Who's Hot & Not
- Week 1
Past Hot and Not:
2007 Hot & Not
Who’s
Hot …
Navy RB Shun
White
It's only one game against an FCS team in Towson, but Navy looks
like it'll keep the ground game rolling even with Paul Johnson off to
Georgia Tech. The Midshipmen led the nation with 348 rushing yards per
game last year, and ripped off 558 yards against Towson in the 41-13
win. The star of the show was Shun White, who ran for 348 yards and
three touchdowns on just 19 carries averaging 18.3 yards per carry. Ball
State, who was 106th in the nation in rushing last year, is up next.
East Carolina QB Patrick Pinkney
There were hopes for Pinkney to grow into a leader and a main
playmaker for the East Carolina offense, and he came through big-time in
the season opener against Virginia Tech. In the upset, the senior
completed 19 of 23 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown, and ran 11
times for 24 yards and a score in the upset win. The Pirates play West
Virginia next week.
Buffalo QB Drew
Willy
A Buffalo quarterback is leading the nation in passing efficiency?
Even if it's only after just one game, it's a big moment for UB
football, one of the worst programs in the country for so many years.
Willy, a senior, has a passer rating of 261.02 after completing 10 of 16
passes for 221 yards and four touchdowns in the stunning 42-17 win over
UTEP. The Bulls play Pitt next week.
Nebraska PK
Alex Henery from 44 yards out
The Husker sophomore made good on all four of his field goal
attempts in the 47-24 win over Western Michigan. In the second quarter
from 44 yards ... good. Last in the second quarter from 44 yards ...
good. Midway through the third quarter from 44 yards ... good. 5:22 in
the fourth quarter ... good. Four kicks. 44 yards each. All good.
Supposedly non-passing quarterbacks
Casey Dick was most famous for his 3-for-17, 29-yard performance
against LSU two years ago, and for handing off to Darren McFadden and
Felix Jones. It might have been just one game against Western Illinois,
but Dick took to the new Bobby Petrino offense throwing for 318 yards
and two touchdowns in the 28-24 win. In St. Louis, Illinois was a
decided underdog against a superior Missouri team, and even though the
Illini lost 52-42, it might have been the coming out party for QB Juice
Williams. Without Rashard Mendenhall, this is Williams' team, and he
showed it by completing 26 of 42 passes for 451 yards and five
touchdowns with two interceptions, and only running for 10 yards, in the
impressive performance. Meanwhile, West Virginia's Pat White threw for 208 yards and five touchdowns against Villanova. Illinois plays Eastern Illinois next, Arkansas gets UL Monroe, and West Virginia faces East Carolina.
Who’s
Not …
The ACC
Get ready for everyone to pile on the basketball conference. The biggest
gaffe was Clemson's lifeless loss to Alabama. Basically, the projected
best team in the ACC got wiped up with an SEC team that's expected to
finish in the middle of the pack. Of course, Virginia Tech losing to
East Carolina wasn't a plus, NC State getting shut out by South Carolina
hurt, Virginia getting obliterated at home by USC wasn't fun, and
Maryland and North Carolina struggling to get by Delaware and McNeese
State, respectively, made a bad weekend look worse.
The Big East
Going into Monday night's battle between Rutgers and Fresno State,
the Big East was 4-0 this weekend ... against FCS teams. Oh sure,
Connecticut, Cincinnati, West Virginia and South Florida combined to win
their games against the minor leaguers by a combined score of 179 to 38,
but when the league had to sit at the adult table, it couldn't handle it
going 0-3. Northwestern beat Syracuse, Kentucky beat Louisville, and
worst of all, Bowling Green beat Pitt as the league lost those three by
a combined score of 84 to 29. However, Cincinnati can change the
conference's image in a big hurry by beating Oklahoma next week, or at
least making it interesting, while West Virginia has to blast East
Carolina and South Florida has to beat UCF with ease.
Hawaii vs. the SEC
Hawaii went 12-0 last regular season and was on a run of 22 wins in 23
games. And then came the Sugar Bowl and a 41-10 loss to Georgia. The
Warriors weren't supposed to start out hot going against Florida, and
they didn't in the 56-10 loss. So, in the last two games, Hawaii lost by
a combined score of 97 to 20, and the games weren't even that close.
The NC State passing game
There were some bad numbers and some bad moments over the course of
the first weekend, but few units were as inept as the NC State passing
game against South Carolina in the 34-0 Thursday night loss. Before
getting knocked out with a concussion, Russell Wilson completed just one
of five passes for 12 yards. Daniel Evans completed four of 12 passes
for 37 yards and two interceptions, and Harrison Beck missed all three
of his throws. William & Mary is next.
San Diego State
There were some close calls in FBS vs. FCS games, but they were
mostly the blowouts everyone expected. San Diego State vs. Cal Poly was
the one exception. The Mustangs are have enough talent to be in the
national title hunt, and it showed it by being the one FCS team to beat
a FBS team. Chuck Long goes from being on a hot seat to a double secret
probation hot seat making next week's game at Notre Dame even more
important.
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