College Football Week in Review

Since Florida beat Ohio State last January in the Bowl Championship Game, there has been much speculation on who the best team was headed into the 2007 football season. With USC and LSU ranked one and two in most polls, the question was if Michigan could creep into the title game by going undefeated in a weakened Big Ten or if Tennessee could put it all together and unseat Florida and LSU to capture the SEC championship.

With only one game in the books, both of those questions can be answered as Michigan lost in the greatest upset in college football history when it lost to Appalachian State. After a game that swung back and forth, Michigan had a chance to win the game. But a blocked punt on the game's final play saw the Wolverines and their top 5 ranking go down the tubes along with their national championship hopes to a Division 1-AA school.

While Tennessee's loss to California was no where near as bad and humiliating as Michigan's the way Tennessee got beat was no less telling. When the Cal Bears arrived in Knoxville last year for the season opener and were run up and down the field by the speed dominant Volunteers football analysts saw the game as an indication of the differential in how the game differs between the SEC and the Pac-10. Odd to say it, but the pendulum swung in the opposite direction entirely as California did to Tennessee this season on its home field what it suffered last season at Neyland Stadium.

Notre Dame's game against Georgia Tech had Coach Charlie Weis and Irish faithful scratching their heads. Having played three quarterbacks in the game including its highly touted freshman, the Fighting Irish appeared to have no fight in them in a game that was as ugly as any Notre Dame game college football has seen in the last twenty years. It boggles the mind to think that the Irish only scored three points on their home field. It is even more unsettling that they loss by thirty in the same game. With little defense and no offense the Notre Dame faithful can call this season a wash with the 2008 season, one to look forward to as the youth dominated Irish learn the ropes of playing in big-time college football.

As bad as Notre Dame looked on Saturday, USC and LSU looked equally impressive in their opening games. While LSU was not expected to be tested in their game as Mississippi State, the way they drubbed the Bulldogs from Starkville showed how athletic the Tigers are on offense and how good the LSU offense can be under new quarterback Matt Flynn. With the Tigers losing last year's starting quarterback JaMarcus Russell to the NFL, the only question for LSU was if Flynn could handle the responsibilities of running the LSU offense. Those questions were answered as a productive offense along with a stifling Tiger defense shut the Mississippi State attack down.

With the Heisman Trophy on his mind, USC's John David Booty is looking to join the ranks of quarterbacks from Troy who have hoisted the trophy as college football's most valuable player. With Carson Palmer and Matt Leinert along with running back Reggie Bush, all winning the trophy in the last six years while playing for USC, Booty looks primed for the race after a flawless first game against upstart Idaho. The win was USC's 34^th straight win at home.

Another Heisman contender is Louisville's Brian Brohm. Now that Coach Bobby Petrino is working through the Michael Vick saga in Atlanta, the Louisville Cardinals football program is under the guidance of Coach Steve Kragthorpe. But with Brian Brohm still under center, the Cardinals failed to miss a beat, drubbing Murray State 73-10 in their home opener on Saturday. With Middle Tennessee State coming to town on Saturday, look for Brohm to put up another round of impressive statistics as Louisville readies itself for stiff conference tests against Rutgers, West Virginia and Pittsburgh.

The first week of college football did what every other first week has done, announced the beginning of the most electric time of the year, football season. With tailgaters and cheerleaders, kids dressed in team colors, and houses divided along school lines, the fanaticism that is college football is unmatched by any other sport, amateur or professional. With Michigan and Notre Dame both completely out of the national championship hunt and the likes of Wisconsin and Virginia Tech looking to enter the conversation, Week 2 is sure to be as exciting as Week 1.

Stay tuned. It's going to be a barnburner.