The Riddle of College Football

“Don’t call it a comeback/ I’ve been here for years/ Rockin’ my peers and puttin’ suckas in fear…”

Yes, ladies and gentlemen it is the return. The return of your blogger’s favorite blogger, Tha Weatha Report. I know it has been a while, but I’m sure you haven’t forgotten the drill by now. I’m Tha WeathaMan here today to take the temperature of the world known as college football. Without further ado, shall I proceed? Yes indeed!

We are almost to the beginning of November and let us go over what we know about college football. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING OF IMPORTANCE! We know that the computers love the SEC, but we already knew that. This year we have Alabama and Florida #1 and #2 respectively in the BCS standings, even while preseason top 5 team Oregon has done nothing but demolish their opponents.  We know that Notre Dame has a defense that can keep just about any offense out of the endzone. We also know that LSU still hasn’t found a quarterback, longing for the days of some guy by the name of JaMarcus Russell. So basically, it is more about what we don’t know versus what we do know. 

We don’t know how Notre Dame’s defense is going to stand up against a top tier offense. We don’t know if Florida will keep it up through their tough SEC slate of games, and we have no clue if any team in the Pac-10…er…..12 can keep up with Oregon’s breakneck tempo. Ah, but have no worries by confused college football friends. This week starts the clearing of the fog as we will start to discover who has what it takes to make it to the big game. Just look at the schedule:

Colorado at #4 Oregon

#2 Florida vs #10 Georgia

#14 Texas Tech at #3 Kansas St.

#5 Notre Dame at #8 Oklahoma

#11 Mississippi St. at #1 Alabama

#7 Oregon St. at Washington

I don’t know about you guys, but Saturday I’m taking the battery out of my phone and throwing it away. I shall not be disturbed with that slate of games. Colorado shouldn’t challenge Oregon, but at least the Ducks will face another conference opponent. In the “artist formerly known as the World’s Largest Cocktail Party” Florida will face Georgia in a game that should tell us plenty about both Florida’s offense and defense. Kansas St. has a defense that smothered West Virginia last week and this week they’ll have another chance to suffocate another offense. Let us not forget that Kansas St has a quarterback that might be leading the Heisman Trophy race at this point. Collin Klein has completed 70.5% of his passes and accounted for 7 touchdowns last week. On Saturday, Notre Dame will take a defense that is only allowing an average of 9.4 points per game this season to Norman and they will try to outshine an Oklahoma offense that is averaging 44.7 points per game. Obviously, something will have to give. Dan Mullen and Mississippi St has a chance to go into Tuscaloosa and make a statement by knocking off the top ranked Alabama. While Oregon St playing Washington doesn’t sound exciting, do not sleep on the Beavers as they are hanging around on the peripheral ready to take advantage of any slippage by a top 5 team. So, what is the moral of all this? If you don’t know which team has what it takes to be a champion, don’t worry. The sky will be clearer come Sunday morning. 

Heisman Rankings: 

Here are my top 5 Heisman favorites as of right now: 

1.       Collin Klein – Quarterback – Kansas St: 98-139 for 1,397 yards, 10 TDs and 2 interceptions; 110 rushes for 551 yards and 14 TDs.

2.       Geno Smith – Quarterback – West Virginia: 216-291 for 2,414 yards, 26 TDs and 2 interceptions

3.       AJ McCarron – Quarterback – Alabama: 106-154 for 1476 yards, 16 TDs and 0 interceptions

4.       Matt Barkley – Quarterback – USC: 140-213 for 1773 yards, 22 TDs and 6 interceptions

5.       Manti Te’O – Linebacker – Notre Dame: 69 tackles, 4 interceptions, 2  fumble recoveries

Collin Klein is playing out of his mind, plain and simple. Geno Smith is coming back down to Earth, but his numbers are still very good. AJ McCarron is a steady hand leading the best team in the country. Matt Barkley could have never lived up to the preseason Heisman hype, but he has had a great season for the Trojans. Te’O is the best player on possibly the best defense in the nation. He’ll never win the award, but at this point he deserves to be in New York. 

Thanks for reading folks, as it does feel good to be “back in the saddle”. I hope you enjoyed the read, and share with your friends. You know you want to…..right?