• March 28, 2024

College Football Week Two Review

Fresh off a day of watching no less then the majority of 20 games, we saw a few teams start to separate themselves from the pack, a few contenders become pretenders, and a few teams continue to make us wonder which category they will end up in . Hopefully I can give some clarity on that ahead of schedule. After all, why else would you read my articles? Anyone can play Monday morning quarterback but few can be at the top of their game. I received many calls, texts this week congratulating me on my fast start (Officially 9-1 against Vegas and there are many more selections that do not go published) the problem with giving selections is it’s a no win situation. Win, and you are expected to, loose and oh boy you become public enemy number one. It is very flattering to be noticed for being at the top of your game but I assure you that comes with hours upon hours of watching film, and reading as much as you can from a pure x and o perspective. I made a decision to trust nothing but what I see with my own two eyes.  Enough patting myself on the back lets get on to the five things I noticed and the new top 10.

1)       The Rich get Richer. As I watched the two games that involved first time SEC games my original opinion regarding dilution of some conferences started to change. Regardless of how the 4th quarter went in Georgia Missouri that and Florida Texas A&M contest were two of the most entertaining well played games of the weekend. It was obvious that there is a lot of SEC pride and nobody wants to be the first to loose to a new team. What I came away with is not only do Texas A&M and Missouri belong, it just makes the conference that much better. They will need a year or two to adjust their personnel to better compete but both games were highly competitive in spite of Georgia pulling away in the 4th quarter. I am locked in to my national championship game prediction but man the SEC is a great conference. There was one monumental upset in Arkansas falling. This is where if you look back on previous work I did you start to understand who really knows their stuff. Both AP and ESPN-USA had the Razorbacks near the top. I never mentioned them once. I saw a team that was a little too predictable and knew they wouldn’t be around at years end. I am curious to see how Arkansas reacts to the loss with Alabama coming into town next weekend. I don’t think we will see an upset.

2)       Notre Dame being 2-0 is great for college football—Most people under 35 most likely do not remember Notre Dame being a national powerhouse. Let’s remember just how much this team once meant to the game. They still are the only team in college football who has their own seat at the selection table to decide who plays for the national championship. They have a huge contract with NBC and sent 35,000 people to Dublin to watch the Irish play Navy. It seems for a long time there was no gray area with the Irish. People either loved them or hated them. Then for the past 15 or so years they became irrelevant. I am not saying they are a top 10 team but you have to give them credit they duck no one. Still remaining on their schedule are games with Stanford, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State and Oklahoma. By far the toughest schedule in all of college football outside the SEC ( in which every game is a hard game ) Next week the Irish visit Michigan State. Upset city? You’ll have to wait until Thursday to find out.

3)      Just how good are Oregon and USC  anyway? Tough question or is it? Man both are fast. As I said in my 15 players to watch De’Anthony Thomas may be the quickest  player I have ever watched play football. USC’s Matt Barkley passed for 6 td’s yesterday in a 13 point win over a very game Syracuse. But both have shown to be flawed. Oregon seemed to put it on auto pilot in the second halves of both games this year. I have never been a fan of taking your foot of the gas totally. The first time Oregon is challenged they may have trouble finding that extra burst. I said before yesterday’s game I felt USC was vulnerable at the second corner position. And Syracuse seemed to agree not having a hard time completing pass after pass between the hashes. Things can change week to week but after two weeks of watching closely I do not think either of these teams would be favored against at least two and possibly 4 SEC teams. Throw in Florida State, Oklahoma and Clemson and I think at this point I need to see more out of the top Pac 12 teams.

4)       Man what happened to the Big 10? Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa all upset yesterday and toss in brutal losses by Iowa and Penn State and you have the Big East? You had to expect more from these teams. And with Ohio State ineligible to play post season that leaves Michigan State to carry the torch of an entire conference. Last week Michigan got slapped by Alabama as well. Can anyone say disappointing season and its only week two?

5)       Let’s appreciate the smaller teams with huge performances. The first and obvious UL Monroe and their monumental upset of Arkansas; But there were other solid performances by teams like Louisiana Lafayette, Sacramento State, North Dakota State, Northern Arizona, and Louisiana Tech. So for every beat down like Savannah State there are some small teams with some really good football players. Sometimes the differences in an NFL game are these players that go undiscovered by most. It’s good to recognize them and they play some good football as well.

Let’s get to my top 10 as of September 9, 2012

1)       Alabama: Until someone beats the champs, they are the champs. This weeks huge build up against Arkansas took a left turn with Arkansas losing to UL Monroe. So much that ESPN’s game day cancelled their trip this morning scheduled for this weekend.

2)   LSU: Not sure why people thought Washington would be a test. The Tigers cruised and wont be tested until October 6th when they face the Gators.

3)       Florida State: The Seminoles have looked great playing nobody yet but this team is pretty good. Circle two weeks from now when Clemson comes calling and you have one of the five most anticipated games of the year.

4)   USC: The Trojans still have top 3 talent but I need to see more on the field. Unfortunately for them they cannot accept the National Title that people like me handed them before the season. Stanford comes calling this week I expect them to be tested.

5) Clemson: Ok yes I did it again. I bought into Clemson. I am hoping  Idont eat my words in two weeks but I am calling the upset of Florida State ! The Tigers have looked dominant. Dont know a better 4 some then Boyd, Ellington, Hopkins, Watkins they are loaded.

6)       Georgia: The Bulldogs looked really solid in the second half against Missouri. Toss in a favorable schedule avoiding Bama and LSU till the SEC championship game and this team has a chance.

7)       Oregon: Speed, Speed and more speed the ducks can score with the best of them. If the Sun Devils keep playing well that October 18th match up gets more interesting each week.

8)       Oklahoma: Maybe I am being hard on the Sooners they actually played well yesterday but after that UTEP debacle I’m not sold and over it yet. They can show me a lot by defeating Kansas State this Saturday.

9)       South Carolina: Impressive win over East Carolina yesterday but a brutal schedule will catch up to the Gamecocks. They will be better then their final record indicates. 

10)   West Virginia: James Madison and Maryland the next two weeks wow were the local high schools busy ? But don’t worry Texas is lurking soon enough.

Look for my early Heisman candidates and week three predictions later in the week. Please donate to your local animal shelters and have a great week!

Charles Bowles

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