Week 8 Thoughts

The week started with a bang as North Carolina was dominating Florida State. Problem for North Carolina was there was too much time left on the clock and Florida State came storming back for the win. Pittsburgh continued the excitement early Saturday making a statement by destroying South Florida. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are the frontrunners in the Big East with West Virginia the darkhorse. Georgia Tech showed they are going to make a run at the ACC Championship, while the Big 12 North continued to look pathetic with Nebraska turning the ball over 8 times in an ugly loss. Penn State and Oklahoma steamrolled Michigan and Kansas. But it was the close games in the SEC that set the mark for the day. Alabama needed a blocked field goal to defeat Tennessee as their offense continues to sputter and Florida held on to defeat a Mississippi State team that wouldn't quit. USC had to fight for their lives against Oregon State, as Taylor Mays delivered what might go down as the hit of the year (although it was illegal). Nevada and Idaho provided the fireworks for the week playing a 70-45 game, but the game of the week had to be Michigan State-Iowa. In a defensive grudge match, Michigan State broke it open with a hook and ladder and scored with time for one final Iowa push. With how the game was going it looked over, but Ricky Stanzi and Iowa seem possesed this year and Stanzi led his troops to down the field to position themselves for one play at the endzone. Stanzi threw a perfect pass on the slant route and Iowa won as time expired. The National Title race would be a disaster if Iowa, an SEC team, and Texas win out, but right now I just don't see that happening.

Players of the Week
1. Terrence Cody
I'm only stating the obvious here. Cody might have performed the most memorable play of the season to date (unless you consider Ricky Stanzi's throw the best). The monster in the middle blocked Tennesee's game winning field goal try, but he didn't do this just once but twice considering he had blocked another kick earlier in the quarter. Cody preserved Alabama's undefeated and moved them one step closer to the SEC Championship game, which with a win could propel them to the National Championship game. In a game where the offense sputtered, McElroy had 120, Ingram was under 100, and Richardson did nothing to spell him, Alabama's defense won the game. They gave Crompton over 250 yards through the air but they didn't break and won the game.

2. Allen Bradford
No it's not Stafon Johnson or Joe McKnight, it's Bradford who carried the load for the Trojans this week. Without Bradford's breakout performance, USC could have 2 losses right now. Bradford had 147 on the ground with over 9 yards a carry. Bradford's touchdowns were clutch and allowed USC to hold to beat the resilient Beavers from Oregon State. USC's offense has stepped it up, as it is clear the defense isn't close to the defense of last season. Last year the strength was in the linebackers, but this year it is in the secondary, which caused problems playing Quizz Rodgers. The defense gave up 36 points, but it doesn't matter since Bradford and company put up 42. The only problem USC has in the backfield is getting everyone enough carries and letting the backs get into a groove.

3. Colt McCoy
Right when McCoy has been officially eliminated from everyone's Heisman list, he pops right back up. McCoy looked like the McCoy of old against the Sean Weatherspoon led Missouri defense slicing them up for 269 yards on 26-31 throwing. Whittaker led Texas with only 36 yards on the ground, but that was a result of what McCoy was accomplishing through the air. If Texas wants to win a National Championship, they'll have to become more multi-faceted. With their air game looking improved and McCoy and Shipley always being threats, look for the pressure to be on the backs especially with defenses keying on the pass in the coming weeks. McCoy isn't at the top of Heisman lists, but with an open race he could rise faster than most would think.

4. Colin Kaepernick
I really thought Nevada was going to be a better team this season than how they have played this far. They finally stepped it up this week though. Idaho became bowl eligible for the first time in years last week, but the Nevada offense just ran circles around their defense. Kaepernick had an okay 178 yards through the air with 2 touchdowns, but it was his work in the ground game that turned the rout on. On just 15 carries, Kaepernick sliced his way to 230 yards and 4 touchdowns against a team that thought they were one of the season's surprises. If Nevada can keep up this offensive play and improve their defense look out Boise State. This could be Boise State's last challenge.

5. CJ Spiller
Big time players play their best in big time games. I haven't been on the Spiller bandwagon at all this season, but he deserves his props this week against Miami. I've never considered Spiller a very good running back and still don't to a degree, but he is great out of the backfield and a tremendous returner. Spiller only had 81 on the ground but he had 6 catches for over 100 yards and a touchdown in the receiving game. His most important play was his kickoff return for a touchdown. Clemson had to play this game in Miami and easily could have gotten rattled by a Miami score, but Clemson held strong, did what they had to do and won the game in overtime capitalizing on Miami's mistakes. If Clemson can win some more games, which they are capable of, they can make the ACC Championship game and Spiller will get his votes.

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