Week 2 is finished and we can safely say we’ve walked away learning a great deal about the teams, especially those in the top 10. Read more below!

USC had a bye week, and got to sit back and relax. They also got to watch an extra game that was quite revealing of the Ohio State Buckeyes, but more on that in a little bit. They’ve maintained their position at #1 this week.

Georgia looked a little better this weekend, beating a very underrated Central Michigan with a final of 56-17. Their showing has maintaining their #2 ranking, and may be getting into the groove. It couldn’t come at a better time, with an upset South Carolina fresh off their loss to Vanderbilt will be looking to make a statement next week.

Oklahoma looks downright scary, struggling early on against Cincinnati, but breaking the game wide open in the 2nd half. I must say though that the Oklahoma player who was pinning Cincy QB Grutza down and talking shit to him while he was screaming in pain with a fractured right ankle should’ve been ejected immediately from the game, and thrown out of the NCAA. I’d only expect that type of thing from a team like Miami U — not Oklahoma. Still, they’ve moved up to #3 with an overall very impressive win, 52-26.

Everyone — including me — expected a blowout in the Miami-Florida game, with the Gators winning by some outrageous score like 45-14, but that wasn’t even close to the case. The Gators struggled all game long against Miami, and managed to blow up the score late in the game. Still, let’s hope that the struggling against a young Miami team isn’t a sign of things to come later on in the season. The final was 26-3, Florida. They also moved up to the 4th position in the polls.

I spent much of the early afternoon actually worried about whether or not Ohio State would be able to pull off a win at HOME against Ohio University. Thankfully in the end, Ohio State managed to pull off the win, and in the 2nd half looked better, but the first half was absolutely horrible. Who were those players on the field? Sure as hell not THE Ohio State Buckeyes. The polls were nicer than I was. I actually think they’re more of a #7 spot team. Instead, they’ve only dropped down to 5th in the polls.

Week 2’s Game of the Week: Ohio @ Ohio State / South Carolina @ Vanderbilt / West Virginia @ East Carolina

Ohio State had a game on their hands at home with Ohio U. Anytime a team can come into The Shoe and give everything and more to the Buckeyes — especially when it is another team from the state of Ohio — you have to give the game props. A good, hard fought game including the starting QB of Ohio U getting injured and Ohio keeping it close with their backup. Great game from a football lovers point of view. Bad game from a Buckeye point of view.

South Carolina was probably everyones favorite, but as I told my family, I really thought Vanderbilt was extremely underrated and had a legit chance at beating them. In the end, it was exactly that. A damn good, close game that ended all sorts of long droughts. Many props to Vandy. It is just a damn shame the fans never ran on the field. C’mon, if your team does something big like knock off a ranked opponent when they had no business doing so, you’re obligated to show them love and rush the field! I’m not even a diehard Vandy fan and I would’ve rushed the field.

Two weeks in a row East Carolina has knocked off a ranked opponent, this time their victim was a top 10 ranked team in West Virginia. I’m sitting here scratching my head at where the hell these guys came from. I’ve known of them, even have a family friend who attends the school but these guys have just come out of nowhere. Many props to them for being ranked 14th/20th (14 in the AP, 20th in the USA Today polls).

Week 2’s Loser of the Week: West Virginia

Lucky for Pat White, the Gators Tim Tebow had a lackluster performance for the 2nd weekend in a row, Chris Wells was sidelined with an injury, and USC’s Mark Sanchez had a bye week. Unlucky for him, West Virginia got picked off by East Carolina. Better luck next game.

Week 2’s Winner of the Week: Vanderbilt / East Carolina

Vanderbilt’s win against South Carolina was awesome and well deserved. I like Vandy, and always cheer for the underdog. It’s nice to see the punching bag swing back and break a guys nose once in a while.

East Carolina isn’t flying under the radar anymore. Congratulations for making a program that is a virtual unknown to something everyone is talking about.

