After a dominant victory over Virginia , USC has claimed the top spot in The Associated Press Top 25 Poll.

While former No. 1 Georgia opened its season with a glorified scrimmage against an FCS team (Formerly Div 1-AA) USC took a long trip across the country and battled it out against a BCS conference team coming away with a decisive 52-7 victory and staking their claim as a force to be reckoned with this coming season.

USC moves to No.1 In AP Poll

The move to No. 1 dropped Georgia and Ohio State the preseason No. 1 and 2 to second and third respectively.

The voting was extremely close with USC receiving 21 first place votes and 1,539 points. Georgia received 20 first place votes  and 1,506 points. Ohio state pulled in 15 first place votes and 1,497 points.

Ohio State opened its season with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State, while Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21.

It is very early in the season and polls don’t mean much after the first game…that is  unless you’re being moved out of or into the top 25. That was the case for a number of teams who had some dissapointing season openeres or some unexpeted victories.

Perhaps one of the most dissapointing performances came from Pittsburgh who entered the season at No. 25 in the AP poll and were expected to be a major player in the Big East Conference. Pitt lost its opening game to an unheraled Bowling Green team and were knocked out of the Top 25 when thte new poll came out Tuesday.

Clemson is another team that took a huge hit after their troubling loss to Alabama last week. The Tigers were dropped out of the Top 25 after being ranked ninth the opening week. Clemson was handled by Alabama 34-10  which jumped up 11 spots after its victory to claim the 13th spot.

Also falling out due to opening week loses were Virginia Tech and Tennessee. Tennessee lost a heart breaker to UCLA in overtime after tying the game on a 47 yard field goal at the end of regulation.  Virginia Tech dropped its opener to East Carolina 27-22.

There are a few teams out there that have to be excited about the new poll having jumped into the Top 25 for the first time this season. Among them are No. 21 Fresno State who defeated Rutgers in their opening game, No. 22 Utah,  No. 23 UCLA, and No. 24 South Carolina.

This marks the first time that a preseason No. 1 lost its spot in the opening week since Florida in 2001. The gators defeated Marshall 49-14, but No. 2 Miami beat Penn State 33-7 and secured the No. 1 spot.

2008 marks the 10^th season of Greg Toal’s tenure as the head coach of Don Bosco Prep Ironmen. In the previous nine seasons Coach Toal has compiled an astounding record of 95 wins and only 9 losses. The Ironmen have played in eight of the last nine state championships games, winning four titles in the last six seasons. Under the direction of Coach Toal the Ironmen have finished four of the last six seasons ranked in the Top 10 in the nation in either USA Today or MaxPreps. The 2003 team finished #2 in the USA Today national poll and was named the greatest Team in history of New Jersey high school football by Star-Ledger. The 2007 squad finished #3 in the nation in MaxPreps.

When Coach Toal came to Don Bosco Prep prior to the 1999 season he brought with him an impressive record of 128-26-2. He had won 7 state championships prior to his tenure at Don Bosco, 5 at Hackensack and 2 at River Dell. He also won a state championship as an assistant coach at Ramapo High School while coaching his son Greg in 1997 & 1998. While at Hackensack High School Coach Toal won 5 consecutive state titles from 1992 – 1996. While Head Coach at River Dell, Coach Toal’s Hawks won 48 consecutive regular season games and 2 state titles.

Coach Toal enters his 28^th season as a head coach as one of the most successful coaches in New Jersey history. He has amassed a career record of 223-35-2. He has won countless coaching awards for his accomplishments on the gridiron. Following the 2003 season Coach Toal was named National Coach of the Year by the United State Army. He was honored at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl following the 2003 season. In 2007 Coach Toal was named the Head Coach of the East team at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

In his playing days Coach Toal was a stand-out running back and linebacker at Hasbrouck Heights High School and is a member of the Aviators Hall of Fame. Following his stellar high school career, he went on to play fullback at Virginia Tech University. Coach Toal was named captain of the Hokies for the 1974 season.

Coach Toal is supported by his wife Susan and three sons Mike, Greg, and Brian. Coach Toal was fortunate enough to coach all three of his sons as high school players. All three boys went on to be Div. 1 scholarship players after tremendous high school careers. Brian is 2004 graduate of Don Bosco Prep and is currently completing his career at Boston College. Coach Toal is also the proud grandfather of Kylie, daughter of Greg and Emily, who are expecting another baby girl this year.