Play Action Pass

Upset Saturday

Everyone thought Oct 6th was going to be showcase Saturday in college football.  Once again, the football Gods reminded us to take nothing for granted, and that college football is by far the greatest sport.  #3 Oklahoma, #4 Florida, # 5 West Virginia, #7 Texas, # 10 Rutgers, #13 Clemson and #21 Penn State all lost to unranked opponents.  #11 Oregon's loss to #6 Cal was the only acceptable loss of the day.  #9 Wisconsin had another close win beating Michigan State, #2 LSU needed a strong second half to defeat a lowly Tulane team and #1 USC somehow managed to beat Washington despite 3 turnovers and 16 penalties for 161 yards.  While Ohio State's road victory against Minnesota looked convincing, the Golden Gophers exposed some weaknesses in the Buckeyes armour.  The Top 10 was not a safe place to be yesterday.

If yesterday happened in any other sport, most people would yawn because the regular season is less important in all sports except college football.  Every week is a playoff game in college football.  Win, you are still in the hunt.  Lose and you are most likely out of the BCS Championship picture.  Few teams have the capability to withstand a loss and make it to the title game, but this year may be the first BCS Title game where both teams have one loss.  Yesterday's outcomes support this contention.

Depth has found its way into college football.  Sure, the usual suspects are still leading the way, but many of the middle tier programs are inching their way to the top.  Look at the Top 25, Boston College, South Florida, Kentucky, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Missouri, Hawaii, South Carolina.  Despite their loss yesterday, throw in Rutgers too.  One-third of the Top 25 is occupied by teams with little or no historical significance to college football. 

Although the season is still young, BC, Virginia, Colorado, Kansas State, UConn, Syracuse, South Florida, Illinois, Purdue, Kentucky, Arizona State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State can say they are 1st Place in their conference.  Obviously this will change as the season progresses, but September brought some surprises.  For my money, this is why college football rules the day.

October 6th will still be monumental to the 2007 season.  Florida plays at LSU who will be looking for redemption, Texas or Oklahoma will have two losses and be out of the title hunt, Ohio State will need to beat a resurgent Purdue team on the road at night, Wisconsin plays a tough Illinois team on the road, Nebraska or Missouri will get a leg up on the Big 12 North, Rutgers tries to avenge last season's loss Cincinnati, Clemson and Virginia Tech will try to avoid a second loss, Georgia travels to Tennessee looking to keep their SEC East title hopes alive, and Kansas plays Kansas State as both will try to keep pace with the either Missou or Nebraska for the North title.  In addition, Thursday's match-up between South Carolina and Kentucky will have huge implications on the SEC East race.  Seasons will be made and lost next weekend.

Early predictions:

Oklahoma runs wild on Texas.  Missou topples Nebraska in a close game.  LSU beats Florida by 10.  Ohio State wins by taking control in the 2nd half, Wisconsin beats Illinois by touchdown, Kansas State drops Kansas soundly, Rutgers gets back into the win column, Georgia continue to roll, Kentucky will lose for the first time this season, Virginia Tech will win by 3. 

Have a great week.

College Football

This is the first posting for PlayActionPass, a blog dedicated to all things college football. 

Tonight's highly anticipated Big East clash between West Virginia and South Florida will go a long way in determining the Big East champ.  The Mountaineers are looking to avenge last season's 24-19 loss in Morgantown to the Bulls.  Expect high scoring with Pat White and Steve Slayton running at will against the South Florida defense and Matt Grothe passing through WVU's weak secondary.  40 points will be needed to win this shootout. In the end, South Florida's run in the Top 25 will be short lived as WVU's offense will prove too much for the Bulls as White runs for two 4th Quarter touchdowns. Nonetheless, Jim Leavitt's squad will show why they are the 2nd best team in Florida. 

Saturday preview:

Although this weekend's match up's are not even close to next week's clashes, there are some interesting games that could surprise some people.

Cal v. Oregon is the obvious game of the week.  Expect a shootout with the team holding the ball last winning.  Dixon should show why he is a darkhorse candidate and Jackson will prove why he should be a frontrunner.  Cal will get their first big road victory of the year.

Wisconsin v. Michigan State will not light up the scoreboard, but will showcase why Big 10 football is power football.  Michigan State's resurgence under first year HC Mark Dantonio is one of the stories of the year (so far) and his squad will give the Badgers all they can handle in Madison.  Turnovers and field position will determine the outcome and the home team will escape with a narrow victory.

Auburn v. Florida will be a lot closer than most expect.  Tuberville's teams always play their best when expectations are low.  Florida showed some vulnerabilities last week and Auburn OC Al Borges will look to exploit them throughout the game. If Auburn can hold onto the ball and run effectively while mixing in some short passes, this could be the upset of the SEC season.  Florida may be looking ahead to their showdown with LSU next week.  I predict a close Gator victory, 27-21.

Rutgers v Maryland.  Don't laugh.  Rutgers has not been tested and Maryland is desparate for a win.  In addition, Rutgers has a revenge game next week versus Cincinnati.  Rutgers will pound the ball with Rice getting his usual 15 yards, but Maryland will have some key stops.  Rutgers will win this game by coming from behind in the 4th quarter. 

Alabama v Florida State.  Enough has been written about Bowden's ties to the State of Alabama, but it is interesting that the winningest coach in Division 1A history has never played Alabama.  Saban will try to regroup his team after the heartbreak OT loss to Georgia last week.  As if the Bowden/Alabama story wasn't juicy enough, Saban will be going against his former OC, Jimbo Fisher.  Look for Saban's squad to win this defensive slugfest, 21-17. 

Other intriguing match-ups:

Navy v Air Force.  Round One for the Commander-In-Chief trophy.  Navy will win.

Penn State v. Illinois.  Can Penn State recover from last week's offensive debacle to take on the much improve Illini?  Yes, but the game will be close.

UCLA v Oregon State.  Both teams have embarrassing losses already this season.  The loser has a Sun Bowl ticket waiting for them.  The winner still has an outside shot at the Holiday Bowl.  UCLA will win this high scoring shootout.

Texas v. Kansas State.  Revenge or looking ahead.  The annual Red River Shootout looms next week.  Can the mighty Longhorns temper their passion to exact some revenge on their late season loss to the Wildcats last year?  The Longhorns have been anything but steady this year, but McCoy will be pumped and lead his team to a decisive victory in Austin. 

That's it for now.  Enjoy the games.