Saturday Spotlight: Week 8
by Eric Loomis
Welcome back college football fans. After an unforeseen weekend off The Saturday Spotlight is here and making a making a triumphant return in a week that was full of great top 25 action and some serious make or break games for some the nation’s top programs. Let’s catch up on the best of the best in the quick hits.
Quick Hits:
The Ohio State Buckeyes continued to roll this week and Terrelle Pryor continued to prove he is the real deal as the boys from Columbus stormed into East Lansing and dismantled the No. 20-ranked Michigan State Spartans by a score of 45-7. While Pryor’s stats aren’t at the elite level yet, there is no doubt the team loves to play for him, and a healthy Chris “Beanie” Wells isn’t hurting the situation either. Next weekend’s matchup against Penn State is going to be the game of the season in the Big Ten.
For the second time in as many games, Alabama was forced to hold on for a win as they out lasted the Ole’ Miss Rebels 24-20. Nick Saban’s squad managed to survive a 20-point second half surge from the Rebels after jumping out to a 24 point lead at the half. The inability to put away lesser teams after jumping out to a lead has to be a cause for concern for the Crimson Tide. They certainly have proven their ability to get up for a big game, but they have to avoid playing down to the level of their lesser competition.
Coming into conference play, it appeared the Wisconsin Badgers were going to be in contention for a Big Ten title, but all of that momentum has come to a crashing halt. They are now 0-3 within their conference after today’s embarrassing 38-16 loss to a resurgent, but not overtly talented Iowa team. The question is going to be asked now if the seat under Bret Bielema is starting to heat up. Every season since he has taken over Wisconsin has been considered a front runner for the conference title, and every season they seem to underachieve.
After a disappointing loss to arch rival Texas a week ago, the Oklahoma Sooners bounced back nicely this week and beat as the beat No. 16 Kansas 45-31. Sure, the Sooners had to be down after last week’s loss, and their road to the Big 12 title game and the BCS national title game is now going to be incredibly difficult, but in this day and age of college football you never know what is going to happen and Bob Stoops did a nice job of getting his team focused and ready for this game after their tough loss to Texas. And speaking of the top ranked Longhorns..
Well, they are the real deal. Everyone knew coming into the season that Missouri had a suspect defense, but Texas flat out embarrassed them. When you hang 56 on the No. 11 team in the land in a conference rivalry game you deserve to be on the top of the polls. Colt McCoy for Heisman.
Upset Alert:
This week’s slate of upsets started on Thursday as the No. 9 BYU Cougars were beaten soundly by a very game TCU squad. Bronco Mendenhall’s team saw their BCS dreams disappear quickly as they were downed by the Horned Frogs by 25 points.
In other upset action Maryland continued their up and down play by knocking off Demon Deacons of Wake Forest ranked 21st. Maryland has now won five straight games against top 25 teams. For Wake Forest, this is a tough loss as they were looking to stake their claim as the top team in the ACC, however they weren’t the only ACC front runner to take an upset loss this week
A week after a statement win against Notre Dame, North Carolina was defeated in dramatic fashion by Virginia in a game that took overtime to settle. This was a tough loss for Butch Davis’ team as they looked to stake their claim as the ACC’s best and beat UVA on the road for the first time since the Reagan administration.
And one more upset in the ACC this week as No. 17 Virginia Tech falls at the hands of Boston College. It seems that every week there is a rash of ACC teams in the section of The Spotlight. Every team in that conference seems to me so evenly matched in mediocrity that calling these games an upset anymore seems like a futile exercise.
Spotlight MVP: Dez Bryant-WR-Oklahoma State
A week after knocking off Missouri, the Cowboys continued to roll with a 34-6 win over Baylor and Bryant was the main reason. He caught 11 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Making his numbers even more impressive is the fact that Oklahoma State only had 13 completed passes.
Spotlight LVP: Rich Rodriguez-Head Coach-University of Michigan
Coming into this week, everyone knew that Penn State was going to finally end a decade of futility against Michigan and do so in a convincing way. Problem is, this one didn’t start that way. Michigan gave Penn State all they could handle for two and a half quarters before a coaching decision changed the momentum. With the score tied at 17, Rodriguez decided it was time to play backup quarterback Nick Sheridan with his team pinned deep and right in front of the raucous Penn State student section. After losing yards on the first two plays, Sheridan eventually took a safety on an ugly play and it was all downhill from there.
That’s it for The Saturday Spotlight this week. If you have any feedback send it to ericloomis@newerascouting.com