College Football + Photoshop

I don't possess the Photoshop skills to take credit for these, but big ups to whoever did.

Week 5 Top 25

Week 5
1. Oklahoma	OU struggled early against Mizzou but pretty much dominated from the 2nd quarter on.  After the physical game with FSU, that was understandable.  OU gets a warm up game against Ball State before getting all the fried food you can eat at the Texas State Fair.
2. SEC	Is A.J. McCarron ready to step in at QB for a national title contender?  Well, he went 15-20 for 200 yards and 2 TDs in his first start against SEC speed.  The Tide defense looks every bit as dominant as it did in 2009.
3. SEC	It's time to give Jarrett Lee credit (gasp).  WVU's defense isn't exactly Alabama, but Lee played mistake free and made big plays.  The Tiger defense continued to prove its merit by physically dominating the previously high flying WVU offense.
4. Boise State	Boise beat (insert mediocre team name here) by (insert double digit number here).  The real story is that Kellen Moore is completing an absurd 80% of his passes on the season.  That's good no matter who you are playing.
5. Stanford	Andrew Luck took a break to study architecture over the weekend.  Up next is a chance to further pound the nail into Rick Neuheisel's coffin at UCLA.
6. Wisconsin	We finally get a chance now to see what Wisconsin can do against a big time opponent with Russell Wilson added to the mix.  Nebraska brings their sea of red to Camp Randall, which will also be…well, pretty much a sea of red.  Wilson may seriously enter the Heisman conversation with a big win.
7. Oklahoma State	Oklahoma State showed a level of toughness not even T. Boone Pickens could by when they came back from down 20-3 against A&M.  Georgia Tech's offensive records against Kansas may be wiped out by the time the Jayhawks leave Stillwater on Saturday night.
8. Nebraska	We finally get a chance now to see what Nebraska can do against a big time opponent with Taylor Martinez's added experience.  Nebraska brings their sea of red to Camp Randall, which will also be…well, pretty much a sea of red.  Martinez may enter the Heisman conversation with a big win.
9. Oregon	Oregon proved it can still score 50-plus points on mediocre defenses (as opposed to just terrible defenses).  That really doesn't do anything to solve the problem that anytime Oregon faces a good defense, their 120 pound backs get kicked all over the field.
10. Texas A&M	A&M blew a huge lead against Ok. St., which is a major indictment on their readiness to contend for a title of any sort.  The Aggies need to reassert themselves against a reeling Arkansas team this week.
11. SEC	The Gayta have finally found a way to maximize the potential of Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps.  Kentucky is terrible, but the Gayta have continued to be dominant.  We'll find out just how far they have come under Will Muschamp when Saban comes to the Swamp this week.
12. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VPISU is about to move up to the majors from their minor league schedule, but Logan Thomas is still playing at a AAA level.  The Turkeys better be ready for a different class of athlete with Clemson this week…more on them to come.
13. Clemson	Sammy Watkins is the best looking freshman receiver I've seen since Calvin Johnson, and he may be even better at this point in his career.  Clemson is loaded with big time playmakers on offense.  Their defense and head coach still remain major question marks.
14.SEC	Stephen Garcia is as Stephen Garcia does.  Unfortunately for the Chickens, so is their season.  If Vandy had anything resembling an offense, we're looking at an ugly loss, but, as it is, we will have to settle for an uninspiring win and a slight drop here.
15. Robert Griffin III	RG3 continues to do what he does (put up ridiculous numbers).  Kansas State will probably be the best defense they've seen so far this year, but Griffin should continue to roll and take his team into College Station undefeated on October 15.
16. USF	B.J. Daniels is putting together a Heisman quality highlight reel this year.  After his coming out party against FSU in 2008, Daniels has been underwhelming, but he is back in a big way this year.  His playmaking ability should put USF in the driver's seat to win the Big East.
17. Florida State	FSU is in trouble as long as E.J. Manuel is out.  In fact, they are in trouble as long as Manuel is not making big plays.  The Noles flat out can't run the ball.  It's hard to penalize them too much for the two injury riddled losses to Clemson and OU, but they better start showing improvement soon.
18. Texas	Texas took a week off before a revenge game this week against Iowa State.  ISU embarassed Texas last year (which hardly makes them unique), but there's a new McCoy in town to replace Gabbert…who replaced McCoy.
19. Arizona State	I feel vindicated for having given ASU the benefit of the doubt last week.  USC is not a world beater, but they definitely went back to South Central with a healthy fear of the Fork.
20. Georgia Tech	GT finally played somebody with a pulse on defensive, and the results were more or less the same.  Stephen Hill has grown up a lot and is now making the difficult catches look easy…and the easy ones look…difficult.  The offense is executing at a level not yet seen in the Paul Johnson era, and the defense has improved to the level of "adequate" after sitting squarely in the "bad" territory the last couple years.
21. TCU	TCU's already disappointing defense took a big hit when leading tackler Tanner Brock went down for the season on Saturday.  There's not much else to say about TCU.  SMU and SDSU could prove to be dangerous games coming up.
22. Michigan	Brady Hoke took care of his old team with no trouble, and Denard Robinson proved he can still be dangerous with the ball in his hands outside of the spread.  Robinson still isn't running the offense efficiently, though they should be able to get by against Minnesota and Northwestern before Michigan State in a few weeks.
23. SEC	Can we please put to rest the idea that Tyler Wilson is just as good as Ryan Mallett?  It's no great offense to get knocked around by Bama, but the Pigs have clearly taken a step back on offense this year, and they are not even close to competing for the SEC title.
24. Michigan State	Michigan State rebounded well against CMU, but, really, who cares?  It gets a lot tougher against Ohio State this week, in a battle of two teams at risk of falling into a mediocre season.
25. West Virginia	WVU is going to hang on to a spot here because of the strength of LSU, but their upward mobility is going to be very limited.  It's one thing to lose to a top 5 team.  It's another when you don't even compete.  No, I don't care about all the meaningless yards WVU put up on LSU.

