Week 10 Recap

#1 Ohio State 38, #12 Wisconsin 17
This was close through three quarters, but wow did the Buckeyes ever put it away late. Even if P.J. Hill was active for the Badgers, I'm not so sure that they would've run for more than 12 yards, their total here. In contrast, Wisconsin's suspect run D kept up things on that end, giving up 169 yards and 3 TDs to OSU's Chris Wells. An impressive win by the Buckeyes all in all, but there's really not much to say here - OSU just handily beat a pretty good team, and that defense keeps shutting down the run. Which, hoo boy, doesn't bode well for Illinois next week.
Ohio State: STOCK STEADY
Wisconsin: STOCK STEADY

#2 LSU 41, #18 Alabama 34
Despite the close score, this was a pretty one-sided affair for LSU, as Matt Flynn's 3 picks were the only thing that kept the Tide in the game. Alabama was horrible on offense - only 20 yards rushing, and while John Parker Wilson had 234 yards and a 3/1 TD/INT ratio, it was on a pretty awful 14 of 40 passing. I'll give them a mulligan to an extent since this is the LSU defense and all, but they're on notice.
LSU: STOCK STEADY
Alabama: STOCK STEADY

#3 Oregon 35, #7 Arizona State 23
Oregon's somewhat cooled off from their blistering start, which I suppose makes sense since it's coinciding with them beating actual legitimate teams. And really, Arizona State did legitimize themselves in losing, gaining 489 yards, and Rudy Carpenter had quite a good day in defeat, completing 22 of 36 for 379 and a 2/1 TD/INT ratio. But, yeah, the winners. Jonathan Stewart fell just short of 100 yards (99 and a TD), so Dennis Dixon was a majority of the offense, throwing for 189 and 4 TD, and adding 57 yards on the ground. I'm really torn on Oregon - they're obviously a legitimate top-tier team, but I can't help but feel that, again, they've regressed a bit from their excellent start. But, hey, they're still a more than deserving #3.
Oregon: STOCK STEADY
Arizona State: STOCK STEADY

#5 Oklahoma 42, Texas A&M 14
Well, at least the TAMU offense remained fairly balanced. Of course, they didn't do much with the ball either way. Sam Bradford was a machine here, completing 70% for 284 and 5 TD. When OU's on, they can beat anyone, but I still have concern in the back of my mind going forward, since they had two games (Colorado and Iowa State) where they just played horribly. As for A&M, allow me to just sigh.
Oklahoma: STOCK STEADY
Texas A&M: STOCK DOWN

#6 Missouri 55, Colorado 10
Wow. Just a complete annihilation, with the Tigers outgaining CU 598-196. Chase Daniel wasn't quite spectacular, but mostly had a field day, completing 59% for 421 and a 5/1 TD/INT. And really, Daniel is a completely overlooked Heisman candidate for reasons beyond me. He's really good! But, anyway, I renounce my skepticism last week about Missouri's defense - the Tigers are easily a better team than CU, but this was a dominating performance.
Missouri: STOCK UP
Colorado: STOCK STEADY

#8 Michigan 28, Michigan State 24
A pretty even game, and my instinct is to say this reflects poorly on Michigan rather than being a reason for hope with MSU (although the Spartans are still a fine team.) Mike Hart remains, probably, the best running back in the nation when he's healthy, as he got 110 yards on just 15 carries here. The concern for me here is that Michigan State ran all over the Wolverines as well. Javon Ringer (15 car, 128 yards) and Jehuu Caulcrick (22 car, 84 yards, 2 TD) are very talented backs and all, but being unable to stop the run really doesn't bode well for Michigan's chances against OSU. I'll knock the Wolverines down a notch, but they're still in that second tier of very good teams.
Michigan: STOCK DOWN
Michigan State: STOCK STEADY

#9 Florida 49, Vanderbilt 22
Tim Tebow is not of this world. His passing line was so great (22/27, 281 yards, 3/1 TD/INT) ratio, that I'm almost sad he only had 35 yards rushing. Really, if the Heisman's supposed to be for best player, with the percentage of offense that this man is worth and the level that they're playing at, Tebow's easily the guy.
Florida: STOCK STEADY
Vanderbilt: STOCK STEADY

