College Football Rundown with Donny Karr: Manziel exploits ‘Bama’s weaknesses in seemingly invincible defense’

Love him or hate him, Johnny Manziel did not disappoint in the matchup between Texas A&M and Alabama.   When he could not pick the Tide’s defense apart with his arm, Manziel managed to break away for large gains on foot.  Manziel was able to exploit Bama’s seemingly invincible defense and reveal some weaknesses for future opponents.

Will anyone be able to stop Alabama’s offense? Probably not.  LSU may be the only team on the schedule with a reasonable chance to topple the Tide.  The Tigers will have their hands full when they face UGA on the road in week 5 in a contest that will test LSU’s ability to deal with an explosive offense.  How they handle that task will be an indicator of their ability to deal with Alabama.

Fans all across the country are drooling over the possibility that the Tide could meet up with Oregon in the BCS National Championship.  The Ducks welcomed the opportunity to face an SEC opponent and sent the Tennessee Volunteers limping back east after handing them a 59-14 thrashing.  The question still remains as to whether the Ducks are the real deal or not.  If Oregon makes it past Washington and UCLA unscathed, their only remaining obstacle will be Stanford. The Cardinals have one of the strongest fronts in the nation, but the Ducks will likely overwhelm them with their speed.

For years the PAC-12 was brushed aside as a paper-thin conference that could not keep up with the likes of the SEC or the Big 10.  Any of those remaining doubts were swept aside in week three.  Not only did Oregon demolish an SEC opponent, Arizona State managed to take down Wisconsin in a heated battle that left a bitter taste in the mouth of Badgers fans.  The officiating was disastrous, but there is no denying that the Sun Devils helped make the case for the PAC-12’s legitimacy.

Finally, the ACC is garnering attention from the polls.  Clemson is still rolling over opponents thanks to the momentum it gained after beating Georgia.  Florida State remains in the top ten and Miami is steadily climbing the rankings.  There is no clear front runner in the ACC and the three teams in the current top 25 poll could easily sabotage each other’s chances of being considered for the BCS title game.  Georgia Tech is the dark horse of the conference and will stun some of their ranked opponents with a passing game that is uncharacteristic of the Yellow Jackets.

The coming weeks should have major upsets in store for some ranked teams.  Michigan squeaked by Akron and narrowly avoided a major loss.  Stanford is on upset alert as they look forward to facing a scrappy group of Sun Devils.  It is only a matter of time before Notre Dame drops a game to an unranked opponent.  The top 25 will likely undergo drastic changes before the end of the season.

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