Packing Up the Grill: Week 2

The second week yielded up some weird results. There were upsets that reverberated far from their epicenter, thunderstorms that recharged a flagging offensive juggernaut, and plenty of hard-hitting action from sea to shining sea. Every week throughout the college football season, in addition to the Friday Tailgater preview, our Sports Nickel staff of college football experts will be reviewing the weekend’s action, distilling it down and “Packing Up the Grill” on the big stories of the week. So tuck right in and catch up on the biggest stories in advance of Friday’s Week 3 preview!

The Tailgater continues its Best Win/ Worst Win series with a review of the high- (and low-)lights of Week 2.

Check out Week 1 here.

Best win:  James Madison 21, Virginia Tech 16

Quarterback Drew Dudzik and Dukes left Hokies fans stunned as James Madison upset VT in Blacksburg...

For the second straight week we saw FCS teams knock off Division I big boys, and while South Dakota’s triumph over Minnesota and Gardner-Webb’s overtime victory against Akron are worth mentioning, the real upset was in Blacksburg.

The Dukes forced three turnovers and shutout the Hokies in the fourth quarter—perhaps the most astounding accomplishment in a game full of them.  JMU was outgained, out-possessed, and penalized for 75 yards, but despite the inequities on the stat sheet, the underdogs were the ones playing like a winning team.

Virginia Tech looked lifeless at times, and their 362 total yards did nothing to help them when the final whistle was blown.  Worst of all, Beamer-ball, the style of play that has served them so well for so many years, came back to haunt them in the game’s final seconds.  A roughing the punter call cost VT 15 yards and the ball, allowing JMU to eat the final few seconds and secure the victory.

There’s no shame in losing to Boise State, and experts will probably blame week 2 on the hangover.  But this defeat has to be tough to take for Frank Beamer, his players, and their fanbase.  On the flipside, this is surely one of the greatest victories in the history of Dukes football.

Honorable Mention 1: Kansas 28, Georgia Tech 25

After last week’s embarrassing defeat at the hands of FCS North Dakota State, the Jayhawks needed something big to happen.  And so it did.  With a 3-point win over the defending ACC champs, Kansas and head coach Turner Gill erased much of the pain and suffering of week 1 and also proved that things are going to turn around in Lawrence.

Honorable Mention 2: Oklahoma 47, Florida State 17

This was a woodshed job.  A total devastation of a ranked Seminoles team that many experts thought might walk out of Norman with a victory.  Landry Jones quieted any doubters who still suspected that there was more to OU’s 2009 struggles than a Sam Bradford injury.

Worst Win: West Virginia 24, Marshall 21

Noel Devine went for 174 yards against Marshall, but it was by no means a quality win for the Mountaineers (and that's a compliment to the Herd)...

It’s hard to imagine finding fault with a team that engineered a pair of fourth-quarter drives measuring 96 and 98 yards.  But as good as the Mountaineers were late, their overall performance was terrible.  If it hadn’t been for an untimely Marshall fumble, WVU would have suffered its first loss to the Herd in 10 meetings, all-time.  Even after the turnover, Marshall had chances to win.  A missed holding call in the endzone would have given them, a safety and the ball, but it’s tough to complain about the officiating when your defense falls to pieces so thoroughly.

Marshall led 7-3 after one quarter, 14-3 at the half, and 14-6 after the third.  The Mountaineers were held to 250 total yards before busting out with the clock winding down, and all game long it was Marshall that played like the superior program.

WVU quarterback Geno Smith deserves credit for bringing his team back, but West Virginia should have never been in that position to begin with.  Throughout the team’s struggles, coach Bill Stewart stood on the sidelines looking only slightly more animated than a mannequin.  It may end up as a W on the schedule, but this game was nothing to be proud of.  The Big East has endured some real ugliness in the first two weeks of the 2010 season.

Honorable Mention 1: Wake Forest 54, Duke 48

What’s so bad about scoring 54 points?  How about not having anything resembling an actual defense.  Jim Grobe’s team benefited from a couple of very lucky interceptions and was able to hang on in a ridiculous shootout, but though the offense was effective — to say the least — the Deacons should be ashamed of their stop unit.  It was only an equally poor performance by David Cutcliffe’s Devils that helped Wake get away with the win in Winston-Salem.

Honorable Mention 2: USC 17, Virginia 14

At the risk of making USC seem like a permanent “Worst Wins” feature, I’m going to include the Trojans until they stop playing like a bunch of discombobulated has-beens.  Of course, there’s no telling when that will happen, with Lane Kiffin at the helm.  While his recruiting prowess remains unquestioned, his coaching ability will be under some heavy scrutiny for the foreseeable future.  And seeing as the Trojans piled up 13 penalties for 140 yards, Kiffin and the coaching staff certainly share the blame for the narrow escape in Pasadena.

