Boise State has flown under the radar for a few years now. Year in and year out they play top-tier football, yet they still get omitted from playing in the BCS National Championship because of their so-called ‘weak’ schedule. On Friday night, under the lights in Fresno, California, the Broncos had another opportunity to impress a national audience, and they did just that and then some. Star senior quarterback Kellen Moore threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns, as Boise State completely dismantled Fresno State by an impressive score of 57-7.
Of course a team from the Mountain West Conference, such as Boise State, will never earn the respect that teams in the SEC such as Alabama and LSU garner. Saturday, LSU welcomed Florida into Death Valley in a highly anticipated top-25 match up. Unfortunately for Florida, their starting quarterback John Brantley was out with an ankle injury, and the Gators were completely overmatched, losing 41-11 in a game that wasn’t even as close as the score indicated.
Another SEC powerhouse, Alabama, had a far easier test as they welcomed Vanderbilt to Tuscaloosa. Quarterback AJ McCarron had a career day, passing for 237 yards and four touchdowns, on the way to a resounding 34-0 victory.
In what was expected to be the game of the week, Oklahoma and Texas met in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Tex. Texas was looking to rebound from a rough past few years and make an early season statement. The Longhorns youth proved to be key, as the Sooners completely dominated from the first snap as Landry Jones and co. proved to be too much to handle.
OU has been slipping in the AP and USA Today polls the past few weeks, but their highly impressive 55-17 victory over the Longhorns was a huge statement to the voters. LSU and Alabama face off on November 5th, one of those teams will no longer be undefeated, and Oklahoma -baring an upset loss at some point in the next few weeks, should sneak into the top-2 and play in the BCS National Championship game come January.
My Top 5:
1) LSU (6-0)
2) Alabama (6-0)
3) Oklahoma (5-0)
4) Wisconsin (5-0)
5) Stanford (5-0)
Biggest Surprise: The biggest surprise of the week has to be how easily Oklahoma was able to dismantle Texas. Of course the Bob Stoops coached Sooners are led by one of the top quarterbacks in the nation in Landry Jones and their receiving duo of Ryan Broyles and Kenny Stills is one of the strongest in the nation, but nobody thought they would dominate Texas like that.
Biggest Disappointment: Florida State is easily the biggest disappointment this week. The Seminoles were a top-5 team to start the year, but less than a month later they are already an unranked squad. After a loss to Wake Forest, the Noles sit at 2-3 (0-2 ACC) and in less than a month their focus has shifted to playing for a national championship to just qualifying for a bowl game.
Offensive Player of the Week: Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden is this week’s Offensive Player of the Week. Weeden threw for 288 yards and five touchdowns as the Cowboys crushed Kansas 70-28 in Stillwater.
Defensive Player of the Week: Illinois cornerback Tavon Wilson is this week’s Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Indiana. Wilson ran a fumble back 66 yards for a touchdown, recorded 11 tackles, and also had sack in a 41-20 victory for the Illini.
Play of the Week: As seen in the above YouTube clip, Nebraska’s Rex Burkhead helped the Cornhuskers overcome a 21 point second half deficit against Ohio State with this impressive sidestep and touchdown against the Buckeyes.