College Football Corner--where's the D?

It’s amazing how the nation’s elite are having trouble stopping the pass, denying the run, or just limiting anyone. #9 Louisville was bitten by Kentucky 40-34 while 11th ranked UCLA looked rather Swiss cheesish in their 44-6 loss at Utah. Meanwhile, #6 Texas escaped upset at Central Florida 35-32; 7th rated Wisconsin continues to inspire nobody (seven point win at UNLV, 21 points allowed to Washington State) by opening the floodgates in their 45-31 win at home over The Citadel. Ouch. How does this happen? Nonconference matchups usually give teams an opponent they're unfamiliar with (exception--Louisville & Kentucky play every year)...and sometimes an offensive system BCS conference schools don't usually see. Limited practice time during the week gives players less time to digest the necessary gameplan designed to counter these offenses. Oh-- and sometimes the defense is just that bad. VIRGINIA TECH overcame a sluggish start to roll past Ohio 28-7. The Hokies and Bobcats entered halftime tied at 7…granted, the Bobcats were unbeaten but again—this is Ohio, not Ohio State. UPSIDE—true freshman Tyrod Taylor perfomed well in his first career start: 287 yards passing and a touchdown run. Taylor’s top target? Josh Morgan (6 catches, 119 yards) provided a nice downfield threat. The running game produced for the first time this fall: Brandon Ore gained 82 yards while Kenny Lewis tallied a pair of touchdowns (one a 44 yard scamper). The defense bounced back nicely from allowing 598 yards to LSU, holding Ohio to 114 total yards and 1.1 yard per carry. DOWNSIDE—no turnovers forced again for the Hokie defense, and two fumbles lost. The fact Tech allowed a MAC school to hang around for 30 minutes isn’t ideal—but this week I-AA William and Mary comes to Blacksburg. VIRGINIA notched another victory that shouldn’t have been as close as it was…the Cavaliers 22-20 triumph at North Carolina gave Al Groh’s team a 2-0 ACC mark-albeit with an asterisk: the other win coming over Duke. UPSIDE—Cedric Peerman posted a career high for the second straight week, notching 186 yards and a touchdown. The defense contained UNC’s ground game, holding the Tar Heels to under 3 yards a carry-while forcing three fumbles (recovering two). Kicker Chris Gould tied a school record with five field goals. DOWNSIDE—three of Gould’s five field goals came within 40 yards; the inability to convert in prime scoring range turned what could have been a blowout at halftime into a game that went down to the wire. The duo of Jameel Sewell/Peter Lalich continues to underwhelm--neither quarterback played especially well against the Tar Heels; each averaging under 10 yards per completion. Defensively the Cavs were ripped for 339 yards passing—the secondary allowing passes of 25, 34 and 53 yards.