Fourth and inches… (week of Oct. 4, 2008)

By Todd Erickson  |   Wednesday, October 01, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

College Football
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I told you so… when I mentioned I wasn’t ready to hand the keys to this year's national championship game over to USC (Fourth and inches…week of Sept. 20, 2008). The Trojans’ first two wins were far short of spectacular when you consider that even Duke has ravaged Virginia this season and Ohio State is clearly a different team with Tyrelle Pryor at QB. The Buckeyes would play USC much closer if the game were this week.

Logic would tell you… that the Trojans aim to demolish the Ducks this weekend and prove last week's loss to Oregon State was a fluke. But do you recall how USC responded last year after being upset by Stanford? The Trojans struggled to defeat Arizona in the Los Angeles Coliseum, 20-13.

Coaching carousel rumors… Rumors -- you've gotta love ‘em. If you want to believe the ones currently floating around cyberspace, then get ready to see Lane Kiffin at Syracuse next year and Kyle Wittingham at Washington. No word on where Ty Willingham will land; Willingham to Wittingham -- that would be interesting.

BCS-buster watch: Brigham Young, Utah and Boise State are the only remaining teams with a shot despite the fact that Tulsa and Ball State will probably go undefeated this season. Texas Christian had a great opportunity to make its big statement at Oklahoma last week but fell to the Sooners, 35-10. Boise State actually has the easiest path to the BCS because it has nothing but a pitifully weak WAC schedule ahead, whereas the Cougars and the Utes both have to face TCU and each other.

Just how weak is the WAC? Simple. No WAC team has ever won at Boise State on its puke blue carpet. Do you think that would have happened on a normal green playing field? Hardly. Why the NCAA allows BSU’s desecration of the gridiron is mind-boggling. Apparently, they won’t do anything about it until Wisconsin paints its field red or Washington changes its rug to purple.

Conference Power Meter: 1. Big XII; 2. SEC; 3. Big Ten; 4. ACC; 5. Pac-10; 6. MWC; 7. Big East; 8. C-USA; 9. WAC; 10. Sun Belt.

Heisman Thermometer: Hottest: Chase Daniel, Missouri. Getting hotter every week: Javon Ringer, Michigan State. Still hot: Sam Bradford, Oklahoma. Cooled off a bit from a bye week: Max Hall, BYU. Mercury rising: Colt McCoy, Texas.

Top games this weekend and why:

Oregon State at No. 15 Utah: Last chance for MWC to smack-down the Pac-10 in regular-season play.
Stanford at Notre Dame: This contest is really a bellwether of where these two teams are at in their rebuilding efforts.
No. 7 Texas Tech at Kansas State: Tech hasn’t played anybody of note until this game. Does it matter?
Illinois at Michigan: OK, Wisconsin was favored and couldn’t get the job done in Ann Arbor. Your turn, Illinois.
South Carolina at Mississippi: Gamecocks not so cocky about this one after seeing what Ole Miss did in the Swamp last week.
Florida State at Miami: This used to be one of the most anticipated matchups in college football. Does anyone outside of Florida really care now?
Arizona State at Cal: Hey, the Pac-10 is up for grabs after USC lost its conference opener last week.
Navy at Air Force: Because these guys protect your candy assets.
No. 13 Auburn at No. 19 Vanderbilt: Wouldn’t it be something if Vandy managed to pull this one off?
No. 5 Texas at Colorado: Which Buff team will show up this week? Will it be the one that nipped West Virginia or the one that Florida State trounced?
No. 14 Ohio State at No. 18 Wisconsin: If the Badgers fail this week, the only team between the Buckeyes and another Big Ten title is Penn State.
No. 4 Missouri at Nebraska: Remember when the Cornhuskers used to chew up Mizzou and spit them out year after year? Look out for the upset.
No. 23 Oregon at No. 9 USC: You've really gotta feel for the Ducks in this one. The Trojans are hellbent on proving last week’s loss to the Beavers was a fluke.

Upset Specials: I was 1 for 2 last week, correctly picking Northwestern over Iowa (thanks, Tyrell) but misfiring on Washington in its home loss to Stanford. This week: North Carolina over No. 24 Connecticut (would’ve picked this one even if the Huskies still had their starting QB) ... and two way out on the limb: Kansas State over No. 7 Texas Tech; Pitt over No. 10 South Florida.


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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...
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