The College Football Thread

[Cyrus]

What a gutsy win for the Trojans. I thought there was really no chance, the way Ohio State defense was playing, the limited playbook due to a freshman QB, and continuously horrible field position. But they came through in the clutch.

I never root for Notre Dame, but a win by them would have help USC's strength of schedule (UCLA helped in that regard). That was an exciting game and a great win by Michigan. I guess the prediction by Lou Holtz and Beano Cook that ND will be in the national championship game will not happen.

 

[Maestro]

It was a great day for college football today.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

Definitely an amazing day of college football today. It was the first serious football I've watched so far this season, and it was full of a lot of really fun games.

The Sparty-Central Michigan game was a whole lot of fun to watch in the second half. Lefevour is really freaking good. Central Michigan scored a late TD to pull within one point of Sparty, and went for two. They didn't get it, but got a pretty miraculous bounce on an onsides kick. Central then missed a field goal, but Sparty pulled a typical Sparty and was offsides. Central got another crack at it, and won. I know a lot of people at each school, which made the game a little bit more fun.

Then Houston comes out of nowehere and shocks Oklahoma State. The game wasn't actually on TV in my area, but we were able to keep up with it thanks to crawlers and in-game updates. Corso predicted a Houston upset today, and he was right. The Big 12 seems a little overrated to start the season, with Mizzou almost losing to Bowling Green too.

By far the most fun game of the afternoon was the Notre Dame-Michigan game. Ended up watching it at a sports bar, and that was a fun atmosphere with Michigan and Notre Dame fans. A very entertaining game, with lots of scoring. Michigan wins in the end, and Charlie Weis loses another game. It's been a long time since I've had that much fun watching a Michigan game. I definitely feel better about the team now Neroon.

Grand Valley rolled pretty easily against Saginaw Valley, moving to 3-0 on the year and holding onto their number one ranking. Another very solid win.

I caught most of the second half of the Ohio State-USC game. Ohio State looked to be the better team on the field for most of it, until they took their foot off the gas at the end. The drive by USC was pretty epic. A bummer of a loss for the Big Ten, it would have done the conference as a whole a lot of good to win the game. But the Buckeyes showed up in the game, and the conference doesn't have anything to be ashamed about.

All in all, a great day of college football. Lots of fun. I'm glad football season is back in full swing. And Notre Dame can suck it.

 

[tomalak301]

Can't wait till October 3rd, than Cal will be a big subject in this thread. As for today, nice to take care of business against a weaker team. Next week though is a test since it's the first road game of the season. The Gophers might be a weaker team (I don't know) but it's a road game and it's not good to underestimate road games.

 

[mimic]

^Minny started well last year and then fizzled. This year they struggled to beat 'Cuse and Air Force. Cal should handle them easily but you never know.

 

[1001001]

I caught most of the second half of the Ohio State-USC game. Ohio State looked to be the better team on the field for most of it, until they took their foot off the gas at the end. The drive by USC was pretty epic. A bummer of a loss for the Big Ten, it would have done the conference as a whole a lot of good to win the game. But the Buckeyes showed up in the game, and the conference doesn't have anything to be ashamed about.

I agree for the most part, but credit USC's defense in the second half, holding OSU's offense to one field goal. I don't know that they "took their foot off the gas" so much as USC completely shut down OSU. The Buckeyes had a massive field position advantage in and couldn't do anything with it. And they completely imploded on their last desperate drive.

And Notre Dame can suck it.

Although it would have been better for USC had Notre Dame won, I am forced to agree.

 

[Mallory]

Oregon beat Purdue. Barely. It's going to be a long season.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

^Hey wins are wins. Better to start 1-1 than 0-2.

Pryor did not play well at all for the Buckeyes yesterday. He's still young, but given how Barkley performed I would have expected him to play a bit better. Part of the credit goes to SC's defense, but the guy needed to step up a bit more, and he didn't. As a result, USC wins another big game.

 

[gblews]

^Hey wins are wins. Better to start 1-1 than 0-2.

Pryor did not play well at all for the Buckeyes yesterday. He's still young, but given how Barkley performed I would have expected him to play a bit better. Part of the credit goes to SC's defense, but the guy needed to step up a bit more, and he didn't. As a result, USC wins another big game.