#10 USC 24, Oregon State 3
USC can't just have a statement game that says they're back, can they? On the plus side, they held Oregon State to only 176 yards, a mark that's only seen regarding Stanford in the Pac 10. The bad news is that the offense was pretty mediocre. John David Booty had a fine day, going 19/33 for 157 and 2 TD, but that's more of a caretaker performance, and 100 yards from the rushing game isn't gonna cut it for the Trojans. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt in this one, because that kind of defensive performance against any Pac 10 offense (except, again, Stanford) is impressive, and if they keep that up, they can more than struggle on offense and still win out.
USC: STOCK STEADY
Oregon State: STOCK STEADY

Arkansas 48, #11 South Carolina 34
South Carolina allowed 541 yards rushing, so they're not worth wasting my time talking about this week past that thought. Darren McFadden had 323 yards and a TD, which hopefully means someone's fooled into taking him before the Jets' pick comes up in the draft. McFadden's a lot like Oklahoma - when he's on, he can not just beat, but pretty much destroy anyone and anything. But he has those days, like, again 61 yards against Florida International - FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL - and I just can't take him all that seriously. At least Colorado and Iowa State are fine teams, so Oklahoma has an excuse. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL? I feel like Jim Mora. PLAYOFFS? Anyway, I'll bump Arkansas up because I'm not an idiot and it's still an impressive performance, but general consensus may overrate McFadden to the level that I overrated South Carolina prior to this game.
Arkansas: STOCK UP
South Carolina: STOCK DOWN

#13 Penn State 26, Purdue 19
Solid game all in all for PSU. Anthony Morelli continues being perfectly fine, completing 63% for 210 and a TD, and the running game more than carried their fair share, gaining 251 yards. The Nittany Lion run defense also held serve, allowing only 68 yards. Not much to say here really - Penn State kept on doing what they've been doing.
Penn State: STOCK STEADY
Purdue: STOCK STEADY

#14 California 20, Washington State 17
More bad news than good for Cal, since it was a mostly even game, both in scoring and yardage. Still, at least the Bears held Wazzou QB Alex Brink under 50% passing. Cal's still the easy #4 team in the Pac 10, the gap just got a little bit wider between them and #3.
California: STOCK DOWN
Washington State: STOCK STEADY

Cincinnati 38, #15 South Florida 33
Hoo mama. Well, firstly, Matt Grothe had 457 total yards out of USF's 481. And really, Grothe outperforming Cincy by his lonesome shows the luck that Cincinnati needed for this to happen. Even though one could say that Cincy scoring off of a pick six and a punt block were negated by a pick six and return TD from South Florida, USF also turned it over a fairly insane eight times. EIGHT turnovers? What is this, Southern Miss against Rice. Really, this is the kind of fluke occurrence that doesn't really hurt my opinion of the Bulls going forward. Meanwhile, if this is a sign that Cincy's going to reviver their insane positive turnover margin games, then, well, I fear for UConn.
Cincinnati: STOCK STEADY
South Florida: STOCK STEADY

Florida State 27, #16 Boston College 17
Matt Ryan tried his 49% completion percentage magic again, but it wasn't enough in what was an even game yardage-wise. Drew Weatherford played like Matt Ryan on one of his better days, going 29/45 for 354 and 2 TD, and while FSU RB Antone Smith's 63 yards may not seem like much, it matched BC's total output on the ground. I'll knock BC down a bit just because they finally lost, and are no longer an obvious #1 in the ACC, whatever that was worth. The conference remains a crapshoot.
Florida State: STOCK UP
Boston College: STOCK DOWN

#17 Texas 38, Oklahoma State 35
SHOOTOUT! Both QBs completed over 70% of their passes, but with drastically different results - OK State's Zac Robinson had 430 yards and 2 TD, while Colt McCoy only had 282 and a 1/3 TD/INT ratio. Of course, there's also the running game, where McCoy had 106 yards, 3 more than leading OK State rusher Dantrell Savage. And starting Texas RB Jamaal Charles added 180 yards and 3 touchdowns. While Texas is no Nebraska or anything, they're flawed on defense, and with McCoy's erratic play, they're just a shaky, shaky team. And OK State's more or less the same thing, except more consistent and at a slightly lower level.
Texas: STOCK STEADY
Oklahoma State: STOCK STEADY

#19 Georgia 44, Troy 34
Troy actually outgained UGA here, but had 4 turnovers to the Bulldogs' 3. The Trojans' Omar Hougabook also arguably won the QB battle over Matt Stafford (64%, 310, 2/2 vs. 59%, 217, 2/1), but Troy couldn't match the Georgia running game, as Knowshon Moreno had 196 yards and 3 TD. I'll put both teams up a notch - Moreno seems to be a consistent upper-level back, and Troy hung with the Bulldogs despite that.
Georgia: STOCK UP
Troy: STOCK UP

