AP Top 25 Weekly Recap (week of Sept 6, 2008)

By Todd Erickson  |   Wednesday, September 03, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

College Football
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans!

USC became the new king of the hill, Alabama leapfrogged 11 spots, and four previously unranked teams (Fresno State, Utah, UCLA and South Carolina) made the grade in this week’s AP (Associated Press) Top 25 college football rankings.

1. USC TROJANS (1-0). Thoroughly dominated the Virginia Cavaliers 52-7 behind Mark Sanchez’s Heisman-caliber performance, moved up two slots to Numero Uno in the country, and now can relax a bit and spend the next two weeks preparing for a Buckeye invasion on Sept. 13.
2. GEORGIA BULLDOGS (1-0). Dispatched Georgia Southern 45-21 last week and promptly dropped out of the top ranking for playing a Division 1-AA program. They’ll regain respect playing Central Michigan and Arizona State with NFL-bound QBs Dan LeFevour and Rudy Carpenter during the next few weeks.
3. OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (1-0). Destroyed Division 1-AA Youngstown State 43-0 and step up the competition a notch when they host Frank Solich’s Ohio Bobcats this weekend. The Bucks would be wise not to look beyond the Bobcats.
4. OKLAHOMA SOONERS (1-0). Crushed Tennessee-Chattanooga 57-2 at home and host a very dangerous Cincinnati squad this week. A "Fourth and inches …" upset special.
5. FLORIDA GATORS (1-0). Waxed Hawaii’s surfboards at The Swamp 56-10 but will have a struggle on their hands this weekend entertaining the new-look Miami Hurricanes.
6. MISSOURI TIGERS (1-0). Prevailed in a 52-42 shootout with No. 24 Illinois, and look forward to a bit of a breather this week with Division 1-AA Southeast Missouri State.
7. LSU TIGERS (1-0). Showed Michigan how it’s done by manhandling Division 1-AA defending champs Appalachian State 41-13. Troy State was supposed to visit Baton Rouge this weekend, but thanks to Hurricane Gustav the game's been rescheduled for Nov 15.
8. WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS (1-0). Toyed with 1-AA Villanova 48-21 on the strength of five Pat White touchdown tosses. The stakes are raised significantly this weekend when the Mountaineers hit the road to take on an impressive East Carolina team that stunned Virginia Tech last Saturday.
9. AUBURN TIGERS (1-0). Skunked Louisiana-Monroe last week 34-0, but will have their hands full this Saturday with the visiting Southern Miss Golden Eagles.
10. TEXAS LONGHORNS (1-0). As if Howard Schnellenberger’s Florida Atlantic team wasn’t going to have its hands full enough on the road in Austin, he had to call out the Longhorns ahead of time for a supposed lack of toughness. Texas romped 52-10. This week they’ll stampede El Paso to face UTEP, which was destroyed 42-17 in Buffalo. Mike Price’s lips are sealed.
11. WISCONSIN BADGERS (1-0). P.J. Hill churned out 210 yards to help the Badgers outlast a feisty Akron Zips squad 38-17. Marshall’s Thundering Herd invades Madison this week and the Badgers need to be careful not to look ahead to the big contest at Fresno State on Sept. 13.
12. TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS (1-0). Smacked 1-AA Eastern Washington 49-24 behind Graham Harrell’s 536 yards passing. Nevada presents a bit more of a challenge this week for Mike Leach’s Red Raiders.
13. ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE (1-0). Registered the most impressive victory of opening weekend by smashing Clemson at Atlanta 34-10. The Tide was rewarded with an 11-slot jump in the AP poll and will face a toothless Tulane at home this weekend.
14. KANSAS JAYHAWKS (1-0). Started where they left off last year by overwhelming Florida International 40-10 in front of a record home crowd at Memorial Stadium. This week’s opponent, Louisiana Tech, presents more of a challenge for Todd Reesing & Co.
15. BYU COUGARS (1-0). Took their time putting away 1-AA powerhouse Northern Iowa 41-17, coughing up four fumbles along the way. They’ve got a tall order this week taking on a wounded and cornered Washington Huskies team in Seattle, where the Cougars have never won before.
15. ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (1-0). Dispatched pesky Northern Arizona and its eight-man front 30-13 and now welcome Pac-10 opponent Stanford to Tempe. ASU provides a true litmus test for Jim Harbaugh’s rebuilding effort.
17. SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS (1-0). Walloped 1-AA Tennessee-Martin 56-7 and square off this weekend against in-state foe UCF in Orlando. These Bulls are the real deal and won’t be sneaking up on anyone this year.
18. OREGON DUCKS (1-0). Conquered their northern Pac-10 nemesis Washington 44-10, although the game was much closer (21-10) heading into the fourth quarter. The Quacks might consider playing their reserves the entire game this week against a pitifully weak Utah State unit.
19. PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (1-0). Crushed 1-AA Coastal Carolina 66-10 and handed JoePa his 373rd victory to tie Bobby Bowden for the all-time record. The Pac-10’s Oregon State Beavers should be a more entertaining opponent for the Happy Valley audience.
20. WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS (1-0). Notched an impressive road victory over Baylor 41-13 and host a tough Mississippi Rebels team this weekend in Winston-Salem.
21. FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS (1-0). A fourth-quarter surge carried the previously unranked Bulldogs to a decisive 24-7 win over host Rutgers last weekend. Pat Hill now has two weeks to prepare for a very good Wisconsin Badger team.
22. UTAH UTES (1-0). After dominating Michigan in The Big House during the first half last Saturday, held on to notch a 25-23 win over the Wolverines. UNLV won’t pose much of a test when it visits Salt Lake City this weekend.
23. UCLA BRUINS (1-0). Broke into the rankings with a shocking 27-24 overtime upset of previously ranked Tennessee. They’ll have two weeks to prepare for a tough road game against Brigham Young in Provo, Utah, on Sept. 13.
24. SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS (1-0). Impressive 34-0 victory over North Carolina State for Steve Spurrier’s troops last weekend. Next up is a date on the road with SEC foe Vanderbilt.
25. ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (0-1). The only ranked team sporting a loss this early in the season, Illinois dropped a shootout heartbreaker to Missouri 52-42 last weekend. They’ll host 1-AA Eastern Illinois this weekend in Champaign-Urbana.

Todd Erickson is the author of Road to the Rose Bowl (Silverback, 2005), the definitive book on the last 50 years of matchups and tradition in the Rose Bowl Game. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 weekly college football columns AP Top 25 Recap and Fourth and inches ...
Got something to say?

Log In above and share your thoughts on this topic with other fans! (1)

About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 Top 25 college football power rankings and "Fourth and inches..." weekly columns from August thru January. He is currently working on the second edition of Road to the Rose Bowl...
read more
Article Tools Share!   |  RSS  |  Bleacher Report About Bleacher Report