Week 3 College Football

What a day it was in college football this third Saturday in September. Lets start in South Bend, where my Wolverines came out all sorts of fired up and rolled the Irish 47-21 (W on line). UM D was flat out stifling from their pash rush, to run stuffing LBs, and their solid DBs. Henne to Manningham 3 times in first half put the Wolverines up 27-7 in the second quarter and you kinda knew it was going to be Big Blue's day. Mike Hart had a solid game eating up the clock for most of the second half as the Wolverines earned their first victory in South Bend since 1994. Like I have been saying all year, these Wolverines are tough, smart, and will be in the National Championship hunt late into the season unlike all seasons this century. Up next for them is a revenge game against Wisconsin, so look for them to stay focused. ND has been pretty disappointing this year if you listened to all the writers pre season prognastications. Weis has these guys going in the right direction, but they still have a lot of work to do on D, in particular need more speed in the secondary. Not a bad time to lose for the Irish, and if they run the table until their season ending showdown in LA (which is very possible if they get by Michigan St. next week), they could possbily find themselves in Glendale still. On to the second biggest game of the day in Auburn where the Tigers of Auburn beat the Tigers of LSU 7-3 (W on line) in a mighty defensive struggle. Cox, Irons and company just had enough for a third quarter TD drive which turned out to be the only trip to the end zone by either team all day. Both of these teams are championship caliber, but it will now be hard for LSU to do enough to get to the SEC title game. Auburn really has a tough schedule still including another showdown on the Plains as the Gators come to town for the first time this century in a few weeks. Speaking of the Gators in a game that just ended, they came back to defeat the Vols of Tennessee 21-20 (L on line) in a very exciting game. Florida got their offense going late in the third quarter to overcome a 20-7 deficit late. Ainge still doenst look like his Freshman year self and that is costing Tennessee. Both of these teams also have a great defenses and quality special teams. The Gator WR core is solid top to bottom including Percy Harvin, the freshman sensation. Fr Tim Tebow got a lot of work at QB tonight which will bode well down the road if something was to happen to Leak. Florida looks like the real deal. USC took care of Nebraska (W on line) 28-10 in a very un-exciting game. Callahan really played this game close to the vest, and in my opinion, did not really give his kids a shot at winning this game. He seemed to be just doing damage control IMO. USC has all their tough opponents coming to the Coliseum, so dont be surprised if you see them undefeated when the Irish come to town in December. Louisville handed Miami their second loss of Sept in a big way today at Papa Johns (W on line). They have looked impressive to this point, and their match up with West Virginia (crushed Maryland on Thur W on line) down the line is going to be huge, especially if WVU can take care of Va Tech too. Speaking of Virginia Tech, they shut out Duke for the second consecutive year 36-0. Really nothing to say here, but the Hokie slate will toughen up as league play really kicks in. With these results, here is the way my Top 10 shakes out after Week 3:

1- Ohio St. (turned it on in second half for solid W)
2- Auburn (jump USC with LSU victory; will their offense cost them eventually?)
3- USC (business as usual in the Coliseum)
4- Michigan (very impressive today)
5- Florida (SEC road wins are always solid, especially in Knoxville)
6- West Virginia (seem to be on cruise control, can anyone sneak up on them?)
7- Louisville (burying Canes very impressive)
8- Virginia Tech (always in Top 10 this early; lets see what happens in November)
9- Georgia (Fr QB Stafford looks like a good one; boy, are they under the radar)
10- Texas (best of the one loss teams, or at least has the best loss at this point)