1. NC State 30 – Cincinnati 19
a. The Wolfpack is 3-0 for first time since 2000, which is another way of saying they have floundered for a decade after deciding to get into the football business.
b. State quarterback Russell Wilson is bloody useful. He struggled the week before against Central Florida but really looked sharp in the early going against the Bearcats.
c. States rushing attack has also dragged in the early going, but Mustafa Greene ran for 84 yards on 16 carries including a 31 yd touchdown.
d. The Pack led 30-7 in the fourth quarter before slacking off and allowing Cincinnati to score two touchdowns. Cincy failed to convert the two-point attempts. Possible lack of focus NC State?
e. Bearcats don’t appear to be very good.
f. Nice win, but lets not get it bent Wolfpack fans, 3-0 is just 3-0.
2. Florida State 34 – BYU 10
a. Seminoles bounce back after 47-17 loss to Oklahoma
b. FSU struggled a little bit, leading only 13-10 at the half, but a 14-0 3rd quarter put down the Cougars.
c. Quarterback Christian Ponder in particular struggled early before pouring it on in the second half. Ponder has a bruised bicep from the Oklahoma game, but reports say it is healing quickly.
d. Really a dominant performance as FSU held BYU to 191 yards total offense and rolled up 427 yards of its own.
e. So we know FSU is better than BYU and worse than Oklahoma, but we have no idea how good FSU is.
3. Virginia Poly 49 – East Carolina 27
a. The Hokies almost let Boise beat them three times falling behind 10-0 to open the game.
b. After that VPI&SU came alive, trading three touchdowns for two to end the first half down 24-21.
c. While the offense came alive at the end of the second quarter, the defense showed up in the second half. The pirates only scored a field goal, while the Hokie offense scored four touchdowns.
d. The Hokies did most of this without Ryan Williams who injured his hamstring half way through the second quarter. Darren Evans (91 yards 1 TD) and David Wilson (89 yards 2 TD) stepped up.
e. The question is, which team is for real, the Team we saw fight Boise tooth and nail and blow out a solid ECU team in the second half, or the team that struggled for the six quarters in between that.
4. Clemson 24 – Auburn 27
a. These two teams just beat the heck out of each other. Clemson jumped out to an early lead and then tenaciously lost ground to Auburn in the second half. The big difference in the game was probably Kyle Parker's injury. Parker took a helmet to the back early in the third quarter and was visibly pained through out the game, and his accuracy suffered, at one point missing a wide open receiver in the end zone.
b. If the game were a movie you’d be disappointed in the ending only because the rest of it was so good. The game went into over time and was lost by Clemson when a made field goal was disallowed (correctly) when the long snapper was called for an illegal snap and missed the ensuing field goal attempt.
c. That being said Clemson’s other two opponents were worse than scrimmage teams, and the only legitimate team Auburn has played (Mississippi State) has yet to win a meaningful game, so its hard to tell what direction the Tigers are headed.
d. The other question is can both these teams recover from this game or will it wreck them for the rest of the season as several players where carted of the field with what appeared to be serious leg injuries.
5. Duke 13 –Alabama 62
a. "We always approach every game the same way: Just come in, wanting to dominate the opponent, make them never want to play us ever again," Ingram (via ESPN) said. "That's the mindset we want them to have when we leave." Goal Achieved. Ingram himself ran for 131 yards.
b. Duke can’t play defense, but at least they scored a touchdown. It was the first touchdown Alabama allowed all year.
c. Duke was down 45-13 at the end of the first half. The second half was more of a controlled scrimmage than a competitive game as Alabama added another 17 points.
d. How flipping good is the Alabama team? Really good. Good enough to tempt hyperbole, but we’ll resist for another couple of weeks. One thing's for sure, Alabama is so much better than Duke that it’s impossible to estimate how Duke will do against the rest of its schedule based on that game.
6. Maryland 17 – West Virginia 31
a. Paper turtle, thy name is Maryland
b. West Virginia pretty much did what ever they wanted to in the first half jumping out to a 21 point lead at the half. They stretched that lead to 28 early in the third quarter before allowing Maryland to creep within 11. The Mountaineers are yet to put together a full game this year.
c. The only bright spot for the Terrapin’s were 60 and 80 yard touchdown passes to speedy wide receiver Torrey Smith.
d. The Maryland offensive line had a particularly bad day as they allowed eight sacks and paved the way for -20 yards rushing.
7. Wake Forest 24 – Stanford 68
a. Basically Stanford just out paced the Deacons throughout the game. Stanford scored on all eight possessions its starters played.
b. Wakes had scored 107 points in its first two games, and all though they scored 24 in this game, it has to be considered a good effort against a vastly superior team. Remember, Stanford shut-out UCLA the week before.
c. The Deacon’s defense gave up 68 points to the Cardinal after giving up 58 to Duke the week before.
d. Two years ago the ACC sent ten teams to bowl games. That year the ACC sent teams all over the country and they had the ability to compete for the most part. This weekend Duke and Wake Forest needed miracles to win.
8. Boston College – Magnum PI marathon
a. Though undefeated, the Eagles have not exactly soared against the likes of Webber State (winning by 18) and Kent State (winning by 13). We’ll see if BC tightened things up last week as they face Virginia Tech, a team that has dominated them.
9. Miami – Licking Wounds
a. An anonymous Miami fan used the off week to keep it classy and suggest via twitter that the levels of melanin in Jacory Harris' skin are to blame for the U’s loss to THE Ohio State. Surely wide receivers not knowing the play calls mattered more.
10. Virginia – Taking in a Dave Mathews show. Feeling good about that D+. It’s not a grade they like to give out.
a. Virginia follows up its bye week with a second bye week. This time VMI comes to town. The game against the Keydets (sic) represents another opportunity for UVA to install more of Coach Mike London’s offense and defense, and develop depth. Something they’ll need when they enter ACC play.
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