Campus Report Week 8

So week 8 in my mind can be best described as a week of established dominance & the week that the true contenders emerged. The marquee game of this past Saturday was the Notre Dame @ FSU game were the Seminoles ( albeit by controversial measures to some ) won a 31 - 27 thriller over the Fighting Irish. All week leading up & after the big matchup coach Jimbo Fischer stood by his embattled starting QB Jameis Winston the entire time. Two things no#1 no grown man should ever have the name Jimbo unless he's a character on the Simpsons & no#2 Winston proved Saturday night why despite all his baggage why he's a Heisman candidate and possibly the top overall pick of next year's NFL draft. As for the Irish they proved they were officially back on the national scene as a program to be reckoned despite the loss. The SEC west has 4 of the most dominate teams in college football this season led by Alabama's destruction of A&M... more about that later. Every week the BIGXII has a new top team this week it's TCU , but since nobody in that conference wants to play defense who knows, next week it could be West Virginia. I just know this next week the playoff committee will sit down for the first time and do their preliminary playoff rankings. It won't be an easy job with at least a dozen teams all within the top 15 with one loss or less... but for those that care & those that don't or those just looking for gambling tips ( not that I endorse that kind of behavior ! ) here's this week's top 25 according to me. I have placed an asterisk next to the 4 teams who if the season ended today I would vote into the 4 team playoff.


or Jameis

*1.Miss. St. - They are on top of the country's toughest league but still have some major hurdles
*2.Florida St. - People still need to get it in their head if they go unbeaten they're in !
*3.Alabama - What I saw Alabama do to a DIV 1 school & a fellow SEC opponent was unreal
*4.Ole Miss - Last week I thought they had the best defense in the country. This week I know it
5.Oregon
6.Auburn
7.Michigan St.
8.Notre Dame
9.Georgia
10.TCU
11.Ohio St.
12.Baylor
13.Kansas St.
14.Oklahoma
15.Arizona
16.East Carolina
17.Arizona St.
18.Utah
19.USC
20.Nebraska
21.Clemson
22.West VA.
23.Marshall
24.UCLA
25.LSU

Small School ass whippings - These teams coded out faster than an Ebola patient !! ( too soon ? )

Alabama def. Texas A&M 59-0 : Oh my what happened to gig'em a month ago they were national championship contenders ... now they're not ranked & they haven't even been close the last 3 weeks. And to make matters worse it's not like it gets any easier. If not turned around it's conceivable they don't even make a bowl this year.

Ohio St. def. Rutgers 56 - 17 : The Buckeyes are the team on a roll that no one is talking about but they go over 500yds of offense every week & Rutgers defense isn't terrible ... it just looked that way Saturday.

Presbyterian def. Charleston Southern 7 - 3 : I post this score not because it was a blowout but because 4,083 people paid to watch this crap in person.

Sioux City, East H.S ( Iowa ) def. Des Moines, North H.S ( Iowa ) 63 - 2 : Our corn farmers are better than your corn farmers says Sioux City !!

Bishop Heelan Catholic, Sioux City H.S ( Iowa ) def. Storm Lake H.S ( Iowa ) 62 - 0 : Uh oh I think someone got picked as a homecoming opponent !!


" Hawkeye here giving a big shout out to Leslie & GO TERPS !!

Heisman Watch List
Jameis Winston QB Florida ST. : 1878yds passing 13td passes

Dak Prescott QB Miss ST. : 1478yds passing 14td 576yds rushing 8td rushes

Marcus Mariota QB Oregon : 1957yds passing 19td passes 0int

Trevone Boykin QB TCU : 1873yds passing 14td passes 346yds rushing 3td runs



Top 5 matchups this week

Michigan @ #7 Michigan ST. 3:30pm ABC : This has been an awful year for the Wolverines which will probably result in the firing of Bradie Hoke .. quite frankly the only reason I'm mentioning this game is because the Spartans have avoid looking ahead to their game against the Buckeyes next week. But if Sparty wants to impress voters for the 1st playoff poll this one shouldn't even be close.

#22 West VA. @ Oklahoma ST. 3:30pm ESPN : Despite not having a chance the Mountaineers still have an outside shot at winning the BIGXII Clint Trickett & WR Kevin White lead one of the most lethal QB receiver combos in the country and we saw what happened to the cow polks defense against TCU last week.

#1 Miss St. @ Kentucky 3:30pm CBS This will be the Bulldogs first game as a no #1 ranked team & their first test to see if they have been reading their own press clippings. Kentucky just got blasted on the road last week by a mediocre LSU team 41 - 3 but the Cats are better this year and being in Lexington this is not a game Miss St. should take lightly because all road games in the SEC are tough.

# 19 USC @ # 18 Utah 10:00pm FOX Sports1 Both teams are balanced on offense and under the right circumstances are capable of putting up huge numbers. The Trojans faltered on their last trip into Mormon country & the Utes are just as good if not better this go around !

#4 OLE Miss @ #25 LSU 7:15pm ESPN So this time the team with longest name in the union comes into Baton Rouge as the favorite.. We know what happened the last time. The Tigers have struggled on offense all year and the Rebels defense is their stiffest bout yet. But LSU always steps up in primetime at home and they'll need every trick in the Mad Hatters ball cap to pull this out !