Yes, this was a home game for USC.  A home game against the dregs of the ACC, and yet the erstwhile Pac-10 kings nearly played themselves right into a loss anyway.

McElroy and the Tide dissected Penn State this week to bolster their top-dog status in 2010...

This Alabama-Penn State matchup lacked the luster of some of the previous matchups between the two schools. It wasn’t on the same intensity level as the goal line stand in the 1979 Sugar Bowl that clinched the National Championship for Alabama.

Anybody who really thought that Penn State’s true freshman QB Robert Bolden could lead the Nittany Lions into to Bryant-Denny Stadium and to a win over the #1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide was being overly optimistic and had a very clouded judgment.

To be perfectly honest, I thought this game would be much better for a while until Alabama would most likely pull away at the end of the game thanks to their depth and overall talent.

Instead, this outcome was really never in doubt. Alabama controlled the game from the start and I was never really worried. The most worked up I got was when ESPN crapped the bed at the start of the game and didn’t have a video feed for the first couple minutes of the game….

… The good news is that Alabama has given up just two field goals in two weeks and hasn’t allowed anybody in the endzone yet. The bad news is, Penn State drove the ball on Alabama a lot of times and the Crimson Tide were just able to force turnovers. They won’t be able to depend on that when they go to Fayetteville in two weeks to play Arkansas and QB Ryan Mallett.  But, Alabama has gone 2-0 without its two best players….   READ MORE HERE

So what is a big-time BCS Buster to do when the big non-conference win they thought they’d notched on the road is exposed as something south of truly impressive? That’s the dilemma now facing Boise State, who watched in disbelief as FCS power James Madison went into Blacksburg and upset Virginia Tech. Despite having a bye week, Boise State remained in the public eye — but not for any reasons they would’ve desired. The VT loss cost them seven of their eight first-place AP voters and places the onus on finishing big the rest of the season.

That’s the danger for BCS Busters, though. While the Hokies can still win the ACC and earn a BCS berth despite their I-AA humiliation, the Broncos’ chances of becoming the ultimate BCS Buster and playing for a national championship were seriously injured due to the failures of others. Their only fault? Picking the wrong big-name powerhouse program with whom to schedule a “neutral-site” game that was anything but neutral.

But at least a third BCS berth is attainable for Chris Petersen’s crew… that’s more than can be said for some of their fellow non-AQ contenders. The second weekend of games saw the field of viable Buster contenders thinned a little more, and new ones emerging on the scene….   READ MORE HERE

In honor of Oklahoma’s dismantling of Florida State, it seems fitting to point out some of the other blowout victories that fans got to enjoy.

Oregon 48, Tennessee 13—The Vols started off well, jumping out to a 13-3 lead around a lightning delay.  But the Ducks, clearly the better team over the past few seasons, came quacking back.  A 10-point second quarter, 14-point third, and 21-point fourth helped the Pac 10 champs pull away late, and they looked better as the game went on.  Keep an eye on tailback LaMichael James this year.  His 134 rushing yards and 8.4 yards per carry average were a major reason why things went as they did.

California 52, Colorado 7—Hey Colorado, you do know that you’re about to be part of Cal’s conference, right?  It was very difficult to imagine the Buffs as a Pac-10 contender while watching them get thoroughly torched by Jeff Tedford’s Bears.  Five turnovers helped turn this into a laugher; Cal led 31-0 at the half.  If this is what Colorado is going to do in 2010, Dan Hawkins should just quit now.

Stanford 35, UCLA 0—Staying in the Pac-10, I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on Stanford’s shutout.    The Cardinal exceeded 200 yards on the ground and quarterback Andrew Luck tossed a pair of touchdowns as Stanford was able to take advantage of 4 turnovers by the hapless Bruins.  The Cardinal defense held UCLA to only 81 passing yards, limiting their chances.

We are two weeks into the college football season and we have one of the more wide open races in recent memory. Mark Ingram came out of nowhere to win the Heisman Trophy last season and with him missing two weeks; his chances of repeating have taken a pretty big hit.

But, we have another player that has really came out of nowhere and taken the college football world by storm.

It’s been an interesting two weeks, and so far here is a list of the Heisman candidates.

