40 Acres Sports

Horns are in top 3 nationally in sacks.

Last week everyone was a winner. Thanks to the complete lack of any interesting matchups we both finished 12 – 0 for the week’s picks. The games this week (other than Texas vs. SHSU) should be a little tougher to pick. Biggest game of the week is easily #1 Ohio State at #13 Iowa in a Big 10 conference game. The Buckeyes will have to perform better than they did last week if they want to win on the road. In the Big 12, the most interesting game pits Texas Tech on the road against Texas A&M. The Red Raiders have owned the Aggies lately but neither team has looked impressive early in the season.

Here’s this week’s winners:

Related Links

• Last week’s winners
• SI.com Top 25 Scoreboard
• SI.com Big 12 Scoreboard

I wouldn’t mind seeing Vince play against the Cowboys.

Chicago media ignores Cedric celebrating on national TV and writes whatever they want.

No drastic changes, just a half dozen more times per game.

Sentencing for the former Texas RB will be in November.

Someone should let Houston Chronicle writer John Lopez know he should at least try a little to get some facts right. He doesn’t have to be perfect, just come closer than he did in this article where he urges Aggies to judge Dennis Franchione based on what he does on the field.

Lopez compares Fran’s situation in College Station to John Mackovic’s tenure in Austin:

Once upon a time, there were Longhorns who thought former coach John Mackovic’s biggest problem was his aloof, high-society ways. But that wasn’t it. Mackovic was a failure and not the right fit because he got his tail consistently whipped by Barry Switzer and Jackie Sherrill on the recruiting trail and again on Saturdays.

Nice story, too bad it’s completely fictional. Mackovic was the Texas head coach from 1992 – 1997. Barry Switzer was cheating in Norman, Oklahoma from 1973 through 1988, and Jackie Sherrill was cheating in College Station from 1982 to 1988. Don’t worry John, you were only four or five years off.

And in his first three years at Texas, Mackovic was 19 – 14 – 1 compared to Fran’s 16 – 18. He also won a Southwest Conference title and had two second place finishes. The Aggies finished 5th, 4th, and 4th in the Big 12 South. Comparison’s not working out too well there. By the way, Mackovic also won one more Big 12 title than Franchione ever will at Texas A&M.

Nevermind actual facts, keep Fran!

Our Thoughts

Brian – None of my five guys move because none of them had a strong week. Adrian Peterson has yet to put up a huge game, and against the mighty Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State he was again only solid. Troy Smith had a chance to pass Peterson but against Penn State Smith had his worst game of the year. It was a week of boring matchups and the top guys put up average performances to match.

Matt – Garrett Wolfe is quickly becoming one of the more impressive players in college football. Wolfe had another spectacular weekend, running for 198 yards and catching for 42 yards. I ended up bumping Steve Slaton down a couple spots mainly because he didn’t do anything to wow me against East Carolina.

Related Links

• Last week’s poll
• ESPN Experts Poll
• SI.com Heisman Watch

Our Thoughts

Brian – If you look at just wins and losses it was a pretty boring week for the top 25, though two top 15 teams played poorly against subpar teams and in my poll took a hit for it. Georgia switches quarterbacks and mounts a big comeback to beat winless and anemic Colorado in the final minute. I bumped them down one spot. As for the Notre Dame, they won but they suck. They may have won against Michigan State but they continued to prove they’re just not a quality football team. They fall one spot as well.

Matt – For the first time that I can remember the Top 15 of my poll stays exactly the same. This is mainly due to the poor matchups we had this weekend, but still something that I wouldn’t expect.

I ended up dropping Notre Dame one spot mainly because they didn’t win but were handed a victory by MSU. Ohio State wasn’t as impressive as I thought they would be, only scoring 14 points on offense. They have a big matchup coming up against Iowa that might give a better impression of just how good they are. TCU is getting dangerously close to being in my Top 10, but knowing them they will probably lose to Army in a couple of weeks.

Related Links

• Last week’s rankings
• AP Top 25
• USA Today Coaches Top 25
• Master Coaches Survey

Mom said the MRI was good news, could play against SHSU.