MySportsSanctuary

Fall is the operative term when talking about proud teams coming out of the gates in this young NFL season. Although the season (nature) has changed and the leaves are starting to turn, so are our heads about some surprising results already in the books.

Consider: Three division winners who posted a 36-12 record last season are winless (Dolphins, Titans and Panthers). Although their regular seasons were fantastic, none of them won a playoff game. Conversely four teams (49ers, Saints, Jets and Broncos) didn’t make the playoffs a year ago. Ravens, Vikings and the Falcons are feeding off their playoff appearances 9 months ago with strong starts.

But let’s not get hasty here. Can we really count out the Titans or the Panthers after two games? The Panthers maybe, but a win against the Cowboys can put them back into the mix. And speaking of the Cowboys, I think they wished that the field goal kicker for the Giants had ACTUALLY hit their scoreboard at the end.

The Patriots, who seemed to have lost everyone from last season on the defensive side, are stumbling and there is conversation that the aura of invincibility has been smashed. They haven’t lost to the Jets at the Meadowlands since 2000, and Brady is on pace to throw 800 passes this year after missing an entire season. The Jets are in prime form to limit the Dolphins reign on top to being short like leprechauns.

As the Chiefs, Lions, Bucs, Rams, Browns, and Jaguars look for their first win, the Raiders and Bills look to be the most improved teams even with T.O. starting to get his QB killer tirade warmed up.

Alas it is only the second week people, a lot will change and those off to surprising starts, good or bad, will show it was an aberration or the real deal in the coming Sundays. Fall is upon us.

When you have alumni erecting billboards around your town calling your ‘job’ an ‘internship,’ post a season with the most losses in the program’s storied history and haven’t won a big game in your tenure, chances are things are not quite right.

Charlie Weis, the coach for Notre Dame, is one of the highest paid and controversial coaches in recent memory. Many believe Weis to be a very knowledgeable and charismatic coach who routinely gets a top tier recruiting class each year. However, those blue-chip athletes haven’t translated their high praise into high wins. Other than his splash in 2005 with a 9-2 record after the dismal season and even detrimental firing of Ty Willingham the year before, Weis hasn’t lived up to expectations. Ironic that after his first seven games (5-2) he was given a ten-year contract worth over $30 million when Willingham started out 8-0 during his inaugural season but was fired two seasons later. Critics blamed race as Willingham, who is black, didn’t have a chance to develop his players while Weis was seen as a breath of fresh air. Notre Dame would take the hit from the controversy and stood by Weis’s side, and the pressure to win was mounting. The critics of Weis would say that his 20-6 record in his first two seasons was won with his predecessors recruits which included Brady Quinn and Jeff Samardzija. Since then: 11-16 record including their dramatic collapse against Michigan a week ago, a loss to Navy for the first time in 43 years and their first ever loss to an 8-loss team in Syracuse in 2008.

So in his fifth year, after a great bowl victory over Hawaii and the fact that these are his players, the pressure is on his back like no other time during his brief tenure. He has to win and win now. I think he is a good coach but what Notre Dame did to Willingham all but made this situation a stressful one. They believed in Weis and bet the farm on him, and so far the return on their investment has been slim to none, and slim is packing up to leave.

For most of the game, Terrelle Pryor and the Ohio State Buckeyes dominated the USC Trojans. The game was theirs to win and, as it has seemed for an entire decade, they couldn’t close the deal. USC true freshman Matt Barkley, the latest in a string of great quarterbacks churned out by Pete Carroll, drove the Trojans the length of the field in the final minutes with 105,000 plus Buckeye fans screaming for the go ahead touchdown. The steely nerve of this 19 year old on his biggest stage offered up a drive for the ages.

As for the Buckeyes, it wasn’t the blowouts of their two previous BCS championship appearances against Florida and LSU; however it would have never dawned on me that this proud football team is now playing for respect and the opportunity to be included with the elite. As much as Nebraska, Michigan, Florida State, Miami and Notre Dame have been trying to regain prominence that once was theirs as recently as a decade ago (ND a little longer), the fact remains that Ohio State constantly is playing in the BCS bowls. They just haven’t won. They are 44-8 in their last 52 contests however they are 2-8 against ranked opponents and 42-0 against everybody else. That means they win the games they are supposed to, but lack the focus to carry it out on the biggest of stages.

After being dump trucked by USC in the Coliseum a year ago, this was a statement game for Ohio State. It was finally looking like this Big Ten team powerhouse was going to send a message to the college football world that they can play with the big boys. Unfortunately, a team that has been to three national championship games in six years are still looking for respect.