Next Lesson - Week 3, 2006

Next Lesson - Preview, Week 3 2006
by Joe Simpson

Somewhat of a down week here in college football, but there are some good ones out there. Let's take a look.

Game of the Week: #13 Penn State (1-0) at Pittsburgh (2-0). Pitt started out 7-0 last year, and one of their wins was a 29-28 shocker against the Nittany Lions. Penn State has vowed that would not happen again, as they blew a 21-0 lead against the Panthers. The Nittany Lions lost three games by nine points, two of them by one-point each. There are a lot in Happy Valley who feel that Pitt is responsible for their not making the playoffs last year (we'd point more fingers at PSU themselves, for losing to Illinois of all teams). This year, an absolute war should break out. The Nittany Lions have an offense that I don't think Pitt can stop. Sage Stith and Ray Neubert are simply too much for this Panther defense. But the Pitt offense can do some damage as well. Chon Kreider is an underrated junior QB, and Vince Kooistra was the Big East freshman of the year last year at RB. He's got all of the tools to beat Penn State; he's shifty, quick, and can change direction on a dime.

Joe Simpson's Prediction: In the end, I think Penn State's offense is way too much. This isn't last year, where Pitt had Boomer Lett, Eldon Hugo, and the like. There's nobody truly able to stop Penn State from throwing the ball down field, and Sage Stith should be able to keep the ship steady for the Nittany Lions. I think this will be close for awhile, but the Nittany Lions will pull away in the second half.

Pick: Penn State 31, Pittsburgh 20

Other Top Games

Oregon State (1-1) at #16 Missouri (1-0). Will there be letdown for Missouri, after knocking off LSU? Claudis Browning has gotten some Heisman momentum...will he be able to keep that up against the eighth-best defense in Division I? Jerald Duckworth and the Beaver defense have what it takes to stop the Tigers...for awhile. I think there's too much Browning for the Beavers, though. I think his ability to find secondary receivers will have OSU defenders befuddled, and as a result, Missouri will pull out a tough one. PICK: Missouri 24, Oregon State 21

#18 Minnesota (2-0) at Texas A&M (2-0): The Rematch. These two teams met a year ago, with Minnesota outlasting the Aggies 38-30, en route to the national championship game. This year, a lot of the key pieces to that game are gone. But Mason Archuleta, the best defender on that field a year ago, returns, ready to get payback on ending what was his best chance to win the national title. The Aggies are also #2 in the nation in run defense, giving up just 13 yards per game thus far. Can June Grant bust through for a big game? Maybe, but I don't see Minnesota leaving College Station with a second straight win over the Aggies. PICK: Texas A&M 23, Minnesota 20

#19 Notre Dame (2-0) at #22 Colorado (0-1): Notre Dame was shaky against Rutgers last week. Can traveling to Colorado, who will be fired up after being upset by Tulsa, hand them their first loss? Ty Sellers fell back to earth last week, rushing for 122 yards on 31 carries against the Scarlet Knights. Colorado has a much tougher defense than anything Notre Dame has seen...and they have a potent offense, behind Skeets Cannday and Jumbo Gilmore. They also have Wray Diedrick and La'Roi Tittle, two targets that require Notre Dame to have two Glenn Stanleys to cover. Add in the potential loss of starting QB Damian Bland for this game, and you have Colorado victory written all over it. PICK: Colorado 31, Notre Dame 27

Other Games (Home team in CAPS, Media Rankings Used)

#1 OHIO STATE 41, Wake Forest 10
#3 Florida State 51, TEMPLE 0
#5 Texas 34, TROY 6
#7 GEORGIA 27, North Carolina 13
#8 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 31, South Carolina 13
#10 MIAMI 34, Rice 7
#24 Arizona 38, INDIANA 14

Last Week: 15-2
Season: 15-2

Questions we hope to answer this week:

Is Artrell Pierson a Heisman candidate?
Is Vanderbilt (2-0) for real?
Are any Mid-Majors sneaking up on us for national contention?

Cup O' Joe - Week 2, 2006

Cup O' Joe
2006 Week 2 Recap
by Joe Simpson

We learned a few things here in the early season this week; we learned what a few teams are made of, and the depth of a few other teams. We also have the awards race just beginning to shape up. Let's take a look at the week that was.

