College Football: Week 6

It was a good one.

The number one story was number one ranked Alabama losing to one-loss South Carolina. And it wasn't close. South Carolina earned it. The best thing about this is that we get to stop hearing and reading ecstatic, breathless praises of how great Alabama is. I also thought they were very good, but that was getting old fast.

So our new #1 team is Ohio State (out with the old guard, in with the old guard). tOSU's win over Indiana was actually its third-biggest triumph of the weekend. Its biggest victory was South Carolina's loss, and its second-biggest victory was Penn State's loss. We all know by now that Penn State is not a good football team this year. However, it is still good on Illinois that they beat Penn State (and that they won in Happy Valley for the first time ever. As in ever), and may mean that they are not terrible, which means that Ohio State's non-blowout of them last week no longer makes tOSU look bad.

Now, as you know, I like Tony Barnhart, but he is a huge, unapologetic SEC homer. Today's evidence: his hand-wringing article "Will the SEC be shut out of the BCS championship game?" And the answer to his question is, if tOSU and Oregon keep winning, yes. And duh. Leave aside potential one-loss championship candidates--I don't think either SEC team that could finish the season undefeated (LSU or Auburn) will jump either tOSU or Oregon. Ohio State is Ohio State--maybe the only team this season with an SEC-like level of clout. (The rest of the Big Ten doesn't have it, the Big 12 South doesn't have it, even Nebraska--which we'll discuss soon--doesn't have it.) As for Oregon, they are crazy, man. That's just the kind of team you want to watch; they're so exciting. If they keep winning, the pollsters will want to see them in the title game.

It was, overall, not a great week for the Big 12. The brightest spot was Nebraska's victory over K-State, because A) people got to see it (since it was nationally broadcast on a Thursday night) and B) they, and specifically their freshman QB Taylor Martinez, looked wicked good. When you start getting tagged as Denard Robinson-esque, and your team can play defense, you're in a good place.

But let us not forget the Aggie loss to Arkansas. OK, here's the thing: that was not a game I expected the Ags to win. They actually kept the score closer than I would have predicted. And the defense continued to look surprisingly good. However. With the troubles that the defense gave Ryan Mallett, just imagine how easy it would have been for the Ags to pull the upset, if only the offense had shown up. I'm glad that this wasn't another five-turnover game, but Jerrod and the Jerrodettes did not do their job. I don't get this team.

It's a good thing for Texas Tech that they beat Baylor, because (as Angela pointed out) Iowa State didn't do anything to help Tech's dignity. I know Utah is good, but giving up 68 points (at home, no less)? What are you doing, Iowa State? What are you doing?

In Big Ten news, Wisconsin continued to keep Paul Bunyan's axe by stepping on Minnesota's throat. Much has been made of the fact that Tim Brewster got all snippy about Bret Bielema going for a two-point conversion when Wisconsin was already up by 25 points. Bielema has been criticized for his explanation that "the card" that tells you when to go for two told him to go for it. Much derision has been heaped on "the card." I seem to be the only person who remembers that this happened before, to card-owner Dennis Franchione. Apparently it's a thing college coaches do, and for reasons unknown to all of us who don't get paid millions of dollars, they think they should go for two when already winning by a whole lot.

Elsewhere:

Les Miles got super, super lucky again. Again. The unlikeliest thing: think of how a football is shaped. Then think about how likely it is that it would happen to land on a part of its surface that would cause it to bounce up perfectly, like a basketball. Not. Very. Likely.

Florida State murdered Miami. The ACC continues to perplex and confound. We should really just quarantine those guys so their games won't wreak havoc on everybody else's strengths of schedule.

Say what you will, but Auburn keeps winning. I don't know how comfortable I am with Auburn being good (mostly because I have Opinions about Gene Chizik). I do like this quote from their (very good) quarterback, though: "You can't go to Walmart and buy team chemisty." And even if you could, how would you figure out which aisle it was on?

Michigan State OF COURSE beat Michigan. Michigan was favored by Vegas to win that game, which just goes to show you that Vegas doesn't know everything.

Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh, for whatever that's worth. (Read: not much.) In related news, Kirk Herbstreit said on GameDay that he now expects Notre Dame (current record: 3-3) to go 9-3 on the season. To that I say, calm down, Herbie. Calm down.

