Week 6 Thoughts

College football is finally starting to gain some stability and staying power this week. There were not any monumental upsets and the one that "shocked" some people was one I have been waiting for all season: Arkansas over Auburn. Auburn has the opportune SEC schedule, one that looks no worse than, gasp, a Big Ten schedule. Arkansas plays the tougher schedule, but was clearly the better team led by Ryan Mallett and one of the most underrated offenses in the country. This week saw several top 10 teams take the week off and the other teams in the top 10 did fairly well and there were not too many scary moments for the teams at the top. Florida had the big win of the week by beating LSU, but as I have been saying LSU is vastly overrated and it just goes to show Florida is not the team everyone expected at the beginning of the season. Do not get me wrong, Florida very well could go undefeated and win the National Championship (I say they lose to Alabama in the SEC Championship), but they are no where near the caliber of 2005 Texas and USC and other recent teams that went down as some of the best. Pollsters still voting Florida number 1 have Tebow-syndrome, Alabama is clearly playing the best football in the country. The team possibly playing the second best is the team Alabama beat to open the season. Iowa and Kansas maintained their perfect seasons this week, but both showed me that their time is limited.

Five Stars of the Week
1. Jonathan Crompton
You got to hand it to the guy. There is no one in college football the past two years taking as much heat as Crompton has. Even when he has one good play, people are already anticipating how he'll mess up the next one. This week Tennessee had Georgia. Now Georgia is not the same Georgia people are accustomed to, but they are still a decent team and were the lone team to knock off South Carolina, a task Ole Miss could not accomplish. The game was expected to be close because of both team's defenses. Most people would assume Tennessee giving up 19 points would be an automatic loss, but credit Kiffin for sticking with the senior this season despite opposition. Crompton was very efficient at 20-27 for 310 yards and threw for four touchdowns. Georgia's defense has not lived up to expectations, but I promise you they are not that bad. Credit the Tennessee quarterback.

2. Mark Ingram
Ingram continues to come up big for Alabama. Glen Coffee leaving has not done anything to the Alabama run game except possibly upgrading it. That is not because Coffee was not a very good back himself, it's just it gives an experienced Ingram to run the ball more and Trent Richardson a chance to play too. Mississippi has a strong defensive front and were doing a good job of getting pressure of McElroy. With McElroy not playing his best, Ingram took control of the game rushing for 172 yards on 28 carries, scoring along the way and adding 16 receiving yards. Richardson added 40 yards behind him too. With Alabama playing the best football in the country right now, Ingram could find himself rejoining the Heisman race soon and being there until the end.

3. Ross Homan
Granted, Homan was not part of the 14 defensive points Ohio State put on the board from pick 6's, but he was by far the best player on the field Saturday. Homan had 15 tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble as he roamed the field for the Buckeyes. It seemed like every play Homan was in on the tackle. The most impressive part of the entire Buckeye defense's play was the fact they did not get any time to rest. They scored 3 non-offensive touchdowns and at one point played about the first 12 minutes of the 3rd quarter without a break and without breaking down. Defense won Ohio State the football game and is the reason Ohio State is in the driver's seat to win the Big Ten. Homan was the lead man Saturday stopping a John Clay that went off on Minnesota the previous week and holding him to just 59 yards on 20 carries or less than 3 ypc.

4. Thaddeus Lewis
NC State has had a very up and down year to this point, but despite the wins and losses the problem has been the consistency of the offense. Blame this game on the defense and the fact Thaddeus Lewis did not get the message. The Duke quarterback shocked the Wolfpack, throwing for 459 yards, 5 touchdown passes, 1 touchdown run, and 0 interceptions to lead a disrespected Duke offense up and down the field. Duke is a different team under Cutliffe and give him a couple years to get his own recruits and Duke could start making noise in the ACC. They are at .500 6 games into the season and almost shocked Virginia Tech recently, an abrupt change from the Duke football tradition, or lack there of. If Lewis can play half as well as he played here, Duke will win a few more games this season and possibly go to a bowl game. Maryland, Wake Forest, and Virginia are all winnable games for the Blue Devils.

5. Steven Sheffield
Yes, there were probably more important performances this week than Lewis and Sheffield. Yes, Sheffield was playing a less than stellar defense and playing in a very good offensive system. However, both performances were impressive despite the situation, both in conference games and not against some lower level team. Sheffield replaced an injured Taylor Potts and looked flawless leading the Texas Tech offense to a devastating win over Kansas State. Despite an interception, Sheffield threw for 490 yards and 7 touchdowns. He also added 19 yards on the ground. Many fans like what they're seeing from Sheffield and some want him to take Potts place even when Potts is healthy again. Graham Harrell may be gone, but Texas Tech is showing the system never dies with quarterback changes. The tradition continues.

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