SKSergioKosco Blogger
By: Tre Bailey
Week 4 Update
Another big weekend behind us and lots lots more to cover I have been waiting for this day all week long some upsets, standard performances, and disappointments lets dive right in!
Weekly Recap
With week three in the books there are lots of positives and negatives to take away from the weekend. I must admit I hate being wrong and boy was I wrong about LSU Leonard Fournette can literally carry that team on his back. He is the Running Back College football has been looking for since Adrian Peterson at OU. His strength and speed matched with lateral quickness makes him a special weapon. He definitely has my vote for Heisman.
Now before the season started the Defending national champion buckeyes had a lot to look forward to, the ideal quarterback situation has now turned into a problem. With offensive struggles the first 3 weeks of the season it leaves you to believe who the true started should be. A more than close victory and poor performances by both high caliber quarterbacks has every buckeye fan worried. Personally they do not deserve the top spot this week in the AP polls but I guess the computers feel differently than I do. Get it together buckeyes because there are plenty of teams ready to strip you of that title.
I would like to take a moment and state that I was wrong again; if you look back to my week 2 update I was quick to bash the Texas Longhorns, I wasn’t impressed with the bashing they took from ND but they have since improved. While a 1-2 record may not be proof of improvement UT fans can have some hope. First of all Jerrod Heard is the guy no matter what anyone says he is the best option on the roster if Texas wants to win. He makes better down the field reads and his running ability opens up the running lanes for his backs in a read option type system. Defensively they seem to be finding their name, with the weakness being in the secondary. There are 2 freshman corners who I feel should start or at least be given the chance simply because the seniors aren’t that far ahead talent wish of where they should be, correct me if I’m wrong Strong did say if a senior and a freshman are in a close competition the freshman will start. Well Charlie time to show the world what your recruiting has done. I’m looking forward to this weekend’s match up against OKState. The longhorns should be looking to rally after a discouraging 45-44 loss against Cal because of a special teams mistake.
3 of my big games from last week did not disappoint; what a night of college football it was starting off with USC-Stanford. As I said that game is always a tossup, almost all rivalries are; Stanford was able to get that offense together and rally to a 10 point victory against the Trojans and finding their way back into the top 25 rankings. UCLA-BYU was decided by a whopping 1 point margin it was a great game. Josh Rosen looked like a freshman out there which is unusual but one of the best things for him. This was his reality check and hopefully he learns a great deal from this game. BYU’s defense is so underrated I don’t even know where to begin but a late game push by the Bruins led them to the victory. And the game everyone in the nation except the state of Alabama is happy about and one I am proud to say I was correct on. OLE MISS showed Alabama why they aren’t the best in the SEC anymore. While the Rebels saw a lot of luck, (which I was always told is when Skill meets opportunity) they made the most of it and held a game long lead against the crimson tide. Chad Kelley looked great for the rebels; Jake Cocker on the other hand struggled with turnovers in clutch situations the Bama defense wasn’t able to come up with the big plays when needed and a tired Ole Miss defense fought until the last whistle to become the number 3 team in the nation (Number 2 in my opinion)
This week we also saw some coaching beef which is always a nice change up and fun sight to see. After 3-0 Texas Tech handled Arkansas with ease Coach Kingsbury in the post-game conference took some shots at Bret Bielema addressing some of his pre-season comments that any spread offense he plays is Razorbacks will hand them their “butt” Ill link Kingsbury’s interview below. To me Kingsbury should have just took the win and went on with his day. Arkansas embarrassed the Red Raiders last year, and could have absolutely roasted Kingsbury just let the final score do the talking next time Kliff and go handle business against TCU this weekend!
Games of the week
While there aren’t many interesting undercard matchups this week (at least none that caught my eye) we will review some of the better matchups ranked and unranked.
Tenn vs. Florida- I like this matchup here the SEC opener for Tennessee with Florida winning its conference opener, both programs seem to have found some type of rhythm offensively and defensively. While they are playing at the SWAMP I believe Tennessee’s dynamic offense can outlast the Gators in a 4 quarter shootout as long as the Volvs can hold up defensively I favor them to leave Gainesville with a victory.