Why the 10 second rule exists (not food related)

For those that missed it, the GT/UNC game ended when Bryn Renner spiked the ball with 9 seconds left on the clock while Jehranie Boyd lollygagged (what does that make him?) back to the line.  Of course, Boyd couldn't be troubled to actually line up on the offensive side of the ball before the snap, which resulted in a UNC penalty.  Under a new rule this year, a 10 second runoff was made, and the game was over.  Why was this rule instituted?  It should be pretty clear from the video below of the ending of the 2010 Music City Bowl featuring none other than UNC in an epic clock management meltdown.  Apparently I'm the only person who remembers this, so I figure this should serve as a refresher.  UNC should now be considered to have settled its debt with karma...at least from that instance. 

Top 25- Week 4

Week 4
1. Oklahoma	The question I, along with many others, have asked about Oklahoma is if they are tough enough.  Big Game Bob's Sooners showed up big time in a big game against FSU.  It wasn't pretty, but both teams played at a high level, and OU showed a championship mentality in icing the game away after FSU made a late comeback.
2. SEC	The Tide made short order of North Texas just as they should have.  Bobby Petrino comes to town now with the most complete offensive and defensive team Saban has faced this season.  We will find out how dominant the Tide defense really is.
3. Boise State	It's almost not worth watching Boise State for the next month or so.  I can tell you what will happen.  Doug Martin will put up 100 yards rushing, and Kellen Moore will complete 80% of his passes until eventually they win 35-10.
4. SEC	Low Standards University has raised the bar even higher on defense this year.  The 11 guys lining up on that side of the ball don't just want to shut your offense down.  They want to beat up on your offense until they quit.
5. Stanford	This just in: Andrew Luck is not a one man show.  Chris Owusu is a big time receiver, and the Cardinal has a powerful running game with big play potential.  That said, Andrew Luck could still be a one man show if he wanted to.
6. Wisconsin	The Russell Wilson machine keeps rolling.  It will be another 2 weeks before the Badgers get a real test when Nebraska comes to town.
7. Florida State	FSU is the real deal.  No, that doesn't mean the Noles of the 90's are back, but going toe to toe with OU should remove a lot of doubts about the potential of this team.  E.J. Manuel needs to become a more consistent playmaker if the Noles are going to make a run for a national title.
8. Oklahoma State	It's a good thing Mike Gundy is a man, because he had to stay up way past bed time to play Tulsa.  The Cowboys didn't kick off until after midnight but still gave Tulsa an Eric Clapton style beat down, jumping out to a 45-6 lead before going to sleep for the rest of the game.
9. Texas A&M	Of course, nobody cares that A&M has beaten up on SMU and Idaho to start the season, and that's all I have to say about that.  The real fun starts now with Oklahoma State and Arkansas up next on the schedule.
10. Nebraska	Nebraska has serious issues on defense.  The offense has proven it can score points, but giving up 29 to Fresno and 38 to Washington is not Bo Pellini style defense (more like Bill Callahan).
11. Oregon	In a shocking turn of events, Missouri State only gave up 56 points to Oregon on Saturday.  Oregon won't see much resistance against Arizona this coming week before they get a semi-revenge game against Cal.  We'll find out then if Chip Kelly is one to hold a grudge.
12. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	VPISU continues to float around that line between pretty good and thoroughly unimpressive.  A number of ACC teams have been more impressive this year than the Turkeys, but history tells us Little Baby Frank will still find a way to get to Charlotte.
13. SEC	The Gamecocks are running away with the worst utilization of talent award again this year.  Vandy rolls into Columbia this week with momentum and a lot of confidence (that's actually not a joke).  This is the type of game USC-east tends to lose.
14. SEC	The Pigs had a little too much trouble with Troy on Saturday than they should have.  After a very soft schedule to start, we're about to find out if Tyler Wilson really is a top flight QB and if the defense really has improved.  The intensity turns up to ten with Bama and A&M up next.
15. West Virginia	West Virginia passed a big test when they held on for dear life against a solid Maryland team.  While Maryland isn't exactly LSU, WVU does get to play exactly LSU this week in Morgantown.  The defense better come ready to play a full game this week, because two touchdowns may be all they get to play with.
16. SEC	The Gayta let the Vols hang around a little too much to say they dominated, but you can go ahead and call that the first big win for Will Muschamp.  The jorts army invades Lexington this week before a sickening back to back stretch of Bama and LSU.
17. Robert Griffin III	RG3 put up 48 on some poor team in just three quarters before lightning stopped the madness on Saturday.  The Robert Griffin Heisman campaign has a good chance to really get rolling the next few weeks before the Bears head down to College Station one last time.
18. USF	Is putting up 70 points on FAMU impressive?  No, but it is noteworthy when you are USF and have had trouble scoring points the last couple years.  Without any big time games on the schedule, USF may be undefeated when Miami heads to Tampa in November.
19. Texas	Texas has finally found a replacement for McCoy and Shipley: McCoy and Shipley.  It just wouldn't be right if anybody other than Case McCoy and Jaxon Shipley led Texas back into the top 25.
20. Clemson	Do I really think Clemson will stay at 20th or higher?  Aboslutely not.  In fact, this insanity should end after FSU finished with the Dabos this week.  That said, give Clemson credit for starting 3-0, putting up big numbers on offense, and getting a convincing win over the defending BCS winners.
21. TCU	TCU continues to be shaky on defense, and that will eventually come back to bite them.  When that is, I don't know, because the schedule is very soft until they play on the Blue Field in November.
22. Arizona State	Yes, that's right, I'm keeping Arizona State in the top 25 and leaving out Illinois.  ASU dominate Illinois everywhere but the scoreboard, and their 2-1 is more impressive than Illinois's 3-0.  The Sun Devils have a chance to redeem themselves in a big way against USC this week.
23. Missouri	It could be that Missouri has found their groove on offense after their big comeback against ASU.  It could also be that they played Western Illinois.  Either way, we'll have a definitive answer when they leave Norman Saturday night.  OU will be out for blood.
24. Michigan	Except for a ridiculous finish over Notre Dame, Michigan hasn't done much noteworthy so far.  Here's a game to watch coming up this week though…San Diego State will be in Ann Arbor to face off against Brady Hoke.
25. Michigan State	Notre Dame was due for a win after two very close losses to start the year and losing to the Spartans on a fake field goal last year.  Sometimes games like this happen, so I won't hold it against MSU too much.  This does cast some doubt over the Spartans, and another loss will be much harder to forgive.

