Three Answers: Week 1

The great thing about being a writer is you get to answer your own questions. :) Yesterday, I asked who would get upset. Cal is the easy answer to that question. The Bears looked flatter than an open warm bottle of Dr. Pepper as they could not move the ball against a speedy and efficient Tennessee defense. We'll se in the next couple weeks where these two teams stand, but the first blush is that Cal is highly over rated. Ted Tedford needs a good quarterback now, or else any chance of Pasadena goes out the window. Also, while winning, Notre Dame was quite shaky. Brady Quinn looked average as his passes sailed high into the Georgia night. The defense was a bit slow, but Georgia Tech's offense was slower. They won, did the Irish, but they look beatable. Secondly, I asked if some would play themselves out of the Heisman. We can't answer this fully as Brian Brohm has yet to play, but two players are showing some waning signs of trouble. Despite rushing for a late second quarter score, Brady Quinn did not have a good night. He showed that a good pass rush could rattle him. He will play 2006 under a double edged sword, being the prohibitive Heisman favorite while playing every second under an exclusive national tv audience. He needs a much more potent performance against Penn State to keep the favorite title. Adrian Peterson is still in finalist territory, but the team looked sluggish against Alabama-Birmingham. He did not dominate the game, despite a 58 yard touchdown reception in the second half. The field is wide open, but we expected that now, didn't we. Lastly, the hot seat. Lloyd Carr and Michigan looked good against Vandy, although Michigan needs Mike Hart to carry the offense. Phillip Fullmr beat an inter-conference top ten team, rather convincingly. He gets some space, especially if they beat Florida. On the other side of the coin, the University of Colorado is under the major gun. They were throttled, at home no less, by I-AA Montana State. There is open bleeding now in Boulder, beyond the thrashing taken at the hands of Texas in last year's Big 12 title game. Richmond shut out Duke, making the junior schools winners of two games yesterday.