The Thick of It

Mark Saturday, September 28 on the calendar, because it was a day to remember for college football. It wasn’t just about the great games last weekend; the weather, injuries, statements made and initial coaching changes of the season all combined to make one of the most exciting days the sport has seen in a while. Even though some of the expected showdowns failed to materialize into shootouts – cough, Ole Miss – Saturday still culminated with some very entertaining material. In USC’s case, this was enough to make a move that will have repercussions throughout college football.

I’ll have more on Lane Kiffin’s firing later, but the most important thing is that USC is now looking for a new coach. That might seem like an obvious point, but I really can’t overstate it enough. USC is the second-best head coaching job in America behind Texas. Only Alabama, Michigan and Notre Dame can equal the Trojans’ tradition and none can match SC’s recruiting footprint. Even more important, none of those schools has the aura of USC (Alabama is the only one that comes close): in L.A., acting as “Hollywood’s franchise”, and utterly, utterly cool.

It’s a high-profile, high-pressure job that will have no shortage of applicants. I’d be shocked if USC doesn’t offer the position to Oregon State’s Mike Riley as it did in 2010 when Pete Carroll left, though they’ll likely be rebuffed again. In any case, the man who winds up in charge of the Trojans will probably leave some other school in the lurch (if he doesn’t come from the pro ranks), which could set off a chain reaction of hirings across the country. It’s certainly going to be interesting to see what happens.

On the field, no team did more than Georgia this week (and in turn, Clemson) by defeating LSU in a classic shootout. Yes, there’s the whole “M.I.A. SEC defenses” angle, but that’s really what we’ve seen from the conference on the whole this season. No one is immune to change and it appears offenses in the South have finally caught up to the defenses. Not coincidentally, this is the finest crop of SEC quarterbacks we’ve seen in quite some time. As it turns out, having competent players behind center really does improve your offense. This is something I’ve been saying for years: despite their greatness, SEC defenses have been fortunate to face a long line of mediocre-to-abysmal passers. You CAN have this both ways and the 2013 season is proving it.

With that said, defense isn’t dead in the SEC – see Alabama 25, Ole Miss 0 – or anywhere else. The teams that play the best defense will generally have the best opportunities to win championships. I would actually argue that defense is more important than ever in this age of high-scoring offense. The AFL is an exellent example. I’ve long had a soft spot for the goofiness of Arena Football and have always half-jokingly argued that defense is more important there than any other football league.

That sounds ridiculous given that all you see from the AFL is points, but it’s a completely different game. An Arena field is half the length and width of a regular field – of course there’s going to be more scoring. Lost in all the touchdowns and craziness of the Arena game is how vital defensive stops are. Every offense expects to score every time it possesses the ball. A single stop by the defense can mean the difference between winning and losing. Regular football isn’t at that point yet, but it’s undeniably trending that way and the best NFL offenses have already changed both offensive and defensive game planning. College football has moved in that direction as well. Gone are the days when teams could run the table allowing only one or two TD’s a season. Sometimes even the best defenses get beat. It’s just a matter of finding a way to get that one stop.

Keeping defense in mind, look at what some of the highest-ranked squads did this week. ‘Bama’s shutout was impressive, sure, but so was the way Stanford and Oregon shut down WSU and Cal, respectively. The main selling point for the overmatched Cougars and Bears was their quick-strike offenses. Neither was allowed to get going by the Cardinal and Ducks’ defenses. That’s the sign of a quality team. Also, look out for Virginia Tech. The Hokies have struggled through games post-Alabama but have still managed to stay at one loss. After stuffing a good Georgia Tech offense on Thursday night, VaTech is now in the driver’s seat for the Coastal Division title.

Other things I was impressed by this week: West Virginia bouncing back from that humiliating loss to Maryland by beating the Big 12’s top team was awesome. Okie State didn’t know what hit them. Oklahoma, on the other hand, showed a whole lot of fortitude (the kind conspicuously absent in 2012) by taking down Notre Dame in South Bend. South Carolina powered through the loss of Connor Shaw and beat a quality UCF team on the road. All of these results are taken into account in my rankings.

