Weekend Wrap

OMG Moment of the Week

I bet you were expecting to see something about James Madison and Virginia Tech here, weren't you?

After all, the Dukes' stunning win over the Hokies - in Blacksburg - was only the second time that a I-AA team has waltzed into a ranked I-A team's home stadium and left with a W.

However, Florida State's egg-laying against Oklahoma on Saturday equally surprised the CFRT.

This could have been FSU's ex-coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher's first signature win to give the Nole Nation a smooth transition from the Bobby Bowden era.

Instead, the Sooners - who appeared to be coming off a disappointing close win over Utah State in week one - put their stamp on Fisher's first ever 30-point loss as a head coach.

And the 47-17 score made the final outcome seem closer than reality.

In reality, Oklahoma called off the dogs in the fourth quarter after gaining a 44-7 lead.

Just how thorough was this wood-shed whooping?

FSU recorded four first downs on their opening drive, but could only muster five more over the next 2-1/2 quarters.

In the first half alone, the Sooners had seven possessions, 19 first downs and five touchdowns.

That, my friends, is a beat down.

The salt in the wound was that Nole QB Christian Ponder's Heisman Trophy chances may have been snuffed out as fast as Oklahoma's QB Landry Jones' chances exponentially increased.

While Ponder finished with a pedestrian 11-of-28 for 113 yards and two picks, Jones put on a clinic, going 30-of-40 for 380 yards and four TD's.

Gameballs

Absent Binded

Only one of the Top-10 teams finished the weekend without a win, and even that team didn't lose...well, sort of.

No.3 Boise State may have had the week off after their - at the time, scintillating - victory over Virginia Tech on Labor Day, but in a way they experienced a major loss to their BCS national championship hopes when the Hokies were ambushed by James Madison.

The Broncos will only play two ranked teams this season (VT and Oregon State) and so far those teams are off to a 0-3 start to 2010.

And you thought Boise State's strength of schedule couldn't get worse.

The Golden Shoelace

Notre Dame Stadium is one of the most historic, storied venues in all of college football.

Knute Rockne, the Four Horsemen, seven Heisman Trophy winners, the list goes on and on.

Uh, the list of folks who have never done what Michigan QB Denard Robinson did on that historic field on Saturday that is.

Robinson - nicknamed Shoelace for his preference to play without laces in his shoes - accounted for a UM-record 502 yards of offense (258 rushing, 244 passing) and three scores against the Irish.

But it was his 87-yard TD run with 1:51 left in the first half that not only gave the Wolverines a 21-7 lead, it also marked the longest run in Notre Dame Stadium history.

Demp-idi Bobbidi Boo!

Put 'em together and what have you got?

A 38-14, offense identifying win over the South Florida Bulls, that's what.

The Fairy Godmother may give Cinderella everything she needs while singing the spell Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, but when the No.8 Florida Gators found themselves in an identity crisis over the first six quarters of this fresh season, they turned to Jeff Demps.

Demps practically granted them their wish in the second half, overwhelming the Bulls.

The "fastest man in college football" not only finished with 139 rushing yards and a TD (not including his 95 yards on just two kick returns), he also provided the Gators their offensive identity for the time being - big play offense.

Head Scratchers

The Awful-Colossal Conference

Could there have been a worse showing for the ACC this weekend?

Four ACC teams went into the weekend ranked, and all four lost in almost embarrassing ways.

Georgia Tech lost to Kansas, a team that opened the season with a 6-3 loss to I-AA school North Dakota State.

Miami lost to Ohio State, with Canes' QB Jacory Harris tossing four passes to OSU defenders.

Florida State lost by 30 to Oklahoma.

And, the worst of them all? Virginia Tech's hangover upset loss to the mighty Dukes of James Madison at home.

Bruin Stewin'

Wasn't UCLA supposed to end the monopoly USC had on the PAC-10 (soon to be 12) over the past decade when Rick Neuheisel returned to coach at his alma mater?

Well, the USC monopoly might be over (thanks to the bolting Pete Carroll and the NCAA), but not because of Neuheisel.

The Bruins already find themselves at 0-2 with losses to Kansas State and Stanford.

They didn't even show up against Stanford, losing 35-0 at home.

Out of 120 I-A teams, UCLA is 115th in passing, 115th in scoring and 102nd in scoring defense.

'Neer-Miss

They haven't even played a dozen times since their first meeting in 1911, but still, Marshall had never beaten West Virginia heading into Friday night's prime time match up.

But because the teams are only separated by a couple a hundred miles, both consider the game a rivalry.

The Thundering Herd dominated the Mountaineers for 3-1/2 quarters and looked to notch their first ever win in the rivalry leading 21-6 with just over five minutes to go.

However, WVU roared back to score 15 points, including a two-point pass to force overtime and wound up beating Marshall 24-21.

The Mountaineers didn't take the lead until OT.

Totally Random Thoughts

• Can this be right? Oregon is averaging a point a minute so far this season? Yep, 120 points in 120 minutes!
• Anyone else get the feeling that it's only a matter of time before Dan Mullen has Miss State competing for an SEC West title?
• Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez's biggest challenge may just be keeping back-up QB Tate Forcier from sulking and not being ready if called upon. Denard Robinson is a serious Heisman threat, but is also just a twisted knee away from Forcier starting for Big Blue
• Look, Miami's Jacory Harris just threw another interception
• When CFRT said true frosh South Carolina tailback Marcus Lattimore was for real, that was before he ran for 182 yards and two TD's in the Gamecocks' conference win over Georgia Saturday
• Anyone else astounded by all the missed tackles this weekend?
• What's more likely, the ACC winning the BCS title or the ACC winning the lottery?
• Notre Dame QB Dayne Crist is a Notre Gamer
• If and when Mark Ingram joins Trent Richardson in the Alabama backfield again, somebody ought to call the police. That kind of audacious talent in one backfield is borderline criminal
• Look, South Florida's B.J. Daniels just threw another interception