Joe Simpson's Top Ten - Week 2

1. Ohio State (2-0, 1 LW)
2. Georgia (1-0, 2)
3. Florida State (2-0, 3)
4. Michigan (2-0, 4)
5. Oklahoma (2-0, 5)
6. Penn State (1-0, 6)
7. Notre Dame (2-0, 8)
8. Miami (2-0, NR)
9. Florida (2-0, NR)
10. Clemson (2-0, NR)
Out: Texas, Auburn, USC

Rising Stock: Clemson. The Tigers never trailed against Auburn, and never were in a bad spot. They opened the game with a 61-yard pick-and-run by Thornton Lipps, sending Auburn reeling immediately The closest Auburn got was 21-13 with :28 left. Clemson came right back on a Kimo Mercer return to the Auburn 45. One 14-yard play later, Noah Symonette booted a 49-yard field goal, stealing the momentum away from Auburn. Early in the third, Doak Dingle, in for the banged up Mobo Crumpler, threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Kurt Vinson. That effectively ended it. The two teams really played pretty evenly; Clemson just made more of their opportunities, whereas Auburn played as though they had the wind taken out of their sails from the very beginning. The one thing a lot of people haven't noticed about this Clemson program is...Clemson has been doing this to a lot of teams over the past season+. Last year, everyone thought it was the Kurt Laird-and-Buford Bruer show. Now we see that it's a lot more than just a couple of stars...it's a program thing.

Stock Falling: The SEC West. Yes, the East is a combined 8-1. But the West...well...they're 3-8 combined, with LSU and Auburn starting off 0-2. Alabama lost to South Florida. The rest of the division has lost to tough opponents, but there is no way this grouping of teams should be a combined 3-8. The most amazing thing about this division is, either LSU or Auburn will make it to the SEC Championship Game.

Game Balls

Claudis Browning, QB, Missouri - 26-of-31, 390 yards, 5 TD, INT vs LSU. Browning, one of the more underrated quarterbacks in the nation, had his coming out party against the LSU Tigers, carving them up with precision passing and the best play-action fake in the nation. Browning would be wise to keep this game on tape for NFL scouts; any QB would have a hard time finding a better outing against any team, let alone one with national prominence like LSU (though that is sinking).

Kavika Romanik, QB, California - 18-of-24, 434 yards, 4 TD vs Central Florida. Another standout prospect, Romanik blasted Central Florida with an unbelievable day. His 434 yards was a career high, and the junior threw four TDs against a tough pass defense. Defenses in the Pac 10 better watch out; it appears this kid has gotten rid of his inconsistent play, and is ready to take Cal all the way.

Jimond Jensen, RB, Oklahoma State - 26 carries, 201 yards, 3 TD vs Navy. Jensen ran all over the Midshipmen, taking his second career 200-yard game. He's already run for five touchdowns this year, almost half of his output last year. If he can improve slightly on his numbers (1844 yards, 11 TD) from a year ago, he's a legit Heisman candidate.

Emlen Cassidy, WR, Oregon - 6 catches, 212 yards, 2 TD vs Southern Miss. Cassidy is a solid soph, giving excellent productivity each time out. He's had six catches in each of his first two games, and had 101 yards with those six catches against LSU. He failed to get into the end zone in that game, but doubled his pleasure this time around. He's already nearly equaled his numbers from a year ago (22 catches, 375 yards, 2 TD), and may be one of those players to have a major breakout season.

Barrett Spicer, ILB, Virginia - 11 tackles, 9 solo, 3 sacks, 1 stuff vs Temple. Granted, it was against Temple, but Spicer had a great all-around effort against the Owls. He found himself continually in the backfield, and was a tackling machine.

Mason Archuleta, FS, Texas A&M - 9 tackles, 3 INT vs Syracuse. Archuleta rang up two top quarterbacks for his three picks, staking his claim as the top defensive back in the nation. I don't think there's a better hitter in college football, to be honest. One of the hits he laid in on I.M. Dressel could have saved his season; Dressel was down for several moments, then got back up. A few plays later, he ripped up his knee...had he stayed down, he would not have been in. Archuleta strikes fear into opponents like few others in college football, and he showed it in this game.

Jerome Mialik, KR, Fresno State - 5 KR, 216 yards, 43.2 avg vs BYU. Very solid effort by Mialik, who will be counted on to keep doing this all season long.

