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An examination of college football scores this week revealed no fewer than 20 games had combined scores of 70 or higher. Twenty games resulted in 1,560 points scored, an average of 78 per game. Good grievance, what happened to the defense? Sixteen of these 20 games were not noteworthy despite the score:

Oklahoma State at home outscored Texas Tech 49-45, you choose if these are two great offensive teams or two really bad defensive teams (94 total points).

Marina at home beat Duke 46-43 (89).

No. 13 Oregon (in the AP Top 25) traveled to Stanford and won 55-31 (86), we expected it. The Ducks are now 4-0.

No. 4 Oklahoma traveled to Tulsa and won 62-21 (83).

Bowling Green at home beat Temple 48-35 (83).

Troy traveled to LA-Lafayette and won 48-31 (79).

Northern Illinois traveled to Idaho and won 42-35 (77).

Purdue traveled to Minnesota and won 45-31 (76). The Boilermakers are now 4-0.

Arizona State at home beat Oregon State 44-32 (76). The Sun Devils are now 4-0.

UCF (the University of Central Florida) at home beat Memphis 56-20 (76).

Auburn at home beat New Mexico State 55-20 (75).

Tennessee at home beat Arkansas State 48-27 (75).

UCLA at home beat Washington 44-31 (75).

No. 6 California at home beat Arizona 45-27 (72). The Bears are now 4-0.

No. 7 Texas at home beat Rice 58-14 (72). The Longhorns are now 4-0.

Toledo at home beat Iowa State 36-35.

Four of these 20 games were notable beyond the 70+ combined score:

No. 21 Kentucky traveled to Arkansas and won 42-29 (71). The Wildcats are now 4-0. I still think Kentucky isn’t as good as their record. They’re going to have to beat better competition to convince me.

Syracuse (an 0-3 team) traveled to No. 18 Louisville and defeated the Cardinals 38-35 (73). Syracuse led 31-14 after the third quarter. I’ve been saying for three weeks that Louisville has no defense worth talking about. The Washington Huskies traveled to Syracuse for their first game and defeated The Orangemen 42-12. No. 19 Hawaii at home beat AA Charleston Southern 66-10 (76). The Warriors are now 4-0 after another cupcake opponent.

No. 24 Nebraska at home beat Ball State, yes, THAT Midwest powerhouse, 41-40 (81).

The bottom line: Will the sportswriters who vote in the AP Top 25 poll outperform him and knock Louisville, Hawaii and Nebraska out of the poll? All three teams deserve to be expelled.

Week four saw two more upsets: Miami (FL) at home easily beat No. 20 Texas A&M, and Michigan at home beat No. 10 Penn State 14-9. Michigan was the favorite in the game, but I think Penn State should have been a road favorite if the Nittany Lions are truly the No. 10 team in the country. Along with Louisville, Hawaii and Nebraska, Texas A&M should be dropped from the Top 25 to make room for better teams.

No. 1 USC easily defeated Washington State 47-14, No. 2 LSU beat No. 12 South Carolina 28-16, No. 22 Georgia traveled to No. 16 Alabama and won on a touchdown pass. perfect and caught on the last play 26-23, No. 3 Florida slipped by a weak Mississippi team 30-24, and No. 9 Wisconsin managed to beat a weak Iowa team 17-13 with a touchdown in the last room.

No. 5 West Virginia, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 14 Boston College, No. 15 Clemson, No. 17 Virginia Tech, No. 23 South Florida and No. 25 Missouri all won.

The bottom line: USC, LSU, Florida, West Virginia, Ohio State, Boston College, Missouri, Clemson, South Florida and Wisconsin remain undefeated. I still think Wisconsin isn’t the ninth-best team in college football. Reality finally hit Indiana when they lost their first game to Illinois.

Among the unranked and still undefeated, Kansas at home beat Florida International 55-3, Michigan State traveled to Notre Dame and won 31-14, Connecticut traveled to Pittsburgh and won 34-14, and Cincinnati at home beat Marshall 40-14. 14. Among the new coaches, Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio is 4-0, Arizona State’s Dennis Erickson is 4-0 and Alabama’s Nick Saban lost his first game with the Crimson Tide and is now 3-1.

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

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