It was another of those “college football four nights in a row” type of weekends, with games Wednesday through Saturday. Things got off to a rousing start Thursday night as unbeaten Colorado shocked West Virginia, 17-14, thanks to a 25-yard field goal from Aric Goodman (pictured at right) in overtime. Things got even better for Goodman after the game, as CU coach Dan Hawkins awarded him with a scholarship. Goodman sat out a year ago after transferring from Wyoming. His game-winning kick has the Buffs knocking on the door of this week’s Dirty Dozen, which has a lot of new faces.
It was another of those “college football four nights in a row” type of weekends, with games Wednesday through Saturday. Things got off to a rousing start Thursday night as unbeaten Colorado shocked West Virginia, 17-14, thanks to a 25-yard field goal from Aric Goodman (pictured at right) in overtime. Things got even better for Goodman after the game, as CU coach Dan Hawkins awarded him with a scholarship. Goodman sat out a year ago after transferring from Wyoming. His game-winning kick has the Buffs knocking on the door of this week’s Dirty Dozen, which has a lot of new faces.
1. Southern California (2-0) The Trojans had the weekend off in preparation for a rare Thursday game (for them) at Oregon State. Beating the Beavers shouldn't be too difficult. Prediction: USC 42, Oregon State 17.
2. Oklahoma (3-0) It's not often that the top two teams have a bye in the same week, but that was the case this past weekend. The Sooners face a good test Saturday, hosting a strong team of TCU Horned Frogs. TCU is one of the country's more underrated teams and its defense will cause problems. The guess here is that Oklahoma will pull away late to win a tight one.
3. Georgia (4-0) The Dawgs finally looked like the team everyone envisioned before the season began, winning at Arizona State 27-10. The heat goes up another notch Saturday when Georgia meets Alabama in one of the must-see Games of the Week.
4. Florida (3-0) The Gators had no problem in routing Tennessee on the road and are looking as dominant as ever. Florida hosts Ole Miss Saturday in what should be another blowout. Defensively, the Gators appear overpowering at this point, only allowing 19 points against three quality opponents so far.
5. LSU (3-0) There's no question the Southeastern Conference looks like the nation's best league right now. LSU's come-from-behind win at Auburn was very impressive, and the battle for the league crown is shaping up to be a great one. The Tigers, who vault up two spots in this week's Dirty Dozen, should have little problem against struggling Mississippi State Saturday.
6. Wisconsin (3-0) The Badgers got a week off following their 13-10 win at Fresno State and now head to the Big House for a date with the Michigan Wolverines Saturday. With Ohio State and Penn State looming on the schedule in the next two weeks, winning at Michigan becomes almost a must in the race for the Big Ten championship.
7. Missouri (4-0) A bye this week may be what is needed for Mizzou. The Tigers came out uninspired against Buffalo and it showed. Leading just 27-21 late in the third quarter, Missouri finally got untracked and put the game away, but not before a scare. I'm still not fully convinced this is a Top 10 team.
8. Texas (3-0) The Longhorns move up a couple of spots this week following the 52-10 win over Rice. Texas still hasn't played anyone of note, and things don't look to be very difficult this week against an Arkansas team that has looked anything but strong this season.
9. Alabama (4-0) Thanks to new offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, Bama is rolling right now. The Tide had problems scoring in the past, but they're averaging over 40 points a game in two road wins at Clemson and Arkansas this year. They'll need plenty of offense to win at Georgia Saturday, but I wouldn't count them out.
10. Boise State (3-0) Trying to fill out these final three spots is difficult, so I looked at a handful of teams and evaluated their schedules and where the games were played. The Broncos' win in Eugene against Oregon Saturday ranks as one of the best road wins of anyone at this point. Sure the Ducks have some trouble at quarterback, but winning at Autzen Stadium is never easy. And Oregon's biggest troubles were on defense where it had no answers for a Boise State team with a freshman quarterback and four new offensive linemen.
11. Brigham Young (4-0) It remains to be seen if anyone will be able to score again on the Cougars. BYU has outscored its last two opponents 103-0. True, the last win was over hapless Wyoming, but a shutout is a shutout. I wouldn't be surprised to see BYU get its third straight shutout Friday when it faces in-state rival Utah State.
12. Penn State (4-0) The Nittany Lions have played a less than spectacular schedule (Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, Syracuse, Temple), but at least they're blowing those teams out. Penn State has outscored its opponents a whopping 211-40 in starting the season 4-0 for just the second time this decade. Big Ten play kicks off Saturday against Illinois and we'll learn a lot more about how good Penn State really is.
Dropped out — Then-#8 East Carolina, then-#9 Auburn, then-#11 Oregon.
Moved in — Alabama, Boise State, Penn State.
Just missed — Wake Forest, Utah, Colorado, South Florida.
