Every year in college football there’s always a weekend that separates the contenders from the pretenders. This past weekend seemed to be 2012’s nominee.
LSU took it’s perfect record and #4 ranking into the swamp in Gainesville and was bruised and battered by the Gators defense. Third ranked Florida State went into Raleigh and were shocked by a gritty NC State team in the fourth quarter. Fifth ranked Georgia visited sixth ranked South Carolina and quickly fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter, and proceeded to get it’s doors blown off by the Gamecocks.
All of these losses happened to the visiting team. While even the most causal fan of college football realizes winning on the road is difficult, it remains year in and year out the biggest pitfall a potential national championship contending team has to face. LSU and FSU hung tough for the majority of the games last Saturday, but Georgia has to feel that they didn’t prepare their team enough to perform in a hostile SEC environment.
BMOC of the Week: Braxton Miller QB (Ohio State Univ.)
The Ohio State sophomore set the school record for a quarterback by rushing for 186 yards against Nebraska. He also passed for a score in Ohio State’s drubbing of the Cornhuskers 63-38 before the largest crowd ever in Ohio Stadium. The resounding win puts the Buckeyes at 6-0 as they travel to Indiana to play the Hoosiers this Saturday night.
They gave HIM a scholarship? Phillip Dorsett WR (University of Miami)
The stage was set last Saturday night for the renewal of the Catholics vs. Convicts rivalry. An NBC prime time audience tuned into see Phillip Dorsett of Miami drop two sure TD passes in the first quarter. It all went downhill from there for the Canes in Chicago, losing 41-3 to the Fighting Irish. While you can’t blame Dorsett for the overall poor performance of the team, it set the tone for the rest of the game. Dorsett and the Hurricanes hope to right the ship this weekend at home against North Carolina.
Project Runway NCAA: Notre Dame’s Helmet
Very few college football teams have the history and tradition of Notre Dame (Touchdown Jesus, the Leprechaun, Play Like a Champion Today). I somehow doubt the helmet that Notre Dame wore last Saturday against Miami will end up in Notre Dame lore. It’s hard to imagine Rudy Ruettiger painting Notre Dame helmets with the glee club the night before the game, and having to ask, “Did I get the right amount of glitter gold on the right side of the helmet?” Stick with the gold Notre Dame, you’re better than that. I hope they return to traditional helmets at home against Stanford this Saturday.
Small School, Big Time Numbers: John Laub QB (University of Richmond)
Richmond visited Villanova this weekend in a battle of 4-2 teams in the Colonial Athletic Association. Richmond QB John Laub was a dual threat against the Wildcats, passing for 233 yards and a TD and running for 90 yards and a touchdown. Laub has a test this weekend when the Spiders travel to I-AA #17 New Hampshire this Saturday.
Thursday Night Social: Arizona State (4-1) at Colorado (1-4), ESPN
Two teams going different directions in the PAC-12. Arizona State should roll over the Buffaloes in Boulder and keep their hopes of a first place finish in the Pac-12 South alive. If Colorado wins, they’ll have a three-way tie with ASU and USC in the South Division.
Josh Adams is a contributor to FBSchedules.com. Follow him @Joshthescribe.
Great article! I especially liked the section “they gave him a scholarship”. It had me laughing. Keep up the insightful articles. I look forward to reading them!
Georgia looked like it had eaten too many cupcakes…..*s*
That ain’t no lie…
This past Saturday was such a shock seeing LSU do so bad the Gators and then Florida State putting Georgia to shame. The tides are changing dramatically in the SEC conference, not much happened in PAC 12 conference besides Arizona losing their grip on Stanford, and letting them come back for the win. My DISH coworker told me that I now have the PAC 12 conference about a couple of weeks ago, and ever since then I have enjoyed watch every game in that conference.
The print media’s East Coast – and especially SEC bias is tangible. Josh and commenter Nate are right though in that the big games this weekend were SEC. But I’m bored of Alabama-LSU and the 9-6 scores.
The most impressive team I’ve seen so far this season is Oregon and their schedule gets more interesting from here on out. SC in a couple weeks, Stanford and even their Civil War game against OSU looks like a good one this year.
Solid win for Florida, but they should be concerned that Towson scored 8 more points and passed for twice as many yards against LSU as they did.