Top 25

1) Clemson

It was very difficult to decide whether Georgia’s win over LSU or Alabama’s win over Ole Miss should count for more. I went with Georgia’s win – it gives the Bulldogs two wins over top-ten teams, more than any team in the country. Clemson beat that team. Ole Miss is good, but not as good as LSU, South Carolina or Georgia. The Tigers also did what some teams don’t – took care of business – against a bad opponent in Wake Forest. Clemson should remain the number one team for now. With Syracuse and Boston College on the schedule, though, that might change.

2) Alabama

25-0 is hard to turn down. Ole Miss clearly wasn’t ready to face the big boys. It’s for that reason I decided to keep ‘Bama second. Mustering only three first-half field goals didn’t impress me. Of course the D was great, but the Rebels aren’t exactly a point-a-minute offense. The schedule is surprisingly soft for a while, so it’s going to be hard to score points with the voters until the big game with LSU. In the meantime, the Crimson Tide need to shore up that offense. It’s hard to be afraid of a team that can’t score. All the skill talent in the world can't do anything with average blocking.

3) Oregon

The Ducks waltzed past a sloppy Cal team in the Northwest rainstorm, but a test for the secondary might have actually been more beneficial. UO was always going to beat the Bears; what we still don’t know is how the D will fare against an aggressive attack. There’s one game left (Colorado) before the first difficult matchup, at Washington. I’d say the Ducks are still out of the Huskies league, but… it’s honestly hard to tell. Fortunately, there's UW - Stanford this week to clear things up. As good as Oregon has looked, the competition hasn’t been great. That sticks in my mind.

4) Stanford

Stanford gets points for shutting down the Cougars’ aerial assault and doing so without the benefit of the weather. FSU was also a little shaky, so this week sees the Cardinal making a leap into my top five. As for Arizona State… the Sun Devils did score effortlessly on USC a week after getting shut down in Palo Alto. I still don’t think that’s a top-25 team, but it makes Stanford look better. Beating Washington this week would also do that. At home, I don’t think the Huskies have a very good shot. With a win, the Cardinal would probably jump Oregon.

5) Florida State

The Seminoles took a while to take control against Boston College. Bottom line: BC isn’t very good. FSU should be better. They’ll need to be against Maryland. It’s possible this team got caught looking ahead. Understandable, though I can’t see the Terrapins really having a shot. The ‘Noles are just too talented. However, if the defense allows another opponent to hang around, I might need to rethink that position. The BC game wasn’t close because of bad plays by Florida State, it really was competitive. The ACC has improved and FSU better be ready.

6) Georgia

UGA should move up ahead of a couple of undefeated squads. The Bulldogs have proved to be an excellent team and should not be punished for playing a tougher schedule than other powers. Even though they’re flawed, I’d take the Dawgs over Ohio State in a heartbeat. The SEC schedule now allows this team quite a lot of room to breathe. If they can take advantage of it, they’ll be back in Atlanta with a chance to get revenge on the West champion (I’ll say it: Alabama). The biggest potential pitfalls left are all weaker than the teams UGA faced in the first month.

7) Ohio State

A one-score win over a Wisconsin team I don’t deem to be top-25 material isn’t good enough. The Buckeyes had a chance to make a statement and failed. OSU was outgained and allowed a mediocre passing team to notch nearly 300 yards through the air. The return of Braxton Miller, who does seem to be healthy, is a good thing. Even as I pick OSU to blow out Northwestern this week I have questions. How good is the defense, really? Would it hold up against a team capable of both running and throwing? How good is the passing attack (ranked in the bottom third of the country)? Stanford is ranked ahead of this team in passing right now.

