All of the unbeaten teams stayed unbeaten this past Saturday. Alabama and Notre Dame were taken to the absolute limit by LSU and Pitt, but used skill and in the Fighting Irish case a little luck to keep their perfection intact. LSU seemed to have Alabama’s offense on the ropes in the 2nd half, but AJ McCarron and the Tide Offense drove almost the length of the field in 90 seconds to keep their record unblemished. Notre Dame was taken to the brink by a scrappy Pittsburgh team, but a missed field goal in OT kept the Fighting Irish in the national title hunt.
Kansas State can no longer be overlooked as a national title contender. What was impressive about their win against Oklahoma St. was they didn’t have their Heisman contender, QB Collin Klein for the bulk of the 4th quarter as he suffered a wrist injury. Oregon used its high flying offense to knock off Pac-12 rival USC in Los Angeles. The Ducks offense was so potent against the Trojans, that they didn’t have to punt until the fourth quarter. It’s also time to take notice to the Louisville Cardinals football team, who are 9-0 after dominating Temple 45-17 last Saturday.
Let’s do a hypothetical final four of football teams using the BCS standings. Alabama would face off against Notre Dame and Oregon and Kansas State would play each other. I could see Notre Dame’s defense giving the Bama offense a real tough time but with Alabama winning on shear talent at the end. Kansas State and Oregon would be an epic shootout, but I’d give the nudge to K-State and their better defense.
How much fun would that be to watch? It could very well end up K-State and Alabama in the national title game but with four really great teams this year it’s a shame the playoff system isn’t in place yet.
BMOC: Kenjon Barner (RB, Oregon)
Who says you can’t go home? Barner hails from Riverside, CA and had dozens of friends and family in the stands at the LA Coliseum Saturday night to watch the Ducks play the Trojans. He put on a show, rushing for a school record 321 yards and five touchdowns as he put the Ducks on his back in defeating USC 62-51. Oregon’s 730 yards and 62 points they put up on Saturday were the most ever given up by the Trojans football team in their long history. Oregon looks to continue it’s golden state domination when it travels to Berkeley to face off against the Cal Golden Bears Saturday.
They gave HIM a schloarship?: Kevin Harper (K, Pittsburgh)
Pitt put up a great fight against Notre Dame, and should treat the game as a moral victory that will do nothing but help the program in the near future. However, the opportunity was there for the major upset, and Pitt had Notre Dame dead to rights when it lined up for a 33-yard chip shot to win the game. Somehow Pitt’s kicker, Kevin Harper, kicked the ball wide right and gave the Golden Domers the opportunity to win. Perhaps it was fate, but the kicker has one job to do and when there is a program defining win at stake, he has to make that kick. Pitt travels to Big East rival UConn for a Friday Night showdown. I hope Harper has a chance to redeem himself.
Project Runway NCAA: Houston Cougars
The Houston Cougars are known for quarterbacks that produce huge numbers in college (Case Keenum, Andre Ware, David Klingler…) but college success doesn’t exactly transfer to the NFL. The Cougars will be wearing their throwback uniforms this weekend at home against Tulsa for homecoming. The game uniforms will then be auctioned off for the alumni fund. There’s a whole lot of change going on for the UH program. The Cougars are joining the Big East next year and are moving to new digs in 2014, a 105-million dollar, on-campus stadium. The old stadium has been kind to the Cougars this year as they’ve won their last three home games in it.
Small School, Big Time Numbers: Gavin McCarney (QB, Colgate)
The Colgate Raiders had a Patriot League showdown this past Saturday with the Lafayette Leopards. Colgate QB Gavin McCarney was a beast, setting school records for total offensive yards in a game (512), rushing yards by a quarterback in a game (288) and a season (1,010), and consecutive games with a TD Pass (12) in Colgate’s win over Lafayette 65-41. The Raiders had 12 offensive possessions in the game, and incredibly scored on 10 of them. The win sets up a winner take all matchup with Lehigh this Saturday, where the Patriot League Championship and the automatic playoff berth will go to the victorious team.
Thursday Night Social: Florida State at Virginia Tech, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Let’s be honest, most Thursday night games aren’t appointment television. This game just might be. The Seminoles haven’t left the state of Florida since October 6th, which was a loss at NC State. Virginia Tech has been plagued by turnovers and are having a very uncharacteristically poor season. With the loss to Miami last week, the Hokies streak of 10 win seasons ended at 8. The Hokies will attempt to right the ship in Blacksburg and keep hope of a bowl bid alive against a tough Seminoles team who crushed Duke last week 48-7. Florida State controls its own destiny in the ACC, and will try to establish the run game against the Hokies. On paper, this looks like a blowout, but Coach Beamer will have Tech ready to play at home and will give Florida State all it can handle.
Josh Adams is a contributor to FBSchedules.com. Follow him @Joshthescribe.