Second and Long

What started out as a drab week for college football ended up setting the bar high for the rest of the season. Sure, there were the blow outs (Seriously, Florida? Charleston Southern and then Troy?), but the fireworks of a couple of big games in addition to some upsets made me long even more for Panny or Sammy.

First, I've got to admit that it hurt me last week to take the MAC out of TTUN's nickname. It was, in my opinion, quite humorous. So, I was ecstatic to see the the Spartans choked against Central Michigan's Chippewas, allowing me to call them MAChigan State for the rest of the year! Hooray!

In another life, I made jokes about the "horrors" of swine flu, and how it was the "crisis of the moment" during a slow summer news cycle. Well, "not so fast, my friend..." Wisconsin was one of the many institutions who are dealing with outbreaks this fall. Yet they managed to overcome the swine and the Bulldogs of Fresno State in two overtimes.

In the "oh, crap- here's one more thing I'm going to have to hear about" game of the week, UCLA and Slick Neuheisel traveled to Rocky Top and knocked off the Volunteers and their extravagantly paid coaching staff. I was actually hoping it would end in a tie, since the first tiebreaker would be "fastest to a NCAA violation". It was a game worth talking about... too soon?

Well, I've put it off long enough- Number 5 Oklahoma State fell to Houston. Michael, you had to be torn on this one; The college that's named after your family beating your favorite squadron? I guess being a man doesn't carry the weight that it used to. With this, and Choklahoma, and Texas struggling, is the Big 12 experiencing a down year?I wonder what the "Fighting T Boone Pickins" loss says about Georgia, last week's toOSU victim?

Well, we know that, even with a QB's strained shoulder the Dawgs could beat the 'ol ball coach. Remember when Spurrier used to win big games? Yeah, me neither.

State Penn handled Syracuse easily- somehow, Paulus couldn't get the "charging" calls like he used to. UW WON A GAME! Of football!! Texas struggled with Wyoming, but then blew it open. Mizzou struggled with Bowling Green (I'm not sure MACzzou has the same ring to it). Nebraska hammered Arkansas State. Vandy scared LSU, UNC squeaked by UConn (I think that was played on a basketball court... I'll check and get back to you), and Auburn owned the Bulldogs. The Fighting Zooks bounced back against ISU, and the Kansas State rebuilding process is still looking for parts to rebuild with. The Manginos defeated UTEP, and TCU made this happen to Virginia:

And now, the marquee matchups of the week:
Congratulations are in order to the Mich1gAAn Wolverines- they played a marvelous game and took advantage of the opportunities given them in their upset of "national championship contender" Notre Ame. Freshman quarterback Tate Forcier made things happen when the game was on the line, and proved that the decision to start him was one of Rodriguez' smarter moves.

That being said, and me being who I am- here are other observations:
It's official- Charlie Weiss is an idiot. With time running out in the game, and Mich1gAAn clinging to their last two time outs, he chooses two consecutive passing plays which (after falling flat) stop the clock. 4CA even said as much- TTUN having those two time outs left allowed them to drive for the winning score (Unfortunately, I'm about to revisit this in in three paragraphs or so) .This has been your weekly "Charlie Weiss is an offensive genius" reminder, brought to you by Ty Willingham.

Mach1gAAn looks good, but still has major concerns in their secondary. I'm convinced that "Cissoko" is Latin for "Feel free to throw deep on me". If quarterback Pickles has the arm that he's supposed to, this game ain't close.

Also, be aware that the Wolverines played very well, but there's a reason that we spell it "Ntre Ame". Not exactly known for their defensive prowess.

The Shoedown in the 'Shoe ended as most tOSU games against big programs did, with a loss to a top 5 team. I'll be talking a lot more about this on thebuckeyebattlecry.com (shameless plug), but let me say that Weiss wasn't the only coach with clock management issues. The normally conservative Tressel chose, at the end of the first half, to pass twice with the clock running out ant U$C out of timeouts. The Trojans got the ball with enough time to kick a field goal that tied the game at 10 and proved to be the winning margin.

In addition, their freshman QB played a great game but it was the 4th quarter work of Joe McKnight that won it for U$C. Given the accolades and worship for Barkley after it was all through, I think it's safe to say we've found our next "Tebow of Nazareth".

Small schools- APU and AU continued their residences on "The Schnide", dropping games to Wisconsin-LaCrosse and DepauW respectively. The Crimson Storm dropped a heartbreaker to Mary and Hardin and Baylor (yup, all three of them) 42-7. Brevard used 375 yards of rushing to best Chowan 27-24. As always, Tornadoes beat Hawks. Oh, and Seattle Pacific? Still undefeated.

On to the league:

I'll say this for Jen... when she gets her act together, she doesn't kid around. It could also be that she's one of the few people smart enough to pick Mich1gAAn.

"Maybe this year..." Paula won't miss more than two weeks. Brian wins the Most Picks, Least Points" award for the week.

Those of you who picked Ohio State? Thanks. That's sweet.

Not much room to work with, although it's great to see that Jen's taking one week off is almost as good as Jake's two weeks.

Aaron and Amanda are at the top- if their newborn (son? daughter? someone help me out here) was playing, we'd probably all be out of the money.

Games this week. Lane Kiffin and friends get to visit their bestest buddies ever ever. I'm sure it will be fun. THE Ohio State University will play Mich1gAAn's arch rival Toledo in Cleveland; hopefully the defense can continue their poise. U$C has a tough time against Washington in a trap game against his former coordinators. Pete, prove everyone wrong about your ability to keep your team focused. Louisville and UK meet in the "gosh, I'm glad it's football season, aren't you?" game of the week. Kansas and Duke continue the basketball theme, while Nebraska travels to Hokie Country. TCU and toOSU play Texas State and Rice, while Georgia looks to barbecue some Razorback. WVa travels to Auburn for what looks to be a great cross-conference matchup, and Vandy hosts MSU.

Small schools- Anderson squares off against the best mascot of all times; Earlham College's Fighting Quakers. Ellensburg Washington welcomes APU's efforts against CWU, and Southern Nazarene hosts one of the million Bethel colleges (I honestly can't keep them straight).

Obscure game of the week, brought to you by Cracklin' Oat Bran:
This week, Bacone College travels to Howard Payne, where the Warriors will meet the Yellow Jackets in a classic Oklahoma/Texas battle. These two Division 3 (Whoops, Football "Actually going to class" Subdivision) schools both have interesting heritages. Howard Payne was founded by the Pecan Valley Baptist association, and have faculty who have published a text on "Right to Die" ideologies. Let's hope they aren't on the sports medicine staff as well.

Bacone College is a 4 year American Baptist college whose mission is to serve Native Americans. They have a great mission statement for their athletic department:

The nurturing Christian environment of Bacone Athletics will provide an interactive opportunity for students to receive leadership training and experiences based on Biblical truths that direct athletes to the benefits of living a life of leadership through a dedicated relationship with Jesus Christ. Through God’s leadership the Athletic Department will be committed to spiritual leadership, scholarship, stewardship, excellence in competition, and a commitment of service to the American Indian community.

While this is AWESOME, I was a bit dissapointed that they didn't have affiliations with historical figures or meaty tasty treats. Mmmm, bacon...