Real Kato Blog: College Football 2012: Week 2 Recap

Better. A win is a win.

Michigan 31, Air Force 25. Better to win ugly than not win at all. There was plenty to complain about in this game, particularly on defense, as Air Force's option game consistently outflanked the defense for chunks of yards at a time. The defensive line didn't handle Air Force's cut blocks very well, which was key: if a defensive end can't get penetration and disrupt the quarterback's option play, the pitch is usually going to be open. At times it seemed like the game was going to be a pure shootout, with neither team able to stop the other.

Fortunately Michigan had Denard Robinson.

Denard had 426 combined yards (208 passing, 218 rushing) and Air Force simply couldn't contain him. (Where was that last week?) That's fortunate, because Fitzgerald Toussaint couldn't get anything going rushing, in his first game back from suspension. It was troubling that Michigan's offensive line had trouble with iso blocking against an undersized Air Force defensive line, but hopefully that's something the coaches can fix before Notre Dame.

An unexpected bright spot: freshman tight end Devin Funchess, who led the team in receiving and came up with several big plays. He's going to be a weapon if he can keep performing at this level.

Heroes: Robinson, Fuchness. Devin Gardner had a decent day too.

Goats: Toussaint, the offensive line, the defensive line.

Grades: Offense B-, Defense C-.

N.C. State 10, UConn 7. Like I said, better to win ugly than not at all. This game was a defensive battle throughout; that's partly because of the windy weather, but partly because UConn played better than expected on the defensive line, and because UConn's rebuilt passing attack couldn't make any headway against State's pass defense. The cornerbacks redeemed themselves after last week's debacle.

State predictably couldn't get anything going on the ground, but Glennon had a fairly efficient day, and made just enough plays to get the win.

Other Notable Games

Now-#1 Alabama beat Western Kentucky 35-0. At least we did better than Western Kentucky.

#3 LSU blew out Washington 41-3. It will be depressing if Alabama and LSU end up 1-2 again.

#6 Florida State beat Savannah State 55-0, in a game where the spread was 70 points. The game was suspended due to weather, though, so no one lost any money gambling.

Louisiana-Monroe shocked #8 Arkansas 34-31 in overtime. Ouch.

1-AA Sacramento State beat Colorado 30-28.

Oregon State upset #13 Wisconsin 10-7. I think Wisconsin may have been a bit overhyped this year; breaking in a new quarterback is never easy.

#22 UCLA beat #16 Nebraska 36-30. Iowa State beat Iowa 9-6. Arizona State crushed Illinois 45-14. Yeah, Big Ten.

Northwestern improved to 2-0, beating Vanderbilt 23-13. Take that, SEC.

Rich Rodriguez's #24 Arizona squad stomped #18 Oklahoma State 59-38. Man, I still love his offense.

#21 Kansas State pummeled Miami 52-13.

#22 Notre Dame somehow eked out a victory against Purdue, 20-17, as Tommy Rees came off the bench to lead the Irish to a game-winning score.

#24 Florida beat Texas A&M 20-17; #7 Georgia beat Missouri 41-20. The newcomers to the SEC are in for a challenge.

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