Sorry I skipped week one, but most of those games were meaningless anyway, so this week I'm rolling out all of the regular features: the college football roundup (generally Mondays), the NFL roundup (Tuesdays), and the Prognostication Bukakke (Wednesday and Thursday if I don't get lazy). So let's begin with this year's first NCAAF roundup:
Notable Top 25 Games-
#9 Oklahoma State 37, Arizona 14.
This game wasn't even as close as it looked. There might eventually be some noticeable drop-off in this offense thanks to the loss of coordinator Dana Holgorsen and runningback Kendall Hunter after last year, but as long as they have Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon they'll remain an elite offense and a serious threat to Oklahoma's title hopes, both Big 12 and National.
#21 Missouri 30, Arizona State 37
Words cannot express how glad I am that Arizona State has to leave the desert and come to Champaign this week. Bad things just seem to happen to midwest schools that head out west. That said, I think Missouri was a bit overrated coming into this year and I feel confident that Arizona State's offense can be contained at home.
#16 Mississippi State 34, Auburn 41
A big surprise here. I'm not shocked that Gus Malzahn has figured out a way to put up points without Cam Newton, but I am shocked that Mississippi State's typically stellar defense fell apart so easily. I have no idea what to expect from either of these teams from here on out.
#11 Virginia Tech 17, East Carolina 10
East Carolina is probably one of the best 0-2 teams in the country, considering they've given South Carolina and Virginia Tech huge scares the last two weeks. They have a phenomenal QB in Domonique Douglass. As for VT, their chances this year really hinge on new QB Logan Thomas, who came in with a lot of hype, but he's looked like garbage so far.
#12 South Carolina 45, Georgia 42
Poor Mark Richt. I've always liked him. He's totally fired, but he seems like such a nice guy.
#24 Texas 17, BYU 16.
Must be nice to be Texas. They've been declining in nearly all phases since Vince Young left, but no one noticed until Colt McCoy wasn't there to patch up the holes. Then ESPN gives them a TV network and people rank them anyway, despite no certifiable offense to speak of.
Big Ten-
Michigan State 44, FAU 0
Poor Schnelly.
Illinois 56, South Dakota State 3
I'm so happy Illinois has learned to schedule non-conference games like a real team. Illinois' schedule is set up quite favorably for them to make enough noise to get to a January 1st bowl game, hopefully.
#8 Wisconsin 35, Oregon State 0
The whole Russell Wilson thing seems to be working out well.
#3 Alabama 27, #23 Penn State 11
I'm not discussing this game for the unsurprising final score (although Alabama's QB issues will haunt them somewhere down the road), but I'm wondering what the hell Penn State had done to have earned a ranking before last week. They were incredibly mediocre last year, got destroyed in their bowl game, have no QB or offense of any kind, and a rebuilding defense. There are several teams I'd rank in the Big Ten alone before I got to PSU. Oh well.
#15 Ohio State 27, Toledo 22
Toledo's not a terrible MAC team, but the fact that they shut down Ohio State's offense and put a lot of pressure on their defense should be very concerning for Buckeye fans. Ohio State is now forced to field the third incarnation of Craig Krenzel, Joel Bauserman, and each incarnation seems to get worse (see Todd Boeckman). They're not going to be able to just coast by on their defense and run game in the Big Ten this year. This team's set up for a fall.
Iowa State 44, Iowa 41
I watched this game live with Iggins!, and it was awesome as he fatalistically predicted every single Iowa State score. His first quarter prophecy that "Iowa would lose because they can't stop a running quarterback...ever" was square on the nose. Not looking like a good year for the Hawkeyes.
Rice 24, Purdue 22
There are so many horrible forms of torture in this world, from waterboarding to The Rack, that I would consider before willfully watching Purdue football at this point.
Nex Mexico State 28, Minnesota 21
I'm not at all surprised that it's taken two games of coaching Minnesota football to give Jerry Kill a seizure. New Mexico State? Their last bowl came during the Eisenhower Administration. No joke.
Northwestern 42, Eastern Illinois 21
Yeah, that sounds right.
Virginia 34, Indiana 31
Well, Indiana is still terrible. So there's that. You want awesome? Illinois gets Purdue, Indiana, and Minnesota. Give me my Capitol One Bowl, please.
#10 Nebraska 42, Fresno State 29
Fresno State is just a giant pain in the ass.
Michigan 35, Notre Dame 31
Both of these teams have just god awful defenses. Michigan is incredibly inconsistent on offense, and I don't think a lot of teams are going to allow this watered-down version of Denard Robinson to put up 330+ yards passing on just 11 completions. Glad to see that we definitely won't have to listen to any "wake up the echoes!" bullshit this year from the Domers.
That's all for now. See you tomorrow for the NFL roundup.