The Front Runners

• Terrelle Pryor (QB/Ohio State) – My preseason selection as the Heisman trophy winner hasn’t disappointed thus far. After a strong showing against Marshall in the opening game of the season, Pryor had another strong showing against Miami at the Horseshoe Saturday. He went 12/27 for 233 yards and a touchdown without an interception to go along with his 113 rushing yards on 20 carries and another touchdown. Pryor was the offense for the Buckeyes against the Hurricanes and he is firmly in the Heisman race at this point.
• Denard Robinson (QB/Michigan) – The player that has taken the college football world by storm thus far in 2010 is Michigan QB Denard Robinson. Who could have predicted this kind of performance by Robinson? He followed up his incredible performance against Connecticut with an even more incredible performance against Notre Dame in South Bend on Saturday. He had 502 yards of offense, 244 passing, and 258 rushing with three total touchdowns. It will be interesting to see how Robinson can hold up with the beating he is taking. But, if I had a Heisman vote at this point Robinson would be my pick.  
• Kellen Moore (QB/Boise State) – Boise State got the week off following their victory over Virginia Tech on Monday. But, Moore’s chances at the Heisman and Boise State’s chances of playing for the National Championship took a hit without them playing. Virginia Tech lost to James Madison on Saturday and that most likely ended Boise State’s chances of playing for the BCS Title. Moore still has a chance at the Heisman as he will be able to pad his stats with their schedule down the stretch….   READ MORE HERE

If you saw no more than the final score of Ohio State’s victory over Miami, you might be impressed.  If you saw only Terrelle Pryor’s 346 all-purpose yards, you might think things went smoothly for the Buckeyes.

Terrelle Pryor once again was the catalyst for the Ohio State offense against the Hurricanes...

Unfortunately, they didn’t.  The 12-point victory was riddled with mistakes and weak play across several critical dimensions; Ohio State can credit its critical non-conference win to the 4 interceptions thrown by Miami’s Jacory Harris.  Overall, the Hurricanes did more to lose the game than OSU did to win it.

Pryor generated 113 yards on the ground, carrying the ball 20 times as the Bucks’ leading rusher.   But tailbacks Brandon Saine and Dan Herron were held in check for most of the game. Though Herron finished with a couple of decent runs and 66 yards on 14 carries, he was ineffective for the majority of the 60 minutes.  Saine was practically non-existent with only 7 yards on 12 carries.  In fact, Saine’s long rush was a 7-yarder.  Collectively, his other 11 touches from the backfield went for 0 yards.

Pryor was able to scramble and pick up ground on designed runs, but otherwise, the Buckeyes couldn’t rush the ball….   READ MORE HERE

Week two has gone and some new faces have emerged on the hot seat while some people that were on here last week have significantly cooled their seat down after two weeks of action.

Caution: Highly Flammable

• Tim Brewster (Minnesota) – If Dwight Dasher had started for Middle Tennessee State in Minnesota’s season opening game against the Blue Raiders, then it would be very likely they were 0-2 right now. Instead, Minnesota beat MTSU to open the season, but they suffered a 41-38 loss to South Dakota yesterday and that has put Brewster on one of the hottest seats in the nation. With a game against USC looming, it isn’t likely he will be able to cool down his seat anytime soon and it would likely take another bowl berth to save his job.
• Ron Zook (Illinois) – A 35-3 win over FCS foe Southern Illinois certainly didn’t cool down Ron Zook’s seat in Champaign. His record stands at 22-40 in the early portion of his sixth season with the Illini. Honestly, I was surprised after a 3-9 season in 2009 that Zook was retained as the Illinois head coach. That Rose Bowl bid in 2007 was great for the program, but it is definitely time for them to move in another direction.
• Dan Hawkins (Colorado) – There was some chatter after Colorado’s 24-3 win over Colorado State in the first game of the season that this team was much improved. Well, all that chatter stopped when Colorado suffered an embarrassing 52-7 loss on the road to California on Saturday. This is a California team that not many people expected to be very good this year. Hawkins needs to lead Colorado back to a bowl game this year to retain his job and it’s not looking good. They have two more games out of conference against Hawai’i and Georgia before beginning Big XII play.

Heating Up

• Mike Locksley (New Mexico) – This is just Mike Locksley’s 2^nd season with New Mexico, but patience is wearing thin. New Mexico went 1-11 in his first season there last year and have now gotten off to an 0-2 start this season with a 72-0 loss to Oregon and a 52-17 loss to Texas Tech. It’s hard to look at New Mexico’s schedule and see more than one win again this season. Two wins in two years might signal the end of Locksley’s tenure with the Lobos.

