ENTHUSIAST OF ALL

Well, I must say that USC has really surprised me over the past few weeks following their loss at Oregon State (a loss that is looking better and better every week, as the Beavers beat Oregon over the weekend to finish the season 8-4.) The Trojans came out and simply trounced Notre Dame from start to finish, and now should have earned themselves a chance to battle the mighty Buckeyes for the national championship. Dwayne Jarrett was a man among boys Saturday night, scoring three touchdowns on seven catches and 132 yards receiving. The Irish failed to capitalize on some USC turnovers early in the game and also couldn’t seem to hold onto Brady Quinn’s passes half of the time. The play-calling was also suspect early in the game, as Notre Dame seemed to be sacrificing the ten yard passes that are their most successful method of moving the football for lower probability go-for it-all bombs. Watching the first half of this game was reminiscent of a backyard pickup game, as apparently the concept of kicking a field goal or punting on fourth down didn’t enter the equation. And hopefully none of you thought I was going to avoid the topic of Coach Weis’ choice of attire. It is tough to see how a man can gain the respect of his team when dressed like Charlie Weis was Saturday night. I am all for a coach being allowed to dress comfortably, but I see homeless people in Chicago on a daily basis who are dressed better than Weis was. Royal blue windsuit pants, sneakers and a hooded sweatshirt that was somehow three sizes too big for an already morbidly obese man completed the ensemble that was nothing short of ridiculous. Remember when your mother told you to dress nicely to school because it would reflect your attitude and therefore your performance? I got that same feeling Saturday night.  Notre Dame played like the kid who wore sweatpants.

Other events on (sniff, sniff) the last full weekend of college football included:

• Texas suffered a hard loss at home to rival Texas A & M that cost them a shot at the Big 12 championship and a BCS berth. They also lost QB Colt McCoy who was treated pretty ruthlessly by A & M, including a late hit that was beyond inexcusable. But a helmet to helmet hit late in the game sent McCoy to the locker room on a stretcher with a pinched nerve in his neck. Meanwhile, Oklahoma continued what is turning out the be one of the season’s best stories as they narrowly defeated Oklahoma State to sneak into the Big 12 championship and keep their BCS hopes alive. The Sooners are 6-0 since losing star running back Adrian Peterson, who is listed as possible for the championship next weekend against Nebraska.
• LSU proved that it is the nation’s best two loss team as they rolled into Arkansas and won what was an incredibly hard fought game. Florida kept its dim title chances alive, again winning pretty unimpressively over rival Florida State. The Seminoles finish the season 6-6, which is their worst finish since Bobby Bowden’s first season. The rest of the SEC proved its superiority over the ACC as seemingly medicore Georgia and South Carolina got big wins against ACC heavyweights Georgia Tech and Clemson respectively.
• West Virginia laid an egg at home and lost to South Florida, giving up any hope for a BCS berth. The loss was crushing for the Mountaineers and program-creating for the Bulls, who will enter postseason pay with a respectable 8-4 record.
• The title picture looks much clearer now. If USC beats UCLA, they are in. If USC loses to UCLA and Florida beats Arkansas, then the Gators should get a shot. Michigan probably needs both USC and Florida to lose next weekend to get what would be a fairly controversial rematch. I know that the precedent has been set, (1996, when Florida State beat Florida in the regular season and then lost to the Gators in the championship) but can someone explain to me why Ohio State has to beat Michigan twice to win the title but Michigan only has to beat the Buckeyes once? It seems unfair and it takes a lot away from the importance of that regular season game. At least when the Gators and the Seminoles went at it, they were playing in different conferences, but I digress. It doesn’t appear that USC is going to falter against UCLA, so hopefully we won’t have to worry about it.

THE TOP 40 OF THE MATTY

1. Ohio State (12-0)
2. USC (10-1)
3. Michigan (11-1)
4. Florida (11-1)
5. Louisville (10-1)
6. LSU (10-2)
7. Arkansas (10-2)
8. Auburn (10-2)
9. Wisconsin (11-1)
10. Boise State (12-0)
11. Oklahoma (10-2)
12. Notre Dame (10-2)
13. Rutgers (10-1)
14. West Virginia (9-2)
15. Tennessee (9-3)
16. Virginia Tech (10-2)
17. Texas (9-3)
18. Nebraska (9-3)
19. BYU (10-2)
20. California (8-3)
21. Wake Forest (10-2)
22. Hawaii (10-2)
23. Texas A & M (9-3)
24. Georgia Tech (9-3)
25. Boston College (9-3)
26. Oregon State (8-4)
27. Georgia (8-4)
28. TCU (10-2)
29. Houston (9-3)
30. South Florida (8-4)
31. South Carolina (7-5)
32. Clemson (8-4)
33. Missouri (8-4)
34. Penn State (8-4)
35. Maryland (8-4)
36. Purdue (8-5)
37. Texas Tech (7-5)
38. Oregon (7-5)
39. Kansas State (7-5)
40. Kentucky (7-5)

Wow, no Miami or Florida State in the Top 40!!!

HEISMAN WATCH

1. Troy Smith, Ohio State
2. Darren McFadden, Arkansas
3. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame
4. Mike Hart, Michigan
5. Dwayne Jarrett, USC

This entry was posted on November 26, 2006 at 6:20 pm and is filed under Sports. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.