Written by Adam Jones
Sunday, 02 October 2005

Fall allegedly started ten days ago. I didn't buy that chronology, not when it was a refreshing 100 outside. One week later it was 108. One-hundred and freakin' eight. I did what any rationale human would do. I boarded a plane north. And found where my favorite season was hiding.

Fall started Saturday at Barry O's in Omaha, Nebraska. It started precisely when one of the managers wheeled out a propane grill from the back room and put it on the patio so he could make free brats during halftime of the 11:00 starts. My buddies and I blew it; we had already ordered a pizza from down the street. Barry O's, if you have not guessed, does not have a kitchen. Unless you consider peanuts to be a member of all four of the food groups, you would be severely undernourished if you had to live at Barry O's, which is, indeed, what a couple of the patrons probably do. Barry O's serves as the headquarters, among other things, of the Omaha Goats rugby team; boasts a great collection of vintage Guinness signs and there is a Golden Tee machine in the corner. Most importantly, it uses the power of satellite to great advantage, showing a different college football game on five of its six televisions. The sixth had the Yankees/Red Sox game. We chose Barry O's - we being the collective of displaced Texans on a wedding weekend - for just this diversity. The bar next door proclaimed "IOWA vs. ILLINOIS, 11:00" on big signs, as if that was something to be proud of. That just wasn't going to cut it; we needed all the majors going at once and couldn't afford to be subject to unruly Hawkeye partisans. Barry O's saved us.

Good friends, nip in the air outside, brats on the patio, cold beer and watching five football games at the same time and actually paying attention to all of them? Now that's fall.

Michigan 34, Michigan State 31

Virginia Tech 34, West Virginia 17

Texas 51, Missouri 20

Iowa 35, Illinois 7

Wisconsin 41, Indiana 24

Yankees 8, Red Sox 4

I don't know why I predicted last week Michigan State's annual fold would be homecoming against Northwestern. I mean the Michigan game was just sitting there. To be fair to the Spartans, this was last year's Michigan offense, with Mike Hart running all over State to the tune of 222 yards. Neither defense made anyone forget the 1986 Chicago Bears, by the way.

Texas and Virginia Tech both went on the road and both outclassed respectable opponents. Tech was never really threatened and Marcus Vick was basically Michael Vick. Texas survived a sluggish start and then dismantled Mizzou like they were Rice. Of course aside from Brad Smith, Missouri might as well be Rice.

Iowa is either much closer to the team we all thought they would be or Illinois is simply terrible. Come to think of it, those two things are not mutually exclusive.

Wisconsin went to 5-0, but I am not sold on the Badger defense.

As for the Red Sox, why does Tim Wakefield feel the need to locate one of his patented batting practice fastballs right in Gary Sheffield's wheel house?

Sorry, got carried away. Back to football.

The early games provided some solid entertainment, but the game of the day was played in Alabama where the Crimson Tide served notice that, hey, they might be the best team in the SEC. The Tide rolled over Florida 31-3 and it was about that close. Everyone knew Urban Meyer couldn't be charmed forever playing in the SEC, but this was about as rude as awakenings come. The only downside is that the Tide lost the sensational receiver Tyrone Prothro to a broken leg. That should disappoint college football fans everywhere.

On short rest, Tennessee whipped Ole Miss 27-10 and LSU crushed Mississippi State 37-7. Neither contest compared to the one played last Monday (which was not included in last week's top ten). Tennessee stole one from the Tigers in overtime by playing patient football against an LSU team that looked completely drained in the second half.

How did Syracuse get to be so lousy? FSU 38, Orangemen 14.

Purdue started the season giddy about not having to play Michigan or Ohio State on the ridiculous Big Ten (Eleven) schedule. Turned out that doesn't hide the fact that Purdue is pretty damn average. Notre Dame 49, Purdue 28.

California has done nothing but win since losing their starting QB and trying to get by without Marshawn Lynch. The Bears killed Arizona 28-0 to go to 5-0. No, Cal won't beat USC.

South Florida, who upset Louisville last week, played Miami this week. How's that for analysis? 27-7, Hurricanes.

Texas Tech finally faced a quality opponent, or at least one with D-I athletes, and beat Kansas 30-17.

Minnesota was on top of the world last week. That's why this game is so funny. Penn State - yes that Penn State - ran their record to 5-0 at the Gopher's expense. Try 44-14 on for size. Penn State a Big Ten contender?

Virginia ended their year in the top 25 by getting destroyed by the Maryland offense in a 45-33 loss. UVa's regressing.

Nebraska outlasted Iowa State 27-20 in overtime. The Cornhuskers found some badly needed offense.

UCLA must have played down to the level of their competition in a 21-17 win over Washington. But I don't really know. My apologies to the Pac Ten, but I am not going to take in a lot of your late games with an infant in the house. Maybe I need a correspondent. Anyone want the job?

As for USC? Arizona State gave them all they wanted and the Trojans won anyway, 38-28. USC was actually down 21-3 in this one before turning on the jets.

Impressive Showing of the Week: Alabama

1. USC: This is the week where I annually complain that no one notices LenDale White happens to be one of the four or five best tailbacks in college football, even if he does play with Reggie Bush. White went 19 for 197 against the Sun Devils.

2. Texas: Deep within the recesses of my unworthy soul I feel the fear of Texas finding a way to lose to Oklahoma next Saturday. Texas should win by three touchdowns, maybe four.

2A. Virginia Tech: Yes, I know we can't compare him to his brother, but Marcus Vick continues to get better and that's scary.

4. The Indigenous Peoples of Florida: Va Tech is not on the FSU schedule. ACC title game?

5. Georgia: The Bulldogs play at Tennessee next Saturday. The SEC cannibalizes its top ten teams more than any other league. Can Georgia survive?

6. Ohio State: The Buckeyes could have problems at Penn State next Saturday. Seriously, how good could the Nittany Lions be?

7. Alabama: We will all have to wait and see, but could the Crimson Tide be one of the nation's best five teams? The defense is already there. The loss of Tyrone Prothro on offense is a killer.

8. Miami: Duke is thrilled Miami joined the ACC. Enjoy your trip to the Orange Bowl.

9. Arizona State: Two losses, yes, but are there really ten teams better than the Sun Devils?

10. Anyone but Tennessee: Because if I put the Vols here, they will make me pay for my faith and go lose to Kentucky or Vanderbilt. If I don't put the Vols here, then they will go drive Georgia right into the turf next Saturday and then take down Alabama and I will look like an idiot.

To the people of Omaha, you throw a hell of a wedding, you are great college football fans and I appreciate you holding the College World Series every year, especially the years Texas wins it, which is fairly often.

Thanks for starting my fall off right.

--Adam Jones