Posted: September 9, 2014

1. I thought I was off to a good week, with the UTSA Roadrunners taking the Arizona Wildcats to the wire as I expected. Arizona was fortunate to get the win in this game. I still am waiting to understand how UTSA got this game at home.

2. The Pitt Panthers can run the ball…very well. They will be a force in the ACC Coastal, especially since North Carolina is not as good as I thought, at least at this point in the season. The Coastal is clearly the step sister to the Atlantic, but Pitt will make noise if they continue to run the ball this well.

3. The Cornhuskers got very lucky to beat McNeese State. If only the Cowboys could tackle with their arms instead of shoulders, that game was in overtime. The was the win of the week for the Big Ten….Ruh Roh!

4. My upset special of Western Kentucky over Illinois was a bust. But the Hilltoppers had the lead going into the 4Q before three straight Illinois TD’s.

5. The Iowa State Cyclones lose to FCS North Dakota State and then almost beat a ranked Kansas State team. I thought the Cyclones should have come away with the win but found a way to lose. Not scoring in the second half makes it tough to win.

6. It is going to be a long season in Evanston as the Northwestern Wildcats lose to Northern Illinois. This game was not as close as the 23-15 final. The 0-2 Northwestern Wildcats, who lost to Cal last week, a team that only won once last year, better beat Western Illinois this week because then the conference schedule begins.

7. The Game of the Week #1 USC at Stanford was a very tight close game that was ugly at times. But the take away from this game was the behavior of USC Head Coach Steve Sarkisian and Athletic Director Pat Haden. It is an odd situation when the AD is summoned to the sideline to yell at the officials because the HC is whining about the officials. Haden was fined $25,000 for his behavior. If you ask me, this is not nearly enough. These guys are role models? And by the way, Pat Haden is on the playoff selection committee. Imagine his behavior if USC is left out!

8. Game of the Week #2…Michigan State at Oregon. It looked very good for Sparty at halftime. Then Oregon blew the doors off in the 2H. I felt before the game that the loser could stil get back into the playoff. Well, I was wrong. The way this game played out and the way the Big Ten has played thus far, it will take a miracle of epic proportions (as if all miracles are not epic) for a Big Ten team to get into the playoffs.

9. Did I really say that the Michigan at Notre Dame game is going to be a very good one? I was way wrong on that one. Michigan is not as good as I thought, they are worse, much worse. Brady Hoke’s seat is getting a tad warm.

10. This was a dreadful week for the Big Ten. The best win was Nebraska escaping McNeese State. Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan all lose. Purdue lost to Central Michigan. Northwestern lost to Northern Illinois. Iowa barely beats Ball State. That is the MAC 2-2 versus the Big Ten this week. It is tough to see any Big Ten team in the playoff as there is just no opportunity for good wins and the teams are just not very good.