1.) Can South Carolina pull off the upset at #2 LSU? Psyche- I already know the answer to that one- it’s no. Not in Death Valley. However, we are going to get a good read on where the LSU offense is against a stingy SC defense (statistically eight teams better in total defense than Virginia Tech). If South Carolina can force a couple turnovers and get some breaks on offense, the game could be close. Otherwise, the Trojans are probably going to lose a few more first place votes.

2.) Everyone back on the Louisville bandwagon after they obliterate a horrible Syracuse team Saturday! Ok, fine, so that isn’t a question. Whatever.

3.) How many more #1 votes will Florida receive after they beat down a pathetic 1-2 Mississippi team? I’m setting the over/under at 6 votes.

4.) Is Penn State a legitimate contendor for the Big Ten Championship and possibly the National Championship? Time to prove it. We’ll find out the answer depending on which Michigan team shows up. The battle to watch is the Penn State receivers against the Michigan secondary. I don’t believe the Nits have a strong enough running game to go one-dimensional on a defense with a pulse (up for debate). Obviously the Michigan QB position will also go a long way in determing the outcome. Unfortunately for Penn State, it’s a bit of trap game- they won’t get much credit for winning, unless they do it big (since it’s on the road) and if they lose, they’re going to get buried and the Big Ten will drop somewhere between the WAC and Conference USA in the respect category.

5.) What’s going to happen when Michigan State travels to Notre Dame? This time last year on this Bat Channel, and in East Lansing, Spartie gave up 26 points in the final two quarters of the game providing one of the most spectactular implosions in the John L. Smith era and ultimately the end of his tenure. We’ll find out if Mark Dantonio can continue to steer the Spartans toward sanity and whether or not the Irish can take advantage of possibly their last opportunity for a win before Navy comes to town on November 3. By the way, why in the world would the powers that be not schedule this game at night after last year’s instant classic? Sing it with me- Lost opp-or-tun-i-ty.

6.) Can the Texas Longhorns finally break out of their “funk of mediocrity” and beat a team at home (Rice) who they’ve beaten by an average of 43 points over the last two years? Don’t really care; let’s talk two weeks when Oklahoma comes to town. Until then, they don’t belong in the Top Ten.

7.) Will USC start resting some of their players this week against a 2-1 Washington State team in preparation for Oregon in five weeks? Snoop Dogg says yes.

8.) Will I be impressed when Colt Brennan and Hawaii beat a second D-IAA team like a pahu (Hawaiin for drum, I looked it up)? Nope. Nice scheduling Hawaii. Come to the mainland and play some real teams. Then we can talk Heisman and BCS.

9.) The Georgia Bulldogs aren’t and haven’t been relevant to the national picture for a long time. Can Bear Saban and ‘Bama at home put them out of the top 25? Please?

10.) North Texas has given up 124 points and 1,200 yards in just two games this season. At what point in a young Texans’ mind does he say, “in addition to a moderate class load and plenty ‘o tail chasin’, I’d prefer to get beaten soundly every Saturday”?

As a bonus to my loyal readers, here’s the bottom five defense in offenses in the country heading into Saturday (being #1 on this list is bad):

Worst Statistical Defenses (total yards given up per game)
1. North Texas - 601 yards
2. San Diego State- 566 yards
3. SMU - 561 yards
4. Minnesota- 556 yards
5. Western Michigan - 534 yards

Worst Statistical Offenses (total yards gained per game)
1. Notre Dame - 115 yards
2. Florida International - 180 yards
3. San Jose State - 190 yards
4. Syracuse - 199 yards
5. Utah State- 222 yards

You’re welcome.

No introduction does this video justice- just watch. Safe for workplace.

It appears this guy is some dude named Jake Byrd- this is freaking hilarious. He even gets behind wunderkind Bill Hemmer. “Thank you Joe Pesci”. Freaking hilarious. Ten bucks says if this press conference took place at the University of Florida, this dude would have been tasered.

