Trent's Touchdown - Week 5

Another week, another handful of upsets and shake-ups in the polls. If I were a team in the top 10 and facing a marshmallow opponent, I would be very scared (I’m looking at you Cincinnati). While the football fan in me loves this, there are drawbacks, but more on this later. Now, on to the Touchdown.

1) No. 8 Oklahoma at No. 17 Miami – 8:00 on ABC

When the season started, I thought this game might be slightly interesting, with an up and coming Miami team facing a massively overrated Oklahoma team. Of course, all that was before the Sam Bradford injury, Oklahoma’s loss to BYU, and Miami running rough shod over the ACC also-rans before losing to Virginia Tech.

While Oklahoma fans are wetting themselves over blowout wins against powerhouses Tulsa and Idaho State, I don’t think you should start looking forward to the Red River Shootout in two weeks. I’ll say what I said a couple of weeks ago, Miami has the ability to key in on what you do best and eliminate it.

The problem last week is that as much as I don’t like Virginia Tech, they are pretty well balanced offensively and can survive by letting their defense and special teams win games for them. What Miami needs to do is key on Oklahoma’s running game, and put the game in the hands the QB.

The problem OU has is at the QB position. Landry Jones hasn’t really faced any tough competition. I think my old high school team would have put up a better fight than Idaho State. Can the freshman actually put together a good game against a good defense? I say no. After a tough game, Miami pulls it out, but barely.

2) No. 7 USC at No. 24 California – 8:00 on ABC

This is like the scheduling Gods are making up for what looked like a snoozer last week in prime time. Two good games that I have the misfortune of not being able to switch between,

This game really comes down to overcoming a loss. USC did it last week with a moderately impressive bounce back against Washington State. USC coming though against a relatively weak opponent is one thing, but Cal needs to come back from an absolute embarrassment handed to them by a team that pretty much threw in the towel after week 2.

Let’s be frank for a minute. USC is doing anything this year. They might be able to pull out the Pac 10 championship, but they aren’t going to be in the hunt for the National Championship. They need to rely on Joe McKnight and the defense.

For Cal, all you need to do is contain Jahvid Best and you’re all set. Oregon did it and made Cal look like a Pop Warner team. The problem is that USC and Cal will probably be 1-2 in the Pac-10. Pac-10 teams this year either have no talent (Washington St), need a year before they are ready (Washington), or have no discipline (Oregon).

As for this game, USC wins and does it with defense, though everyone will fall all over themselves to tell us how well Matt Barkley did.

3) No. 4 LSU at No. 18 Georgia – 3:30 on CBS

Tell me I’m not the only one who thinks that LSU is only 4th for lack of any other team they could put there. They barely escaped with road wins against Washington and Mississippi State. While I may be Washington water carrier, I know they are a limited team that is in a rebuilding year and Mississippi State is Mississippi State.

Georgia has gotten a bit of an unfair rap, but they tried to slug it out with a Big 12 team. You can’t get into a shootout with a high-flying Big 12 team. You need to let your speedy defense contain the offense while you play your game. I thought everyone learned this after Ole Miss dismantled Texas Tech and Florida beat up on Oklahoma last year.

LSU has been getting lucky on the road against opponents they should beat. While I may not like Georgia all that much, they are too good of a team to let LSU push them around. However, like most SEC match-ups between the middle of the pack teams, this one should be close, but Georgia wins it.

4) No. 22 Michigan at Michigan State – 12:00 on Big Ten Network

Laugh all you want, but Michigan State is 16 points away from being 4-0. While Michigan is 4-0, all their games have been played at home. Add into that the fact that super freshman Tate Forcier is coming off an injury; this could be an interesting game.

Michigan State needs to do the one thing they have failed to do all year, stop the passing game. Even if they do that, then they have to contend with the Michigan running game. While MSU is more than willing to let this dissolve into a shoot-out, they just don’t have the horses to win it by doing that.

MSU has one shot at this. They need to rattle Forcier early and they need to keep the crowd in it. This young Michigan team may get rattled by a hostile crowd and could buckle under the pressure MSU will surely try and put them under. I think Michigan pulls it off, but they probably let MSU hang around longer than they should.

5) No. 9 Ohio State at Indiana – 7:00 on Big Ten Network

I think Indiana is a lot better than people give them credit for, while Ohio State is overrated. Seriously, OSU gets Illinois last week and Terrelle Pryor looks like he would have trouble leading a high school team. Add on to that what Indiana did against Michigan on the road last week.

Indiana could have packed it in at any time and no one would have said a word about it. But they kept in the game and kept battling back and gave a big scare to the Wolverines. Beating OSU is fairly easy. Well, easy to plan, not exactly easy to implement.

Put the game in Pryor’s hands. Make him pass the ball. If Indiana can do that, they will be fine. Offensively, Indiana needs to play their game, take the shots when they come, and don’t do anything stupid. They beat Ohio State in yet another upset.

6) No. 21 Mississippi at Vanderbilt – 7:00 on ESPN U

I love how last week everyone was falling all over themselves praising Ole Miss and this week people are saying they need to look out for Vandy. Oh, the fickle winds of fate. Here’s a tip, if you have a talented team in the hands of Houston Nutt, you’re screwed.

Extra Point:

7) I’m taking the flip side of the coin and say this parity thing in college football is no good. How about we spread the upsets throughout the season instead of bludgeoning us about the head with them early in the season. If I were an Alabama fan, I would be wondering when McElroy’s knee was going to blow out.

The one thing about this parity thing that sucks is that I have to deal with these severely flawed teams moving into the top 5 or top 10. LSU is ranked 4th just because they are lucky enough not to have lost yet. Virginia Tech is ranked 6th and are the highest ranked 1 loss team. Seriously? I need some ACC team to wax VT so I don’t have to actively avoid the Orange Bowl again this year.

I think my main problem is that I have to deal with Oklahoma and Ohio State being back in the mix. I always feel like both teams are extremely overrated and become cannon fodder in the National Championship Game for whatever SEC school decides to win the conference. I just need to hope that Texas dispatches Oklahoma in a few weeks. I also need to stop using the Extra Point to rant against Oklahoma and Ohio State. Even if it is so much fun.