Week 7 in Review

Week 7 of college football brought another exciting Notre Dame finish as the Irish stormed back in the fourth quarter but was stopped on three plays inside the 5 yard line in an attempt to tie the Trojans. I was rooting for a Touchdown at that point because it would have been great to see if Charlie Weis went for 2 and the win right there or sent it to OT. As it is another loss to the rival Trojans, another nail biter for Irish fans and still Notre Dame is without a signature win in a long time. The good news is with Boston College heading to South Bend this weekend, maybe this game could count as that win as the Irish have lost 6 straight to BC, including 3 straight at ND Stadium.

Last Saturday we also witnessed a near upset of Florida in the Swamp. This time it was Arkansas as 20+ point underdogs almost pulling off the win. A personal foul call helped Florida score the tying TD in the fourth quarter and has led to the SEC officiating crew being indefinitely suspended as the league and Arkansas’ fans are still looking for the penalty. Two big games in the conference have now been damaged by this crew throwing 15 yard penalties when they shouldn’t have, the first being against Georgia in their close loss to LSU. So for the rest of the year when we hear the non-stop bellowing from ESPN, CBS and the like about how much better the SEC is than the rest of the world, just remember at least the rest of us have the better referees. That is something to hang your hat on, right? OK maybe not, but still.

The Game of the Week in Dallas for the Red River Rivalry could not quite live up to the hype or the game from last year. Texas pulled off the 16-13 win, but neither team played well, Sam Bradford actually outplaying Colt McCoy in my opinion even though Bradford was injured on his second drive of the game. Mistakes were made in abundance and it became clear very quickly that neither team is as good as last year’s versions. After this performance it is amazing that Colt McCoy is even mentioned in the same sentence for a certain year end award, as he has been atrocious in the Longhorns’ big games, practically giving Oklahoma more chances than they ever deserved with two interceptions and many more costly mistakes. Texas may be #3 in the BCS and all the polls but the way they have played this year is not inspiring if you are hoping for a trip to Pasadena for the National Championship game. They will lose this year and my guess is soon.

Ohio State fans don’t have to hold their breath any longer about making plans for a West Coast trip on New Year’s Day as the Buckeyes were severely outclassed by Purdue, which came in having lost 5 straight, including games against Northern Illinois, Northwestern and Minnesota. Ohio State is just an average football team this year at best, with Terrelle Pryor not having improved at all since he walked onto campus over a year ago. He turns the ball over like it was basketball, fumbling away a rebound, he doesn’t seem to be the athletic wonder that he showed flashes of being last year and his arm and accuracy throwing the ball is atrocious. Although I didn’t pick this game last week I did make mention that Ohio State would lose several more games and this was just the start of it. I feel vindicated having left the Buckeyes out of my initial top 10 last week. Speaking of the top 10 rankings the BCS standings came out with, no surprise here, Florida and Alabama covering the top spots. Let’s take a quick look at the Saturday Lox Top 10 for this week before we review another heart wrenching week of picks that is leading this author to high blood pressure and balding hair.

1. (1 – last week) Alabama – The Crimson Tide did nothing to drop them from here with a hard fought 20-6 win over South Carolina. Mark Ingram got noticed for the Heisman with a 246-yard rushing performance, including all 8 carries on the TD drive that clinched the game in the final quarter.

2. (2)Florida – Even with the near upset by Arkansas, the Gators hold this spot. They made too many errors in the red zone, their defense didn’t bail them out as they have in the past, but the Gators are still a hungry and confident team. Being tested like this can only help as they move forward in SEC play. I expect the South Carolina game in Columbia, SC to be their ultimate test.

3. (3)Cincinnati – The Bearcats beat an undefeated South Florida team last Thursday and are now feeling great in the Big East. Tony Pike, their starting QB is questionable after breaking his non-throwing arm in the game, but the backup played exceptional, including a 75 yard TD run off a QB draw. Brian Kelly, two-time Big East Coach of the Year, may be the best in the country with what he has done with this program and even with injuries this team could run the table.

4. (7)Iowa – The Hawkeyes were underdogs on the road at Wisconsin but came back from a 10-0 deficit to win 20-10 and secure its hold at the top of the Big 10. They move up to this spot with that win and the ugly showings by the teams in front of them. They should handle business at home the rest of the way (Indiana, Northwestern, Minnesota) but the road games are tough, with Michigan State in East Lansing this week and Ohio State in Columbus in November. Iowa though has a legit shot at going undefeated.

5. (4)Boise State – The Broncos continue to handle their business and they say they are taking it one game at a time, but they know they must blow everyone out on their schedule if they are to stay in this spot. The biggest game for them this weekend is not their game at Hawaii though, it is TCU vs. BYU. A loss by TCU and they would be the only non-BCS team left undefeated.

6. (5)Texas – Yes they beat Oklahoma, but no it was not pretty or impressive. And the difference between this team winning ugly and Iowa, for instance, is that the Longhorns aren’t trying to play like that. What was a dynamic and unstoppable offense last year has turned into a slow and mistake filled unit that has been bailed out in each challenging game by its defense and special teams.

7. (6)USC – The Trojans drop a few spots because they almost blew a big lead in South Bend. Barkley continues to impress and the offense seems to be getting it together, but the defense collapsed against Clausen and Golden Tate (maybe the best QB-WR combo in the nation) and by just holding on in this game, they drop in my rankings. A tough two weeks awaits against the Oregon schools, including the trip to Eugene on Halloween.

8. (9)Miami – The Hurricanes got the help they needed with Georgia Tech’s win over Virginia Tech and now all three are tied in the ACC Coastal, which is head and shoulders above the ACC Atlantic division. The Hurricanes have been the most impressive in my opinion with wins over Oklahoma, FSU (before anyone knew they were that bad) and GT.

