The Ole College Try

This is your weekly wrap-up of the college football season, told from a couple of days distance simply to let some of the stories simmer a bit and to gain a bit of perspective. Although you may have a different take on the past weekend, I can only truly comment on games that I have seen, but I did see portions of a lot more games than the previous weekend.

Heisman Watch

Favorite - Chase Daniel QB Missouri - He topped last weeks' 3 TD performance with another gem, going 23 - 28 for 405 yards and 4 TDs. Granted, he still will need to perform in the big games, but he is doing exactly what he needs to be doing against the non-conference portion of his schedule.

Sleeper - Michael Crabtree WR Texas Tech - 8 catches for 164 yards and 3 TDs in a pass happy offense. Even given the scheme, Crabtree still produces, and is the best performing WR in football.

Rising - Todd Reesing QB Kansas - Played magnificently in the game of the week. His stats were 34-51 for 373 yards and 2TD, but his impact was so much more. Although they lost to South Florida, the Bulls' coach specifically stated that "that QB over there is real good". He is making a name for himself in the QB rich Big 12.

Falling - Pat White QB West Virginia - Probably a week late on this mention, as he really faltered in the loss to East Carolina, but I just had to bring up Tebow last week. Unless he, and the rest of the Mountaineers really turn it on the rest of the season, this year will be a whole lot of "what could have been".

Statistical Favorite - Again, this will most likely turn out to be the Graham Harrell portion of this blog, but for a second week I have to select - Max Hall QB Brigham Young. After a 486 2 TD performance, then a 338 yard 3TD performance against Washington, all Hall did was 27-25 for only 271 yards, but 7, YES 7, Touchdowns in a 59-0 spanking of UCLA.

Defensive Leader - The entire linebacker corps of USC. The absolutely annihilated Ohio State this week, as yours truly (and any other astute observer), predicted they would. Since you have to pick someone, it might as well be Ray Maualuga, since he will get the majority of the credit.

Player to Watch

Brandon Tate, Sr./WR , North Carolina - Yes he is a senior, but he absolutely murdered Sharon and the rest of the Scarlet Knights. And since Carolina has been irrelevant since Julius Peppers graduated, he is now a player to watch.

My New Favorite Player

Still "Boo" Jackson - QB Ohio University, until someone knocks the crap out of Tebow.

Predicted BCS Championship Game Matchup

Still USC v. Oklahoma. I haven't even talked about Sam Bradford yet, but that will certainly come in future installments of the Ole College Try. In honor of this prediction:

Rant(s) of the Week

1. I don't want to belabor the point since I wrote a whole post on the topic, but why must the networks try to force named events down our throat. Everyone with half a brain knew that Ohio State didn't stand a jean shorts chance in Gainesville to beat USC last week, yet we were saturated with "Collision at the Coliseum". It was a collision all right, and in some collisions people get hurt, bad. That was Ohio State. At the risk of repeating myself, it was truly the "Suckfest in South Central".

Congratulations of the Week

To Maryland, who answered my challenge from last week and beat Cal 35-27.

Underperformance of the Week

No contest, UCLA. I would love to really rag on Ohio State here, but I didn't expect them to win, and they were without Beanie Wells. UCLA just simply didn't show up, losing 59-0 to BYU and Max Hall's 7 TD passes.

Trivia Question of the Week

Terrell Owens is now second in most TD receptions in NFL history. In honor of his feet, who is the Division 1 leader in TD receptions, and how many does he have. Answers next week.

Last Weeks Answer

As Hopps correctly pointed out, the four colleges with alums who were both President of the United States and Super Bowl starting winning QBs are:

Michigan - Gerald Ford/Tom Brady
Stanford - Herbert Hoover/Jim Plunkett, John Elway
US Naval Academy - Jimmy Carter/Roger Staubach
Miami (Ohio) - Benjamin Harrison/Ben Roethlisberger

Matchup(s) to Watch

This is the SEC edition:

1. LSU v. Auburn - Winner gets a huge leg up in the SEC West, with only Alabama and an improved Mississippi set to challenge for the division. Can LSU succeed with a Harvard transfer at QB? Does Auburn finally have what it takes to get to the top?

2. Florida v. Tennessee - Is the Florida from 2006 or from 2007? Can Jonathan Crompton torch the Florida defensive backs a la Erik Ainge?

3. Georgia v. Arizona State - The Bulldogs' secondary looked a bit suspect against South Carolina, how will they fare after traveling across the country to face a real passing attack?