College Football
Top 25
1. Alabama, 8-0, 1
2. Florida State, 7-0, 2
3. Oregon, 8-0, 3
4. Ohio State, 8-0, 4
5. Baylor, 7-0, 8
6. Miami, 7-0, 6
7. Stanford, 7-1, 7
8. Clemson, 7-1, 9
9. Auburn, 7-1, 13
10. Missouri, 7-1, 5
11. Louisiana State, 7-2, 15
12. Texas A&M, 6-2, 16
13. South Carolina, 6-2, 17
14. Oklahoma, 7-1, 23
15. UCLA, 5-2, 10
16. Texas Tech, 7-1, 11
17. UCF, 6-1, 18
18. Oklahoma State, 6-1, NR
19. Arizona State, 5-2, 19
20. Wisconsin, 5-2, 20
21. Fresno State, 7-0, 21
22. Northern Illinois, 8-0, 22
23. Notre Dame, 6-2, 24
24. Louisville, 7-1, 25
25. Michigan State, 7-1, NR
OUT: Virginia Tech (12) and Nebraska (14).
VOTES: Georgia, Michigan, Washington, Florida, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Texas, BYU and Houston.
NATIONAL ANALYSIS:
Miami came from behind to beat Wake Forest at home and won in the final minute for the second week in a row, setting up a battle of unbeatens in Tallahassee next weekend, where ESPN Gameday will be.....Alabama crushed Tennessee, who has been playing better of late.....It was tight for a half, but the Oregon overwhelmed UCLA in Eugene....Ohio State throttled Penn State....Northwestern is crumbling, losing in OT to Iowa who is emerging....The Texas Aggies rolled Vandy.....OU outlasted Texas Tech...Missouri blew a 17-0 lead and doinked a FG effort to tie in the second overtime and lost to South Carolina....Clemson beat Maryland, shaking off the FSU loss...Va. Tech lost at home to Duke in a stunning loss....Mich State bombed Illinois....Baylor continues to light up the scoreboard and faces OU next...TCU was a favorite of many to win the Big XII, but sit at 3-5 after losing big a home to Texas....Stanford won at Corvallis, a tough place to play.... Ole Miss and Auburn cruised to big victories against overmatched opponents.
NEBRASKA ANALYSIS.
Darrell Wallace won the Kroger 200 Craftsman Truck Race on Saturday; the first win in any NASCAR Series by a minority since Wendell Scott won a cup race in 1963. Not to be outdone, Nebraska got thoroughly outplayed at Minnesota, falling 34-23 as a double digit favorite, losing to the Gophers for the first time since 1960. How do you like that? Needless to say, this mind boggling loss, off a bye week, is devastating for Nebraska. With most of the offense returning from a year ago, the inability to put points on the board is simply inexcusable. The execution was awful and the play calling was head scratching. The receivers dropped many balls as Nebraska tried to employ a passing game, failing to adequately utilize the run game with Ameer Abdullah, who ran for 165 averaging 8.7 yards per carry. Many in Husker nation are throwing the blame on quarterback Taylor Martinez, but I am not to be counted among that group. The young defense, which had seemed to make strides n recent weeks, was atrocious. Minnesota ran basic plays and scored huge gains as adjustments by the defensive coaching staff were not employed. "We had way too many breakdowns ... I'm talking basic football. Basic football that we couldn't execute and we didn't execute," Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini said. Tell us something we don't know. I would like to have Coach Pelini comment on who is responsible for these breakdowns and lack of execution and discipline, which was not an anomaly, but rather a pattern. While the excuses are seemingly sound, they are continually outlined and are not nor have they been adequately addressed. You can perhaps excuse losing to a ranked Michigan or Wisconsin, but losing to Minnesota, who make no mistake outplayed Nebraska, is unacceptable. There appears to be some inner turmoil going on based upon communications and execution breakdowns. As hard as it is to imagine, the Cornhuskers can still win the division and make it the BIG Championship game. Sadly, I think it would be reasonable to assume that if the 'Huskers don't make it, a change at head coach will be in the cards, for at the end of the day, that is where the responsibility lies.
FLORIDA STATE ANALYSIS:
Men; take a knee. A great time was had this weekend in Tallahassee welcoming back Coach Bobby Bowden. What Coach Bowden has meant to Florida State University cannot be measured and it was wonderful to see him at home again in DOAK.
On this wonderful day, after the big win at Clemson last week, visiting North Carolina State, who upset FSU last season, was blown out of the building in a stunning barrage of offensive firepower not seen in Tallahassee since Bowden patrolled the sideline. With a pair of minutes expired in the second quarter, it was 42-0, every bit as easily as you may imagine. Jameis Winston was brilliant again, and is every bit the gifted player you think he is. Winston was firing throws for touchdowns made by Sunday afternoon aerial artists, and with the complement of players Winston has to work with, the offense is lethal. Meanwhile, the Seminole defense is really getting stingy, dominating opponents. While NC State is not Oregon, they were completely shut down. Terrance Brooks, who has really emerged on this unit, led the way for FSU. Fitting with Bowden in the house, this team has the look of some of those dominant FSU teams of the 90's. There are no visible weaknesses, and with Winston directing a talented and balanced offensive attack, the Seminoles may well be on the way to big things. Undefeated Miami is coming to town, which represents another opportunity for FSU to advance on the national stage. With a smothering defensive unit and Winston in command, even thought it is a rivalry game, having the Seminoles open up as a 21 point favorite seems reasonable.
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