College Football 2007 – Week 9 – Scores from two games with some hidden meanings are 57-43 and 6-0
As if the 2007 college football season hadn’t been confusing enough, Week 9 arrives with some very revealing hidden scores: 57-43 and 6-0. Both scores involve the AP Top 25 Poll teams.
First the 57-43. The only 5 undefeated teams remained perfect, another 7 won while 4 more were defeated by unranked teams and 3 did not play. That is:
No. 1 Ohio State (9-0) dominated No. 22 Penn State 37-17, No. 2 Boston College (8-0) came from behind to defeat No. 8 Virginia Tech 14-10, No. 7 Arizona State (8-0) defeated No. 18 California 31-20, No. 12 Kansas (8-0) beat Texas A&M 19-11, and No. 16 Hawaii (7-0) defeated California State. New Mexico 50-13.
Seven other leaders posted victories, including No. 5 Oregon over No. 9 USC 24-17, No. 6 West Virginia over No. 25 Rutgers 31-3, No. 13 Missouri over Iowa State 42-28, No. 17 Texas over Nebraska 28-25, No. 19 Michigan over Minnesota 34-10, No. 20 Georgia over No. 9 Florida 42-30 and No. 23 Auburn over Mississippi 17-3.
Four teams were upset by unranked teams, including No. 21 Virginia falling to North Carolina State 29-24.
The 3 teams that did not play were #3 LSU, #4 Oklahoma, and #22 Alabama.
Then 6-0. The 6 ranked losers who were beaten by other ranked teams (Virginia Tech, Florida, USC, California, Penn State, and Rutgers) now have zero chance to play in the BCS National Championship Game.
Some important notes from the margin:
1) Points, and lots of them, seem to be a common theme this season. The scores have gotten ridiculous, as seen over the weekend when Weber State beat Portland State 73-68 in the highest-scoring game in NCAA history. The scoreboard could have been a basketball game.
2) Three undefeated teams are serious about scoring and defending. Ohio State averages 34 scoring points and concedes just 9 points per game. Kansas scores 42 and gives up 10. Arizona State scores 36 and gives up 15.
3) Ohio State is No. 1 in total defense (yards allowed), Kansas is No. 5 and Arizona State is No. 19.
4) The bright future of the California Bears and coach Jeff Tedford just suffered his third straight loss.
5) The Florida Gators and coach Urban Meyer, 43, just lost their third loss in 4 games to Georgia 42-30. Do you remember Urbano? Prior to this season, his career record was 61-12 (83%).
He led Bowling Green to 8-3 and 9-3 seasons, led Utah to 10-2 and 12-0 records and two Mountain West Conference titles, and led Florida to 9-3 and 13-1 seasons during his first two years. him winning the BCS national championship last year.
This year he is now 5-3. Opponents in the Southeastern Conference have watched Florida for two years with Meyer and have begun to figure out how to stop his Gators. Welcome to the ever nasty SEC Urban and break a leg on the way to practice.
6) You can forget about the USC supremacy ride. Pete Carroll’s reign as the toast of the nation and Hollywood is almost over. USC is about to join the big dirty at 6-2.
There are now at least 25 Division I schools with records better than 6-2. The road ahead for USC includes Oregon State (Civil War), California, the still-undefeated Arizona State and UCLA, all salivating at the chance to humiliate the Trojans.
7) Coach Steve Spurrier’s great comeback in South Carolina has hit a brick wall with its overtime loss to Tennessee, handing the Gamecocks their third loss.
8) Expect an earthquake in the Northwest on Saturday as No. 7 Arizona State invades No. 5 Oregon State. Expect hit-and-runs in the South as No. 3 LSU invades No. 22 Alabama. First-year coaches Dennis Erickson at Arizona State and Nick Saban at Alabama will be very busy.
9) My poor alma mater Michigan State is now officially drinking pond water and folding faster than a K-Mart lounger, losing 3 of its last 4 after starting the season 4-0. The Spartans have retired almost every year for the past too many years.
I think Mark Dantonio will turn things around at MSU, but not this year. The Spartans lost to Wisconsin by a field goal, then lost in overtime to Northwestern and Iowa.
Dantonio apparently inherited more slugs than a Northwestern garden. For the uninitiated, a native Northwest slug is a slow-witted (as in ground) hard-skinned terrestrial mollusk that lacks a shell and secretes a film of mucus.
In soccer, speed kills. Dantonio needs more speed everywhere, and he needs some players who, if they don’t want to win enough, will refuse to lose until they learn how to win. Culture may be an academic topic, but on the football field it’s all about the environment, a winning environment.
10) The Washington Huskies did the unthinkable on Saturday, losing at home to Arizona, 48-41, and are now 2-6. Ty Willingham’s charges must now win their last 5 games to finish 7-6 and earn a bowl bid.
It’s possible? Anything is possible with parity, but don’t ask the Huskies, ask their next 5 opponents: Stanford, Oregon State, California, Washington State and Hawaii.
The Huskies are winless, full of mistakes, and out of excuses. They’re exciting to watch, packed with explosive offense, shitty defense, and have started to develop a stink for losing.
A word to the wise: if the Huskies can’t get a win, they need to get mad, really mad, legally violent and start hitting and hurting players. Hurt your opponent enough and they won’t be able to run over you, around you and through you.
If you can’t tackle or don’t tackle, sit on the bench and write letters to your mom about how hard it is to be a Husky in Washington.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to get 45 kicks in the face before I get up and hurt someone. I don’t care if they are bigger or more talented, they will get hurt and hurt a lot.
Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
