The Week One Post-Amble: LSU, Boise State, Assessing Pac-12, Trolling

Week One is largely about teams finding their identity, enacting the repetitions ground in during workouts in game situation. The first game is guaranteed to feature sloppiness, which makes LSU-Oregon, Boise State-Georgia and USF-Notre Dame squaring off all the more impressive. None of these Death Stars were fully operational, just like none of the other 120 FBS programs in action this weekend, but were willing to put their seasons on the line immediately.

Oregon’s two-touchdown loss to LSU highlighted a problem sure to plague the Ducks all season. Much was made during the broadcast of the bigger, stronger Tiger defensive line imposing its will on an inexperienced Duck offensive line. This was surely the case, and will continue to be an issue as that unit develops. But my own personal trepidation about the Ducks stemmed from its defense.

When a team leads college football in points per game, that side of the ball is sure to dominate the conversation. But the defense’s ability to force punts and other turnovers quickly facilitated the quick-strike offense. Last night, a defense starting just three from last season’s first string and without its best player, Cliff Harris, was unable to slow LSU. The loss should provide further headache for Chip Kelly, too. By playing this game early on and not Missouri State, UO exposed itself to the blueprint for beating it. A close halftime score set the stage for LSU completing dominating the third quarter. Outscoring UO 14-0 in those 15 minutes ended all doubt, and it displayed a significant difference between last year’s Ducks and this year’s.

Last season when locked in a tight first half, which happened often, Kelly made adjustments that often resulted in the opponent getting its doors blown off. Just look at the Arizona, Stanford, Arizona State and USC outcomes. The exact opposite was true last night. Les Miles’ team was the one more intense, better adjusted out of the locker room. Miles takes a lot of heat from fans, experts and pseudo-experts but in Texas he outmaneuvered the “It” coach in college football.

This game was about LSU and its SEC-ness forcing its tempo, its style onto a Western opponent. Jarrett Lee didn’t exactly strike a blow against the Heisman candidacies of Andrew Luck or Kellen Moore, but he was simply effective. More importantly, he wasn’t a liability. That might be all Miles needs from him with that stellar defense and breakout rusher Matt Ford able to shoulder a sizable portion of the load.

There was plenty of buzz as LSU began pulling away about SEC superiority. Nothing is worse for judging a larger theory than taking individual pieces of anecdotal evidence. To wit, while LSU was hammering a 2011 BCS Championship Game team, a potential 2012 participant dominated deep in SEC Country. Boise State’s 35-21 defeat of Georgia erased bad memories of past journeys into the South, and it made a definitive declaration that this Mountain West team is as capable of playing for all the…sugar packets? Allstate claims?…as any Big Six member.

Kellen Moore’s efficiency is scary. Pressure, lacking of openings, throwing off his back foot, none of its matters. Moore just finds inch-wide seams and exploits them. Twenty-eight of thirty-four, three touchdowns, 261 yards will all feature prominently in the Heisman docket. Add a second weapon in the running game with the impressive D.J. Harper, who outshined first stringer Doug Martin, and the Broncos are the most dangerous they have ever been.

BSU shone a light on UGa’s most glaring flaw, it’s lack of depth on offense. Brandon Boykin was the Bulldogs’ leading rusher via a single carry. Isaiah Crowell showed brilliance early, but wore down getting the majority of carries. The line did him nor Aaron Murray no favors. The Dawgs remain my favorite to win the SEC East, but next week’s home matchup with a South Carolina bunch that looked unimpressive beating East Carolina is critical.

Georgia’s loss was actually one of two the SEC sustained against current or very recent Mountain West members — remember that statement about anecdotal evidence? The Ole Miss offense was thoroughly ineffective against a BYU defense that last year had its coordinator fired midway through the season. In fact, Ole Miss didn’t score a single offensive touchdown, the lone end zone jaunt coming via an interception.

The Rebel defense dictated the pace much of the way in holding the Cougars scoreless for more than three quarters, but like a starting pitcher whose batters give him no run support, there was only so much the defense could do.

The point to take away is it’s far too early to declare a superior conference. That said, Saturday was rough on the Pac-12. Oregon’s loss put an exclamation point on the league’s collective struggles. The Ducks’ rivals in Corvallis spent three quarters sleepwalking against Sacramento State, allowing a potential Championship Subdivision title contender to build a 21-6 lead. OSU turned it on the in the fourth quarter, but the outcome was reminiscent of a first round March Madness contest: the favorite comes out sluggish, gets punched in the mouth and is shellshocked, gets its motor running but finds itself in too deep a hole to recover.

