The Davis Poll 10/12/2015

[The Gloaming]

By Davis

If you need a little consistency in your life, then you should steer far and clear from college football because the only constants right now are games on Saturdays and some grumpy bears down in Waco, Texas. Close calls, embarrassing loses, and blow out victories, we've got them all. Ladies and germs, the Davis Poll.

1.Baylor ( pv rank 1)
2.Utah ( pv rank 3)
3.LSU ( pv rank 5)
4.TCU ( pv rank 2)
5.Clemson ( pv rank unranked)
6.ohio state ( pv rank 6)
7.Texas A&M ( pv rank unranked)
8.Michigan ( pv rank unranked)
9.Florida State ( pv rank unranked)
10.Florida ( pv rank 4)
Davis Drop Outs: Oklahoma, Michigan State, Alabama

The Biggest Movers of the week are the unranked gang featuring Michigan, Florida state, Clemson, and Texas A&M

The Biggest Losers are Florida, Michigan State, TCU, Florida and ohio state

WHY THEY MOVED

The big ten finally has something to talk about and it's not that team down in Columbus, Ohio. The Michigan Wolverines led by Khaki Jim have finally proved ol Davis right in his preseason top 10 ranking. The Wolverines are darn good. Offensively there is a lot to be desired but it's not gloom and doom. Senior QB Jake Rudock is calling the shots on offense and while he hasn't done anything spectacular, he hasn't done anything that bad either. He's light years ahead of where he was when the Wolverines traveled to Utah and were manhandled by the more physical Utes. Rudock struggled on his was to a 3 interception outting and a game that immediately had people questioning whether or not Khaki Jim would last in Michigan or if he'd be interested in swapping jobs with Mike Pettine in Cleveland. Well the answer is no. Utah is a very good football team and Michigan is improving every game. If Michigan is going to make the College Football Playoff, it's going to be because of their defense which has been absolutely devastating to opposing offense. Michigan has allowed only 31 points all season and pitching 3 shutouts and in a season is a tall task yet the Wolverines have done it in 3 straight games. Ranked opponents BYU and Northwestern had no answers to Khaki Jims scheming and Maryland, who just played the AP #1 buckeyes tough for 3 quarters, scoring 28 points were all held scoreless by Michigan. And we are told ohio state has the best defense in the country? I'm afraid not. The Big Ten does feature one of the best defenses in the country and it's wearing Maize and Blue. Sparty travels to Michigan this weekend and will likely be exposed as Connor Cooks struggles are mounting. A very late drive helped Michigan State escape against Rutgers. I repeat, a very late drive helped Sparty eascape against Rutgers. Both teams have much to gain. Even though it's actually relevancy is debatable, more wins against ranked schools should look great on a resume'. Michigan is looking at a top 5 ranking with the win. Sparty could move into the top 10 once again but most likely, will join Oklahoma, Ole Miss, and the rest of the pretenders in kitty cat land.

The ACC is getting some love this week. Clemson and Florida State have both looked very good at times and have looked pedestrian at others but that's ok, we can't figure out TCU and ohio state either. Perhaps all 4 teams should have a 4 team playoff to see who gets in the 4 team playoff? Clemson is doing what they need to do in order to set themselves up for the huge showdown with Florida State in November. Deshaun Watson has proven that he is the QB for the Tigers throwing for nearly 1000 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has a little Michael Vick about him in terms of slinging the ball around in a high risk, high reward fashion which has led to 5 interceptions. He's young and has a couple winnable games to solidify himself before the Seminoles game. Defensively, Clemson is good enough to be in the game with anyone in the country. They are allowing a mere 13ppg and the Senior laden defensive line is as good as any unit in football. Florida State on the other hand has had its share of close calls of late needing massive efforts in the waning in games against Wake Forrest and Miami. Everett Golson works. He doesn't make poor decisions. He can scramble out of the pocket if needed and he throws with some legit accuracy in the 70% range. Dalvin Cook is a quality running back, not a Heisman contender but who is at this point besides LSU's Leonard Fournette and TCUs Treyvon Boykin. He's pushing the 1000 yard mark and is great between the tackles. The Seminoles offensive line, despite reports of inadequacy, is solid. Cooks speed is the only concern and whether or not he's hitting his holes quick enough. Florida State needs a running game if they want to beat Clemson. The Tiger defensive line will have their way with the Seminoles if Cook isn't capitalizing on openings. Nothing special about either team but they both continue to win.

Texas A&M is quietly the best team in the SEC and is making a push to be the best team in the state of Texas. Attn: TCU and Baylor.... The Aggies have quality wins over Mississippi State and and a blow out victory over a very capable Arizona State squad. Kyle Allen has thrown for 11 TDs and only 2 interceptions, a feat considering how pass happy A&M has been. The lack of a running game is going to get the Aggies, whatever that is, in some sticky situations this season, most likely over the next two weeks at home with Alabama and on the road at Ole Miss. Both the Tide and the Rebels have quality defenses, Alabama however is suspect in their secondary, a flaw the Aggies will be able to exploit. Ole Miss is good, not great, all around and the home environment is going to provide the true test to see if A&M has the cahoots to be joining one of its in state foes in the playoff. The other little caveat is that trip to Death Valley in the last game of the regular season. Win out and the Aggies should be a lock.



