College Football Update

I've attended three different colleges that share one important thing in common — they all have mediocre football programs. The University of South Carolina spends a lot of time and energy each year gearing up for what almost invariably ends up as a disappointing season. And Cornell and UMass Amherst aren't even Division I-A schools, so even if they have an excellent year there is still that second-tier feeling attached. All the same, these are my schools, so let's see how they did.

After apparently deciding that close games just aren't worth the effort if you're going to lose anyways, USC went out and got beat decisively by Alabama 37-14. While Coach Spurrier has a rep for running good offenses, it looks like the defense might need a little tweaking against the run:

Alabama's ground game was so effective, any down became a running down. On third-and-11 in the second quarter, Brodie Croyle simply turned and handed it to Tyrone Prothro, who gained 41 easy yards.

Yikes! The Gamecocks are now 1-2 for the year, and a consistent 0-2 in the SEC.

UMass had a better weekend, blowing away Albany 40-0. Either UMass has a really good defense, or Albany has a really terrible offense:

Albany (0-2) was held to minus-37 yards rushing and 31 yards of total offense, and was forced into three safeties, a single-game record for NCAA Division I-AA.

Maybe USC could take some defensive pointers from the Minutemen. UMass is 2-1 on the year.

As for Cornell, while CNN can't be bothered to post the score yet, ESPN lets us in on the little secret that they beat Bucknell 24-7. At least for the moment, the Big Red has a perfect season at 1-0.