Top 10 teams across the land are breathing huge sighs of relief tonight, as the top 3 all played sloppily and eked out victories and #6 USC somehow survived a furious Irish rally. Add to that 5th ranked Boise State's unimpressive performance in Tulsa on Wednesday, and you have 5 of the top 6 teams just glad they have more lives to live. At least their fates are better than #4 Virginia Tech and #7 Ohio State, who were ambushed in tough environments and failed to survive.
Imagine if even just a few of those close results had gone the other way, or all of them. Every top 7 team save Alabama either lost or won by a TD or less. A few things go differently and we're sitting here in stunned silence as 6 of the top 7 teams have lost, something I'm sure has never happened before. We weren't that far off.
You might hear arguments that there are no dominant teams this year, Alabama possibly being the lone exception, a sentiment I found myself thinking earlier this evening. It's partly true, college football is amazingly balanced this season and any number of teams can make a national championship run. A Cincinnati-Iowa matchup is not that impossible. But upon closer examination, every contender has to fight through a week like this - when they don't have their best stuff, face a pesky opponent and have to handle second half adversity to pull through and win. It happens every year. So we can't read too much into these close results, it's just October football. Credit the teams who survived on their character and grit.
Oklahoma is as deserving as anyone to bear the label of "hard-luck". They've lost 3 games by a total of 5 points, and you have to think those results would be different if it weren't for a few injuries. We'll see how good a coach Bob Stoops is now. It's not hard to take an elite collection of talent and win 11 games annually, the mark of a good coach is how he guides his team through a season like Oklahoma's.
Cincinnati is a legitimate top 5 team and national title contender. What was most impressive about their Thursday night win in Tampa was that they did it with Heisman contender Tony Pike on the bench for much of the game. Their play calling and game management are as good as anyone's, and their defense, which began the season as nearly a completely new group of starters, is getting stronger weekly.
Mark Ingram of Alabama is as impressive a RB as there is in the country. He rang up over 100 yards after contact, and gets stronger as the game goes on. He's got NFL Pro Bowl talent and work ethic.
I was wrong on Nebraska apparently. A 3 TD loss to rebuilding Texas Tech is not what a national title and Big 12 Conference contender does.
Before the season I stuck the Purdue Boilermakers with the label of "Most Disappointing Team of 2009". This is true if you live in Ohio or if you're me - I'm very disappointed they're not disappointing.
Dominating defensive performance of the day: Penn State. You won't confuse the Minnesota offense for the 2008 New England Patriots, but they can get up and down the field, and the Nittany Lions have struggled against pass-heavy and spread offenses in recent years. Not so today - the Lions hit hard, never let up, and held stud WR Eric Decker to just one catch.
Strangest and most surprising score of the week: Kansas State 62, Texas A&M 14. This is a Kansas State team who lost to Louisiana-Lafayette, barely beat Massachusetts, and got plastered at Texas Tech 66-14 just one week ago. That's a swing of 100 points in 2 games. Is this the rock bottom moment for the once proud Aggies?
You'll never mistake me for a fan of Notre Dame, but I have to hand it to the Irish for their fight on the last drive against USC. The play that exemplified the determination embodied by the Irish was the 4th down play when Robby Parris held on while his head was being forcibly removed by Taylor Mays, and another USC defender attempted to force the rest of his body in an entirely different direction, twisting his knee awkwardly underneath him. It was painful to watch as he screamed in anguish, helmet off, collapsing into the turf. But he never let go of the ball. Only death would have separated him from that ball. The game meant that much to Notre Dame, and you have to feel bad for them to come up just a few yards short. What will be interesting is how they handle such a loss. In football and in life, handling adversity and failure shows a lot about our character and growth. Will we beat ourselves up, run and hide, cower in fear? Or will we fail well, learn from mistakes and get up off the mat to fight again? As a Christian, the grace of God is never more real as when I face failure or adversity, and I learn more about myself and grow in those times more than any other. The same can be true on the football field - young men learn something about themselves, get stretched and grow, and the camaraderie and community of their teammates can allow them to experience the freedom, forgiveness, and encouragement needed to move forward well.
We can expect more close games and more craziness over the remainder of the season - conference play is just hitting full steam and the playing field seems more level now than ever. As Ohio State and Kansas can attest, no in-conference game is a gimme; and as USC can vouch for, no lead is safe, no matter how stout your defense is. That's the 2009 college football season, and it's only warming up.
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