Ed Orgeron left USC but he got Mississippi a win, doing it impressively over one of the top rushing games in the country by holding DeAngelo Williams to only 85 yards. Urban Meyer took Florida and Chris Leak to an opening win against Wyoming, making Leak look like the quarterback everyone always expected when he played under Ron Zook. Charlie Weis won out over his old AFC East foe, besting Dave Wannstedt's Panthers, and leading Notre Dame into the AP Top 25 with an impressive offensive showing. Terry Hoeppner got Indiana a win in their first game. But the most impressive win for a new coach might have been that of Zook at Illinois over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

With his team down 17 points at the end of the third quarter, it looked like another typical game for Illinois. Instead, the team battled back scoring two touchdowns, one on the ground and one in the air, and another field goal by Jason Reda to tie the game and force overtime. Rutgers scored on its overtime possession, kicking a field goal to go up three. Illinois quarterback Tim Brasic led Illinois to the two yard line from where Pierre Thomas ran it in for the game winning score. While it may not seem like much, this overcomes some of the criticism which was laid against Zook while he was at Florida. In some of the games there, it was said that Zook's teams would quit and not fight back, especially when down by a large margin. Illinois in no way has the talent that Florida did when he was there. Despite that, Zook rallied his team and got the comeback win. He got a little help from Jeremy Ito who missed four field goals for Rutgers, but a win is a win, and Illinois is 1-0 to begin another season.

This is not to slight the absolute spanking that Notre Dame laid on Pittsburgh. Everyone expected Dave Wannstedt to bring a crushing defense back to the Panthers. With Tyler Palko running the offense, all seemed safe in western Pennsylvania. Apparently, no one counted on the Fighting Irish, and I will count myself among those. Charlie Weis did wonders with this team, turning Brady Quinn into a quarterback and and getting great rushing support from Darius Walker behind what was an undersized line. Notre Dame jumped into the AP Top 25 this week, and well deservedly so. They will still be underdogs in a number of games early on their schedule including Tennessee and Michigan this week, but maybe by not so much now. They could definitely begin 2-0 if they play the same way this week, especially after last year's win over the Wolverines.

With so many teams starting new quarterbacks this year, you knew that some teams were going to have it rough. Much has been written about the poor performance of Florida State's duo, and it is very much up for grabs who will lead the Seminoles this weak, albeit against a much weaker opponent in The Citadel. Miami's Kyle Wright has some areas for improvement but showed such promise that you know he will be leading the offense for the next few years without a problem. Other teams are not as lucky as Miami.

Oklahoma's experiment of Paul Thompson as a starter lasted all of one game, a very crushing loss to TCU. In his place, Oklahoma will try redshirt freshman Rhett Bomar, who appeared in this week's loss. Bob Stoops is determined to give Bomar a fair shot at the job and will give him more snaps in practice this week. Bomar should get a small reprieve. Tulsa, the Sooners' next opponent, will most likely not be able to stop Adrian Peterson like TCU did. Tulsa gave up 301 yards on the ground to a very Peterson-like runner, Laurence Maroney in their first game. This should open up the passing game for the Sooners and give Bomar a shot to show what he can do replacing Jason White.

While Oklahoma has two healthy quarterbacks to choose from, Cal is not so lucky in their quest to replace Aaron Rodgers. Nate Longshore met with fate in his first game for Cal, breaking his lower leg and tearing ligaments in his ankle, which will most likely cost him his season. In his place, Joe Ayoob will get his chance to shine. Ayoob threw ten passes against Sacramento State in the first game, but none of those found a home in a receiver's hands. With the running clicking behind Marshawn Lynch, they didn't need it. Their next opponent is Washington, who couldn't pull off a win against the Air Force, ruining another of my predictions from after last season. Washington should prove a tougher foe than Sacramento State, but should still be a win for the Bears. If Ayoob can connect early to his receivers, Nate Longshore won't be missed for long.

Auburn broke in a whole new backfield in their first loss in 16 games. Quarterback Brandon Cox was brilliant early on, but then the wheels fell off the War Eagle train. And when we say fell off, we mean that they fell off, rolled down the hill, somehow bounced in front of the train and caused the train to not only derail, but implode. Cox threw four interceptions in the second half and fumbled the ball away for another turnover to stop any chance of the Tigers continuing their unbeaten run. Cox didn't get help from his new running game either. Georgia Tech's defense stuffed the rushing game, allowing just 50 yards on the ground. Were it not for the interceptions, there is a chance that Auburn could have come back and won a game where they were within three entering the fourth quarter. Tommy Tuberville didn't blame his new quarterback after the game, saying that, "He looked great tonight. He had some mistakes, and some of the mistakes were not his fault." He will have to figure out how to solve the ones that were before playing Mississippi State on Saturday. Mississippi State is no Georgia Tech, but they are a conference opponent and winning every conference game is of vital importance, especially when LSU is in your division.

I am still not sold on Ohio State. They ran up 34 points on Miami(Ohio) but one of the scores came on a interception return. The Redhawks are not Texas, Ohio State's next opponent. Miami's line is not one of the top defensive groups in the league. The Miami offense can not control the ball like Texas with a punishing rushing attack and Vince Young behind center. Antonio Pittman, who did impress me with his speed, rushed for 100 yards on Saturday afternoon but will most likely not reach that mark again against the Longhorns. Without the threat of a rushing game, there is no telling what either Buckeye quarterback be able to do against the Texas defense. And there is your other problem. As of Tuesday night, the Buckeyes have no idea who will be starting against Texas. At most, they have two more hard practice days left with neither Justin Zwick nor Troy Smith getting a majority of the snaps. Yes, it makes sense to prepare both men for Texas, but without a clear cut favorite at the position, you risk having neither man as prepared as they could be. Given the strength of both defenses, this should be a low scoring affair. Given the Ohio State history in close games, they should pull it out. Despite all that, my flag is still in the Longhorns' camp.

To finish, my Top 10 for Week 1:

1. USC - Until they lose, how can you not? Plus Hawaii is marginally better than the UL-Lafayette team that Texas just rolled on.
2. Texas - If you look up stampede in the dictionary, you see a picture of what the Longhorns did to the Ragin' Cajuns defense.
3. Michigan - Pulled away in the middle of the game, never looked back. Tough test on the horizon.
4. LSU - DNP, but our hearts go out to them
5. Iowa - Destroyed a Ball State club who didn't have half its starters. Still surrendered less than 150 yards in the shutout. Rivalry game this week could trip them up.
6. Florida - The swagger is back in the swamp. Impressive performance by Leak and the Meyer offense lands them at 6. Team to beat in the East right now.
7. Virginia Tech - Struggled a little against the Wolfpack, but rarely do teams roll against NC State. Marcus Vick is his brother, and then double it.
8. Tennessee - Might have a quarterback controversy on the way. Still have too many weapons to drop from the top 10 but the schedule is brutal over the next two weeks.
9. Georgia - So that's how good DJ Shockley can be. Never would have known it when he was backing up David Greene. Outplayed the blue turf boys to the extreme on both sides of the ball.
10. Notre Dame - Yes, I can't believe I am putting them here too. But they earned it this week in a big way. Michigan and Michigan State won't be easy. Can Weis keep them winning?