Another week of college football is in the books, and some changes to the Tenacious Ten are definitely necessary after this past weekend's games, mainly because Georgia gave South Carolina a great lesson in "Payback's a Bitch 101". In non Tenacious Ten news though, the other USC lost to Washington State in a game that featured less excitement than a ten year old girl soccer league, Michigan beat Notre Dame in the "What Team Do I Hate More Bowl?", and BYU proved that Mormons can run for more than 500 yards against Texas without the help of caffeine, cocaine, or performance enhancing drugs. Let's get to this week's Tenacious Ten.
1. Alabama--- Bye week
I wrote a few months back that Nick Saban might actually be the devil. Well, if he's not the devil, than he obviously sold his soul to the devil because there's no other explanation for why Alabama got a bye week before "The Game of the Century" (This Game of the Century thing really needs to stop. By my count, this is about the 24th game of the century and we're only 13 years in to the century). Saban and his right hand man, defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, have had this game circled on their schedule ever since Johnny Football came into Tuscaloosa and beat the Crimson Tide last year, and it will be interesting to see what kind of schemes they have drawn up to stop him. Smart may've also sold his soul to the devil this week to gain inside information on how to stop Johnny Football 2.0. In terms of Alabama's players over the bye week, the only notable news was AJ McCarron had sex with Katherine Webb a few times (Sorry I messed up that reference last week. But in all honesty, who has time for editing. That isn't important...)
2. Oregon--- Beat Virginia 59-10
I almost considered dropping Oregon from the two spot because they didn't score 60 points last week. But then I remembered they played Virginia, a fairly decent ACC football team, and beat them in Charlottesville by 49 points. That's pretty damn impressive. Thomas Jefferson may've built the University of Virginia, but Marcus Mariota may be the most impressive person to walk on that campus now. He is taking huge strides in his second year at the position, and with how bad defenses are in the Pac-12, he is going to put up Heisman caliber numbers all year. Not to be overlooked is Oregon's defense, who for the second week in a row, played great. The Ducks don't have many tests on their schedule so look for their torrid offensive pace only to improve as the year goes on.
3. Ohio State--- Beat San Diego State 42-7
Yeah, I know Braxton Miller got injured and could have lingering knee issues. Yeah, I know San Diego State lost to Eastern Illinois by 21 points two weeks ago. However, I also know that Kenny Guiton is the best damn backup quarterback in the land. The Ohio State offense doesn't skip a beat when he comes into the game. He's a folk legend in Columbus thanks to the performance against Purdue last year, but when you break down the highlights from last Saturday, you can tell Guiton could be the starter at almost every other school in the country. Plus, with all the weapons around him in Urban Meyer's offense, you could run a completely inept quarterback (I don't know, someone like Mark Sanchez... Oh wait a minute, let's not get too unrealistic here. Okay, Brandon Weeden... Never mind, scratch that too. Blaine Gabbert... Never mind, he may be the worst player to ever play the position) and put up a lot of points. A road trip to Cal will be a slightly more difficult test for Ohio State, but even with Kenny Guiton under center, it should still be an Easy A.
4. Clemson--- Beat South Carolina State 52-13
After having a brutal game against Georgia to start the season, Clemson took it back a couple notches and played a school that I didn't know actually existed until last Saturday. Most impressively, Clemson didn't suffer any big game hangover at all, as they asserted their dominance right from the get go. Tajh Boyd would be getting a lot more press if it wasn't for Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel, etc., but he shouldn't be forgotten in the elite quarterback discussion. As long as Clemson doesn't take their foot off the gas pedal (Hold on, grab the wall... Crap, let's get back to sports here before we go too far down that path) like they have in years past (Hello NC State, Maryland, Duke, etc.) they should stay unscathed up until their test against Florida State.
5. Texas A&M--- Beat Sam Houston State 65-28
Johnny Football is proving this year he is more Johnny Quarterback than Johnny Athlete. The first two games, Manziel's proven he can be much more of a traditional spread quarterback, rather than the hectic Chinese fire drill he was too often last year. However, all the marbles in the SEC West are going to be on the line this Saturday in College Station. Manziel has been really laid back about the stakes of the game, and for the sake of the Aggies, he better be able to stay emotional composed. Should Saban and the Tide be able to rattle him early, the wheels may start to come off the track. That could mean turnovers. That could mean stupid penalties. Most importantly, it could mean an A&M loss. If the Aggies want to beat the Tide two years in a row, though it's going to come down to their defense. Through two games against less than stellar competition, they've given up 59 points. Alabama has just slightly a little more firepower than Rice and SHSU, so the defense is going to have to show up, or it will be a long, long day.
