Sully’s College Football Wrap Up Week 7

Up, down, and not yet out

What We Learned:

In what ended up being quite an eye opening weekend of college football, the nation got a glimpse of who is for real, and likewise, who is not.  For starters, one needs to look no further than this weeks game in Lobo, where West Virginia showed its greatest weakness: Defense.  The template has already been put in place; the blueprint to winning a national championship already mapped out by the SEC years ago.  To reach the top, defense is king, special teams is the separator, and explosive offense is optional.  All an offense needs to do is quite simple – DO NOT turn the ball over, and when opportunity strikes, score points.  The one exception to this rule in recent memory is Auburn, but besides having the college football equivalent to Super-Man in Cam Newton, Auburn did have Nick Farley, who was an absolute beast that set the line of scrimmage nearly every play on the defensive side of the ball.  With West Virginia, if Gino Smith has an off day, they are not going to play well.  In the past three games they have given up staggering 157 points, which is just not going to get it done.  Meanwhile, teams like LSU, who passed for a modest 148 yards with a 0-1 td/int ratio still manage to defeat excellent teams like South Carolina because they have other options to go to.  They play very good defense, and they set themselves up with good field position on a consistent basis, and most importantly, they win the turnover battle (2-1 last night over South Carolina).  If one has been following our polls in recent weeks, they will see that we never believed in West Virginia as a top 5-10 team, and yesterday is exactly why.  Holgerson is going to do an awesome job in Morgantown, but not until he fixes that defense.   Playing no defense does not get it done through a full college football season.  Just ask Notre Dame and Michigan from a few years ago with Weis and Rich Rod.  Good offenses, but ultimately not contending, or even relevant teams.  The same things can be applied to Texas.  When a team has a defense that cannot get off the field that is coupled with an offense that is prone to either score immediately or go three and out due to passing the ball downfield so often, the likelihood of said defense being not only gassed throughout an individual football game, but breaking down physically as the season progresses is significantly heightened.  There are some exceptions to be sure, but they are far and few between.

Oklahoma is Back and Primed to Stay

We have said this from the beginning of this season: If Landry Jones shows up, Oklahoma will, too.  There is enough athleticism and speed across the board on this team to win big, and not just on offense.  The problem is, they do not always bring it like they are capable of.  Oklahoma, in many respects, is a lot like Florida State in the sense that they are a team that can walk into a stadium on a night with everything.  Speed, power, explosive offense, defense, coaching – you name it, and it is in their arsenal.  Oklahoma seems to always get better under Bob Stoops as the season progresses, but they have fallen all too often to inferior teams due to them not playing with what we see as an edge.  Kansas State is absolutely, unquestionably a good football team. Their QB, Klien, and coach, Synder, are both amongst the best in all of college football, but that still does not make them better than Oklahoma.  To be frank, we do not believe they are.  Yet, they still beat Oklahoma when it counted, and they did it on the road, which highlights exactly what we are talking about here.  Kansas State deserves everything they get this year, because they are absolutely earning it – they may even win out.  However, Oklahoma probably will win out, and by years end we believe they will demonstrate that they still belong in the discussion.

Notre Dame is Getting it Done

In what will undoubtedly be one of the most controversial endings of the 2012 season, Notre Dame held on to beat Stanford in overtime when they stopped the Cardinal offense on four consecutive plays inside the four yard line.  Was it a stop?  It is too close to call for us, but you be the judge

In any case, Notre Dame won, and in doing so, they kept themselves in the picture.  We still do not believe they are a championship team, as we see them losing to Oklahoma in two weeks, but the job Brian Kelly is doing at Notre Dame has to be acknowledged.  The ND program is finally getting its edge back, and for many long time lovers of the game, that is great to see.  Brian Kelly, here is your Sully’s College Football page shout out of the week.  Great job, sir.

Wisconsin is Getting Back to Form, Finally

To go along with the theme of the rest of the Big Ten this season, Wisconsin has been dreadfully under-performing to date.  We understand that they lost Russel Wilson and a huge chunk of their coaching staff, but barely beating a bad (1-5) FCS team like Northern Iowa  is inexcusable for a defending Big Ten champion.  However, yesterday we finally saw the kind of physical, smart football that has led Wisconsin to back to back Big Ten championships when they crushed Purdue by a score of 38-14.  The Badger offensive line pushed around Purdue all day to the tune of 467 yards rushing, despite the fact that Purdue has future NFL prospects Short and Gaston manning the inside of their defensive line.  Such a performance exemplifies what the Badgers have prided themselves on for so long, which is being on the short list of the nations absolute best offensive lines.  In their cruising victory over Purdue, the Badgers are primed to make a run at the Big Ten Championship game.  The Badgers have already smelled the roses, but will they finally drink the water?  Only time will tell.

Interesting Thing of Note: 

The official BCS standings come out tonight, so be sure to set your DVRs and tune in to your TV this evening.  The results should be interesting, especially considering the reports that have surfaced of Florida and Notre Dame being #1 and #2 respective according to the computers.

Our Knee Jerk Reaction

While there was movement in the polls today as a result of Saturday’s game, we are still going to remain patient with how we react to everything.  There is still a lot of season left, and if college football has taught us anything, it is that we know nothing.  Not yet, at least.  Alabama and Oregon is looking pretty good right now in terms of the eventual championship game, but Alabama still has a date with LSU in Death Valley, and Oregon is probably going to have to beat SC twice.  Neither of those tasks are small orders, and there are plenty of really good football teams vying for position as we speak.  With that in mind, keeping an eye on upcoming games like South Carolina @ Florida, or ND @ Oklahoma should be both interesting and worthwhile.  The teams chomping at Alabama and Oregons heels will ultimately be the movers and shakers of this 2012 college football season.