The Good
Stanford: The Cardinal are a legit national title contender and their thrashing of Washington proved it. Everyone thought this was a Luck-centric team, but Stepfan Taylor and Tyler Gaffney both had over 100 yards rushing and the team had over 400 yards rushing overall. The offensive line had its way with the Colorado defense and was a huge reason for the success of the running game. If Stanford can win out, they have a good chance to be in the national title picture.
Wake Forest: The Deacs were expected to compete for ACC cellar dweller status, but a 4-1 ACC record has them chasing Clemson in the Atlantic division. Their only loss came to Virginia Tech and if they can keep this up, their Nov 12th game against Clemson could conceivably determine the division. This is what makes college football so great, unexpected teams coming from out of nowhere to shake up the predicted course of events.
The Bad
The Big Ten: Wisconsin was the conference’s best hope to be in the BCS title game, but their loss to Michigan State pretty much erases that possibility, as well as Russell Wilson’s Heisman bid. They haven’t been to a national title game since 2007, nor have they won since 2002. This drought is considered by some to be a factor in conference not having as much prestige as say the SEC. Then again this kind of thing will happen with good teams beating each other.
Oklahoma: They lost a game no one expected them to lose. Texas Tech beat them on offense by gaining 572 total yards and also on defense by being just good enough to hold off Oklahoma at key moments. The loss throws up several red flags and shows that the Sooners are beatable, a massive psychological obstacle goign forward.
The Ugly
West Virginia: The fact that the Mountaineers were piling up points in every game did nothing to mask their biggest flaws. These flaws were exposed as they got whipped by Syracuse, who showcased the exact way to beat West Virginia. They got tons of pressure on QB Geno Smith and turned up the physicality in a big way. The doubters will only get louder as the team was beat in just about every way.
Georgia Tech: Is this even the same team from a few weeks ago? They started off 6-0 but have lost 2 straight not only to conference opponents but ones in their own division. In those losses they’ve had offensive troubles which is troublesome in and of itself, but their next two games are against Clemson and Virginia Tech. Both are games they will need to score alot of points of they want to win.
Awards
The ‘Charlie Weis Ate My Cheeseburger’ Award for Defense: Alabama. Yeah, yeah we all know the Tide have a monster defense, but they’ve been doing it against top teams in the SEC. The Vols are not really in that category, but they only managed 63 yards passing and 155 yards overall against ‘Bama.
The ‘Surely You Must Be Joking’ Offensive Performance Of The Week: Texas Tech QB Seth Doege. He was a big reason the Red Raiders pulled off the upset against Oklahoma. He threw for 441 yards and had 4 TD passes, picking his spots and constantly torching the Sooner defense. Other teams will use Doege’s performance as a way to prepare for Oklahoma.
The ‘These Are Not The Droids You’re Looking For’ Mystery Of The Week: Notre Dame. It looked like the Irish were turning the corner after a disastrous start to the season. However, their winning streak was snapped in an ugly loss to USC. The turnovers that did them in for their games against USF and Michigan came back in a bad way. So we’re left to wonder which team the Irish are? The one that beat Michigan State? Or the one that can’t limit turnovers and mistakes?
