College Football Rules

The summer air is giving way to an autumn feeling, and it is glorious. College football officially kicked off at Kelly Shorts Stadium last Thursday. After a weekend full of football, it became clear how far ahead football ranks in our society. A few thoughts from this past weekend:

• Ohio State is a legitimate number one team. I had my questions about that defense, which replaced 9 starters from a dominant unit a year ago. Most experts figured that defense would get a test from a tough Northern Illinois team that features one of the best weapons in the game in Garret Wolfe. Although Wolfe had 285 yards of total offense, the Buckeyes contained him for the most part when the Huskies could have contended in the game. Troy Smith has complete command of this potent offense and is probably the best player in the Big Ten, Ted Ginn Jr. is the hardest player to defend in college football because of his blazing speed, and that defense, while green, is athletic and fast to the ball. They'll be just fine going to Austin this Saturday.
• Colt McCoy had a terrific debut for defending champion Texas, going 12-19 and accumulating 4 total touchdowns. That defense is still ferocious, and they are the clear favorite in the Big 12. However, he's in for a big test in his second career game. Vince Young legitimized himself as a top flight quarterback when he beat Ohio State in Columbus last year. McCoy gets the top ranked team in his own backyard. It's not fair to compare McCoy to Young, but the fact remains that if Texas wins this game, they will probably play for the national title again this year. Stay tuned this Saturday, this is going to be a great game.
• Notre Dame's offensive line struggled terribly against Georgia Tech's blitz for the first half of their contest Saturday night. Brady Quinn showed poise in handling the barage of defenders and did just enough (with help from tailback Darius Walker) to grind out a 14-10 victory. If they want to stay in the national title hunt, however, the line simply has to play better against pressure defenses. All of a sudden, I can see Michigan's defense giving them problems in South Bend.
• Reports of USC's demise have been greatly exaggerated, they looked like they will still have a say in the BCS title race. Even without Bush, Leinart, and White they were very explosive against Arkansas. John David Booty will continue to get better, and the Trojans have the best group of wide receivers in the country with Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, and freshman Patrick Turner. In a weak PAC-10 (more on that later), USC will be there til the end.
• Speaking of the PAC-10, the non-USC teams have got to be hurting downstairs after Tennessee gave California a massive beatdown. Any chance of that conference legitimizing itself was thrown out the window after Tennessee, a disappointment in 2005, went up 35-0 at home. Once again, the folks on the West Coast will have to use the Trojans as their crutch.
• Michigan's defense looks dominant after just one game. The offense on the other hand was erratic. They dominated the ground game but the receivers had alligator arms all day long. The Wolverines still won, Mike Hart looked great, but they will need a much better effort if they fancy themselves hanging with Notre Dame and Ohio State.
• Before the weekend, Louisville and West Virginia were on equal ground in the awful Big East. After Michael Bush went down, the conference has officially become a one horse race. Even with the game in Louisville, I can't see them beating West Virginia without one of college football's best all-around runningbacks. The man has tailback speed and fullback size, you can't replace that.