Malcolm Agnew did his part to lead the Beavers back, scoring all three of their touchdowns. The true freshman is the replacement Mike Riley needed for the departed Jacquizz Rodgers, but the Beavers have much, much work to do defensively.

Sac State quarterback Jeff Fleming played a helluva game and picked apart the OSU secondary. Marshall Sperbeck’s call to let his quarterback try to win via the overtime two-point conversion was genius, and would have been even if an offensive pass interference flag flied. He came to win, and that attitude paid off. The Hornets are going to prove a stiff challenger to reigning national champion Eastern Washington, which nearly pulled off its own upset of a Pac-12 foe.

Bo Levi Mitchell and Brandon Kaufman were the best passer-receiver combination on the field, and UW showed that the secondary issues that plagued it through 2010’s first half are not fully solved. That could be a problem with Pac-12 offenses in Stanford, Arizona and USC showing passing prowess yesterday, all three of which UW draws.

USC’s passing game should have been the story of the game. Matt Barkley and Robert Woods were an historic combination yesterday, the freshman Woods catching more passes than any Trojan receiver ever. That’s quite an accomplishment given USC has produced Mike Williams, Steve Smith, Johnny Morton, Keyshawn Johnson among others. Yet his efforts were nearly squandered as a result of atrocious play calling. USC was en vogue choice to finish with the Pac-12 South’s best record. It could still happen because of the Trojans’ first string talent and the division’s uncertainty, but Lane Kiffin needs to mature.

The going-for-two-early strategy works if you’re one of the USC superpower teams from the Pete Carroll era, or last season’s Oregon Ducks. And even those Carroll-coached teams typically just took the extra point on touchdowns.

This USC team shouldn’t leave points on the board. Kiffin left five in a game that Minnesota had a final possession with the opportunity to win on a field. There were the two two-point conversion calls, and a fourth down attempt at the Minnesota 15. A field goal in that situation changes the dynamic entirely. It was also USC’s second failed fourth down attempt. Hubris can lead to intimidation with the right personnel, but this isn’t the USC of old, a point I have hammered hard on this blog.

Crosstown rival UCLA’s loss at Houston is seemingly another black eye on the conference — I disagree. The first half in which a supposedly strong Bruin defense allowed 17 Houston first downs and nearly 300 yards of offense was certainly ugly, and given all the tumult UCLA has experienced with coaching shake-ups and injuries, the team could have understandably folded. Yet, UCLA fought hard and nearly came back from down 17 points. The defense buckled down, and the offense looked surprisingly compotent. Jonathan Franklin exhibited why he might just be the best overall back in the conference. The tide that turned the Bruin offense around was actually second string quarterback Richard Brehaut. Rick Neuheisel should consider dropping this Pistol experiment, let Brehaut play out of more of a spread, and let that open up opportunities for Franklin.

The 38 points UCLA surrendered to an explosive Houston bunch really paled into comparison to the 50 Baylor hung on the celebrated TCU defense Friday night, though. In another Texas showdown, Robert Griffin III solidified his Heisman candidacy in completely pasting what was the top defense of 2010. BaylorBears.com launched BU-RG3.com to hype the quarterback, and he delivered. Week One is far too early to start seriously discussing the Heisman, but in the first half-mile of this marathon it’s Griffin, Luck and Moore setting the pace.

TCU’s loss eliminates it from BCS bowl contention. Think Gary Patterson and Co. are anxious to move to the Big East? Certainly the countdown is on, but its new home will not roll over for the Frogs. Skip Holtz is building something special Tampa, and yesterday’s defeat of Notre Dame in hallowed Notre Dame Stadium was the biggest block in this construction.

BJ Daniels wasn’t great, completing just 18 of 30 pass attempts for 128 yards, but he didn’t give up any turnovers. That’s going to be critical to USF’s success all season. With a well-spread ground attack and a frustrating defense, efficiency over explosiveness could win the conference, and a BCS bowl appearance would do so much to bolster the program’s profile. With a coach like Holtz and a location in the heart of a recruiting hotbed, USF football is potentially the next giant.

