Alex Ferguson’s thoughts on Week 2 of the College Football Season. IMPRESSED
LSU
One of the best performances of the new season came at Baton Rouge on Saturday night, when the Tigers crushed the Virginia Tech Hokies 48-7. They stormed out of the gate and never looked back. The duo of Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux looks sharp at quarterback, and they’ve got speed all over the field. Really, they should be ranked #1 right now.
Oklahoma
The Sooners dominated Miami in their midday match-up against the Hurricanes. Although their opponents’ offense was no great shakes, the Sooners bruised what little they had into insignificance. QB Sam Bradford’s a cracking quarterback, and I like Malcolm Kelly, who caught three TDs.
Oregon
Scarily good with the spread offence against Michigan, the Ducks have suddenly put themselves on this year’s Pac-10 radar. Be afraid, be very afraid.
South Florida
If it wasn’t for their kicker – who was absolutely awful on Saturday night, they wouldn’t have needed overtime to beat the Auburn Tigers. Big East be warned.
Washington
Beating Boise State is no mean feat, particularly when your quarterback’s a freshman and your defense isn’t really that good. True, they benefited from some comedy defending from Boise State, but Tyrone Willingham’s just beginning to show the nation that the Huskies might actually be quite good this year.
Cincinnati
I probably won’t say this again about Cincinnati Bearcat football this year, but the way that the Bearcats dealt with Oregon State gives neutrals hope that the Big East won’t be decided by Louisville, Rutgers or West Virginia. Causing six turnovers is pretty darned good, after all.
Texas
Came from 10-0 behind to a good Texas Christian side to turn it on in the second half. Colt McCoy is beginning to look as good as advertised, although a Heisman might be out of reach this year.
UNMOVED
Penn State
Normally I would be impressed by a 20 point win. However, bearing in mind that Lions QB Anthony Morelli, who fumbled the ball once and threw another interception, wasn’t wonderful and the running backs only really took over in the fourth quarter, a 31-10 victory looks a lot better than it actually was. The defense was nothing short of sensational, and Derrick Williams may well be back to his best. PSU Nation hopes so.
Nebraska
Wake Forest have sucked for years, but now they aren’t a pushover for anybody. Sam Keller and the rest of his Nebraska teammates showed how they can get out of a jam, but will it be enough to stop the Trojans?? On the evidence of Saturday’s mixed performance, we think not.
Texas A&M
Any fan with a sense of comedy would have a soft spot for the Aggies. I know I do. This time, A&M had a 19-0 lead going into halftime, and then decided not to try and stop Fresno State from the last three quarters of the game. They ended up winning in three overtimes, but it could have so, so much easier. Oh and another quick point – if running back Jorvorskie Lane’s 275 pounds, then I’m Ronald McDonald.
DEPRESSED
Louisville
If the Cardinals defence puts on the same kind of performance against Rutgers, West Virginia or even Kentucky that they did against Middle Tennessee on Thursday night, then even Brian Brohm may not be able to stop this Cardinal team from coming out of the Top 20 this year.
Michigan
One word for Michigan’s performance on Saturday: woeful. I know, it didn’t help that Chad Henne was injured before halftime, but it was the defence who looked incredibly exposed to the speedy spread offence of Oregon. And come to think of it, they were pretty crap at stopping Jonathan Stewart, too. One bright spark? The performance of freshman QB Ryan Mallett, who’s going to be filthy in a year or two’s time.
Georgia
It wasn’t the fact that the defense wasn’t good enough to stop South Carolina, because limiting a side to 12 points will generally mean that you get the `W’. But when your offense can’t generate a touchdown against a `D’ that’s hardly vaunted, then you have to raise an eyebrow.
Notre Dame
Don’t get me wrong- the Fighting Irish played exceptionally well on defense. They weren’t that bad at all. However Charlie, although we know that you’re trying to keep your quarterback from getting eaten alive by the Penn State defense, a load of short swing passes isn’t going to win you a game. The penalties didn’t help either.
Ohio State/ Wisconsin
Yes, they pulled out victories, but hard fought wins over college football superpowers Akron and UNLV doesn’t bode well for these Big Ten superpowers. While there is a lot of potential in Madison and Columbus, it’s not being exploited at the moment. But then again, it’s still early.