College Football: Week 2

You're probably asking, "Why're you making this blog now with Florida versus Tennessee and Florida State versus BYU tomorrow?" Sorry, but I had to wait for the Miami game to end in order to give my week 2 take. Quit crying...

I'll go ahead and start off with Miami and last night's cruising against Georgia Tech. I still think Miami's defense needs work. They played a classic Wing-T, triple option team that's known to eat up clock, confuse, and tire out opposing defenses with misdirection running plays. The 'Canes did an amazing job containing the option. Their front four looked disciplined and their linebackers were wrapping up. Exactly what needs to be done. But they weren't challenged vertically.

Like I said, this is a Yellow Jackets team that runs the ball 90% of the time. When they did throw, Tech had time and were effective for their style of ball. I still think UM's secondary needs help because they'll wear out against balanced teams like Virginia Tech.

I've got nothing bad to say about UM offensively. Jacory Harris is the real deal and tore up a very good Tech defense. The 'Canes' offensive line looks to be one of the best in the ACC, if not one of the best in the nation. Anyone can look like a superstar with that much time to throw.

Florida abused Troy, but only for three quarters. I know it was raining, but a National Title team doesn't play that sloppy early in games. Timmy was extremely sharp after the first quarter of play, but his wide outs were once again dropping balls and running awful routes. I mentioned the dropped balls in my last blog and I felt they would be fixed come Tennessee. I'm not so sure now. Dropped balls are contagious and if they're not fixed early can kill a team late in the season. What'll end up happening is Tebow will see an open Deonte Thompson, but will throw to a receiver in a tighter spot if he loses confidence in his speedy wide out.

Meyer is an excellent motivator and coach. It'll get corrected.

Florida's defense is ridiculously fast. It's got to scare teams to see first teamers walk off and second and third teamers step in with zero productivity dropped.

Florida State played a lesser talented Jacksonville State and had to win in the waning minutes. I've heard the excuses and I agree with some of them. I'm going to go ahead and contradict myself through this rant, so bare with me...

I agree that it's unfair for FSU to play two times in one week. Yes, Jacksonville is an inferior team, but, I don't care who you are or how much more talent you have, teams need time to rest and prepare. NCAA rules say that a team has to have the next day off from a football game. That means the 'Noles couldn't practice or watch film on Tuesday after the Labor Day loss to Miami. Now they're behind two days on practice and game planning.

With that said, Jimbo and company should've simplified things for the Seminoles. If you've ever played organized football, no matter what level, you had a set of 20 or so plays that you could recite in your sleep. It was the basic, base stuff. I thought that's what FSU should've gone with in this game. At times, they tried to get too cute with reverses and play fakes. Line up and ram it down their throats. Make the necessary halftime adjustments from there.

Ponder was once again brilliant. He no longer tucks it and runs after the first read is covered. He goes to his second and third receivers and check downs in the blink of an eye. There were too many dropped passes and the offensive line digressed some from the UM game.

The running game was terrible and was given up on way too easily. Sound familiar?

Defensively, the front four look better. They put pressure on Jacksonville's QB and kept him off balance at times. The linebackers are good in the running game, but terrible in the passing game. And the secondary is absolutely atrocious. That's Mickey's department too. Jacksonville State had men wide open across the middle and sidelines. Early in the game, they had a man free down the middle and Perriloux over threw him. There were 3 or 4 dropped interceptions too by FSU's secondary. And Missed tackles will hurt everybody.

Turnovers were among the many, many other problems for the 'Noles.

South Florida rolled, but I didn't get to see enough of the game to give a solid take. Sorry, Bull fans. I promise to have something better this week.

UF rolls over the Vols and FSU loses big to BYU. Have a great weekend and enjoy some great football, y'all!