Week 2 Recap: The TFFE Top 25

#1 LSU 48, #9 Virginia Tech 7
Oh holy crap. I'll admit, I missed most of this due to the lure of free UFC on Spike TV, but this was a more vicious beating than anything on that show. Starting Tech QB Sean Glennon's line (2/10, 16 yards, INT) is so ugly that it's almost beautiful, and frosh backup Tyrod Taylor wasn't too much better passing (7/18, 62 yards) even if he ran for 51 VT's lone score. But the ineffectiveness of the Hokie offense isn't a surprise - the unit struggled against East Carolina, and LSU is a combination for instant death. Light punch, light punch, light kick, forward + fierce punch and such. Five of you got that joke. Actually, five people would be half my readership, so maybe not. Anyway, the supposedly stout Virginia Tech defense was absolutely ripped to shreds in Oklahoma/Miami-like fashion, as LSU put up an even 600 yards. Leading LSU rusher Keiland Williams had 126 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the kicker is that he managed to do so on only 7 carries. That's 18 yards a carry. QB Matt Flynn had a good night himself, going 17/27 for 218 yards and rushing for a score, and the huge LSU lead let him rest in favor of victory cigar Ryan Perrilloux, who completed all 5 of his passes for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns. Just...wow. Virginia Tech takes an obvious step down, since their defense doesn't look all too elite, but they're still in the thick of a wide-open ACC race. LSU's offense can apparently hang with anyone, and they're still far and away the most impressive team in the nation. And hell, THEM doing THAT to THEM moves them up into another tier, which is scary since only they occupied their now-former one. I'm wondering if I should rank them at, say, #0.25.
LSU: STOCK UP
Virginia Tech: STOCK DOWN

#2 West Virginia 48, Marshall 23
Much closer than the final score, both in the statistical matchup and how the game played out, since Marshall was up 13-6 at the half and kept it close in the third. But then West Virginia's attack of Lightning and Lightning took over, and it was off to the races. The races that Pat White, Steve Slaton, and Noel Devine won. White might actually be my Heisman frontrunner at the moment, as while he put up his usual great ground numbers (17 carries, 124 yards, TD), he's also an extremely dangerous passer, as he had 149 and 2 TD through the air with a 72% completion rate. Slaton overcame a slow start to wind up with 146 and 2 scores on the ground, and Devine lived up to the hype, going for 15.2 yards a carry en route to 76 yards and 2 touchdowns of his own. On the Marshall side, they still don't have much of a running game, but QB Bernard Morris had a fine night (19/29, 258, 2 TD) and is capable of getting them to some wins in C-USA. Marshall looked better here than expectations, but I'll refrain from bumping them up, since most teams do, in fact, play their best in a big rivalry game.
West Virginia: STOCK NEUTRAL
Marshall: STOCK NEUTRAL

#4 Oklahoma 51, #16 Miami 13
This looks better in retrospect after VT's pitiful performance, but it's much the same story, just slightly less extreme. Miami QB Kirby Freeman put up a Glennon-esque 3/10 performance for 17 yards, and soon gave way to Kyle Wright, who at least managed to eke out a 54% completion rate and a score. The Canes rushing game had even less in the way of...mediocre news, since neither Javarris James or Graig Cooper were able to crack 30 yards. On the other side of things, Miami's rushing defense was at least able to somewhat keep its dignity - while OU ran for 160 yards, leading back DeMarco Murray only ran for 64, and the Canes allowed no touchdowns on the ground. OU QB Sam Bradford absolutely abused the Miami secondary though, going 19 for 25 en route to 205 yards and five, yes, five touchdowns. While I don't expect Bradford to keep up this pace, he is absolutely off his balls and easily good enough to lead OU to a national title. OU gets a bump up because oh my god that offense, and while Miami's run defense was in the same league as expected, they just HAVE to get a bump down because of that horrid performance against the pass. They're still ACC contenders, though.
Oklahoma: STOCK UP
Miami: STOCK DOWN

