Sideline: Week No. 5

STUCK IN MUD: Hogs Can't Get In Groove

The Arkansas Razorbacks have a lot of problems right now and the rest of the SEC is leaving them in the dust.

For sure, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones running the ball isn’t a problem right now. McFadden gashed out 173 yards running against a Kentucky defense that had no way to stop him, while Felix Jones carved out 133 yards rushing on only 12 carries.
But everywhere else the Razorbacks are deficient. Casey Dick just isn’t a good quarterback. He completed under 50% of his passes against Kentucky and threw two interceptions. In fairness though, his receivers didn’t help him out dropping a multitude of passes especially on 3rd downs.

Also, third string running back Michael Smith coughed up a fumble late in the second quarter which Kentucky turned into 7 points. Arkansas was up 20-7 before the fumble, but the fumble return cut the lead to 20-14 and wiped away any momentum the Razorbacks had accumulated.
McFadden and Jones were still running wild on the ground and on special teams but the Razorbacks weren’t coming together on offense as a unit. How much of that has to do with the turmoil surrounding the program in the offseason is just a guess. But the team has the cloud around them where the whole is less than the sum of its parts, and that’s never how you want to view your team.

And then there is the defense. The Razorbacks pride themselves on aggressive man to man defense but the secondary has been torched by Alabama and Kentucky. The unit just hasn’t been making plays like they did last season. Now the Razorbacks are 0-2 in the SEC and looking very, very beatable.

— Erick Blasco

The "We Couldn't Have Done It Without You" Player of the Week: Week No. 5

This man’s last name isn’t Hart by mistake. Mike Hart is the heart & soul of Michigan football, not only this week, but each and every week. Against Penn State he carried the ball 44 times for 153 yards and a touchdown. What Michigan would do and where they’d be without me, I don’t know.

Games To Watch: Week No. 5

#5 West Virginia versus #18 South Florida
Friday @ 8:00 PM ET on ESPN2
In what demonstrates a bustling Big East, these two face off for the first time ranked. South Florida has emerged as the king of the upset here recently. They beat a ninth ranked Louisville squad in '05 and have already beaten seventh ranked Auburn this season. And the Bulls have had WV's number before too, ruining the Moutaineers' BCS bid just last year. In what will be a thriller, two very mobile QBs square off. It won't be easy for the Bulls to repeat last year's win. The Mountaineers are even better and more Devine, as in Noel Devine. Plus, it looks like they may have found a defense. But with playmakers such as Jesse Hester and Amarri Jackson the Bull's are definitely in it to win it.
Picks—Randall: WV Erick: WV Chris: WV

Auburn versus #4 Florida
Saturday @ 8:00 PM ET on ESPN
It's not a good time to be a Tiger. Coming off loses to both South Florida and Mississippi State, Auburn is not faring well this season, but, hey, they did beat New Mexico State! In contrast, the Gators, save for a slightly vulnerable defense, is cruising through the season. But in the turbulent SEC, anything goes. One thing is for sure: Tebow > Cox. Cox has thrown five more interceptions and seven fewer touchdowns than "Timbow." Plus, Cox has thrown for 525 fewer yards and he can't run like the multi-faceted Gator QB. With those things and all of the playmakers the Gators have, Auburn's season will be a little darker unless they can pull of a miracle. Miracles do still happen.
Picks—Randall: UF Erick: UF Chris: UF

Michigan State versus #9 Wisconsin
Saturday @ 3:30 PM ET on ABC
Might this be a match-up between the two best teams in the Big Ten? Could be. Michigan State is off to a fantastic start under Mark Dantonio. Michigan State ranks 14 th in the nation in total defense. Wisconsin ranks 56th in total offense. Badgers may live underground, but if Javon Ringer and Jehuu Caulcrick pound it out on the ground for the Spartans, Wisconsin may be in trouble.
Picks—Randall: Wisconsin Erick: Wisconsin Chris: Wisconsin

#22 Alabamaversus Florida State
Saturday @ 5:00 PM ET on CBS
The Tide and the Noles are set to take over Jacksonville and ALLTEL stadium. Why? I don't know. I do hope that Bobby Bowden spent the bye-week coaching up his squad instead of lounging in his recliner, nodding off while drinking cans of Ensure. To be kind, the Florida State has been sluggish, and that's certainly not the case for Alabama. In two SEC slugfests, 'Bama is 1-1 and has looked good so far this season. Ranked 89 th in the nation in total offense, it's hard to see how Florida State could pose a serious threat to the Tide unless Jimbo Fisher worked some major magic over the break.
Picks—Randall: Alabama Erick: Alabama Chris: Alabama