I don't know why everyone is blaming Pryor for OSU's losing the game. I blame OSU's defense. Pryor (and the special teams) had OSU in the lead with just a few minutes left in the game. A good defense can protect a 3+ point lead with that amount of time. OSU's defense coughed up what amounted to a 95 yard game concluding drive to an offense with a very inexperienced quarterback leading it. The Buckeye DC must be embarrassed this morning. This loss goes to the OSU D.

Kudos also to the USC O line and running backs, in addition to that stout defense.

 

[Neroon]

OSU's defense played surprisingly well for the vast majority of the game. However, they were beaten when it counted most. A tough, well-fought game that each team deserved to win. A loss is still a loss, though ... even if it is encouraging that they showed up well in their last two "big games". They are still one of the "big boys".

 

[JM1776]

JM1776 will be happy - Penn State and Rutgers have scheduled a home and home for 2014-2015.

He's never happy!

But he's always right.

 

[JM1776]

JM1776 will be happy - Penn State and Rutgers have scheduled a home and home for 2014-2015.

Joking aside ... I'm ecstatic, actually. It's good to see top tier teams like Penn State, UCLA and Miami (Florida) agreeing to quid pro quo with RU. We've a future series with Tulane (though that's a 2-to-1 in the Knights' favor, which I frown upon) and return dates out to Fresno State and UNC, as well.

Of course, considering their performance against UC on Labor Day, they should count themselves fortunate all these are already scheduled. I was at the game. "What a bloody shambles that was."

 

[JM1776]

^Minny started well last year and then fizzled. This year they struggled to beat 'Cuse and Air Force.

A victory over Air Force is a quality win.

 

[mimic]

^Potentially a quality win. Can't really say much more than that until they play someone other than Nicholls State.

 

[JM1776]

^Potentially a quality win. Can't really say much more than that until they play someone other than Nicholls State.

They've been a solid team for years ... and since there is significant carryover season-to-season in college football (despite this odd and unjustifiable perspective from some [but not necessarily you] that each season stands solely on its own merits), I stand by the statement: It's a quality win. The determination and discipline with which the FBS service academies play makes any game against one a hard-fought contest, even if the score doesn't invariably reflect that. Unlike many teams, they rarely if ever throw in the towel.

Oh, and ... they have played "someone other than Nicholls State": They battled and led late, but lost at Minnesota.

 

[mimic]

The point of my comment to tomalak earlier was that I don't know if Minnesota's any good yet. Saying they're good because they beat Air Force who is good because they stayed close to Minnesota is rather circular logic. The Gophers may be decent, they may not, lord knows they were inconsistent last year. We'll find out when they play Cal.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

Minnesota has been a terribly inconsistent program for awhile now. Air Force is a solid team, and has been for awhile. But they haven't cracked the Top 25 for awhile now. Beating them is a good win, but not enough to make me believe in the Gophers. It takes more than a couple early season wins for me to believe Minnesota is really past their struggles. A win over Cal would make me a believer.

And speaking of cracking the Top 25, it seems as though Michigan is back. At least in the AP Poll. Watch out college football, Cap'n Rich Rod has righted the ship.

 

[JM1776]

Beating them is a good win, but not enough to make me believe in the Gophers... A win over Cal would make me a believer.

I'd believe more, but ... the Bears have pooped the bird too many times to consider a Minnesota victory in this one synonymous with the Gophers' arrival. I keep recalling those relatively recent Cal losses to Tennessee and Maryland. They can't seem to quite get over the hump and establish themselves as an elite squad. All the pieces are in place—except for the consistent victories.

As for Minnesota ... the true test, in my opinion, is managing a victory against Penn State or Ohio State. Until then, they're a Big Ten also ran, which in the current perception leaves them a non-entity.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

I'm not saying a win over Cal means Minnesota is ready to contend for Big Ten championships, but it would signal the end of them bottom feeding in the conference. The team went 1-11 two years ago, and was one of Michigan's 3 wins last year.

I'm still not sure I follow your logic on Air Force. They're good because they lost a close game to Minnesota, who by your accounts is a team that hasn't arrived yet? Not sure I follow...

 

[Mallory]

Oregon gets to play last year's Sugar Bowl winner Utah tomorrow. Oh boy.