Upon Further Review (Week 2)

I'll get it right this time...

Nobody's Back Until I Say They're Back

After this past Saturday's games, the alleged experts are now telling us that Michigan and Notre Dame are "back.".

ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg even used that as the heading for the Sunday entry on his blog. "Michigan is back."

CBSSports.com's Gregg Doyel says in his column, "...for close to four hours Saturday, Notre Dame and Michigan mattered again. And you might want to get used to it. Because they're back."

I'm not denying that it was an entertaining game. The outcome wasn't decided until Michigan regained the lead by scoring a touchdown with just eleven seconds remaining.

But it reminded me of something that CBS TV analyst Gary Danielson said after Ohio State nipped Michigan 42-39 in 2006, and earned the right to play for the national championship. While the other alleged experts gushed about the fearsome display of offense, and dubbed the game an instant classic, Danielson said, "To me, it looked like two teams with no defense."

When the time came to play the Big Game, Ohio State gave up 41 points to Florida while managing just 14 of their own. The Buckeyes had run into a team with a defense.

In Saturday's Notre Dame - Michigan game, the two teams combined to score 72 points and pile up 920 yards of offense. So, I ask you, what will happen when they run into a team with a defense? That's when we'll find out if they're "back."

(Note: Photo from Newsday.com)


A Spectacular Saturday in College Football

I spent about twenty hours watching college football last week, and enjoyed every minute of it. Great games on Thursday and Friday night turned out to be just an hors d'oeuvre for the weekend's main course. It was a spectacular Saturday that clearly showcased the drama and excitement that is college football.

There were the high-profile games that everybody heard about:

USC over Ohio State 18-15

Michigan over Notre Dame 38-34

UCLA over Tennessee 19-15

But there were close, hard-fought, entertaining games all over the place, along with some big upsets...

Georgia Tech survived a furious Clemson rally to win 30-27

Toledo raced past Colorado 54-38

Houston beat Oklahoma State 45-35 in Stillwater

Central Michigan toppled Michigan State in East Lansing 29-27

North Carolina scraped by Connecticut 12-10

Georgia survived a shootout with South Carolina 41-37

Wake Forest scored a touchdown with :02 remaining to beat Stanford 24-17

Missouri scored the last three touchdowns of the game to edge Bowling Green 27-20

Wisconsin needed two overtimes to top a feisty Fresno State team in Madison 34-31

Florida State lucked into two touchdowns in the final :35 to escape Jacksonville State 19-9

Maryland kicked an overtime field goal on James Madison to avoid an upset 38-35

Louisiana-Lafayette upset Kansas State 17-15

Oregon outdueled Purdue 38-35

I love college football.