Same story as last time.
East Carolina – B. They lost their quest for the BCS, and are not likely to get it back. But NC State actually played a pretty nice game and ECU probably should have won this one anyway. They did nice work and should still go to the C-USA title game. Sadly, the banner has passed to BYU, TCU, Tulsa, and possibly Utah as BCS busters.
NC State – B+. They looked better than advertised. They were able to compete physically and make some plays on offense. The ACC is wide open, and I see no reason that NCSU can’t finish above .500 in conference play with a few breaks.
UCLA – D. The offensive ineptitude continues. There are reasons for that, but Arizona looked like the clear superior, and Arizona is not all that good. The UCLA defense doesn’t look bad, but the Tennessee game looks more and more like an aberration. The UCLA D has looked good in the past and is certainly the strongest part of the team. Still, they’re not good enough to pitch shutouts against the top half of the Pac-10, and without offensive improvement, they’re headed for a sub-.500 season for sure.
Arizona – B-. I just don’t feel that strongly about their performance. They rung up a team that couldn’t hit back. They did execute and the game was not competitive, so they get credit for that. However, they made some mistakes, and a better team would have certainly capitalized. On the other hand, a better team would probably simply dominate Arizona anyway.
Texas A&M – D. Their defense was outmanned and Miami got to the corners at will. Their secondary was OK, but Miami receivers were able to get open underneath. On offense, they looked lost. They’ll get some plays out of Goodson and the quarterbacking will improve, but there’s no way they’ll pass in the Big XII. Sure, Goodson will rush for a thousand yards, but it will not be enough to stave off conference beatdowns.
Miami – A-. The defense looked very solid and A&M really only produced on a few broken plays and a few sparks from Goodson. The offense definitely evolved, although we’ve yet to know whether the A&M defense is responsible for that. They created big holes in the running game and worked their short passing game with great effectiveness. The only thing I need to see is a vertical passing attack. If they can put that together, I see no reason that UM can’t win the ACC.
LSU – A. Boy, this team looked tough. Their offense was better than expected against a tough defense and on the road to boot. The defense wasn’t perfect, but still very solid. This team is a national title contender if ever there were one. Very, very impressive.
Auburn – A-. OK, they lost at home. Whatever. They are a damn good football team. The offense is progressing, although they did only score 14 points. The defense was good and it took some phenomenal play from LSU to unlock them. This was the best game of the year and Auburn was right in it. Either LSU or Auburn would walk through the Big Ten, ACC, and Big East with no trouble at all. More validation for the SEC in a terrific Saturday nighter. Can’t wait for next week.
Georgia – A-. A strong performance, although I wonder why UGA’s offense didn’t do a little more. The UGA defense was very impressive and UGA dealt with the hostile environment well. ASU played a decent game and served as a good test. To be honest, I think nearly any SEC road trip is at least as tough as going to ASU, but convincing wins on the road are never a bad thing. You got the sense that Georgia never really got out of first gear and never needed to do so.
Arizona State – B-. You expected worse? Well, they hung around the game despite the clear disparity, and wouldn’t that performance beat any Pac-10 team other than Oregon or USC? Isn’t a shot at the Holiday Bowl pretty much the goal for ASU? I was pretty impressed by how they handled the UGA running game and this is going to translate well to the Pac-10. USC and Oregon will move the ball on them, but the ASU defense should be good enough to get them six or seven conference wins, particularly when Rudy Carpenter isn’t facing SEC defenses.
