2009 Week 3 Notes

Coaches on the Hot Seat: Al Groh leads the only program in a BCS conference without a win. Virginia had a decent showing against Southern Miss, up 34-17 midway through the third quarter. Then Southern Miss scored three more touchdowns for the come from behind victory. Virginia has a bye this week. Ralph Friedgen of Maryland has to be feeling some heat after losing to MTSU in consecutive seasons, this time at home. The Terps host Rutgers this weekend.

Western Kentucky was blown out at home by an FCS team. Was this team really ready to move up to the FBS? Remember the Hilltoppers went door-to-door this summer trying to sell season tickets for $30.

Best line I've heard this week, courtesy of Pat Forde's column, "You can always count on Ohio State to lose a big game and USC to lose a small one."

Florida and Texas were less than impressive in so-called revenge games, but at least they didn't stumble like USC did. I don't think this is USC's last loss of the year either. The offense has no consistency and the defense can't completely carry the team like last year's unit could.

Iowa State won its first road game since 2005. Maybe Gene Chizik taking the Auburn job is going to work out for both programs.

Isn't the SEC supposed to be all about defense? Georgia has given up 78 points in the last two games, but is 2-0. The Georgia-Arkansas game was in particular a lot of fun, with Joe Cox and Ryan Mallett throwing for five touchdowns apiece.

Heisman Thoughts: Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy are still at the top despite starting slow. Max Hall's three picks in a lopsided loss to Florida State removes him from the race. Jimmy Clausen is healthy enough to play, but losing Michael Floyd with a broken collarbone will hurt his numbers. Jahvid Best's five touchdown day against Minnesota may move him into contender status. He still needs to lead Cal to big wins, starting this weekend at Oregon. Jacory Harris has moved into the spotlight with two big games against top competition. If he continues to impress against Virginia Tech and Oklahoma, he may become the favorite.

Two of my seven potential upset specials from last week came through (Florida State over BYU and MTSU over Maryland), and Nebraska only lost by an amazing last minute drive by Virginia Tech. For this week, I'm predicting two more on my list will occur.

Upset Specials:
* South Carolina over Mississippi - Always favor the home team on Thursday night games and Mississippi hasn't played anyone yet.
* Rice over Vanderbilt - Rice played Oklahoma State much closer than expected and is at home for the first time this season.
* Oregon over Cal - Autzen is a tough place to win in and Oregon has gotten better every week.
* Washington over Stanford - Will the Huskies ride the momentum?
* Iowa over Penn State - Iowa's D is solid and Penn State has had trouble running the ball.
* TCU over Clemson - Stifling defense against speedy skill players.

If I Were a Betting Man:
Missouri (-7) at Nevada - Nevada's offense isn't working yet.
Illinois at Ohio State (-14) - Line is this low since Illinois had a bye last week. I don't think it matters.
UCF (+10.5) at East Carolina - ECU by single digits.
Arkansas (+17) at Alabama - No upset, but line seems too high.
USF at Florida State (-14.5) - With Grothe out, USF may fall apart.
Iowa (+10) at Penn State - I think this is a close game even if Iowa doesn't get the upset.