TOP 25
1. Ohio State, 3-0, 1
2. Notre Dame, 3-0, 7
3. Ole Miss, 3-0, 8
4. Michigan State, 3-0, 5
5. UCLA, 3-0, 6
6. Louisiana State, 2-0, 15
7. Texas Christian, 3-0, 3
8. Baylor, 2-0, 9
9. Georgia, 3-0, 11
10. Oregon, 2-1, 10
11. Alabama, 2-1, 2
12. Florida State, 3-0, 11
13. Texas A&M, 3-0, 14
14. Oklahoma, 3-0, 18
15. Clemson, 3-0, 16
16. Oklahoma State, 3-0, 19
17. Wisconsin, 3-0, 20
18. Northwestern, 3-0, NR
19. Georgia Tech, 2-1, 16
20. Stanford, 2-1, NR
21. Utah, 3-0, 22
22. Tennessee, 2-1, 23
23. Southern Cal, 2-1, 4
24. Brigham Young, 2-1, 24
25. Arizona State, 2-1, 21
OUT: Auburn (13) and Missouri (25)
VOTES: Arizona, Auburn, Missouri, Mississippi State, Miami, West Virginia, Texas Tech, Michigan, Iowa, NC State, Houston, Memphis, Nebraska, Florida, Temple and Minnesota.
FLORIDA STATE ANALYSIS
Florida State has historically had issue with Boston College, and the game up in Chestnut Hill on Friday night was no exception. Heck, the Seminoles barely took out the Eagles with Jameis Winston in Tallahassee. BC did exactly what they wanted to do; run power at FSU all night. The Eagles has some success, but when push came to shove, it was the Eagles that got pushed around. While we know the Seminole defensive backfield was special, on this night, it was the defensive front that won the day. Big plays by Lawrence Nile-Stample and Derrick Nnadi at crucial times helped save the day. Terrance Smith play All America football, and caused a fumble which was returned by Jalen Ramsey for a decisive touchdown. Also of note was the play of both LaMarcus Brutus and Roderick Hoskins of Orlando Evans, who had real good nights. After a strong opening drive to go up 7-0, it looked like a might be a breeze. But, there were a multitude of things that hampered the Seminoles, including the fact that Boston College is pretty darn sound on the stop side. Dalvin Cook was bottled up most of the night, with the offensive line failing to get control of the line of scrimmage. Everett Golson played it close to the vest, but several drops hurt his options. The offense remains inconsistent, and only gained 217 yards with a less than stellar yards per play. However, there were no turnovers, which was quite significant for the young offensive unit. Many in the FSU community thought this was going to be a very tough game, some even predicting a loss, but FSU did what they had to do and remain undefeated. FSU will take a week off, which is good for Dalvin Cook's ribs, and face WF on the road in two weeks.
NEBRASKA ANALYSIS
It was a brutally hot afternoon at SunLife Stadium in Miami, but that did not stop about 18,000 Big Red fans from filling up the east end zone, and getting roasted in more ways than one. It seemed the 'Husker team was unfazed by all the fans inside the stadium, a stadium Hurricane faithful fail miserably to fill up, as Big Red came out flat as can be imagined. Before those of us in the stands could get a brew to cool off, the 'Huskers were getting boat raced. Sadly, while it was expected on the offensive side, both lines of scrimmage for the 'Huskers were handled most of the day, particularly early. Vincent Valentine was out, but Maliek Collins was far less than disruptive, and the pass rush was non-existent. Freedom Akinmoladun is really young and playing well for a guy new to the position, while Greg McMullen appears absent. Miami exposed the 'Huskers backs and linebackers. Slot receivers came out covered by Bando and the like, who in no way shape or form can run with the fleet of receivers the Canes have. Daniel Davie got torched right away, and thankfully, they got him out of the game. Davie was decent a year ago; who knows what got in his head, but he is no doubt a liability. Jonathan Rose and Josh Kalu were having issues all day, but without a pass rush, what could we expect. Chris Jones of Jacksonville Sandalwood got some time and made the most it. It should be noted that after the initial onslaught (it was 24-3 at one time) , Nebraska did improve defensively. Offensively, while the brutal start got Nebraska behind the chains right away, Tommy Armstrong and the 'Huskers got some things going, but three big plays were nullified by inexcusable penalties. Terrell Newby averaged over four yards a carry, but the run game was exited. Alex Lewis, team captain and senior offensive lineman, had a couple stupid penalties, which has become far beyond a pattern. The OL was not good, forcing Armstrong to run out of the pocket and throw on the run. This is not by itself bad, but under duress as a QB is not good. It seemed Coach Cavnaugh was among the best coaches Riley brought over, but he is stuck on the same five guys who are failing to get it done. I would prefer at least to give some others a chance, particularly on the inside. G Jerald Foster comes immediately to mind, and some rotation would be preferred. Nebraska had chances in the first half, but failed to execute through dropped passes and penalties. A play that really hurt was Armstrong being picked off at the Miami goal line just before the half, which would have put the Big Red back in the game.
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| Tommy Armstrong |
While Al Golden and Miami tried to get cute in the second half, with Nebraska down 33-10, Tommy Armstrong led a furious 'Husker comeback to tie the game at 33 and force overtime. While many of the Hurricane faithful had departed to celebrate, the sea of red in the east end zone were loud with chants of Go Big Red. Miami won the toss, and deferred as expected. Not expected, was Nebraska choosing to play into the west end zone, where there were no 'Husker fans. Puzzling. On the first play, Armstrong threw a horrendous pass right to a surprised Cane defender, who almost ran it back for a score before Armstrong pushed him out followed by Alex Lewis adding a personal foul penalty to his long list of flags. Miami kicked the field goal; game over. A huge comeback; all for noting. Miami was much faster that Nebraska, and has better overall talent. But Nebraska shot themselves in the foot all day. Once it was tied and overtime was here, all the momentum was with Nebraska, as were the majority of fans remaining in the stadium. How Nebraska lost this game after the comeback is mind boggling. Armstrong, who is a warrior and had some excellent plays, had two awful interceptions that were huge. Often critical of #4, I appreciate his effort and talent and he can play for me all day long. This loss is not on him. There are several players missing in lack of action, and if they cannot get it done, put someone else in. Nebraska is 1-2 for the first time since 1981. Nebraska should be 3-0. It appears Riley has some guys who are living in the past, and change needs to come (culture). I see signs of Nebraska being a team very capable of winning the B1G West, which is the goal at this point, provided they can get some things corrected. They will not see the aerial abilities of BYU, or the speed of Miami, again unless they face Ohio State. Come prepared to play, eliminate the ridiculous penalties, protect the football and get improved play on the lines of scrimmage and Nebraska can win each of their remaining games. Failure to do these things can make many of the upcoming games coin flips. And it is worth noting, it sure seems the loss of DPE, who seemed to be healing just fine given his movement witness during pregame warmups, has really hurt the offense, not withstanding the excellent play of Jordan Westerkamp. We have learned quite a bit, and it is now time to fix it, disposing of a better than you think Southern Miss and Illinois before Wisconsin comes to Lincoln. We will all stick together in all kinds of weather, in this case sweltering heat and a blazing sun which reminded me I have lost most of my hair, to support this team. I remain all Riled up, because I see plenty of signs this undermanned bunch (did 3 seniors start on Saturday) with young aspiring stars (I see you Stanley Morgan, Nick Gates, Chris Jones and Dedrick Young) is going places sooner than later. We're coming to you city. Come along for the ride.
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