Ten thoughts from the weekend

1. File Saturday away for the time in November and December when the anti-playoff folks start to tell us about the "sanctity" of the regular season.

I watched most of three great games: Mississippi State-Auburn, South Carolina-Georgia, and Notre Dame-Michigan. Gonna go out on a limb here and say none of these six teams will be in the BCS title game, and BCS implications were minimal in these three spectacular dramas.

They try to tell us that no regular-season games will matter for teams that are eliminated from an eight-team playoff, but Saturday showed us there can be compelling, transfixing theater without any strings attached.

2. A brief detour to the NFL for a moment. Cam Newton ... wow.

Gotta say all the folks who thought the guy was going to be a bust in the NFL (including yours truly) looked like certified dummies yesterday during Newton's debut.

Yeah, it was Arizona. It's one game. And oh yeah, it was a loss. But Newton's accuracy and poise in the pocket were stunningly impressive.

Loved the guy at Auburn, but I didn't think he could sit in the pocket and fire the throws he was firing in Sunday's loss. Kid was placing the ball like a seasoned veteran.

Haven't watched the NFL regularly in a while, but now I'll make a point to watch this kid as he goes through his rookie season.

3. Speaking of Newton, he's one of two quarterbacks in the Tarheel State who are facing a world of pressure this season. Mike Glennon is the other after Tom O'Brien's decision to let Russell Wilson go his merry way.

The better Wilson does at Wisconsin -- and he was doing quite well at last check -- the worse O'Brien looks for not doing more to keep him. Glennon is really under a microscope as fans and media issue weekly referendums on O'Brien's decisions.

4. Speaking of Wilson, O'Brien might not be the only one who ends up getting heat for not thinking more of the kid's talents. Steve Spurrier apparently passed on bringing him to Columbia, and Stephen Garcia's showing Saturday in Athens didn't exactly engender confidence that he's going to lead the Gamecocks to a BCS title.

Garcia is quite valuable when he's on, and he made some nice throws and runs in the win over Georgia. But a staggering number of his throws were awful, and you have to think that'll end up costing the Gamecocks a game they shouldn't lose.

5. Wake Forest is going to be significantly improved this season if the Deacons can stay healthy. They still don't have a lot of horses, but Tanner Price is a legit quarterback who can make a lot of throws.

And he actually has a few nice pieces in Josh Harris, Chris Givens and Michael Campanaro.

Can the defense stop anyone, though?

6. When Bud Foster's defense is down, it doesn't stay down long. Virginia Tech won an ACC title last year, but 2010 was embarrassing for Foster because his defense was an absolute sieve against the run.

Saturday, the Hokies went to East Carolina and held the Pirates to 112 total yards. That's strong.

7. Don't want to overreact just two weeks into the season, but Boston College is the early pick for the Atlantic Division cellar. The Eagles' ACC schedule is more difficult this year, and they haven't looked good at all in losses to Northwestern and Central Florida.

In Saturday's 30-3 defeat in Orlando, they had 141 total yards and seven first downs. Yuck.

8. Puzzled by Al Golden's decision to give Jacory Harris his starting job back. Stephen Morris threw the pick-6 late against Maryland, but other than that his body of work looked pretty darn good.

Harris certainly isn't bad, but he hasn't shown much consistency the past two years. Morrish has a bigger arm and seems to play with a bigger edge. He's the better quarterback.

9. Doesn't matter what offense Michigan runs -- Denard Robinson is flat-out fun to watch.

One thing that might get overshadowed by his dazzling moves is a strong arm. He can be a good quarterback in a drop-back system, a la Wilson, because he can throw downfield.

Has to improve his decision-making, though. Way too many balls thrown into double coverage downfield.

10. Someone please tell me the point of ESPN and others doing bowl projections two weeks into the season.

Surely they don't compose these things because of news value. It has to be because of the large numbers of Internet hits they get, and that doesn't say much for the intelligence of fans.

LW