8) LSU

It’s hard to dock the Tigers too much for losing a back-and-forth game they easily could have had. This is the SEC and the season isn’t over by a long shot. With four ranked opponents remaining all LSU has to do is win out to play in the BCS Championship. Granted, that’s easier said than done, but you had to be impressed with the offense Saturday. It’s been years since a Tigers’ QB slung the rock like that. This squad is formidable. Even with some defensive woes (which I believed I predicted before the season) there’s no reason why LSU can’t beat A&M, beat ‘Bama and climb back into a rematch with Georgia. What a game that could be.

9) UCLA

All I have to say is, the Bruins better not stab me in the back here and lose on Thursday night at Utah. I’ve been skeptical of this team to this point because of this program’s history but I’ve decided to make a leap. UCLA undoubtedly has a better win than Louisville, now it’s a matter of proving that ranking every week. Last season the Bruins won this game by a TD; they might be better this year, but so is Utah. Even with my newfound faith, UCLA is on upset alert in Salt Lake City. The Utes are not to be taken lightly. Please don’t make me look foolish.

10) Louisville

The ‘Ville took Saturday off to prepare for… Temple. Sigh. First, the good: Louisville is eighth in scoring offense and first in scoring defense. That’s unlikely to change against the Owls. Now, the bad: the schedule. Come on! You gotta give me something, Cards. In all likelihood UL’s fate will be decided after this week, in the ensuing pair of Thursday night games with a decent Rutgers squad and a pretty good Central Florida team. That’s all the league has to offer, unfortunately. UCF could have done the Cardinals a big favor by beating South Carolina, but they didn’t. Now it’s up to the other power schools to lose and give this team an opening.

11) South Carolina

Considering the Gamecocks lost their QB to injury and completed fewer than half their passes, they have to feel pretty good about their trip to Orlando. UCF is not bad. I’ve been beating that drum for weeks. As such, it’s only fair to reward this team. I had Texas A&M higher than SC before because of the eye test – A&M just looked more impressive. But both teams have one quality loss and only Carolina can boast a decent win. The Aggies can get back to me when they beat a good team. Right now the Gamecocks deserve the spot more.

12) Texas A&M

I said the Aggies would need to win meaningful games to keep their spot, though I didn’t expect it to come to fruition quite so soon. We know what aTm is: a great offense paired with a bad defense. It’d be nice to hold Arkansas to less than 30, though. The next game (Ole Miss) will be very interesting, as the Rebels have a pretty decent D but lack the offensive firepower – you’d think – to keep up with the Aggies. However, if Ole Miss can turn it into a slugfest we might actually learn something about this team, i.e., can they win if the offense isn't clicking?

13) Oklahoma

I was close to jumping the Sooners over A&M… then I thought about that Cotton Bowl last year. No, these aren’t the same teams as they were in 2012, but a beating like that stays with you. To Bob Stoops’ credit, OU appears to have really moved on from some of the disappointments of last season, embracing the running-game-and-defense philosophy that won him his title in 2000. Now, is it dangerous to have faith in a team whose best win is over Notre Dame? You bet. Doubly so because the Big 12 has been so bad this year (and Oklahoma State’s loss didn’t help). For whatever reason, I’m buying it. “Culture change” may be too strong a term, but something feels different around this team.

14) Washington

The Huskies got the important first conference win against Arizona and have risen to 15^th in the polls. I think that’s about as good as it’s going to get this season. Unfortunately for UW, the next two weeks feature Stanford and Oregon. As improved as this team looks, I didn’t see anything in last week’s game that showed Washington is ready to unseat the kings of the Pac-12. ‘Zona isn’t good. The Wildcats’ passing game is a joke and they’re still not very good defensively, despite what the stats from the early-season cupcakes say. The Huskies snuck up on Stanford last year; they won’t do so this season with a Cardinal team looking for revenge in Palo Alto.

15) Miami (FL)

The Hurricanes can effectively remove Georgia Tech from the ACC race with a win Saturday and narrow the Coastal field down to themselves and Virginia Tech. They should be able to handle that at home. The next challenge will be Florida State, which could be a matchup of top-10 teams. It would be exciting to see that rivalry rekindled with, you know, good teams, but first the ‘Canes have to stay healthy (looking at QB Stephen Morris) between now and the start of November. Take care of the Ramblin' Wreck and then we’ll talk.

