College FB Roundup: Disaster for Louisville

Four games into the season, Louisville has been exposed as a preseason fraud.

The Cardinals lost to Syracuse, a very mediocre team that had been outscored 118-32 by its first three opponents.

The Louisville defense allowed a shocking six plays of 40 yards or more. What will this unit do to stop teams like Rutgers and West Virginia?

The answer is nothing...and Louisville will probably end up losing losing both of those games.

Going into the season, there was a little national championship buzz down in Louisville.  Now, it's looking like the Cards aren't even one of the top two teams in their conference.

Given the lofty preseason expectations, Cardinal coach Steve Kragthorpe may begin to feel his seat getting warm if his team continues to struggle.

Frankly, though, I don't think he should be judged too harshly—it is his first year, after all.

At least Louisville WR Harry Douglas continues to put on a clinic. He had over 200 yards receiving for the second week in a row, and he's the odds-on favorite to win the Biletnikoff Award.

Despite his lack of size, Douglas should be a no-doubt first-round pick in April.

Louisville's two-game skid got me thinking about preseason polling. The Cardinals were 10th and 11th in college football's two primary preseason polls, rankings they clearly didn't deserve. Too often, voters seem to base their preseason decisions strictly on a team's offensive prowess and big-name players.

Louisville is a program best known for its offensive exploits, so it's not surprising that preseason voters were duped.

Another good example of a team overrated for similar reasons is Michigan. Voters clearly didn't take the loss of nine defensive starters into consideration, choosing instead to only consider Michigan's offensive talent.

West Virginia cruised to an easy 48-7 rout of East Carolina.

Steve Slaton turned in his fourth-consecutive 100-yard effort, and Pat White got his Heisman campaign back on track by completing 20 of 22 passes for 2 TDs and adding 42 yards and two scores on the ground.

West Virginia's defense held a respectable ECU offense to just seven points, an encouraging stat given all the questions surrounding the Mountaineer D.

Last week, I noted Florida's across-the-board offensive speed. I had a similar revelation watching WVU on Saturday.

We're all familiar with White, Slaton, and Noel Devine, but the Mountaineers have an extensive collection of quick playmakers. Senior WR Darius Reynaud is an electric open-field threat with four TDs on the season. Players like Brandon Hogan, Jock Sanders, and Dorrell Jalloh are athletic speedsters with a chance to make big impacts somewhere down the line.

Notre Dame is 0-4 for the first time in school history. If the Irish don't beat Purdue or UCLA in either of the next two weeks, they're going to be 0-8 going into their matchup with Navy.

On the positive side, Notre Dame did score its first offensive touchdown of the season in the loss to Michigan State.

How 'bout those Michigan Wolverines? The Maize and Blue took a huge step towards getting their season back on track—and saving Lloyd Carr's—job by beating Penn State 14-9.

Anthony Morelli and the Nittany Lion offense were never able to find a rhythm, converting a paltry 33 percent of their third-down attempts. The Michigan defense, meanwhile, looked like a unit reborn, though their newfound success is at least partially attributable to the fact that they haven't faced an athletic QB running a spread offense in either of the last two weeks.

Mike Hart was stellar, as usual, grinding out 153 yards on 44 carries and scoring the touchdown that sealed the deal for the Wolverines. I can't say enough about what a tremendous warrior Hart is—the determination and drive he shows running the football is unmatched in the college game.

Freshman QB Ryan Mallett didn't perform particularly well, but he's got a lot of things going for him. From what I saw, Mallett is comfortable in the pocket and has some eye-catching arm strength.

The youngster is Michigan's QB of the future, and he looks like a possible star in the making.

LSU bested South Carolina 28-16, led by a strong defensive showing and a productive ground attack.

The Tiger front seven is one of the best college football has seen in quite some time. Led by future top-five pick Glenn Dorsey, they consistently control the line of scrimmage and dominate the point of attack.

There are few, if any, teams that will be able to achieve any degree of success running the football against this bunch.

LSU's passing attack struggled, and it looked like QB Matt Flynn needs injured WR Early Doucet back in the starting lineup.