#6 California versus #11 Oregon
Saturday @ 3:30 PM ET on ABC
On paper Cal just may meet its match on Saturday. Oregon is no joke. They average more total yards, more passing yards, more rushing yards, and score more points than the Bears. Nate Longshore is a solid QB, but Dennis Dixon already has eleven touchdown passes on the season, and he has rushed for four more. His mobility could very well be the difference in this PAC-10 showdown.
Picks—Randall: Oregon Erick: Cal Chris: Cal

#1 Southern California versus Washington
Saturday @ 8:00 PM ET on ABC
That big win continues to escape Ty Willingham and the Huskies. They played with Ohio State for the first half. Blew it in the second. And the UCLA game was back and forth for a while until UCLA ran away with it. So, at 2-2 the opportunity to get a biggest win they could is here. Jake Locker hasn't looked bad, but he can't do everything by himself. To even stay in this one, some other s players for the Huskies have got to step up.
Picks—Randall: USC Erick: USC Chris: USC

BOUNCING BACK: Michigan Not Out of Big Ten Picture

Joe Paterno is old. Really old. Joe Paterno has also won a lot of games. A lot of games against a lot of teams. But there is this team from one state that Joe Paterno can't seem to beat.

And Mr. Paterno ran into that team Saturday afternoon as the Wolverines of Michigan handed Penn State their first loss of the season and their 9th consecutive loss to Michigan.

It's not like it was hard to figure out what the Wolverines were going to do: Mike Hart, Mike Hart, Mike Hart. Left, Middle, Right.

And despite running against a Nittany Lion defense that was stacked against him, Hart still managed to rush for 153 yards on a career-high 44 carries and score the winning touchdown in the 4th quarter, all the while showing a spirit of fire and leadership that carried his teammates to the win.

In his second career start, frosh QB Ryan Mallet was solid, throwing the ball for 170 and rushing for the other Wolverine score. His opponent on the other side of the field, didn't have as much success. Anthony Morelli continued to frustrate Penn State fans across the globe completing only 15-31 throws, going 0-4 with two near-picks on the final drive. No receiver had more than 3 catches, all limited by Morelli's inaccuracy.

With the passing game struggling, Penn State turned to the ground, but RB Austin Scott might want to take some lessons from Mike Hart when it comes to hanging on to the ball. Just when Penn State was finally putting together a solid drive, Scott fumbled yet again this season, killing a rally.

It's hard to hold on to your spot as the #1 back when you have a fumbling problem.

After two humiliating losses to open the season, suddenly Michigan is back at .500 and looks like a legitimate player in the Big Ten title race after knocking off a team many thought would win the conference.

Penn State started the season well too after beating up on Florida International, Notre Dame, and Buffalo. But those teams weren't very good. Penn State knew they would be tested last week and tested they were. Now they'll need to saddle up if they still want a Championship.

And Joe Paterno is old enough to know that.

—C. Nierman

FAKED OUT: Gamecocks Fooled By Tigers

I'm sure Steve Spurrier wouldn't say that there is, but if there is such thing as a good loss, his team had one on Saturday against LSU.

LSU stomped Mississippi State 45-0 despite Sylvester Croom's pre-game preaching. That next week they down-right embarrassed ninth ranked Virginia Tech 48-7. Then they demolished Middle Tennessee 44-0.

And that's when Spurrier came to town.

Anyone who knows Steve Spuririer knows what kind of coach he is. Known for his trickery and offensive creativity, we all knew he would come into this game ready. But it was Les Miles and LSU who had tricks up their sleeves.

The Gamecocks got on the scoreboard first, earning only the second touchdown against that LSU defense. It also marked the first time the Tigers had been down to any opponent this season, But LSU quickly responded with their own touchdown. They took over from that point on, leading by as much as 21 points. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that South Carolina was able to pull within two scores.

Now what South Carolina did may not sound impressive, but considering the fact LSU averaged 45.6 points per game coming into the game and allowed an average of 2.3, the Gamecocks played very respectably.

LSU’s Matt Flynn passed for an unimpressive 70 yards, while South Carolina’s Blake Mitchell and Chris Smelley passed for a combined 244 yards. But LSU ruled the ground game rushing for 273 more yards than the Gamecocks.

That Tiger ground game and that second quarter fake field goal saved the Tigers who now seem a little vulnerable against SEC contenders.

—R. Cooper

BULLDAWGED: Dawgs Bite 'Bama

This game taught us a lot of things about the Georgia Bulldogs.