16) Florida

It wouldn’t surprise me to move Florida ahead of Miami (FL), even though the Gators lost the head-to-head. Why? Because I believe Florida will be better with Tyler Murphy than Jeff Driskel. Last week’s win over Kentucky doesn’t count for much, but everything I’ve seen from Murphy indicates that he’s already showing more potential than Driskel ever did. Running prowess is nice, but I like my QB’s with the ability to complete passes, thanks. Does that mean Murphy is going lead the Gators to an East title? I doubt it. But that was never going to happen anyway.

17) Michigan

All right, Michigan. I’ve had a week to cool off. So have you. You’ll be facing a motivated Minnesota team, coming off its first loss, in a storied rivalry game (with one of the silliest trophies in sports). You’re also at home and clearly the superior team, so try not to screw this up. The Big Ten is going to get very ugly if the Wolverines can’t win this game. Hopefully the bye was put to good use and Devin Gardner won’t be making any more appearances on the Stanzi List. But be warned: for a good, even great team, Michigan is surprisingly average statistically on both sides.

18) Nebraska

The defense isn’t good. I said it. However, the offense is. Illinois is in town this week, followed by trips to Purdue and Minnesota sandwiched around an idle date. Nebraska is better than all of those teams and should go 3-0. That would set the Cornhuskers up at 6-1 with a home game versus Northwestern – in my opinion, also inferior to Nebraska – before the Division-deciding showdown at the Big House. The ‘Huskers can make the Big Ten Championship even with this defense. There might be some shootouts along the way, but they’re more than capable.

19) Texas Tech

Kansas. Iowa State. West Virginia. Ah, to live the charmed life of Kliff Kingsbury. His Red Raiders coaching career will, in all likelihood, begin with seven straight wins. However, Texas football fans know this game and they know it will be what happens after that point that makes this season. Three ranked squads lurk on the back half of this schedule and it’s not as if Kansas State and Texas are gimmes. I like TTU, but I’m skeptical that they can keep this thing going into November. If they do, Kingsbury will be a frontrunner for Coach of the Year. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get to 7-0 first.

20) Oklahoma State

It’s probable that Oklahoma State just suffered a meltdown at the worst possible time, on the road against a team that had been embarrassed the week before and a coach that kind of knows their offense front to back. Furthering this theory is the negative turnover margin in the WVU game along with the fact that the Cowboys outgained the Mountaineers. Let’s be honest: OSU is still going to win nine or 10 games this year. However, it’s also true that this game gave critics of Okie State plenty of ammunition. They’re going to have to earn their way back into the voters’ good graces.

21) Northwestern

This is it for the Wildcats. They’ve been lauded as underrated for the better part of two years. Time to prove it against Ohio State. Northwestern gets the Buckeyes at home and is going off a bye, so anything less than a very competitive game would be an indication this team isn’t as good as its hype. I don’t think Northwestern wins this game. OSU is simply stronger across the board. If Wisconsin couldn’t run the ball on the Buckeyes, why will the Wildcats fare better? I was surprised at how the Badgers played last week, but that team is probably superior to this Northwestern squad.

22) Maryland

Just to get it out of the way: no, I don’t expect Maryland to beat Florida State this week. I’m not even expecting the game to be particularly close (though FSU’s close win over Boston College gave some reason to pause). However, Maryland has looked good this season and will make another appearance in the top 25 after probably tumbling out after Saturday. Last year the Terps burned through five QB’s thanks to a rash of injuries and stumbled to a painful 4-8 record. This year C.J. Brown is back, completing two-thirds of his throws with a 7:1 TD-INT ratio and the team is 4-0. Injury luck is important, folks.

