Quick Outs, Week 2

A review of the most memorable moments from the week of college football that just ended.

Summa Cum Laude – Ohio State – The Buckeyes played like champions in Austin Saturday night, and earned the target that they’ll proudly wear for the next four months. Until someone can prove otherwise, Ohio State is a heavy favorite to be in Glendale in January. The other Ohio—Frank Solich’s Bobcats—also deserve a plug for stunning Northern Illinois in DeKalb, 35-23.
2. Ohio State LB James Laurinaitis – Players like Laurinaitis are why the Buckeye staff wasn’t concerned about replacing nine starters this year. He had 13 tackles, two forced fumbles and a pick in an effort that should get him added to the Butkus Award watch list.
3. Boise State RB Ian Johnson – Boise runs the ball? Johnson scorched Oregon State Thursday for 238 yards and five touchdowns on 21 carries.
4. LSU – The Tigers dominated Arizona 45-3 in a game that many experts felt would be a whole lot closer.
5. Troy – There are no moral victories in football, but there’s something to be said for a Trojan team that made Florida State sweat nearly as much as Miami did a week earlier.

Summa Cum Lousy – The ACC– When does Midnight Madness begin this fall? Had Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech not joined a few years ago, we’d be debating whether the ACC, not the Big East, is truly worthy of an automatic BCS bowl bid.
2. Northwestern – The ‘Cats didn’t just lose to I-AA New Hampshire in Evanston Saturday, they had their clocks cleaned 34-17.
3. Oregon State – There’s no shame in losing at Boise State, but for this veteran Beaver team to surrender 42 unanswered points was an abysmal display.
4. Iowa QB Jason Manson – Life without Drew Tate was scary for Hawk fans. Manson was picked off four times, allowing Syracuse to nearly author an upset.
5. Arizona QB Willie Tuitama – Are we watching the dreaded sophomore jinx in action? Tuitama was shaky for the second straight week, and now has just one touchdown to three interceptions through two weeks.

Offensive Coordinator of the Week – Robert Anae, BYU – Facing a must-win situation and coming off a 13-point effort in the desert, BYU exploded on a veteran Tulsa defense for 467 yards and seven touchdowns. The Cougars were almost perfectly balanced, getting 240 yards through the air and 227 yards on the ground.

Defensive Coordinator of the Week – Willie Martinez, Georgia – With all due respect to Ohio State’s Jim Heacock, whose defense was terrific, Steve Spurrier gets shut out once every two decades or so. The Dawgs pulled it off at South Carolina on a night when it was obvious the offense needed the assistance.

Think of all the near-miss upsets that, coupled with No. 1 playing No. 2 in primetime, could have made this past weekend one of the most memorable in recent history. Florida State needed to rally late in the fourth to beat Troy, a four-touchdown underdog. Air Force was a stuffed two-point conversion away from shocking No. 11 Tennessee in Knoxville. Texas Tech needed overtime to beat UTEP. Ditto Iowa at the Carrier Dome. Alabama labored to hold off Vanderbilt, 13-10, and Florida International and UNLV nearly had program propelling wins over South Florida and Iowa State, respectively. You can’t take anything for granted these days because parity is a dish best served on Saturdays.

The Ridiculously Obvious Observation of the Week: Ohio State is good. Real good. A trip to Iowa and a visit to Michigan won’t be easy, but it’s going to take a Herculean effort to keep these Buckeyes out of Glendale after they shackled Texas 24-7 in Austin. It took all of one game for the revamped defense to gel, and the unit figures to get even better as the weeks pass. A star was born Saturday night in LB James Laurinaitis, who made several huge defensive stops, forced two fumbles and played as if he was channeling A.J. Hawk.

If the ACC was a stock, it might already be too late to dump this dog. The word on the street is that the conference we were all hailing as the next best thing since female cheerleaders has been vastly overrated. From top to bottom, it’s a league of underachievers that’s just 6-5 against non-league I-A opponents, including narrow escapes by Florida State over Troy, Virginia over Wyoming, Boston College over Central Michigan and Maryland over Middle Tennessee State. Complete teams? There are none, but there is a growing list of programs, such as NC State, Virginia and Maryland, that once were going to elevate the league, but now are weighing it down. Maybe the ACC is still just a basketball conference after all.