#5 Louisville 58, Middle Tennessee State 42
The hell? One of those two numbers was expected. MTSU rebounded from an abysmal effort against Florida Atlantic to put up 555 yards, averaging 10.1 yards per play. Running back Phillip Tanner was the star for the Blue Raiders, going for 144 and 3 TD on 9 carries, but DeMarco McNair also broke 10/carry, going for 72 and a score on 7 touches. Louisville had their own insane numbers, but they were in the passing game, with Brian Brohm going 25/39 for 401 yards and 5 TD, and top target Mario Urrutia reeling in 7 catches for 142 yards and 2 scores. I'll bump MTSU a smidge because they apparently have an offense, but I'm not sure what to think about Louisville. I'll keep their stock steady on the whole, since they have enough offense to beat most teams, but giving up over 10 yards per carry to Middle Tennessee State is not a good omen for when they face, say, West Virginia.
Louisville: STOCK NEUTRAL
Middle Tennessee State: STOCK UP

#6 Texas 34, TCU 13
After a slow start, the Longhorns just went nuts, outscoring TCU 34-3 in the second half. The hero of the day was RB Jamaal Charles, who had 134 and a score on 22 carries, since Colt McCoy (25/39, 239, 1/2 TD/INT) had a less than impressive day. Still, the key was TCU's shaky offense; Andy Dalton was able to throw for 209, but had 0 and a TD, and the running game did nothing. In fact, TCU's only touchdown was a TD run back off of one of McCoy's picks. Texas played pretty much like expected - the secondary still seems somewhat vulnerable, but the offense does enough to win and the defense in general will make do. TCU was the big losers out of this, mostly since the concerns about their offense were justified, if not made worse.
Texas: STOCK NEUTRAL
TCU: STOCK DOWN

#7 South Carolina 16, #14 Georgia 12
Just like I called it, right? If anything can be taken from this, it's that the OK State secondary apparently sucks or SC's is very good, because Matthew Stafford had a pretty bad day; while he gained 222 yards, it was on 19/44 passing, and he had a 0/1 TD/INT ratio. UGA RB Knowshon Moreno was the one bright spot of the Bulldogs offense, getting 101 yards on 14 carries. There's not much to say about the Gamecocks offense - QB Blake Mitchell had a good but not great day (21/32, 178 yards), and nobody did too much on the ground. Still, this win proves SC's as good as any team in the conference (non-LSU division), and with getting Florida at home, makes them the favorite to be SEC #2. Georgia takes a step down, but only to where they were in the preseason before the one-off offensive gains - nothing to be ashamed of, since they're still a top 25-worthy team.
South Carolina: STOCK NEUTRAL
Georgia: STOCK DOWN

#8 Penn State 31, Notre Dame 10
Pretty much as I expected - Jimmy Clausen wasn't running for his life as much as last week, but the PSU defense was still too good for this to be anything but one-sided. RB Austin Scott was the Nittany Lions' star of the show, going for 116 and 2 scores, but QB Anthony Morelli looked pretty bad, making some bad decisions (scrambling during an end-of-half drive with no timeouts) and putting up a quite disappointing line (12/22, 130, TD, INT). On the ND side, they at least hit positive rushing yardage, this game getting 1 yard on the ground. UND is as horrible as last week showed, but Penn State slips down towards the rest of the upper-Big Ten pack in my eyes, since I'm beginning to think whatever trust I had in Morelli to improve was unfounded.
Penn State: STOCK DOWN
Notre Dame: STOCK NEUTRAL

#10 Alabama 24, Vanderbilt 10
Vandy had a pretty bad performance, with the rushing game doing nothing and QB Chris Nickson being pulled out after a 5/18, 67 yard, 1 INT performance. Bama QB John Parker Wilson wasn't too hot either, going only 14/28 for 151 and a pick of his own. Still, RB Terry Grant was able to carry the Tide offense to a win, rushing for 168 and 2 TD. I'll keep both teams's statuses steady for the time being, but with caution - Vandy was disappointing and Parker's struggles are something to keep an eye on.
Alabama: STOCK NEUTRAL
Vanderbilt: STOCK NEUTRAL

