**THE FR COLLEGE FOOTBALL LIVE THREAD Week 2: Believe The Hype**

We have completed a mere one week of play in the college football season and and we've already seen some things that some of us would prefer to unsee. What began with a punch Thursday night on "The Blue" ended on Labor Day evening in Doak Campbell Stadium with a team looking for a punch of a different variety and coming up short. (I'll do my best to console our Seminole fan FRiends later). In between, we had many blowouts, a few good marquee games, and a victory in Big D that could set the tone for the season to come. But if I may indulge you in a brief observation...

...the modern game of football, if nothing else is a game of hype. Of anticipation. Of "let's see what kind of programming we can scrounge up on sports talk radio this week." Maybe you couldn't sleep at all last week because you had a ticket to your home opener or you had a ticket to a game that had been discussed in your town with the amount of concern typically reserved for the health care plans of Kenyan-Indonesians? (Though I've discussed the great game of college football while using a lot less profanity). While the buildup and analysis ad nauseum can cause one to reexamine their priorities in life, it's not by itself a bad thing. Often, you'll hear a sportswriter pontificate about how there's some psychological emptiness in people's lives and that's why we'll jump over the moon in hyperbolic fashion for all the buildup leading to Saturday. (you like that one? I've been working on that all week hoping it would work).

And so it is in this spirit--as well as the spirit of thumbing my nose at elitist pseudointellectual sportswriters--that we should embrace the hype, significant or otherwise, surrounding our games. If nothing else, it can give us pause to realize that nobody says "I want to be Mitch Albom when I grow up." Off of the tangent now, let's get to the games of Week 2.

(for Palmetto) Clemson vs. Georiga Tech (Tonight, 7:30 pm) I'm not sure if this is any consolation, but I do think the Tigers had the most impressive out of conference win out of anyone in the entire ACC last week. There are perhaps other ways of insulting a person's intelligence than to say this is an important game for both teams, even though it's basically true. Tiger RB CJ Spiller is supposed to be "fine" according to head coach Dabo Sweeney, after injuring his foot or hamstring (or "lower body injury" as it would probably be reported in the NHL) against Middle Tennessee State. The Yellow Jackets don't have any significant injuries to report, and really that's what you want after you play Jacksonville State.

Colorado vs. Toledo (Friday, 9:00 pm) I'm not entirely sure how to dig deep through the subterranean depths of the Internet to find out just how the Buffaloes got involved in a game AT Toledo, sort of the same way I'm not entirely sure how you look at a guy like Dennis Kucinich and not say "so there really is life on other planets." (Could you imagine Bill "The Promise Keeper" McCartney taking Darian Hagan, Eric Bienemy, Kordell Stewart, Charles Johnson, and the Buffs of his era on the road to play a MAC school? Yeah, me either.) I'm also not entirely sure what happened to the Buffaloes offense last week against Colorado State, from QB Cody Hawkins, RB Darrell Scott, the offensive line, and probably Ralphie too. Keep in mind that the current CU head coach Dan Hawkins was part of an offensive juggernaut in his tenure at Boise State. Or was he? Many people in my portion of the fruited plain are convinced of the fact that current BSU head coach and Hawkins' offensive coordinator Chris Peterson was the true mad scientist behind Hawkins' success there. A loss to the Rockets and a lot of Boise State supporters will likely have been proven correct.

(for Biggirl and Man50D--and even you Perdogg) North Carolina vs. UConn (High Noon) Last week, the Huskies picked up where Donald Brown left off in the ground attack last year, thanks to 157 rushing yards by sophomore Jordan Todman. While I do suppose Zach Frazer could have done better last week, completing a mere 11 passes and throwing 3 INTs, it was enough for a road victory against Ohio, and at this stage that's better than snitching on your friends to flag@whitehouse.gov. One does have to wonder though: will the Tar Heels end up with fewer turnovers this week than they did last week against The Citadel? And if it feels as though I'm looking at the Heels from a glass half empty perspective, look at it this way: at least this didn't happen to them.

(for GOP_Raider's sister in law) Fresno State vs. Wisconsin (High Noon) This summer, I made an excursion to the heart of Wisconsin Badger country for my brother's wedding. While performing assigned best man duties I was able to do some reconnaissance work on the Big 10 and specifically the mind and psyche of the Wisconsin Badger. The traditional Wisconsin football team looks something like this: solid running game, mammoth offensive line, stingy defense. QB play, not so much. In fact, most folks I talked to about this have said that they've never been satisfied with the QB play in their entire memories of Badger football. This year's team has a QB named Scott Tolzien who played well against a Northern Illinois team that came back on the Badgers after they dominated the Huskies for 3 quarters. They'll face a Fresno State squad (yes, that Fresno State, the Official FR Hometown Team) that had a very aesthetically pleasing 51-0 target practice against UC Davis last week.

