Welcome to a bullet-riddled club.
— Notre Dame. Are there still doubters out there? The Irish pummeled Miami, 41-3, and moved to No. 7 in both polls. No player on Notre Dame's current roster was alive when the school won its last title in 1988. NBC, as we hear it, is proud as a peacock.
— Stanford. The first season after Andrew Luck was about to be rankings-less until the Cardinal rallied for two late touchdowns before defeating Arizona in overtime. They call this “hanging on by your tree tips” in Palo Alto, but now the No. 17 Cardinal go out on another limb with this week's game at Notre Dame.
— Oregon State. Beaver Nation has gone from 3-9 to No. 10 in what seems like a matter of minutes. Oregon State needed its No. 23-ranked scoring defense to grind out a 19-6 home win over Washington State. This 4-0 season, though, is quickly becoming otherworldly.
“We have so much potential to win every game on our schedule,” Beavers defensive end Scott Crichton said. “Once we finally play as a team, you guys are in for something great.”
Oregon State plays at Brigham Young next week before closing with six straight Pac-12 games, culminating with Oregon on Nov. 24.
— Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs spent weeks winning big in oblivion but have finally cracked the polls this week after a 58-31 win over Nevada Las Vegas.
Louisiana Tech's still long-shot hopes of earning an automatic BCS bid will require a marquee win this week against No. 22 Texas A&M. It was supposed to be the opener before being rescheduled because of Hurricane Isaac.
— Penn State. Bad karma, take a hike. Penn State's upward mood swing continued Saturday when the Nittany Lions handed Northwestern its first loss of the season. After heartbreaking defeats to Ohio and Virginia, the Penn State players who had nothing to do with Jerry Sandusky have won four straight games.
If Bill O'Brien isn't coach of the year, well, Bill Snyder or Mike Riley might be.
It is only too perfect that the two schools ineligible for this year's watered-down Big Ten title — Ohio State and Penn State — lead the Leaders Division with 2-0 records.
Penn State's roster was gutted over the summer after players were allowed to transfer without penalty. It got so bad that Illinois almost changed its nickname to the “Poachers.”
And here's a reverse kick in the gut. Anthony Fera, the team's star kicker and punter, bailed out of Happy Valley and transferred to Texas.
Saturday night, he missed a late field-goal attempt in Texas' three-point loss to West Virginia.
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Next Story
