College Football Wrap Up: Week 8

Bobby Wren — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:12:30 +0000

Well folks, Week 8 is under wraps and after all of the upsets last week, it was a surprisingly slow week for the Top 25.

We saw #2 Alabama struggle with their offense against an unranked Tennessee team that was very unhappy with the penalties that were called during the course of the game and their Coach Lane Kiffin let the SEC know his frustrations regarding the officials. Senior Defensive tackle Terrence Cody blocked not one but two field goals in the fourth quarter helping Alabama win by two points in the final minutes.
# 1 Florida also had some trouble in the first half of Saturday’s game against Mississippi State but was able to pull out what Heisman hopeful QB Tim Tebow called an “ugly win” for his squad. However he also said that he is happy with the way the offense stayed tough and was able to grind out some tough yardage against a very tough Mississippi State defense intent on stopping Tebow.
#3 Texas had their way with the Missouri defense with Heisman Candidate QB Colt McCoy passing for 269 yards and three touchdowns in a game that the Longhorns put out of reach with a 41-7 victory.
#4 Iowa continued their unbeaten streak moving the Hawkeyes to 8-0 on the season with a narrow victory against Michigan State keeping their title hopes alive for one more week. One part awesome performance from their defense mixed with one part last second TD pass from Ricky Stanzi to Marvin McNutt was the formula for a narrow Hawkeye victory 15-13.
#5 USC finished with a potential scare for the second week in a row, letting their lead diminish in the last quarter of Saturday’s game against Oregon State. Matt Barkley was able to avenge last year’s loss, despite his gunslinger mentality, bringing the Trojans record to 6-1.
# 6 TCU had themselves an interesting game against a now unranked BYU team with QB Andy Dalton, throwing for 241 yards and three touchdowns while BYU QB Max Hall only had one touchdown on the day giving a 38-7 win to the Horned Frogs and effectively dashing their hopes for the Mountain West Conference. #7 Boise State is still undefeated as well following a win against Hawaii. It arguably wasn’t even a game as QB Kellen Moore had a career day throwing five touchdown passes. Safety Jeron Johnson shored up the Bronco defense with tow interceptions and also recovered a fumble on the opening drive.
# 8 Cincinnati had to take the field against Louisville without their star QB Tony Pike , however backup QB Zach Collaros had a splendid day of passing throwing only two incompletions on 17 passes with 253 yards and three touchdowns while the offense as a whole racked up a whopping 468 yards of total offense making it an easy win 41-10.
#9 LSU’s offense finally looked the way that Les Miles is accustomed to. Jordan Jefferson threw for a career high 242 yards and two touchdowns against a tough Auburn defense to keep them within striking distance of Alabama in the SEC conference rankings.
# 10 Oregon is slowly showing that are a very serious team despite the setbacks from the beginning of the season as they embarrassed the only team to beat USC this season, Washington. QB Jeremiah Masoli did great coming back from a knee injury but it was really running back LaMichael James who showed off his talent running for 154 yards and two touchdowns to beat down the Huskies and remain at the top of the Pac-10.
# 11 Georgia Tech is Leading the ACC march due to some great QB play from Josh Nesbitt and an offense that ran for 362 yards against a weakened Virginia Cavaliers program. Virginia never really stood a chance with a final score of 34-9.
#12 Penn State played a road game against Rich Rodriguez’s Michigan team, and the Lions QB Daryll Clark did not disappoint, with a total of 4 TD’s along with 230 passing yards to lead Penn State to their first victory since 1996 in Michigan’s stadium.
#13 Virginia Tech had a bye this week and they are looking forward to playing the Tarheels this upcoming Thursday.
#14 Oklahoma State played a conference game this week against Baylor and Cowboy QB Zac Robinson sure came to play with an almost flawless effort completing 23-27 of his passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns leading them to a 34-7 victory. I still wonder where Baylor would stand if standout QB Robert Griffin wasn’t injured for the season.
#19 Miami was the one surprise this week as they continued with their difficult schedule against conference rival Clemson. It was a shootout on both ends with each team’s QB playing very tough. Miami’s Jacory Harris was 17-27 with 256 passing yards and 2 touchdowns while Clemson QB Kyle Parker opened up the artillery passing for a whopping 25-37 with 326 passing yards and 3 touchdowns including the overtime throw to Jacoby Ford which led to a 40-37 Tiger win.
# 17 Ohio State played a lazy Minnesota team this week and cruised to an easy 38-7 victory. Buckeyes’ QB Terrelle Pryor threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns along with 104 yards on the ground and a rushing TD showing his critics that he still has some flashes of potential that we have yet to see consistently.
Previously unranked and Bradford-less Oklahoma showed they are still a force to be reckoned with defeating #25 Kansas 35-13. Backup QB Landry Jones led the Sooners with 252 yards and a touchdown while Kansas QB Todd Reesing was picked off on his first three possessions. The Sooners effectively salvaged their season and broke back into the Top 25 at #22.
In other news outside the Top 25 this week, I think Florida Sate played one of the best games of the week on Thursday night in an away game against North Carolina where we saw Seminoles QB lead his team back from a three touchdown second half deficit. Christian Ponder threw for a career-high 395 yards and three touchdowns. Jimbo Fisher looked like his old self on the sidelines and it seems that things are looking better for Bobby Bowden increasing the potential return for ’10. Unranked Arizona State is coming off of a loss to unranked Stanford and is going to be taking on # 24 Cal this upcoming week. ASU is going to need QB Danny Sullivan to bring his A game and show why he is considered a sleeper in the conference.