6. Georgia--- Beat South Carolina 41-30
Georgia may have a loss. But that loss was to Clemson and solely because of one bad snap on a field goal. Between revenge for that and the good, ole fashioned beat down the Dawgs suffered in Columbia last year, Georgia came ready to play. As someone who went to Athens last week, let me just attest to how impressive Todd Gurley really is. The man is a human wrecking ball, but luckily for all of us, he's wearing a lot more clothing than Miley Cyrus' music video. He shredded the "elite" South Carolina defense and ran through holes bigger than the gap between Michael Strahan's front teeth. Just for fun, Georgia ran Keith Marshall and some fullback who I've never heard of in my entire life right through the mile wide holes, too! On top of that, Aaron Murray showed just how inexperienced the Gamecock secondary is, especially when he threw an 85 yard touchdown pass on 3rd and 13 (Don't get me started on that play). It doesn't get any easier for Georgia, as they have LSU coming to town at the end of the month. Most importantly for Georgia, they know they control their own destiny in the SEC East now. And should the defense improve just slightly, Georgia should play themselves right back into national title contention.
7. Louisville--- Beat Eastern Kentucky 44-7
After Kentucky lost to Western Kentucky the previous week, I thought Eastern Kentucky might have had a shot at pulling off the miracle upset... Just kidding. Louisville and Teddy Bridgewater came back right where they left off and nearly held on for a shutout victory. I know I raved about him at length last week, but it should be obvious by now that Bridgewater is the real deal. He's the hottest player in the country not named Todd Gurley. He has a top five draft pick slot all lined up (Hello Cleveland! The "Tank for Bridgewater" shirt is already being sent to the stores). However, if Bridgewater wants to gain legendary status and win a national title, he's going to have to keep the spectacular play up. If the first two weeks have shown me anything, it's that many teams, especially outside of the SEC, have the potential to run the table. The Cards are going to have to do that, and do it very impressively, should they want to go to Pasadena this January. Louisville basically plays an FCS team in the Kentucky Wildcats this week, so look for another huge week from Teddy B. and another huge margin of victory for Louisville (Look on the bright side, Kentucky fans. This loss won't be nearly as difficult to deal with as the one to Robert Morris).
8. Stanford--- Beat San Jose State 34-13
I'm not going to lie. I didn't watch a single play, a single highlight, or see a single statistic from this game. Stanford is probably being unfairly penalized by me again, but I blame their west coast location and the lack of me having the Pac-12 network in my dorm for this consecutive drop in the Tenacious Ten. It is NOT laziness on my own personal part to look information up about the Cardinal. Once they actually start playing some national televised games, though, I promise I'll start give David Shaw and his team some more credit. But for right now, let's just move on. If anyone in Palo Alto, California or a Stanford fan is reading this, feel free to complain. But on the other hand, congrats on stumbling upon this page. That must mean my professional, amateur blogging career is finally getting off of the ground.
9. LSU--- Beat UAB 56-17
While LSU did look impressive for the second week in a row, something with them doesn't sit right with me. I guess I just personally think Texas A&M and Alabama are superior teams. LSU's standing didn't improve this week when the Sports Illustrated report about Oklahoma State named Tigers' coach Les Miles. If the man wasn't facing enough scrutiny already for allowing a democracy to govern suspensions on his football team, trying to endure one of the most daunting schedules in college football, and facing issues with his cow-like diet, LSU might be up a couple spots. Unfortunately, all aforementioned problems are serious issues down in Baton Rouge. LSU will gain a leg up on one of their western division competitors after this weekend, but tough times lie ahead for Tigers.
10. Florida State--- Bye
After Famous Jameis Winston made one of the best college football debuts of all time, he got to take a week off and let all the attention and headlines digest. For a player with so much hype, it was huge for him to have a week to let it all sink in, so he can get on with the rest of his career. Expectations are going to be high for the Seminoles the rest of the year, and just like Clemson, they aren't going to have too many challenges leading up until that important matchup. The Seminole defense seems to be solid once again, too, which is a characteristic many top teams lack this year. Time will only tell whether or not this is the year where Florida State returns to the highest of echelons in the college football world.
Next team up: Michigan--- Beat Notre Dame 41-30
Let's be honest, I hate Michigan. I think Brady Hoke is a bag of goo who eats at Golden Corral and Asian Star Buffet way too often. I think he is also one of the most ignorant people I've ever heard speak. The real reason I want to talk about Michigan, however, is the interview between Kirk Herbstreit/Eminem/Brent Musburger. If you haven't already watched the most awkward thing to ever air on broadcast television, go ahead and look that gem up. Why on Earth they didn't cut to commercial sometime during that debacle is beyond my understanding. Beyond all that ridiculousness though, it should be noted that for the first time in awhile Devin Gardner gives Michigan a legitimate quarterback. Coupled with the unimpressive play of Nebraska and other Legend division powers, the dream B1G Championship matchup between Michigan and Ohio State might finally become a reality.
J. Nave
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