Punch to the Gut
Posted November 4, 2007, 11:07 AM ET

Another crazy Saturday in college football produced some amazing storylines:

Buh-bye, B.C.

...Matt Ryan might have lost his grasp on the Heisman Trophy, but there's no debate that the Eagles saw their shot at a national title disappear into the chilly Boston night with their home loss to Bobby Bowden and his 'Noles. I'm glad Boston College is out of the hunt...they are not one of the nation's elite teams.

When the time expired, the roar you heard was from Tigertown, where Clemson fans now see a clear path to Jacksonville to play for an ACC title. Tommy Bowden and his Tigers get to the ACC Championship game by winning their next two games at home.....but it won't be easy. Up next is Jim Grobe and his boys from Switzerland, followed up by a possible showdown game with those Boston College Eagles.

Sinking Ship

...Notre Dame continues to give me reasons to smile. Charlie Weis couldn't even hide under his 6XL hooded sweatshirt, as the Irish saw the Midshipmen storm into South Bend and snap a 43-game losing streak to Notre Dame.

The Irish are now 1-8...just how did UCLA lose to these guys? The last time ND lost to Navy, it was 1963 and Roger Staubach was the QB for Navy....it needs to be noted that during this period, Charlie Weis was rumored to be a 50-pound infant. But Irish fans can continue to tell you that another Top 10 recruiting class is on the way. For the record: Crewcut is now 20-14 during his tenure in South Bend. Ty Willingham was 21-16 after his third season...he was fired. Weis is a genius.

Time To Tackle

...Nebraska, please introduce yourself to South Carolina.

What's going on with these two teams? The famed "Black Shirts" of Nebraska found a way to hold pesky Kansas to 76 points. The esteemed Tom Osborne has an easy call on coach Bill Callahan. Nebraska has great football fans, but this is completely embarrassing for the Big Red. How did Wake Forest lose to the Huskers?

The Gamecocks were equally embarrassing, while playing touch football against the Arkansas duo of McFadden and Jones. The Razorbacks punished South Carolina with 541 yards rushing...with McFadden tallying 323 yards and setting an SEC record.

The Gamecocks have lost three straight, and Steve Spurrier is doing his best Tommy Bowden impersonation. Last year, Clemson reached Top 10 status in late October before losing four of their last five. The Cocks haven't won since beating UNC on October 13th and were ranked #6 in the country. It doesn't get any easier this week for Spurrier...Florida comes to town.

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Enough of the college football talk; it's time for some hoops news....

The Duke Blue Devils unveiled their new look by beating up on Shaw. The score was 134-55....that's not a typo, the Blue Devils somehow managed to jump out to a commanding halftime lead of 68-17 before holding on.

Mike Krzyzewski's former player, Robert Brickey, is the head coach at Shaw....after the 79-point beatdown, Brickey had this to say...."It's tough being called out to the woodshed, but overall it was a good experience."

You don't say? Custer said the same thing.

To make matters worse, Brickey decided to use his Duke education and scheduled a trip to Chapel Hill a few days later to take on the preseason #1-ranked UNC Tar Heels. Final score from the Dean Dome was 114-62.

Let the bitch-fest begin. Duke beats Shaw by 79 points...UNC beats Shaw by 52. Duke fans will be quick to note that they must be 27 points better than Roy's boys....and they will also point out that Coach K called off the dogs.

You gotta love it....and while Duke and North Carolina fans chirp back and forth...keep your eye on N.C. State. The Wolfpack will enter the mix this season and cause some headaches for everybody not only on Tobacco Road, but in the entire conference as well.

A quick look at the preseason AP Poll shows that the Tar Heels are #1, Duke is #13 and the Wolfpack is ranked 21st. For the Heels, it is the 6th time they've been the AP preseason pick as the best team in college basketball (tying them with Duke). The Heels have only won the national title once when having the AP preseason #1 ranking bestowed upon them...and that was in the 1981-82 season.

It's time for my women's basketball quota on PackSmack...By demand, I normally refrain from wasting time on women's basketball. I noticed that Tennessee was picked as the preseason #1 team. Rutgers was picked third....I gather that Rutgers' coach Vivian Stringer blamed Don Imus for not being selected #1.

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Barry Bonds claims that he is going to boycott the Baseball Hall of Fame, if it decides to showcase his "asterisk" ball. Sounds good to me. Next.

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I can certainly come to grips with the concept that the Carolina Panthers are very ordinary....in fact, they are average at best. But the only thing worse than being average is being boring and average. The product that Jerry Richardson, John Fox and Marty Hurney are putting on the field simply stinks.

The Panthers' front office defiantly bragged during the off-season that they needed to change little from last year's disastrous effort. With 21 of the 22 starters back from the league's biggest bust of the 2006 season, the team, if healthy, would be enough to be back in the hunt. For good measure, Fox and Hurney added backup quarterback David Carr from Houston, and also incorporated a new offensive coordinator from the hapless Cleveland Browns, Jeff Davidson.

Well, at the halfway point, the Panthers are 4-4....average.

David Carr has been brutal under center....and Jeff Davidson's new "zone blocking" concept has been inept. The Panthers have been able to produce an amazing 137 points in the first 8 games....that's a paltry 17.3 points per game. Has anybody introduced Davidson to Steve Smith?

Davidson's former employer, the awful Cleveland Browns, were 31st out of 32 teams in the offensive department last year. Without Jeff Davidson as Offensive Coordinator, the Browns are now 5-3, having scored 227 points....and, get this...they're doing it with a backup quarterback. In the Browns' 5 wins, they're averaging 35.8 points per game.

This week, the Panthers host another "dog" from the NFC South...this time, it's the Vickless Atlanta Falcons. The Panthers haven't won a home game since November 19, 2006...they better beat the punchless "Dirty Birds" at home this week, or else...