Week 3’s Spotlight Games: Ohio State @ USC

Other games I’m really looking forward to are Georgia @ South Carolina, UCLA @ BYU, Middle Tennessee @ Kentucky, Oklahoma @ Washington, and Wisconsin @ Fresno State.

Sideline Commentary: Ohio State @ USC

I honestly don’t know what to expect from this game anymore. Ohio State had a tough time with Ohio U, and they’ve revealed several flaws which USC has an extra weekend to prepare for. I’m not 100% counting out the insanely long shot possibility that Ohio State held things back on purpose and kept things close to lure USC into a false sense of dominance and security or what, but that just isn’t Buckeye ball. You play to win every game, and if the Ohio U game is a legit showing of their true talent, then I feel damn sorry for all the seniors who came back for a championship.

The way I see it, those seniors came back and passed up millions that they’d be making right now as we speak for a final shot at a national championship. For their team, and for their friends. And to have the other players fail to support them in this quest, it’s just bullshit and sad. They have the talent, they have the depth, they have the coach, they have the schedule. They just need to win. If not for themselves, their school, their fans, their community, they should at least win for the seniors and give them something to remember for the rest of their lives.

Tags: College Football, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Sports, Sports News, USC

Week 1 is in the books, and we now know a little more about what we should expect during this season. Also what could be considered an injustice in the polls and more! Read below.

The Preseason #1 Georgia failed to impress anyone with their opening game against Georgia Southern, winning with a final score of 45-21. A win is a win, but they allowed more points than any of the other top five teams against possibly the 2nd weakest team in the bunch. They don’t deserve the #1 spot, and the polls agree, now showing them at 2.

USC did what they do and rolled against Virginia with a final score of 52-7. They looked strong and this was just another game where USC played USC football. High scoring, and very few points given up by the USC Defense. They’ve now taken the #1 spot from Georgia.

Now this is where the polls screwed up. In a perfect world, it would be Ohio State, USC, and then Georgia, or USC, Ohio State and then Georgia. Instead, Ohio State has solidified its position at 3 in the polls with its dominating victory over Youngstown State, 43-0. While Ohio State lost Chris “Beanie” Wells due to a foot injury in the 3rd quarter, Ohio State ran 4 different QB’s out there and each took the team down and scored. What does that say? They have impressive depth in the team, and can get the job done despite having a couple injuries during the season. Their defense was strong as ever, pitching a shutout and limiting Youngstown State to -11 rushing yards. Sending a statement to USC’s RB corps much?

Oklahoma went out and blew away Chattanooga 57-2. Impressive offense, and defense. They look to be the class of the Big 12. They’ve held on their 4th spot in the polls. Let’s just hope that the off field night club incident doesn’t hurt their season and the athletes in the attack recover quickly.

Florida going up against Hawaii and totally blowing them away in the first half, 56-10, also looked very impressive and have maintained their 5th spot in the polls. They just need to work on their 2nd half performance. Other than that, they look like a very good Florida team who will give the SEC East some real issues throughout the season. Am especially looking forward to the Miami (FL) game this coming weekend. Go Gators!

While the main focus has been on Chris Wells’ foot injury in the media, I honestly don’t see it as a problem and in fact it could possibly be more helpful against USC. The way I see it, USC’s defense is big and mean and loves it when you try to match your size and strength against them in the run game. They’ll catch you and knock you flat on your ass.

That is exactly what Chris Wells does. He will run at you head on, full speed and smash you in your mouth. I think — mind you I am a die hard Buckeye fan — I think he would enjoy limited success against USC’s defense, and would only be helpful and effective in short yardage situations, and wouldn’t have the ability to really break through the USC defense for a long run.

Instead, they’ve proven they have many different looks at the QB position, and have the ability to run it from that position with speed, and the ability to sling the ball all over the field. Ohio State would have a better chance at beating USC if they used their QB’s more in the run game, give dual QB looks, and spread the defense thin all over the field.

