Trent's Touchdown - Week 4

Welcome to Week 4 of the college football season, or as I like to call it, the “Thinning of the Herd” week. For some reason, ABC didn’t want to use that title. Anyway, we will finally get rid of some of the hangers on and also-rans this week. Anyone else notice how the ACC is surprisingly absent and the Big East has one mention? More on that later, let’s get to the Touchdown:

1) No. 24 Oregon State at No. 3 Boise State – 8:00 on ABC

This may be the number 1 game on the Touchdown, but I’m dreading this one. Not because I actually have a rooting interest, but because Boise State fans are lining up to point to this game and say “see, BSU doesn’t have an easy schedule, it’s the Beavers!!!”

If you don’t know about Boise State yet, well, then you don’t know anything about college football. They have an extremely pass happy offense led by Kellen Moore. The thing I like about Moore is that he’s willing to throw to anyone. He also has a fairly competent running attack, which means defenses can’t just defend against the pass.

On the Oregon State side, they are going to run the ball with Jacquizz Rodgers until he passes out, and even then they will probably try and hand off to him. The problem OSU faces it that their young QB is still getting used to the offense and he is facing a very good defense. This does not signal good times.

Oregon State has a horrid defense, giving up way to many yards to a lackluster Louisville team last week. OSU needs to hope that Moore and the rest of the offense get taken out by some bad clams the night before the game to pull this one off. BSU rolls and I develop an eye twitch anytime someone gives me crap about ragging on the Broncos creampuff schedule.

2) No. 1 Alabama at No. 10 Arkansas – 3:30 on CBS

I can’t be the only one that thinks the Arkansas being ranked number 10 is more a result of the fact that there is nowhere else to really put them than the fact that they are that good, right? Right?

Alabama is….well, they’re Alabama. They are loaded on both sides of the ball. Greg McElroy is a very good QB who can spread the ball around and make smart throws. Mark Ingram is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and the best RB in the country. In my opinion, they have the best defense in the country. They are a juggernaut right now and only the most balanced team can keep it close with them.

Arkansas, on the other hand, will pass and pass and pass until the cows come home. Of course, if my QB was Ryan Mallett, I would do the same thing. They are a sound defensive team that can run with a good bulk of the SEC teams. On paper, this seems like it would be a fun matchup to watch.

Even last week, I would have picked this game to be close. Then, I watched the Arkansas/Georgia game. That was a stinker. Georgia shouldn’t have even been in that game, yet they came very close to winning it. Arkansas is just not that good of a team.

Tide rolls, big. If you happen to live in a state in which gambling on sporting events is legal, take Alabama and the points and laugh all the way to the bank. Its games like this that make me wish I was still a degenerate gambler.

3) No. 12 South Carolina at No. 17 Auburn – 7:45 on ESPN

These are two teams where I find it hard to believe that they are ranked so high, but I just can’t muster up the vitriol to argue about it. The sad thing is that South Carolina will probably end up winning the SEC East.

Auburn is in a sticky situation right now. They may have been flying under the radar before, but last weeks game against Clemson showed everyone that they are a very beatable team; they just need a team competent enough to do it. Cam Newton is a good QB, but not as great as everyone wants to believe. He can put up gaudy numbers, but can’t take over a game. Essentially, he’s Tyrod Taylor. The Auburn defense is average, but seems to make stops against Clemson when needed.

South Carolina is a little schizophrenic. They easily outplay Georgia, but let a team like Furman hang around. SC definitely suffers from a little ADD, since the offense really couldn’t get anything going against Furman last week. The SC defense is going to be the key. If they control and contain Newton, it’s going to be a long day for Auburn.

I think Spurrier whips SC into shape, they concentrate on this game and pull out a victory and they climb even higher in the polls, making me once again wonder how they got so high.

4) No. 22 West Virginia at No. 15 LSU – 9:00 on ESPN2

Let me ask Mountaineer fans and Tiger fans a question. Do you feel confident about your teams ability to actually do anything this season? Yeah, I thought not.