Week 3 Observations

·         Ohio State really misses Devier Posey, Boom Herron, and, oh yeah, Terrelle Pryor.  Miami is a quality team, but they absolutely dominated an Ohio State University.  The Buckeyes are completely inept on offense.

·         Andrew Luck is not the only big time quarterback in the Pac-12.  Nick Foles, despite going down 37-10 to Stanford has first round ability, though he is stuck on a pretty mediocre Arizona team.

·         Boston College is really bad…really bad.  So far, the Eagles are 0-3 with losses to Northwestern (who just lost to Army), UCF by a score of 30-3, and Duke.  The Frank Spaziani experiment has to be in its final stages.

·         Lamar Miller is a future first round pick.  Miami’s success will hinge entirely on giving him the ball.  It shouldn’t be too hard to see that bad things tend to happen when Jacory Harris does anything besides hand the ball off.

·         With Syracuse and Pitt being accepted into the ACC, the seismic shift we keep hearing about may finally be about to happen.  Once OU and Texas A&M make their move, all hell could break loose.

·         BYU and Ole Miss are also really bad.  Both teams have continued to be woefully unimpressive after their week one pillow fight.  At least BYU has been losing to respectable teams, unlike Ole Miss, who just lost 30-7 to Vanderbilt.

·         Mario Cristobal has built a legitimate program at FIU.  Beating UCF is no reason to tear down the goal posts, but the Panthers have learned to stop using their crutches as weapons and are playing real football now.

·         Auburn’s defense remains awful.  They better plan on scoring 40 points per game the rest of the way to even make a bowl game.  Something tells me LSU and Alabama won’t be having any of that, and Arkansas may just put 70 on the board.

·       Kansas solved the option a year ago but has clearly forgotten.  Not only did they give up 66 points to the high school offense, but they allowed 768 total yards, including 604 on the ground (that’s 164 yards passing for those keeping track).  Georgia Tech averaged an NCAA record 12.1 yards per carry, with three players averaging over 20 yards per carry.  Two Tech players also averaged over 50 yards per reception.  Despite being outgained by over 400 yards, the most shocking stat may be that Kansas actually won time of possession. 

