An UnAssociated College Football Poll: Week Two

Michael Collins

Sep 11, 2008

Here is the second of my UnAssociated Polls, which will emphasize not only how teams did, but also who they played.

Points are awarded in the following way.

1.0 point for winning against a BCS opponent

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0.5 points for win against non-BCS Division I opponent

0 points for win against Division I-AA opponent

As the season progresses, BCS teams whose egos are massaged by non-conference wins against lesser opponents will begin to accumulate points with conference wins (attention Red Raider fans). Teams that start with a BCS opponent and then two I-AA opponents will slip. Non-BCS teams will be up to my personal judgments.

By the end of the year, the poll will consist of those teams who have won over a stronger schedule. This poll is totally unrelated to any popularity or regional bias poll.

I am not dropping USC from the top spot because they did not play.

1. USC (last week—off): 1.0 pts

Guess who’s coming to dinner? Beanie and the Buckeyes. Er, just the other Buckeyes. The table is set for some football.

Next week: Ohio State

2. Cal (vs. Wash. St.—66-3): 2.0 pts

Jahvid Best ran for three touchdowns and over 200 yards in his first career start, adding to his 111-yard game of last week. Best rushed 14 times for an average of 14.3 yards per carry, including 80- and 86-yard runs. The Golden Bears totaled 505 yards, including 391 yards rushing.

Next: Maryland

3. ECU (vs. West Virginia—24-3): 2.0 pts

Pirate Fever. Pirates chalk up their third straight win over a ranked opponent with Patrick Pinkney completing 22 of 28 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown. The Pirate defense kept Pat White contained. “They beat us up,” White said.

Next: Tulane in New Orleans—if the weather allows

4. Wake Forest (vs. Mississippi—30-28): 2.0 points

Riley Skinner calmly led the Demon Deacons on a last-minute drive for the winning 41-yard field goal in response to the Rebels' go-ahead touchdown. Wake is the ACC flagship for now. Another SEC team bites the dust, right?

Next: Off

5. Florida (vs. Miami—26-3): 1.5 points

Halftime score was 9-3. With 17 points in the fourth quarter, Florida puts the game away. Meyer: “Our defense played outstanding. I thought they played great." Miami gained 140 total yards. Tebow was pressured all night by the Miami defense but was still 21 of 35 for 256 yards with two touchdown passes.

Next: Off

6. Oregon (vs. Utah State—66-24): 1.5 points

Another starter on offense injured? No problem. The Ducks score 66 points and set a school record with 688 yards. Jeremiah Johnson, the starting RB, goes down with a shoulder injury on the first series of the game. Oregon rushed 53 times for 408 yards. Utah State was picked by the coaches to finish last in the preseason WAC poll.

Next: Purdue

7. Okla. St. (vs. Houston—56-37): 1.5 points

Behind 16-14, the Cowboys score 28 points in the third quarter behind Dez Bryant’s 236 receiving yards and Kendall Hunter’s 210 rushing yards. The Cowboys had 699 total yards to Houston’s 483 yards. Between the two teams, 156 plays were run. Expect much more against...

Next: Missouri State (picked seventh out of nine teams in the conference coaches’ preseason poll)

8. Alabama (vs. Tulane—20-6): 1.5 points

Not as dominating, to say the least. Alabama did not score an offensive touchdown until the end of the third quarter. Tulane: 82 plays, 318 yards. Alabama: 49 plays, 172 yards. Time of Possession: Tulane, 36:35 to 23:25.

John Parker Wilson said, “We weren't clicking. We didn't execute on third downs. We're not consistent. There's a lot of little things we have to correct. It's one thing on this play, one thing on another play."

Next: Western Kentucky (winner over Eastern Kentucky last week)

9. Vanderbilt (vs. South Carolina—24-17): 1.5 points

Despite converting two of 10 third downs and with 100 fewer total yards, the Commodores held the Gamecocks scoreless in the third quarter while scoring 14 points to take the lead. Spurrier: “We were ready to play, we just got our tails kicked.... We don’t have excuses, they just beat us.”

Next: Rice (ranked 152nd last year)

10. Utah (vs. UNLV—42-21): 1.5 points

Tied at the half 14-14, Utah asserted itself in the second half, scoring 35 straight points.

Next: Utah State

11. Oklahoma (vs. Cincinnati—52-26): 1.0 points

Oklahoma is good. The Sooners pulled away in the third quarter with Sam Bradford’s five touchdown passes against one of the best Big East teams. Ryan Broyles set a freshman receiving record with 141 yards. Cincy lost Dustin Grutza, their starting QB, who was caught under a pile of rolling Sooners. Bearcat Marty Gilyard set a school record of 365 all-purpose yards.

Next: Washington

12. Missouri (vs. S.E. Missouri St.—52-3): 1.0 points

Against the 123rd ranked team in I-AA, Chase Daniel was 16-17 for 245 yards before coming out in the second quarter. Missouri scored on its first five possessions. Nevada and Buffalo are the next ego builders.

