Paging Thomas Paine

It was one of those weeks in college football- the "times that try men's souls", as it were.

More than a few top squads found themselves in dogfights with opponents that, on paper, they should have dominated. But, because we know that games aren't played on paper but by tiny men in our television sets, this week's slate of competition ended up being quite memorable.

First, let's visit the Notre Ame Broadcasting Company, where the coverage of what would turn out to be a surprisingly good NA/U$C Game was worse than anything the Big Ten Network ever created. Not since the days of Jefferson Pilot Sports have people been subjected to such rampant homerism in the coverage. It's almost as if either they weren't watching the game or as if they'd gotten a high school budding sportscaster to cover it.

At any rate, my hat is off to Charlie Weis for his brilliant usage of my favorite trick play- the "missing man" formation; although Pete seems to be questioning the Irish's attempts to seek a competitive edge. What Carrol's Trojans aren't talking about, though, is the way they allowed a team to come back from a 20 point deficit to almost tie at the buzzer. And yet, even with some creative clock work by the Notre Dame officials, the Irish did not prevail. Interesting fact: The three signature wins of the Charlie Weis era are last year's victory over Hawaii in their bowl game, Almost beating U$C in 2005, and Almost beating U$C last night. Yup, two of the three are only moral victories.

The Red-River shootout turned out to be just that, with Texas holding on to win even after Oklahoma's Heisman Trophy QB was again sent to the sidelines. I'm very interested in seeing what the Big 12 South looks like this year- Texas has some development yet to do, in my opinion.

Over in the SEC, both Florida and Alabama were pushed to the brink. The Gators needed to have Tim Tebow's prayers answered on a last second field goal in order to beat Arkansas. I wonder how this guy feels about Tebow's faith now? The Great Saban and company were in a bit of a close game against the "Formerly Good Ballcoach", but managed to pull away in the second half.

Every one's favorite (well, not everyone, right Coach Stoops?) "little school that could" found themselves up to their necks against Tulsa, but the Boise State Broncos managed to hold on to their undefeated season with a seven point win. Cincinnati also looked to be in trouble, until USF self destructed in the second half.

Not all ranked teams fared well this weekend, though: In the ACC, Virginia Tech met the buzzsaw that is the triple option attack and lost their number four ranking to the Ramblin' Wreck. The Fighting Mangino's managed to let Coach Hawkins keep his job (after benching his son), Nebraska fell to unranked Texas Tech, and (yes, I'm getting to it) Ohio State choked against 1-5 Purdue. Having watched most of the game, "choked" isn't exactly the word for it... but this is a family blog, so I'll refrain.

It could be worse... Delaware State lost twice on Saturday. Once in an embarrassment to Mich1gAAn, and once by forfeiting the game that they originally scheduled for Saturday that they forgot to re-schedule so they could accept the $500,000 "pity date" payment TTUN gave them. To make matters worse, when the game was over they had to travel back to Delaware. *shudder*

Across the nation- Kentucky beat Auburn (honestly, I'm as surprised as you are), TCU continues to roll, Cal reminded Slick Rick who the "real" University is in this budget-forsaken state, and TBPU played solidly against a really overrated Mizzou team. UW again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, State Penn and Iowa played solidly against good opposition, Kansas State embarrassed aTm, and Vandy is Vandy, as my daughter would say. This week's "Big T1e1n Cripple Fight" goes to Indiana, who managed to beat Illinois in Champaign. Hope the resume's ready, coach Zook.

Small schools- Anderson's march towards a winless season continues, as they fell to Franklin. APU also dropped a match to Dixie State (which, I've just learned, is not in the South). SNU's Crimson Storm defeated Southern Assemblies to move to 4-3, and Gallaudet lost to Catholic (or so I heard).

For the second straight week, we've had a perfect score! Great job, Brian- must be the Florida QB name, right?

Michael went against his usual "Big 12 South" pattern and it cost him a tie for first for this week.

I'm not sure what happened to Jordy, but I did receive an "Oh, crap" email from Dan at about 9:35. Live and learn, hoss.

Matt? Not beating Michael in any/either category. Time to pick it up, bro.

Dan moves back into the lead, as Steve's poor showing this week drops him in the points race.

Now that the BC$ is out (interesting how ESPN has stopped calling for a playoff now that they have exclusive BCS rights?) it's time for my weekly "who I'd like to see play in a national championship game" update. With a lot of football still to be played, I think there are four teams I'd love to see in a playoff... you know, if the No Clue At All had such a thing. Semi-final games of U$C and Alabama with the winner playing either Texas or Florida would be a great thing for the fans, right? Ah, but it's not about the fans- it's about the tax-free money for these "educational endeavors". Silly me.

This week- It's Homecoming at APU, and Michael gets to be front and center for the game against Western Oregon. Joe's Ravens welcome Defiance (No! They do NOT!), while SNU meets Langston (APU's final opponent of the season).

Bigger schools- Ohio State looks to rebound against the Gophers, and Nebraska does the same against Iowa State. Illinois and Purdue square off, while Vanderbilt travels to South Carolina. Alabama and Tennessee play, as do State Penn and Mich1gAAn. UW begins it's quest to win the Northwet by meeting Oregon, and the marquee matchup is undefeated TCU against 16th ranked BYU.

Obscure game of the week: Juniata College and Moravian, in another Division Three clash between Pennsylvania schools. The Eagles of Juniata are winless on the year, unless you count the awesomeness that is "mattress dominoes". Founded in 1876, it's mission challenges students to be prepared "for the useful occupations of life". You know, like mattress dominoes- if I had a dollar for every time that was part of a job interview... Ironically, even though it is of Brethren heritage the first class had a 2-1 ratio in favor of the sistren. Some things never change, it seems. Although, if I was a male student at JC, I know what a great date would be- Lobsterfest. Who says tuition goes to waste?

Moravian college is American's sixth oldest (with a bullet!!), founded in 1742 as a seminary for women (again!) in Bethlehem PA. Their matchup with JC's Eagles will be a part of Homecoming festivities- perhaps alumni John Andretti will make a fast stop by campus? With only one win under their belt, the Greyhounds will hope to emerge victorious at Rocco Calvo Field. Little to no comment from the good people of Moravia regarding the team's successes this season... perhaps they're just a bit too captivated by 77 other things.