Who's Hot & Who's Not ... Week One

New quarterbacks, like Colt McCoy of Texas, the Big East, new coaches, old run defenses, North Carolina teams, Bay Area teams, Ray Rice, the Big 12 North and a score you won't believe in the latest Who's Hot and Who's Not.

Who’s Hot …

The replacement quarterbacks
Who needs Matt Leinart, Vince Young, Drew Olson. Michael Robinson and Marcus Vick?. USC's John David Booty carved up Arkansas for 261 yards and three touchdowns in a 50-14 win. Colt McCoy led Texas to a 56-7 win over North Texas by going 12 of 19 for 178 yards and three touchdowns. UCLA QB Ben Olson completed 25 of 33 passes for 318 yards and three touchdowns in the surprising 31-10 win over Utah. Anthony Morelli completed 16 of 32 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns in the win over Akron. Virginia Tech QB Sean Glennon completed 15 of 18 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns and an interception in a 38-0 win over Northeastern.

The new quarterbacks
While everyone wanted to see how the replacement passers at big-time schools were going to do, the most statistical noise might be made this year by three new quarterbacks many die-hard fans were interested in seeing. USC transfer Rocky Hinds had a huge first game against Idaho State throwing for 322 yards and a touchdown and running for another. Texas Tech's Graham Harrell was razor sharp in the 35-3 win over SMU completing 34 of 49 passes for 342 yards and five touchdowns. Who leads the nation in passing? New Mexico State's Chase Holbrook, who used the Hal Mumme offense to hang 381 yards and two touchdowns on SE Louisiana.

2005's lousy run defenses
Northwestern finished 114th in the nation in run defense last season allowing 218.1 yards per game. Colorado State was a soft 117th allowing 222.8 yards per game, and UCLA was a solid 118th allowing 232.8 yards per game. Dead last was Illinois giving up a whopping 234 yards per outing. It's only one week, but Colorado State leads the nation in run defense after Weber State netted -38 yards. Northwestern did a great job against the good Miami University backfield giving up 72 yards in the 21-3 win. UCLA allowed only 112 rushing yards to Utah in its 31-10 blowout. Illinois showed improvement allowing 106 yards to Eastern Illinois.

Rutgers RB Ray Rice
With the North Carolina run defense keying on stopping Brian Leonard, Rutgers sophomore Ray Rice ripped through the Tar Heels for 201 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries. Next up ... that suddenly stout Illinois run defense.

The Big East
How about a little love for the much-maligned league after a 7-1 start? Syracuse did absolutely nothing against Wake Forest, but UConn beat Rhode Island, West Virginia thumped Marshall, Rutgers won a nice game at North Carolina, South Florida thumped McNeese State, Pitt tore up Virginia 38-13, Cincinnati shutout Eastern Kentucky and Louisville destroyed Kentucky.

Who’s Not …

UL Lafayette vs. LSU
After this Saturday's 45-3 win over UL Lafayette, the all-time score between the two schools is LSU 957, UL Lafayette 22. Dating back to 1902, the average score in the showdown is 47.57 to 1. ULL's field goal on Saturday made the score 590 to 3 since 1925.

The Bay Area teams
And it's not like NFL fans will be holding their breath for a 49ers/Raiders Super Bowl. Stanford got bombed by Oregon 48-10, San Jose State played well but lost to Washington 35-29, and Cal turned out one of the most disappointing performances of the weekend in the 35-18 loss to Tennessee.

Big 12 North
Iowa State needed three overtimes to survive a home game against Toledo, Kansas State struggled to get by Illinois State 24-23, and Colorado had the biggest egg on its face after a 29-20 loss to Montana State. Fortunately for the division, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri won easily.

The new head coaches (outside of the Big Ten
Wisconsin's Bret Bielema and Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald had great debuts and Boise State's Chris Petersen had an easy day, but that was about it. Colorado's Dan Hawkins, San Diego State's Chuck Long, Idaho's Dennis Erickson, Rice's Todd Graham (although the Owls played well in the loss to Houston), and Temple's Al Golden all lost. Buffalo's Turner Gill won, but he beat Temple in a 9-3 barnburner. Middle Tennessee's Rick Stockstill won beating FIU 7-6, and Ron Prince's Kansas State team barely survived Illinois State.

North Carolina teams
North Carolina lost a home game to Rutgers 24-16, NC State showed no passing game in a tougher-than-the-final-score 23-10 win over Appalachian State, East Carolina lost to Navy 28-23, and Duke showed that it might be the worst team in America with a 13-0 home loss to Richmond.