Three weeks make a huge difference in college football.  By now, we know a little more about teams.  And, it helps when teams play inter-conference games.  It helps fans and experts alike measure teams against teams in other conferences and conferences as a whole against other conferences.  Therefore, the Pac 10 vs. the Mountain West Showdown this weekend goes a long way in evaluating the teams and the conferences.  After the MWC swept the Pac 10 in those games, fans might cry out to give their champion an automatic bid to a BCS Bowl game.  The Mountain West has fared well this year against other teams, but the “sweep” was astonishing.  Most pundits were predicting a 2-2 record for the MWC in this week’s match-ups.  TCU and BYU were favorites, but who would have thought that New Mexico would beat Arizona, and even more, UNLV would upset Arizona State in overtime in Tempe?  It is still a long year, and teams come out and play flat often.  There will always be games when a good team, a great one even, will squeak by against a much weaker team.

Battle for the Butter

Stony Brook vs. Maine
Dubbed by Mike and Mike in the Morning as the Battle for the Butter, these two played on Saturday with Maine picking up the win 28-13 behind 4 touchdown passes by Black Bear QB Adam Farkes.  Stony Brook had 4 turnovers, however, they held the ball almost 3 minutes longer.  It didn’t matter as Maine out-gained Stony Brook in total yardage 316 to 271.  The win puts Maine at 2-1 for the season.

Looking Ahead

Alabama who has looked pretty impressive this year including their 34-10 whipping of Clemson in their first game travels to play at Arkansas who is probably the worst 2-0 team in the country.  This game in intriguing because it is the first time this year that the Tide’s young Freshmen will travel to a hostile environment to play.  In spite of how good they are, and they are really good, these Freshmen will struggle at some point with mistakes.  While the game against Clemson was considered a road game, it was played in the Georgia Dome where the Tide had plenty of fans of their own.  In Fayetteville, it won’t be that way.  The Hogs also have some talented Freshmen of their own playing.  They have struggled early, but when the Razorbacks needed the scores, they made the plays.  With the Tide going to play in Athens against Georgia next week, this is a huge trap game.  Arkansas’ defense is not very good, but they have the weapons on offense that, if they avoid the mistakes, might keep them in the game.  And when that happens, well, you know what can happen.

Arizona State hosts Georgia.  Neither team looked particularly good Saturday, but Georgia won.  The ‘Dawg win was on the road at South Carolina, so Georgia has experienced its first road test.  The Sun Devils have not left the state of Arizona.  They have also experienced adversity, but they failed to overcome it losing at home to UNLV in overtime.  This is only the beginning of a tough stretch as Arizona State plays four straight ranked teams (Georgia, Cal, USC, Oregon) although Cal will not be ranked after losing to Maryland.  They have to travel to USC to take what should be a major beat-down.

Auburn hosts LSU.  If you like smash-mouth defenses, then this game is for you.  Auburn knocked off Mississippi State 3-2 on Saturday while LSU squeaked by North Texas 41-3.  LSU is not as explosive as last year, Auburn is still trying to find a rhythm offensively.