#11 Ohio State 20, Akron 2
Even though OSU was only up 3-2 at the half, this was completely one-sided. QB Todd Boeckman went 14/23, but only had 130 yards and a mediocre 2/2 TD/INT ratio. RB Chris Wells's day was much better, as he had 20 carries for 146 yards. Oh yeah, and the Buckeyes held Akron to 71 yards. Yes, 71 yards. Total. Yes. 71! While it's obviously a good game for OSU, I wouldn't take much out of it on their end, just that Akron is set for a long year.
Ohio State: STOCK NEUTRAL
Akron: STOCK DOWN

#12 Wisconsin 20, UNLV 13
This one just makes me cock my head and look at it funny. UNLV actually did their damage against Wisconsin's secondary, as QB Travis Dixon had 258 yards and a 1/1 TD/INT ratio on 64% passing. PJ Hill had 147 on the ground for Wisconsin, and Tyler Donovan had a completely decent day, going 14/26 for 138 and a score. An unimpressive win, and I'll write it off as a one-off deal for the Badgers. There's no real warning flags. and Donovan's coming along fine. I'll bump UNLV back up, since they showed the potential that I thought they would in the preseason, but lacked against Utah State.
Wisconsin: STOCK NEUTRAL
UNLV: STOCK UP

#13 Texas A&M 47, Fresno State 45 (3 OT)
Oh jeez, and the game was as even as that score. First, I'll state the obvious with Fresno: they're back, and with Boise and Hawaii's struggles this week, are lurking as a darkhorse to win their first WAC title. The running game wasn't overwhelming for the Bulldogs, but they still had 3 touchdowns on the ground, but QB Tom Brandstater is a good one, as he went 21/31 for 260 and a 3/1 TD/INT ratio. I have absolutely no idea what to make of A&M. They were a horribly underrated team last year, and I particularly loved the balance of passing and running ability that QB Stephen McGee showed. While McGee again disappointed as a passer, going only 13/24 for only 79 and a score, he was once again TAMU's leading rusher with 124 yards. And while RB Mike Goodson disappointed (23 carries, 69 yards), his partner-in-crime Jorvorskie Lane lived up to his reputation, going for 121 and 4! touchdowns on 23 carries of his own. TAMU doesn't really pass the eyeball test, as they struggle more than they should and again, McGee's lost that balance that I liked, but I'll still keep their stock steady, since they continue to rush with anyone. I'm getting wary, though.
Texas A&M: STOCK NEUTRAL
Fresno State: STOCK UP

#15 Florida 59, Troy 31
Tim Tebow is good. He can pass (18/25, 236, 3 TD), he can run (17 carries, 93 yards), he generally displays Kinsmon Lancaster-esque ability to be a one man team. It's hard to tell about the Florida defense, though. Troy didn't have a GREAT enough day to raise any big warning flags, but they still performed better than you'd like. Still, it's not like there were any great individual performances - the Trojans running game did pretty much nothing, and QB Omar Hougabook put up his 283 yards through quantity more than quality, going 29/52 for 283 and a 2/1 TD/INT ratio. Florida's still somewhat of an enigma, but I think I have them at the right level - pretty good, not elite.
Florida: STOCK NEUTRAL
Troy: STOCK NEUTRAL

