Musings from the Coast

Here’s the update from this weekend’s college football action.

OSU Opponent Watch

Youngstown State (2-1) – Played Stony Brook at home, won 42-6. Conclusion: Expected Win
Akron (1-2) – Played Indiana on the road, lost 24-41. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Washington (2-1) – See game recap, lost to Ohio State at home, 14-33. Conclusion: Expected Loss
Northwestern (2-1) – Played Duke at home, lost 14-20. Conclusion: Unexpected Loss
Minnesota (1-2) – Played Florida Atlantic on the road, lost 39-42. Conclusion: Unexpected Loss
Purdue (3-0) – Played Central Michigan at home, won 45-22. Conclusion: Expected Win
Kent State (2-1) – Played Delaware State at home, won 38-7. Conclusion: Expected Win
Michigan State (3-0) – Played Pittsburgh at home, won 17-13. Conclusion: Quality Win
Penn State (3-0) – Played Buffalo at home, won 45-24. Conclusion: Expected Win
Wisconsin (3-0) – Played The Citadel at home, won 45-31. Conclusion: More difficult than expected Win.
Illinois (2-1) – Played Syracuse on the road, won 41-20. Conclusion: Expected Win.
Michigan (1-2) – Played Notre Dame at home, won 38-0. Conclusion: Someone had to Win.

Buckeye opponent’s records after the second week, 21-11. Going into Big 10 play next week, the favorites to win the conference are Penn State and Ohio State. Wisconsin is fading with a questionable defense. Michigan State is playing themselves into consideration. Iowa lost to a bad Iowa State team today on a last second field goal… Michigan looked like Michigan should today with a thorough dismantling of Notre Dame. There seems to be some trouble brewing in South Bend….

Quick Hits from Around College Football

Teams that look like MNC contenders from week 3: LSU, Oklahoma, and USC.

The jury is out on these teams who are technically still in the running, but their play to-date leaves room for doubt: Florida, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Rutgers, Oregon, Texas, and Penn State.

These teams stand virtually no chance of contending for the MNC, but still looked good in week three: Cincinnati, Clemson, Kansas, Boston College, Texas Tech, Purdue, Arizona State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Arizona St, and Hawaii.

Game of the week, Mississippi State beat Auburn at home 19-14.

Mismatch of the week, Utah hammered UCLA at home, 44-6.

My Special Top 12 rankings: (Why Top 12? That’s where you need to be to get into BCS contention.)

LSU – The defense is nasty, the offense is better than expected.
USC – A quality win over a good opponent gives them the 2 spot.
Oklahoma – Has looked amazing against less than stellar competition.
Florida – Starting at the 4 spot, the teams have visible warts…Florida has an explosive offense.
California – An explosive offense and had a stinker of a game against Colorado State.
West Virginia – An explosive offense and suspect defense.
Ohio State – A big play defense and suspect offense.
Texas – All the talent in the world, but is not executing well as yet.
Oregon – Will beat Cal or USC this year.
Penn State – A great defense, played only cupcakes so far.
Rutgers – Speaking of cupcakes…wake me when they play someone.
Wisconsin – Two weeks, two stinkers. Giving up 31 points to The Citadel?

My Special Bottom 5 rankings: (Why bottom 5? If you finish there you should be relegated to I-AA)

Notre Dame – “Offensive genius.” Perhaps when they said that they meant “Charlie is a genius at being offensive?”
Syracuse – Is it possible for a team to get worse each year as it rebuilds? Yes.
Marshall – Another IAA victim. Another team getting worse.
Temple – Whenever you lose to Buffalo, you know you have a problem…
UCLA – 44-6 loss to an 0-2 team? The Bruins have played themselves into the 5 spot.

In the coming week I’ll post an Northwestern/OSU preview, a game review of Northwestern/OSU, and a Weekend Update Sports edition.