23) Virginia Tech

I contemplated moving the Hokies ahead of conference foe Maryland, but if I’m right Saturday’s result with FSU should do that for me. VaTech is another squad we pretty much have figured out after a month: they’ll struggle to move the ball, but their defense will stifle most opposing offenses. Logan Thomas is never going to be an NFL QB, but his size and mobility can more or less get the job done against the majority of Tech’s schedule. The Coastal Division, once considered wide open, is close to becoming a two-team race. Will old Big East rival Miami (FL) knock off the Hokies? I don’t think North Carolina still has a shot.

24) Fresno State

For the third time this season the Bulldogs built a double-digit lead and watched a team scythe through their atrocious defense to make things interesting. They did well to make sure it didn’t cost them against Boise State; last week versus Hawai’i was another story. The Rainbow Warriors should not have been able to chop a 42-3 deficit down to five in less than a quarter of football. I nearly had to make the entire Fresno team eligible for an unprecedented collective Stanzi. The D is what’s probably going to keep these guys from rising any higher.

25) UCF

South Carolina deserves points for beating UCF, who isn’t bad by any definition. It’s baffling that this team could lose by three to the Gamecocks and tumble almost entirely out of the rankings (in terms of “others receiving votes). That was a competitive game! Central Florida could have won! The Knights aren’t done, not in the American. The top half of the league is decent while the bottom half is terrible. That means UCF is destined for at least another five wins. The one that really matters, though, is next Friday at Louisville. Buckle up.

Pac-12 Report

Stanford’s throttling of WSU was the most impressive win Saturday. Oregon State’s swatting of Colorado was the most important one. I expected the Cardinal to win (although a lot closer). I expected OSU to struggle. They didn’t. Now, I know it was Colorado, but… I can’t shake the feeling that we’ve seen this before. The Beavers get off to an ugly start. They win games they should lose against bad teams. They drop at least one game in embarrassing fashion. Yet despite all that, this team has managed to get to 4-1 and 2-0 to lead the conference with Stanford. Classic Beavs, classic Mike Riley.

To be clear, it’s not as if OSU is suddenly elite. Even in their best years the Beavers have been outclassed by Oregon and Stanford. But the next two games are WSU and Cal and it’s hard to see them dropping either of those. As for the Cougars, well, it was fun while it lasted. Wazzu is no doubt improved, but it might not make a difference in what’s shaping up to be a nasty North Division. Cal is in somewhat the same position – though you can throw out the horrendous game the Bears played in Eugene – of having to play catch-up to division rivals who have gotten better, faster.

There’s not much to be said about the Oregon – Cal matchup I didn’t cover earlier. It would have been nice to see UO tested, but the weather and the Bears’ ineptitude didn’t allow it. The game was over within five minutes, which sounds like a weak complaint but could have relevance later in the season. I need to see an opponent play its “A” game against Oregon. I need to see how the Ducks respond. Call me crazy, but I don’t think Colorado provides that this week. Washington will be a different story.

The Huskies prevailed in similar conditions as Oregon: hard, driving wind and a torrential downpour. It’s tough to know what to make of the game with Arizona because of the weather, but I’ll admit I was hoping to see a little more from Washington. It became clear very early ‘Zona didn’t have a chance. While the score never got out of hand, UW was never going to lose. In that storm, it’s possible the Huskies just tried to keep things safe and get away with a win. Given how bad the Wildcats looked, though, I would have expected the game to be put away sooner than it was.

The only competitive game of the week was USC at Arizona State, where for the second time in two visits to Tempe the Trojans saw a tight game in the third quarter get completely out of hand. This was actually a good contest – SC led 21-20 after Tre Madden’s early third-quarter TD run and had the ball back after going down 27-21. That’s when things got silly. Cody Kessler threw a pick-six, the Sun Devils erupted for four straight scores and Lane Kiffin wound up out of a job. The USC defense, so good in the first four games, suddenly broke. (The Trojans’ offense wasn’t bad, although ASU’s D isn’t great.) When the dust cleared, USC had an interim head coach, an injured Marqise Lee and the entire conference to look up at in the standings. Wow.

