All Out Blitz is our contribution to the world of college football wrap-ups. This will be a recurring post focusing on the weekend of college football that was.

The first week of college football has come and gone and what did we learn? Quite a bit, actually:

If National Champions were voted after week one, USC would be first with Alabama as a close, close second. Both teams played teams from the ACC conference — Virginia and Clemson respectively — and both teams put a beating on their opponents.

Mark Sanchez Arrives
USC whacked the Cavaliers in a such dominant fashion, some are already looking ahead to the BCS Championship. Is this a little premature? Probably but if USC continues to play that way on offense, coupled with their NFL-like speed on defense, they’ll be really hard to keep out of Miami. Another area of interest concerning USC has to do with quarterback Mark Sanchez.

After his brilliant performance against Virginia — 26-35 for 338 yards and three touchdowns and a “not his fault” interception — the “Leinart or Sanchez” discussions are already heating up. Based on my limited expertise, it certainly looks like Sanchez has the better skill-set than the Heisman-winning Leinart but he has a long way to go before he’s considered “better.” Remember, he has to at least win a National Championship before he can overtake Leinart.

Next up for USC is the much-anticipated battle with Ohio State, which takes place a week from Saturday.

Tide Rolls
After all that happened this weekend, if USC is number one, Alabama is a close second. Now, this will probably change as the season progresses, but after the first week and because you are only as good as your last game, Nick Saban’s Tide has to be considered one of the top teams. Their destruction of Clemson was so thorough — and surprising — Bama should vault into the top ten after starting the season ranked 24th.

Who says true freshmen need to be redshirted?

Special Teams Irony
Isn’t it ironic to watch Virginia Tech, a team noted for its sound special teams play, get beat on a special teams error? I wonder if Frank Beamer enjoyed the irony as much as I did. It’s doubtful, but you never know.

Tennessee Disappoints the SEC
Tennessee’s season got off to a rough start against UCLA. After a dominant, defensive first half that saw the Vols intercept UCLA quarterback Kevin Craft four times, giving them a 14-7 edge going into the second half, the Vols apparently left their defense in the locker room when the second half started.

In the second half, Craft was as great as he was horrific in the first, throwing for almost 200 yards and a touchdown. He also threw zero interceptions in the second as UCLA shocked Tennessee in overtime. If you think “shocked” is a little over-the-top, description-wise, be sure and read the reaction of Volunteers fan. If the vomiting doesn’t translate to shock, nothing will.

In other news, LSU avoided the Appalachian State pitfall; Kentucky’s defense outscored Louisville’s offense in a game no one thought UK would win, making your author very happy indeed; and Rich Rodriguez started his Michigan tenure with a loss. Missing out on Terrell Pryor is going to haunt him until he gets a quarterback capable of running his spread offense.

Too bad Pat White is in Morgantown West Virginia tearing new holes into his opponents.

The Intentional Foul top five*:

1. USC
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. West Virginia
5. LSU

*This is not based on preseason hype. It’s based on who looked the best during the weekend and accumulates from there. Yes, Bama started the season ranked 24th in the ESPN poll, but if they didn’t look like the second best team in the country as they dismantled Clemson, you weren’t watching close enough. However, if they look bad against Tulane, they will drop out, just like any other team in the IF top five.

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, All Out Blitz, Intentional Foul Top Five, Kentucky Wildcats, Mark Sanchez, Nick Saban, Pat White, Phil Fulmer, Tennessee Volunteers, UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans, West Virginia

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