[NU Sports] Big Ten today ...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

>  Right now there
> appear to be 3 unstoppable teams:  USC, Texas, and
> Virginia Tech, and there's
> a reasonable chance that there will be 4 undefeated
> teams from BCS

Well, don't jump ahead too far. FSU slipped up, and
VaTech has a killer finish of Virginia, Miami and FSU
(probably) in a month's span. As for the SEC
unbeatens, I dunno if anyone can get through that
league unscathed - kind of like the Big Ten (again -
Auburn last year was special and deserved a shot at
SC).

I don't think anyone left on Texas' schedule will give
the Horns much of a scare, so they're safe ... but the
interesting thing will be if someone topples SC. They
still have to go to Cal and face a UCLA team that
shoulda beat 'em last year and is not scared of SC.

> I do have to agree that USC is one of the best
> offensive teams I've seen 
> in years, though possibly not quite as good as the
> 1995 Huskers, a couple
> of Miami squads and one or two of Barry Switzer's

Don't forget those '94 Nittany Lions -- I know Husker
fans overlook 'em:) -- but they seem like a pretty apt
comparison to this SC team. An amazing offense that
can score on any play and doesn't get phased when
down, plus an underrated defense that is tough but has
holes.

> defense, too.  I think 
> USC's defense is suspect, though I'm not sure who'll
> prove it until January.

And the thing is, if it gets to January, it won't be
proven. You give Pete Carroll a month to prepare for
Vince Young or anyone else and that D will be rock
solid (ask OU last year ... or Iowa a few years back).

Don't count out UCLA though. Smart move by the Pac 10
to move that to December -- gives the league a
national game that could be two unbeatens (too bad FSU
lost, or the dream of a Dec. 3 with unbeatens
UGa-Bama, VaTech-FSU and UCLA-USC all facing each
other, plus unbeaten Texas playing would have been
amazing).

> OTOH (and it REALLY hurts to write this), I think
> Notre Dame is (finally) 
> back, they'll be a force to contend with in a year

Eh, again I'll say "not so fast" on the Irish --
remember they had the same boost from Willingham (how
many times are the Irish allowed to "be back" in a
decade?:) ). They have some BIG issues on defense
(even Purdue shredded 'em - they just turned it over
too much) and have yet to beat a team ranked in
today's Top 25. Pitt and Washington are awful awful
teams. Purdue is sloppy and Michigan was overrated at
#4 and that's before the usual Lloyd Carr
clam-up-vs.-the-Irish strategy came into play. Their
two toughest games were at home and they lost both.

I think a lot of Weis' offense is catching people by
surprise this year because it's a novelty act from the
pros that a lot of DCs haven't seen before. I suspect
Pete Carroll will have it broken down next year in LA
and most other defenses will be ready for it better as
well in the future. Kind of like the spread -- we'll
see how well Weis adapts his O to keep other teams off
balance. The recruiting will never be a problem, but
I'm not set to say they're back yet. I see one more
loss in 'em this year yet -- maybe not Tennessee, but
some slip up.

GO CATS!!! BEAT MSU!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


		
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