Uncomfortably Warm

• Rich Rodriguez (Michigan) – Denard Robinson has ran Rich Rodriguez almost completely off the hot seat with his Heisman-like performance in the first two games of the season. Robinson is the reason Michigan has gotten off to a 2-0 start and if he continues this kind of stellar play he will single handedly save Rod’s job. But, at least for now, Rodriguez’s seat is still uncomfortably warm and if Michigan suffers a late fall like last season, then it’s still likely he is fired at season’s end.
• Paul Wulff (Washington State) – A sixteen point fourth quarter is the only reason Paul Wulff wasn’t fired this weekend. Washington State needed 16 points in the fourth quarter to come back and beat Montana State 23-22. This is Wulf’s third year in Pullman and his record stands at 4-23. Looking at the Cougars schedule, it’s hard to see another sure win on the schedule and if they weren’t able to rally and beat Montana State, they could have been looking at a winless season.
• Houston Nutt (Mississippi) – Ole Miss got back on track with a 27-13 win over Tulane Saturday night, but this program is going to be feeling the sting of their loss to Jacksonville State for quite a while and a lot of that blame has been placed on Houston Nutt. It’s going to take a couple big wins for Nutt’s seat to cool down.

More often than not we celebrate all that is go0d in football. But if anything, sports in general and football in particular are as much about the agony of defeat as the thrill of victory — there will always be a losing side to endure the pain of falling short. But it is just as much about how a team loses a game as about whether it loses in the first place. So we’ll take a weekly look at those players who cost their team the game in one way or another, starting with this trio of goats responsible for their teams’ shortcomings this week:

• Christian Ponder (QB/Florida State) – The Seminoles were hoping to make a national statement in this game, headed by their senior quarterback. Ponder was coming of a 10-of-12 performance last week for 167 yards and four touchdowns. He made a statement all right, but it wasn’t the one coach Jimbo Fisher would’ve liked to see. Ponder’s stats took a nosedive against the Sooners in Norman. Oklahoma stifled Florida State’s leader, chasing him from the game after a woeful 11-of-28 for 113 yards and two interceptions. He was replaced after the second of those two picks E.J. Manuel, who outplayed the starter in a quarter and a half of spot duty.
• Nathan Enderle (QB/Idaho) – Look, it was always going to be a longshot that the Vandals were going to pull off the upset of the Cornhuskers in Lincoln. With one of the most ferocious defenses in the country, a trip to Nebraska is never easy for opponents. But Enderle, who was among the most efficient quarterbacks in the game last season, gave his team absolutely no chance to win this game. Completing 16-of-31 for just 141 yards and one touchdown is uncharacteristic of the senior… but even more out of character were his five interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. All told it was a painful day for a team hoping to reach a second straight bowl game.
• Tyler Warner (K/Marshall) – The Thundering Herd, having watched as their upset bid against West Virginia was whittled away in the waning minutes of regulation, went into overtime hoping for the best. After the Marshall defense was able to hold the Mountaineers to just a field goal in the overtime period, there was new life. After three downs yielded no ground, out trotted Warner for a 39-yard field goal attempt to tie it back up. It was up… and it was inches wide. Warner, now 0-for-2 after missing another field goal attempt against Ohio State last week, has the leg for this kick (he holds the West Virginia high-school record with a 50-yarder), but if he can’t get his head back into the game he might soon be looking for a new way to get his collegiate kicks.
• Jacory Harris (QB/Miami) — Not to idly pick on quarterbacks from the ACC, but the two that have been most highly touted as Heisman hopefuls and have been called upon to be the saviors for their once-proud schools, but if we’re going to mention Ponder we also must mention Harris. The junior threw for 232 yards on 22-of-39 with one touchdown. It’s not a Heisman-winning day, but it’s a respectable enough day for a starting QB… as long as you don’t toss more than but one interception (at the most). Harris dealt his hand straight to the Buckeyes four times in their showdown in Columbus, evaporating any hopes of bigger things this year for Harris or the Hurricanes.
  … actually, you know what? I think I might as well just say it:
• The ACC Coastal Division – Let’s face it. There’s really not much good that can be said about the conference this year. But at least the Atlantic Division teams are getting it done so far for the most part (Florida State excluded) — five of the six save the Seminoles are still undefeated at 2-0 so far. Look at the other half of the conference, though, and you can’t find a single unblemished record. The worst part? This is the division that contains most of the traditional powerhouses — Virginia Tech, Miami, Georgia Tech. North Carolina was the one bright spot… and that was because of their resilience in a losing effort. If anything freakin’ Virginia has looked like the best team in the division at times, winning Mike London’s opener as head coach against Richmond and playing the Trojans tight in Los Angeles for sixty minutes. When the sad-sack Cavaliers are the thing making your division look good, you’re definitely the most charred remnant of all…

AND THE GAME BALLS GO TO…