College Football Open Thread

Another Saturday, another full slate of college football games. I won't be around till this afternoon, but my friend Jay will update the action. This thread is for your thoughts and impressions of the games that you are watching.

Here is the announcing schedule and the Pam Ward Chronicles thread. And here is the games that I would watch.

Mourning Games:
- Penn St. really hasn't looked that great against Syracuse. They lead 14-0 at halftime, but that score should be greater against that competition.

- The Iowa-Iowa St. game has been a comedy of errors. Between the two quarterbacks, there have been five interceptions thrown. Somehow Iowa leads the game 14-3, but there really is no winners in this game.

- You can tell Mark Danantonio is a Jim Tressel clone. Michigan St. is beating Central Michigan, but they have let them hang in the game. I expect Michigan St. to blow out Central Michigan in the second half.

- While watching the Fresno St.-Wisconsin game, I can't decide if Fresno St. is that good or is Wisconsin that bad. The Badgers lines have been dominated all day. I still expect Fresno St. to fall apart in the second half.

- Not the greatest day for Big Ten teams. Northwestern and Wisconsin barely escape with wins against Eastern Michigan and Fresno State. Michigan State lost Central Michigan on a last minute field goal.

Central Michigan was down by one with less than a minute left to play. Central Michigan recovered the onside kick and drove down the field to attempt a field goal. An offsides call by Sparty gave Central Michigan better field goal position, which lead to Central Michigan made field goal.

- Here's video of the Central Michigan game winning kick against Michigan State.



Afternoon Games:
- Oklahoma State is facing a letdown game against Houston. The Cowboys are currently losing to Houston 10-0. Watch out for the SI cover jinx in this game.

UPSET ALERT: Wyoming just blocked Texas' punt and returned it for a touchdown. They are beating Texas 10-6 before halftime with Texas driving. Also Houston is beating Oklahoma St. 24-7 at halftime. It looks like it will be a long day for Big XII South teams.

- Norte Dame and Michigan are tied right now. Michigan has been overmatched so far against the Norte Dame receivers, but their offense has kept them in the game.

- Jonathon Crompton has reminded everybody in Tennessee why he isn't a good quarterback. Crompton has already thrown two bad interceptions against UCLA. The Tennessee defense and the lack of offense by UCLA has kept this game tied at 10.

- Michigan is beating Norte Dame by 11 with the 4th quarter to go. Also UCLA is beating Tennessee. I can't wait for the Tennessee-Florida game.

- After being down at halftime 24-7, Oklahoma State has taken the lead 35-31 against Houston. There is 11:22 left in the 4th quarter.

Courtesy of JFein, here are the Central Michigan-Michigan State highlights. Watch for the onside kick by Central Michigan at the end of the game.



- Congrats to Jake Locker and Washington for picking up their first victory in over a year and a half.

- After allowing Oklahoma State to take the lead, Houston has come back to score 21 points in the 4th quarter. It's a final in Stillwater as Houston beat Oklahoma State 45-35.

- What a finish to the Norte Dame-Michigan game. With Michigan down by three, Tate Forcier drove his team down the field and threw a touchdown to give Michigan the 38-34 win. Forcier is going to be special for Michigan. And he's only a Freshman right now.

NIGHT GAMES:
- I don't think Ohio State wanted to start the game off with a Pryor interception which lead to an USC touchdown. Ohio State though seems like they can run on the USC defense though.

- Nice recovery by Ohio State. Pryor lead his team down the field which lead to a score. 7-7 all depending on the review.

Here is the final minutes of the Norte Dame-Michigan game. Watch the Norte Dame at the end of the game. They thought they had time left on the clock and the refs already headed to the locker room.



- Not a great day for Big XII teams. Right now Kansas State is losing to Kent State and Missouri is losing to Bowling Green. I guess that is just tough MAC competition for you.

- Also Alabama has struggled with Florida International tonight. Right now the Crimson Tide is beating FIU 20-14 going into the 4th quarter.

- The Big XII hasn't a good couple of weeks. Missouri barely beat Bowling Green. Kansas State lost to Kent State. Then you add in Colorado's loses and Oklahoma's loss to BYU last week and the Big XII is struggling this year.

- Ohio State reminds me of the Giants. Their defense(Giants pitching) is leaving everything on the field but the offense hasn't done anything. But that's what you should expect from a Tressel offense. Conservative all the way.

- Watching this Ohio State-USC game has made me realize two things about USC.

1) The USC defense usually struggles against athletic quarterbacks. And next week they face Washington and Jack Locker. Locker is one of the best athletic quarterback's in the nation and he could have a field day against USC.

2)USC's running backs are overrated. Cal's Jahvid Best and Shane Vareen are much better running backs than USC's.

- It's a final. USC comes from behind to beat Ohio State. Matt Barkley looked cool and poised driving USC down the field for the winning touchdown. I still think USC loses a couple Pac-10 games this season.

As for Ohio State, what can you say? They didn't embarrass themselves, but they weren't big in the big moment. The offense looked horrible and the defense finally caved to the USC offense. If Terrelle Pryor can figure out the passing game, they will be much better. But Pryor hasn't figured out the passing game, so they will struggle and they did tonight.