Spec's College Nickel Package -- Week 2
1. Lane Kiffin
Why did I always have the sneaking suspicion that Kiffin was another Mike Shula or David Shula or [sorry to bring up the name, Washington and UCLA fans] Rick Neuheisel.
As in: the "hot coach" who's more sizzle than steak.
Isn't USC supposed to roll out NFL bodies up and down the field? Isn't Marqise Lee one of the top talents in the land?
54 yards passing?
Longest pass play: 8 yards?
Give credit to the Washington State defense, but ... wow ...
[Cougars won, 10-7, by the way, in LA.]
2. Hurricane Warning?
Are those orange-clad Miamians back in your face?
Or are the Will Muschamp Gators just nuttin' special?
Maybe some of both: Miami 21, Florida 16.
Muschamp and Kiffin might both join Neuheisel in a TV studio somewhere soon.
3. Longhorns Stampeded
Wasn't it just yesterday that everyone feared the big, bad, huffing, puffing Longhorns who were just going to create their own conference and their own TV network and laugh all the way to the bank?
Well, now that we're well into President Perry's first term ...
Oops.
BYU was turned down by the Tex-o-centric Big XII in favor of West Virginia, but the Cougars from Utah were doing the laughing on Saturday after pushing the visitors from the Lone Star State up and down the field for 550 yards rushing [679 yards total -- thanks Brent!] in this 40-21 romp.
Yes, this same BYU team lost to Virginia in their opener. Which reminds us ...
4. Oregon 59, Virginia 10
I don't know if any of our Charlottesville friends who follow Hultzen, Taylor, Hicks and company, carry over into these reports, but ...
INNNNNNN-coming!
Ducks were flying all over Scott Stadium, for 557 yards. The Mark Helfrich era begins with 125 points in two games, and no beats have been skipped so far.
Marcus Mariota had 199 yards passing and 122 rushing, but the ESPN Heisman Watch still has him third behind Clemson's Tajh Boyd and Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater.
5. Aaron Murray & Todd Gurley
With Georgia's back to the wall after losing to Clemson in Week 1, the Bulldogs needed to defeat South Carolina. The nation's top QB-RB combo got it done, with Murray providing 17-of-23 passing for 309 yards and four TDs and Gurley adding 134 yards on the ground.
Don't be surprised to find both teams from the Week 1 Clemson-Georgia classic in the Top 5 by the end of the year.
Also receiving votes:
-- If Nebraska beats UCLA this week, emerging defensive end Randy Gregory may be the key. The guy's earning raves everywhere even though he hasn't registered an official sack.
-- Alabama vs. Texas A&M in the week of the 100th anniversary of Bear Bryant's birth. Would've been a great game for Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles to broadcast drenched in down-home aphorisms. They're both still alive in their 80s, by the way. I checked.