I said at the beginning of the season that Doucet had a legitimate shot at the Biletnikoff Award. Now that he's missed a couple of games, that won't be possible. However, I'm willing to bet that he'll string together some big-time performances once he's healthy.

Some believe that Ryan Perriloux should take over the signal calling duties for the Tiger offense, but I disagree. I'm a big fan of Flynn's—and although he needs to develop more consistency, he's a great athlete who's more than capable of getting it done for the Tigers.

At this point, LSU doesn't need its QB to take over games and put up astronomical numbers.

Perriloux is one of the most talented young QBs in the country, and his time will come...but there's no reason for Les Miles to switch things up in the midst of a successful run.

LSU RB\WR\KR Trindon Holliday is, without question, the quickest and fastest player in all of college football. His 33-yard sprint through a tight seam in the South Carolina defense was absolutely breathtaking.

I wasn't surprised to learn he runs the 100 meter dash in 10.02 seconds. That's about two-tenths of a second shy of the world record, folks.

Despite the best efforts of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, Arkansas lost another game it should have won.

The turning point vs. Kentucky came at the end of the first half, when a fumble by Arkansas RB Michael Smith was taken back for a TD. If Smith hangs on to the ball and Arkansas scores, UK doesn't win the game.

Kentucky could be this year's Cinderella story. The Cats have a very effective, underrated running attack to complement their potent passing game. Starting RB Rafael Little is one of the nation's best-kept secrets, averaging over seven yards a carry. He's quick and runs with an authority that you wouldn't expect from an undersized back.

Kentucky QB Andre Woodson didn't light it up, but did nothing to hurt his Heisman chances. Woodson now holds the NCAA record for most pass attempts without throwing an interception, and is adding to that mark with every mistake-free ball he throws.

The Cats are off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 2002, and look like a team destined for a January bowl game. It's a shame they play in the SEC, where they don't have a realistic shot at a conference title.

The Hogs are now 0-2 in SEC play, and their chances of winning the Western Division are more or less nonexistent. If they're going to turn things around, they'll have to eliminate careless mistakes, play better pass defense, and get a little more consistency out of QB Casey Dick.

McFadden is going to make it difficult for Heisman voters if the Hogs continue to plummet. In my opinion, Arkansas will have to win a minimum of seven or eight games for McFadden to have a shot.

Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt is another individual with a lot riding on Arkansas' win total. His seat might be getting a little hot—particularly in this day and age, when coaches are rarely accorded the benefit of the doubt.

Georgia and Alabama provided us with some classic early-season SEC entertainment.

The Dawgs rolled past the Tide in OT when Matthew Stafford hit Mikey Henderson in stride on Georgia's first play after Bama kicker Leigh Tiffin had kicked a field goal.

The game put a serious dent in Bama's quest to win the SEC West, and gave new life to Georgia after a disappointing loss to South Carolina the week before.

USC QB John David Booty had a stellar game vs. Washington State, completing 80 percent of his passes and tossing 4 TDs. His Heisman campaign is back on track, and with another big game, he'll be right in the mix.

The Trojans are looking like they may be the nation's premier team, but I still think they're a hair short of LSU. It doesn't matter either way, as USC controls its own fate on the road to the BCS Championship Game.

The unjustified hype surrounding Penn State has subsided after their loss to Michigan, and it's getting pretty obvious that Wisconsin isn't all that great, either.

The only Big Ten team I've been impressed by is Ohio State, particularly since they started to find an offensive rhythm. I'm confident the Buckeyes will be representing the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl.

Florida survived a slight scare from Ole Miss, winning 30-24 down in Oxford. 

The Gators' saving grace was QB Tim Tebow, who solidified a spot near the top of Heisman lists with a superb performance.

Tebow's 164 yards and 2 TDs on the ground were mind-boggling, and I'm continually amazed by his ability to excel as both a power runner and a classic pocket passer.

If Tebow can put together an excellent game in a Gator victory over LSU on October 6th, he'll become the Heisman favorite. That's easier said than done, though—even for a player as talented as the Florida sophomore.