Mormons, Irish and Trojans Impress, Buckeyes Don't in Week Three of IDU

That's right folks, it's Week 3 of View From North America's Impressed/Depressed/Unmoved - our take on the NCAA College Football's season events.

IMPRESSED

USC

What impressed me about USC's assbeating of Ohio State in LA wasn't so much the fact that the score line was a hefty 35-3, but the fact that it could have been so much more.

The Trojans were a joy to watch, and made it look so easy. Kirk Herbstreit said: "The only way I can see USC losing this year is them beating themselves." I agree.

Kansas/South Florida

One of the games of the year so far. Two great quarterbacks, excitement no end, and both sides not bothering to show their defensive side. A classic.

BYU

Sorry, wasn't the UCLA game meant to be a close one? Nope. 59-0. 

Notre Dame

I've made it pretty clear that I root against the Irish on most occasions. But saying that, they played through the elements, got the 'luck of the Irish' with seven turnovers (that's information from a Wolverines fan, not from me), and beat the Wolverines —a team I hate even more than Notre Dame —35-17. The Irish are 2-0...and don't bet against them when they get together with Michigan State, either.

Oregon

20-3 down, and I thought that the Ducks would be the second Pac-10 team coming east to lose in a week, after Cal's horrible effort earlier in the day. But thanks to Purdue missing a kick in the last second, Oregon's defense holding the Boilermakers to just three points in the second half and just three more in overtime and a superb comeback, it's hard not to be a little bit impressed with the hippies.

Maryland

Let's face the facts: the 35-27 win against Cal was far more comfortable for Maryland than the scoreline suggests. The facts are these: Cal simply couldn't deal with Maryland on both sides of the ball for about three quarters.

Maryland looked psyched, while Cal seemed to think that Maryland would be just another cupcake. They were wrong. Maryland were great. Watch out for these guys to be a contender in the ACC, unless the 'Hyde' comes out in this truly Jekyll & Hyde team.

Wisconsin

With many — including this writer -- predicting a Badger loss at Fresno State, Wisconsin survived with a 13-10 victory. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective.

But if PJ Hill gets hurt, will the Badgers be able to survive the Big Ten? With THAT defense, the answer's probably yes.

UNMOVED

Penn State, LSU

Two reasons for two teams: they were playing cupcakes. True, Syracuse is probably less of a cupcake than North Texas, but both teams didn't exact wow this website with their victories. 

UNIMPRESSED

Ohio State

Ever put the words "totally" and "unmatched" together when talking about an Ohio State in a non-Bowl game in the last few seasons? Midway through this game, it was pretty obvious how far OSU has to go if it is to get into its third straight BCS Title Game.

Georgia/South Carolina

Georgia won 14-7 in Columbia thanks to a last-ditch forced fumble by the Gamecocks. But both teams weren't pretty. Knowshon Moreno might be great fun in the locker room, but his 79 yards total running was pretty dismal, and South Carolina doesn't have an offense.

If Georgia turns up like this to Sun Devil Stadium against Arizona State, hold your breath as the second-ranked team in the nation is unseated. And as for South Carolina, can Steve Spurrier beg, borrow, or steal a quarterback? PLEASE?!

Arizona State

It's funny how teams get found out because they are looking one game ahead of the one that they are playing. That was Arizona State's fault against lowly UNLV, and the Sun Devils were duly shocked 23-20.

Even coach Dennis Erickson admitted that the Devils weren't "ready to play," and he blames it on himself. You can be sure they'll be ready against Georgia, or they are going to lose by more than three points to the Bulldogs.

Michigan

Seven turnovers. No offense for the third time this year. Michigan is downright, er, offensive this year, and not in a good way.

Washington

Quick Maths equation for you: Tyrone Willingham + Career at Washington + No match for Oklahoma = Depressing.