Blogpoll: Week 9

By Chris Lauderback on October 27, 2008 at 7:00 am
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Even with two of our top ten losing this week, there was little movement in the upper half of our rankings considering Oklahoma State lost a close one to #1 Texas while Ohio State dropped a close one to #2 Penn State. We only dropped the Cowboys one spot and the Buckeyes three. Fair?

We know LSU got spanked by Georgia but we weren't sure if it was right to drop them more than four spots to #15 considering how extremely pedestrian teams 16-25 appear to be. That Tiger defense is pretty sieve-like, though. Where would you slot LSU?

We're still not sure about Boise State and Utah being ranked so high based on their schedules so your thoughts on that would be valuable, as well.

Same drill as always. Please post your feedback by Wednesday so we can make any necessary adjustments before sending in our final ballot.

1 Texas McCoy proved he's human with two 2nd half turnovers but still completed 38/45 for 391 yards and 2 TD helping keep the Longhorns undefeated with a 28-24 win over Oklahoma State. The 28 points were a season low but the Longhorn defense came up big with a 4th down stop at their 30 late in the 4th quarter to preserve the W. 11W favorite Jordan Shipley hauled in 15 passes for 168 yards and a TD. Next up: a shootout with Texas Tech. --
2 Penn State The Lions marched in to the 'Shoe and capitalized on a freshman mistake to move to 9-0. PSU controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides rushing for 4.3 per carry while holding OSU to 2.0 yards per attempt. --
3 Alabama Bama moved to 8-0 as the defense held hapless Tennesspeed to only 173 total yards of offense in a 29-9 victory. The Tide has only trailed for 1:15 of game time this season. --
4 Oklahoma 55 point 1st half helped Oklahoma to a 58-35 win at Kansas State. DeMarco Murray ran for 167 yards and 4 TD and Sam Bradford added 255 yards and 3 TD threw the air. Sooner D continued its unimpressive run yielding 550 yards though they generated 5 TO. --
5 Southern CalThe Trojans scored the least points ever in a win under Pete Carroll but it was still enough to beat Arizona 17-10 in Tucson thanks to a defense that surrendered just 188 total yards and 1/15 third downs. The game was tied at 10 until Ponch found Stanley Havili for a 30 yard TD with 7:56 left in the 3rd Qtr. --
6 Florida Tebow tied Emmitt Smith's school record for rushing TD (36) scoring twice on the ground and twice through the air in Florida's 63-5 demolition of Kentucky. Next up: @ Georgia --
7 Georgia Knowshon (163, 1 TD) and Stafford (249, 2 TD) helped Georgia put a 52-38 smack down on LSU in Baton Rouge setting up a showdown next Saturday in the Swamp. --
8 Texas Tech We still have questions but gotta admit QB Graham Harrell was very impressive to watch with 386 yards and 5 TD in a 63-21 beat down of Kansas. Next up: @ Texas UP1
9 Oklahoma State The Cowboys had their chances but turned the ball over on downs late in the 4th in a 28-24 loss at Texas. They allowed a career high 391 yards passing to McCoy and surrendered 11/14 third downs. DOWN1
10 Boise State Boise State led just 20-16 over San Jose State with 9:00 left in the 3rd Qtr but scored the final 13 points in a 33-16 win. RB Ian Johnson scored twice to move within 6 TD of the all-time WAC record of 57 held by some dude named Marshall Faulk. LaDanian Tomlinson is 2nd on that list with 54. The toughest remaining games for Boise are Nevada and at Fresno State to cap the regular season. UP2
11 Utah Bye week. Next up: @ New Mexico UP2
12 Missouri The Tigers bounced back from from back to back losses with a 58-0 shellacking of Colorado. Chase Daniel threw 5 TD and the usually exposed Mizzou defense handed Colorado their first shutout since 1988 (3rd longest active streak - 242 games). UP2
13 Ohio State Well...The last big win for the program continues to be the '06 Michigan tilt after the 13-6 home loss to Joe Pa. In a game like that, it only takes one mistake and Pryor made it. DOWN3
14 TCU TCU WR Jimmy Young exploded for 223 yards and 3 TD as the Horned Frogs humped the Wyoming Cowboys 54-7. TCU defense has yet to give up a 4th Qtr point this season. UP1
15 LSU Damn…Les Miles' boys have now given up 103 points in the last 2 games after getting horse kicked 52-28 at home against Georgia. No QB (Lee: 3 INT) and no defense doomed LSU as they dropped to 5-2. Bummer. DOWN4
16 Brigham Young Max Hall threw for 4 TD including the game winner with 1:46 left giving BYU a 42-35 win over UNLV. Cougar defense gave up 464 total yards and 11/15 third downs. UP2
17 Minnesota The Gophers picked up their first win at Purdue since 1990 thanks to a defense that forced 4 turnovers and held the Boilers to 226 total yards. QB Adam Weber had 272 total yards (212/60) and 2 TD in the 17-6 victory. Somewhere, Dauber and Luther rejoice. UP3
18 Ball State Ball State improved to 8-0 for the first time since 1965 with a 38-16 win over Eastern Michigan. No penalties for the Cardinals. UP3
19 Florida State Bowden's boys trailed 13-10 at the break but outscored Va Tech 20-7 in the 2nd half to win 30-20 and move to 6-1 on the season. FSU hasn't lost to Va Tech in Tallashassee since 1974. Still, is the ACC total crap or what? UP4
20 Tulsa Tulsa erased a 19-14 halftime deficit scoring 35 unanswered 2nd half points in a 49-19 win over Central Florida. David Johnson ran for 2 scores and passed for another as Tulsa improved to 8-0. NR
21 Michigan State Sparty bounced back from the OSU beatdown by handing their in-state rivals a 35-21 loss in Ann Arbor. Ringer (194, 2 TD) and Hoyer (282, 3 TD) paced the offense while the D held Michigan 3/12 on 3rd downs and forced 4 TO. Next up: Wisconsin NR
22 North Carolina The Tar Heels followed up last week's upset loss at Virginia with a 45-24 defeat of Boston College. QB Hakeem Nicks led the charge with 4 TD (3 pass, 1 rush) and the NC defense held BC to 40 yards on the ground. NR
23 Oregon The Ducks moved to 6-2 with a 54-20 spanking at Arizona State to stay tied with USC for first place in the conference. Rushing yards: Oregon 304, ASU 107. NR
24 Louisville The Cardinals improved to 6-2 with a 24-20 upset win over South Florida. WR Scott Long had a big day with 134 yards and 2 TD while the D shut down the Bulls rushing attack (24/8). NR
25 South Florida South Florida fell 24-20 at Louisville as the Cardinals held them to 8 yards rushing. The Bulls didn’t help their cause with 14 penalties but with so many mediocre teams they get the 25th spot out of indifference. DOWN8

DROPPED OUT: Pittsburgh (#16), Kansas (#19), Northwestern (#22), Arizona (#24).

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