Sunday Morning: 1st & 10

Ten things from yesterday's college football games:

1. As we told you last week, the ACC is simply an AWFUL football conference. Virginia Tech and Clemson, two of its unthinkable (or is it unwatchable?) three top 25 teams, got waxed on the opening Saturday. Only Wake Forest, playing mighty Baylor, managed to win. Furthermore, NC State got crushed at South Carolina Thursday night. And Maryland, playing at home, barely defeated I-AA Delaware. Seriously, we are starting to think the MAC may play better ball than the ACC.

2. Even if they do somehow win the Girls Intramural League ACC, Clemson needs to cut bait with coach Tommy Bowden after the season. Anyone who picked the Tigers over Alabama last night was just plain D-U-M-B. Not because they have bad players, but because Bowden is the coach. He is nice enough, and everyone loves his old man, Bobby, but he is simply in over his head. Take a look at him on the sideline. What, exactly, does he do to inspire his players?!? Um, that would be...wait for it...NOTHING. (Nothing!) Nick Saban strikes the fear of devil in his kids. Not coincidentally, his Alabama team kicked the crap out of Bowden's team, 34-10. By the way, maybe Bowden will call you today. Surely, you are better than anyone on his offensive line.

3. Memo to all: Michael Vick no longer plays for Vah Tek. In fact, he is in the hole. The last time the Hokies were any good was when Vick (and we don't mean Marcus) played for them. Back then (way back then), they were a feel good story. Good defense. Very good special teams. And Vick bailed them out offensively with his Freak Athleticism. But for the last eight years, they have been abysmal on offense and people still rank them in the top 20 every year. Listen up: They are (and have been for quite some time) an average D-1 team. And there's nothing wrong with that -- unless of course the free world keeps treating them like a top 20 power.

4. Back to the MAC. Because the game was at home, we figured Pitt would be able to get by Bowling Green. Alas, they did not -- falling 27-17. Unless coach Dave Wannstedt can get the Panthers to a bowl game (any bowl game!), he will be fired by Thanksgiving.

5. Michigan losing in the Big House to Utah showed two things: 1. Coach Rich Rodriguez really, really, needed to get Terrelle Pryor to sign with the Wolverines last winter. His size and athleticism (on display in yesterday's Ohio State win against Youngstown State -- alma mater of Jaws Jaworski) would have been enough for the Maize and Blue to have gotten the W yesterday. 2. Michigan still does not have top-shelf, pure athleticism. How this is possible at a school with the tradition of Michigan is mind boggling. Love him or hate him (and there are both types in Ann Arbor), the Go Blue crowd better hope that RichRod breaks the Michigan mold on the recruiting front and gets some a-t-h-l-e-t-e-s from such fertile grounds as Florida, California, Texas. It's swell to get blue chippers out of Ohio and Pennsylvania, now Michigan needs to go elsewhere and get some speed on both sides of the ball. How does Michigan's athleticism compare to the LSUs of the world? After yesterday's loss at LSU, Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore said, "They're [LSU] so athletic. They didn't play like Michigan. They played like LSU." Ouch. Double ouch.

6. Our beloved Oklahoma Sooners creamed cream-puff Tennessee Chattanooga, 57-2. (We said, 57-2!) Honestly, if we were Bob Stoops, ahead 50-zip at the half, we would have made the push for 100. And that would have showed The World that OU's Back-to-Back-Fiesta Bowl-Fiascos are truly in the rear view mirror. Seriously, Stoopsie should have broken the century mark. We're just saying.

7. Erin Andrews needs to lose the leather vest. The '80s are over. Again, we're just saying.

8. Yes, USC flexed its muscles and smoked Virginia (another ACC team losing a game? Shocking!) yesterday afternoon. And yes, Southern Cal looked lethal on Oh. But if one more person says Mark Sanchez (Hola, amigos!) will be better than Matt "Where the Women at?" Leinart, we are going to go egg someone's house. Will Sanchez be better than John David Booty? Yes. Yes he will will. Probably by tomorrow, in fact. But in Leinart we are talking about one of the five greatest college quarterbacks of all-time! People forget how good he was at SC because he now backs up 55-year old Kurt Warner and makes more news for the hotties in his life off the field than how he makes the hot reads on the field. Mark Sanchez could stay at USC 10 more years and still not be on Leinart's level.

9. We love Dr.J. But we don't need to see his Dr. Pepper commercial 20-plus times every Saturday of college football.

10. And yes, folks, we stayed with college football until about 12:30 this morning (deep into the third quarter of the Washington-Oregon game). Good Gawd, it's great to have college football back!