On this fine Thursday night, Red Renee asks the following question: “What the $%& is going on with Notre Dame?”

Rather than just poke fun at the obvious, like the fact that their offense is statistically ranked last in D-I and their defense is only a little better, or that over three games, they’ve averaged -4.7 yards rushing, instead I’m going to choose to be more constructive. I’m going to focus on what I believe to be a root cause of some of the problems Notre Dame is having- talent. That’s right- talent.

If you look across the country at most of the successful programs in the country, Freshmen and Sophomores are making solid contributions early and often. One of the rubs on Tyrone Willingham was that he wasn’t bringing in highly ranked recruiting classes. Not so with Chuck Weis, having the #8 recruiting classes each of the last two years according to Rivals.com.

If the cupboard was so bare when Chuck took over, you’d expect to see the two-deep today littered with young players that would be able to quickly come in and make an impact. In fact, that was probably one of the biggest selling points Weis made to the recruits when they came to visit: “Come play for us and you’ll be starting on NBC in no time”.

Take a look at the starting lineup and it’s a very, very different story. Of the 22 starters for Notre Dame, only 4 come from those heralded recruiting classes- OL Sam Young, CB Darrin Walls, OL Daniel Wenger, and of course QB Jimmie Clausen.

If you expand out to the two-deep, it’s not much better. Of the 44 in the two deep, only 7 more players from those two classes show up- OL Matt Romine, DE Kerry Neal, RB James Aldridge, DB Raeshon McNeil, OL Matt Karufel, OL Eric Olsen, WR D.J. Hord. Out of all of those players, here’s the production they’re delivering- Darrin Walls- one interception, James Aldridge- 17 carries for 67 yards, D.J. Hord- 1 catch, 5 yards. That’s it. 1 interception and 72 yards. Absolutely disgraceful.

That’s a total of 11 players out of 44 from some of the best high school players in the country. Putting it another way, 25% of the two-deep is made up of elite recruits from the last two years, and the other 75% is made up of something else. Still another way- there are fourteen 4-star players riding the bench at 3rd string or lower making no contribution, or transferring in the case of 4-star Quarterback and Rivals Top 100 #54 Demetrius Jones. Aside from Jones, there are five players riding the bench that were Rivals Top 100 players coming out of high school- WR Duval Kamara (Rivals #34), RB Armando Allen (Rivals #52), TE Konrad Keuland (Rivals #81), TE Mike Ragone (Rivals #83), and DB Gary Gray (Rivals #78).

At most schools with depth at various positions, it’s often said that 2nd string running back Billy Bob JoJo would “start anywhere else”. Well, we’ve seen the starters at Notre Dame and they’re terrible, so why aren’t the aforementioned highly rated recruits contributing? Again I ask, What the $%& is going on with Notre Dame? I’m afraid for Notre Dame fans, the answer isn’t quite that simple. The answer I believe is two-fold: player assessment and player development.

First, assessment: For Weis to field that pathetic excuse for a football team after spring camp and after fall camp has to mean that he and the coaching staff simply can’t assess the talent they have and put them in the right places to succeed (dare I say the “S” word- scheme). USC, LSU, Florida, Texas, Penn State etc. have all translated top ten recruiting classes into on-the-field results. Weis’ comments this week that they’re going back to camp to re-assess is completely asinine. Why does it take a lopsided 0-3 record to get him to this revelation? What the hell is going on at practice in South Bend?

Second, development. One could also argue that Weis and the rest of the coaching staff simply aren’t developing that talent, and that’s why the players are not cracking the two-deep. This one’s a little more complicated since you’d need to be at practice to know for sure. But the statistics provide some indication that there may be a teaching problem on top of everything else.

Either way, I’m convinced there are some serious problems under the surface that better get fixed before Weis gets Willinghamed. And sorry Notre Dame fans, this isn’t something Chuck can just wave his magic wand at, this is going to take some time and probably deliver one of the worst seasons for any major program in a long, long time.

You’re welcome.