Week 1 of this year's college football season was defined by 1-AA App. State beating Michigan and the brutal fall of Notre Dame, as there was a lack of marquee matchups to get excited about besides Tennessee versus California, which ended up being a doozy as Cal won handidly, and Va Tech, playing their 1st football game after the campus shootings of April. This week is different, and defined by some exciting games sure to create buzz. The big one of the day was #9 Va Tech going to the hostile environment of Baton Rouge to play #2 LSU, the game of the week. Both of these teams have dominate defenses, with the massive Glenn Dorsey leading a fearsome Tiger front-four and an amazing group of playmakers at linebacker and super-fast shutdown corners define the defense for Va Tech. The big question for the Hokie is their offense which struggled in putting up only 17 points in a win over Eastern Carolina last week. Sean Glennon has been inconsistent so far in his career and the offensive line struggled to make holes for Brandon Ore. LSU will ride off the insane noise of the Death Valley crowd (which Glennon publicly admitted will affect him),along with solid and athletic QB Matt Flynn throwing to gamebreaking wideout Early Doucet and handing off to speedy halfback Keiland Williams. Well the game wasn't even close as LSU took it 48-7. The defense completely stifled any semblance of an offensive game from the Hokies, as Dorsey and crew dominated, forcing turnovers, stuffing the run, and getting in the backfield every time. I knew the Hokie offense would struggle but I was surprised to see how bad their defense played in allowing big plays throughout the night. Disappointing effort for Va Tech but an extremly impressive win for the Tigers.

The games actually started on Thursday, with Louisville winning a suprising shootout with Middle Tennessee and Cincinatti pulling off somewhat of a shocking blowout upset on Oregon State. The Lousiville offense was impressive and Brohm put up huge stats in the win, but the defense was horrible, giving up big play after big running play and giving up 300+ yards by halftime to an average Sun Belt team. So while the offense looked like we expected it to look, the defense was very underwhelming and should worry Cardinals fans. Big plays by the Cinci defense in stifling OSU and their stud running back Yvenson Bernard got them the win, but it was still shocking that the middle of the pack Big East team could talk out the Beavers so easily. On Friday, Ray Rice led Rutgers to an easy but underwhelming win over an overmatched Navy team.

Saturday started off with West Virginia renewing their in-state rivalry with Marshall. It took until the 2nd half to get their explosive rushing attack started, but once the Mountaineers got going they ran away with this game. Pat White was too elusive and creative with the rushing plays, while Slaton was his usual score from anywhere self and even phenom-frosh Noel Devine got in on the action with a long score. The defense, especially against the pass, for WVU still isn't championship caliber but their offensive attack is so versatile that it is almost unstoppable, especially by Marshall. Northwestern barely squeaked by a very average Nevada team, needing a last minute touchdown pass to win it. Northwestern has shown flashes of offensive potential but they did not look good barely beating Nevada here. A scrappy Michigan State team fought back and beat Bowling Green, avoiding the embarassment Minnesota faced last week when they lost to the middle-of-the pack MAC team, but it wasn't the prettiest game in the world. Minnesota went into 3 overtimes but they ended up coming out on top over a poor miami(ohio) squad, showing off a pretty good offense, but their defense got them in that overtime mess in the first place. Nebraska barely squeaked out a lucky win at Wake Forest, taking advantage of inopportune turnovers from Wake to take a 20-17 win. Sam Keller and the rest of the offense was quite average but Wake couldn't put up much for points either, trying to use a solid defense and great special teams, but Nebraska was more talented (maybe the lack of energy at Wake's stadium contributed to the slow start) and it showed in the crucial minutes, especially in the play of Marlon Lucky. Ohio State looked very average, maybe even below average on offense, in a 20-2 win over in-state foe Akron. The Zips nabbed an early safety and the halftime score of 3-2 did little to ease Buckeye fans' fears, but the James Lauranitis-led defense totally dominated and prevented Akron from moving the ball at all in the 2nd half, while the offense scored just enough points to win. Oklahoma showed how Miami is not the U of old, rolling them 53-13. Miami's defense kept them in the game early, but the Sooners' surprisingly explosive offense just took off from there and made the fabled Hurricane's defense look silly. The fantastic running back duo of Allen Patrick and