Well, the middle of October is already upon us, and that can only mean one thing – we’re midway through the 2003 college football season.
It’s sad to think that this college football season could possibly come to an end. I mean with Texas and Notre Dame both playing like poo, I wish this season could last forever.
With that said, this is a great time to sit down and reflect on the surprises, the disappointments and the exciting players that have made up this half of the college football season.
Eye-Opener
Who is B.J. Symons? The guy played “left out” last year as Kliff Kingsbury ran Mike Leach’s offense. But now it’s Symons’ turn, and he is taking advantage of it. Through six games, the Texas Tech senior quarterback has passed for 2,954 yards and 27 touchdowns. For those of you scoring at home, that is an average of 481.2 yards and 4.5 touchdowns per game. Had it not been for the subpar 297-yard, three-touchdown performance in his first-ever start, those numbers would be even more impressive. He had a string of three 500-yard passing games in a row, but he failed to bring his “A” game last week and put up a mere 487 yards and three touchdowns.
Triple Threat
Missouri quarterback Brad Smith may not put up quite the numbers Symons does, but he is the most exciting player in the country when the ball is in his hands. Smith has passed for 884 yards and eight touchdowns and has rushed for 510 yards and six touchdowns. This weekend, he takes his Tigers to Oklahoma for a grudge match against the Sooners. Last season, Smith passed for 178 yards and a touchdown and ran for 213 yards and two touchdowns against the tough Sooners defense. The 6-foot-3 sophomore has only been shut down in one game of his career. Ironically, it was against Kansas of all teams, three weeks ago in a 35-14 loss.
Holding Strong
As many of the early season favorites have fallen by the wayside, Oklahoma is cementing itself in the No. 1 ranking as the Sooners seem to grow stronger each week. The Sooners lead college football with 47.7 points per game, they are ranked second in turnover margin, third in total defense and 11th in total offense. Quarterback Jason White leads the country in quarterback rating and punt returner Antonio Perkins leads the country with three punt returns for touchdowns. The Sooners are for real.
Surprises
Northern Illinois shocked the college football world opening week by beating Maryland. The Huskies are now 6-0 and are ranked No. 12 after beating Alabama and Iowa State.
After a strong start, Michigan (5-2) has struggled in its past few games and would be 4-3 had it not scored 31 points in the fourth quarter against Minnesota on Saturday.
This was supposed to be the year for Kansas State with its dominating running game, but the season hasn’t gone as planned. The Wildcats are sitting at 4-3, wondering what the rest of the season will bring.
Flip Flop
The Auburn Tigers may have been the most hyped team in the country during the preseason. They were outscored 40-3 in their first two games and were the laughing stock of the SEC. After two straight wins against Top 10 teams, the Tigers are back and are the team to beat in the SEC.
Sugar Bowl Prediction – Oklahoma vs. USC
Oklahoma is playing the best football in the country right now and have a blessed schedule. The Sooners don’t play Nebraska or Kansas State this year and should be undefeated if they keep it up.
USC will run the table in the Pac-10, and they will utterly humiliate Notre Dame on Saturday. No team in the Pac-10 can hang with the Trojans if they bring their “A” game.