This week we gets things kicked off right with UCLA’s visit to Utah Thursday night. I have high hopes for this game. The Utes are a heartbreaker against Oregon State from being nationally ranked and coming off an emotional win over rival BYU. They and their fans will be out for blood. UCLA has only played three games but looks to be the clear leader of the South Division. The Bruins should win… but as I’ve said in the past, this is a hard team to trust. UCLA hasn’t seen a good defense yet. The Utes aren’t great but they’re competent and have a balanced offense that could potentially could give the Bruins trouble. This is the definition of a trap game.

Wazzu and Cal meet in Berkeley for a matchup of North bottom-feeders. This is a must-have for the Cougs if they want to get to six wins. Cal is probably a lost cause, so fans of the conference should be rooting for WSU to sneak into a bowl. Both teams had disheartening setbacks last week, but the opposition was elite. You can’t rebuild overnight. I hope the Cougars win this game for the Pac-12’s sake, but I’m afraid the defense might give up a ton of points to the “Bear Raid.” In any case, this has the potential to be a shootout as teacher (Mike Leach) meets student (Sonny Dykes).

Since there’s not much to say about Oregon – Colorado, I’ll skip right to the only non-conference game being played this week: Arizona State versus Notre Dame in Arlington. This odd mid-season neutral-site game has a lot of potential given the good but highly flawed participants. I think Arizona State is the better team – the Sun Devils certainly have the superior offense and more playmakers – but Notre Dame might win. The Fighting Irish play better defense and are more accustomed to the spotlight, for whatever that’s worth. Of course, it would help the Pac-12 if ASU could take care of business here at the tail end of a rough four-game stretch that saw them take on a who’s who of football powerhouses: Wisconsin, Stanford, USC and now Notre Dame.

The night game on The Farm is the big one: Washington at Stanford. The more I think about this game, the more I want to talk myself into the Huskies. UW has shown an admirable commitment to running the ball this season. Keith Price is playing like his 2011 self. The offense is balanced and the defense is giving up only 10 points a game. This team has finally arrived, right? Well… I may prove to be wrong, but I don’t think they’re quite there yet. Stanford brings a physicality I need to see UW match before I can trust the Huskies. The 2012 upset in Seattle doesn’t have a lot of relevance this year; that game took place before the Cardinal made the switch to Kevin Hogan at QB (by the way, if David Shaw is so brilliant, why couldn’t he see that Josh Nunes sucked?). Stanford is so good defensively I don’t think Washington will be able to use their newfound tempo effectively. It will come down to how well the Huskies can defend the improving Cardinal offense. On the road an upset seems unlikely.

Heisman Watch

The Heisman is a tricky thing, because it always goes to a skill-position player on a highly-ranked team. That doesn’t always fit my definition of “best college player” but it’s how the award has operated for most of its 70-odd year existence. Quarterbacks are derided as the guys who get all the glory, but the truth is that QB is the most important position in all sports. It’s understandable they dominate the award.

As with the polls, most Heisman votes before the 1950’s are a complete joke, rife with regional bias and politicking. Technological constraints also hurt voters in the past, as they rarely even saw most teams play. There’s no excuse for that any more. The players who make the biggest impact and mean the most to their programs should win. In no particular order, here are the players who currently deserve to be considered.

Tajh Boyd, QB, Clemson

Boyd has led the Tigers to a 4-0 start and a win over Georgia and fellow Heisman candidate Aaron Murray. He has become a complete player and runs the Clemson offense flawlessly.

Aaron Murray, QB, Georgia

No player has faced a gauntlet like the one Murray has so far this season. His resiliency and leadership are the reason Georgia is 3-1 and not 1-3.

Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

Mariota has become so good I feel comfortable nitpicking at his completion rate, down from last year. He’s exceptional but will need to show more accuracy in Pac-12 play.

Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State

Winston is the difference between FSU being very good and great this year. QB was the only big issue for the Seminoles this offseason and Winston has more than answered the call.

