The Mourning After

The aftershocks from BYU's win over Oklahoma is still being felt. How long is Sam Bradford out for? Does Bradford regret coming staying in school? Where does this put BYU if they run the tables? Was it a fluke win for BYU?

Boise State is ranked higher than BYU in the standings. Boise State like BYU beat a BCS team in the opening season game. So what happens if both of these teams run the table?

Well since Boise State is ranked higher they would have the better shot at a BCS game. But Boise State's toughest game for the rest of the season is against Tulsa. The WAC is not as tough as the Mountain West, so that gives BYU a chance. The Cougars still play Florida State, Utah, and TCU. If BYU can beat all three of those teams and go undefeated, I wouldn't be surprised if BYU vaulted in front of Boise State in the rankings.

Also where does Oklahoma go from here? Sam Bradford and many key players returned this season to avenge loses to Texas and Florida. I don't think they wanted to start the season with Bradford injured and a loss to BYU. Bradford is suppose to be out 2-4 weeks with the shoulder injury and should return by the time Oklahoma faces off against Texas in mid-October. So where did things go wrong for Oklahoma against BYU?

Coming into the game against BYU, Oklahoma had questions about their offensive line. Those questions were quickly answered in the game. The offensive line for Oklahoma will be their biggest weakness. All game long BYU was able to blow up the line with blitz's forcing Sam Bradford and Landry Jones to hurry up passes. One of those blitz's also lead to Bradford's shoulder injury. Also the offensive line committed several penalties in the game, including a key false start with the Oklahoma in BYU's red zone. The Sooners offensive line will be a big question mark for the rest of the season.

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Running Backs, Running Backs: USC might have a true freshman at quarterback in Matt Barkley, but don't expect him to throw the ball a lot. He won't have to throw with all the running backs USC features. Joe McKnight looks a lot bigger with more confidence than he showed in his first two seasons at USC. McKnight ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Now add in Stafon Johnson, Allen Bradford, Marc Tyler, and C.J. Gable and USC will be extremely tough to stop. What a nice way to ease in your true freshman quarterback.

I look bad: I thought going into this season that the ACC had a real chance to take the next step when it came to the National Championship game. Boy was I wrong. The ACC went 4-6 this weekend. The ACC also lost all of their non-conference games against BCS opponents(NC State lost to South Carolina, Virginia Tech to Alabama, Maryland to California, Wake Forest to Baylor). Worst of all though was Duke and Virginia. Duke has an excuse though as they lost to defending national champions Richmond. But Virginia losing to William & Mary, there are no excuses.

Virginia's coach Al Groh has been on the hot seat for what seems like 10 years. And somehow he always manages to make it to a second year. The reason why Groh has always managed to survive at Virginia is because his teams always start off poorly then finish strong. I wouldn't be surprised if that happens again for Virginia.

Who Was More Impressive?: Michigan and Norte Dame both played like last season never happened. Michigan and Norte Dame combined 66-7 against Western Michigan and Nevada respectively. Both offenses looked outstanding and the defenses where even more impressive. Especially Norte Dame's defense. Nevada came into the game with the sixth best rushing offense in the nation and the Norte Dame defense held them to 153 yards on the ground. Both Norte Dame and Michigan face off next week in the Big House.

Uh oh: Ohio State didn't impress anyone with their win over Navy. They let Navy stick around in the game and if Navy didn't get greedy on a late 2-point conversion, the Midshipmen could have sent the game to overtime.

They let Navy run for 186 yards rushing. But that was expected. Navy always leads the nation in rushing yards. The most disturbing stat though was the 156 yards allowed passing by the Ohio State defense. Navy was able to throw the ball at will against the Ohio State defense. This does not bode well for Ohio State as USC comes to town on Saturday. And if the Buckeyes struggled against Navy, what do you expect them to do against USC?

Defense?: Coming into the season everyone knew Oklahoma State was loaded on offense with Zac Robinson, Dez Bryant, and Kendall Hunter. And everyone knew that if Oklahoma State wanted to show they belong with Texas and Oklahoma in the Big XII that their defense had to show up. And it did against Georgia.

After allowing a opening drive touchdown against Georgia, the Cowboys defense held the Bulldogs to a field goal for the rest of the game. The Cowboys defense also forced two fumbles and held the Bulldogs to 257 total yards on offense.

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LOL MOMENT OF THE WEEKEND: There was a lot of hype around Greg Paulus' first start as Syracuse's quarterback. So what happened on his first snap of his college football career? Paulus lined up in shotgun formation and the ball was snapped over his head and recovered by Minnesota. The Golden Gophers would go on to score a touchdown off of that miscue.

Paulus didn't look that bad, but two mistakes hurt him and Syracuse in the game. The fumbled snap and an interception in overtime. Paulus threw a backbreaking interception in overtime which lead Minnesota to kick the game-winning field goal.

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Way To Early BCS Projections

National Championship Game: Florida vs. Texas

Rose Bowl: USC vs. Penn State

Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Boise State

Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Cal

Sugar Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Pittsburgh

Sorry but I'm on the Cal bandwagon. The Golden Bears looked very impressive in their revenge game against Maryland. Quarterback Kevin Riley has changed his mechanics and throws the ball with more accuracy. Also the combination of Shane Vareen and Jahvid Best are one of the best in the nation.