Demarco Murray coupled with 1st year starter/stud Sam Bradford's passing to gamebreaking wideout Malcom Kelly, not to mention the massive o-line, all combine to create one of the most unstoppable offenses in college football so far this season and make Oklahoma a legit title contender, while Miami has been relegated, at least temporarily, to middle of the pack status until they find a decent QB. Pittsburgh whupped up on historic Southern Conference power Grambling State, while an underacheiving Virginia squad that was considered a potential sleeper before last week's embarassing loss to Wyoming took out a horribly overmatched Duke squad that is just looking to win a game for once in 22 tries. Purdue absolutely destroyed Eastern Illinois, continuing their impressive play through an easy nonconference schedule, displaying an explosive offense and pretty solid defense. Hard to judge them off their competition so far though. Nick Saban nabbed his first SEC win with a road victory over Vanderbilt and their timid stadium, displaying a solid balance on both offense and defense and winning fairly easy against an upset minded Vandy squad that some considered a potential upset pick. Unfortunately for them, they didn't play well at all. Clemson destroyed Louisiana-Monroe thanks to an explosive performance from their QB, Cullen Harper, who threw 5 touchdowns. Georgia Tech blew out Samford thanks to an offensive explosion, but then again, they were playing Samford. But I think the Yellow Jackets have special potential, especially in this era of the weak ACC and because of their stellar defense and running game, led by Tashard Choice. Michigan continued their shocking and embarassing downward spiral by getting blown out by Oregon 39-7 at the Big House. Unbelievable that they have played so poorly, I know everyone is going to start questioning the Big Ten and the speed/relevancy of the nation's oldest conference but I think these are problems with Michigan themselves. Their defense looks lost against the versatile, unpredictable spread offense executed perfectly by Duck's QB Dennis Dixon, who executed it even better than App. State the previous week. Look at that Statue of Liberty play (along with the amazing fake) for evidence of how well they played. Michigan's vaunted offense has been average at best, with the only guy out there playing hard and playing effective being HB Mike Hart. Chad Henne was ineffective before getting banged up, while Mario Manningham has not been the big play wideout (or even close) he was last season. It's kind of sad to see them floundering like this after all those studs came back for their senior years to win a championship, but as an Iowa fan I love to see those arrogant boys in maize and blue fall. California edged out a surprisingly close win at Colorado State, riding the all-purpose yardage of explosive playmaker Deseasn Jackson and the rest of their potent offense in this 34-28 shootout. Boston College whipped a below average NC State team, led by the best QB in the ACC, Matt Ryan, and his plethora of passing yardage/touchdowns. All-around I think Boston College may be the best team in a weak ACC. Washington ended the 14-game winning streak of everyone's Cinderella, Boise State. Their QB Jake Locker is making fans happy all around the Seattle area with his versatile skill-set and all-around effort, leading the Washington offense on a big run that was never relinquished. Texas A&M participated in maybe the most exciting and exhausting game of the day, coming out on top over Fresno State in triple overtime at Kyle Field, where 300+ fans suffered heat exhaustion and the temperature reguarly went over 100 degrees. The Aggies built a quick 19-0 lead thanks to a physical defense and explosive, 2-headed running game, but after halftime Fresno woke up. They started running right through the Aggie defense and their QB took advantage of it with big plays as well, while Stephen McGee and the A&M offense struggled to move the ball through the air. The legendary Jovorskie Lane saved the Aggie faithful from embarassment in the multiple overtimes, finishing his day with 4 touchdowns and almost 150 rushing yards, rushing for 2 in the overtimes when A&m needed him most. No one could tackle him, even when the Bulldogs stacked the line to try and make McGee beat them through the air, and his ability to punish the defenders instead of the defenders punishing him makes him a unique back. A&m won 47-45 after Fresno failed to complete their 2-point conversion. Flordia State struggled mightily on offense early in their contest against UAB, but managed to pull it together and dominate in the 2nd half. If FSU can't get their offensive attack together (everything on offense) then they won't win too many games the rest of the year. Steve Spurrier got his South Carolina Gamecocks to pull off the 16-12 upset on offensively challenged Georgia, who turned the ball over and struggled to move the chains all