COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
Published 11:42 pm Tuesday, September 2, 2008
NEW YORK — By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia 1 and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
“We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season,” USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. “As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it’s nice to know that people think highly of our team.”
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches’ poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
While the Bulldogs’ opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team’s. Georgia’s big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that’ve been ranked in the first two polls.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson’s big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Notes
AUBURN: Chris Todd will start at quarterback for No. 9 Auburn on Saturday against Southern Mississippi. Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville said he had planned to start Todd even before Kodi Burns was injured in the opener. Burns, who started Auburn’s 34-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe, was cut on his left leg in the third quarter.
SOUTH CAROLINA: Chris Smelley will start at quarterback for South Carolina against Vanderbilt on Thursday. Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said he made the decision after starter Tommy Beecher couldn’t practice because he couldn’t lift his non-throwing shoulder. He said Smelley probably deserves to start even if Beecher was not injured.
OKLAHOMA: Two University of Oklahoma athletes stabbed at a nightclub during a brawl that reportedly involved guns, knives and tire irons were identified by police. Defensive end Frank Alexander and freshman basketball guard Ray Willis sustained knife wounds during the Sunday morning altercation. Alexander, 18, was treated and released. Willis’ condition wasn’t immediately available, although police said both stabbing victims required surgery.
USC: Elmer Willhoite, an All-American guard on Southern California’s Rose Bowl championship team in 1952, has died. He was 78. Willhoite died on Aug. 21 in Hawthorne, Nev. He played a key role in sending the Trojans to the 1953 Rose Bowl when he returned an interception 77 yards to set up the deciding touchdown in a 14-12 win over UCLA late in the 1952 regular season.
