3 days down, 2 to go this weekend

So far, this has been a weekend of big surprises, not so big surprises, and the demise of many (including mine) upset picks and BCS busters. So, here at the halfway point, let's look at the first weekend of college football so far:

UCF at South Carolina - Not a good start for the Ole Ball Coach. Though the Gamecocks won the game, aside from flashes of brilliance, they looked mediocre against an awful UCF. Be prepared for a dismal SEC campaign from Spurrier's new boys, but with much the same talent as last year, 6-5 and a bowl game should still be attainable.

The I-AA problems - So far, a number of teams have struggled mightily with their I-AA opponents, with ULa-Mo managing to lose to Northwestern State. While it's to be expected of some teams (San Jose State, ULa-Mo, even Iowa State), it should be disturbing for others like Marshall and Oklahoma State. Let's hope some of this stems from teams overlooking their lower division brethren, because otherwise it could be a long season for some of these teams.

BCS Buster Busts - It'll be a hard thing to jump on the Bronco bandwagon again after the meltdown against Georgia. Despite being basically the same team that scored 40 points against Louisville in the Liberty Bowl, and upended Oregon State last year, Boise State was downright awful between the hedges. 5 picks will do that, and unfortunately for Georgia, this game doesn't tell them much about their offense. Miami (OH) made a good showing, but was dominated by Ohio State from the get-go. Wyoming did about as well against Urban Meyer at Florida as they did when he was at Utah, which still may be a sign of things improving for the Cowboys. Bowling Green had the lead at points against Wisconsin, and made a late rally to keep the game to two touchdowns, but the defense's ability to keep Wisconsin from scoring from the second quarter on made Omar Jacob's impressive outing moot. So far, none of these teams will be able to be the Utah of this year, though BG probably has the ability to win the rest of their games if they can put numbers up like that against a good Big Ten defense.

BCS Buster Boom - But just maybe Utah will be this year's Utah. While the game was close, the Utes still edged the Wildcats, keeping their unbeaten streak alive. Of course, their biggest obstacle may not be the non-conference opponents, but perhaps their road trip to Fort Worth. Kudos to the Horned Frogs in knocking off the Sooners this weekend. There won't be much chance of Oklahoma edging someone else out of the Rose Bowl this year, though there's always the possibility of the Mack Brown magic giving the Red River Shootout up to the obviously slumping Sooners.

Good starts/bad starts - Good starts: Texas, USC, Iowa, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Florida, and BC
Bad starts: Auburn, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Marshall, Nebraska, Kansas State

This week's Penn State report - Much as I'd like to be sitting here smugly with Playstation-esque stats for the boys in blue, that didn't happen yesterday. The Penn State defense and special teams looked pretty familiar - as good or better than last year's units. Unfortunately, the offense looked pretty familiar too. Despite a couple of big plays from newcomers Justin King and Derrick Williams, and a nice running game from junior Tony Hunt, the dismal 23-13 win falls squarely on the shoulders of Michael Robinson. With the first drive ended by a fumble, a 25 yard pass to Derrick Williams immediately followed by an interception that set up the Bulls' first touchdown, and another fumble in the second half, Michael Robinson is obviously the make or break man of PSU's offense. While he looked great running out of the very Texas like shotgun formations that prove very effective for Vince Young, MR hasn't shown Vince's ability to protect the ball. A 9-15 for 90 yards and 1 pick in a game against South Florida doesn't bode well once Penn State hits teams with more defensive talent than the Bulls. While this is only the first game, it makes the non-con schedule look much less automatic. Can the Nittany Lions improve? With better play from Robinson, this game is a rout. Let's see how he does next week against the Bearcats of Cincinnati, but I'm not feeling good about my boys so far.