Past Hot and Not:
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4
Who’s
Hot …
Texas Tech WR
Michael Crabtree (again)
He's been here before, and it likely won't be the last time this
season. Crabtree made his 14th touchdown catch this year in the third
quarter of the blowout win over Northwestern State, setting the Texas
Tech single-season record for scoring grabs after just five games. He
has also tied former Florida WR Jabar Gaffney, former USC WR Mike
Williams, and current Hawaii target Davone Bess for the most touchdown
catches by a freshman. How's this for a start to the year? 60 catches
for 920 yards and 14 touchdowns, with three scoring grabs in four of the
five games. While the schedule gets far, far tougher, his numbers
projected over a 12-game season work out to 144 catches for 2,208 yards
and 33 touchdowns.
Indiana WR James
Hardy vs. Iowa
You'll have to forgive Iowa if it lobbies for Hardy to turn pro
early. All the IU receiver has done is catch 24 passes for 420 yards and
five touchdowns in three career games against the Hawkeyes,. He made
four catches for 113 yards and a score in this week's 38-20 win.
Florida Atlantic CB Tavious Polo
Not only does the redshirt freshman lead the nation in
interceptions, it's not even close. A rail thin 5-10 and 146 pounds, he
makes plays with speed, speed, and next level speed, with seven
interceptions in the first five games, and six in the last three weeks.
He was the one who broke Kentucky QB Andre Woodson's streak of 325
straight passes without an interception.
Kansas State WR Jordy
Nelson
The senior has been unstoppable over the last two weeks,
following up a 15 catch, 209-yard, one touchdown effort in the win over
Missouri State with a 12 grab, 116-yard, one score day against Texas. He
also added a 34-yard touchdown run against MSU, had a 21-yard touchdown
run against Auburn, and has returned three punts for 171 yards, a
57-yard average, with a touchdown over the last two weeks.
The ACC
Who's the bad boy conference now? Fine, so no one's confusing
the ACC with the SEC quite yet, but the league had a huge weekend when
it comes to gaining national respect, with Maryland beating Rutgers,
Florida State beating Alabama, and Virginia thumping Pitt. NC State lost
to Louisville, but helping the overall out of conference record, Boston
College beat UMass.
Who’s
Not …
The Big East
South Florida might be everyone's darling, but no one seems to hot
on getting it involved in the national title talk (which is a big
mistake). West Virginia was considered the top national title contender
from the league, but that's gone now after the loss to the Bulls.
Syracuse inexplicably lost to Miami University, making Louisville's loss
to the Orange look that much worse. While Cincinnati and Connecticut
rolled against San Diego State and Akron, respectively, Pitt got blasted
by Virginia and Rutgers lost at home to Maryland.
Oregon State
The Beavers have one of the nation's top run defenses, an elite
back in Yvenson Bernard, and a killer defensive front that's been a
constant in opposing backfields. However, the quarterback play has been
shaky, and there hasn't been a turnover the offense hasn't liked to give
up. The Beavers have lost to Cincinnati, Arizona State, and UCLA by
combined score of 118 to 49.
Star dual threat quarterbacks
This wasn't a great week for star, spread offense, dual threat
quarterbacks, with West Virginia's Pat White getting knocked out with a
thigh injury in the loss to South Florida, Florida's Tim Tebow losing to
Auburn, Washington's Jake Locker struggling in a loss to USC, and
Oregon's Dennis Dixon losing to California. UL Lafayette's Michael
Desormeaux is the nation's leading rushing quarterback, but he and his
Ragin' Cajuns lost to UCF.
The Big 12 South
Wasn't this supposed to be the Big 12's dominant division?
Oklahoma State took center stage a few weeks ago with humiliating loss
at Troy, and then Mike Gundy put the spotlight on his program with his
epic rant. Texas Tech lost to that Cowboy team two weeks ago, Texas
A&M's national reputation is still trying to rebound after the
nationally televised loss to Miami, and then this week, Oklahoma lost to
Colorado and Texas lost to Kansas State.
Penn State QB Anthony Morelli
It might not
seem fair, but the Nittany Lion senior will likely have to shoulder much
of the criticism for the 0-2 Big Ten start. Blame the coaches for not
opening it up more in the loss to Michigan, with Morelli completing 15
of 31 passes for 169 yards, and then in the loss to Illinois, he
completed 21 of 38 passes for 298 yards and a touchdown with three
interceptions.
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