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Alabama, South Carolina, Michigan and Oklahoma St. Win Key Games

'College Football Monday'
Frank Coyle's Blog Column

Marcus Lattimore Wins Offensive Player of the Week
Teammate DE Melvin Ingram Wins Defender of the Week

Photo – RB Marcus Lattimore - South Carolina

The first full schedule of the early weekend college football season is in the books as the top 25 teams begin to take shape. Early season key games saw Alabama pound Penn St. South Carolina beat Georgia and Oklahoma St blasted Arizona in pivotal matchups that will influence this week’s polls.

South Carolina won a wild 45-42 contest vs Georgia that gives the Gamecocks an early advantage in the SEC’s East Division. The loss put additional pressure on Georgia coach Mark Richt to win as the Bulldogs are off to their first 0-2 start since the 1996 season.

While top clubs Oklahoma and Boise St. sit out last weekend, highly rated clubs like LSU, Florida St, Arkansas, Florida, Stanford and Michigan St moved to 2-0 off easy blowout victories. The upcoming weekend will see more conference matchups.

In a great matchup, South Carolina beat Georgia in Athens, Ga. in a seesaw victory that gives them a 2-0 overall and a 1-0 mark in the SEC. It will move South Carolina up in the national rankings this week.

South Carolina's defense was gashed for over 400 yards and senior QB Stephen Garcia had one of the worst performances of his career. Nevertheless, the Gamecocks survived by scoring in several unconventional ways, with DE Melvin Ingram leading the way. The athletic defender scored on a 68-yard run on a fake punt in the 1st half and then returned a fumble caused when by freshman Jadeveon Clowney of Georgia QB Aaron Murray and recovered the ball for a five yard TD.

While the SC offense was inconsistent, sophomore running back Marcus Lattimore rushed 27 times for a 176 yards and a TD. Lattimore was are sleeper pick for the Heisman Trophy and has put back to back 100 rushing games. He was his best down the stretch vs Georgia when he gained 113 of those yards in the second half. The Gamecocks finished with 395 yards of total offense.

Melvin Ingram was selected as our Defensive Player of the Week and the SEC’s Special Teams Player of the Week. Ingram is an athletic 6’2” 275 lbs. defender who took a direct snap on a fake punt and rambled 68 yards for a TD that gave the Gamecocks a 14-13 lead over Georgia heading into halftime. He also caught the onside kick at the end of the game to seal the victory. On defense, Ingram recovered a fumble and ran it five yards for a TD late in the fourth quarter that put the Gamecocks up by 10 points, 45-35.

The win was big for Carolina with Georgia considered its biggest competitor in the pursuit for the SEC East Division title. The Gamecocks won the East title for the first time in 2010.

In another crazy matchup Michigan won a dramatic contest vs Notre Dame with a last second comeback. QB Denard Robinson threw a 16-yard pass to Roy Roundtree with two seconds left, lifting the Wolverines to a 35-31 win over the Irish in front of over 100,00 fans in the first night game ever played at Michigan Stadium. Robinson also threw a 21 yard TD to Vincent Smith with 1:12 left, giving Michigan its first lead.

Robinson completed 11-of-24 passes during the exciting game and threw for 338 passing yards and 4 TDs against the porous ND secondary. He was very productive on the ground, running 16 times for 108 yards and 1 TD in a terrific overall performance.

LSU has a short week to prepare for its SEC opener against Mississippi St this Thursday night in Starkville. The third-ranked Tigers turned their attention to the Bulldogs right after dispatching of Northwestern St, 49-3. The Tigers beat then-No. 3 Oregon, 40-27, in the opener and now have outscored their first two opponents by an average of 44.5 to 15.

LSU has allowed only 91 rushing yards in two games and an average of 1.7 yards per rush. In their opener vs Oregon, LSU blasted the Pac 10 power with an impressive 40-27 overall performance at Oregon. The Tigers improved their non-conference regular season winning streak to a national best 35 straight games with the win over NW St.

Alabama coach Nick Saban settled on QB AJ McCarron who went 19-for-31 for 163 yards, 1 TD and no interceptions in his first career start on the road, a 27-11 win over Penn St. The Bama defense looks dominant and sets the stage for a few great SEC matchups in the ensuing weeks.

Tennessee QB Tyler Bray threw for a career-high 405 yards, passed for 4 TDs and ran for a fifth score in the Vols 45-23 win over Cincinnati. Bray completed 34 of 41 passes as the Volunteers got their first win over a non conference BCS opponent in six tries. This is their first 2-0 start since the 2006 season.

Houston QB Case Keenum has lost anything after last year's knee injury, you wouldn't know it. He continued his assault on the NCAA record book with five TD passes as the Cougars rolled past North Texas. .

Florida International picked up a signature win and solidified its position as the Sun Belt favorite. The Panthers beat a Big East member for the first time in its short history with Friday's 24-17 victory at Louisville, and the national TV audience got a good look at what T.Y. Hilton can do with just a little room. The speedy senior had a school-record 201 receiving yards, taking a pair of first-half passes from Wes Carroll 74 and 83 yards to the house.

New Weekly Top 25 Polls Posted every Tuesday

This Saturday night's matchup of Oklahoma vs Florida St. has national implications that begins a key stretch in late September top 25 matchup games.

Frank Coyle writes ‘College Football Monday’ weekly during the season. He is a longtime scouting consultant for the Senior Bowl, the nation’s premier postseason All-star game. He is also a member of the FWAA and voter in College team and player awards - Heisman, Outland, Nagurski, Thorpe, etc. He is a voter for weekly Team and Player Awards