NCAA Top 25 Cafe Poll - Week 4

Every week in college football is a big week with last week being no exception. We had 18 teams in the top 25 playing last week with six of them going head to head. Some teams showed they are as good as people thought, while others were exposed on national television. Four of the Cafe Top 25 were in action this week and three of them showed why they are ranked so high. USC, Oklahoma, and Missouri all looked amazing in week 3. USC dominated Ohio State at home on national television and look to be in a class above the rest of college football. Oklahoma turned in another dominating effort, which was led by Heisman hopeful Sam Bradford and his five passing touchdowns. Missouri showed once again that they can put up offense week in and week out, but their Big 12 schedule still looms and that division looks to be as tough as any. We still only have three weeks of data to work with, but it looks like the top 10 teams are the cream of the crop, while 11-25 look to be interchangeable right now.

Here are three games I watched closely on Saturday:

OSU @ USC:
ESPN dubbed this game the Collision in the Coliseum, but the collision looked like the unstoppable force meeting the stay puff marshmallow man. OSU was out manned from the start of the game and the end score does not reflect the extent that USC dominated this game. People may argue that OSU was without Chris “Beanie” Wells, and with him it would have been a different game, but if you watched that game you just can’t believe that. USC dominated the game up front on both sides of the ball and Wells would not have helped OSU pull this game out. Todd Boeckman looked like a deer in the headlights and was being picked up off the turf after every play. The OSU offense, outside of Tyrelle Pryor, couldn’t do anything with the ball, and the USC offense seemed to move at will. In my opinion, OSU needs to scrap Boeckman at QB and let Pryor learn on the fly. OSU has a future with Pryor at QB, but the present belonged to the men of Troy.

UGA @ South Carolina:
While the other top teams were dominating their opponents, the Georgia Bulldogs pulled off a very ugly victory. South Carolina looked horrible on offense, yet they had a chance to tie the game with 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but fumbled the ball on the goal line. South Carolina had two more drives in end of the fourth quarter that looked like they would end in a touchdown, but their offense managed to snag a defeat out of the jaws of victory. Georgia’s wide receivers and tight ends really let their team down in this game. Matt Stafford made some NFL throws and hit his guys in the hands or on the numbers, but they all managed to drop them. Finally, the Georgia defensive coaches need to learn the meaning of adjustments. South Carolina had no offensive threats outside of their tight end, yet the Georgia coaching staff kept defending him with linebackers, which was an obvious mismatch all game. The SEC is a tough conference and if Georgia plays like this again, they won’t be so lucky.

Ball State @ Akron:
Some of you may ask why I was watching this game this week. Did I go to one of the schools? No. Did someone tie me down? No. The answer is Ball State quarterback Nate Davis. Davis’ name is not mentioned in the Heisman talk with other quarterbacks like Sam Bradford, Chase Daniels, and Matt Stafford, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the skills. Davis carved apart the Akron defense in yet another impressive game for the junior quarterback. Davis’ offensive coordinator, Stan Parrish, has said that Davis may be the best quarterback he has ever worked with. Many of you may say, “So what, the guy is the offensive coordinator for Ball State?”. Well, Parrish was the quarterbacks coach, and later the offensive coordinator, for Michigan between 1996 and 2001. During that time he worked with Brian Griese, Drew Henson, and a guy named Tom Brady. Now I am not saying Davis is Tom Brady, but when a guy who coached both has that much praise for a guy it makes you wonder. I have watched Davis play every game this season and he doesn’t disappoint. He isn’t the flashiest guy, but like former MAC quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, he just gets the job done. Davis makes all the right reads and makes all the right throws at all the right times. Add to the fact that he is a great leader and you see why people think so highly of him. If you see Ball State on television I invite you to take a minute and watch him work - you won’t be disappointed.

Now for our Week Four Top 25:

Rank	Change	TEAM	Avg Rank	D e e	A F F	O m a h a	h s k r p w r	K n a p p	V a d e r	J a y	B a g e l	M u g r i l a	B B 2 4
1 (1)		USC	1.0	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1
2 (3)		Oklahoma	2.6	2	3	3	2	3	1	2	3	3	3
3 (2)		Georgia	2.6	3	2	2	5	2	5	3	2	2	2
4 (5)		Missouri	4.3	4	4	5	3	5	3	4	4	5	5
5 (4)		Florida	4.8	6	5	4	4	4	6	5	6	4	4
6 (7)		LSU	6.3	5	7	6	11	6	4	7	5	8	6
7 (10)		Wisconsin	7.3	7	6	7	8	9	8	6	7	6	9
8 (8)		Texas	8.1	9	8	8	9	7	7	10	8	9	7
9 (15)		Alabama	10.4	11	11	9	7	17	10	12	11	11	8
10 (9)		Auburn	10.4	12	10	11	13	8	9	18	10	7	10
11 (11)		Texas Tech	11.1	10	14	10	13	10	11	11	13	10	11
12 (18)		South Florida	12.9	14	12	14	14	12	12	9	12	17	13
13 (17)		Penn State	13.0	8	9	16	19	14	17	8	9	15	16
14 (13)		East Carolina	14.3	16	13	15	6	16	14	15	14	13	14
15 (21)		Brigham Young	14.5	17	15	13	17	11	13	14	15	12	17
16 (16)		Oregon	15.1	13	17	18	10	13	15	19	16	14	15
17 (6)		Ohio State	16.3	19	16	12	31	19	16	13	19	16	12
18 (12)		Kansas	18.8	21	19	21	20	15	19	16	18	19	18
19 (20)		Wake Forest	18.9	15	22	17	16	20	18	20	21	20	19
20 (23)		Utah	20.0	18	21	19	15	18	20	25	22	22	20
21 (NR)	NR	West Virginia	21.5	22	18	20	31	23	21	22	20	21	23
22 (24)		Illinois	22.4	20	31	22	31	21	23	23	17	18	21
23 (19)		Fresno State	24.3	23	26	25	29	24	25	21	26	23	22
24 (NR)	NR	Clemson	25.6	26	25	24	31	30	24	24	27	25	24
25 (NR)	NR	Florida State	27.5	31	28	23	31	29	30	17	24	30	25

Agree? Disagree? Come voice your opinion in the college forums on our rankings or who you think will win the Heisman this year.

(9 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)  Loading ... Questions or comments for Adam? Post them in the Cafe Forums! Want to see your own fantasy wisdom published? Check out the Cafe's Pencil & Paper section!