Iowa vs. Iowa State (12:05 pm) Here we have this year's battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy, emblematic of football supremacy in the State of Iowa (although after last week, Northern Iowa might have a sidebar of their own in this dispute). I watched large chunks of the Iowa/Northern Iowa game last week and maybe the problems for the Hawkeyes begin in the trenches? They didn't run the ball all that well and QB Ricky Stanzi probably could have used a little more time in the pocket. ISU had a much easier time against their FCS opponent last week, North Dakota State. It does remain to be seen though if this year's contest will be as competitive as last year's 17-5 Hawkeye victory in Iowa City.

Troy vs. Florida (12:21 pm) Once again, we have a game here where we know exactly what we're getting with the defending BCS champions, but we may not be as familiar with the Gators opponent. Hailing from Troy, Alabama, the University of Troy used to be known as Troy State and has a very respectable football tradition from the Trojans days as a I-AA/FCS school. The Trojans have two Division II national titles, three Southland Conference, and two Sun Belt Conference titles in their more recent years. Overseeing much of this is Troy's head coach Larry Blakeney, who has been with the program so long that he tried to recruit Lazarus. (Just kidding, Larry). Anyway, if the prevailing conventional wisdom is indeed correct, the Gators should have no problem here, but it's never been an Urban Meyer personality trait to look past an opponent--at least from my own recollection.

Marshall vs. Virginia Tech (1:30 pm) So what do we make of the Hokies now? Here's what I make of them. Va Tech is arguably the team to beat again in the ACC, with perhaps the primary argument against that coming from Georgia Tech on the 17th of October. If it's indeed any consolation for the Hokie faithful, this year's Alabama team might have the tools and the talent to play for the national title this year (more on the Tide later). Tyrod Taylor will still be able to take to the air and the ground (even though Taylor and Bama's Greg McElroy had roughly the same number or rushing yards last Saturday) and the ACC Title is still a realistic possibility for them. This game will be the first of a three game stretch at home for Va Tech, and that leads me to the Hokies opponent for next week...

Arkansas State vs. Nebraska (2:00 pm) Let me see if I can give an overall assessment of the Huskers at this point. Big Red did average 8.1 yards per carry last week against Florida Atlantic, and there's another chance this week to garner some more impressive numbers on the ground. But let's take a look at the remaining schedule for a second. Sandwiched between visits to Virginia Tech and Missouri is Louisiana-Lafayette, but is it entirely possible that the contest in a few weeks in scenic Columbia, Missouri is more important to the Huskers season than the Virigina Tech game? They also avoid Texas in the regular season and they'll get a currently crestfallen Oklahoma team in Lincoln. So maybe I'm right and there are indeed 10 wins on Nebraska's schedule this season?

Texas vs. Wyoming (3:30 pm) Longhorns, welcome to 7,220 feet! Few things in the college football tapestry are more individual to a given location than a Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming. New Cowboy head coach Dave Christensen looks to notch another victory for the Mountain West against a Big XII opponent, and even though everybody and their mother have UT winning this one, don't take this game for granted. Believe it or not, this is not the first Big XII team to make the trip to the high plains. The Texas Aggies made the trip back in 2001 on a Thursday night and the Pokes were competitive for much of the game, only losing 28-20. By the way, if you ever do make it to "The War" be sure to stop by Taco John's, a great American (and Wyoming) company with quite possibly the finest hangover food in these United States.

Houston vs. Oklahoma State (3:30 pm) During my running commentary on last week's thread, I mentioned that I thought Cowpoke QB Zac Robinson looked "off" last week against Georgia. That aside, are the rest of you as surprised as I that Oklahoma State limited the Dawgs to a grand total of 10 points? Despite all of this, the Cowboys take on a Houston team looking to return to their Southwest Conference glory days. Do you remember the UH teams of yesteryear, in the days of Jack Pardee, Andre Ware, and David Klingler where they often would outscore their basketball team? (I think they ran the run n' shoot in those days). In a three year stretch, the Cougars scored over 80 points not just once, but three times, including dropping 95 points against Southern Methodist in Andre Ware's 1989 Heisman season. But by 1993, the Cougars would win only one game and tie another, so I guess you have to enjoy the show while it lasts.

