College Football Week 2 in Review

Of course the biggest news in football is the concern all fans have for Buffalo Bills football player Kevin Everett. Putting the game aside, the fact that doctors are calling his injury catastrophic and it highly unlikely that he will ever walk again, talking about the game may be the only thing that keeps his spirits lifted and our minds off the viciousness that this game has become. With that sidebar out of the way, Week 2 in college football offered college football nation some interesting twist heading into the meat of the 2007 college football season.

The top story nationally is what is unfolding in Ann Arbor and South Bend. When the season began the Fighting Irish from Notre Dame were expected to struggle. They were not ranked in most Top 25 polls and this season was expected to be a rebuilding year, setting the Irish up for a BCS Bowl bid in 2008. What was not expected was the depressing avalanche that is the season for the Wolverines at the University of Michigan. Many Michigan fans were less than enthused when it was announced that Lloyd Carr would be returning this season to coach the team. But no one expected the Wolverines to be headed into this game against Notre Dame without a win, and looking embarrassing in the process. So bad was Saturday's loss against Oregon that soft-spoken Michigan running back Mike Hart guaranteed a win against the Irish. Which is completely out of character for him and against the grain of what a player representing the maize and blue would say in front of the media.

Beyond Michigan and Notre Dame, LSU looked more impressive against a solid Virginia Tech team than they did in their opener against Mississippi State. With the LSU Tiger defense running the Virginia Tech offense into the ground, Beamer Ball was never established and the LSU faithful saw arguably the nation's most talented team take out a belt and whip the Hokies all the way back to Blacksburg, VA. With their SEC schedule about to get into full swing the only question is will South Carolina and its ole' ball coach, Steve Spurrier be able to do to the LSU Tigers what they did to the Georgia Bulldogs.

The constant sandbagger, Coach Spurrier did everything but call his South Carolina Gamecock team mediocre and cellar dwellers in the media this week. Having never lost to any team three times in a row, betting football fans knew you never bet against the guy. And they were right. At the end of the day, South Carolina owned the Bulldogs and was the talk of the SEC with games against Tennessee and Florida upcoming as well as the aforementioned visit to Death Valley to play at Tiger Stadium against LSU.

With USC taking the week off before they travel to Lincoln to play Bill Callahan's Nebraska Cornhuskers the only real news coming out of the West was the shocking victory Washington had against Boise State. Before the loss, Boise State had the nation's longest winning street. Washington had fired Notre Dame football coach, Ty Willingham at the helm and took advantage of a porous Boise State defense to take a surprising game away from the boys from Boise.

The other statement made this week came from Norman where the University of Oklahoma rekindled its rivalry with the University of Miami. It was not much of a rekindling. With the Sooners blowing the Hurricane out by forty. Back in the 80s, the Miami rivalry against Oklahoma was one of the most bitter and intensive in college football. During one stretch, this game decided the national champion for a couple of years. When the Sooners and Hurricanes took the field, images of Brian Bosworth, Michael Irvin and Barry Switzer were all over the place. Those were the days of hard-hitting, swagger-rich college football. And we loved it.

Over the next couple of weeks, Florida and Tennessee will get back on the field together. With Florida scoring points at will, it will be interesting to see if Tennessee learned any lessons from its shellacking at the hands of the California Bears. It will also offer us our first real look at sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow against a defense that has the speed to get to him and make him to make a decision other than which receiver to throw a touchdown to as he has in the first two games this year.

If Notre Dame loses to Michigan questions will arise as to when the Irish will actually get their first win of the season. With true freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen at the helm, if the Irish faithful can get beyond this season, they will see a bright future. It just will not be this season.

College football is in full swing but moments like the one on Sunday where Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett gets hurt in an otherwise innocent play and in all likelihood will never walk again makes college football just a game again. It is just a game.