There are several other players on the radar, namely QB’s Derek Carr (Fresno State), Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M), Teddy Bridgewater (Louisville) and Brett Hundley (UCLA). I didn’t include them right now because I’m unsure how much of their teams’ success rides on them or because their wins to this point aren’t enough to be Heisman-worthy.

Random Thoughts and Observations

I’ve never been a big fan of Lane Kiffin, but that’s hardly atypical of a college football fan. I do think he’s a decent coach whose playcalling became extremely predictable (last year) and strangely, overwhelmingly conservative (this year). The NCAA sanctions on the Trojans’ program obviously hurt him. He is in no way solely responsible for USC’s downfall, regardless of how the school will try to frame it. However, there’s no denying the team needed to make a change. The Trojans weren’t getting better. It’s just strange he was brought back at all after 2012’s second-half collapse. When Kiffin was hired I assumed he’d be the fall guy while the program was dealing with the NCAA. That seems to have come to pass, though he didn’t do himself any favors with his ethically murky tactics and failure to deliver wins.

It would be a real shame if the service academies were unable to play this week because of the incompetence of the U.S. Congress. Air Force and Navy are supposed to meet in Annapolis, while Army is scheduled to go to Boston College. Current reports indicate the games may take place after initially being in limbo. The academies add great tradition and flavor to the game and they’re one of the things that elevates college football over the NFL. Here’s hoping those teams get to play this week.

Stanzi time! It was a rather quiet week for Stanzi-ing as a couple of new players entered the fray but we saw no repeat offenders. Here are the awards for Week Five.

Justin Worley, Tennessee

Opponent: South Alabama

Performance: Three INT (two in USA endzone, one returned to UT 5-yard line), escaped with 31-24 win

(A note on Worley: his performance didn’t fit the exact description of a Stanzi, given that Tennessee led most of the way. However, his turnovers kept South Alabama in the game – which should have gone to overtime – where he would have been eligible for a Stanzi. I’ll give it to him.)

Keith Wenning, Ball State

Opponent: Toledo

Performance: Two FUM (one for TD, one recovered by Ball St.), one INT (led to tying TD), led game-winning TD drive

2013 Stanzi Awards

Devin Gardner, Michigan: 2

Connor Wood, Colorado: 1

Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech: 1

Keith Wenning, Ball State: 1

Jake Heaps, Kansas: 1

Gary Nova, Rutgers: 1

Connor Halliday, WSU: 1

Justin Worley, Tennessee: 1

Finally, a word on quarterback play. When I started watching college football over a decade ago, I was confused by how passing statistics were judged. If a QB threw for 300 yards and three TD’s with a positive completion percentage, he was considered to have had a great day. However, if a QB had upwards of 400 yards and four or five TD’s, he was often called a “system” guy. At the time, few offenses ran exclusively from the shotgun or spread defenses out. Purdue under Joe Tiller, Texas Tech under Mike Leach, Hawai’i under June Jones – these teams would routinely put up tons of passing yardage, yet their QB’s seemed to receive few accolades and the offenses would dismissed as “gimmicky.”

I think time has shown such prejudice against new-age offensive scheming was flawed. All passing stats are not created equal, that’s true. A team that passes the majority of the time will undoubtedly accrue more passing yards, but that doesn’t – and didn’t ever – mean that pass-first offenses lift up only average QB’s. Drew Brees’ success in the NFL attests to that. The pro game is more pass-happy now than it has ever been. It is funny, though, to hear the names of Johnny Manziel, Marcus Mariota, Teddy Bridgewater and Tajh Boyd spoken with such respect. 10 years ago these players would have been criticized as “running QB’s” who didn’t have the ability to make it in the NFL. Now they’re considered the top prospects for next year’s draft

What to watch this week: BYU – Utah State (Friday night), Maryland – FSU, Minnesota – Michigan, Georgia Tech – Miami (FL), WSU – Cal, TCU – Oklahoma, Arizona State – Notre Dame, Ohio State – Northwestern and Washington – Stanford. It’s a pretty solid lineup.