TCU vs. Virginia (3:30 pm) Not wanting to be outdone by byU's performance against Oklahoma, the Horned Frogs just might have a case of their own in terms of winning the Mountain West and possibly getting into a BCS game themselves. The Frogs bring back a very good signal caller (Andy Dalton), a defensive end that might get to play this game for a living (Jerry Hughes), and possibly the two best corners in the entire conference (Nick Sanders and Rafael Priest). The Cavaliers, on the other hand...well, this certainly isn't the worst loss I've seen a team suffer, but to be magnanimous, I'll let you all read this and decide for yourselves how bad it was.

byU vs. Tulane (3:30 pm) Perhaps the operative question this entire week has been, "are the Sooners that bad sans Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham or are the Cougs really this good?" I'll address the Sooners in a moment, but this is the first significant out of conference win for the Cougars in a while (I would probably say their most impressive one before this was their win against Texas A&M to open the 1996 season). This is also the best I've seen them play on the defensive side of the ball in a very long time--you have to remember that byU has never had much of a reputation for stingy defense. The remaining schedule sets up favorably for them, as Florida State, TCU, and UTAH all come to Provo this year. I have seen from some that this is a team that can get to the BCS Championship Game and that might be looking at the world through blue-tinted glasses at this point.

Notre Dame vs. Michigan (3:30 pm) In this one, we have the matchup of two teams that are on their way back to the national spotlight---at least both of them like to think so. Shining for both the Irish and Wolverines last week were their starting QBs, Jimmy Clausen and Tate Forcier. Clausen carved up a porous Nevada pass defense and helped lead them to a shutout against the Wolf Pack. The young whippersnapper Forcier (he's younger than I am, I can say that), while didn't have as outstanding of a day stats wise, still threw for three scores and had no problem against Western Michigan. So what better way for two teams looking to climb back to prominence, or if all else fails respectability, than for both of them to play each other?

Eastern Washington vs. Cal (5:30 pm) Is Cal's wunderkind RB Jahvid Best the best running back in the country right now? From my own vantage point as an amateur college football analyst, it's tough to argue to the contrary--although I do love all your opposing arguments, it's a perk of doing these threads. The Bears put on a clinic last week against Maryland and unless Eastern Washington gets a wild hair of some kind, this should be a good day for the folks up on Tightwad Hill. While I'm on the subject of Cal, let me get something off my chest...

...I lived in the Bay Area as a kid, and I never got into either Cal or Stanford football. But especially Cal, and it's for two reasons: 1) it's frickin' Berkeley, come on, and 2) the end of the Big Game, ca. 1982. It's not that I had any affection for Stanford losing that game, or that I felt sorry for a wayward trombone player getting stomped in the endzone (because I really didn't). It's the radio call of that game by Cal play by play man Joe Starkey. It's as though he's got his hands on a Ouija board and finds out he's going to hit the Powerball jackpot. I understand the enthusiasm and the insanity of the moment, but the whole "oh the band is out on the field I'M GOING DOWN IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL HISTORY AS A MAN WHO SCREAMED LIKE A 5 YEAR OLD GIRL AT TOYS R US DURING THE GREATEST PLAY IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME!!!! AHHHHHH!" thing with that play ruins it for me. It also doesn't help that Starkey is also the radio voice of the San Francisco 49ers, an organization I despise with every single fiber of my diminutive being, so maybe that's part of it too. Okay, now I feel better. Thank you.

(for Bat_Chemist) Jacksonville State vs. Florida State (6:00 pm) Say what you will about Bobby Bowden, and a lot of you have, but I do feel sorry for the guy after Monday night. It would be one thing if all of the close losses to a single opponent were to, say, North Carolina State. But the fact that it was to the Hurricanes yet again has to cause Bowden to lose a few hours of sleep here and there. This week Jacksonville State rolls into Doak Campbell Stadium and this will be their second consecutive road game against an ACC opponent. It could be though that the ACC is auditioning teams to replace Duke in football and that's why Jacksonville State is playing two straight ACC road games.

Idaho State vs. Oklahoma (7:00 pm) ESPN college football analyst Jesse "The Bachelor" Palmer mentioned earlier this week that the Sooners have a chance to run the table from this point forward and play for the BCS National Title in January. That's all well and good, but if you're at all associated with OU football, isn't playing for a national title the furthest thing from your mind at this stage? Look, the problems the Sooners had last week are well documented by now, so there's no real need to rehash them here. But I do want to have a bit of a dialogue with the Sooners on the list and I suppose that the comeback trail for the Sooners after this defeat should be done in steps, so let's start with that. Without Bradford (and with the offensive line the way it is), can OU beat Texas? Can they still win the Big XII South (yes, it's mathematically possible, as conference play hasn't begun yet)? Hell, can they even beat Oklahoma State?

