The Color & Pageantry Top 25

College Football

Top 25

1.     Ohio State, 7-0, 1
2.     Clemson, 6-0, 6
3.     Utah, 6-0, 7
4.     Baylor, 6-0, 4
5.     Texas Christian, 7-0, 3
6.     Louisiana State, 6-0, 2
7.     Florida State, 6-0, 12
8.     Michigan State, 7-0, 9
9.     Notre Dame, 6-1, 13
10.   Alabama, 6-1, 11
11.   Stanford, 5-1, 15
12.   Florida, 6-1, 5
13.   Iowa, 7-0, 16
14.   Texas A&M, 5-1, 8
15.   Oklahoma State, 6-0, 16
16.   Memphis, 6-0, NR
17.   Oklahoma, 5-1, 23
18.   Houston, 5-0, 21
19.   Michigan, 5-2, 14
20.   Duke, 5-1, 18
21.   California, 5-1, NR
22.   Toledo, 6-0, NR
23.   North Carolina, 5-1, NR
24.   Temple, 6-0, NR
25.   Mississippi State, 5-2, 21

OUT:  Ole Miss (10), Arizona State (19), UCLA, (20), Northwestern (24) and Boise State (25)

VOTES: Georgia, Ole Miss, Wisconsin, Miami, Auburn, Tennessee, Arizona State, UCLA, Pittsburgh, Southern Cal, Louisville, Brigham Young, Kentucky, Northwestern, Utah State, Missouri, Nebraska, Cincinnati, Boise State, West Virginia and Arizona.

NATIONAL ANALYSIS

What on earth could we possibly add to the incredible finish at the Big House as Michigan State, who never led until they did, returned a botched punt to defeat Michigan in a play for all the ages.

 

Michigan led the game when the 60:00 expired, but the live play culminated with Sparty in paydirt on a most improbable play.  Michigan State is mighty happy today, but they were exposed as an impostor, at least at this point, to discussions of the playoff......We knew Memphis was a well coached team who was much better than most anyone thought, but we had no idea that after being down 14-0, they would steamroll Ole Miss, who is obviously not all that well coached considering the talent they possess.  A mock draft came out recently, which had three Rebel players in the top ten.  The Landsharks look like a collection of five star recruits that don't necessarily play well as a team.  Tiger coach Justin Fuentes will be a top target for a top job, perhaps with South Carolina...... Rutgers stormed back from a huge deficit to top Indiana at Bloomington.....BAMA exposed A&M, and LSU had trouble defeating Florida as both are either pretty doggone good or not so good; who really knows.....Arizona State could not win at Utah, and Oregon got a much needed win at Washington......Boise State had 7 first half turnovers, no joke, and got blasted by Utah State....North Carolina, who lost week one versus So. Carolina after having three red zone turnovers, is now 5-1 and the schedule is mighty friendly.....Iowa could run the table, but just when you get on board with Iowa, well, you know.....Southern Cal put up a big fight, but lost at Notre Dame....Clemson is positioning themselves for the playoff if they can knock of FSU in Death Valley in three weeks....The wheels have come off Georgia Tech, who took a home loss to Pitt to fall to 2-5.  Big things were expected this fall, but the Rambling got wrecked for some reason.

FLORIDA STATE ANALYSIS

Louisville came into Tallahassee at 2-3, but they were the best 2-3 team in America, with losses to Auburn, Houston and Clemson.  The Cardinal have plenty of young talent, are well coached, and fear nobody.  Once again, Florida State entered a noon kickoff sleepwalking, and with Louisville stacking the box to stop Dalvin Cook, things did not go well on offense for FSU in the first half.  FSU had to feel their way, trying to find ways to force Louisville out of the box. Struggles on the offensive line hurt the effort, and OL Coach Rick Trickett had to have a sideline meeting to get things going.  All the while, although Louisville moved the ball, converting several long third down plays, the Seminole defense did a good job of tightening when needed. Louisville led 7-6 at the half.  In the second half, Florida State made some quality adjustments up front and exercised a plan allowing Golson to utilize his legs running and with some short throws to open things up. Kermit Whitfield, who is really emerging, made a house call and Dalvin Cook, who is reserving a spot for himself in New York for the Heisman presentation, got loose on a number of plays to give the Seminoles a commanding lead.  FSU kept up the pressure on Louisville, and won going away 41-21. It was a quality win over a quality opponent in what could be considered a trap game, coming off a victory over rival Miami and prior to a road trip to Atlanta to tackle Georgia Tech, who although is surprisingly having a rough year, is always primed to play their best when FSU rolls into Bobby Dodd.  Although Louisville was 2-3 coming into the game, the Cards had settled upon a starting quarterback, who while young, possess top athleticism and exhibits a high level of maturity. The Cards are a fine football team, and this was without question a quality win for the Seminoles. FSU, along with Everett Golson at quarterback, continue to take steps in growth and are on their way to being a very good football team. On a negative note, it looks as though Trey Marshall may have broken an arm and may be lost for much if not all of the remaining season.  His loss hurts FSU, and personnel adjustments within the secondary will need to take place. However, the 'Noles, with Dalvin Cook having a special season and Everett Golson finding his groove without any turnovers, march on.

NEBRASKA ANALYSIS

Everything that could go wrong for Nebraska in 2015 has gone wrong.  Four losses, by a total of 11 points, have enraged the fan base. Adding to the sting, the Big Red was tied or had the lead in each of these games with 0:11 on the clock. On top of that, the defense has been ravaged by injuries, adding turmoil to a defensive backfield that has forgot how to cover anyone; dead last in pass defense in the nation. The scorecard heading into a road trip to Minnesota, who has beaten Nebraska two straight seasons, was nothing but unacceptable. On the plus side, the locker room seemed in tact, and if so, it was only a matter of time before Nebraska played a reasonably complete game and whipped somebody. That day would be on this day, as Nebraska defeated Minnesota going away 48-25. Two mentalities needed to be turned upside down. First, the Gophers thought they would beat Nebraska, in similar fashion to how they have the last two games and second, Nebraska had to mentally record that they will not allow bad things to occur late in the game, allowing Nebraska to snatch defeat from victory again as usual. Nebraska got going early and often, leading 24-14 at the half.  The 'Huskers mixed the run and pass effectively, with Tommy Armstrong rebounding to play well, utilizing his receivers in dynamic fashion. DeMornay Pierson-El not only snared a TD catch between two defenders, but broke loose on a punt return in the first half to set up a score. The Big Red stuffed the run all day, applied adequate pressure on the quarterback and gave the secondary a chance to improve their game. Make no mistake, the Gophers are not an elite passing outfit, but that does not necessarily matter when you suck at coverage, as the Gophers threw for 300 yards. Obviously, there were breakdowns; too many of them. However, the scorecard on this day showed improvement, with some defenders occasionally looking for the football, and with Josh Kalu sealing the day with a 41 yard pick six. Offensively, Terrell Newby ran for 118 and Armstrong, raising his completion percentage, was 18-26 for 261 yards. The 'Huskers were balanced, and did not make too many head scratching offensive play calls, although there were some late moments. Nebraska must win three of their remaining five games, which include undefeated teams Michigan State and Iowa, just to make a bowl game. It must happen.  Nebraska could win them all, just seemingly as easily as they could lose them all.  If the 'Huskers can play like they did on Saturday, odds favor they win most of the remaining games.  It is hoped they show continued improvement, and do not beat themselves.  It does have the look; however, that Saturday may have been a turning point for the better. Maybe, just maybe, we ran right out of bad luck.