College Football Wrap-Up

I'm a day late and several dollars short but give me a break. At least I'm still trying. I went 7-3 on the official picks last week. That said, I made several other poorly thought out wagers and lost my Bodog nest egg. I then tried to win it back following Ron Jaworski's picks from the Tony Kornheiser show. I lost all of those too. Maybe next week I'll try James Carville's picks. Couldn't get any worse.

Oklahoma at Miami

Pretty solid game here. I watched it over at Boscoe's so I was floating back and forth between the game and patio sitting. It looked like Miami was able to get back to doing many of the things that made them successful in the first two weeks of the season. After the murderous four games to start the season the Canes are 3-1 and still in good shape in the ACC. Oklahoma meanwhile, is likely out of the national championship hunt but can still figure prominently in the Big 12. In fact with Bradford possibly coming back this week, this OU team could be twice as dangerous going into the Oct. 17 matchup with Texas.

LSU at Georgia
Everyone had questions about LSU going into this game and the Tigers were able to answer their critics. A three-point win is nothing to write home about but road wins are also hard to come by, especially in the SEC. The Tigers were especially effective slowing down a Georgia attack that had become quite impressive in the early part of the season. Now LSU must prep for the defending champs, with or without Tebow. Should be a great one.

Pac 10
I think we all saw the USC team we expected with the Trojan's destruction of Cal. I'm not sure how the Golden Bears will respond to two straight blowout losses but they better adapt quickly because the conference looks strong. Oregon took another major step forward with a pasting of Washington State. I know the Cougars are awful but USC didn't beat WAZZU as easily as the Ducks did. With LeGarette Blount possibly returning soon, Oregon looks tough. All the while, Stanford quietly took the lead in the conference after a 3 TD performance by RB Toby Gerhart. With some SEC squads failing, the Pac 10 could be the deepest conference in the land.


Washington at Notre Dame
The Golden Domers just keep getting it done, eh? I though ND had this thing well in hand but Washington crept back in the game behind the arm of Jake Locker. But it was Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen who made the difference in this game with another 400 yard performance and an overtime win. With a schedule that now looks tougher than it did to start the season, the Irish need to start putting opponents away but they have to like their resilliency.

Michigan at Michigan State

Much like Notre Dame, Michigan had been eeking out games right and left and it was bound to come to an end. Michigan came from behind with a great personal performance by QB Tate Forcier but Sparty was too much and won in the first posession of overtime. Big Blue still has a good squad and is showing signs of the development Rich Rod promised.

Heisman Race

I wanted to wait until a few weeks into the season before I started handicapping the Heisman but five weeks in this is what I have come up with.
5. Jacory Harris, QB, Miami (69-122-1,008 yards, 8 TD/5 INT) - After four weeks we probably know more about this kid than we do most of the other players in the nation. His four games have all been on TV> We've seen what he's capable of (good and bad). He still led Miami to a 3-1 start.
4. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida (44-68-643 yards, 6 TD/1 INT, 271 rush yards, 5 rush TD) - Not the usual stellar stats from Tebow but offenses have been struggling much more this year than last (Are defenses starting to catch up to the spread?). Nevertheless, Tebow is the leader of the #1 team in America and hasn't missed much action. He needs to return soon to keep his place.
3. Tony Pike, QB, Cincinatti (116-174-1,493 yards, 13 TD/3 INT) - Cincy is quietly 4-0 and Mr. Pike is the main reason. He's in the Top 10 in nearly every passing category.
2. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas (103-145-1,045 yards, 9 TD/5 INT) - A slow start for McCoy as well, not to mention five picks. He only had nine all of last season. But now McCoy has rested for a week and has a chance to start putting up some big numbers against the weak defenses in the Big 12.
1. Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame (100-148-1,544 yards, 12 TD/ 2 INT) - Yeah, I said it! Wanna fight about it? As much as we all may hate Notre Dame it appears that Jimmy Clausen has finally spread his wings and flown. Despite losing WR Michael Floyd two weeks ago, Clausen has topped the 300-yard mark in each game this season and threw for 400+ in a OT win against Washington. If ND can finish strong Clausen will be the favorite going into the game against USC.