From Charleston to Wheeling, W. Va’s reeling

Dirty Dozen, my Top 12 teams in college football after two weeks:

1. Oklahoma (2-0) — The Sooners doubled-up the Bearcats on their way to an easy victory in Norman.  This was a good victory but fans are right to be concerned about the 365 all-purpose yards given up to one player (WR Marshwan Gilyard).2. USC (1-0) — With a bye this past weekend, the Trojans were salivating when it took 42 minutes before the Buckeyes were able to score their first TD against Ohio and thinking that record of consecutive wins over Ohio State since 1974 will continue.

3. Florida (2-0) — So the Gators beat the ‘Canes.  Or was it the ‘Canes beat themselves?  It’s really hard to tell these days considering how far that once mighty program has fallen.  Give it to Urban Meyer, though, he sure does know how to volley questions the sideline reporter throw at him.

4. Georgia (2-0) — With another easy victory against a less than stellar opponent complete, it’s time to see how these Bulldogs do against a quality opponent on the road when they take on Spurrier’s Cocks in Columbia next weekend.  Knowshon Moreno will definitely increase his Heisman hopes if he repeats his 168 yard performance on Saturday.

5. Missouri (2-0) — It’s quite possible the Tigers will drop 52 on their next two opponents (Nevada and Buffalo) as they did their last two (Illinois and Southeast Missouri State).  Chase Daniel already has 568 passing yards on the season, making him one of the Heisman frontrunners.

6. Ohio State (2-0) — I’m reluctant to place the Buckeyes at #6 after their poor performance for most of the first three quarters against Ohio on Saturday.  But in the end, a win is a win, and next week’s loss against USC will set things right.

7. Texas (2-0) — Just like Georgia, next week’s game will tells us a bit of how good the Longhorns are this year when the Razorbacks travel to Austin.  It won’t be a pleasant trip for Arkansas, however, as Colt McCoy is both the leading passer (504 yards) and leading rusher (111 yards, 6.5 yards / carry) for Texas.  In fact, this is going to be an ugly game and if I were a betting man, I’d definitely bet on the over, not the under.

8. LSU (1-0) — It’s possible that Gutav is the only opponent that LSU will “lose” to this entire season.

9. Wisconsin (2-0) — One would think with a name like “The Thundering Herd” it would’ve been Marshall that ran for almost 160 yards and not a small, little, furry woodland creature with a funky looking tail.

10. Auburn (2-0) — The score makes the game look closer than what the results really were. Auburn jumped out to a 27 – 0 lead in the third quarter before inviting the Auburn Middle School cheerleading squad to substitute for the third string defense against Southern Miss.

11. Kansas (2-0) — Next week’s game could be a trap for the Fighting Manginos’; the South Florida Bulls are mighty fiesty and FIU & LA Tech aren’t exactly good competition from which to judge.

12. East Carolina (2-0) — How strange is the state of North Carolina in football yet again this year?  A lowly, upstart, spunky team from Greenville is kicking butt and taking names!  Skip Holtz is doing a tremendous job at the school knocking off three ranked opponents in a row (going back to last year’s bowl game) and making a statement for North Carolina flavored football. With Appalachian State being a strong team each year in FCS, Wake Forest being the dominant FBS school in the Western part of the state, and ECU now emerging as the Eastern power, it does seem to prove the Triangle schools are only good at basketball.  But back to ECU for a moment: Preventing West Virginia from scoring a TD for the first time since the 2001 season was just…a work of art. I wonder how many couches were burned in Morgantown Saturday evening.  Heck, not just Morgantown, but all the way from Charleston to Wheeling.

Parting Note: Even though the PAT would’ve been blocked and BYU would’ve won the game and Ty Willingham is likely to see his last paycheck from UW come the end of September, that was still a horrible call by the officials.  Yes, it’s not a judgment call on whether that flag needs to be thrown, but seriously?  A young QB drives his team 80 yards downfield in under 2 minutes to almost tie the game against a team that should’ve knocked the socks off of them and you expect him NOT to show emotion?  Get real.  Let the kids play and stop calling your bookie!

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