Talkin College Football

Here are some thoughts on this weekend’s college football games....

Reports of Notre Dame’s demise have been greatly exaggerated....

Sure Troy Smith’s scramble and touchdown toss was the highlight of Ohio State’s win over Penn State.....but that one pass still did not make up for the Smith’s sub-par game of only 115 yards passing and two interceptions.....this was against the same Penn State defense that Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn carved up just two weeks ago....

I love ESPN’s College Gameday with Lee, Kirk, and Chris....it’s the best pre-game show on television - and that includes all the NFL shows....

But I don’t like their format this season in choosing where their on-site pre-game show will be....basically it is always going to be where ever Herbstreit is doing the Saturday night game....that means ESPN will not be visiting any SEC games this year because the SEC is broadcast on CBS....

Herbstreit and Corso are great together on the pre-game, but if Herbstreit is going to be doing live games, ESPN may have to start looking for a replacement for him on the pre-game in order to do their show where ever the best game is on that day....

We will know this week if Iowa is a contender or a pretender.....head coach Kirk Ferentz is always being talked about for an NFL job....he has done a solid job with the Hawkeyes, but I just feel he hasn’t taken that next step to make Iowa a national contender year-in-year-out....this Saturday’s game is a watershed game for Ferentz.....

Bear Report - the Fighting Manginos of Kansas are 3-1 after Saturday’s 13-7 donnybrook against South Florida.....lock up the donuts this week because Bear will be doing a lot of studying for Saturday’s showdown in Lincoln against the Nebraska Cornhuskers....

How could Boston College lose to N.C. State win?.....

What a day for Alabama freshman kicker Leigh Tiffin.....Tiffin missed two field goals and an extra point in the Tide’s 24-23 loss to Arkansas on Saturday....Tiffin’s daddy, Van, is a legend in Alabama football because of his last second 52-yard field goal to beat Auburn in 1985.....

Sweet 16 + 1
1. Ohio State (4-0) - have not been impressive since thumping Texas two weeks ago....
2. Auburn (4-0) - they beat Buffalo....remember though, they play in the SEC where there are rarely any breather games....
3. Southern Cal (3-0) - it seems like this team is on cruise control....
4. W. Virginia (4-0) - the Dec. 2nd game with Rutgers is becoming interesting....
5. Michigan (4-0) - Warren, Ohio native Prescott Burgess is playing like a man possessed on defense....
6. Florida (4-0) - Chris Leak is coming up fast in the Heisman race
7. LSU - (3-1) - their only loss is by a score of 7-3 to the 2nd ranked team....huge game with Florida on October 7th.....
8. Louisville (4-0) - they may have finished #1 if not for the injuries....
9. Georgia (4-0) - ugly win for the Dawgs....very ugly....but it was a win...
10. Texas (3-1) - where was this offense two weeks ago?....
11. Notre Dame (3-1) - the Irish survived last week....they may indeed go 10-1 into the USC game....
12. Oklahoma (3-1) - the big showdown with Texas looms in 2 weeks....
13. Tennessee (3-1) - the Vols are making strides....
14. Iowa (4-0) - we’ll know what the Hawkeyes are made of this Saturday night....
15. TCU (3-0) - the Horned Frogs are hopping to a BCS bowl....
16. Clemson (3-1) - they stubbed their toe against BC a few weeks back....but they will win the ACC
+1. Rutgers (4-0) - Greg Schiano is the best unknown coach in the country....remember the name....