The Mission Top 10, Wk III

Here we are! The biggest weekend in college football in memory. The top games this week? Just get ready. Texas Tech vs. TCU, Michigan vs. Notre Dame, Oklahoma vs. Oregon, Miami vs. Louisville, Florida vs. Tennessee, Nebraska vs. USC, and of course the biggest of the day, #2 Auburn vs. #5 LSU. Each of these games involves two top twenty teams. That’s right, 14 top twenty teams going head to head on one day. If you have a job, call in sick. If you are married, tell your wife you’ll clean the rain gutters next week. Do whatever you have to do if you love college football. This week is for ordering pizza, never giving up the remote, and surfing between ABC, NBC, and of course ESPN! And so without further ado, here is this weeks Mission Top 10. And if ten isn’t enough, click here for the rest of the Top 25 and lots of other sports opinion from our College Football Rating Bureau. Ohio St. (2-0) – Beat Texas 24-7. The Buckeyes got a strong performance out of quarterback Troy Smith and receivers Anthony Gonzalez and Ted Ginn Jr. The revelation was the defense led by James Laurinitis who keyed a dominant effort that had Texas looking out of sorts all game long. This week: Cincinnati (1-1) Auburn (2-0) – Beat Mississippi St. 34-0. The shutout over Mississippi St. doesn’t mean nearly as much as the strong offensive performance considering that South Carolina also shutout Mississippi St. This weeks game should bring an opening of the offensive playbook in what could be a defensive struggle. This week: LSU (2-0) USC (1-0) – Bye week. The Trojans spent the week tuning up for Nebraska. A win here and USC will be 8-0 entering the brutal finishing kick of Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame, and UCLA to end the season. This week: Nebraska (2-0) Notre Dame (2-0) – Beat Penn St. 41-17. Looked strong against a Penn St. team that appears to be a year away from being really good again. The Irish dominated in all facets of the game en route to a 41-3 lead before giving up two garbage time touchdowns. This week: Michigan (2-0) LSU (2-0) – Beat Arizona 45-3. A dominant performance, but the lack of one or even two running backs who can be a workhorse is troubling. The passing game needs to be strong, or it will be a long day for the offense at Auburn. This week: at Auburn (2-0) West Virginia (2-0) – Beat Eastern Washington 52-3. Same story as last week: dominant win over inferior team, drop in polls as lower ranked teams win by same scores against better competition. This week is a step into competent opponent territory. This week: Maryland (2-0), Thursday Oregon (2-0) – Beat Fresno St. 31-24. A good win on the road against Fresno without star running back Jonathan Stewart. The Ducks are likely to need him this week against Oklahoma. The crowd at Autzen should be ready like it has been for big September home games against Wisconsin and Michigan in recent years. This week: Oklahoma (2-0) Texas (1-1) – Lost to Ohio St. 24-7. It was an ugly showing for the Longhorns. We really won’t get a feel for how good they really are until the Oklahoma game. Had they gotten closer in the second half last week, Ohio St. would have thrown more than five times in the second half and would have scored more points on the depleted secondary. This week: Rice Nebraska (2-0) – Beat Nicholls St. 56-7. The game against USC this week will look a lot like Texas against Ohio St. The Nebraska defense will play well, but not well enough to help save the offense against an underrated defense. This week: at USC (1-0) Michigan (2-0) – Beat Central Michigan 41-17. The Wolverine passing game needs to be better this week against Notre Dame. Chad Henne needs at least 200 yards and two touchdowns for Michigan to have a chance. The defense will bend, but not break keeping Michigan in the game. This week: at Notre Dame (2-0) On the cusp: Tennessee (2-0), Florida (2-0), Boston College (2-0), Georgia (2-0), Virginia Tech (2-0) (you know the rules. use it, share it, copy it, or even shred it, just give us credit!)