College Football Top 25

By Matt Smith

The teams that can actually win a national title have been narrowed down.

1. Ohio State (9-0): The Buckeyes had their biggest challenge of the year and stepped up big time in Happy Valley.

2. Boston College (8-0): The Eagles got past a big hurdle against VT and did so behind the grit of Matt Ryan. They were lucky to survive, but survive they did.

3. Oregon (7-1): The Ducks look good and USC didn’t have a chance. They are one fumble at the goal line away from being the team to beat in college football.

4. LSU (7-1): After a bye week, Saturday’s game with Alabama might be the Tigers last test before the SEC title game.

5. Oklahoma (7-1): The Sooners had a week off to get ready for Texas A&M. If they get past that game, the Big 12 championship game is almost a certainty.

6. West Virginia (7-1): The South Florida game is looking more and more like a hiccup. The Mountaineers are for real.

7. Arizona State (8-0): They made it through one test, now the big one comes against Oregon on Saturday.

8. Michigan (7-2): Despite missing Henne and Hart, the Wolverines didn’t skip a beat in dominating the Golden Gophers.

9. Missouri (7-1): With an end of the season showdown with Kansas looming, the Tigers took care of business against Iowa State.

10. Hawaii (8-0): They are moving up in the rankings by default.

11. Georgia (6-2): The Dawgs showed up on Saturday and showed that they, and the rest of the SEC, are something to be dealt with.

12. Texas (7-2): The Longhorns took Nebraska’s best punch in a big rivalry game and came out on top.

13. Florida (5-3): Even though they have three losses, I still think they are a very good team that nobody would want to play.

14. Kansas (8-0): They stood tall against a tough Aggie defense and the 12th man at College Station. Their defense is very good.

15. Alabama (6-2): They had a week off to get ready for the showdown with LSU.

16. USC (6-2): They gave a very good Oregon team their best shot. The fact is, USC is a good team, just not very good.

17. Virginia Tech (6-2): Had Frank Beamer ran the ball with just over four minutes, VT likely would have been up 13-7 and wouldn’t have left enough time for BC to score a touchdown. They got what they deserved.

18. Kentucky (6-3): The Wildcats learned that in the SEC, you better bring your A game every week.

19. Auburn (6-3): Battling through a tough SEC schedule with a tough win over Ole Miss.

20. Connecticut (7-1): Is there a bigger surprise in College Football? Who knew the UCONN/WV game would be the Big East showdown?

21. Illinois (6-3): Looked sluggish against Ball State, but they should still be a handful for any Big Ten team.

22. Wake Forest (6-2): After a rough start to the season, the Deacons are starting to live up to the pre-season hype.

23. South Florida (6-2): Their true colors are starting to show.

24. Penn State (6-3): They are still a good team, but as we saw with them getting blown out by Ohio State, they are not an elite team.

25. Cal (5-3): Three straight losses have turned a season of promise into one of desperation.

Records Beware: A glance at NCAA football marks

By Matt Smith

It is said that records are made to be broken, and in College Football that seems to be at least partially true. Taking a glance through some of the major records, there are some that seem destined to fall and some others that aren't going anywhere, anytime soon. Here’s a look at a few of the key records.

Wins
Now I know this isn’t quite the same as an individual record, because it is a record that is broken each time the team with the most victories wins a game. But I still feel it is worth looking at, because of the discrepancy between the team with the most wins, and the team with the second most wins. Here is the top ten heading into this Saturday.

Michigan 866
Notre Dame 822
Texas 816
Nebraska 807
Ohio State 794
Alabama 786
Penn State 786
Oklahoma 775
Tennessee 765
USC 749

Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Syracuse, West Virginia, Colorado, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Washington, Miami (OH), Pittsburgh, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Army and Minnesota round out the top 25 winningest schools.

