College Football Week in Review
The second full week of college football saw the defending national champions Alabama Crimson Tide cruising by number 14 Penn State; Florida State, in their first big game without Bobby Bowden on the sideline get routed by third-ranked Oklahoma, and Number 2 Ohio State get past twelfth-ranked Miami. Michigan broke the hearts of Notre Dame fans for the second year in a row in a coming-out party for their quarterback, Denard Robinson, and thirteenth-ranked Virginia Tech was stunned by Division 2 James Madison.
In the Michigan-Notre Dame game, QB Robinson jumped to the top of the list of Heisman candidates with an outstanding performance. Robinson accounted for 502 of the Wolverines’ 532 yards of total offense, rushing for 258 and 2 scores and passing for 244 yards and 1 touchdown. Included among his 28 carries was an 87-yard run that set a new record for the longest run in the history of Notre Dame Stadium. The game moved Robinson ahead of other talked-about Heisman candidate Qbs Kellen Moore of Boise State, Ryan Mallett of Arkansas, and Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor. Running backs Trent Richardson of Alabama and South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore are also being talked about as potential Heisman hopefuls.
Boise State saw their hopes for an appearance in the BCS Championship game all but vanish when Virginia Tech lost a stunner to James Madison. Boise State, as a non-BCS conference school, has a very light schedule. They opened the season by defeating the Hokies in Blacksburg, Virginia, and probably needed Virginia Tech to go undefeated the rest of the way to have any chance at playing for the national title in January. With the Virginia loss to a Division 2 school, Boise’s strength of schedule will almost assuredly not be strong enough to land them in the top two spots in the BCS rankings.
In the Miami-Ohio State game, the second-ranked Buckeyes intercepted Miami QB Jacory Harris 4 times en route to a 36-24 victory. Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor kept his name in Heisman discussions with a good performance, rushing for 113 yards and a touchdown and throwing a TD, as well. The game was the first time the two teams have played since their controversial battle in the 2002 National Championship game, which Ohio State won 31-24 in double overtime. The game was somewhat sloppy, and the Buckeyes didn’t look spectacular, but the win leaves them undefeated and in line, with an undefeated season, for a shot at the national championship.
Among the ranked teams to go down in week 2 were 18th ranked Penn State, who lost to top-ranked Alabama. Penn State QB Rob Bolden, the first true freshman to ever start a season opener for legendary coach Joe Paterno, turned the ball over inside that Alabama 30 three times on the day. Alabama running back Trent Richardson, subbing for Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, got himself into the discussion for this year’s Heisman with a bruising 144-yard performance against a defense that had gone 17 straight games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.
