Top Players
1. Mark Ingram
Alabama was a one man show Saturday night in a closer than expected game against South Carolina. McElroy and Jones struggled in the game, but Ingram picked up the slack. Ingram has not only dethroned Jahvid Best as the best running back in the country, but he has officially taken the title as the best player in the country. Ingram plays better in the bigger games and he carries his team more than I dare say Tebow and McCoy do. Tebow has running backs at his disposal and McCoy has Jordan Shipley outshining him. Ingram had 246 yards on the ground and 23 receiving, which was 23 more yards through the air than Julio Jones did. Ingram is Alabama and possibly a future National Champion.
2. Josh Nesbitt
Nesbitt hasn't had the best year at the helm for Georgia Tech throwing the ball. He threw a pick and only completed one of seven passes versus a stingy Virginia Tech defense. Problem for the Hokies was that one completion was a 51 yard play to Thomas and Nesbitt was dominant in the ground game going for 122 yards, but more importantly 3 touchdowns. In a game that Tyrod Taylor was supposed to be the better mobile back and Ryan Williams was a Heisman candidate, it was Nesbitt who looked the best on the ground. Scoring 28 points on a Hokie defense and even more so considering the time consuming offense Georgia Tech runs.
3. Matt Barkley
Barkley has a very similar background to his counterpart from Saturday, Jimmy Clausen. Barkley's future may have been predicted as brighter before the game, but it was Clausen that was getting the Heisman attention. Barkley came out of the game champion in two regards. First, the freshman guided his team to victory, the most important part to either quarterback. Second, it was Barkley and not Clausen who dominated the statline. Barkley threw for a smooth 380 yards to go along with his 2 touchdowns. No one will mention that Notre Dame's pass defense sucks, but I'll give Barkley the credit just for the situation and how he handled it.
4. AJ Wallace
I'm not usually one to be a homer and put Penn State players up here, but Wallace deserves the mention. Wallace didn't dominate a stat book with his 4 tackles, but it's what he doesn't get credit for in the statbook. First, one his tackles had major meaning. He combined with Navorro Bowman on a fourth down goal line stand to beat the ball carrier to the outside and tackle him and preserve the shutout for the Nittany Lions. But the reason Wallace is on here is for what he did against Eric Decker. Decker is one of my favorite players to watch, as he can make the hard catch even when he is well defended. Well Decker didn't get much opportunity Saturday. Wallace had Decker's number and didn't allow Decker to catch a ball under his watch. Decker's only catch came on a decent enough schemed play that found both safeties misplay a interception and getting split by Decker.
5. Texas Defense
Someone had to win the Red River shootout and it was the Texas defense that stepped up to the task. The first thing they did was knock Heisman winner Sam Bradford out of the game and force Oklahoma to rely on the freshman Landry Jones. Jones had 250 yards through the air, but it did little good and he threw two picks. The impressive part of the defensive performance was Texas' stifling run defense. DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown were expected to be one of the top running duos in the country, but behind the offensive line they couldn't do anything. Brown had 23 yards, but Murray and the team's total were both negative. McCoy didn't have his best day, but the defense allowed him to still win the game.
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