It isn’t like Ohio State has never broken away from the traditional play style before against a team. Let’s not forget Ohio State v.s. Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl (2004/2005). Troy Smith was ineligible to play due to his off the field issues. Instead, Tressel used Ted Ginn Jr. at the QB position and ran the ball. Big fan of how he used Ginn in that game, and I would love to see something similar happen again.

Meanwhile USC has a bye week, and is waiting for Ohio State to pay them a visit. Less than two weeks away. Can’t wait! Go Buckeyes!

Week 1’s Game of the Week: Tennessee @ UCLA

UCLA’s QB Kevin Craft was as much of a dud as you could be in the first half, tossing 4 interceptions — one of which was taken back over 60 yards for a touchdown. In the second half, he was a machine who could barely miss a pass. He took UCLA down the field and brought them back into the game which UCLA eventually won on a field goal in OT, 27-24.

Week 1’s Loser of the Week: Michigan

Michigan’s 25-23 loss to Utah makes it two years in a row that they’ve failed to win their season opener and home opener. It was also the debut game for their new head coach Rich Rodriguez.
(Side Note: West Virginia took care of business, and Pat White is on everyone’s shortlist to win the Heisman.)

Week 1’s Winner of the Week: Ohio State

Ohio State showed off their depth, their experience, their offense and their defense. What did people see? A very good Buckeye squad which was the only top 5 team that didn’t allow any points.

Week 2’s Spotlight Games: Miami (FL) @ Florida

Other games I’m really looking forward to are South Carolina @ Vanderbilt, and Georgia Tech @ Boston College.

Tags: College Football, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Sports, Sports News, USC

It’s pretty obvious to anyone who has gone to a sports website where they talk about College Football. There is a new rivalry. You take a look in the comments section of articles and you see all kinds of hate and bashing being shared between the two fan groups. At times it gets damn ugly. They bring in educational standards and statistics between the conferences, they pull out police reports on players the other teams once considered star players. You can even spot a your momma comment in there if you look hard enough through the 1,000’s of comments traded back and forth.

The teams in this rivalry? Ohio State and Florida; two teams who could very well be facing each other at the end of the season in a rematch and repeat of the 2007 BCS Title Game which saw Florida beat Ohio State 41-14.

Where did this rivalry get started? The media. Leading up to the big game, the media was reporting almost 100% that the Buckeyes were going to come in and absolutely slam and crush the Gators in dominating, physical, smash-mouth, manhandling, Big 10 fashion. One outlet reported that James Laurinaitis (Son of Animal, the famous pro wrestler) would “body slam” Offensive players. Florida Coach Urban Myer spun this web of personal hate and idea of the Buckeyes having an “I’m better than you” attitude to the Gator players, and everyone ate it up — especially the fans.

As the game went on, it was clear the Gators came out to brawl, and the Buckeyes were outright owned. However, the bad taste in the Gator fans mouths over all of the media hype and buildup to the game remained, which resulted in Gator fans raiding message boards where Buckeye fans would be.

Now, it is common place for a Gator fan to raid a comments section, posting site or online community dedicated towards Ohio State, continuing this issue. However, there is still more to this rivalry, which extends it past just Florida and Ohio State.

Due to Ohio State losing to LSU in the 2008 BCS Title Game, and OSU’s 2nd consecutive loss to an SEC team for the title, and being combined with the fact that Ohio State has been the class of the Big 10 for several years now, many conferences — especially the SEC — feel that the Big 10 is overrated. This has caused a conference-v.s.-conference rivalry between the SEC and the Big 10.

The SEC has really boomed in the past several years, while traditional conferences such as the Big 10 have seen less and less superstar players with true, legit speed and focus more of powerhouse football and overwhelming size and strength.

