Week 3 Recap

For me personally, it was not a good week since my team USC played horribly in all three phases of the game and lost 31-37 to Boston College.  I have to give credit to BC.   They played an amazing game and was solid in the trenches on both sides of the ball.  Sure, I can make excuses that they had to travel all the way to the east coast and play a night game.   I could also use the excuse of the limited scholarships due to the Reggie Bush sanctions or how because of the difficult game against Stanford and the depleted roster with no depth, the defense was exhausted having to play the whole game with limited substitutions.  Also, I could use the excuse of the playing of so many true freshmen with very little game experience.   I won't do that though, since it does not give credit where credit is due. Boston College outplayed and out-coached USC.   They were the better team and deserved to win.

On another note, it was another bad week for the Big 10.   Ohio St won big 66-0, but they played Kent St, really?!?  Nebraska had a big win on the road against Fresno St 55-19, but how good is Fresno?  They have been blown out in all 3 of their games.  Michigan bounced back by scoring a 34-10 victory over Miami (OH).  Those were the only victories against non-conference teams.  They did have a conference game between Penn St and Rutgers where the Nittany Lions came from behind to win 13-10.  All of the other Big 10 teams had losses.  Indiana lost at Bowling Green 42-45, whereas Maryland lost a close game at home to West Virginia 37-40.   Now the bad losses, Iowa lost at home to a bad Iowa St game 17-20 and Minnesota lost badly at TCU 7-30.   Illinois also lost on the road to Washington 19-44 and Purdue lost to Notre Dame 14-30 on a neutral field.   Overall, another bad mark for the Big 10.   Unless they have a great week with wins over quality non-conference opponents, it will be difficult for the Big 10 to gain enough respect to earn one of the four spots in the college football playoff.

Most of the games are pretty weak, such as E. Michigan @ Michigan St, Bowling Green @ Wisconsin, W. Illinois @ Northwestern, So. Illinois @ Purdue, Texas St @ Illinois, UMass @ Penn St and San Jose St @ Minnesota.  There are some good quality games that gives the Big 10 a great chance to change the nation's perception of their conference.  Here are the games that the Big 10 needs to win or at least have a good showing:  Iowa @ Pitt, Maryland @ Syracuse, Rutgers @ Navy, Utah @ Michigan, Indiana @ Missouri and Miami (FL) @ Nebraska.