day long while SC welcomed the return of QB Blake Mitchell, as they made several big plays to capitalize on Georgia's mistakes. Kentucky destroyed Kent State, showing off a potent offense led by perhaps the best passer in the SEC, Andre Woodson. Tim Tebow did it all as Florida stomped Troy, kind of relaxing at the end but piling up points like it was easy to build a comfortable lead at the half. Missouri handled their business fairly easily against SEC bottom feeder Ole Miss, while Eastern Carolina showed off a surprisingly explosive offense with QB Patrick Pinkney throwing for over 400 yards to beat North Carolina. Air Force also moved to 2-0 with a surprisingly easy win over traditional Mountain West power Utah. Notre Dame showed surprising life early at Penn State and their amazing white-out crowd, returning a pick for a touchdown. But that was the extent of the Fighting Irish happiness, as their offense could not even sniff the red zone with the stout Nittany Lion defense and Jimmy Clausen struggling to move the ball with the lack of any running game and a horrible offensive line. Penn State also got plenty of big plays on special teams, a great job by their running game, and impressive play from Anthony Morelli as PSU rolled 31-10. UCLA used an impressive defense and running game to overcome a weak performance from Ben Olson to beat BYU 27-17. Iowa State continued their horrible play so far this season, losing to 1-AA power Northern Iowa. The Clones were dominated in this one, moving the ball with more ease than last week but committing stupid turnovers and just looking out of wack the entire game, the only positive being the solid running of JJ Bass. TCU looked ready to pull off the upset early at Texas, winning 10-0 at the half thanks to a defense that had punished and harassed Colt McCoy all night long and a defense that had scored the only touchdown of the game off a McCoy INT. But Texas came out roaring in the 2nd half, riding Jamaal Charles and improved play from McCoy to move the ball with more efficiency as well as stepping up the defensive pressure to shut down the weak TCU offense and win 34-13. Illinois was far from spectacular but they still shut down Western Illinois with a great defense and offense that relied on big plays, while Hawaii proved they are beatable when they're not on the island, going into overtime before coming out on top over Louisiana Tech thanks to a typically explosive performane by Colt Brennan and the offense. Tennessee used a great all-around offensive performance to easily beat Conference-USA power Southern Miss, while Texas Tech won a shootout with UTEP and Oklahoma State rebounded from the loss to Georgia by blowing out Florida Atlantic. Southern Illinois came on late to embarass Northern Illinois, another 1-AA upset, while Miss. State took out their frustrations from last week on Tulane and Indiana scored enough points to beat a dangerous Western Michigan team. South Florida pulled off the biggest upset of the day, beating Auburn in overtime with a dramatic game-winning TD pass. South Florida has proven to be a team on the rise, showing how many good athletes are in the state of Florida and that their QB Matt Grothe may be one of the best and most versatile in the nation. Auburn has a lot of problems on offense and they came back to bite them when they needed points most, thus he 113-year Auburn football program lost to the 11-year South Florida program. My Iowa Hawkeyes rolled an abysmal Syracuse team 35-0 at Kinnick Stadium in front of an amazing gold-out crowd at night. The Hawkeye defense hardly allowed a rushing yard all night and dominated the line of scrimmage, holding the Orange to 1 yard of total offense at the half and not letting them get a 1st down until the middle of the 3rd quarter. Kenny Iwebema also blocked two field goals, preserving the shutout. After the passing game struggled to produce last week, thanks mainly to receivers dropping passes, tight end Tony Moeaki stepped up in a big way Saturday night in catching 8 balls for about 120 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jake Christensen relied on him all night to be there and Moeaki was, getting a 56-yard TD along with two others on the goaline while moving the chains all game long. Andy Brodell overcame an early drop to become a great possesion receiver while freshman Colin Sandeman showed off great speed and potential. JC played with tons more poise and confidence than last week and showed surpriing elusiveness as well. Our running game failed to ever get in much of a groove and our offensive line didn't necessarily dominate, but our amazing defense and the emergence of our passing game, coupled with the ineffectiveness of Syracuse, led us to the easy win. The last game worth mentioning was Wisconsin barely escaping 20-13 at UNLV. They needed a last minute TD run from Tyler Donovan to win, but the real story was how average their offense played all game long.