The Long Snapper (9/24/08)

The top team in the nation – USC – was idle yet again. We’re only four weeks into the 2008 season and the Trojans have already had two bye weeks. In the games they have played, USC has looked like the #1 team in the land. They trounced Virginia on the road and then ran over Ohio State – although OSU doesn’t appear to be nearly as good as everyone thought. But the Trojans may have too many off weeks too early in the year. Starting this Saturday at Oregon State, the Trojans play each of the next eight weekends, not getting another bye until late November. Although none of the teams on USC’s remaining schedule are currently ranked, the Trojans have a long time before they get a week off again. And USC is not alone. Due to postponed games, LSU and Texas play eight and nine consecutive games respectively. The Big Ten’s desire to end its regular season before Thanksgiving every year means Wisconsin also plays nine games in a row starting with this week’s contest against Michigan. Although they may be the best team in the conference, nine straight won’t be easy. In the future, the Badgers may want to work their bye in somewhere in the middle. Not only can playing this many games in a row prove detrimental to these schools’ success, but look at who they play. USC has the easiest road, while Wisconsin plays three ranked opponents, and LSU and Texas each play three teams currently in the top ten. Enjoy fellas. It’s going to be a long season.

After beating Tennessee, Florida remained in the exact same position as they were the week before. Ranked fourth in both polls, the Gators held on to one first place vote in each. The Bulls on the other hand, rose and fell. Only beating FIU by eight, USF fell one spot in the AP Poll to thirteenth. But apparently the coaches were impressed as evidenced by the Bulls rise from sixteen to fourteen. USF still has a lot to prove in order to continue to climb the polls. The Bulls are one of those schools that are lucky the Big 12 and SEC are currently dominating the top half of the polls. Teams from those conferences will start to knock each other, paving the way for USF to rise through the rankings. However, close wins against lower-level opponents isn’t going to impress the voters.

A big cheer for Vanderbilt, who is now ranked in both polls. The Commodores are 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC – meaning there is a good possibility they could go bowling. Vanderbilt still has a very tough road ahead, but they are actually atop the SEC East at the moment. The week off before facing Auburn is critical and I’m not sure it would be too much of a surprise if the Commodores give the Tigers a good game. It’s good to see the little brother in the Southeastern Conference play well. Now that Jay Cutler – and more importantly his dad – is no longer affiliated with the school, it’s okay to cheer for Vandy. Go ahead. You know you want to.

LSU and Auburn had another great game against each other. So great in fact when I woke up inexplicably at 4:30 in the morning, ESPN was playing it again. In the last five years, the largest margin of victory in this matchup was only six points. Mark your calendar for Saturday, October 24, 2009. That’s the next time these two play and everything points to it being another good one. These are consistently good defensive matchups and more often than not determine who gets a leg up on the SEC West. Side note: I had to go to the official athletic site of LSU to find out that date. What is it with athletic sites for universities? There’s just way too much going on. They all look like a 14-year-old’s MySpace page.

As a Gator fan, I’m very worried about facing Charles Scott in a few weeks. The LSU running back is an absolute horse and UF hasn’t faced a back like him in a while. He rushed for 132 yards against an Auburn team that had only allowed 159 yards combined to its first three opponents. LSU will pound away with Scott regardless of who they are facing as long as it continues to work. Florida has been worn down in the past by teams who continue to feed their primary ball carrier over and over. It will be a tough test for the Gators and the defensive line and linebackers must be ready well in advance.

When West Virginia quarterback Pat White threw five touchdowns in the Mountaineers opener, WVU fans thought they were in for a special year. Their running quarterback had moments as a passer over his career, but now he looked like he may be a real threat to throw all over opposing defenses. Two games later and I’m not sure any FBS teams are afraid of the WVU offense. It seems like a situation where opposing defenses are accepting the fact that the Mountaineers can run, so they let them, but at the same time focus on completely taking away any passing game, thus making WVU one-dimensional and more importantly, very beatable. Against East Carolina, White totaled 72 yards through the air and then in a loss to Colorado, he only managed 43. White is actually completing 70.8% of his passes, but they aren’t gaining yards.

Fallen Cinderella: ECU. The Pirates are no longer the nation’s favorite little guy. East Carolina lost in overtime to NC State 30-24. Despite a discrepancy in conference affiliations, this was a game ECU should’ve won, but then again, most of these so-called Cinderella schools never turn out to be as good as we think. I blame the loss on the Pirates’ connection to Lou Holtz. They never really stood a chance.

Anytime I see Maryland’s Josh Portis mentioned, I still laugh. Portis (read: his mom) actually thought he should’ve started over Chris Leak at Florida. Funny stuff.

Javon Ringer Watch: I’ve said it before, but I honestly don’t know when I started cheering for Javon Ringer. I’m not a Michigan State fan and have never really cared about the outcome of any Spartans’ game. But for some reason, I like Ringer and think up until now, he has been extremely underrated. So after another great performance, it’s time to start the Javon Ringer Watch. Ringer had 201 yards on the ground in a win over Notre Dame – his second straight game with over 200 yards rushing. He is up to 699 yards and has run for 11 touchdowns.

By now everyone has seen the clip of Rutgers’ quarterback Mike Teel taking a swing at teammate Glen Lee. Lee was trying to offer some encouragement to Teel when the QB swung at him. Teel was obviously frustrated over the Scarlet Knights’ awful start and his subpar play. Unfortunately, Teel will not be suspended and will remain the starter. Why do I say unfortunately? Because that means we won’t get to see backup Jabu Lovelace.

The mention of Jabu Lovelace seems like a perfect place to end this.