#21 Kansas 76, Nebraska 39
Weird to see, but absolutely not shocking. If anything, with a score like this, I'm surprised Kansas only had 582 yards. I'll just put KU QB Todd Reesing's line here for posterity: 30/41, 354 yards, 6 TD. The Huskers D just keeps reaching new levels of ineptitude, and it's almost a shame that this keeps Kansas as a relative unknown. An impressive one, but still.
Kansas: STOCK UP
Nebraska: STOCK DOWN

#22 Illinois 44, Minnesota 17
Normally I'd make a remark about Minnesota allowing 448 yards rushing, but between South Carolina and Nebraska, I'll just sigh, perhaps chuckle, and move on.
Illinois: STOCK STEADY
Minnesota: STOCK DOWN

#23 Auburn 35, Tennessee Tech 3
Only 115 yards rushing for Auburn is probably a bad sign, but hey, Brandon Cox completed over 80%. Good for him!
Auburn: STOCK STEADY

#24 Virginia Tech 27, Georgia Tech 3
Just a straight up whoopin', as GT's quietly been eliminated from ACC Coastal contention. Sean Glennon actually completed 69%, and the Hokies defense just pretty much neutralized the Yellow Jackets. A pretty impressive win for the Hokies, one that they very much needed.
Virginia Tech: STOCK UP
Georgia Tech: STOCK DOWN

#25 Connecticut 38, Rutgers 19
UConn got lucky here, though to less of an extent than they have in recent upset wins. Tyler Lorenzen pulled a Matt Ryan Special, completing only 48% but getting 2 TDs in a Huskies win. But the real star of the show was ex-starting RB Donald Brown, who had 154 yards and a TD when forced into action. Brown's resurgence plus, if he's healthy, Andre Dixon, gives the Huskies a duo not seen since...well, Caulley and Brockington two years ago. Rutgers remains a good team, the intrigue it to see if UConn can keep up their Wake Forest act going on the road, as they head to Cincinnati next week.
Connecticut: STOCK STEADY
Rutgers: STOCK STEADY

Arizona 34, UCLA 27
Ugh, and it really shouldn't have been this close. Arizona QB Willie Tuitama didn't have a high-percentage day (58%), but with 341 yards and 3 TD, nobody's complaining. UCLA's slowly going from funny to just kind of sad, like a choking cat.
Arizona: STOCK UP
UCLA: STOCK DOWN

East Carolina 56, Memphis 40
CRAZY MID-MAJOR RUNNING BACK OF THE WEEK: ECU's Chris Johnson, who had 301 yards and 4 touchdowns on 20 carries. And hey, Memphis QB Martin Hankins had 416 yards and a 4/2 ratio on 57% passing. I'll give ECU a bump up since they seem to have a legitimate weapon.
East Carolina: STOCK UP
Memphis: STOCK STEADY

NC State 19, Miami 16 (OT)
Canes Slot Machine/QB Kirby Freeman had the most amazing line in recent memory: 1/14, 84 yards, 1/3 TD/INT. I guess he hit three 7's one time and got an 84 yard TD out of it, while the rest were like "Cherry....ANOTHER CHERRY!....awwww, NC State defender." And yet it still only went to OT.
NC State: STOCK DOWN
Miami: STOCK DOWN

Mississippi 38, Northwestern State 31
Ole Miss got outplayed by a I-AA team, and not a particularly good one. After a surprisingly good start, statistically if not record-wise, it looks like the Rebels have given up on winning and are focusing on beating out Syracuse for the title of "worst BCS conference team."
Mississippi: STOCK DOWN

Navy 46, Notre Dame 44 (3 OT)
Charlie Weis is an idiot for not going for the game-winning field goal, that jumping sack by that one Navy defender was AWESOME, and Notre Dame may go 1-11. A fun time.
Navy: STOCK STEADY
Notre Dame: STOCK DOWN

TCU 37, New Mexico 0
An insanely dominating performance, as the TCU defense held one of the MWC's better teams to only 119 yards. Just...wow, the best performance in any conference game by a Mountain West team this year. If TCU can follow this up, this could be an immensely entertaining path of rage.
TCU: STOCK UP
New Mexico: STOCK DOWN

Rice 56, UTEP 48
A LEGITIMATE WIN FOR RICE!
Rice: STOCK UP
UTEP: STOCK DOWN