What we learned from Saturday's college football action

Another crazy weekend of college football. LSU and Cal go down. Of course Cal is little more understandable considering Longshore was out with a busted ankle. But still, the polls are going to mighty interesting.

So what'd we learn?

1. Cal may be one of the unluckiest programs ever. Oregon State isn't exactly a world beater, but Cal can't win without Nate Longshore at QB. And even though Longshore had two weeks off to recover from his injury against Oregon, it was a horrible sign for Cal that he didn't start the game or even come in for a rep or two at some point. Hopefully they'll have him back next week, or their season may literally fall to pieces just when it seemed they were about to take off. But I hate to see games like this. Where a team has a key player injured and they lose a game they probably would have won had he played. Plus, as I said, Cal has constantly gotten shortchanged in recent years. Losing out on the chance to play in BCS games because of computers and having key players injured at the worst times. I still remember the year Cal basically had every single wide receiver on the team injured before they played in a season where they should have been in a BCS game. Naturally, they lost and everyone said "Well that's because they weren't good." No, they lost because my grandmother was playing receiver for them. Plus this team hasn't been to the Rose Bowl in more than 50 years and they finally had a shot this year to contend for a National Championship. But their QB gets injured, they lose, and in all likelyhood, there goes their chance at a National Championship. If there was ever a college football team to pull for to get a break, it's Cal. But all that said, if Riley just throws that damn ball into the stands on the last play to stop the clock, they kick the field goal and tie up the game. Not the smartest play of the day.

2. Matt Flynn is the reason LSU lost. It sure looked like Kentucky knew exactly what was coming in that third overtime. Run, run, run. And while LSU does have a very good running game, when you know it's coming, it's easier to stop. Miles didn't call any pass plays in that situation because he doesn't trust Flynn enough, and neither do I. Flynn made some horrible throws in today's game that had he made would have seriously helped LSU. Probably the worst was the one he airmailed about 6-feet over the head of LaFleur when he was WIDE OPEN in the 4th. He's just not a good quarterback, period. Two weeks ago we said he was LSU's weak link, and he'd be the reason why they'd lose a game this year. I like this comment we got from someone right after we wrote that: If Matt Flynn is the "weak link" of LSU, then that is one heck of a team. You wouldn't be talking out your bum, would you? No, you were talking out of your ass. We were telling you exactly what was going to happen.

3. We're all going to hate the new rankings this week. Ohio State will be #1, followed by, uh, I have no idea. But Boston College and South Florida will probably remain in the top 5. If all those teams remain unbeaten, are you going to watch whatever National Championship scenario they present us with? Me neither. Also, while Oklahoma had an impressive win against a suddenly relevant Missouri, they'll probably be ranked 3rd or 4th, and as high as 2nd if you listen to that fool Lee Corso. That's insane. LSU is better than Oklahoma, period. Plus LSU's one loss was against a more impressive opponent than Oklahoma's. And it was in triple OT. However, it's likely LSU will be ranked behind Oklahoma. That's a crime. Sometimes I really hate college football.

4. Hawaii should drop in the polls. They may be the weakest #16 ranked team in college football history. Overtime games against LA Tech and San Jose State? Are you kidding me? And they had to make a serious comeback against San Jose State. I should mention though that San Jose State has a QB who's been on absolute fire of late. But still, it's San Jose State, not Ohio State. If Hawaii played in the SEC or the Pac-10 they'd have at least 2 loses by now. They should really be ranked lower.

5. Dirty Sanchez made sure that Booty still has a job. For the last two years, there have been rumblings in LA that the Trojans should have gone with Sanchez over Booty. He's more athletic, bigger arm. Well, he threw for 130 yards and 2 picks as USC barely beat Arizona at home. Sanchez will be good in the future, but he's not there yet. Also USC seems to be self-destructing week by week at this point. This team is underachieving so much this year it's impossible to ignore. It also speaks to the fact that Carroll isn't a very good coach. He has the best talent of anyone in the country and his team is struggling to beat bad to mediocre teams. That falls squarely on Carroll.

6. I can't remember a year where I had less of a clue about who was going to win the Heisman. McFadden continues to be in front according to most people, but Arkansas isn't winning much, and he didn't even reach 50 yards rushing in a close loss against Auburn. Needless to say, McFadden didn't exactly make a statement. Meanwhile DeSean Jackson had a terrible game against Oregon State. Andre Woodson should certainly get some buzz for leading Kentucky over LSU, but there's no way he should take the lead. And I can't take Colt Brennan seriously. So I'll just say what I think we're all thinking - this is one of the least inspiring Heisman campaigns in recent memory.

7. Michigan has clearly rebounded from its horrific start. They absolutely crushed Purdue and they've been playing really well of late. It sounds bizarre to say, but when they match up against Ohio State to end the season, I think they can win. I don't think they'll actually beat Ohio State, but with the way this college football season is going, who knows what'll happen. Imagine Ohio St. losing to Michigan and seeing Boston College and South Florida in the National Championship. Yikes.

8. Wisconsin is a joke. I know the only reason they were ever ranked #5 was because they were undefeated when a lot of other people had already lost one game. But they're horrible. They got wrecked by Penn State and are about to drop out of the top 25. Which is great, because they never really deserved to be on that list in the first place.

-WCK