#17 Oregon 39, Michigan 7
Holy shit. You know how when you take over a rebuilding team in NCAA football, like say a Utah State or an Eastern Michigan, and you have a magical 8-4 season and wind up facing, say, Iowa in some mid-tier bowl? And then they come out guns ablazin' in the first few drives and you're like "woohoo, this is gonna be a game, not like my 70-3 win over Buffalo!", but by the time the second quarter rolls around, you're lobbing deep passes over bad coverage and pulling off those plays where the CB unsuccessfully dives to catch up to the running receiver? That's what this was. Just absolutely pathetic on the part of Lloyd Carr, who should be fired immediately, if not thrown into a sack and beaten against a tree. I feel sorry for Mike Hart, who's still one of the most consistent backs in the nation and had 127 yards here, since he's surrounded by such...ineptitude. As I said, if you thought Lloyd Carr was actually going to adjust his gameplan after being humiliated, he hadn't done so at any point during his tenure, and he sure as hell didn't now. Just...horribly frustrating. I like Michigan, and I feel absolutely sorry for any hardcore fan, since they sure don't deserve this. Chad Henne was mediocre (12/23, 172, TD, INT) before being knocked out with an injury, I've been told he's doubtful for Notre Dame, and it doesn't really even matter. And hey, let me talk about Oregon -- they're very good, even if Michigan's incompetence probably overstated things. Dennis Dixon abused the Wolverines offense in going 16 for 25 for 292 and 3 scores, and rushing for another 76 and a TD. And RB Jonathan Stewart is a complete manbeast, going for 111 and a TD and running over a few people along the way. Oregon'll probably move up in my poll, but I won't bump their status up, since again, Michigan's so incompetent. As for the Wolverines...sigh. I didn't expect them to WIN this one, but I expected them to at least have some life - this was an inept, hopeless, defeated team, and this all rests at the feet of Lloyd Carr, who gives off an air of mediocrity that is absolutely...Lieberman-esque. THE GAMEPLAN IS NOT WORKING. Just, God. Words fail me. I figured after last week Michigan would still pull things together to win, say, 9 games. Now, I wouldn't be shocked if they imploded all the way to 5-7. Or, hell, if they even lost to Notre Dame.
Oregon: STOCK NEUTRAL
Michigan: STOCK DOWN

#18 Missouri 38, Mississippi 25
Actually a very close game that could've gone the other way had Ole Miss not turned the ball over twice. Really just an offensive showcase, with both teams cracking 530 yards. Ole Miss was a two-man show, with QB Seth Adams going 23/41 for 305 yards, 3 TD and an INT, and RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis had a pretty insane day, going for 226 and a score on 33 carries. While Missouri's Tony Temple wasn't as impressive, going for "only" 123 yards on 17 carries, QB Chase Daniel essentially had the equivalent of Green-Ellis's night, going 31/42 for 330 and 5 TD. I'm still undecided on Ole Miss - I knew the lines would be strong, and thus the running game, but I'm not sold on Adams yet. As for Missouri, same old same old - that defense is still a concern, but overlookable considering the offense. And with playing teams like Nebraska and Texas Tech, they're essentially just a better version of those squads.
Missouri: STOCK NEUTRAL
Mississippi: STOCK NEUTRAL

#19 Hawaii 45, Louisiana Tech 44 (OT)
Whoa. I expected Hawaii's defense would be exposed eventually, but not here. And it wasn't even a great individual effort that did it for LA Tech, since no running back cracked 100 yards, and while QB Zac Champion did have 64% passing and 2 TD, he only had 187 yards. On the other side of things, same old same old with the Warriors offense - Colt Brennan was the entire show, going 43/61 for 548 and a 4/1 TD/INT ratio. Disappointing effort on both sides of the ball for Hawaii, and I'll have to downgrade them just because the defense played that badly. And, hell, I'll give Louisiana Tech credit for showing some signs of life. I'm actually excited to see which of them, Idaho, and Utah State claws their way to 7th place. It's a fun little storyline. YAY COLLEGE FOOTBALL!
Hawaii: STOCK DOWN
Louisiana Tech: STOCK UP

