College Week 2, Sept. 11

On this day, we should share a moment of silence for those who died on 9/11, and for the first responders and others who did their best to save others.

High school report: Ada faced a their toughest opponent of the year so far last night, Columbus Grove. Ada jumped out to a quick lead, but Grove fought back and were driving late in the game to come back when DB Ty Jolliff intercepted a long Grove pass to secure the victory. Ada's Bulldogs outscored the Columbus Grove Bulldogs 38-20.

Division III. The Rhodes College Lynx defeated the Washington U Bears 14-10 at Rhodes. Does that make Wash U Rhodes kill? A touchdown pass in the last minute of play powered Randolph Macon to a 41-37 win over #19 Johns Hopkins.

Big Games: Several ranked teams face ranked opponents this weekend, racheting up their level of competition. #1 Alabama had no trouble handling #18 Penn State 24-3. #2 Ohio State exploited four interceptions thrown by #12 Miami in defeating the Canes 36-24. Terrell Pryor had almost 350 yards of total offense in the victory. #7 Oklahoma, coached by Bob Stoops, massacred #20 Florida State, whose defensive coordinator is Mike Stoops, 47-17. Maybe Bob knows something about Mike's playbook. Michigan took a 21-7 halftime lead against Notre Dame and then held on to take the game 28-24 at South Bend. Michigan QB Denard Robinson had over 500 yards of total offense, producing more than 200 yards passing and 200 yards running. #24 South Carolina beat visiting Georgia, ranked #22, 17-6. South Carolina, coached by passing guru Steve Spurrier, relied on a strong ground game from Marcus Lattimore to overcome the Dawgs.

Trophy Games: #23 West Virginia barely avoided an embarrassing loss and managed to claim the Governor's Cup in the Friends of Coal Bowl by beating Marshall 24-21 in overtime at Marshall. #9 Iowa stormed Iowa State 35-7 to take the Cy-Hawk trophy.

Upsets: Kansas, which last week lost to North Dakota State, upended #15 Georgia Tech 28-25 at Lawrence. South Dakota of Division IAA upset Minnesota 41-38.

Indigestion from Eating Cupcakes: #13 Virginia Tech, which had been expected to contend for the ACC championship, lost to Division IAA James Madison 21-16. This defeat, reminiscent of Michigan's disastrous loss to App. State in 2007, probably marks the end of Tech's national title hopes and also damages the BCS case of Boise State. Boise State usually only plays one or two strong teams per year, and Virginia Tech was projected to be the strongest team on Boise's schedule.

Our Teams in Victory: #8 Florida relied on several interceptions to "snap back" from their bad performance last Saturday to defeat a South Florida team coached by Skip Holtz 38-14. Florida is still having trouble on offense, so future prospects could be dimming. Clemson clobbered hapless Presbyterian 58-21. The Miami Redhawks defeated Eastern Michigan 28-21, so Zac Dysert of Ada finally won one. Maryland shelled Morgan State 62-3. Missouri ripped McNeese State 50-6. (For those of you who wonder where McNeese State is, it's in Louisiana.) Toledo edged conference rival Ohio U 20-13. Nationally ranked William and Mary massacred the Keydets of VMI 45-0. Illinois took down IAA Southern Illinois 35-3. Arizona State warmed up for Wisconsin by dumping on Northern Arizona 41-20 in Tempe.

Veil of Tears Dept.: In Colorado's first opportunity to take on a Pac 10 team since deciding to join the conference, the Buffs got mauled by the Cal Bears 52-7. Lambuth acted like the lions, and Georgia State became the lambs in GSU's first football defeat, 23-14. Vanderbilt held down #19 LSU in the first half but were eventually overwhelmed 27-3. Northern Colorado lost an offensive struggle to Weber State 50-47. #16 Southern Cal scored early and then hung on to overcome Virginia 17-14 in L.A. Colorado State took it on the chin (and on all other parts of the body) from Nevada Reno 51-6.

Other Games of Interest: Mountain West power and national #4 TCU trampled Tennessee Tech 62-7. #6 Nebraska vandalized Idaho 38-17. The #5 Texas Longhorns gored Wyoming 34-7. The Fordham Rams outbutted the Rhode Island Rams 27-25. Oklahoma State just nipped Troy 41-38.

Is It Basketball Season? Wake Forest outscored Duke 54-48 in the ACC basketball opener for both schools. Oops, it really was a football game.

Pentagon Papers: Air Force provided another reason for BYU to leave the Mountain West Conference, tripping the Cougars 35-14. Hawaii swamped Army 31-28 at West Point. Navy edged Division IAA Georgia Southern 13-7.

Undefeated and Untied This Week: Peabody Conservatory, Emory, #11 Ohio Northern, #3 Boise State.