And the College Football season begins!!!

[drothgery]

Next week should say a lot more than this week did about the Big East (except that losing to Ohio just destroyed Pitt's credibility; if they'd beat up on Ohio as expected, they'd be able to say "hey, ND is pretty good"), with SU vs. Virginia, L'ville vs. Oregon State, WVU vs. Maryland, and UConn at Ga Tech. USF, well, we won't really know anything about them until they play Pitt (as it'd be a huge shocker if they didn't beat UCF, then lose to L'ville and Miami).

My hope, though not my expectation, is that the Orange can put together something resembling a passing game to go with Rhodes and that defense. I doubt WVU is going to steamroll through the Big East without losing, so SU might well still be in the running unless L'ville does the expected and steamrolls through the Big East without losing.

This week, everyone except Cinci played teams that they expected to beat pretty easily (mostly I-AA teams), while Cinci played someone they expected to get beat by (Penn State); the only place where expections weren't met was Pitt losing to Ohio.

 

[Nightfall]

Droggy,

Yep next week will be the real test IMHO for WVU.

 

[fett527]

the first quarter the defesne did nothing. THen it came about, but it failed again.

'The defense had one bad drive- the first one. They held them to a field goal on the second and were spot on the rest of the game giving up only field goals until the last drive. On that last drive Texas started near mid-field because they didn't kick to the endzone and then got a pass interference call- likely their only big mistake all night. I'm sorry but I'm in disbelief that anyone could watch that game and say the OSU defense did poorly ESPECIALLY if you look at the linebacker play.

 

[Crothian]

Linebackers did weel, the d line did not, the secondary left guys open. I don't know what it looked like on the TV, but being there the defense did not look impressive.

 

[fett527]

Linebackers did weel, the d line did not, the secondary left guys open. I don't know what it looked like on the TV, but being there the defense did not look impressive.

I'll at least give it a cuople of days to read what's being said. I'm more than a little biased. The loss stung since they had ample opportunity to put it away.

 

[fett527]

And of course I do not give up hope:

Before buying into any hype claiming the Buckeyes are completely out of the national title hunt, sit back and allow teams to play one another. LSU, Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Georgia, and USC have an incredibly tough road ahead with each playing at least one of the other unbeatens. Texas still has to get by OU and Texas A&M, and while that seems more than a little likely; remember these are rivalry games. Florida, Florida State, and Oklahoma all played for championships with one-loss squads over the past 10 years. For that matter, Ohio State would have played for a second title in 2003 without a loss to Michigan.

The Buckeyes no longer control their own destiny, but they do have a better than average shot of winning out and playing for at least a top five finish…and maybe with a little luck – a national championship.

 

[romp]

But Ohio could conceivable drop out of the Top 10 with that loss. We'll see.

when did the Ohio Bobcats break into the Top 10??? I mean I know we upset Pitt but c'mon ...

 

[Crothian]

OSU is not out of the national title yet. With a tough Big Ten Schedule ahead ofthem and with the other big teams having mostly tough games (still not convinced USC does) a lot can happen.

 

[drothgery]

Next week's games of note

Tennessee v. Florida - It'll be the high-profile matchup of the week, but Florida should win.

BC v. FSU - Somehow, I'm thinking the first six quarters FSU's played are more typical than the last two, so BC may have a shot at home.

L'ville v. Oregon State - should give a good indication of whether the Cardinals are for real.

Miami v. Clemson - trap game for the 'Canes.

Virginia v. Syracuse - Orange are at home, and a lot better than Western Michigan.

 

[Crothian]

ND and MSU....MSU has a good offense, I think they will challenge ND more then most people expect.