College Football Questions and Answers: Week 8

Finally, a weekend where # 1 & # 2 survive to have their character defamed for another week! Here’s everything you need to know and all the questions you need to ask after week 8 of the greatest sport on the planet.

** You can question the quality of the Big Ten this year. You can question the quality of Ohio State’s schedule. No one with a clean conscience can any longer question the quality of the football team that is Ohio State. The Buckeyes completely dominated an outstanding defensive team in Penn State including:
- 453 yards total on offense
- 12-16 on 3rd down conversions
- Oho State didn’t punt the ball once the entire game
- 38 to 22 minute time of possession advantage
The Ohio State offense won the game with surprising balance getting 200 yards rushing and 253 yards passing. Todd Boeckman was surgically precise hitting on 19/26 (73%) passing for 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Ohio State also won the turnover margin (+1) which is what I told you they had to do to win the game.

It wasn’t all roses for the Buckeyes, particularly on the defensive side in stopping the run. Ohio State gave up 139 yards on 23 attempts, many of them coming right up the middle for big gains. Penn State did it with a pair of average running backs and were susceptible several times to draw plays. They’ll need to shore that up for the stretch run if they want to win the National Championship. The Buckeyes also looked incomplete on special teams, with outstanding kicking but little to no return yardage on kickoffs and the touchdown late that they gave to Penn State on a kickoff.

Say what you want about the Big Ten and Ohio State’s non-conference slate, the Buckeyes have now won three night games on the road, and by an average score of 31-12. Ohio State beat Washington on the road at night before it was cool to beat Washington (now everybody’s doing it). Ohio State also took care of a 7-2 Purdue team at night at Purdue. I can’t recall a team playing three night road games in one season, let alone winning all three.

** Oregon may get shut out of the National Championship but they belong if they get there. The Ducks got a landmark victory over a drowning USC team at home. Though they were outgained by the Trojans, Oregon won the turnover margin +1 and held a pretty good rushing offense to 3.1 yards per carry. With good balance on offense and a solid defense, the Ducks would provide a solid test for anyone in the top 10. Unfortunately for them, one loss might keep them out of the NC.

** Arizona State held Cal scoreless in the second half to win 31-20 at home to take a firm grasp on the PAC-10 race. ASU has their biggest test on the schedule next week at Oregon at night. I don’t think they’re going to win that game but they certainly have the rush defense to at least slow down the Ducks. Meanwhile, Cal is reeling losing three in a row and losing offensive identity by the week. Arizona State held Cal running back Justin Forsett to 62 yards on 17 carries and Nate Longshore never seemed to get on track for Cal going 18-36 with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. If you say you have any idea what’s going to happen when Cal plays USC in two weeks, you’re lying. Both these teams are borderline schizophrenic right now.

** If you live in the eastern time zone and didn’t feel like staying up until 3:30 in the morning, you missed Hawaii beating the tar out of another inferior opponent, 4-5 New Mexico State. You might want to get some extra sleep this week so you can stay up for Hawaii vs. Fresno State this Saturday or vs. Boise State in two weeks. If Hawaii wins both of those, then I’ll feel compelled to care about them. Otherwise, not so much.

** West Virginia is the class of the Big East and a legitimate BCS bowl contender. The yardage between WVU and Rutgers was pretty even, with neither team throwing the ball very well and West Virginia getting the rushing edge with 254 yards on 47 carries. The Mountaineers did a serviceable job slowing down Ray Rice, holding him to 142 yards on 30 carries (that’s pretty good considering how good Ray Rice is). The score was not close at 31-3, partly on the backs of two Rutgers turnovers. West Virginia has a pretty good path to a BCS bowl with Louisville, Cincinnati, Uconn, and Pitt left on the schedule, all of which they should be favored in…

** Which brings me to Uconn…The Huskies are a nice story but they’re going to lose against Rutgers this coming weekend and then again at West Virginia at the end of the season. I give them credit for outlasting a good South Florida team this weekend 22-15 with the margin of victory being a pick 6 off SF Quarterback Matt Grothe (one of two interceptions for Grothe). The ride has I’m sure been exhilarating for the Uconn fan base and will no doubt help in recruiting, so all is not lost.

** The SEC is the most difficult conference in college football this year…but let’s not get carried away. The SEC is filled with a lot of good teams and maybe one great team- not a lot of great teams as most people would have you believe. The SEC East is littered with good teams (no great ones) with Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt all capable of beating one another at any given moment. This evidenced by Georgia’s domination of Florida this weekend and an embarrassing loss by Kentucky at the hands of a previously 4-4 Mississippi State team, 31-14. The SEC West is a little clearer with LSU being the only possible great team among the lot and Auburn and Alabama falling under the “good but not great” category. The truth is, the only team in the SEC that is balanced on both sides of the football with no visible weaknesses is LSU; everybody else is beatable. Bottom line: the SEC is not what everyone is making it out to be. LSU is though.

** Newsflash: Mobile Quarterbacks take a beating. Tim Tebow’s shoulder is getting purpler by the week and West Virginia’s Pat White has struggled to stay healthy all season long. Quarterbacks that are dual-threats, while they sell a lot of tickets and create a lot of excitement, carry with them a much higher risk of injury than your standard drop-back passer variety. Is it all worth it? We’ll come back to that at the end of the year and see if Tebow and White finish the season on the field or on the bench (with an ice pack or two).

** Get used to Kansas. They’ve got one road game left (at 5-3 Oklahoma State) plus 4-5 Nebraska, and 1-8 Iowa State before their first and only test of the season at home to a 7-1 Missouri team. Assuming they beat Missouri, they’ll be whisked off to Dallas to get blown out by Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship Game (brought to you by Dr. Pepper). If Missouri beats Kansas then I’m not sure what happens since they’ll both have one conference loss. I’m guessing the tie-breaker is the head-to-head result, or a whittling contest, I’m not exactly current on my Big XII regs. Either way, Oklahoma is headed to the BCS.

** Speaking of Oklahoma, they looked dominating once again this week. What’s that? Oh, I’m being told that they had a bye week this Saturday. No matter, I’m sure they’ll get credit for blowing out some hapless opponent. To paint a picture of how pathetic Oklahoma’s schedule has been this year, their Sagarin strength of schedule rating actually improved two spots with the bye week. So no opponent is actually more compelling competition than who they’ve actually played. And still for some reason, the Oklahoma love fest by the media and studio analysts continues. Lee Corso has the Sooners # 3 on his ballot. Nice.

You’re welcome.