Oklahoma State vs. Texas- this will determine the rest of the season for the longhorns. Oklahoma State has been on a roll the past few weeks but haven’t showed any signs of lateral improvement. While I favor the cowboys; the longhorns are growing on me, finding themselves offensively partnered with traditional late game defensive struggles by the Cowboys gives UT some type of a slight edge. If some secondary changes are made on UT’s behalf they have the talent to beat the Cowboys on their home Turf.
Ohio State vs. Western Michigan- while this isn’t a huge match up it is one for the buckeyes; if the buckeyes can’t find themselves offensively they will be in trouble entering BIG10 play in the coming weeks, the Buckeyes aren’t playing like they just won a national title which is worrisome for many fans.
TCU v. Texas Tech- this matchup will be interesting while TCU will look to blow out the Red Raiders playing in Lubbock isn’t easy. It also isn’t easy to play against a quarterback who has thrown for just over 1000 yards already this season and a Raider team who is coming off of a SEC victory look for Tech to put up more than a fight in this high scoring affair.
Miss St vs. Auburn- this is the second best matchup in the SEC both teams look to recover from conference losses both respectively losing to LSU; both programs look to throw their name back in the hat for potential SEC contenders.
Now there are only 2 top 25 matchups this week which unfortunately isn’t that great but both match ups are going to be worth watching as conference foes clash
UCLA vs. Arizona- My boy Josh Rosen looks to show growth and maturity after last week’s poor performance against BYU. While he is just a freshman and people won’t expect much I see past the classification politics and look at sheer athleticism and leadership. With Arizona’s Capitan Linebacker Scooby Wright still questionable from a knee injury look for the Bruins to take advantage of that in the running game opening up down the field play action passes and take advantage of a hurt Arizona program both offensively and defensively.
Oregon vs. Utah- Oregon is missing something in their program, they don’t seem to have the same flare as they have in years past and the demoralizing loss to Michigan St hasn’t helped any. I favor the defense of Utah being able to hang with the high octane Oregon offense. Look for Utah to slow the pace of the game and keep that offense off of the field and their defense well rested.
Quick shout out to the Memphis Tigers starting off 4-0 winning their conference opener Thursday night against Cincinnati 53-46
Kingsbury Post Game Interview excerpt
Top Plays of the week
Top 25 Provided by Associated Press:
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | LAST WEEK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State (42) | 3-0 | 1,490 | 1 |
| 2 | Michigan State (7) | 3-0 | 1,415 | 4 |
| T3 | Mississippi (11) | 3-0 | 1,345 | 15 |
| T3 | TCU | 3-0 | 1,345 | 3 |
| 5 | Baylor | 2-0 | 1,213 | 5 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 3-0 | 1,183 | 8 |
| 7 | Georgia | 3-0 | 1,162 | 7 |
| 8 | LSU (1) | 2-0 | 1,088 | 13 |
| 9 | UCLA | 3-0 | 981 | 10 |
| 10 | Florida State | 3-0 | 953 | 9 |
| 11 | Clemson | 3-0 | 903 | 11 |
| 12 | Alabama | 2-1 | 882 | 2 |
| 13 | Oregon | 2-1 | 855 | 12 |
| 14 | Texas A&M | 3-0 | 798 | 17 |
| 15 | Oklahoma | 3-0 | 782 | 16 |
| 16 | Arizona | 3-0 | 488 | 20 |
| 17 | Northwestern | 3-0 | 469 | 23 |
| 18 | Utah | 3-0 | 439 | 21 |
| 19 | Southern California | 2-1 | 367 | 6 |
| 20 | Georgia Tech | 2-1 | 352 | 14 |
| 21 | Stanford | 2-1 | 288 | NR |
| 22 | BYU | 2-1 | 174 | 24 |
| 22 | Wisconsin | 2-1 | 174 | 19 |
| 24 | Oklahoma State | 3-0 | 149 | 25 |
| 25 | Missouri | 3-0 | 352 | 22 |
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