Florida International vs. Alabama (7:00 pm) Perhaps I'm mistaken or I have a fingerprint on one of my contact lenses, but did the Tide really outgain Virginia Tech 498 to 155? Contributing to all of this offense was Mark Ingram who ran for 150 yards and a TD--in fact if you were one of the ones who responded to my question "is Jahvid Best the best RB in the country right now?" with "no, goober, Mark Ingram is the best" I would have accepted that answer. But all of you who follow my commentary here can put me among those that say that the Tide has as much of a chance as anyone to play for the title at the end of the year.

Vanderbilt vs. LSU (7:00 pm) One could argue for or against sheer embarrassment being a great motivator for a college football player, but either way, the Bayou Bengals don't have to worry about being the "team that lost to Washington" (that just might fall upon the shoulders of the University of Idaho). Tiger wideout Terrance Toliver turned in a solid performance in Seattle last week, and while it might remain to be seen if LSU has their QB in Jordan Jefferson, they'll face the reigning Music City Bowl champion Commodores and their head coach Bobby Johnson, who I still believe is a dead ringer for Martin Landau.

South Carolina vs. Georgia (7:00 pm) After the Bulldogs notched the opening score of their game against Oklahoma State, my initial reaction was "wow, we might have another contender here in the SEC!" It wasn't until things started to settle in that the Dawgs might have missed the services of Matthew Stafford and Knowshown Moreno. Despite coming up short against the Cowboys, the Dawgs welcome a team in South Carolina that came up with a big 7th inning rally last week to beat NC State 7-3. Incidentally, they also welcome a Carolina team that has even worse issues on the offensive side of the ball.

(for our FR TTU Contingent) Rice vs. Texas Tech (7:00 pm) While doing my reading an compiling all of my data for the thread this week, I had to find something out. I went on a quest to find out if the Owls still use that absolute pain to defend wishbone attack that upended my Utes on occasion in the days of the 16 team WAC on HGH back in the 90s. See, the option is a great offense, unless they're running it against your team and then you want to take up a vice of some kind. But since that's not how the Rice Owls roll anymore, and that Rice lost badly to UAB to open up the year, this should be another golden opportunity to break in Taylor Potts some more before next week's game (and you know who that opponent is, don't you?)

Kansas vs. UTEP (7:30 pm) Not everything in life makes sense, and certainly not everything in college football makes sense. For example, Kansas is ranked right now. We here at GOP_Raider love a good story, and the Jayhawks have been a good story over the past few years. But it still begs the question: "if you had a vote in one of the polls, would have KU ranked?" That having been said, I would say that this year's Jayhawk squad will end up going to a bowl game again, as they might not have a difficult match up until Oklahoma comes to Lawrence next month.

Miami (OH) vs. Boise State (8:00 pm) Let's be honest here. Aside from what happened at the end of last week's game, did the final score of 19-8 catch you a little off guard? Well you heard it from me right here on this thread that the Broncos true strength with their team this year might be on the defensive side of the ball. Put it this way: if you limit a high powered attack like Oregon's to a handful of first downs (none in the first half) and a grand total of 8 points, you're pretty good. Needless to say, after the Redhawks' abysmal performance last week against Kentucky, nobody is exactly going to get them confused with the Indianapolis Colts.

(for sean327) Tulsa vs. New Mexico (8:00 pm) I'm not sure how else to sugarcoat giving up over 600 yards to a team that I wasn't sure even had 600 yards worth of offensive firepower, but here we are. Moreover, I also didn't think I would envision the same program that gave us DonTrelle Moore struggle to run the football and an offensive line, normally a Lobo strength, play as bad as they did last week. And if you're going to look at the bright side of things, this week's game is still a winnable one, as at least the Golden Hurricane may not be scoring points in bunches like they have the past few seasons.

(for kevkrom) Purdue vs. Oregon (10:15 pm) I did want to formally apologize to kevkrom for not including the Boilermakers in last week's featured matchups, and if you didn't get a chance to see the Purdue opener against Toledo, you missed quite an offensive performance. (although I'm not sure that Toledo's "we're going to have Aaron Opelt keep throwing until his arm falls off" strategery was such a good idea). The Ducks at this point are looking to save some face and not have star running backs punching people in the face. But if week 1 is any indication of either squad, can the Boilermakers keep up this kind of offensive production? Is Oregon as lackluster of a team as they looked a week ago today?