Week 3 Top 25

Week 3
1. Oklahoma	Move along, nothing to see here.  Check back in a week.
2. SEC	Going to Penn State was the first big test of the season for the Tide, and they passed with flying colors.  Somewhere, Harvey Updyke is smiling knowing his team should make another run at the national title this year.
3. Boise State	Boise took the week off before getting Toledo this coming week.  Boise doesn't take teams lightly, so don't expect them to have as much trouble as Ohio State.
4. SEC	The Tigers' matchup with Mississippi State is a little less appealing after the Bulldogs choked against Auburn.  It will still be a good indicator of how the Grasseater's squad will fare against a more physical team.
5. Stanford	Duke fans can usually say "Oh yeah, well our academics are better than yours" after getting drilled in football…such was not the case on Saturday.
6. Florida State	Playtime is over.  FSU finally gets the chance to make up for last year's beatdown in Norman and prove they belong in the top 5.
7. Wisconsin	Oregon State is bad this year, but Wisconsin has a real shot at a national title.  Russell Wilson looks more and more like the missing link.
8. Oklahoma State	After a rocky opener, the Cowboys played like full grown men while dominating Arizona.  Tulsa is up next before a huge showdown with A&M.
9. Texas A&M	The Aggies took the week off, presumably to get their legal situation in order.  They get another easy one against Idaho before starting their Big 10 farewell tour against Oklahoma State.
10. Nebraska	Nebraska will not stay here is they continue to give up nearly 30 points to teams like Fresno.  This week is redemption time against UW.
11. Oregon	Once the level of competition drops, the point total goes up for Oregon.  The Ducks will probably still find a way to get 9 or 10 wins, but they will need to start making more than a fashion statement in the big games.
12. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Holding ECU to just 10 points is an accomplishment.  Scoring just 17, however, is a different sort of accomplishment.  We're all still waiting for the great Logan Thomas to start his Heisman run.
13. SEC	Georgia fans will be having nightmares of Melvin Ingram.  Marcus Lattimore is now 2 for 2 having big games against the Dogs, who may soon have a lame duck coach.
14. SEC	The Pigs continue their Charmin schedule this week against Troy before joining the big boys in Tuscalloosa in 2 weeks.  We will reserve judgement until after that one.
15. Michigan State	Michigan State had no trouble against FAU.  Nothing spectacular, just another dominating performance against a weak team.  The Spartans rolls into South Bend this week for what is sure to be an entertaining game, if nothing else.
16. West Virginia	West Virginia actually played a full game against Norfolk State, though I'm not sure that counts as a full game.  The next 2 games get interesting when the party bus goes to Maryland before welcoming Less Miles to town for the Redneck Bowl.
17. SEC	Will Muschamp's defense continues to dominate after shutting out UAB.  It's now that time of year again when we get to see Derek Dooley implode on the sideline.
18. Arizona State	People like me who were up until 2AM on Friday got to see Brock Osweiler's coming out party against Missouri.  Osweiler has cemented himself as one of the top QBs in the Pac-12, if not the entire country.
19. Ohio State	Toledo was not pretty.  In fact, it was ugly (like Charlie Weiss ugly).  I would recommend gamblers stay the hell away from the matchup with Miami this weekend.
20. UCF	UCF announced their presence with authority against BC.  They didn't just get a win against a BCS conference team.  They embarrassed BC.  The Knights have a very interesting matchup against Ty Hilton and FIU this week.
21. Robert Griffin III	Robert Griffin took a well earned week off after lighting up TCU.  Here's hoping he won't need to repeat that effort to beat Stephen F. Austin.
22. TCU	TCU bounced back with a strong win over Air Force.  The schedule stays soft for a while, and TCU shouldn't be pushed hard again until BYU comes to town in late October.
23. Missouri	Much like TCU's performance against Baylor, Missouri's rank was saved by a big comeback against Arizona State.  James Franklin has a good chance against Western Illinois to get comfortable before playing OU in 2 weeks.
24. USF	USF followed up their win over ND with a blowout over Ball State.  We still haven't seen enough to know if USF is good, or if Dane Crist is really that bad (he is pretty bad).
25. Maryland	Maryland wasn't overly impressive against Miami on Labor Day, but they looked very solid (no, that's not a uniform comment) and were a few red zone conversions away from blowing out the Canes.  Let's see if they can keep it up against WVU this week.