While the broad brush is out, the Big Ten was pretty miserable this weekend, as well. Ohio State aside, of course. Check out this body count. Penn State got walloped by Notre Dame. Iowa, Purdue and Indiana got pushed to the limits by Syracuse, Miami (OH) and Ball State, respectively. Minnesota got bounced by Cal. Illinois was shut out at Rutgers, and Northwestern got doubled up by I-AA New Hampshire.

Anyone agree that LSU is emerging as a serious darkhorse candidate for a national championship? The Tigers were flawless against a pretty athletic Arizona team, and have now gone 14 straight quarters without allowing a touchdown. JaMarcus Russell looks poised for a huge junior season and sophomore LB Darry Beckwith is a seek and destroy beast for the defense. Auburn awaits in one of two seismic SEC tilts this weekend.

Start getting used to hearing Boise State and the BCS mentioned in the same sentence. Chris Peterson’s first squad might be the most complete Bronco team ever, one that can run the ball and play sound defense to go along with the passing game. After blowing up Oregon State Thursday night, Boise State should be favored to win its final 10 games, and throw its hat in the ring for a spot in the BCS’ fifth bowl game.

You may have been hoping for it, but you didn’t really think the Notre Dame would be down for long, did you? At Penn State’s expense, the Irish got back to its 2005 form in a hurry, and now are two wins against Michigan—the Wolverines and Spartans—from reaching Los Angeles 11-0 on Nov. 25.

Saturday Night Football? A brilliant idea from the folks at ABC, who gave us Monday Night Football more than three decades ago.

Mental note for next year’s resolutions: Stop doubting Mark Richt. No matter how dire the circumstances or daunting the task, Richt finds a way to get Georgia over the hump. The Dawgs looked ripe for the picking at South Carolina, and lost their starting quarterback in the first half, yet muzzled the Williams-Brice crowd with an 18-0 win.

How long before Colorado’s Dan Hawkins installs blue turf at Folsom Field? Actually, Hawkins and the 0-2 Buffs will be fine in the future, but they’ll have plenty of growing pains in 2006 as the program adjusts to a new offense and personnel that’s not yet an ideal fit for the “just score” offense.

There are hangovers, and then there’s almost losing to Troy…at home. Florida State would get a pass for slogging through the first half of its game with the Trojans after beating Miami just five days earlier, but trailing late in the fourth and generating just 60 yards on the ground is inexcusable. Here’s a novel suggestion for the ‘Noles and the ‘Canes, for that matter—when recruiting this year, spend a little less time fixated on flashy skill position players and more time building the offensive line. Both programs have stunk at pass protection and run blocking the past couple of years, and need to seriously rethink their recruiting priorities.

Thanks to four touchdown passes from Nate Longshore and a big day on the ground from Marshawn Lynch, Cal got a much-needed and impressive 42-17 win over Minnesota. The Bears completely dominated the Gophers in all facets, and now can get back to the business of proving that they aren’t as bad as they looked last week in Knoxville.

There’ll be plenty of banner days in the future for SEC true freshmen, Matthew Stafford of Georgia and Mitch Mustain of Arkansas, but neither looked particularly sharp in the first significant action of their college careers. Stafford was picked off three times after Joe Tereshinski got hurt, and Mustain clicked on just 9-of-17 passes for 123 yards. There are sound reasons why head coaches prefer redshirting at the quarterback position.

It’s a testament to the quality and the quantity of talent that Bobby Petrino has been able to attract to Louisville that the Cardinals can roll out Kolby Smith, George Stripling, Sergio Spencer and Anthony Allen as backfield replacements for injured Michael Bush. Yeah, yeah, the opponent was Temple, but the Card quartet averaged more than eight yards a carry Saturday, and at least two of those kids could start for more than half the country’s I-A programs.

Wouldn’t it be a hoot if Missouri won the Big 12 North the year after Brad Smith, one of the school’s greatest players, left the program? As good as they are, sometimes athletes like Smith or Michael Vick are so dynamic, they make teammates expect them to carry the load and deliver the magic. Sort of like how you’d never clean up your room back in the day because you knew mom would always swoop in and eventually get the job done. Chase Daniel has been terrific running the spread, but because he’s not Brad Smith, all of the Tigers are chipping in, including the defense, which has allowed only two touchdowns through two games, and held Ole Miss to just 142 yards Saturday.

You don’t get better defensively by losing Chad Greenway and Abdul Hodge, however, their departures to the NFL have opened the door for Iowa junior Mike Klinkenborg to emerge as the next big thing in Hawkeye linebackers. Klinkenborg already has 23 tackles, and has established himself as a force of the retooled back seven.

