College Football Week 2 Recap

Game of the Week: USC-13  Stanford-10

            Aside from the circus that was Pat Nolan, the Trojans athletic director and member of the College Football Playoff Committee, coming down from the booth to argue with officials over such an irrelevant call...the game itself was pretty good. The drama did add to this big Pac-12 matchup, which produced an unexpected result. While we can’t really call USC beating Stanford an upset, it was very upsetting that Stanford was able to get inside the Trojan 30 yard-line so many times and only produce 10 measly points. Not to toot my own horn, but in my Pac-12 preview I pointed the fact out that Stanford always seems to lose one game that they should not. This may be that game.

            I also went on to point out that if USC was going to contend in the Pac-12 this is a game they needed and now they have it. However, I am not completely sold that this win will revitalize the program. While the Stanford defense is one of the best in the country, there wasn’t anything particularly imposing about the Trojans. Javorius Allen did run for 154 yards, which is miraculous against Stanford, but Cody Kessler only threw for 135 yards, and the Trojan receivers didn’t seem to have any kind of explosiveness. The season is still early, and USC has an entire season to grow, but this signature victory still leaves a lot of questions about the Trojans.

Player of the Week: Everett Golson, QB, Notre Dame (23-34, 225, 3 TDS)

            I really wanted to make Everett Golson my player of the week last week, but Todd Gurley did what he did, and I still couldn’t get the images of Kenny Hill out of my head. Now if you look around the country last night, you will see better performances than Golson, but what Golson showed last night had the biggest impact. Golson is starting to emerge into one of the best quarterbacks in the country. His presence in the pocket is remarkable, and his throwing ability on the run is even better. If you look close enough he may remind you of a young Donavan McNabb. Golson’s play could launch the Irish into playoff contention, but if he continues to keep playing the way he is, he will start to capture the attention of NFL scouts.

Disappointment of the Week: The Big 10

            Oregon-46 Michigan State-27, Virginia Tech-35 Ohio State-21, Notre Dame-31 Michigan-0, Northern Illinois-23 Northwestern-15. No Big 10 school will be, nor shall be, in the playoff. God even their wins were embarrassing (Nebraska-31 McNeese State-24, Iowa-17 Ball State-13).

Game To Watch Next Week: No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 21 South Carolina, 3:30 pm, CBS

            South Carolina still has not recovered from their humiliating loss to Texas A&M on opening night (just beat East Carolina 33-23) but they will need to do so in a hurry when they host Georgia. Georgia has the advantage of having two weeks to prep for the Gamecocks and should be considered the favorites on the road. However, this game has a Bulldogs let down written all over it. I am just skeptical that Georgia head coach Mark Richt can continue to win these big games because each year Georgia seems to lay an egg when you least expect it (South Carolina in 2012, South Carolina in 2011, South Carolina in 2010). Do you see the trend? While everyone seems to be souring on South Carolina and praising Georgia, this has the sign for a shocker. Stay tuned.

2015 NFL Mock Draft

Pick	Team	Player	Position	College
1	Oakland	Marcus Mariota	QB	Oregon
2	Cleveland (from Buffalo)	Todd Gurley	RB	Georgia
3	St. Louis	Brett Hundley	QB	UCLA
4	Dallas	Randy Gregory	QB	Nebraska
5	Houston	Cedric Ogbuhei	OT	Texas A&M
6	Cleveland	Amari Cooper	WR	Alabama
7	Miami	Jameis Winston	QB	Florida State
8	Jacksonville	Andrus Peat	OT	Stanford
9	Carolina	Devin Funchess	WR/TE	Michigan
10	Tampa Bay	Leonard Williams	DE	USC