College Football

After injuring his shoulder trying to make a tackle vs Clemson, Christian Ponder announced that he would have season ending surgery. Well that meant that redshirt freshman EJ Manuel would have to fill in for the injured Ponder. Manuel, who was the second most recruited QB in 2007 (Terrelle Pryor was number one) committed to Florida State in 2008. FSU offensive coordinator and coach in waiting Jimbo Fisher had said "He is one of the most talented freshman I have ever seen". Still Fisher and FSU fans expect more of Manuel. Although he had a very impressive start vs ACC rival Wake Forest passing for a TD and rushing for a TD, he and Fisher expect more of him."I still expect expect more" said Manuel" I want to be good at what I do". Manuel will have alot of pressure on him when they face Maryland, because if they win, they've pretty much guaranteed a bowl game but if they lose, they have to beat the gators to go to a bowl. They should win at seniors day in Tallahassee and Manuel should have a heck of a game.

After killing USC last week, many people thought that Oregon would roll all over Stanford. But we were wrong. Even though Oregon was down by 10 after the first quarter, many people still thought Oregon would come back and win but when Stanford pulled ahead 28-42 at the end of the third it looked like the game was over. But after Oregon scored two TD's and made the game 48-42 Stanford sealed the victory when Nate Whitaker kicked a 48 yard field goal to win the game. Oregon may have lost but their still a good team. Jeremiah Masoli threw for three TD's and LaMichael James ran for a sixty yard TD Oregon is still better than alot of the top 25 teams and they lost to a good team. This was a clash of the PAC-10's most talented teams. Stanford gained alot of respect from other teams and should be proud that they beat Oregon.

Last Saturday night when Texas killed Oklahoma  State, I thought that Texas would jump over Alabama in the BCS rankings. Well, I was right. After looking the paper this morning, I was so excited to see Texas in the number two spot in the BCS. Texas is my favorite team (besides Florida State and Auburn), but sense I picked them to win the National Championship, I'm cheering for them even more. But what about the Crimson Tide? They are the best team in the SEC but even though they have a great RB in Mark Ingram, we won't know if they deserve to be ranked this high until after they play LSU and Auburn. Those two games will define this team. Before their game against Tennessee a couple weeks ago, I thought they would snap LSU and Auburn in half. But after having to block two field goals to beat Tennessee, forget that. But don't get me wrong, Alabama is good but not Texas or Oregon are good Texas jumping Alabama in the BCS was expected but these two teams have lots of talent so don't be surprised if they both end up in a BCS bowl game.

Two years ago, when USC was number one in the nation, they marched into Eugene Oregon looking for another easy PAC-10 game on their way to the BCS. But they were wrong. After getting beat by the Ducks in 2007, USC has had lots of problems with PAC-10 teams. USC is determined to go to the title game this year, even after losing to Washington. But if thy lose this game to Oregon, they won't make the BCS and their streak of seven straight PAC-10 titles will be over. Matt Barkley will have to be close to perfect against this Oregon pass defense because I don't think they will get much rushing yards against a Oregon defense that held California RB Jhavid Best to 55 yards. Plus, Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli has been a big surprise this season so look for him to throw some TD passes. But in the end, even though USC has tons of talent, Oregon wins and ends up in the Rose Bowl.

The SEC is probably the most surprising conference in college football. Every year, something shocking happens that changes the national championship race. But there have been no huge things happening. Well, after this week, that will change. Every team in the SEC has at a title. Alabama and South Carolina play this weekend. This will be a big match up in the SEC. Alabama is probably a front runner in the SEC, but they are facing a tough South Carolina team with a great quarterback who is very good aganist a very good Alabama defense. Next we move on to the Gators who plays a very good Arkansas team. Arkansas last week stunned then #17 Auburn and looks for another upset this week. Even with star QB Tim Tebow I am not sure if the can hold back the great Arkansas offense. And last but not least, we move on to Auburn. The Tigers are facing very underrated Kentucky defense that can confuse a very good offense. Kentucky has lots of experience with very good teams so Auburn better be careful. The SEC will have a big week this week. It could determine who is the best team in the SEC and even who goes to the SEC Championship game.

Last night, was not a very good night for Nebraska, even though they won. Losing 12-0 going into the forth, Nebraska QB Zac Lee connected to Niles Paul for a touchdown. That TD led to three more in the fourth which ended in a 27-12 Cornhuskers win. But even though they won, they still played a bad game. Nebraska only got 86 yards of offense in the first three quarters and got 155 yards in the 4th. It was two good teams that had bad offenses and okay defenses. If Nebraska plays like that vs teams like Texas and Oklahoma and Colorado, then they will be out of the AP poll in a flash. Although I think they deserve to be respected, you can't play like that against Big 12 teams. Congrats Nebraska, you won but it wasn't a good win.