A new year, another chance for Boston College’s Tom O’Brien to show the nation he’s one of the most underrated head coaches in college football. The Eagles never have as much raw talent as the ACC’s big boys, but Saturday’s 34-33 overtime thriller over Clemson served notice once again that well-coached, disciplined teams will always be tough outs.

Even in losing to Boston College, Clemson’s Will Proctor showed that the Tiger offense will be in good hands with him at the controls. Proctor was 25-of-40 for 345 yards and two touchdowns, and was poised throughout the thrilling road loss.

For the second straight week, Oklahoma’s vaunted defense has looked pedestrian, particularly against the run. The Sooners allowed 207 yards on the ground to Washington Saturday, and had trouble controlling the line of scrimmage. Next up is a trip to Eugene to visit high-powered Oregon. Gulp.

Considering how badly Tennessee struggled to stop Air Force’s option attack, you think Florida’s Tim Tebow will play a more integral role in this week’s game with the Volunteers? Chris Leak’s still the man behind center, but the true freshman with the better wheels gives Urban Meyer another, er, option for John Chavis to worry about. Tebow led Florida in rushing Saturday’s 42-0 whitewash of UCF.

Michigan DE LaMarr Woodley already has four sacks, and is playing as if he’ll finish his Wolverine career on a number of All-America squads. Woodley’s getting help at the opposite end from fellow senior Rondell Biggs, who was not nearly as heralded coming out of high school and was injured in 2005, but has three sacks of his own.

The Rutgers program officially turned the corner with its 33-0 annihilation of Illinois Saturday afternoon. It’s not like the Illini will be confused with the Buckeyes, however, this is Rutgers, a long-suffering doormat that never used to beat Big Ten opponents, let alone dominate them in a one-sided contest. With wins over North Carolina and Illinois in the vault, and games against Ohio and Howard upcoming, the Knights should get to 4-0 to start a season for the first time in a quarter century. The only downside to success is whether the program can retain Greg Schiano if a top-shelf school, such as, say, Miami comes calling at the end of the year.

Getsy sounds like gutsy, which describes Akron head coach J.D. Brookhart’s decision to play for the win, and not the chip shot, game-tying field goal, on the game’s final play. The Zips’ 20-17 win over North Carolina State wasn’t nearly as big an upset as the linesmakers would have you think.

Like the hook shot in basketball, the stiff arm is an offensive weapon that’s way underutilized in football.

While Sean Glennon adjusts to his new role as the Hokies’ starting quarterback, Virginia Tech has found its offensive workhorse for 2006. RB Branden Ore is all the way back from off-season shoulder surgery, and has been quietly effective in the first two games. The sophomore runs with excellent patience, allowing blocks to develop in front of him, and is very comfortable making plays as a receiver out of the backfield.

Seven plays inside the two-yard line. Seven runs. Not one cracked the goal line. When you’re Syracuse, 1-12 in its last 13 games, and you’ve got a shot to upset Iowa in overtime, don’t you dig a little deeper into the playbook after the first six dives into the Hawkeye line failed? On a day when the program had a chance to finally cop a notable win, the offensive playcalling was a microcosm why the Orange are one of the worst I-A programs in the country.

Stanford lost to San Jose State 35-34 in what is becoming a ritual for the Cardinal—losing to at least one really inferior opponent every year. The Spartans almost upset Washington last week, which makes them, oh, about the ninth best team in the Pac-10 this year. The combination of QB Adam Tafralis and shifty RB Yonus Davis, who torched Stanford for 185 yards, gives San Jose State hope in Dick Tomey’s second season.

Three West Virginia quarterbacks scored touchdowns Saturday, and one of them wasn’t starter Pat White. Quirky stat lines have a way of happening when ranked teams host I-AA opponents, such as Eastern Washington.

New Hampshire WR David Ball, who caught two touchdown passes in the Wildcats’ improbable 34-17 defeat of Northwestern, is closing in on some of Jerry Rice’s I-AA receiving marks and is considered to be a draftable prospect by NFL scouts. Ball is Exhibit A why you give walk-ons a chance in college football.

After two weeks and two overtime games, it’s evident that Buffalo is far more competitive under first-year coach Turner Gill than they ever were with Jim Hofher on the sidelines. Same goes for Rice, which has been respectable against Houston and UCLA in Todd Graham’s first two games, despite not having personnel that matches the changes he’s trying to implement.

E-mail Richard Cirminiello