Impressed- depressed and neutral after Week 12 of college football

Who impressed, depressed and didn’t move us after Week 12 of the college football season.IMPRESSED

Georgia Tech

Georgia’s “other” team caused the biggest upset of the weekend by knocking off “Thug U” (sorry, Miami) 14-10, including intercepting Kyle Wright on the Hurricanes’ final drive. Don’t be surprised if Bulldog is served up in ATL instead of Turkey this weekend in the “Good Ole Fashioned Hate” game.

LSU

Division 1-A’s luckiest team are now sitting pretty in the BCS, the AP Polls and in the SEC. Scarily good on defense (they limited Ole Miss to 175 yards all day), The Tigers have shown that they are darn good, too. DeMarcus Russell, their 252 lb quarterback, showed off his cannon this week, throwing 13/22 for 142 yards and 2 TDs.

Auburn

The War Eagle routed the Crimson Tide in an Iron Bowl game that was far more one-sided that the 28-18 scoreline suggested. After their leaky performance against Georgia, the defense came back by sacking Brodie Croyle 7 times in the first half alone. Offensively, here’s a prediction: Kenny Irons (103 yards, 1 TD) is going to be playing on Sundays. And AU’s back up running back, Ben Obamanu, isn’t bad either, scoring on a 45 yard run that effectively sealed the victory: in the first quarter.

Fresno State

It’s not every day you score 42 points on the #1 team in the nation and still lose. However, it happened to Fresno State on Saturday. In essence, it was two things that killed them: Reggie Bush (497 all-purpose yards, 2 TDs) and FIVE turnovers. Ouch.

Penn State

Can we limit the “impressed” to two Nittany Lions: CB Alan Zemaitis (3 INT) and QB Michael Robinson?  Robinson’s problem, for once in his quarterbacking career, wasn’t himself (he had 90 yards and 1 TD)- it was his receivers and their curious knack of dropping passes- a problem that had been their curse all week, apparently. Zemaitis had no such problems, pulling three Drew Stanton bullets out of the air (one going back for a TD) and nearly getting a hold of number 4. A quick question to Joe Paterno: just how satisfying is it to get the dogs off your back?

Ohio State

Never has a last minute drive been so important for OSU QB Troy Smith. So after Antonio Pittman ran in for a TD to give the Buckeyes a share of the Big Ten title (although Penn State in essence won the Big Ten because they beat the Buckeyes in Happy Valley), Smith, who didn’t have the world’s best game, found redemption. Oh- and a quick word about linebacker AJ Hawk. Would anyone be surprised if he went #1 in the 2006 draft? I certainly wouldn’t.

Virginia Tech

I’m sorry- did I say that Virginia Tech’s ACC Championship hopes were over? The Hokies had a point to prove after being slapped at home by “the team’s who’s alums showed up in camo to a National Championship game” (sorry, Miami), and they did, throttling Virginia 52-14. And after Miami’s new recording artists lost at home to Georgia Tech, they’re playing Florida State for an ACC Championship.

Clemson

It wasn’t the most impressive offensive game you’ve ever seen from Clemson, but in the 13-9 upset of South Carolina (if any victory in Rivalry Week’s an `upset), the Tigers showed they have teeth. For once, they managed to get in spite of Charlie Whitehurst’s two interceptions, mainly through a strong defensive performance (347 yards, 4 turnovers) and the rushing of James Davis (145 yards).

Vanderbilt

The Commodores have surprised everybody this season, with QB Jay Cutler the star. In Neyland Stadium, Vandy raised another eyebrow or two, by coming back to beat Tennessee 28-24 to end 22 years of Rocky Top-caused misery.

NEUTRAL

Oklahoma/Texas Tech

In the battle of the Big 12’s “other” powerhouses, Oklahoma and Tech played out the game of the week in Lubbock. There was drama all day long, right up to when Red Raiders running back Taurean Henderson bundled the ball over from 2 yards out for a last second touchdown, which was confirmed as good by video replay.

USC

So, the Trojans are 11-0. Fresno State were the latest to take a double-digit lead (11) and then cough it up. Although everyone’s giving love to Reggie Bush, we’d like to point out that the REAL reason for the USC victory were the FIVE offensive turnovers that the Bulldogs committed- including 3 by Fresno’s QB Paul Pinegar. Suddenly the UCLA game on December 3rd becomes interesting again.

Georgia

Celebrated going to the SEC Championship game by flattening the Kentucky Wildcats, 45-13. DJ Shockley showed his great arm by throwing for 159 yards and 4 TDs. He wasn’t any great use in the running lane, though, carrying for -5 yards on 4 rushes.

Michigan State

If it wasn’t for the sheer lousiness of the Michigan State special teams, we wouldn’t be talking about Penn State as the Big Ten Champions. MSU played with fire, passion, and if they’d had a touch luckier, they might have been on the other end of the 31-22 scoreline.

DEPRESSED

Miami

Before Saturday’s game, everyone was talking about two things: 1) Whether Miami might be playing for the National Championship and 2) Where can we get hold of the track that Miami did two years ago to celebrate their `exploits’ on campus? Now, “Thug U” isn’t playing for an ACC Championship, and they showed they certainly are NOT the best 2 loss team out there.

Yale

Losing in 3 OT to your most hated rival is a pretty good reason to be depressed before calculus, isn’t it?

Alabama

The stats might show a ten point victory for Auburn in the Iron Bowl, but, as we all know, stats sometimes lie. For long parts of the game, the Crimson Tide was simply terrible, giving up 21 points in the first quarter. Brodie Croyle showed how much he’s missing Tyrone Prothro, throwing for 107 yards, and was sacked SEVEN times in the first half by an Auburn defense wanting blood. Ouch.

Michigan

Not only did they lose against Ohio State in the closing minutes of one of the biggest games of the year, but they gave it up to Troy Smith and Buckeyes when it really counted- rather like they’ve done all season. Think: if Lloyd Carr hadn’t gotten an extra two seconds against Penn State or they hadn’t scraped by in the Michigan State game, would the Wolverines by vying with Tennessee for the trophy for the Biggest Disappointment in College Football?

Tennessee

Speaking of big disappointments in college football, it’ll be a surprise if Philip Fulmer doesn’t get his butt kicked out of Knoxville after this season. The losses to South Carolina and (lately) Vanderbilt show how far this once-proud program has fallen. You can blame the disciplinary problems over the summer, or even the injury to Gerald Riggs, but this team, this season, was quite simply this: terrible.