#20 Nebraska 20, Wake Forest 17
Another very even game. Wake RB/WR Kenneth Moore was the star of the show, both statistically and watching the game, as he ran for 116 and a TD on only 8 carries and caught 4 passes to tack on another 35. QB Brett Hodges was mediocre though, going only 12/24 for 140 yards and throwing two INTs. As for the Huskers, everything was pretty uninspiring. Marlon Lucky looked better than his 90 yard, 1 TD performance showed, but that's kind of faint praise, since a 90 yard, 1 TD performance is a 90 yard, 1 TD performance, regardless of how it looked. Sam Keller went 24/41 for 258 yards, but his 1/2 TD/INT ratio wasn't too productive. I didn't change much of my opinion about Nebraska coming out of this - they're a vulnerable team with lots of talent on offense. The real key has been Wake's play the last two games - even though they're 0-2, they've hung with pretty much anyone, and while I hate to use emotional-based generalities, they really do just feel like a team that, once again, is going to win some games they shouldn't. And, really, their statistics have shown they're a pretty improved team, and should once again be bowl eligible.
Nebraska: STOCK NEUTRAL
Wake Forest: STOCK UP

#21 Clemson 49, Louisiana-Monroe 26
For the Tigers, it was the Cullen Harper show - no Clemson back cracked 100 yards, and Harper went 20/26 for 276 and 5 TD. And really, good news for both offense, as Louisiana-Monroe had two 100 yard rushers - star RB Calvin Dawson had 121 and a TD on 28 carries, and backup Frank Goodin had 102 and a score on 10 touches. A bit of a disappointment for Clemson's D, but nothing to get worried about for the time being - really, this game was just a showcase for two offenses that were as good as expected.
Clemson: STOCK NEUTRAL
Louisiana-Monroe: STOCK NEUTRAL

#22 Florida State 34, UAB 24
Okay, FSU's just as disappointing as they were last year, despite the win. UAB was up 17-3 at one point, but didn't really show much - QB Sam Hunt was the only productive player on offense, and did so through quantity more than quality, not completing even half his passes, but throwing enough to gain 226 yards. FSU QB Drew Weatherford was better than that, completing 63% of his passes en route to 332 yards and a 3/1 TD/INT ratio. Just a very uninspiring win, as FSU should smash a team as overmatched as UAB. I guess I'll give UAB a nudge up, since this probably means they're no longer the worst team in I-A. Ugh.
Florida State: STOCK DOWN
UAB: STOCK UP

#23 Arizona State 33, Colorado 14
CU had a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, but ASU pretty much smashed them. Sun Devils QB Rudy Carpenter had a productive, if not great, day, going 19/37 for 269 and a 3/1 TD/INT ratio, and RB Ryan Torain added 91 and a score. Not much to say - another solid win for Arizona State, and while Colorado is obviously talented and improved, they're not good enough to win games like this. Yet.
Arizona State: STOCK NEUTRAL
Colorado: STOCK NEUTRAL

Washington 24, #24 Boise State 10
Turnovers sunk the Broncos here, namely QB Taylor Tharp's 3 picks. His overall line was fine, with 62% completion and 285 yards, but yeah, that 0/3 ratio is a problem, even if he did run in Boise's lone touchdown. RB Ian Johnson was disappointed, though, not doing much and only getting 81 yards on the ground. As for the Washington offense, it was mostly QB Jake Locker or bust, and the redshirt frosh had a solid if not great night, completing 13 of 25 en route to 193 and a 1/1 TD/INT ratio, and he led the Huskies with 84 yards rushing (and another TD there.) Boise easily could've won this, so it's not a crushing loss, and they should still be WAC contenders. Washington, however, gets bumped up to having some legitimate improvement; they could be able to beat, say, Oregon State now.
Washington: STOCK UP
Boise State: STOCK NEUTRAL

#25 South Florida 26, Auburn 23 (OT)
It was a pretty even game yardage-wise, but Auburn still somehow hung in there despite 5 turnovers. No running back did much, but USF QB Matt Grothe had a fine night, completing two-thirds of his passes for 184 and a score. As for Auburn's Brandon Cox, well, he's not good at this. He completed less than 46% of his passes and had a 1/2 TD/INT ratio. Not much to take from this, at least from where my head was at. This is a big win for USF prestige-wise, but it wasn't really that surprising - USF is a solid team and is still lurking as a contender for an undefeated year, and Auburn's probably gonna have some trouble this year.
South Florida: STOCK NEUTRAL
Auburn: STOCK NEUTRAL