As for UND, the Irish’s designs on a return to the BCS now stand on a razor thin line. Notre Dame can lose two games and still qualify, but the remaining docket includes a trip to Stanford, Maryland, USC and next week the first night game at Michigan. The Wolverines were to be rebuilding, and early on struggled. But as the skies above Ann Arbor opened, so did the UM offense.

Much was made of how, if at all, Denard Robinson would fit into Brady Hoke and Al Borges’ plans. Both had won at previous stops with different styles of quarterback, and have proven the ability to make it work. Yesterday’s rout of Western Michigan certainly suggested they have done it with Robinson, another Heisman-potential player. His passing attempts were limited to 13, but he completed nine of them for 11 yards a clip and he rushed for another 46. What will make him, and the Wolverines altogether more successful than the Rich Rodriguez-coached versions is that Robinson’s 46 yards came as a second option in the rush. Michael Shaw has star potential and got to put it on display. A more multifaceted Michigan will be a far greater gameplan challenge for opposing coaches like ND’s Brian Kelly than the one-dimensional teams Rodriguez fielded.

ODDS & ENDS

More on the FCS vs. FBS

Sac State’s defeat of Oregon State was one of just two FCS victories against its FBS counterparts. The other was Richmond’s 23-21 win at Duke. The Spider defense bottled a potentially explosive Duke offense to win its third straight over the Blue Devils. Aside from the obvious boost a win over a BCS conference team provides, Saturday’s outcome is also a meaningful building block for UR in meshing under coach Wayne Lineburg. Lineburg took over for LaTrell Scott just over a week ago. Such circumstances could doom a team, but UR played like it will be back in the Colonial Athletic championship race.

Fellow CAA member was on the wrong end of an interim head coach’s successful debut. Everett Withers had his own tumultuous situation to navigate at North Carolina, but got an emphatic W over a James Madison team that last year beat Virginia Tech. UNC quarterback Bryn Renner nearly set an NCAA record for efficiency that has stood since 1998, completing 22 of 23 attempts.

As for aforementioned Virginia Tech, loser of the second most infamous FCS vs. FBS upset ever, sent an emphatic message with its blasting of Appalachian State. The winners of the first most infamous FCS vs. FBS upset never stood a chance, nor did heavy FCS title favorite William & Mary elsewhere in the Commonwealth. Virginia blasted W&M, sending its own message that the Mike London-coached Cavaliers are a much different monster than the Al Groh team W&M defeated in 2009.

The FCS was close to reaching half of the record number of single season FBS defeats, though. There was the EWU-UW outcome, and two late night contests that were decided at the end — or beyond it. Stony Brook led UTEP most of the way behind 231 yards rushing. However, Brock Jackolski was the only member of the three-headed Seawolf monster to reach the end zone. Kyle Essington provided the other Stony Brook rushing score; Miguel Maysonet’s 96 yards were the team high but he didn’t score and 2009 leading rusher Edwin Gowins remained unavailable. UTEP rebounded to knock off the Seawolves, 31-24 in overtime.

Weber State suffered similar heartbreak, leading a substantial amount of the way against Wyoming but surrendering a final minute touchdown that turned the tide in the Cowboys’ favor. The near-miss ended what was a pretty impressive showing from the Big Sky.

Big 12 vs. Pac-12

Twitter is fertile ground for trolling. Yesterday’s news that the Pac is courting Oklahoma and Texas (and vice versa) set off some prime trolling, including this from TheDaily.com reporter Dan Wolken:

"The funniest part of the Big 12 blowing itself up for the Pac 12 is that the Big 12 is a better football conference even w/o A&M"

Given Oklahoma and Texas and their traditions, it’s seemingly a difficult point to argue. But comparing the two conferences over the last decade, excluding Nebraska and Colorado, yields a much different reality. The leagues are actually quite comparable. Both have won one BCS championship. The Pac has lost two BCS title games, the Big 12 three. And head to head since 2006, the Pac-12 actually has the collective edge. Texas, Oklahoma State and Missouri face UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State in the coming weeks to potentially turn that tide, but in the meantime, there’s no definitive edge.

$EC

The best example of trolling goes to the Rice marching band, which took a not-so-subtle shot at Texas via Texas A&M’s impending departure to the SEC as seen below.