Notes & Thoughts For The Top Teams

What happened this weekend? Here's what you need to know.

Notes & Thoughts For The Top Teams, Part 2

Alabama (6-0)
Last Game: Alabama 42, Missouri 10
Nick Saban always finds problems to nitpick over, but he can’t have too many complaints with this one considering the rainy, miserable conditions. He wanted more big plays, and Eddie Lacy provided one out of the gate with his brilliant 73-yard scoring dash for the first of three scores, and T.J. Yeldon came up with two scores on the way to a 28-0 lead midway through the second. … The defense allowed three points. The kickoff allowed for a score was simply a brilliant play by Mizzou’s Marcus Murphy. … Missouri might be struggling, but it’s still impressive that the Tide allowed just three rushing yards and 129 yards of total offense. C.J. Mosley was the star with 12 tackles, a sack, a quarterback hurry and a fumble recovery. … Now it’s time to gear up for a real passing attack. The Tide defense hasn’t been tested much by anyone who can throw, but Tennessee will give it a shot.

Oregon (6-0)
Last Game: Didn’t Play This Week. Arizona State Up nNext
Arizona State is a dangerous trap game. The Ducks have had a week off to rest up and prepare after thrashing Washington, but the Sun Devils have also had time to prepare for the home game on national TV this Thursday night. … Oregon is ranking dead last in the nation in kickoff returns, partly because there haven’t been too many opportunities. On just 16 tries, the Ducks are averaging just 13.6 yards per pop. … Against ASU, Oregon has to watch out for the dangerous pass rush and active defensive front. The Sun Devils come into the game ranked second in the nation in both sacks and tackles for loss. … Oregon has faced teams that can throw, but it hasn’t dealt with anyone who can throw as efficiently as ASU, who’s fourth in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in passing efficiency.

Florida (6-0)
Last Game: Florida 31, Vanderbilt 17
You’ll have to forgive Florida for looking ahead to South Carolina, but the plan still worked. This is what Florida does – it’s not pretty, but it’s effective running the ball when it needs to on the way to ugly wins. … At some point the passing game has to start doing something, anything to take the heat off. The Gators ran for 326 but threw for just 77. … The ten penalties were too many, but there weren’t any turnovers. Florida hasn’t been shooting itself in the foot. … Jeff Driskel has already come of age with some great wins, but this game was special with 177 yards and three scores on just 11 carries. … The defensive front was great at getting behind the line with nine tackles for loss and three sacks, but Vandy was still able to run the ball. … Considering the way the Gators pounded away, they should’ve had the ball for more than 26:50. They have to convert more than 2-of-11 third down chances to get by the Gamecocks.

Kansas State (6-0)
Last Game: Kansas State 27, Iowa State 21
There might have been a few too many penalties (9) for a Kansas State team that never gets flagged, but everything else worked the way it was supposed to. Don’t get too caught up in the close final score; Kansas State did its job and got the win holding on to the ball for 40:54 and only turning the ball over once. … Collin Klein completed 16-of-24 passes for 187 yards and ran 25 times for 105 yards and three scores. Most importantly, he kept the chains moving and kept control of the game. … Ball control will mean everything next week at West Virginia. The Wildcats are going to control the game their way, but next week the Mountaineers are going to be far more effective when they get their chances than Iowa State was this week. KSU came up with the key stops, but ISU also misfired a bit too often.

Notre Dame (6-0)
Last Game: Notre Dame 20, Stanford 13
Everyone will remember how Notre Dame got really, really lucky on the apparent missed call on Stepfan Taylor’s overtime run, but the Irish did what they needed to do with big stops when push came to shove in the key moments. Even bigger was the way Tommy Rees came in for a banged up Everett Golson and pulled out the win completing all four of his passes for 43 yards and the game-winning touchdowns. … Mant’i Teo led the Irish with 11 tackles, but it was Stephon Tuitt who did the most damage. The Irish defensive lineman made seven tackles with a blocked kick and two quarterback hurries. He’s unblockable at the moment. … The Irish showed once again that getting physical isn’t a problem, and now the goal is to not look ahead to Oklahoma before beating BYU.

LSU (6-1)
Last Game: LSU 23, South Carolina 21
This is simply how things are going to have to work for the Tigers. Play great defense, rotate all the healthy and talented backs, and hope the offensive line can hold up. The line wore down South Carolina as the game went on, and Jeremy Hill took advantage with some big runs including the backbreaking 50-yard scoring strike. … The passing game might never come around. Zach Mettenberger is trying, but his receivers aren’t getting open and he’s under too much pressure. However, he to be far more careful and can’t afford to throw any more picks taken back deep like he gave away to the Gamecocks. … Sam Montgomery had himself a day making three tackles with two sacks and a forced fumble. He played possessed just when the defense needed him. … The one thing that can’t happen against Texas A&M – falling behind. This doesn’t appear to be a team that can play catch-up, and A&M has the ability to put a few scores on the board before anyone can blink.

