40 Acres Sports

But special teams bails out the defense and Horns pick up the W.

Good thing USC doesn’t run the option.

He’s got a point about the sluggish starts in early games (except Baylor).

Several games Friday but even the Texas at Texas A&m game shouldn’t be particulary big. The A&M defense is one of the nation’s worst and the Texas offense is averaging 50 points per game. While the Aggie offense has performed well at times this season, quarterback Reggie McNeal doesn’t look like he’s going to be 100%.

Here’s this week’s picks:

Related Links

• Last week’s picks
• SI.com Top 25 Scoreboard

Texas offensive line best Mack has ever been around.

Lots and lots of praise for the team from other Big 12 coaches.

“It’s my last game.” Guess he’s conceding a loss to Texas and no bowl game.

Our Thoughts

Brian – A lot of voters finally saw what we’ve seen all season long, USC has an average defense right now. Miami’s loss blows things wide open in the fight for #3, Penn State, Louisiana State, Virginia Tech, and even Ohio State all seem to have a strong claim to that next spot in case the Longhorns or Trojans falter. I really can’t even imagine what would make a poll voter put Notre Dame ahead of Ohio State. The Buckeyes would beat the Irish on the field, they’ve played a much tougher schedule, had bigger wins, and played better in their losses to better teams.

What games could they be watching? Oh yeah… most of them don’t actually watch the games.

Matt –I am still completely shocked that Miami lost at home to Georgia Tech. Kyle Wright looked absolutely scared and I am not sure having Tyrone Moss would have even helped them in this game.

USC almost lost to a tough Fresno State team that just wouldn’t quit. Obviously, if it weren’t for Reggie Bush USC would have lost that game, but I think everyone just needs to settle down a bit about Reggie. It was a great game for sure, but now people are calling him the “Best College Football Player of All-Time.” Give me a break. It is easy for someone with his speed to gain those kind of yards when you don’t get touched at the line of scrimmage. I am also tired of seeing his 500+ total yards of offense. I don’t care about his kickoff/punt return yards, and that is only going to continue the hype machine that is Reggie. Vince is still the best player in college football.

But enough of that though, here is my Top 25. (NOTE: I have made some adjustments in my analysis of teams.)

Related Links

• Last week’s rankings
• Harris Interactive Poll (PDF, 28 KB)
• Master Coaches Survey

Our Thoughts

Brian – I don’t know how many of you watched it (how dumb is it to schedule a west coast game at 8 pm local time??), but Reggie Bush was flat out ridiculous Saturday night. Fresno State’s defense isn’t exactly stout, but Reggie’s 294 yards on 23 carries was pretty remarkable. He just looked like he was on another level than anyone else on the field. Throw in his receiving and kick returns and he put up 512 total yards on the night. Definitely made this a two horse race between him and Vince.

It seems like every week the media forgets about all the weeks before and just hand the award to whoever had the best game that week. A ton of media experts have already handed the trophy to Bush, but that can certainly change. When Vince had 506 total yards against Oklahoma State (and didn’t play the entire game because Texas won by 20 points) everyone was exclaiming that he was clearly the Heisman favorite. Then he blew up passing the next two games (579 yards and 6 TD’s in 2 halves of football) and he pulled away even more in most Heisman polls.

If Vince goes out on national TV against Texas A&M on Friday and in the Big 12 Championship game and puts up a couple of his typical dominating performances, he’ll have a VERY good chance to become everyone’s favorite once again.

Matt – USC almost lost to a tough Fresno State team that just wouldn’t quit, which would have given Vince the Heisman. And obviously, if it weren’t for Reggie Bush USC would have lost that game, but I think everyone just needs to settle down a bit about Reggie. It was a great game for sure, but now people are calling him the “Best College Football Player of All-Time.â€? Give me a break. It is easy for someone with his speed to gain those kind of yards when you don’t get touched at the line of scrimmage. I am also tired of seeing his 500+ total yards of offense. I don’t care about his kickoff/punt return yards, and that is only going to continue the hype machine that is Reggie. Vince is still the best player in college football.

Vince needs to put up some ridiculous numbers to get the public back in his favor. And is it just me or did I hear that 11 Heisman voters have already sent in their ballots? How can this happen?

Related Links

• Last week’s Heisman poll
• ESPN Experts Poll

Joined by Matt Leinart and Brady Quinn.