The reason this is worth looking at, is because it is doubtful that we will see another team lead Major College Football in wins during the lifetime of people in my age bracket. For Notre Dame to catch Michigan, they would have to average two wins more a year for 22 years. The gap is only getting wider this year and in fact, Texas might catch ND for second plate. Texas would have to average more than two wins a year better than Michigan for 25 years and we know that Michigan is going to win at least eight games a season, probably nine or ten.
Another bridge we may never see gapped while we are alive is seeing a new team move into the top ten. The distance between USC and Georgia is 42 wins, and USC is probably going to win 10-12 games a season for at least the immediate future.
The chase I am going to be keeping my eyes on is for that No. 25 spot where the Golden Gophers are doing everything they can to hold off (more like give it up to) North Carolina. With Minnesota tallying one win this year and UNC with two, the Heels are one win away from tying for that illustrious spot in the all-time top 25.
In case any Cal fans are wondering, Cal is 31sth with 603 wins. They were just passed for 30th by Virginia which now has 604 after Saturday’s win over Maryland. Cal will get back ahead of the Cavs by the end of this season, but they won’t go anywhere for a while as they are 17 wins behind the powerhouse Navy program. And in case no one noticed, Beano Cook is super stoked to see Army still ranked 24th with 634 wins.

Rushing
In this day and age of stud running backs leaving for the NFL after their junior year, and with a lot of coaches adapting the two running back system, it seems unlikely that Ron Dayne’s record of 6,397 yards is going to be broken any time soon. If it is broken, it will not be by a runner from a top notch program but instead a kid that goes to a mid-major or a small power, someone who can step in and dominate the conference as a freshman, staying for years in the process.
These are some possible candidates in the game right now:

LeSean McCoy, Pitt
The Panther freshman is already the man at Pitt and has rushed for 805 yards so far. He is on pace for about 1,400. If he could increase that production by 200 yards every year, he could do it. If he finishes this year with 1,400 and averages 1,700 a year for three more years, then he could break it.

Deonte Jackson, Idaho
I almost want to pick him as the most likely to do it, but I think McCoy is more of a stud. Jackson is the perfect candidate because he is a very good running back as a freshman at a small school where he will most definitely stay for four years. He also is on pace for 1,400 yards this year putting him in the same boat statistically as McCoy.

Ray Rice, Rutgers
Rice is on pace for his second straight 1,700 yard season and if he does that, he will be around 4,600 yards after this, his junior season. If he stayed for his senior year, he would need roughly 1,800 yards to top Dayne. Rice is a good candidate because he gets so many carries. He is on pace for 350 this year after getting 335 last season. My guess is that he does not go back to Rutgers for his fourth year.

If anyone was wondering what the single season rushing mark is, it’s 2,628 by a Mr. Barry Sanders. We don’t need to discuss that record because no one is going to get close.

Passing
We all know Colt Brennan throws… a lot. And even with three sensational years under his belt, he is still going to be nearly a full season’s stats away from the record holder, Timmy Chang. Chang, also a Hawaii product, threw for 17,072 yards. To put it in even better perspective, Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell is going to throw for about 5,300 yards this year. If he did that again in his senior year, he would still be about 1,400 yards short. He would need to throw for nearly 7,000 yards to break it. To stop beating around the bush, there is not a freshman stud in sight this season that I can see making a run.
I will instead pick an outside shot:

Cody Hawkins, Colorado
He’s a true freshman who is going to throw for about 3,000 yards this year. His dad is the coach, so you know he is going to be the starter and he is going to stay for four seasons. If he can throw for anywhere close to 4,000 next year and then go increase that by 500 to 800 yards his junior year, he could be in position to have a chance with a big senior year. I am going to say it’s highly doubtful with a run first style of play in the Big 12.

Ty Detmer’s record of 121 touchdown passes is probably going to get broken by Brennan when Hawaii hosts Fresno State on November 10. He currently has 113, ranking him fifth. He will probably finish with 130 or so, meaning the record could fall next year. Harrell will probably finish this year around 90 and if he has a season next year just as good as this one, he could end up with 140 or so. This is one record you can kiss goodbye.

Receiving
This is a record that has just recently been broken, and within two years you might be able to kiss it goodbye. Taylor Stubblefield brought in 316 passes (somehow only 19 touchdowns) during his run with Purdue from the 2001 season to 2004 but his record is already under siege. What it took Stubblefield four years to do, might take this young man only three.

Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
If you want to catch a lot of passes, go to Texas Tech. Crabtree is learning that the easy way. Just a freshman, he has already caught 88 passes and 17 touchdowns. He is on pace for 132 catches and 26 touchdowns. At this pace, he will have nearly 400 catches in three seasons. Even if he is only a Red Raider for three years, I predict this record will be his. That is, until the next crop of Texas Tech receivers come in.

