Here is a look at the three most overrated team in college football at this point in the season.
1. Florida State
Yes, they have won their first two games by a combined score of 115-7, and yes, Christian Ponder has a quarterback rating of 193.3 with six touchdowns and zero interceptions.
But their first two opponents were Western Carolina and Chattanooga, both FCS opponents.
The team still is feeling the residual effects of all the suspensions on both offense and defense, and I will believe they can run the ball and protect the quarterback when they actually play a worthy defense.
We will find out just how competitive this team will be when they welcome Wake Forest into Doak Campbell.
They will need to get after Riley Skinner and establish the run if they hope to have a chance at winning the game.
2. Wisconsin
They are ranked eighth in the country, and P.J. Hill is probably one of the five best running backs in the country. But the rest of the offense has looked pedestrian at best.
They should improve to 4-0 when they go into the Big House and play the Wolverines. But the next two weeks see Ohio and Penn State travelling to Camp Randall, and the 13 points they scored against a sub-par Fresno State defense will not be enough if they hope to win.
The most important thing for Evridge is to get a healthy Travis Beckum back at tight end, and continue to get a lot of production from Garrett Graham, who has caught all three of Evridge's touchdown throws.
The secondary has allowed more than 220 passing yards in all three of the wins, and the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions have a lot more dangerous weapons on the perimeter than Akron, Marshall, or Fresno had.
They have a good chance at winning both of those games considering that no matter what the betting line is, these games always seem to be within seven points.
3. Notre Dame
Pat Forde of ESPN.com wrote a column on a similar subject. People seem to be able to forgive the Fighting Irish's slow start against San Diego State because their offense looked so good in the rain against Michigan.
Unfortunately, while the offense, most specifically the offensive line, have made enormous strides since last season. Michigan is not the best barometer for the righting of the Holy Ship in South Bend.
There defense looks solid in the front seven, but there are a lot of followers who have reservations as to how the secondary will hold up when they play a team that can spread the ball around and actually pass for yards—I am looking at you Purdue.
The Irish have three highly recruited players lining up behind Jimmy Clausen in Robert Hughes, Armando Allen, and James Aldridge. Unfortunately, none of them seem capable of taking the reins of the running game.
They are all averaging between 3.1 and 3.7 yards per carry and none of them have a run of more than 18 yards.
To be honest, I don't think they will be able to beat Michigan State this weekend, but realistically, the Fighting Irish could find themselves on this list weekly considering how pathetic their schedule is.
USC is the only ranked team on their schedule, and North Carolina, Pittsburgh, and maybe Boston College are the only teams who pose serious threats.
Get ready to watch the Irish get blown out by a superior team in the Fiesta Bowl again this year.
4 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Isaac Luber 9 months ago
The Irish won't even make it to a BCS bowl, and I agree that FSU and Wisconsin are overrated, but Ohio State is more overrated than Wisconsin. They barely beat Ohio and got crushed by USC and are currently struggling with Troy.
On ESPN today, I heard something like: Upcoming, we'll tell you about the Ryder Cup and why the Fighting Irish are for real? For real??? They barely beat San Diego State and beat a horrible Michigan team because of six turnovers. I know I said I was done arguing about Notre Dame, but I agree with you and can't believe how ESPN makes a bad ND team look so good.
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sven ghali 9 months ago
Don't take ESPN so seriously. They don't care about objectivity because their only goal is to get you to sit through the commercial breaks. Did it work? Plus ND was playing on one of the Disney newtworks this week so you can see why they might want to peak interests.
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Isaac Luber 9 months ago
True.
Now since ND got crushed by Mich State, I wonder now what ESPN will say about them. Good luck to ND this year, at least they're not as bad as Rutgers, who lost to Navy.
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Michael Collins 9 months ago
Of these three, two have taken the low road. FSU's first real game was being crushed by Wake this weekend, after wins over Western Carolina and Chattanooga. Wisconsin played Akron, Marshall then almost was shown up by Fresno State. Don't you love it when later in the year some schools that play such easy games say how tough their schedule is or how weak someone else's is.
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