Week 4 College Football

Well, I usually start it off from #1 and work my way down my rankings from the previous week. This week however we have to start with the Irish for the second consecutive week. What a game that was last night in the rain of East Lansing. Down 37-21 late in the third, the Irish started a monumental comeback of their own and downed the Spartans 40-37 (W on line) in an absolute classic. Brady Quinn got back into the heisman talk with a 5TD effort, and the Irish D was very opportunistic forcing Michigan St. into a few critical turnovers, including the final 3 times the Spartans had the ball. Game turning moment in my mind was the strip and recovery by the ND safety after they had pulled to within 37-27. Another epic collapse from the Spartans as this same thing seems to happen every year to them in at least one game. A loss like this really crushes a team, and it is going to be interesting to see how they react when they kick off the Big 10 season next weekend. ND remains alive in the NC hunt, and almost has assured themselves of getting to a BCS game. They will be favored pretty big in their remaining games until the season ending tilt in the Coliseum of LA vs the Trojans. My #1 Ohio St. struggled mightily against a very average Penn St. team at home, also in the rain. Troy Smith in the end made just enough plays, and their defense ran back two picks for TDs late in the 4th to get the cover. PSU needs better QB pkay from Morelli if they hope to get some wins this year in the Big Ten. Elsewhere, #2 USC struggled (L on line) all game in a defensive battle vs. Arizona. Arizona just does not have that much talent on offense, but give them credit for bringing back memories of the Desert Swarm defenses of the early 90s last night. In the end, USC did enough in a game I did not catch any of. #3 Auburn slipped a cupcake in this week before the SEC schedule really heats up and crushed Buffalo 38-7. This was only a 10-0 game at the half, but the Tigers picked up the pace in the third quarter and rolled on. However, Auburn did not cover in a game I did not see any of. #4 Michigan also struggled through most of the third quarter against an undefeated Wisconsin team. However, in the end, and like last week, Mr. Manningham stepped up and the Wolves went on t0 the win 27-13 (W on line). Michigan D line again looking like it is the best in the nation. It will be interesting to see how focused the Wolverines stay as the season wears on. #5 Florida with a very average effort last night in a game I caught a little of, particluarly in the second half (L on line). The Gators defense can rival and in America, and with Chris Leak under center, they are a dangerous team. With their win against Tennessee, and Georgia playing a frosh QB and really struggling on offense, they appear on their way to the SEC title game (Auburn has the inside track in the West). #6 West Virginia also won yesterday at East Carolina pretty comfortably. Patrick White and Steve Slaton led the way one more time. Louisville went out to the little apple (Manhattan, KS) and rolled the Wildcats. Even with a backup QB, the Cardinal D was absolutely stifling. Gonna be a special matchup when they meet the Mountaineers later in the season. Va Tech really had their problems with the Bearcats yesterday, but in the end, they rolled relatively concvincingly. UGA, who entered my Top 10 last week for the first time, will be on the outside looking in after a 14-13 win of Colorado. Yes, the same Colorado team that lost at home to an average at best 1-AA team Montana St. Give the Buffs credit, they came in their with an attitude on D and completely shut down the Dawgs until Richt brought in Cox late in the 4th. Down 13-0, they came back with 2TDs in the last 10 minutes to pull this one out. And lastly, Texas, beat Iowa St.

Here is the way I see things after Week 4:

#1 Ohio St. (Without Troy Smith, they lose yesterday; Heisman favorite at this point)
#2 USC (Pac 10 not looking like much of a challenge at this point)
#3 Auburn (SEC schedule about to heat up after breather against Buffalo)
#4 Michigan (Killer front 7)
#5 Florida (experience, and good balance)
#6 West Virginia (solid W yesterday)
#7 Louisville (can they continue this with backup QB?)
#8 Virginia Tech (special teams still gets it done)
#9 Texas (offense coming around; get them now)
#10 LSU (solid team that could still win title)