Next: Nevada (on its Big 12 tour)

13. Texas (vs. UTEP—42-13): 1.0 points

El Paso threw a party, celebrating a game with Texas. The crowd set a Sun Bowl record. The Miners went up by two field goals but then saw the Longhorns score four touchdowns. Colt McCoy celebrated with four touchdowns and 282 yards.

Next: Arkansas (postponed due to Ike)

14. Penn State (vs. Oregon State—45-14): 1.0 points

The Nittany Lions ended speculation early that this would be a contest. Penn State’s Evan Royster’s 141 yards topped the Beavers’ team total of 92 yards. QB Daryll Clark threw three touchdown passes.

Next: Syracuse

15. UCLA (Off): 1.0 points

BYU is up next. The teams split a season game and a bowl game last year. Neuheisel, Chow, and Walker will have their team ready to take on BYU’s Max Hall, the second-ranked passer in the nation.

Next: Arizona

16. Wisconsin (vs. Marshall—51-14): 1.0 points

The Thundering Herd stopped Wisconsin’s running game. “We wanted to see if he could throw the ball,” Marshall coach Mark Snyder said. QB Allan Evridge took over, passing 17 of 26 for 308 yards and a touchdown. Maybe Wisconsin isn’t one-dimensional.

Next: Fresno State

17. Kentucky (vs. Norfolk State—38-3): 1.0

Rich Brooks generated some offense behind freshman QB Randall Cobb, who ran for two touchdowns and passed for one. Norfolk State was picked third in the MEAC preseason coaches’ poll and is ranked 65th in the Division I-AA poll.

Next: Middle Tennessee State (0-1 in the Sun Belt Conference)

18. Auburn (vs. Southern Mississippi—27-13): 1.0 points

Chris Todd established himself as the starting QB in Tony Franklin’s new spread offense. Todd completed 21 of 31 passes to 11 different receivers.

Next: Mississippi State

19. Kansas (vs. Louisiana Tech—29-0): 1.0 points

Another full house in Lawrence saw the Jayhawks launch their offensive juggernaut over the Bulldogs, who are closer to the Big 12 than they are most of their conference foes in the WAC. The away game money helps La Tech fly to Hawaii.

Next: South Florida (finally a test)

20. Arizona State (vs. Stanford—41-17): 1.0 points

About Rudy Carpenter’s performance against his blitz, Jim Harbaugh, Stanford’s coach, said, “Rudy was very impressive tonight. I gained a lot of respect for him, for the way he hung in there.... He threw very accurately, and at times made it look too easy.” Carpenter was 27 for 36 for 345 yards and one touchdown.

Next: UNLV

21. Fresno State (Off, vs. Rutgers, Sept 1.—24-7): 1.0 points

The Bulldogs come with an attitude that they’re not a mid-major and can play with anyone. They’ll log over 18,000 miles this year to prove it. Against Rutgers, Tom Brandistater passed for 216 yards. Ryan Matthews ran for 163 yards and three touchdowns.

Next: Wisconsin (prove your point, Bulldogs)

22. Georgia (vs. Central Michigan—56-17): 0.5 points

Georgia had balance: 28 points in each half, 263 yards rushing, and 289 yards passing. Knowshon Moreno had 168 yards and three touchdowns. Matthew Stafford was 18 for 28 for 213 yards.

Next: South Carolina

23. Ohio State (vs. Ohio—26-14): 0.5 points

Down 14-13 after three quarters, the Buckeyes scored the last two touchdowns. OSU wide receiver Brian Hartline said, “That was pathetic. It was a pathetic performance. OU should’ve won the game. I don’t know how we came out with it.”

Brian, do you think a stronger first game in the schedule could help? Where’s the beef? Ohio State was only 5-15 in third down efficiency.

Next: Southern Cal

24. Texas Tech (vs. Nevada, ranked 102nd last year—35-19): 0.5 points

At least the Raiders didn’t play an Eastern Washington again. Almost even at the half, Nevada had a third quarter lead touchdown erased by the officials. The Wolf Pack will have to settle for outrushing Texas Tech by 100 yards and outgaining them 488 to 421 yards. Michael Crabtree bailed out the Raiders. Colin Kaepernick nearly outplayed Graham Harrell.

Next: SMU (ranked 169th last year)

25. LSU (vs. Troy—postponed due to Gustav): 0 points

(Against Appalachian State, Week One) With two inexperienced QBs, LSU ran the ball on 40 of 64 plays for 266 yards. Against SEC opponents, think that will work?

Next: North Texas

Conference totals (Top 25 only)

SEC: 7.5

Pac-10: 6.5

Big 12: 4.5

Big 10: 2.5

ACC: 2.0

Conf USA: 2.0

Mountain West: 1.5

WAC: 1.0

Big East: 0

BCS vs. Division I-AA statistics