I am excited to see how this week shakes out as we have some key conference matchups and rivalry games to be on the lookout for. A few games to keep an eye on include the matchup of the week, #5 USC vs 10 Oregon, in addition, you won’t want to miss # 3 Texas vs #14 Oklahoma State, and lookout for a potential upset with #1 Florida against unranked Georgia . In the Heisman vote so far, it is looking very good for Alabama Running Back Mark Ingram in the number one at the moment, followed closely by Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen and Florida’s own Tim Tebow. College football never fails to excite this time of year, so make sure to tune in and watch your favorite team this Saturday; you never know what can happen.Come back to The Father Life each week for college football wrap up.

College Football Wrap Up: Week 5

Bobby Wren — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:27:22 +0000

Week 5 of is over, and it is shaping up to be one of the best and most watched college football seasons in the past five years. Things are shaping up a lot differently than how the season began, and the coming weeks are sure to provide some continued excitement as the drama unfolds. Here is a look at the highs and lows in the top 25 this week.

With one of the most consistent offenses in the country, #3 Alabama has shown why they have been worthy of high praises since the beginning of the season. Alabama continues to have a breakout QB in Greg McElroy, who has proven to be one of the most efficient passers in the country.
Week 5 was a good one for #1 Florida as it gave them an opportunity to rest their Heisman candidate Tim Tebow after suffering from a serious concussion in Week 4. Coach Urban Meyer said Monday morning that Tebow will be kept out of practice on Monday and will remain questionable throughout the week, leaving QB John Brantley taking most of the first team snaps.
#2 Texas was off this week as well after a lackluster performance from the Big 12. The Texas Nation looks forward to watching their Longhorns take on Colorado this Saturday in Austin.
With some movement in the top 10 this week, LSU had a slow start in their game against a now unranked Georgia team but pulled off the win due a late game effort from running back Charles Scott .
#5 Virginia Tech moved up one spot after an impressive performance from QB Tyrod Taylor who threw a career-high 327 yards with two long touchdown passes to move them past Duke.
Also, #11 Miami moved up in the rankings this week with their offense showing that they are a team to be reckoned with on any Saturday, and they may have a potential Heisman hopeful in QB Jacory Harris with a victory over #19 Oklahoma, knocking the Sooners down a few notches after a disappointing second loss of the season.
A few surprise upsets over the weekend with a Top 15 Houston team losing to an unranked UTEP squad that had a great passing day by quarterback Trevor Vittatoe and a school record 262 yard rushing 4 td day from junior back Donald Buckram. A great rivalry game this weekend was lost by Michigan and freshman superstar quarterback Tate Forcier against Michigan State. Michigan is now out of the Top 25 from their previous #22 ranking.
Ohio State had an average performance this week, but I still do not believe that their program or quarterback Terrelle Pryor are proving that they can compete at a top 10 level consistently .
We saw #23 South Florida break into the rankings this week after two impressive performances including a win over Florida State with freshman QB B.J. Daniels leading the offense. And speaking of Florida State and their loss to Boston College over the weekend, it seems it has created renewed outcries for this to be Bobby Bowden’s last season. It will be interesting to see where the Seminoles go as far as their potential future.
With most of the Big 12 having byes this past week, I look forward to seeing how they will fair next week, especially undefeated #16 Kansas. A few other teams that continue to surprise with their undefeated runs include #8 Cincinnati, #12 Iowa, and #10 TCU, with each team carrying wins over decent BCS competition and schedules that look for them to keep creeping up the ranks in weeks to come.
Undefeated #24 Missouri is doing fine after the departure of Chase Daniels showing that upstart quarterback Blaine Gabbert knows how to produce on a level that most Tiger fans have been hoping for.
Seeing # 14 Penn State fall to #12 Iowa this week was an eye opener for most casual fans.

Depending on who you are rooting for, this college football season has been either wrought with disappointment or been extremely fun and exciting so far. However, I think we can all agree that college football is back at its best, and I can’t wait to see what week 6 brings us. Stay tuned to The Father Life each week for our new college football wrap up.

Image credit: Mike McKee

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College Football Wrap Up: Week 8

College Football Wrap Up: Week 5