9. (10)TCU – This team can leapfrog (no pun intended, or maybe a little) the teams in front with a big road win over BYU this Saturday. But with a loss their BCS hopes would die very quickly. Maybe the best game of the week and it is between non-BCS schools. I think Orrin Hatch, the Republican Senator from Utah who has been trying to get Congress to stop the BCS, needs to root against his home-state BYU Cougars this week to strengthen his argument. My guess, no matter what the outcome he will continue running his mouth about college football while millions of Americans are out of work, living in poverty and Wall Street execs are making more money than Alex Rodriguez and Kate Hudson combined. Get your priorities straight Senator, sir.

10. Georgia Tech / Oregon– The Yellow Jackets and the Ducks tie for this spot. GT has beaten Clemson, UNC, Miss. State, FSU, and VT while the Ducks have wins over Utah, Purdue, Cal, Wash. St., and UCLA. They both lost to top 10 teams, Miami and Boise State. The difference is GT has one more road win and the win over VT last week. The Ducks are hurt because Cal has dropped from the rankings and what should have been a statement win does not look as good now. But Oregon could easily vault into the top 5 by the first of November with an upset of USC.

Saturday Lox Week 7 in Review

Premium Lox

Week 7: 1-2

Overall: 11-13

Winners:

Iowa @ Wisconsin (Under 47): 20-10 Iowa

I felt this game would be a running, grind it out defensive battle and that is exactly what happened. Wisconsin jumped out to a 10-0 lead but Iowa stormed back on the road to win 20-10 and keep its perfect season alive.

Losers:

USC (-10): 34-27

The Trojans led 34-13 in this game and looked to be cruising to victory in South Bend, but Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate connected on a key TD pass and after an interception by USC, Notre Dame got within the spread with another TD. So what could have been a blowout and easy money turned into a close game that the Irish almost pulled out.

Washington (+6.5): 17-24

Of all the heart wrenching defeats this year Washington has provided the worst two. Last week it was the interception off the receiver’s foot that led to UW covering a game I bet against them. This time UW had the ball tied with under a minute left but instead of taking a knee deep in their territory passed on 3rd down and was forced to punt. Arizona State took over at midfield with 13 seconds left and promptly threw a 50 yard TD pass with 5 seconds left. Two receivers had actually got behind the defense on a play that I might have fired my defensive coordinator right there on the spot. But if Sarkisian didn’t punt the ball it never would have happened. Either way the Huskies players can’t feel good about how this happened but the coaches have to be sick because it is all on them. As it is fans everywhere can’t believe how this game ended and neither can I.

Regular Lox

Week 7: 1-1-1

Overall: 9-12-2

Winners:

Texas Tech @ Nebraska (Under 60): 31-10

Although Texas Tech was the dominating team here the game went how I thought it would as far as scoring. Nebraska’s defense did not play as bad as the score would indicate, as only 14 points can be attributed to that unit. The game turned in the first quarter when Nebraska was driving and threw a lateral WR screen pass that was dropped. None of the Nebraska players realized it was a fumble until Tech had returned it for a TD and a 14-0 lead. The crowd never was a factor again and Texas Tech rolled to the win. But as I thought the offense for Tech didn’t do much and the Cornhuskers offense was even worse. After watching a play like that I wonder how an offensive coach could even think about running a play like that in his red zone and even worse how not 1 of 11 players would even think it was a fumble. That is a simple but big difference between pro and college football.

Texas (-3): 16-13 PUSH

This was a frustrating game for anyone who had money on it. If you bet on Oklahoma you can’t believe they turned the ball over seemingly every possession, missed easy field goals and altogether played well below their capability. If you had Texas they also turned the ball over in key moments, including a fumble into the endzone that would have been a back breaker and Colt McCoy’s interception inside the 5 yard line when a field goal would have covered the spread. It may sound like I am piling on McCoy but he has been simply a bad quarterback for most of the season, as a 11-7 TD/INT ratio shows. The Longhorns won this game in spite of McCoy but they won’t be able to continue this trend for long.

Losers:

UCLA (+4): 26-45

Cal bounced back nicely on offense after two horrid performances but this game was closer than the final would indicate. The first downs were even and Cal outgained the Bruins by just 41 yards. The key play came in the 4th quarter as UCLA trailed by 12 and were driving at the Cal 32. The next pass was intercepted and returned for a TD for the final margin. A TD on that drive could have made this game close and given UCLA’s defense a chance to stop Cal which it had all second half. As it is Rick Neuheisel’s sophomore season is going up in smoke as the Bruins are now 0-4 in the Pac 10.

Upset Specials

Week 7: 0-1

Overall: 5-10

Stanford (+4): 38-43

Jim Harbaugh’s team blew another big lead in this game as they were dominating on offense for three quarters but couldn’t run the clock out or stop Arizona in the final period. Leading 28-13 and later 38-29 the Cardinal defense evaporated while the offense dropped a fourth down pass that would have nearly clinched the win. But after giving the Wildcats the ball back, Nic Grigsby of UA ran for a long TD run on 3rd and 17 in Stanford territory. A humbling loss for a Stanford team seemingly on the verge of greatness yet not able to climb the final hurdle.

The frustrating part for any gambler is the what-ifs and this week was the hardest ever to watch. All games were winners at some point except the UCLA game. Watching Texas blow so many chances to score and cover and then USC watching its lead evaporate and finally Washington and Stanford losing games they were winning was the icing on the cake of a bitter day. The saying goes there is always next week and I will search every corner of college football for not only the winners but games that don’t make me call my doctor for Rogaine.