Week 1 College Football Review: Four Better and Four Worse

Each week of the college football season I will present Four Better and Four Worse, which will feature the four players or programs which helped themselves the most and the four players or programs who hurt themselves the most.

It won't necessarily be about the BCS Championship game or the Heisman, but it could be.

The reasoning will be how they did against expectations.

You may not agree with my placements, but that's why we have a comment section below! 

Four Worse: 4--USC Defense

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HONOLULU - SEPTEMBER 2: Kealoha Pilares of the University of Hawaii Warriors scores a touchdown during secondhalf action at Aloha Stadium September 2, 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

It's a guarantee that USC won't be making a Bowl Game this year, you can add that to the Pete Carroll legacy.

Still, the belief has been entertained that USC could still have a BCS Bowl-caliber season. The Trojans defense was supposed to be the strongest part of that team.

Against Hawaii, though, they gave up 588 yards and 36 points. Needless to say, that's not the performance of a BCS-caliber defense. 

Four Worse: 3--Florida Gators

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GAINESVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 04: Jeffery Demps #2 of the Florida Gators attempts to run past Luke Kelly #36 of the Miami University RedHawks at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on September 4, 2010 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

You might not know it by merely looking at the score, but this game was a lot closer than Florida would have wanted.

They turned the ball over three times. While they didn't give up any sacks, there were way too many Redhawks spending way too much time in the Gator backfield.

John Brantley only passed for 113 yards. Florida only outgained Miami by 24 yards.

This should have been a blowout form a fourth-ranked team, but they were only ahead by nine as late as the fourth quarter.

A lot of teams on Florida's schedule are suddenly believing they can win. 

Four Worse: 2--Evan Royster

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EVANSTON, IL - OCTOBER 31: Evan Royster #22 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs 69 yards for a touchdown as teammate Graham Zug #5 and Brian Peters #10 of the Northwestern Wildcats follow at Ryan Field on October 31, 2009 in Evanston, Illinois. Penn Stat

Royster came in as one of the favorites to win the Heisman this year. He was going up against Youngstown State, a middle-level subdivision team.

He had every opportunity to roll up some huge numbers against a team that Penn State should have pummeled.

Instead he had 11 carries for 39 yards  and 3 catches for 18 yards.

He didn't score a single touchdown. That's a long way from Heisman-like.

Four Worse: 1--Ole Miss

Mississippi became the first team since 2004 to lose to a FCS team when, well, Mississippi State lost to Maine.

It looks like this year's Ole Miss is going to miss the ol' Bowl season if they keep playing like that. This was a meltdown, plain and simple. 

Four Better: 4--North Carolina

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ATLANTA - SEPTEMBER 4: Devon Ramsay #45 of the North Carolina Tar Heels dives for a touchdown against the LSU Tigers at the Georgia Dome September 4, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

With half their starters suspended, and barely enough of a team to suit up, the Tar Heels probably would have preferred an opponent a bit weaker than the No. 12 team in the nation, but you can't always get what you want.

They probably would have preferred to not be down by 20 points going into the fourth quarter, but they were.

The fact that against all odds they came back and had a chance to win the game with on the last play of the game says a lot about the guts of this team.

Even though they lost, they get on the Four Better list for week one. 

Four Better: 3--Rich Rodriguez and The Michigan Wolverines

Rich Rodriguez is coaching for his job this year, and his decision to put in Denard Robinson as the starter at QB was met with a lot of skepticism.

Robinson's nearly 400 yards in total offense might have those skeptics thinking twice now.

While it's still early in the season, this might be the biggest win for Michigan since Rodriguez started coaching in Ann Arbor. 

Four Better: 2--Kenjon "Who The Heck Is That" Barner

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EUGENE, OR - SEPTEMBER 04: Running back Kenjon Barner #24 of the Oregon Ducks heads for the endzone past safety Bubba Forrest of the New Mexico Lobos and a touchdown in the second quarter of the game at Autzen Stadium on September 4, 2010 in Eugene, Orego

LaMichael James might be on a very short leash this season.

Kenjon Barner "Burner" absolutely smoked New Mexico in the season opener, going off for over 200 yards rushing and receiving and five touchdowns.

That's not a bad game but he did it in the first half. That's just downright ridiculous.

Talk about making your case for the starting job, even if the guy ahead of you is the 2009 National Freshman Performer of the Year.

I'm not saying he will start, but he sure made a case that he could, which means that James had better be on his best behavior.  

Four Better: 1--TCU

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ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 04: Quarterback Ryan Katz #12 of the Oregon State Beavers on offense against the TCU Horned Frogs at Cowboys Stadium on September 4, 2010 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Technically a sixth-ranked team is supposed to beat a 24 team, especially if they are at home. Technically.

Rankings don't always work technically, though. You have a non-BCS school with BCS Bowl hopes playing a ranked BCS school, and that's a big game.

TCU's win over Oregon State is the biggest win of the week, and well, technically of the season, at least until Monday.