College Football Questions and Answers: Week 4

What we learned- not much.

*The dude who decides where the players sit on the bench at West Virginia has a sense of humor. Courtesy of Mark O., we present to you DT #92 Johnny Dingle, and DL #93 Scooter Berry. The dynamic duo of…….Dingleberry.

*The wheels are officially off the Louisville Cardinal bandwagon. Louisville’s wet paper bag defense finally caught up with them this Saturday with a 38-35 loss at home to a very bad Syracuse football team. The six point loss at Kentucky the previous week was bad enough but a loss to Syracuse is inexcusable. It wasn’t for a lack of trying on the offensive side of the ball- Brohm and company put up 628 yards in the loss. Ironically, Louisville Defensive Coordinator Mike Cassity is the primary holdover from the Bobby Petrino era. Maybe that was part of Petrino’s plans- subtly undermining current Head Coach Steve Kragthorpe just in case the whole “Atlanta Falcons thing” doesn’t work out. Imagine that.

*Wofford is better than Penn State. It’s the six degrees of Bacon logic that resonates with half-wits like Mark May. Wofford beat Appalachian State this weekend, 42-31. App State beat Michigan and of course, Michigan beat Penn State this weekend. By extension, Wofford is also better than Notre Dame, but we already knew that.

*Tyler Graunke for Heisman. In relief of an injured Colt Brennan, Hawaii backup QB Tyler Graunke went 22/36 for 285 yards in Hawaii’s 66-10 rout of DI-AA Charleston Southern. Sorry Colt Brennan fans, just like Texas Tech, it’s the system and not necessarily the player.

*The Florida Gator defense is young and vulnerable. On the road in Oxford, Mississippi, the Gators D gave up 24 points and 390 yards to a 1-3 team. Coming into the game, the Rebels were averaging 22 points per game and ~360 yards per game. Improving your average against the #3 team in the country is a problem for the #3 team in the country…

*Need to take your anger out on Chuck Weis? Maybe Lloyd Carr? Tom Coughlin got you all worked up? Head over to firethatguy.com and wear your sentiments.

Current standings according to the Harris Poll
1.) USC- Last seen…beating down Washington State 47-14. Next up is a trio of stat-padders: 1-2 Stanford, 1-3 Arizona, and of course 0-4 Notre Dame. Trojan fans should relax and get some surfing in before the game at Oregon on October 27.

2.) LSU- Last seen…running the sweetest fake punt I’ve seen in a long time while beating South Carolina. Of all the things that makes Spurrier grit his teeth, getting housed by a trick play, especially when the Head Coach on the other sideline is a moron, must get him worked up the most. Next up is a scrimmage with 1-2 Tulane before the showdown with the Gators in two weeks.

3.) Oklahoma- Last seen…drilling Tulsa 62-21 on Friday night. Still not sold entirely on the Oklahoma offense considering two of their lopsided wins have come against two teams in the bottom six in the country in total defense (Tulsa- #112, North Texas- #118) and a third against a I-AA opponent. Next up is a scrimmage with 2-2 Colorado before the meeting with Texas in two weeks.

4.) Florida- Last seen…holding on for a six-point win at Mississippi. Giving up 18 points in the 3rd quarter to a below average team isn’t going to get it done in the SEC. Next up is a 2-2 Auburn squad followed by a brutal road stretch of @ LSU, @ Kentucky and @ Georgia. I don’t see them getting through this stretched undefeated. Sorry Gators.

5.) West Virginia- Last seen…stealing 1-3 East Carolina’s lunch money by a score of 48-7. Think you know how good West Virginia is? How could you? West Virginia’s opponents have a combined record of 4-12. Those same opponents are all ranked in the bottom half statistically in both total defense and offense. Sorry Mountaineers, still waaaaaaay too early to declare WVU a Big East title and National Championship contender. Next up is a date this Friday at South Florida which will provide the first real test for Pat White & co.

6.) California- Last seen…nearly doubling up 1-3 Arizona at home. Cal’s been completely untested since their opening win at home against Tennessee. We’ll find out what they’re made of this week at Oregon.

7.) Ohio State- Last seen…victimizing 2-2 Northwestern 58-7. Ohio State could’ve put up 100 against Northwestern, but then again, we are talking about a team that lost to Duke, so…. Next up is a night scrimmage at Minnesota followed by a good test with another night game at Purdue. Ohio State has three night games this year, all on the road.

8.) Texas- Last seen…getting their groove back on against 0-4 Rice, 58-14. Next up is a trap game against 2-1 Kansas State before the showdown with Oklahoma. Texas best not be looking ahead to the Sooners, otherwise they’ll find themselves on the losing end to KSU.

9.) Wisconsin- Last seen…holding on for dear life against a 2-2 Iowa team, 17-13 at home. The last three games don’t paint a pretty picture- a 7 point win over a 2-2 UNLV, a 14 point win over I-AA Citadel, and the ugly win over Iowa. Next up is a date at home with 4-0 Michigan State. This isn’t the crazy man’s Spartan team so I’m picking the Spartans in the upset.

10.) Oregon- Last seen…beating 1-2 Stanford by 24 points. We’ll find out if the Ducks are for real at home this week against #6 California. If the Ducks can pull of the win, they deserve to be vaulted up to at least #5 or #6.

You’re welcome.