0-5 New Mexico played 0-4 New Mexico State and one of them managed to win. I suppose that should be obvious, but I thought I should point it out just in case. They're both quite, quite bad. (But now 0-6 New Mexico is worse.)

In a less-sad (but still by no means gleeful) matchup, Georgia finally won a conference game by mercilessly smothering Tennessee. It's going to be a long season in Knoxville. And already has been, really.

Finally, besides there being postseason baseball in town (so I am told), the DFW area also hosted five college football games on Saturday. One crazy dude and his friend went to all of them. Even though he takes shots at Aggie fans, I'm still going to label that awesome.

Season Outlook: Ohio State Buckeyes

It feels like a confession to admit this, but I like Ohio State. There are two reasons: first, I have an Ohio State fan friend, and we have a fanship exchange whereby she roots for Texas A&M. Anytime I can create a new Aggie fan, I have to take the opportunity. Secondly, I think Jim Tressel is adorable.

O. M. G. So cute.

So for the sake of my Ohioan friend and Jim Tressel's sweater vest, I am interested to see how tOSU's (that is, the Ohio State University's) season goes.

Expectations

This is a team up against some exacting expectations. Now, take for instance Alabama. It is generally agreed that they are the favorite to win the national title again. However, if they drop a game here or there, they will (again, generally) be forgiven. They play in the nation's toughest conference, and they have a very difficult schedule. (Fascinating tidbit from Yahoo's college football preview magazine: six of Alabama's conference opponents will have had their open week right before playing Alabama. Six! South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State, and Auburn get two weeks of preparation before playing Bama. All six.) If Alabama doesn't live up to the preseason projections of winning the national championship or even the SEC championship, people will understand.

On the other hand, it is practically unimaginable that Ohio State won't win the Big Ten. They are Expected to win yet another conference championship (to make it six, yes six, in a row). If they don't, it will be head-turning. Gasp-inducing. Monocle-dropping. If they are dominant enough in the Big Ten to go undefeated and win their one challenging nonconference game (see below), they should be a lock for the national title game. They are not, at this point, expected to win that game, but according to almost everyone, they're supposed to get there. And for the most part, the expectations seem justified.

Factors

Ohio State returns lots of starters on both sides of the ball. (Although admittedly not on the third side of the ball, where there will be a new kicker, new punter, and new returners.) It's not just the staff but also the players who are accustomed to winning, who know how to win.

There's a lot of hype for QB Terrelle Pryor in particular. This is where I start to get skeptical. Pryor (who my friend and I call '"Everybody Kills People" Guy') has always gotten a lot of hype and until last year's Rose Bowl, failed to live up to it. Yes, he had a great game in that bowl. On the other hand, he had a great game. Either he turned a corner and finally figured out how to use all his talent/potential, or he had one freakishly good performance just like he's had some freakishly bad performances. I think it's possible that it's the former, but I'm wary that it's the latter.

Ohio State doesn't need EKPG to be his Rose Bowl self every game to be extremely successful, but they're not going to live up to the expectations if he's only as good as he was (or only a little better than he was) in last year's regular season.

Nonconference games

tOSU only has one nonconference game of note. After all, they're not losing to Marshall, Ohio, or Eastern Michigan, so why worry about it? No, all we need to look at is their Week 2 matchup with Miami (the good one). Miami is expected to be a top twenty (but not top ten) team this year. Their schedule is murderous, but tOSU is the first of their challenging games, so they won't be worn out yet. It's in Columbus and tOSU should be the better team (although Miami's defense might be up to the task of exposing EKPG), so they should be able to start their season on a high note.

Conference games

Barring a bizarre loss like last year's flop at Purdue, Ohio State's biggest Big Ten challenges should be at Iowa on November 20 and at Wisconsin on October 16. Iowa's preseason projections are slightly better, but tOSU apparently has a track record of tough games in night games at Camp Randall. Either game (or both) may give them fits, if not losses.

Best player name

Jake Stoneburner

My prediction

I think Ohio State will succeed in winning the Big Ten and reaching the BCS championship game this year. They may be a little weaker than some sportswriters are expecting, and they may drop a conference game, but I'm predicting some weakness at the top of the polls this year. Even slightly less than tOSU's best might be better than most everybody else.

And hey, if they do that and then if EKPG is able to pull off another amazing bowl performance, maybe they'd even win the national championship. Wouldn't that be weird?!?