0 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com C Monday, September 17, 2007 - 5B MAIZE GAUGE The Michigan Daily football writers break down the weekend's stats that don't show up in the box- score. The defense-o-meter measures the intensity of the defense, the Carr-o-meter judges Lloyd Carr s demeanor following the game and the hypemeter measures the fans' game performance. 11 DEFENSE-0-METER CARR-0-METER' A1 You don't need us to tell you the defense deserved a per- A Really just amazing. Carr walked in smiling because he fect score. The Notre Dame offensive line looked more like brought good friend and movie star Russell Crowe with the Maginot Line against the Wolverine defense. Michigan him. He joked with reporters about asking the same ques- Crables recorded eight sacks and held Notre Dame to 79 yards. Lloyds tion multiple times, and when he got tired of answering Carrs que tions, he had Crowe come to the podium and hold court. Carr seemed completely at ease, much different than the angry and edgy coach we saw last Monday. HYPEMETER 3/f With both teams 0-2, it seemed to damped the pre-game aura 4 abit - it sure didn't feel like a Michigan-Notre Dame game. But the crowd showed up in full force. And other than an ill-timed Big Houses attempt at "The Wave," it gave an otherwise solid performance. THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP 10 POLL N 10 retunrn ts third insta 6. CALIFORNIA: It was anotherweek and another "i.r I iek, Daily Sports staffers «,witwin for the Bears and their potent offense. ["A: lace votesreceiing 100 second- Prognosticators are already pointing to a USC-Cal snd h rtlts arepuished with first-placeFwshowdown later in the season, but the Bears must eses. first travel to Oregon in two weeks. 1. SOUTHERN CAL (7): The TrojanswereO penalized in the rankings for havinga bye last week. But after watchingthemthrash Nebraskaa m n 49-31 on Saturday, the rest of the nation canonly . ist hope the Trojans are involved in some scandal.Oa ed b3 8. TEXAS: For the second week in a row, the LonghornsqueCked rutrawinagainstaMid-majoer. U-1r inoterturti h al ol tgt iteis 35-32 victory over Central Florida still doesant touger frLS net wek whn itfacs of aganstexplain why Texas was playing aroad game against thi l' bil oach Stve Surtter nd Suthrv~p, a team from Orlando. ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL Welcome back, Alabama. After three games, new Alabama coach Nick Saban has the Crimson Tide back in the Top 25 for the first time since 2005. The Tide topped Arkansas 41-38 in a come-from-behind victory Saturday night. TEAM LAST WEEK THIS WEEK 1. Southern Cal beat Nebraska 49-31 Washington State beat Middle Ten- South Carolina 2. Louisiana State nessee State 49-0 3. Florida beat Tennessee 59-20 at Mississippi 4. Oklahoma beat Utah State 54-3 at Tulsa S. West Virginia betMarylnd 31-14 Eat Carolina 6. California betLouisianTech42-12 Arizona 7. Texa . bef Central Rice Florida 35-32 8. Ohio State beat Washing- Northwestern ton 33-14 9. Wisconsin beat The Citadel 45-31 lowa 10. Penn State beat tuffalo 45-24 at Michigan 11. Rutgers beatNorfolk bye State 59-0 12. South Carolina beat South Caro- at Louisiana State ina State 38-3 13. Oregon beat Fresno State 52-21 at Stanford 14. Boston College beat Georgia Army Tch 2A-10 10. WISCONSIN: The Badgers almost fell victim to an upset of epic proportions for the second week ina row, pulling away late to beat the Citadel 45-31. Is anyone else terrified at the fact that Ohin tate mizht winrthe iv Ten caain? S. WEST VIRGINIA: Rich Rodriguez's squad showed some of its moxie, defeating Maryland, 31- 14, on the road in araucous environment. Oh wait, it wasn't basketball, and the only thing massive about the Terps' stadium is their coach. Staff Picks recap: So, uh, this is a little embarrassing. LSA senior Todd Karazim is just killing the Daily football writers. And the thing is, the writers aren't even performing that poorly. Karazim has just been on fire. He was the only one this week to pick the Kentucky upset, and the only one to take Rutgers and its 53.5 points. He also nailed the Duke upset and correctly didn't trust Minnesota to beat Florida Atlantic, a team that had lost to Penn State 59-0. Bell did make something of a comeback, though, winning the week by one pick. Bell's most impressive pick was the Boston College upset over a higher- ranked and playing-at-home Georgia Tech squad that had played well in recent weeks. Per the terms of this contest, Karazim will be back next week. As long as he continues to perform better than two Daily writers on the weekend, he'll continue to return. Stay tuned. 