with Clemson as being overrated. This team just does not know how to win games against quality opponents. And what's funny is this is a team that normally comes out flat and loses because they couldn't come back. This week, they were ahead 17-6 but Maryland scored the final 14 points and won 20-17. This team has problems getting motivated to play well for 4 quarters and I put that on the coaching staff.
And I have no problems saying that Ole Miss is underrated. I've been writing it on this blog that Ole Miss is turning the corner faster than expected under Houston Nutt and the win versus Florida proved me right. It's great seeing a team want to win more than another though they are less talented. Ole Miss believes they are better than their past few seasons and their belief alone is making them competitive.

HE/SHE SAID WHAT?
"They call it a naked bootleg, because you are out there alone, and they are undressing you, and you are left all exposed." - Dave Archer

"We have to get more consistent, we're doing some good things then we have some blows."- Jim Tressel to Big ten Network's Charissa Thompson

3 QUESTIONS
1. Is Auburn's offense really this bad? Because it can't be against Vanderbilt

2. How far do the big guns fall after these losses? If all is right in the world, teams like USC, Florida and Wisconsin have to fall out of the Top 10 at least

3. How many teams are gonna lose this year at the #1 spot?