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Wild Start To Season Is Only Half The Story

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By JOEY JOHNSTON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 8, 2007

If it just meant preseason No. 5 Michigan losing at the Big House to a Division I-AA team (Appalachian State), it would qualify as unprecedented.

If it was just about preseason No. 3 West Virginia falling prey to the ravenous sellout crowd from an 11th-year program (USF), it would be perceived as incredible.

If it was only preseason No. 1 USC, the dynastic juggernaut of our modern era, losing at home for the first time since 2001, it would be viewed as remarkable.

Oh, one more thing.

USC was defeated by a 41-point underdog (Stanford).

Any of those events would make for mind-bending season highlights, enough to inspire a novel or a feature film.

They all really happened.

They happened in a six-week span.

Longtime fans of college football must feel like they are on information overload. There's hardly enough time to recover from one magnificent event before the next hits you squarely between the eyes.

And we're leaving a few things out.

California, which hasn't played in the Rose Bowl since 1959, now has Pasadena as its consolation prize. The Golden Bears are No. 2 and bearing down on a national championship opportunity.

Kentucky is on the national stage, and it's not basketball season. Steve Spurrier has his swagger back, and South Carolina is dreaming of its first trip to the SEC Championship Game.

Louisville's defense can't play a game without surrendering 500 yards to an opponent. Nebraska can't stop anyone, either.

Kansas-Missouri, a largely ignored border war in these parts, might be a battle of unbeaten teams, two days after Thanksgiving.

Notre Dame went 0-5 for the first time ever, finally finding its mojo in a Rose Bowl stadium where the program hadn't played since the Four Horsemen era.

Strange year?

At college football's midway point, you don't know the half of it.

Bowl Projections

BCS Title Game
LSU vs. California
Crazy array of upsets "help the idle Golden Bears "rise to big-game status.

Rose Bowl
Oregon vs. Ohio State
With tough road games "ahead, USC could be "relegated to Holiday Bowl.

Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia
After losing to USF, we like Mountaineers to still claim a BCS spot at 11-1.

Sugar Bowl
South Carolina vs. Hawaii
Gamecocks might be safest bet in what has become a tumultuous SEC East.

Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech vs. USF
Hokies will travel well to Miami - and so should statewide Bulls backers.

Outback Bowl
Florida vs. Illinois
Get your tickets now for Urban Meyer, Ron Zook contract-signing party.

Heisman Watch

1. DeSean Jackson
California WR/KR
Well-timed bye week enabled him to heal for Golden Bears' stretch run.

2. Matt Ryan
Boston College QB
Eagles are 6-0 for first time in 65 years, largely because of his leadership.

3. Mike Hart
Michigan RB
Heart and soul of a Wolverines team that will be big factor in Big Ten race.

4. Chase Daniel
Missouri QB
Came up big with 473 yards of offense, four TDs in 41-6 win vs. Nebraska.

5. Darren McFadden
Arkansas RB
Had 122 yards vs. Chattanooga; desperately needs marquee night against Auburn.

They Said It

"Some people thought we were going to get beat 1,000 to nothing. But not our players."
Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, whose Cardinal defeated USC 24-23, as a 41-point underdog, ending the Trojans' 35-game home winning streak.

"I really don't accept it. I don't know how to accept it. There's no place to put it."
USC coach Pete Carroll on the loss to Stanford.

"It's not our standard of football."
Nebraska coach Bill Callahan, whose Cornhuskers surrendered 606 total yards in a 41-6 loss at Missouri.

"When you're 0-5, everybody in the country is laughing at you. The only thing you can do is do something about it on the field."
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, after a 20-6 victory at UCLA, which ended the most inept start in Fighting Irish history.

"I think the way our defense hit them planted some seeds of doubt."
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, after a 23-7 win against previously unbeaten Purdue.

"His demeanor never changes. Down 14, up 14, he's always, 'Let's get this.'"
Oklahoma's Malcolm Kelly on freshman QB Sam Bradford, who passed for 244 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-21 win against Texas.

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353

or jjohnston@tampatrib.com.

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