College Football: Week 9 Wrap-Up

South Florida def. #21 West Virginia 30-19
You guys know I love Matt Grothe. Really, I do. But B.J. Daniels is the kind of athlete that can make your memory really, really short. Whether through the air or on the ground, he absolutely overwhelmed the Mountaineers in this game. The Bulls' defense did their part as well, holding the shifty Noel Devine to just 39 yards. South Florida is trying hard to avoid the quick start/disappointing collapse combination that they've shown in the past two seasons and this is a good start.

Illinois def. Michigan 38-13
Ugh, this was an ugly one. The Illini looked the best they've looked since last year, but this was the same old Michigan story. Missed tackles, utter confusion against a running quarterback, blown coverages, boneheaded decisions by punt returners, bizarre play calls and fumbles. Starting to look very familiar. Michigan is the only FBS team Illinois has beaten this year and the Wolverines should be very, very embarassed.

#1 Florida def. Georgia 41-17
You may find Gary Danielson annoying and he does have a strange obsession with Tim Tebow, but the guy knows what he's talking about. He pointed out near the end of the first quarter that Florida had abandoned that straight up the middle offense (read: constant dive plays) and gone back to its true 2008 spread and he was right on the money. Undisciplined play from Georgia (big surprise) didn't help matters any, but Florida looked unbeatable on offense last year and looked a heck of a lot better this weekend than they had all year. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

#3 Texas def. Oklahoma State 41-14
Not a thrilling one here. It looked like Oklahoma State was trying to set the single game record for most incomplete passes to hit the receiver's hands. And the Cowboys were utterly unable to generate any pass rush on defense. I'm not totally sold on Colt McCoy, but we already discovered against Missouri (and, well, all of last year), that if you give him enough time, he'll pick you apart. Oklahoma State was way behind very quickly and doesn't really have the guns to play catch up.

#10 Oregon def. #5 USC 47-20
Man, I really wish I'd picked Oregon! I was totally going to (I swear), but then I just couldn't imagine the team I saw back at the beginning of September ever even managing to get dressed correctly (I know, I know, arguable considering their uniforms). I will say that I didn't know at the time that half of USC's receiving corps wasn't coming to the game. But to be honest, USC's offense did just fine. Barkley had plenty of time to throw and though he sorely missed tight end Anthony McCoy, they moved the ball all right. But that became moot in a hurry, as Oregon absolutely gashed the Trojans on the ground. You'll often see a team come out and mow down the field on the first drive only to do little else after the defense makes adjustments. I kept waiting for the Trojans to wake up and play contain in the pocket, but they never did (or never could). Great, great, great game for the Ducks and especially for QB Jeremiah Masoli! Speaking of Masoli, he's 5'11/220 - I wonder how many NFL scouts watching the game wrote "OUR NEW TAILBACK"

This Week's 'Yell at the TV' Moment: It was more like a 'cry in front of the TV' moment, but it was very depressing to watch Michigan fail on four successive plays from the one-yard line. The Michigan football program I grew up with had many flaws, but scoring from the one-yard line wasn't one of them. And my Desmond Howard jersey and mini football from the late '80s say tradition is very important in Wolverine-land. So I appreciate the improvement from last year and I'm willing to give RichRod another year or two, but I'm worried he'll lose sight of the reason the fans are sticking with him.

In other news: I did manage to watch the second half of the Indiana/Iowa game. A perfect storm there: the Hawkeyes like to cut it close and the Hoosiers like to blow leads.....I thought it was pretty funny that Tate Forcier was wearing a complete fleece muffle under his helmet - he may be in trouble come winter.....It is incredibly hard to not make constant juice jokes when watching Illinois. The Juice has been squeezed!.....Verne Lundquist informed us that Georgia was playing "like a leaking old boat" right after he told told us that they were wearing black helmets that matched their black "slacks".....Georgia's punter, Drew Butler, is the son of former Bears kicker Kevin Butler. Wonder if his teammates call him Butthead or if they're too young (and too not-from-Chicago) for that.....Did you notice how Brent Musberger was getting annoyed at the refs for interrupting his monologues?.....Anyone catch the Auburn/Ole Miss 'attack of the overrated' matchup? Me neither