Ohio State (6-0)
Last Game: Ohio State 63, Nebraska 28
Where’s the defense? It struggled at times against Nebraska and has been hit or miss all season long, and it failed to put the clamps down against Indiana getting ripped up for 352 passing yards and three scores. Fortunately, the offense did its job. … Carlos Hyde had his second straight terrific game running for 156 yards and a score on 22 carries. … Braxton Miller continues to be Braxton Miller completing 13-of-24 passes for 211 yards and two scores while running 23 times for 149 yards and a touchdown. … Devin Smith might not be consistent, but he’s effective making two grabs for 106 yards and two scores. … The Buckeye running game should rip through Purdue to get to 8-0 before going to Penn State. Win those two, then OSU will be 10-0 with Illinois to follow.

Oregon State (5-0)
Last Game: Oregon State 42, BYU 24
Of course not having Sean Mannion is a problem, but Cody Vaz proved he can handle the work against a strong defense completing 20-of-32 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns with no picks. He didn’t have to be perfect, but he was close. … Brandin Crooks was Vaz’s main target catching eight passes for 173 yards. … One of the big keys was the punting of Keith Kostol averaging over 47 yards per kick and putting four of his six kicks inside the 20. … The respect still isn’t going to be there on a national scale, but this was a strong road win. The win over Wisconsin is looking stronger, and with Utah struggling, 6-0 is likely before going to Washington for a key North test.

South Carolina (6-1)
Last Game: LSU 23, South Carolina 21
The game was put in Connor Shaw’s hands, and he came close. He completed 19-of-34 passes for 177 yards and two scores with two picks, but those interceptions were killers. Marcus Lattimore wasn’t going anywhere running for just 35 yards and a slippery touchdown on 13 carries. … It’s a minor miracle that USC was still in the game late after being badly outplayed for stretches. The defense was pounded on, but it did its job. Linebacker Shaq Wilson came up with 14 tackles and a sack. … Like it is for all SEC teams, one loss doesn’t really matter The goal for the Gamecocks is to get to the SEC title game, and it will with a win over Florida next week and by not blowing the home games to Tennessee and Arkansas. However, if they win out they’re probably going to play for the national title.

Oklahoma (4-1)
Last Game: Oklahoma 63, Texas 21
Are there any more questions about the explosiveness of the Oklahoma offense? The Texas D might be struggling, but the Sooners ripped off a near-perfect balance of 343 rushing yards and 334 through the air with the speed of Damien Williams and the power of Blake Bell controlling the O. … The OU offense took the game over from the opening kickoff with a brutish, time-consuming scoring drive that ate up the first quarter. The Sooners had the ball for over 21 minutes. … Tony Jefferson and his seven tackles, two tackles for loss and a pick, but it was a total team defensive effort getting the Longhorn offense off the field time and again and allowing a mere 74 yards. … After blasting Texas Tech, and now this, the goal will be to keep the focus for the layup against Kansas. It will be tough to keep from looking ahead to Notre Dame.

USC (5-1)
Last Game: USC 24, Washington 14
This still isn’t the team everyone bought into this offseason. There has only been one loss, and beating Oregon in a few weeks would erase any doubts, but the offense has failed to put together a full four quarters all season long and failed to score in the second half against Washington. … With ten penalties and problems on third downs, USC wasn’t exactly sharp. Matt Barkley only completed 10-of-20 passes for 167 yards and a score with a pick. … This was by far the most important game Silas Redd has come up with as a Trojan running for 155 yards and a score on 26 carries. … Somewhat quietly, safety T.J. McDonald has come up with a good year. He made seven tackles against the Huskies. … At some point the team has to put it all together and blow someone out of the water. If the Trojans don’t beat Colorado by 40, it’ll be time to worry that the consistency just isn’t going to come.

Florida State (6-1)
Last Game: Florida State 51, Boston College 7
Now that’s the Florida State that’s supposed to dominate the ACC. Boston College might be awful, but the Seminoles showed right away that they weren’t going to come out pouting after the choke against NC State. E.J. Manuel threw two picks, but he also pitched for 439 yards and two scores. … The defense didn’t have to do anything fancy and it didn’t have to sell out to get into the backfield holding the Eagles to just 96 yards on the ground. … Dustin Hopkins was solid nailing all three of his field goal attempts including a 51-yarder at the end of the first half. … It was Boston College, but the Noles needed to come up with the blowout to show that it could do it. Roll Miami next week on the road and the hype will kick back in.

Notes & Thoughts For The Top Teams, Part 2