Daily Blog •September 4, 2011

Welcome to my Sunday Blog. During the offseason I had just one weekend blog but each week during the season I will take a look at the Top 25 performances from the just completed week with a little analysis as well as a quick review of the past weekend. On Monday I will give you my News & Notes where I delve deeper into every game that was played this past weekend, breaking down individual drives and giving you misleading finals and other interesting tidbits.

As far as my game grades go after the 2008 season was completed I devised a power ratings system, which lets me analyze at what level each team played during an individual game. This “game grade” takes into account the yards rushing, yards passing, points scored, rushing yards allowed, passing yards allowed and points allowed and factors them in against the opponent played and even factors in the site the game was played at.

With all these factors taken into consideration you will see teams that lost the game having a better individual game grade than teams that beat them simply because the team they played was superior and much less was expected of them.

Top 25 Game Grades

OFF
OFF
OFF
DEF
DEF
DEF
Yds
Game
RANK
 TEAM FOE
RUSH
PASS
PTS
RUSH
PASS
PTS
TO's
Diff
Grade
1
 OKLAHOMA Tulsa
246
417
47
129
271
14
2
263
105.9
2
 VIRGINIA WILLIAM & MARY
240
256
40
48
121
3
2
327
100.4
2
 ALABAMA Kent St
183
299
48
-9
99
7
-4
392
100.4
4
 VIRGINIA TECH APPALACHIAN ST
256
262
66
117
176
13
4
225
98.5
5
 BOISE ST AT Georgia
129
261
35
137
236
21
0
17
97.9
6
 LSU Oregon
175
98
40
95
240
27
3
-62
94.9
7
 STANFORD San Jose St
141
232
57
27
210
3
3
136
94.6
8
 UCF CHARLESTON SOUTHERN
316
244
62
49
70
0
1
441
93.2
9
 N CAROLINA JAMES MADISON
184
277
42
59
152
10
-1
250
92.7
9
 TOLEDO NEW HAMPSHIRE
287
304
58
152
180
22
5
259
92.7
11
 MISS ST AT Memphis
309
336
59
164
174
14
2
307
92.1
11
 FLORIDA AT Florida Atlantic
197
271
41
30
107
3
-3
331
92.1
13
 TEXAS Rice
229
277
34
130
94
9
1
282
91.9
14
 OKLAHOMA ST Louisiana
208
458
61
190
98
34
-3
378
91.3
15
 FLORIDA ST ULM
92
280
34
99
92
0
0
181
90.2
16
 OHIO ST Akron
224
293
42
35
55
0
0
427
88.6
17
 BAYLOR TCU
150
414
50
215
251
48
0
98
87.7
17
 ARKANSAS MISSOURI ST
102
364
51
84
79
7
0
303
87.7
19
 MINNESOTA AT USC
110
192
17
67
304
19
0
-69
87.5
19
 BYU AT Mississippi
91
225
14
64
144
13
1
108
87.5
21
 TEMPLE VILLANOVA
240
235
42
122
153
7
4
200
86.6
22
 OREGON AT LSU
78
182
20
175
98
40
-3
-13
86.4
23
 NOTRE DAME USF
117
391
20
126
128
23
-5
254
86.3
24
 S CAROLINA † East Carolina
220
131
56
85
260
37
1
6
85.8
25
 CINCINNATI AUSTIN PEAY
387
174
72
127
150
10
5
284
85.5

 

  1. Oklahoma. The #1 ranked Sooners played like it in their opener against a Tulsa team that finished #24 in the AP last year and returned 18 starters. The Sooners #1 offense rolled up 663 yds and now they enjoy a week off before the showdown with Florida St.
  2. Virginia. Yes, the Cavaliers had one of the more impressive victories of the opening weekend with a beatdown of one of the best teams in the FCS. Just two years ago UVA lost to W&M but yesterday the Cavs had a 496-169 yds edge in the 40-3 win.
  3. Alabama. Similar to Oklahoma, the #2 team in the country played like it on opening weekend with a dominating win over Kent St. The Crimson Tide’s defense allowed -9 yds rushing (90 total yds) and the only negative was the 5 TO’s they committed on offense.
  4. Virginia Tech. The Hokies are my #1 Surprise team in the country and they lived up to that billing opening week with an annihilation of FCS perennial power Appalachian St with a 66-13 win.
  5. Boise St. The Broncos did it again. For the third straight season, Boise opened up vs a Top 20 team and all three times they have come away a winner. QB Kellen Moore was is usual fantastic self and now the Broncos looked poised for another unbeaten regular season.
  6. LSU. In the marquee game of the weekend, the Tigers came away with an impressive win over Oregon including dominating the LOS with a 175-95 yd rush edge.
  7. Stanford. San Jose St is a much improved team this year and the Cardinal took them apart 57-3 as QB Luck started off his campaign in style.
  8. UCF. The defending CUSA Champs buried Charleston Southern 62-0 with a 560-119 yd edge.
  9. North Carolina. James Madison is one of the top teams in the FCS and the Tar Heels dismantled them with a 461-211 yd edge.
  10. Toledo. The Rockets were my pick to win the MAC this year and their explosive offense was just that in the opener racking up a 591-332 yd edge.