What we have learned since Thursday

1. Paul Johnson is, without a doubt, the best coach in the ACC. He always seems to make the right decisions (fake field goal in the 1st half), gets the most out of his players (Josh Nesbitt is the only QB in the FBS that looks worse throwing the ball than Terrelle Pryor), and his always seems in control of the game. Hopefully I didn’t just jinx him for Thursday night’s game versus the Hurricanes.

2. The billboard was right. Charlie Weis proved that he has no business being a head coach at a major program (I know, I know Notre Dame and major program in the same sentence). Notre Dame has the ball on second down, 2:25 left in the game, Michigan has just called their 1st timeout of the second half. Common sense tells you that you run the ball two times, Michigan either uses its last two timeouts or Notre Dame uses about half the time left on the clock – either way it’s a win-win for the Irish. So what does the offensive guru do? Two pass plays, both of which are incomplete. End result Michigan scores the game winning touchdown with 0:11 left on the clock. Brilliant coaching by the Apprentice.

3. We also learned that a little extra practice can make you a better team, right Coach Rodriguez.

4. Try as he might, Jim Tressel cannot change his spots. Tressel, infamous for his conservative coaching strategy, tried to loosen the reigns on his offense Saturday night just before the end of the first half. He actually tried a pass, when the conservative, and right, call would have been to run the ball. End result: incomplete pass, punt, USC field goal to tie the game 10-10 at half. You could almost hear Tressel thinking I am not doing that again as he was being interviewed on his way into the locker room. So true to form, Ohio St. played it close to the (sweater)vest, failing to take advantage of countless opportunities in the second half, and ended up losing 18-15. Dennis Dodd might have put it best when he wrote: “Horseshoes and hand grenades would like to welcome Ohio State to its exclusive club. It’s getting to the point now that just playing close is a sign of progress for the Buckeyes”.

5. USC is not the mighty giant that it was in years past. I don’t care how much Brent Musberger fawns over him, Matt Barkley was average, at best, Saturday night. Of course that was still better than Terrelle Pryor.

6. The Big 12 North is well the Big 12 North. Colorado has fallen to 0-2, after getting steamrolled by that MAC power Toledo. Kansas St. lost to Louisiana-Lafayette. Iowa St. managed 3 points against Iowa. To make matters worse for the Big 12, Oklahoma State proved it had no reason to be ranked in the top 10 after beating a mediocre Georgia team at home. The 4th quarter reveals a team’s character and Oklahoma State was blown out in the 4th quarter by the visiting team.

7. Miami’s win against Florida State wasn’t such a big deal. On a related note, BYU has a chance to crush Florida State this weekend in Provo.

8. Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rodgers is the definition of a workhorse back. In the game against UNLV, Rodgers had 26 carries for 166 yards and 10 receptions for 65 yards. That is a heck of game for the sophomore.

9. Al Groh will not be back at Virginia next year if they care about football in Charlottesville. I think he can do better but it wouldn’t shock me to see Charlie Strong at the top their wish list.

10. It is officially Tennessee week. Gator Coaches and players alike are downplaying what was said during the off-season by Lane Kiffin. But to get a feel what the staff, and in particular head coach Urban Meyer, feels check out this list of visitors (most confirmed) for this weekend’s game and tell me what the staff thinks is going happen:

Trey Burton – commit, QB
Mack Brown – commit, RB
Solomon Patton – commit, WR
Ivan McCartney – uncommitted WR, #113 ESPN 150
Chris Dunkley – uncommitted WR, #13 ESPN 150
Christian Green – uncommitted, #4 rated WR
Gerald Christian – committed TE
Michael McFarland – committed TE
Ian Silberman – commit, OL
Chaz Green – uncommitted, OL #62 ESPN 150
Brandon Linder – uncommitted, OL
Ronald Powell – uncommitted, #2 rated DE
Corey Lemonier – uncommitted, #4 rated DE
Lynden Trail – uncommitted, #27 rated DE
Neiron Ball – commit, OLB
Leon Orr – commit, DT
Jeff Luc – uncommitted, #1 rated MLB
Jordan Hicks – uncommitted, #2 rated OLB
Christian Jones – uncommitted OLB, #26 ESPN 150
Cody Riggs – uncommitted CB, #76 ESPN 150
Lamarcus Joyner – uncommitted CB, #12 ESPN 150
Jaylen Watkins – commit, CB
Demar Dorsey – commit, CB
Matt Elam – commit, S
Jonathon Dowling – commit, S
Jordan Haden – commit, LB
Will Hagerup – uncommitted, #4 rated Punter