16. Alabama beat Arkansas 41-38 Georgia 17. Virginia Tech beat Ohio 28-7 William & M 18. Louisville lost to Kentucky 40-34 Syracuse 19. Hawaii beat UNLV 49-14 Charleston Sou 20. Texas A&M beat Louisiana- at Miami (Flo Monroe 54-14 21. Kentucky beat Louisville 40-34 at Arkansa° 22. Georgia beat Western at Alabam. Carolina 45-16 23. South Florida bye North Carol 24. Nebraska last to Southern Ball State California 49-31 25. Missouri beat Western Illinois Stat ary thern rida) na to Michigan 52-24 Games updated through Sept.16 STAFF PICKS The Daily football writers do their best to predict what happens in the 2007 college football season. Scott .aniei Bell Bromwich Jack Kevin Herman Wright Todd Karazim Michigan riotre uame micnugan eMICHIGAN (-7.5) vs. Notre Dame SouthernCal (10) vs. NEBRASKA LSU (-40)vs. Mid. Tenn. State OKLAHOMA (-46)vs. Utah State West Virginia (-16.5) vs. Maryland FLORIDA (-8) vs. Tennessee Texas (-18) vs. CENTRAL FLORIDA NISCONSIN (No Line) vs The Citadel CALIFORNIA (-33.5) vs La Tech Louisville (-6.5) vs. KENTUCKY Ohio State (-4) vs WASHINGTON UCLA -4) vs. UTAH PENN STATE (-34.5) vs. Buffalo RUTGERS (-53.5) vs Norfolk St. GA TECH (-6.5) vs. Boston College Arkansas (+3) vs. ALABAMA O. CAROLINA (No Line) vs. SC. States VA TECH (-21) vs. Ohio OREGON (-16.5 vs. Fresno State CLEMSON (-28) vs. Furman GEORGIA (-43) vs West. Carolina Hawaii (-7) vs. UNLV TEXASA&M (-23.5) L a-Monroe NORTHWESTERN (-16.5) vs. Duke INDIANA (13) vs. Akron MICHIGAN STATE 11) vs. Pittsburgh: Iowa (-17.5) vsIOWA STATE PURDUE (-21) vs. Central Michigan Minnesota (-7) vs. FLORIDA ATL. Illinois (-2.5) vs. SYRACUSE Beast Bt Record Overall Record Michigan Southern Cal Middle Tennessee State Oklahoma West Virginia Florida Texas Wisconsin California Louisville Ohio State UCLA Penn State Norfolk State Boston College Arkansas South Carolina Virginia Tech Fresno State Clemson Western Carolina UNLV Texas A&M Duke Indiana Pittsburgh Iowa Purdue Minnesota Illinois Purdue 16-11-3 (1-0) 33-22-4 (1-1) Michigan Southern Cal Middle Tennessee State Utah State West Virginia. Tennessee Texas Wisconsin Louisiana Tech Louisville Washington Utah Penn State Norfolk State Georgia Tech Alabama South Carolina Virginia Tech. Fresno State Clemson Western Carolina Hawaii Texas A&M Northwestern Indiana Michigan State Iowa Purdue Minnesota llinois. Southern Cal 13-14-3 (1-0) 30-_25-4.( 2-_0) ...... Michigan Southern Cal Louisiana State Utah State West Virginia Florida Texas Wisconsin Louisiana Tech Louisville Washington UCLA Penn State Norfolk State Georgia Tech Alabama South Carolina Virginia Tech Oregon Clemson Western Carolina UNLV Texas A&M Northwestern Indiana Michigan State Iowa Purdue Minnesota Illinois Norfolk State 13-14-3 (0-1) Notre Dame Nebraska Middle Tennessee State Oklahoma West Virginia' Florida Central Florida Wisconsin Louisiana Tech Louisville Ohio State UCLA Buffalo Norfolk State Georgia Tech Alabama South Carolina Virginia Tech Oregon Clemson Western Carolina UNLV Louisiana-Monroe Northwestern Indiana Michigan State Iowa State Central Michigan Minnesota Illinois. Illinois 14-13-3 (1-0) 30-25-4 (1-1) Michigan Nebraska Louisiana State Oklahoma West Virginia Florida Texas Wisconsin Louisiana Tech Kentucky Washington UCLA Penn State Rutgers Georgia Tech Arkansas South Carolina Ohia Fresno State Clemson Georgia Hawaii Louisiana-Monroe Duke Indiana Michigan State Iowa Central Michigan Florida Atlantic Illinois Michigan .-2-3 (1-0) .4-21-4 (2-.0 4.