Davone Bess, Hawaii
Before Crabtree breaks the record, it will already be broken. So the Texas Tech receiver will likely be aiming for Davone Bess of Hawaii’s record. Bess will probably end this year with about 280 catches and assuming he stays for his senior year, will finish with around 370. So, he might hold the record for a year.

Troy Edwards of Louisiana Tech holds the record for touchdown catches and that mark could be passed by two players next year. Bess should end up with about 55 or so and if James Hardy of Indiana stays for his senior year, he could end up with 56 or so. Crabtree is on pace for nearly 80 TD catches in three seasons, so once again these will be just temporary record holders.

College Football Forecast Week #9

By: Ben Malley

Ohio St. (-4) v Penn St. 5:00 p.m. abc - Under the lights in Happy Valley, this is being billed as Ohio St's toughest test of the year and while that is true, that doesn't mean it's a tough test. The problem here is that Ohio St's defense is really good, shutting down much better offenses than Penn St's in Purdue and Michigan State. Morelli is just the kind of QB to have an above average game against a mediocre Indiana team and get everyone thinking he is actually good. The final score just might be 3-0 OSU.

Boston College v Virginia Tech (-3.5) Thursday 4.30 p.m. ESPN - I remember when VT wasn't even good, but then they took Sean Glennon out of the QB spot and inserted Tyrod Taylor. Now Taylor is hurt and nobody knows who is going to go on Thursday. I'm going to profess my complete ignorance to everything BC, except for the unimpressive Notre Dame performance. Let's just say that I think people are forgetting how poor VT was. They have one convincing win over an average Clemson, as well as squeakers against North Carolina and Eastern Carolina. If Glennon plays I'm very worried.

California v Arizona St. (-3) 7.00 p.m. - If Cal had gotten UCLA on one of their down days they would probably be a favorite in this game, and a Top 10 team. The defense is a huge concern. Patrick Cowan is not that good, and this is a UCLA fan speaking to you now. I had to go look to the Arizona St message boards to find any decent analysis of the team. All the national media gave me is that Dennis Erickson is a good coach, and Rudy Carpenter is the QB. Thanks guys. Apparently the O-Line has been shaky thus far and starting RB Ryan Torain is out for the year. With the 7.00 start the country still won't have seen Arizona St. after this week, but I think they won't need to, Cal pulls this one out.

USC v Oregon (-3) 12.30 p.m. abc - Gameday may be taking another trip to Eugene. This is that game where Oregon has everything going for them, USC has looked shaky (Notre Dame doesn't count as a real game). Is Oregon going to fold up their tents again after 7 games when the nation least expects it? The injuries are a concern for both teams. No word on whether standout O-lineman Sam Baker and the heart of USC's defense Rey Maualuga will be healthy. Oregon looked good without Cameron Colvin and Jeremiah Johnson, but that was Washington. I think this game will come down to the USC QB. Whether or not it's Sanchez or Booty (and USC fans seem to be favoring Sanchez) that individual will decide the game, because I don't see the USC defense completely shutting down Dixon & Co.

West Virginia (-6.5) v Rutgers 9.00 a.m. ESPN - This is better than the usual Iowa v Purdue 9am fare (don't get me wrong though, I love that shit). It's looking more and more like West Virginia is the class of this division and South Florida just seems to have their number recently. The problem at Rutgers is Mike Teel who is fine as the quarterback of an average team, but isn't the guy to take a team to that next level, which is a victory over stacked West Virginia. He was 11 for 29 with 179 yards against South Florida. They won because he didn't throw any picks, which you can usually count on him to do in big games, 3 in the loss to Cincy. West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez said of Teel, "Teel is a veteran guy who has won a lot of games..." If that doesn't prove my point, what does? Nobody ever focuses on the defensive side of the ball in Big East matchups and neither will I. West Virginia will get ahead early and Rutgers will be forced to abandon the Mike Hart game in the second half (just so you know I call the running game the Mike Hart game) and they will turn things over to Teel, who will then turn things over to West Virginia, in the form of interceptions.