Who's Hot & Not ... Kentucky's Defense

Kentucky's defense, Chase Daniel, Virginia, Air Force passing, & more in this week's Who's Hot & Who's Not.

Who's Hot & Not - Week 3

Past Hot and Not: 2007 Hot & Not | Week 1 | Week 2

Who’s Hot …

Kentucky defense
Kentucky? Defense? After three games, Kentucky is giving up just 251 yards and 6.33 points per game allowing two to Louisville, three to Norfolk State, and 14 to Middle Tennessee. It was almost more against for the Blue Raiders, but a game-saving tackle on a Hail Mary ended the drama. Western Kentucky is up next after getting hammered 41-7 by Alabama last week.

North Carolina WR Brandon Tate
One of the nation's most dangerous all-around players, Tate, a senior, ran three times for 106 yards, caught four passes for 93 yards and a touchdown, returned a kickoff 56 yards, and returned three punts for 142 yards and a touchdown in the season-opening win over McNeese State. Against Rutgers in a 44-12 win, Tate, ran for 19 yards and a touchdown, caught four passes fro 138 yards and a score, and returned two kickoffs 58 yards. Virginia Tech is up this week.

Baylor and QB Robert Griffin
Baylor has its star to build around for the next four years. Griffin is a high-caliber hurdler, and he's a great-looking young quarterback who has stepped in and completed 33-of-53 passes for 548 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Last week he ran for 217 yards and two scores against Washington State as Baylor won 45-17. On a two-game winning streak, the Bears play Connecticut this week.

Missouri QB Chase Daniel
It's all working for Daniel and the Tiger offense. Mizzou leads the nation in total offense, Daniel is fourth in the nation in passing efficiency, seventh in total offense. In his last two games, Daniel has completed 39-of-45 passes (87%) for 750 yards and seven touchdowns without an interception. The Tigers play Buffalo next.

Oklahoma State running game
Navy leads the nation in rushing. That's what Navy does. Air Force is second, but it's also dead last in passing. Oklahoma State averages 212 passing yards per game, but it's also third in the nation in rushing cranking out 334 yards per game on the ground. After rushing for 174 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opening win over Washington State, the Cowboys ran for 379 yards and four touchdowns against Houston, and last week had three different players hit the 100-yard mark with 450 rushing yards and seven scores in the 57-13 win over Missouri State. Troy is up next. The Trojans are seventh in the nation in defense and is only allowing 78 rushing yards per game.

Who’s Not …

Virginia
Losing to USC 52-7 is one thing, but getting bombed 45-10 by Connecticut is another. The offense is non-existent, averaging a mere 234 yards per game. Only Florida International is worse. The defense, supposedly the strength under head coach Al Groh, has been equally bad against the run and the pass allowing 203 yards on the ground and 216 through the air. A road trip to Duke is next.

Washington State
The Paul Wulff era hasn't exactly gotten off to a rousing start. The Cougars are 0-3 so far getting blasted 39-13 by Oklahoma State, 66-3 by Cal, and 45-17 by Baylor. The offense, once a dominant staple for Wazzu, is 117th in the nation averaging a mere 234 yards per game, while the defense is 111th in the country and second-to-last in points allowed. Portland State is un next, and then it's Oregon.

Air Force passing
Air Force is back to being Air Force averaging 358 rushing yards per game, second behind Navy, and is dead last throwing the ball and 115th in pass efficiency. So far, the Falcons have completed 11-of-23 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown with an interception ... in three games. Against Houston last week, Air Force went 0-for-7 throwing the ball. Next up is Utah, who's 12th in the nation in pass defense.

June Jones and Hawaii
The breakup hasn't gone well. June Jones's SMU team is 1-2, but 0-2 against FBS teams, losing to Rice and Texas Tech by a combined score of 99 to 34 with five touchdown passes and eight interceptions. Meanwhile, Hawaii has taken a bit of a drop since the end of last year. In the last three games against FBS team, Hawaii is 0-3 losing to Georgia, Florida, and Oregon State by a combined score of 142 to 27. Hawaii plays San Jose State next week while SMU hosts TCU.

Memphis in close games
Memphis lost its opener against Ole Miss, but the last two games have been heartbreakers. The Tigers lost to Rice 42-35 two weeks ago by allowing 22 points in the final 6:28 including a pick six for the winning points. Last week they lost to Marshall 17-16 to go 0-2 in Conference USA play. Next up is Nicholls State, who has yet to play this year after canceling its opener against New Mexico State because of hurricanes.