Part of the reason the SEC has been largely improved in recent years is credited to its ability to lure fast players. A good example in the SEC is a team that in my personal opinion has given up way too much size for speed; South Carolina. When watching last years game between Florida and South Carolina, and laughing as the announcers talked about how much bigger Tim Tebow was compared to every player on the South Carolina roster, you can’t help but admit that it they’ve given up too much size for speed. Bad coaching, bad recruiting, and you just can’t win with speed.

Other SEC teams have found a perfect mix of strength and speed, with teams like Florida, LSU, Auburn, and Georgia having said builds. You look at them and know they can run the ball at you with speed, and knock you on your ass with their power. Something the Big 10 is starting to regain with players such as Ohio States RB Chris “Beanie” Wells who happens to be one of Tim Tebow’s biggest rivals for the coveted Heismen Trophy.

Things look good this year for another Big 10 v.s. SEC fued building season, and we very well could be looking at that rematch for the ages. I’m a Buckeye fan first, and a Gator fan second. I want this game like I did two years ago. Either way, I win and lose. But in the end, it is a damn good game and that’s what matters.

Tags: Buckeyes, College, College Football, Florida, Gators, Ohio State, Ohio State University, Opinions, Sports, University of Florida

Team: Florida Gators
School: University of Florida
Conference: SEC East
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Stadium: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (The Swamp)
Team Colors: Orange and Blue
Mascot: Albert the Alligator
Current Ranking: AP Preseason (5), USA Today Preseason (5), BCS (N/A)

The Hype

The Florida Gators look to be one of the teams to beat this year. With Tim Tebow at QB, and several starters returning such as Percy Harvin, things couldn’t be much better in the SEC, or in the National Title picture either. The SEC, lacking in experienced QB’s will have to step up on defense to handle the explosive offensive power and speed of the Florida Gators.

The Schedule

The Players

Without a doubt, the superstar player for Florida is Tim Tebow. Looking to join Archie Griffin of Ohio State as the second player ever to win two Heisman Trophies in their college career, he has both the star power and the play ability to back it up. His arm is coming along nicely and his run game is still a tough task to defend. Percy Harvin will be looking to take pressure off of Tebow this season, getting more carries, and his speed will continue to wear defenses down. Florida can out source any team with these two healthy and doing their thing.

The Projection

The schedule speaks volumes as to what the Gators face. While the fans love to beat everyone over the head about the SEC’s strength of schedule, they have to contend with that strength of schedule. Florida faces top teams throughout the season which includes the preseason #1 team, Georgia. Thankfully the Gators don’t play Auburn this year, so that is one possible upset that is off of their schedule.

I wouldn’t be shocked if Florida goes 10-2 to 11-1 on the season. The only solid team they face is Georgia. Teams such as LSU, Tennessee, and Kentucky have the best chances of beating Florida. But lets not forget last seasons insanity, and that every game, no matter how “weak” the opponent gets played on the field and anything can and will happen.
(See: Appalachian State v.s. Michigan, Michigan v.s. Florida & Boise State v.s. Oklahoma)

The Game

The one game I will surely watch this season is hands down the Florida/Georgia game. It has the makings of a BCS National Championship game in the regular season, and games like this rarely fail to meet the expectations.
(See: Ohio State v.s. Texas)

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Tags: Florida, Florida Gators, Gators, University of Florida

It’s official! Georgia is #1 in the AP Preseason Poll, followed by Ohio State (2), USC (3), Oklahoma (4) and Florida (5). Below is the complete list of the AP Top 25.

After one of the most crazy college football seasons ever, this season has a lot to live up to. From the SEC and its claims of being the best conference, to the Big Ten needing to have a good bowl showing this season to beat away the weak conference talk. Will anyone stand up against USC this season in the Pac-10? And who will dominate the Big 12? Will this finally be Clemsons year in the ACC? And will West Virgina have greater success than Michigan? Look forward to our coverage and predictions on the upcoming season!

Tags: AP Top 25, College, College Football, Florida, Football, Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Rankings, USC