Biggest Losers

Holy buckeye! And this time it has nothing to do with Craig Krenzel. Urban Meyer and company should be thanking their lucky stars(and their athletic department) that the schedule has been historically easy. The buckeyes are getting the best shot from every team they play and if that helps Cardale Jones and buckeye fans sleep at night, that's great. But the reality and the severity of what's going on in Columbus is this: ohio state is getting dangerously close games from Indiana, Maryland and Northern Illinois. Virginia Tech was ahead 17-14 at the half before their starting QB was injured. Hawaii was only down 2 scores at the half. The only game ohio state hasn't looked average in was against lowly Western Michigan. Northern Illinois was 11-1 last year. The keyword here is LAST YEAR. The Huskies got demolished by Boise State 55-0. Maryland was shut out by Michigan, Indiana was just embarrassed by Penn State. The buckeyes are struggling against bad teams. 49-28 is not a blow out when the game is 21-21 in the 3rd quarter. That's called the buckeyes outlasting a Maryland squad WHO FIRED THEIR COACH AFTER LOSING TO OHIO STATE. And once again, ugh, Urban trotted out JT Barrett, who is better than Cardale Jones, for red zone opportunities. If you though the Hills ended a few years ago, guess what, Stephen, LC, Brody and Kristen are all back and starring in a new show on the Big Ten Network called Columbmess. Gimmick offenses work in spots and they should work against lowly Maryland and NIU and WMU and Indiana but about 200 miles north is a team that isn't playing around, pitching shutouts left and right including a shutout over Maryland last week. Urban Meyer has weeks to adjust and solidify whatever the hell he's doing in Columbus because you don't have to worry about Sparty anymore. Michigan is a one loss title contender and they are only getting better behind Khaki Jim. Up next for the buckeyes, a 5-1 Penn State club who just beat Indiana 28-7...because that's what you should do to Indiana. Don't panic buckeye fans, Penn State lost to Temple.



Ooooooooooklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains, and the waving wheat can sure smell sweet when the wind comes right behind a loss to a terrible Texas team. Oklahoma is Nebraska. Let's just quit with the Sooners because it's not the year 2000 anymore. Bob Stoops is living off of wins nearly two decades ago but let's just be real here, Oklahoma is a whole lot closer to Nebraska than it is to Baylor, Utah, TCU, ohio state, Clemson and other programs that are playing football in a new era. There isn't much to say here, Oklahoma does this every year. We are blinded by a decade old reputation that wasn't that great to begin with. Jason White isn't in the locker room, Adrian Peterson is in Minnesota, hell, Sam Bradford isn't even the right guy for Philadelphia but he's way better than anything goiong on in Sooner town. Boomer Sooner? I say Boomer Snoozer. Fool me 11 times Oklahoma, ya fool me, i can't be fooled again.

The Tide takes is bipolar act to College Station to take on the high octane Aggies of Texas A&M and for the first time in a long time, we are taking the Aggies big over the Tide. Nick Saban has built some of the most dominant defenses in college football history in his tenure at Alabama but this isn't one of them. Those defenses were able to mask offensive inadequacies enough to lead the Tide to 3 championships in 4 years. Saban, like Bob Stoops, is a dinosaur in todays game. A T-rex but he's going up against Art Briles, Gary Patterson, Urban Meyer, guys who are Hawks with anti T-rex missiles. To his credit, Saban is trying to adapt but that is selling out what he did best, building great defenses and good enough offenses. Alabama is looking at a 4 loss season for the first time in nearly a decade unless they can get instill some confidence in Jake Coker and feed Derrick Henry the rock. Henry was a Heisman candidate till recently and perhaps his game fits better somewhere else, say A&M or dare i say Baylor?

Florida. Kids. Dont. Do. Drugs.

[fbnut]

How is Ohio state on the "biggest loser" list, 6th last week, 6th this week?

[OICU812]

How is Ohio state on the "biggest loser" list, 6th last week, 6th this week?

Don't feed the troll.

[The Gloaming]

I think osu made the loser list because they havent put together a complete game or even a complete half of football. This is a buckeye team that has looked very good in spurts, usually at the end of games when their elite talent just outlasts the Marylands and Indianas of the world. 4 and 5 star guys who can just give a little more than the 1, 2, and 3 star guys that populate the buckeyes opponents rosters. I dont think we are going to know anything about this team until Sparty and even they have questions. The winner of the battle up north game this weekend will essentially be the only test the buckeyes will have faced.
Not progressing is losing, i mean look at the current state of conservatives in America, they're insane.

[seofan_via_dublin]

They are progressing.

[The Gloaming]

They are progressing.

haha, against Maryland in the 4th quarter? Whatever helps you sleep at night HAHA

[dazed&confused]

In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings

[1987chieftains]

thats good!!!

[Senatorz10]

I agree with most of the top 10 Id flip a few around but the contenders are there. Except for Florida State and Florida.... The Gators won 3 games with technically an ineligible player who used PEDs. And Florida State barely held on against a very average Miami FL Team. And Dalvin Cook is FSU's goto guy and hes playing with a semi Injury.