The Andrew Extravaganza

The first week didn't see a whole lot in the way of surprises. Notre Dame flirted with getting upset at Georgia Tech, but fortunately for them, the Ramblin' Wreck has Reggie Ball at QB and he couldn't hit WR extraordinaire Calvin Johnson enough to put up points. The Domers will stumble early though, I’m convinced they just aren't as good as the national pollsters say they are; a lot of teams need to lose before Notre Dame sniffs the top 5 in my ranking.

The shocker was national title dark horse California getting blasted in the package by the Vols. Tennessee put the scrubs in for PT in the third quarter, otherwise it could have really gotten ugly. The Cal defense (minus their best CB from a preseason knee injury) didn't make the trip and the offense was abysmal.

A pleasant surprise was the play of Longhorns' QB Colt McCoy. He threw accurately and with zip, and only once did he look like Chris Simms, hitting a wide-open linebacker between the numbers (dropped, not a pick). It was a nice confidence building game, but I don't think a single North Texas player got anywhere near him in the pocket; Ohio State might be inexperienced on defense, but they will get some pressure, so how will Colt perform? I like Texas by a touchdown, but I don't think I'd bet the game were I a betting man (Currently Texas is -2.5).

In the annual Setting Offense Back 50 Years Bowl between Florida State and Miami, Kyle Wright looked like a scared piece of crap, neither team ran the ball well, and Drew Weatherford sucked, but not enough to shoot his team in the dick a la Wright. This would be a much more entertaining game if both teams had a warm up game versus some cream puff like the Citadel, Western Kentucky, or Northeastern, but TV will continue to force the issue and cause a defensive quagmire.

My new Top 25 poll:

My Rank	Last Rank	Team	Record	Quick Thoughts
1	1		1-0	Looked sharp against a poor North Texas team. CB Tarell Brown was ridin' dirty with LB Tyrell Gatewood and former LB Aaron Harris and got booked on misdemeanor drug and weapons charges, so the Horns have that going for them, which is nice, considering Brown was to cover Teddy Ginn this weekend.
2	2		1-0	Demolished a pretty good Arkansas team. They get a weekend off before Nebraska makes a visit.
3	3		1-0	Easily handled Washington St 40-14. They open conference play versus SEC West doormat Mississippi St
4	4		1-0	Defense struggled versus the run against Northern Illinois, but still coasted to 35-12 win.
5	6		1-0	Took care of Louisiana Lafayette. Mike Stoops and his Arizona Wildcats visit and they won't be pushovers.
6	8		1-0	Blew out Kentucky, but star RB Michael Bush broke his tibia and is done for the season. They'll kill Temple this week, but Miami is next.
7	10		1-0	Beat in-state foe Marshall 42-10. I'm still amazed by how weak their schedule is, Eastern Washington visits this week.
8	9		1-0	Mack Brown's little brother and his UAB team gave 'em hell, but OU won 24-17. Paul Thompson threw two interceptions, he'd better get that out of his system before conference play.
9	12		1-0	The offense is still a question mark, but the defense is loaded with NFL talent and shutdown the Hurricanes 13-10.
10	11		1-0	Beat Southern Miss 34-7, gets George O'Leary's improved, but still shitty UCF team this weekend.
11	13		1-0	Rolled Northeastern 38-0. They're on the road at North Carolina this week.
12	14		1-0	Beat Georgia Tech 14-10. Their offense wasn't that good, but the defense played well. Penn St visits this week, upset would not be unexpected.
13	5		0-1	Didn't look sharp against the Seminoles, but that defense is great. They'll get well against Florida A&M this week.
14	15		1-0	Beat Vanderbilt 27-7 in a game I couldn't find enough interest in to watch. They have Central Michigan visiting this weekend. The Chippewas played Boston College tough last week.
15	16		1-0	Killed Western Kentucky 48-12. On the road at Spurrier's South Carolina team isn't a gimmee.
16	17		1-0	Beat Florida Atlantic 54-6. At Boston College this week for a nice early season challenge and a very winnable game.
17	18		1-0	Took care of Louisiana Tech 49-10. They'll lay the wood to Nicholls State this weekend before visiting USC next week.
18	23		1-0	A 35-18 stomping of Cal (not nearly as close as the score indicates) answered some questions, but the jury is still out. Air Force this week, Florida next.
19	20		1-0	Beat SMU 35-3. They should have a shoot out on their hands at UTEP.
20	7		0-1	They couldn't have looked worse at Tennessee.
21	22		1-0	Beat Montana 41-7. At Syracuse this week for another cake walk.
22	21		1-0	Beat Akron 34-16, visiting Notre Dame this week.
23	19		1-0	Started with a very shaky win against Northern Arizona 35-14. Nevada is next.
24	NR		1-0	From the multitude of the unranked, they debut at 24 based on a 35-14 win over Bowling Green and a Georgia Tech loss to Notre Dame. The Badgers first test is 9/23 at Michigan.
25	25		1-0	Beat an improved Baylor team 17-7. UC Davis this week, Texas Tech next. If they beat the Red Raiders, I'll allow them to start ascending, until then the Horned Frogs are in a holding pattern at 25.