I said it in first week and I’ll say it again today, Jordan Jefferson is not viable option at QB if you want a top tier program. Basically, LSU is going to run the ball until WVU stops them. Considering WVU has a good run defense, that might happen sooner than LSU wants. This means that to win Jefferson is going to have to step up and make plays. That’s not a very comfortable role for Jefferson to play.

As for WVU, you would think they have everything in their favor. They have one of the best QB’s in the Big East (that’s not saying much) and one of the more dynamic running backs in the country. They also have a very good defense. However, they got taken to OT by Marshall. Yes, 0-3 Marshall. It’s like WVU doesn’t want to win sometimes.

WVU has a very good chance at winning the Big East, but have you seen the Big East? Winning the Big East is not exactly something to brag about. LSU wins this with defense and makes me hope this is the last week I have to write about a Big East team, unless I’m mocking them.

5) No. 16 Stanford at Notre Dame – 3:30 on NBC

Notre Dame fans must be going crazy. I mean, this year’s ND team is making me have flashbacks to last year’s ND team, with last minute losses. Just once the luck of the Irish needs to pop up, right?

Notre Dame has the same old song and dance. Good QB, good offense, and poor defense. Does ND have issues recruiting defensive stars or does the defensive coaching just suck? Dayne Crist seems to be doing everything to throw that team on his back and get a victory. That ND defense needs to step up though, especially this week against Stanford.

Stanford has one of the more exciting offenses in the country led by one of the more underrated QB’s in the country. Andrew Luck has been forced to become the man this year after Toby Gerhart graduated last year and he has been cruising. Plus, the Stanford defense has been downright nasty, especially against the pass.

Expect a Stanford win, but also expect Notre Dame to keep to keep it close just to terrorize the fan base.

6) No. 8 Oklahoma at Cincinnati – 6:00 on ESPN2

Last year, this game would have been epic, with Tony Pike against a potentially healthy Sam Bradford. Instead, we get Landry Jones against Zach Collaros. Plus, Cincinnati is going nowhere this year. It’s like the college football Gods are laughing at us.

Extra Point:

I’d like to say that the ACC and Big East are having down years, but this has become a recurring theme. I knew the ACC was in trouble when everyone was touting FSU as the team to beat. What has FSU done in the past couple of years but dwell in mediocrity? And don’t even get me started about how Christian Ponder reminds me of Drew Weatherford.

The problem is that the ACC is so pathetic that FSU might actually be the team to beat. Look how Virginia Tech imploded on themselves. I knew Tyrod Taylor wasn’t a good QB, but this is getting ridiculous. I just know that some random team, like North Carolina State, is going to back-door their way into the ACC Championship Game, kind of like how Clemson did last year.

As much as I want to not throw up, I need to bring up the Big East. Last year, the Big East was moderately entertaining, with Cincinnati, Pitt, and WVU all battling it out for the Big East crown. You knew the winner was going to get shellacked in a BCS Bowl Game, but it was fun pretending they had a shot.

This year, WVU will probably limp to the championship with a couple of conference losses and end up 2 touchdown underdogs to someone like Texas. You put a mid-tier major conference team in the Big East, like Michigan or Auburn, and they run the table.

I guess my whole point here is why are we giving teams and the ACC and Big East a free pass when it comes to strength of schedule and strength of conference when everyone, including me, is giving Boise State (and to a lesser extent TCU) a hard time about those things? We should give them all a tough time about strength of conference.

The reason teams in the ACC and the Big East are getting in the rankings is the elitist attitude we all have toward those teams. While teams like Virginia Tech have to prove that they are not that good (thank you James Madison), Boise State has to prove that they are that good. On one hand, we make excuses for teams in the ACC, but on the other hand are quick to dismiss teams like Boise State and TCU. It just doesn’t seem right, but I guess that’s just the nature of the beast.