Week 2 Top 25

Week 2
1. Oklahoma	As expected, Oklahoma had little to no trouble with Tulsa.  The real news out of Norman is that an exit from the University of Texas Conference seems imminent.  All signs seem to be pointing to the Pac-16 becoming a reality sooner than later.  OU gets a week off to think about its future before heading to Trailerhassee on the 17th.
2. SEC	A.J. McCarron appears to have the upper hand in the ongoing QB competition for the Tide.  As expected, Kent State didn't push back much, but that should change this weekend at Penn State.  We'll get a chance to see if Nick Saban's only question mark really is a question mark.
3. Boise State	Boise showed no early season rust as they handled the Mighty Morphing Bulldogs with little trouble.  Kellen Moore continues to be outstanding and is a birth mark away from being a mirror image of Drew Brees.
4. SEC	Lester didn't allow the artifical turf in Dallas to throw him off his game, though he probably thought the grass tasted funny.  If the Tigers can continue to run the ball like they did against Oregon (and be gifted 4 turnovers) it won't matter if Keanu Reeves is playing QB for them.
5. Stanford	Andrew Luck wasted no time getting in the end zone this season with a powerful run at the goaline.  Rumor has it that he still throws the ball pretty well too.
6. Florida State	FSU didn't exactly look like a well oiled machine against UL-Monroe.  The Noles have one more scrimmage against Charleston Southern before Big Game Bob and the Stache roll into town.
7. Wisconsin	While not exactly Chuckie Keeton, Russell Wilson did not disappoint in his debut for Wisconsin.  The only question about Wisconin is if the D-Line can continue to dominate once the level of competition picks up.  This team can make some serious noise.
8. Oklahoma State	New year, same story.  OSU has a big time offense and a small time defense.  They have an interesting stretch of games coming up against Arizona, Tulsa, and aTm.  The defense better grow up quickly, because giving up 34 points to Louisiana-Lafayette is poor.
9. Nebraska	Taylor Martinez put up big numbers against Chattanooga, but honestly we shouldn't care about that.  Fresno State is up next, and then Martinez will get to earn his man card back against Washington in a Holiday Bowl rematch.
10. Texas A&M	A&M looked the part on offense against SMU, but they better start working on hiring some of that SEC speed before making the jump (or do their current players inherit SEC speed upon joining?).
11. Oregon	Of all the new Nike uniforms, Oregon's looked the best.  Hands off to you, Phil Knight.  Outside of that, Oregon looked like a high school team on Saturday night.  Mr. Knight might want to start investing some of that money in a weight room.
12. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	I know we're supposed to treat App State like they're Alabama since they beat Michigan, but don't get carried away by VPISU's blowout win.  Congrats to them for finally winning a season opener, but Logan "the next Cam Newton" Thomas was very underwhelming.
13. SEC	I'm not sure what kind of message the Visor was trying to send by starting Connor Shaw, unless it was "This is why we keep letting Stephen Garcia back on the team."  ECU will score a lot of points on a lot of teams this year, but that was a less than stellar defensive effort for a team hoping to win the SEC.
14. SEC	There's not much interesting to say about beating Missouri State by fifty points, so I'm just going to restate that Bobby Petrino is a scumbag.
15. Missouri	Mizzou had a lot of issues early against MiamiU, but the defense continued to look strong after last season.  For a team known for its offense, however, scoring just 17 points against a MAC team is not a great way to start the year.  QB may become an issue here before too long.
16. Michigan State	Michigan State is moving into that space previously occupied by Wisconsin for the most boring team in the country.  Boring, however, will continue to win games up north, and Kirk Cousins may be the most underappreciated QB in the country.
17. West Virginia	So we're still just three quarters into the Dana Holgerson era at West Virginia.  It's probably not fair to judge without having seen a full game, but Marshall probably made life more difficult for the Hillbillies than they should have.
18. SEC	Go Gayta.  John Brantley still looked rough against FAU.  The Revolting Blob still has some work to do with the offense to get the Gayta back where they need to be on offense.  Defense doesn't look like it will be an issue.  Go Gayta.
19. Ohio State	Ohio State didn't miss a beat against Akron after their less than ideal offseason.  Then again, it was Akron.  They get another warm up game against Toledo before heading down to South Florida for the Probation Bowl.
20. SEC	The SEC's Bulldogs who actually still have teeth took a big bite out of Memphis to kick off the season.  Given the way Utah State took it to Auburn's defense, Chris Relf could be leading his team to another big day this week.
21. Arizona State	Arizona State started out fast against UC-Davis, and they have a very interesting game coming up this week against Missouri.  There will be a lot to learn about both teams, and the Sun Devils have to feel pretty good about themselves going in.
22. UCF	There's not much worth saying about UCF's opener against Charleston Southern (though George O'Leary does have a 62-0 win to add to his resume).  The Knights get Boston College in Orlando this week and an opportunity to prove they can compete with BCS teams.
23. Robert Griffin III	For those that missed it Friday night, RG3 ripped apart TCU's vaunted defense.  Baylor's defense is probably going to keep them from climbing much higher than this, but Griffin may be the most exciting player in college football.
24. TCU	TCU barely hangs on to a top 25 spot this week.  As noted just above, Robert Griffin and Baylor abused their normally stellar defense, especially the secondary.  The only thing keeping me from completely writing off TCU this year is the fight they showed in coming back before eventually giving up the last second field goal to lose.
25. Penn State	The assumption here is that Penn State's young players from last year have grown up.  The talent at the skill positions was on full display against Indiana State.  But then again, it was Indiana State, and the Tide is heading into Happy Valley this week for the big test.