UTAH vs. San Jose State (10:30 pm) Last week I said that there was a possibility that true freshman Jordan Wynn could get the start against Utah State. Well, he didn't. Instead, junior Terrence Cain got starting duties and had his moments. I don't think Cain has the arm his predecesor, Brian Johnson, had but RB Matt Asiata turned in the kind of performance expected out of a senior and the Utes were able to fend off a very game Utah State team (I was in attendance for last week's tilt against USU and thats probably the best I've seen the Aggies play against the Utes in well over a decade). This week, the nation's longest winning streak rolls into Spartan Stadium in a MWC/WAC showdown. The Spartans are coming off a game in Los Angeles last week against USC where they struggled to get anything going offensively.

USC vs. Ohio State (8:00 pm) The Trojans have done a lot of things in the history of their storied football program. One thing they haven't done until now is start a true freshman at the QB position. Which got me to thinking: if you're a quarterback still in high school and a guy like Pete Carroll tells you something like "kid, you've got a chance to start right away for us", does that render all offers from other schools moot? Aside from that, the second game of your career sends you and your Men of Troy to the Horseshoe, and if I have to say this again, I will. Never underestimate the competitive fire of the men who play for the service academies. Now that I've said that, not a lot of folks outside of the Buckeye State are giving the Bucks much of a shot in this one, and given OSU's track record in nonconference games such as this, that's perhaps understandable. But...can the Buckeyes take advantage of the inexperience of SC at QB or is now the time where pundits professional and amateur start to formally discuss the Trojans chances for a national title?

There you have it. Enjoy your games this week no matter where they happen to be. Please read message #1 for a special message.

You are right. Tate’s Forcier’s stats weren’t that spectacular for a true freshman starting his first game in front of 109,000 people. He was only 13 for 20 (65%) for 179 yards and 3 throwing TDS with NO INT. Very disappointing for a kid who played his first college game on national TV. Jimmah Clausen was 4 for 6 for 34 yards, NO TD, 1 INT against GA Tech his first game. In fact, Jimmy didn’t throw his first TD until the 5th game against Turdue. And it wouldn’t be until the 10th game against Navy as to when he threw for 3 TDs. Btw, like Clausen as a Freshman, Tate doesn’t have a whole lot of experienced guys around him.

ANd hopefully ND will finally get back to what they once were in the early 90’s. It’s been a long drought. Michigan on the other hand, should be back by next year. Luck of the Irish, right?

" But I do want to have a bit of a dialogue with the Sooners on the list and I suppose that the comeback trail for the Sooners after this defeat should be done in steps, so let's start with that. Without Bradford (and with the offensive line the way it is), can OU beat Texas? Can they still win the Big XII South (yes, it's mathematically possible, as conference play hasn't begun yet)? Hell, can they even beat Oklahoma State? "

You don't mind axing some tough questions first thing in the morning, do you? :)

Media reports have Bradford back in about 3 weeks, in time for Miami and then Texas. Sam's been in contact with Eli Manning, who had the same injury last year and came back in 3-4 weeks to still have a decent season...

Sam's injury is the one that's gotten all the attention, but the injury bug has been around on both sides of the ball. Our All-American tight end has had knee surgery and is out for the season. We wish him well in the NFL after he recovers. His backup has a broken hand so he won't be catching any passes any time soon.

Add to that, certain other issues involving our offense. The "check with me" play calling, which some of us refer to as the "meerkat" offense, (Get it? Wildcat / meerkat?) has gotten us in trouble in two straight games now. Last season against Florida in the MNC game, I believe it cost us the game in a goal-line situation. The exact same thing happened again last week. We got the ball 1st and goal at about the 5 and couldn't score. We kept looking back at the sideline for signals and giving the defense time to get set, and actually drawing a delay of game penalty because of poor clock management. Other aspects of our offense people no doubt find rather predictable. Suffice it to say that people aren't happy about it... The worst thing that's been said is to compare our offense to another conference that's known for bland, unimaginative, predictable offense.

Defense, not so bad. We gave up some big plays that I'd rather have not seen, but only 14 points, with BYU having the ball for 37 minutes. Not a bad performance against a very good, obviously underrated football team.

Changes to look for? In two weeks we host Tulsa University, who will not be coming to town looking to lose a game. We have a bye the next week, then we go to Miami and then Texas in the Cotton Bowl.

Optimistic Sooner fans are looking for the defense to step up and be the winning side of the equation, and for the offense to play solid football and not lose. Our freshman QB did okay last week in the 2nd half, IMO. The biggest challenge, position-wise, is for our young offensive line to improve in the next 2 games before playing in front of a particularly hostile crowd and then going into conference play.

Our coaches face a few other challenges... among them, I'm not looking forward to playing against Mike Leach's offense at his place in November, y'know what I mean? :)

JMHO.

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