Georgia Tech - Clemson
Colorado - Toledo
Penn State - Syracuse
Michigan - Notre Dame
Oklahoma State - Houston
Georgia - South Carolina
Ohio State - USC
Purdue - Oregon
Top performers of the week
1. Dan LeFevour - LeFevour and the Chippewas finally upset a higher ranked team. Always a scary team to play for BCS schools with LeFevour at the helm, Central Michigan has never had the impact on college football in the last couple years as yesterday beating Michigan State. In a game where LeFevour became the all time MAC total offense leader, he threw for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns. Michigan State was supposed to be one of the Big Ten's frontrunners at the beginning of the season, but how will this game affect them?
2. Case Keenum - The Houston quarterback orchestrated to upset of the week, as the Cougars beat Oklahoma State. Keenum leads one of the country's most dynamic offenses and he didn't disappoint in Houston's biggest game of the season. The junior threw for 366 yards and 3 TDs and led Houston to 21 points in the fourth quarter in the wake of an Oklahoma State comeback. Keenum looks very non-chalant in the pocket, but his efficiency and poise is incredible. With a schedule that includes Texas Tech, Mississippi State, and Tulsa, Houston could make a run at the BCS if they could win all of them.
3. Tate Forcier - The true freshman burst onto the scene last week, but this week's game against Notre Dame was a true test of his composure. Forcier didn't disappoint and led his team down the field for the game winning touchdown. Forcier looked great under pressure notably on a play where a Notre Dame defender came running at him, Forcier ball faked and ran right past the jumping pursuer. Forcier could be the catalyst to a shocking season for the Wolverines. As the rest of Big Ten struggles, look for Michigan to make a run.
4. Brandon Boykin - Boykin was a major factor in Georgia's win over South Carolina. Boykin picked off Garcia, but Boykin's defining moment was when he returned the kickoff after South Carolina's opening touchdown. It looked like Carolina was going to have the momentum and the Georgia fans were silent. Boykin preceded to run 100 yards back in Georgia's longest kickoff return ever and the stadium was re-energized.
5. Joe McKnight - This isn't for McKnight's performance the whole game, but rather for the clutch performance he had on the last drive for the Trojans. McKnight had 31 rushing yards and a 22 yard reception alone on the final, defining drive for USC. Down by 5 and in need of a touchdown, McKnight finally became the Joe McKnight everyone has been waiting for. He transformed into a true game changer and led USC to victory.
Best Performance in a loss - Ross Homan
The junior backer for Ohio State accumulated 9 tackles and an interception in the losing effort. The entire Ohio State defense should get this award. If you take away the final drive, the defense basically gave up a field goal. The first touchdown should be credited to Terrelle Pryor, not the defense. Having to defend a team starting inside the 5 isn't fair and the defense actually took the Trojans to fourth down and they barely scored on fourth.
Surprises
1. The performance of big schools against smaller schools
It seems this year like the big boys are having a tougher time with the non-BCS schools. Oklahoma State and Michigan State were both upset this week by smaller schools with very good quarterbacks. The more surprising part has been the struggle in the first half for the BCS schools. Last week Ole Miss struggled mightily with Memphis in the first half before pulling away and this week Texas was getting outplayed by Wyoming in the first half. The offenses just haven't been clicking like expected yet.
2. Michigan
A lot of people thought Notre Dame was going to have "that year" this year and they very well might thanks to a great quarterback and wide receiver situation in Clausen, Tate, and Floyd, but it may be Michigan who has the huge year. Rodriguez scored big time with the arrival of Forcier and Robinson, and the quarterback situation is miles ahead of where it was last season. Brandon Minor is back and running hard at back and the defense looks better, although the secondary struggled to contain Floyd and Tate. Michigan may not win the Big Ten this year, but they will have an impact on the race for the title.
3. The points put up in the Georgia - South Carolina game
Georgia and South Carolina are traditionally known for playing tight games and they definitely didn't disappoint with Garcia missing Maddox being open on the last Gamecock play dictating the final score, but the amount of points put up in the game was incredible. Georgia held an explosive Oklahoma State offense to 24 points last week and South Carolina holding Russell Wilson to just 3 points last week (NC State put up 65 this week). The point explosion was helped by the kick return fireworks, but the offenses still contributed to it. Should be interesting to see how both teams can play if they can play both offense and defense on any given night.
Disappointments
1. LSU
I'll admit I didn't see the Vanderbilt game but only 23-9? LSU looked sloppy against Washington last week and I would have assumed coming home after the embarassingly uninspired performance they would have put up some points against an average at best Vanderbilt team. The SEC West was supposed to be great but Alabama struggled with Florida International for the most part of the day, Mississippi looked weak against Memphis in their only game to date, and LSU has looked less than stellar. It just appears more and more to be Florida's conference.
2. Missouri
Yes, Missouri won. However, after that great performance last week against Illinois and looking like they were going to be a contender for the Big 12 North title, they come out very flat against Bowling Green and have to make a comeback just to win the game. Kansas and Nebraska both won comfortably but Missouri still could take the division crown if they can recover from this less than stellar performance. Blaine Gabbert didn't put up the numbers he did in the first week and it should be interesting what offense shows up next week for Mizzou.
Final Thoughts
This was a tough week for the Top 10. Alabama, Texas, and Penn State all played less than stellar in their victories, although it might not show in the final scores. Oklahoma State didn't fair as well and lost to an underrated Houston team. There were some very entertaining games this week. Georgia-South Carolina, USC-Ohio State, Michigan State-Central Michigan, Purdue-Oregon, and Clemson-Georgia Tech were just some of the games that came down to the wire and were great from a fan's view. Several teams in the top 10 have yet to find their rhythm and if they don't find it before conference play, look for the Top 25 to be flipped upside down. USC wins another game over the Big Ten, but the Big Ten looked much better overall in non-conference marquee matchups this week. Purdue played much better than one could have expected against Oregon, Michigan beat Notre Dame, and Ohio State beat USC for the better part of the game.
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