First of all, despite Nick Saban getting all the attention and all the hype, there was Mark Richt leading his Bulldogs to yet another road victory against a ranked team. Since 2001, the Bulldogs are 9-2 in true road games against ranked opponents. Richt simply knows how to prepare his teams for quality opponents in hostile environments. It isn’t a surprise that over the past decade, the Bulldogs have been a model of football consistency. And it all starts with the head coach.

Second, we learned that Matt Stafford is pretty darn good. Stafford’s only a sophomore, and with the way the fans and media in Alabama were reacting to Saban leading the Crimson Tide back into the rankings, he was thrust into the middle of a circus.Stafford remained poised throughout, and made a few nice throws late in the fourth quarter to set up a potential game winning field goal. A fourth down double clutch throw to Tripp Chandler on 4th and 2 was particularly impressive. Instead of forcing a pass to Thomas Brown out of the backfield, Stafford brought the ball down and found his second option in Chandler for a 10 yard gain. If Brandon Coutu’s 48 yard attempt had gone a little more to the right, than Stafford’s pass to Chandler would have been the key play in the game.

But instead, Coutu missed and the game went into overtime. ‘Bama got the ball first, but only managed a field goal. But with the Bulldogs only down three, Stafford dropped back and floated a perfect over-the-shoulder pass to Mikey Henderson for the game winning touchdown. Stafford showed poise throughout the game, and showed his talent with the perfect pass to Henderson.

The kid simply knows how to play quarterback.

Finally, we learned that the Bulldogs are resilient. A week after a tough loss to an arch-nemesis in Steve Spurrier and South Carolina, the Bulldogs marched right down the field and scored an early touchdown.

After they blew a 10 point lead at the end of regulation, they marched down the field and gave themselves a chance to win the game.

And after yielding a field goal to start overtime, they struck swiftly, striking the Crimson Tide down with a perfectly placed touchdown pass.

The young bulldogs grew up a lot during the game and will look to take a bite out of the SEC East.

—E. Blasco

CFU Week No. 5 — "Got Defense?"

It's no secret that offense gets all of the praise. All of the love. All of the attention. Those amazing one-handed grabs and spectacular bursts off the line make the highlight reels and take up most of SportsCenter's top ten plays.

They get all of the Heisman love.

In fact, you'd have to go back to 1997 to find the last time a defensive player, Michigan CB Charles Woodson, won the Heisman. I should add that he also played receiver and returned punts.

Before Woodson, Ohio State's Vic Janowicz who split time at halfback and safety won it in 1950.

Before that, Notre Dame DE Leon Hart who also played tight end in 1949.

Before that, Yale DE Larry Kelley in 1936.

And that's it.

In its 72 year history, the most prestigious award in college football has gone to an offensive player 68 times.

Looking at that, you'd never know it, but defense is more important than those people who vote for the Heisman think, much more. Consider the Louisville Cardinals.

Brian Brohm is one of the most touted QBs of the season. And he is good. He's managed 1,697 passing yards, second highest in the nation. He's even been mentioned in the Heisman talk. But his 18th ranked team just lost to an unranked and formerly winless Syracuse team. Why? No defense. In fact, just two weeks earlier Middle Tennessee put up 42 points and 554 yards on what Louisville calls its defense.

A struggling defense can give a team a scare and a coach a heart attack. Just ask the Gators and Urban Meyer who despite the electric Tim Tebow and stacking up 507 offensive yards only barely got past Ole Miss by six points. Nebraska could also testify to that, edging Ball State by only a point.

Defense also keeps teams in games. Just ask Steve Spurrier whose Gamecocks held LSU to just 70 passing yards and lost by only two scores against the second ranked team in the nation.

And for a struggling offense, defense can certainly win games. Just ask Michigan whose solid defense made up for offensive mistakes, giving their offense chance after chance to score. They managed two touchdowns, enough to beat No. 10 Penn State.

In the end, it's not about offense or defense. It's about balance.

USC, who put up 509 yards and held Washington State to 247, is certainly balanced. As is Oklahoma, but not as much. The Hurricanes are back on the radar having played a very balanced game against Texas A&M. And even West Virginia played some defense against East Carolina, either that or East Carolina's offense is just that bad.

Defense may be old school. It may not be as exciting or high scoring. But it is necessary to win games, which is, of course, what the fans want their teams to do.

And while the offense might have sold the tickets and brought the fans to the stadium, they aren't sitting in those seats chanting "DE-FENSE!" for nothing.

—R. Cooper