OSU 22, NCSU 14 and other matters...

There wasn't much in the way of offense on Saturday, but I'm sure the Buckeyes didn't mind. After all, they've got the best place kicker in college football, and with the way we were playing, they didn't need any offensive TDs.

I thought Jay Davis looked fine until his first interception, at which point he seemed to become a mental case. The pick wasn't even entirely his fault--the pass may not have been the best decision, but Lamart Barrett fell down and made the interception easy for the OSU cornerback. From that point on, Davis rushed his throws, didn't set his feet, and generally made poor decisions. Perhaps the shock of starting the second game of his career against the Buckeyes freaked him out; I don't know. He didn't much look like a junior who has been in the offense for three years, that's for sure. He'll get better, and he is the only option at QB for us.

It should be apparent to all of the people who want Davis benched that Stone isn't ready to start yet--he ran an extremely limited package against Richmond and his series against the Buckeyes didn't have him take risks then, either. The coaches obviously don't feel confident putting the ball in the air with Stone in the game, and that should tell the fans all they need to know.

You may be disappointed in how Davis played, but he is the best quarterback on the team, and we will have to live with his growing pains. Bottom line. Davis gives us our best chance to win.

Kudos to OSU for being, if nothing else, opportunistic. They are boring as hell, but they manage to play mistake-free football. I wish we could do that.

Also, I've got to mention Jason Campbell...

I didn't see the LSU/Auburn game, as it kicked off at the same time as the OSU/NCSU game, but I did see the box score, and it would seem that Campbell played pretty well. He didn't make any big errors and Auburn pulled off the upset. Credit to him and the (Auburn) Tigers ... I didn't think they were good enough to beat LSU.

I still don't know if they are legitimate contenders in the SEC, though they are in good shape in the SEC West. Ole Miss looks like it has regressed drastically in the wake of Manning's departure. Queue the guys at FireDavidCutcliffe.com! Arkansas is solid but not great, same for Alabama (and Auburn has their number of late), and Mississippi State, well ... they lost to bloody Maine this week. Paul Kariya netted a late goal to put the Black Bears on top for good.