Vick continues to show his class.
Louisville
I took no small amount of pleasure in Louisville getting dismantled by a pathetic South Florida team. Louisville didn’t deserve the credit they received last year, and they certainly don’t deserve to be ranked this year.
Urban Meyer
Wow, who would have thought that Meyer’s offense would only score 1 touchdown in two games against Tennessee and Alabama? After the ludicrous preseason hype, the Gators and Meyer have been brought down to reality. Gimmicks don’t win in the SEC.
Also, I haven’t quite figured out why Leak, who was a preseason all-American, runs a 4.6 forty, watches film 7 days a week, and was a top 3 prospect out of HS is used as an excuse for Urban’s offense. Frankly, if Leak can’t be successful with it, who can? Do you really think Alex Smith and his 4.7 forty would be eluding linebackers in the SEC. People say Leak can’t run, and admittedly, he’s not Vince Young or Marcus Vick. However, if they are what it takes to run Meyer’s system against an SEC defense, then it won’t work because those guys don’t come along everyday?
This Year in College Football
Clearly 2005 is a down year in college football. Last year USC, Auburn, Oklahoma, VPI, Georgia, Cal, Texas, Miami, and Florida St. among others delivered not only good defense, but solid experience at QB. This year, every one of those teams but USC and Texas are breaking in new signal callers. Ohio St., LSU, Tennessee, and Alabama are all solid teams as well, but each still has plenty to prove.
The top ten in 2004 was head and shoulders about the top ten in 2005. USC, who boasts a fantastic offense, has the table set as only Texas has the combination of QB and defense to sweep their schedule.
More on the Trojans
“Best offense of all time� seems to be a popular statement. It seems to me USC is an offense with two great players and a ton of potential, but they’ve yet to live up to that potential against a quality opponent. Wait a second, when OU was the “Best team of all time� two years ago, they had a pretty good offense too. In 2003, OU hung 77 on Texas A&M, 65 on Texas, 59 on UCLA, 56 on Texas Tech, 53 on Iowa St., and 52 on OK State among many high scoring wins. All those opponents were BCS teams, and most had winning records. The Sooners only scored less than 34 points once during the regular season that year. USC’s “greatest offense of all time� so far has scored 70 on Arkansas, 63 on Hawaii, 45 on Oregon, and 38 on Arizona St. That’s not bad, but its hardly stellar competition.
So what is the bottom line with this USC team? They have a very good offensive line – not the best of all time, or even the best this year, but very good. They have outstanding running backs. Are they the best of all time? Here they would warrant serious consideration. How ‘bout the wide receivers? Best of all time – hardly. These guys are good and they are athletic, but they benefit most from a quarterback with time to pass and Reggie Bush as a decoy. Then there’s Leinart. He is perhaps the most hyped player I can ever remember. He is a great QB and has accomplished a ton; however, he gets more credit than he deserves. Leinhart is outstanding, but he’s not even the best player on the team. Since 2004, Bush has been the difference maker on this team. Take him away and start counting the “L’s�.
