Observations from Saturday's Games (Sept. 27)

Good Saturday for watching games (many thanks to the wife for taking our daughter shopping for most of the day). Spent the early part of the day watching North Carolina-Miami and Michigan State-Indiana, then focused mainly on Marshall-WVU (while flipping occasionally to Wisconsin-Michigan). Here are some interesting observations I made (not even getting into the 'Bama whipping of UGA that I'm watching right now).

1. ESPN's Andre Ware is clueless. Ware spent 3 1/2 quarters talking about how Miami has its swagger back, only to watch the Butch Davis' coached Tar Heels steal a big ACC win at Dolphins Stadium. Ware's like George W. Bush. Give him a few talking points and he won't stray from it all game. When the plan doesn't stay on script he struggles big time.

2. There are no elite teams this year. Just like last year anyone can lose any week. When Florida loses to Ole Miss, Clemson loses to Maryland, Wisconsin loses to Michigan, Wake Forest loses to Navy, I don't want to hear about conference superiority or a team is destined to win it all. Who benefitted most from Saturday? USC. The Trojans are right back in the mix again.

3. Duke's David Cutcliffe is Coach of the Year. Give him the award now. Under his leadership the Dookies are 3-1 and 1-0 in ACC play. The Blue Devils ended a 25-game conference losing skid against UVA. Not like we didn't know this before Saturday, but THE University is in trouble. Duke hits a tough stretch over the next four weeks (at Georgia Tech, Miami, at Vanderbilt and at Wake Forest).

4. WVU may have won, but ... I'm pleased with the 27-3 victory over Marshall, but the offense was still sporadic at best and the defense allowed the Herd to reel off two drives of more than 18 plays. Pat White was more in synch before leaving the game with a hand injury, and TB Noel Devine had his best outing of the season. The Mountaineers still have a lot to work on and it's looking more and more like Bill Stewart is simply too nice to be a coach in Division I.

5. Injuries have killed East Carolina. The Pirates were playing as good as any team in the country through the first three weeks of the season. Coach Skip Holtz isn't making excuses, but the Pirates have had to play without linebacker Quentin Cotton and left tackle Stanley Bryant (both out the rest of the season with knee injuries), as well as wideout T.J. Lee (foot injury) and DL Khalif Mitchell (turf toe). ECU won't sniff the Top 25 again this season, especially after Houston dismembered the Pirates 41-24 in Greenville.

6. No-talent Michigan is in great shape. If you watched Rich Rod's boys come back from a 19-0 deficit you could tell that they were in way better condition. Credit strength coach Mike Barwis, whose unique conditioning programs have become legendary. Michigan's offense still sucks, but they will get better under Rich.

7. Who's No. 1? Oklahoma will be on top of both polls on Sunday, but Alabama is playing better than anyone in the country. The performance against Clemson was amazing, but through one half in Athens, Ga., Bama's dismantling Georgia. What an impressive coaching job by Nick Saban. That hurts.

8. Clausen getting better. Jimmy Clausen's hair-do is still alien, but the former Blue Chipper played his best game since arriving in South Bend. He completed 57 percent of his passes for a 275 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Purdue. "Yeah, I played good out there," Clausen said. "I felt comfortable. I was reading the coverage's pretty good. I felt like I knew what to do coming into the game, and the coaches helped me and got me ready to go."

9. Don't listen to me. After going 4-1 in my inaugural picks last week, I'll be lucky to win one this week. I took some chances this week, but the most disappointing loss what Colorado's poor defensive showing against a Florida State offense with an identity crisis.

10. Didn't even see it. ESPN should cancel Dr. Lou and then fire Holtz. He's an embarrassment.