Curley Moss, PR, New Mexico State - 8 PR, 173 yards, TD (95) vs La-Monroe. Interesting anecdote...as Moss came off the field for his touchdown, he was pulled aside by his coach, and berated for fielding the punt at the 5. Then his coach hugged him. "I wanted him to know that he screwed up, but made up for it," Clinton Goss said afterwards, laughing.

Dexter Bean, K, Ball State: GW FG (37 yards) with :10 vs Baylor. Bean made up for an earlier miss with a clutch kick for Ball State against the Bears. Baylor, hoping for a 1-0 start after a 1-10 season, was devastated, and it showed.

Lessons learned this week:

Ohio State/Texas...anything? To be honest, I don't think we learned much of anything from this game. Ohio State made the plays when they had to, and played well down the stretch. They never trailed against Texas, but at the same time, you had to feel that Texas was never out of the game. Ohio State's vaunted defense gave up 460 yards passing to Mack Gambrell (19-32, 460, 5 TD, INT), which doesn't bode well for the future. The team still has to face Marquand Groom and Sage Stith, both of whom are at least on par with Gambrell, and in the case of Stith, probably better than him. They also served up 136 yards of rushing to Torrin McClairen, who is really proving himself. I will go on record now...Ohio State is a lot more suspect than we thought. I think they'll still be one of the teams there at the end...but don't be surprised if they get picked off early in the Big Ten season. As far as Texas goes, they have a lot to build on. They actually played better than the score indicates. McClairen is proving my claim of being in the Heisman race true right now. The defense, however, has to step it up. They never stiffened against Ohio State, never turned them back...they did register three sacks against Clenton Hamlin, but he stood tall in the pocket all day. He killed them with the playaction, one of which set up a 50-yard TD pass to Delbert Wike. All in all, this was just a good game played by two very good teams who will likely be there in the playoffs. I, for one, hope for a rematch with more at stake.

Can Michigan live up to their own coach's hype? Michigan was taken to overtime by San Diego State on Saturday, begging this question. Their own coach, Craig Hayes, is quoted as saying Ohio State "can't hold (his own) jock", and that Penn State "is a bunch of Nittany pansies". Is he putting too much pressure on his own team to perform as a result? The Wolverines did, however, finally let Lional Semple loose. The stud sophomore responded with 134 yards on 19 carries. This can only mean good things for Rae Hendrickson (26 carries, 131 yards, TD) and Marquand Groom (18-24, 216 yards, 3 TD). Now, don't get me wrong here...I like Craig Hayes. He's always good for a good conversation, regardless of whether or not it's about football. And he's always good for a solid quote. But, I don't think any team is able to play up to his billing right now. Hopefully his assistants will work on him, and keep him from putting his team's psyche at jeopardy.

IM Dressel...we hardly knew thee: Syracuse QB I.M. Dressel's career all but ended this week, after he tore his ACL against Texas A&M. Dressel, a senior, was a Heisman candidate going into this season. Now, he has to wonder what will happen about his abilities in the pros. He was projected as the fifth or sixth-best senior QB in the draft, and a probable second-round pick...if not higher. Now, you have to wonder if he'll go anywhere before the sixth round. I think he'll get drafted...but after knee surgery, and the long road back...and a year of not getting hit...and having to adjust to pros hitting you...will he ever make it? In my mind, I think he'll end up on a roster...but he'll never have the potential he did going into this season. He was a possible starting quarterback for a NFL team...now, he's a backup and nothing more. If nothing else, the injury does mean we get to see Gordon Testaverde again. The nephew of Vinny, the junior was 13-of-15 for 134 (and an INT) against the Aggies. He's very capable of leading this team to the Big East title; some say he was the best quarterback not starting. Well now he is, and it's his ship for the rest of the year. Whether or not that's good for Orange fans...well, that remains to be seen.

Other questions posed last week:

Is Penn State's offense as good as the hype? Yes and no. I'd actually look at their surprisingly hostile defense as to why this team may win the Big Ten this season. Beating NC State 24-3, forcing two interceptions and six sacks...that was impressive.

Is Miami back? Stay tuned...the Hurricanes are going to be without star QB Yo Rizzo for a few weeks. Carlos Booty, a sophomore stud, rushed for only 79 yards...but he didn't carry it all that much. Expect this team to become unleashed soon.

Is Clemson among the elite in college football? See above...but to answer this, I would say yes. This program is going to be excellent, year in and year out.