A wild weekend gave some clarity after one quarter of the season. It also added more questions.
We still haven’t seen Ohio State play remotely close to last year’s championship team, and still haven’t seen Baylor play anyone. Meanwhile, the SEC and the Pac-12 — the nation’s two best conferences — have the two best teams. And neither were the team we expected.
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This week’s Four In/Four Out:
Four in
1. Ole Miss: A classic letdown game: an ugly home win over Vanderbilt. The Rebels still have the best win in the first month of the season, and have still played the best of anyone after one month. At some point, the inability to run the ball between the tackles with a legitimate, pile pushing tailback will be an issue. Up next: at Florida.
2. Utah: It’s not just that the Utes beat Oregon in Eugene, it’s the way they systematically clobbered a team and an aura and left it with their worst loss since the 1970s. Utah did to Oregon what the Ducks have done to so many Pac-10/12 teams over the last decade. Two quality wins (Michigan, at Oregon) and two weeks to prepare for another big conference game. Up next: bye week.
3. Michigan State: No matter how you look at it, there has to be some — how to say this? — reflection about the Spartans’ home win over Oregon. A game that, if Vernon Adams doesn’t overthrow wide-open Byron Marshall late in the fourth, Oregon wins. MSU has to win and win impressively vs. Purdue and Rutgers until a key game at Michigan on Oct. 17. Next up: vs. Purdue.
4. UCLA: The Bruins continue to find new ways to not only win, but play beyond injury and distractions and play unlike UCLA teams of the past. They’re physical, they’re smart and they’re playing with a confidence not seen in this program since Terry Donahue was coach. They expect to win and play like it, which is a long way from where UCLA has been in previous years. Up next: vs. Arizona State.
Four out
5. Ohio State: We’re just not seeing it. That’s the most disturbing thing with this Ohio State team. It’s not just the quarterback quandary, it’s the team as a whole not playing with passion, not playing with the edge that made it so dangerous in the last month of last season. This Buckeyes team looks a whole lot like the Ohio State team from September to late November last season — a team that could have lost any week. Up next: at Indiana.
6. Baylor: Yep, the Bears look like they can score on anyone. The problem: They haven’t played anyone. Hard to analyze a team that hasn’t been pushed, that has experienced adversity, one month into the season. Fortunately, the awful non-conference schedule is complete, and the wild and wacky Big 12 schedule awaits. Up next: vs. Texas Tech.
7. Georgia: We’ve seen enough of Georgia to know the ability is there. The offense will get better the more reps QB Greyson Lambert gets in game action, and the defense has been strong for a month of games against no one. That all changes this week. Up next: vs. Alabama.
8. Notre Dame: No one has dealt with adversity — five starters lost with season-ending injuries — better than the Irish. ND has terrific balance on offense with two backups (QB Deshone Kizer, TB C.J. Prosise) playing like elite starters. The looming problem: A defense that doesn’t force opponents into uncomfortable situations. Up next: at Clemson.