It’s Clear As Day - Week 10
By- Another week goes by with the top three teams taking care of business. The Florida-Alabama situation will figure itself out but the developing story is who can contend with the Longhorns in the Big 12 championship game. Nebraska looks like the best all-around contender but Kansas State has the inside track on them right now. As lo
ng as Nebraska wins out - they have a matchup with K-State left on the schedule - they’ll be in the championship game but Kansas State is no pushover. Bill Snyder’s Wildcats are 3-1 in games decided by a touchdown or less and have one of the most underrated offensive players in the country in running back Daniel Thomas. Thomas has rushed for 1,087 yards already this season and has thrived without much of a passing attack to keep the Wildcats balanced. No one imagined a mid-November Kansas State-Nebraska game would have conference title implications before the season began.
- Boise State isn’t doing enough to prove they are worthy of a BCS bowl berth and were probably hurt worse by Oregon’s loss this weekend than the Ducks. While Oregon is still in the lead for the PAC-10 title - they’ll be in a BCS game as long as they win out - the Broncos signature win can now be marginalized. It seems like most of the media would be willing to put both Boise and TCU in BCS games if their resumes were worthy but the Broncos are shooting themselves in the foot by squeaking out close wins against the likes of Louisiana Tech and Tulsa. Every team is going to have close win regardless of the competition, it’s simply human nature. But teams like Boise State need to win big in order to gain the respect of the BCS. Fair or unfair, it’s the reality of the situation and it looks like the Broncos are going to be in trouble if the season plays out the way most expect it to.
- Northwestern did us all a favor this weekend by putting the Iowa Hawkeyes out of their misery. Iowa danced with the devil one too many times and, predictably, it caught up with them. Too much shouldn’t be made of QB Ricky Stanzi’s injury because the score wouldn’t have been much different had he been in the game. Stanzi is turnover prone and it’s come close to killing the Hawkeyes multiple times this season. They’ll get further exposed by Ohio State this weekend and all the close victories will accurately depict Iowa’s season. They are a good team that beat decent teams by small margins to remain undefeated deep into the college football season. They are a mature version of the UConn Huskies - who have lost five games by a total of 15 points - with a weaker schedule.
- Utah is in the mix once again. They are going to have an opportunity over the next few weeks to make a lot of noise with games against TCU and Brigham Young to close the season. If they win out - something we do not expect them to do - their only loss will have come against at Oregon by a touchdown. True freshman Jordan Wynn has been pivotal to their recent success, throwing for 379 yards and 3 TDs over the last game and a half. His confidence will definitely be tested over the next three games but Wynn looks like he has that ‘it’ quality coaches are dying to see in their quarterbacks. The Utes will attempt to build their program around Wynn, a program that shouldn’t miss a beat over the next three years.
- Ohio State’s defense is legit. If everything works out we could get an Ohio State-Oregon Rose Bowl matchup, a game that would pit polar opposites against one another. The Ducks are built on a speed offense that keeps defenses on their heels for 60 minutes while Ohio State builds around their defense and are happy with anything they get from Terrelle Pryor, who is most effective when he is asked to do less. Even with Iowa’s run, Ohio State has proven to be the class of the Big Ten once again. With their budget and facilities, there is no excuse for them not to win the conference every year. They’ll have to finish undefeated because of the reputation the Big Ten has built but the Buckeyes look primed to contend for a BCS bowl for the next few seasons at least.
- You can’t be too confident as an Oklahoma fan next season with Landry Jones at the helm. With Sam Bradford entering the NFL Draft after this season, the reins will be handed over to Jones who has been unspectacular this season, to say the least. After going 26-58 for 245 yard and 5 interceptions against Nebraska this weekend the Sooners probably want to say “see ya later!” to Jones as their starting quarterback next fall. They don’t have too many options unless Blake Bell, a 6′6″ 215lb true freshman, can step in next season and amaze coaches. Bell is described as a taller version of Jake Locker but has only played quarterback full time for two seasons. It looks like the Sooners will go as Jones goes in 2010.
- Every team - minus the BCS champion - will look back at the end of the season and kick themselves for not winning a game or taking advantage of an open opportunity. Here are just a few of the teams that are cursing themselves already:
Pittsburgh has to be livid for losing a 38-31 game to NC State in the fourth week of the season. If they win, they would have had the opportunity to showcase their talents against Notre Dame this weekend, West Virginia next weekend and a possibly undefeated Cincinnati team to end 2009.
Georgia Tech’s coaching staff probably keeps game film of the Miami game around for motivation. The Yellow Jackets had an opportunity to knock Miami off their pedestal early in the year but the Hurricanes were a category five at that point in the season and might not have lost to anyone in the country coming off their win against Florida State. Paul Johnson’s club will be playing ‘what if’ all spring if they win out.
Houston may have the most reasonable game to look back on and say they had no business losing it. After handling Oklahoma State and Texas Tech on consecutive weeks the Cougars traveled for what was expected to be a routine game against UTEP. Sure enough, the Miners took advantage of Houston’s letdown and gave them a sound 58-41 beating. Questions would have been raised about Houston’s ability to stop people but the Cougars would be right in the mix, jostling with the rest of the undefeated teams for respect. Not to mention, Case Keenum’s Heisman campaign would have been red hot and the country would probably be all over the junior’s jock had he been able to carry his team to an unblemished record.
