College Football Corner--Pac Ten Pounces, Big Twelve tumbles...

What an exciting weekend on the gridiron—7 of the nation’s top 13 teams lost. My big winners—the Pac Ten and ACC: what a fantastic fourth quarter between Cal and Oregon—I had completely blown off watching my alma mater (Syracuse lost at Miami of Ohio). A colossal upset by Maryland and a legalized smackdown by Virginia made losing their second-to-last unbeaten team Clemson (Tigers tumbled to back-from-the –dead Georgia Tech) bearable. The biggest loser was the Big 12—defense definitely optional in that league. Way to go #7 Texas—41 points allowed to Kansas State. Awesome, 3rd ranked Oklahoma—coughing up 17 fourth quarter points to Colorado. And those are the only two schools in that league worth mentioning (spare me Nebraska talk-the Cornhuskers were ripped for 40 points by Ball State not too long ago). Another loser-the Big East. Not only did Rutgers fall at home, but #5 West Virginia slipped at South Florida—taking more juice away from whatever buzz the conference had generated over the last year. VIRGINIA TECH is thankful the ACC doesn’t award style points; the Hokies held off a late North Carolina rally to top the Tar Heels 17-10. The Blacksburg faithful is still awaiting the arrival of Beamer Ball—and while defense and special teams have both played well this fall (the sole reason they’re 4-1 instead of 2-3) the offense needs to be spoonfed opportunities. UPSIDE—Brandon Ore put up his biggest game of the season—93 yards and a touchdown—amidst an offensive line still attempting to find itself (see below). Nice play-call on the first play of scrimmage deciding to give Eddie Royal the ball; his 53 yard run jumpstarted a Hokies touchdown drive that put Tech ahead to stay. The defense came up big again, forcing two turnovers—one of which set up Virginia Tech’s other TD. DOWNSIDE— Behind a hodgepodge offensive line is no place to learn Division I-A quarterbacking: Tyrod Taylor continues to experience growing pains, with more of an emphasis on the pain as opposed to growth—a total of 77 yards gained on 30 plays from scrimmage. Taylor’s yards- per-completion was under seven and the freshman was sacked four times…and outside of the team’s first possession, the Hokies longest drive was 30 yards. Nine penalties also have to be a concern for coach Beamer. MARYLAND made a major statement for the ACC by upsetting 10th ranked Rutgers… with a backup quarterback, no less. Nice bounceback effort by the Terps—and a nice job by the coaching staff in giving Chris Turner the environment to succeed. UPSIDE—That was Turner? The redshirt sophomore looked nothing like the player picked off twice in the Terps’ opener against Villanova (14 of 20 for 149 yards and no INTs). The ground attack provided a strong offensive base again with Keon Lattimore and Lance Ball making a case for the best backfield tandem (214 combined yards and 3 touchdowns) in the ACC—it was also nice to see Darrius Heyward-Bey and LaQuan Williams stretch the field in the passing game for what seems to be the first time this fall. DOWNSIDE— The defense allowed 310 yards passing; up 14-3 late in the first half, the Terps allowed two touchdowns in the final minute of the second quarter. Obi Egekeze missed three field goals—but honestly, when you beat a top ten team on the road, the downside is merely window dressing. VIRGINIA’s rise from the ashes of their loss at Wyoming is one of the ACC’s biggest stories of September; the Cavaliers come through with their most complete victory of the season by posting 27 first quarter points in their 44-14 rout of Pitt…and how about that onside kick to start the game! UPSIDE—Jameel Sewell looks more and more like the phenom who wowed us with possibilities late last season (169 yards and 3 touchdowns passing plus 64 yards rushing)… although Cedric Peerman was held to under 100 yards (87 on 24 tries) the Cavaliers’ meal ticket scored two touchdowns and led the squad with four catches. DOWNSIDE— tough to find anything wrong with what the Cavaliers accomplished Saturday, unless you look at how the offense failed to pick up a first down in three 3rd quarter drives—but that was with UVa leading 30-7… no reason to be nervous.