Saturday Night Thoughts

So after watching as many games as humanly possible with basic cable, here are my thoughts on the day. We'll take it from the top.

Ohio State and Texas both looked good in their respective blowouts. However, Ohio State gave up chunks of yardage to Garret Wolfe, and that is a problem that needs to be fixed immediately. If it's not, the Buckeyes' offense better be on its A-game next weekend to have a chance.

Auburn rolled and looked great. LSU won big, as did Florida (after early struggles) and West Virginia. We learned very little about LSU, Florida, or West Virginia in the process, though. That's unfortunate.

Notre Dame played hard, but the offense was off for most of the night. Of course, part of that is due to GaTech's defense. The defense played pretty well, but Calvin Johnson still got over 100 yards. Of course, I think he would do that against anybody's secondary. If nothing else, this game should raise some questions as to Notre Dame's ability to make it through the next three weeks. On that note, Penn State looked great, Michigan turned in a somewhat sloppy, easy victory, and Michigan State did not look very good. We'll know a lot more about all of these teams a month from now.

As far as Michigan goes, the offense clicked early and then decided to stop. Someone needs to take that gun away from the Wolverines because they have practically blown off their foot by now. I still believe this team can do great things, but they have yet to show that special spark that defines a championship-worthy team.

Nebraska played well. They ran the ball to death in the first half, but the offense opened up in the second half as the Huskers ran away with it. I am starting to come around to Nebraska, but I need to see more. September 16th is shaping up to be one hell of a weekend. After seeing the way USC played Arkansas, I think the Huskers can take them. I'm not picking anybody yet, but Nebraska can give the Trojans a run. The only glaring problem that I see is team speed. Nebraska is seriously lacking in it, and USC is as fast as any team in the SEC. Two weeks.

Tennessee smacked Cal in the mouth, and that was certainly unexpected. I thought the Vols would win by keeping Lynch in check. They virtually shut him down (and the rest of Cal, for that matter). I did not see a blowout coming, but as I stated in prior posts: Look out SEC East. Here come the Vols. Florida gets the first shot. Two weeks.

Oklahoma looked ugly. Of course, what did we expect? They won, but just barely. I think Oregon will thrash them something fierce in two weeks. Anybody else seeing a theme here? Is there anything going on next week besides ND/Penn State and Ohio State/Texas? I'll have to look into that.

As far as games on Thursday and Friday, Arizona State did not look good. South Carolina's defense looked great against a poor Mississippi State defense, but I did like the play of Mississippi State's RB Anthony Dixon. He may be the next Jerious Norwood. Fresno looked great, and then horrible, and then average. There's no telling with this team. On that note, I love Nevada's pistol offense. Innovation is fun. Made for a good game.

So that pretty much covers this first weekend, minus a few meaningless games and the Miami/FSU game. I felt I should go ahead and post this prior to Monday, but my next Power 22 Poll will come out after that game, obviously. Before I sign off, my picks are 8-0 with two games to go.

WAR DAMN EAGLE!!!