Trav's Thoughts

Call it the first upset weekend of the college football season, as seven top 25 teams went down. Half of the Top 10 were upset.

Colorado beat #3 Oklahoma
Auburn beat #4 Florida
#18 South Florida beat #5 West Virgina on Friday
Kansas State beat #7 Texas
Maryland beat #10 Rutgers

Kirk Herbstreit suggested this evening that a single loss doesn't necessarily eliminate a team from the national championship picture. Florida won the championship with one loss. But the margin for error is less for the teams that lost today.

It's definitely an exciting time for schools like Cal and Kentucky and Wisconsin, which should all move up in Monday's polls.

#1 USC had some early injuries on the offensive line, and UW came out inspired early. The Trojans gained control of the game, but allowed UW to stay close on the scoreboard because of turnovers and penalties. And the Huskies were just a fumbled punt away from an opportunity to drive for a TD to tie the game.

But then, just as the game was about over...UW blocked a punt and scored a TD with :34 left on the clock!! They didn't recover the onside kick, so USC was able to escape Seattle with their unbeaten record intact. But did they leave as the #1 team? Or will voters decide to set current #2 LSU ahead of USC in this week's poll?

I think it's clear that Kentucky will be moving up in the rankings after they took care of business against Florida Atlantic. I think in my post yeseterday I incorrectly said this was a road game for UK. The game was actually played in Lexington. QB Andre Woodson continued to play well and make his case as a Heisman front runner. The Wildcats now lead the SEC East as they prepare for the toughest part of their schedule, South Carolina followed by LSU and then Florida.

Any turnover is devastating for an offense, but I think the worst turnover is the fumble out of bounds through the endzone. Oregon was about to score a TD and kick an extra point to tie Cal, but the receiver lost control of the ball as he was trying to force it over the goal line. The ball bounced out of bounds, and that's a touchback. That's painful because the ball turns over without a defensive recovery of the fumble. The game turns on the width of the pylon - if the ball bounces out of bounds on the outside of the pylon, the offense gets it back inside the one. Inside the pylon and into the endzone, then out of bounds? Touch back. Ouch.

Well, when your team is 0-5 you look for any positive sign you can take away. It's tough to rely on moral victories for a once proud program, but that's the life of an Irish fan these days. The haters gleefully taunt. And I find the positive in noting that although Notre Dame fell behind 23-0 at halftime, they won the second half of the game 19-10. The Irish QB's - Clausen and Sharpley - combined for 377 yards passing and the offensive line only gave up 2 sacks. Perhaps there is hope that they will continue to improve, and so have a chance to win against Navy, Air Force, Duke, and Stanford.

Looking ahead to Sunday football, I'm excited to see that we get Oakland at Miami on CBS in the morning. YAY! Of course we also have Seattle at San Francisco on FOX in the afternoon. And we'll be keeping a clicking eye on CBS, where Denver at Indianapolis is also televised.



Tune in Sunday evening and you'll probably hear Turnbaby Talk a little UK football. Don't worry if you're not a football fan. The conversation is dynamic and fluid. And the new chat feature on Blog Talk Radio adds a fun new element to interacting with the host and fellow listeners.