Blanket Coverage: Glamorous, Not Great

Southern California, with one loss already this season, has allowed a combined 63 points the past two weeks in single-digit margin victories against unranked opponents. The Trojans are ranked No. 4 in this week's AP poll and are No. 5 in the BCS rankings. In the ranking that matters (the BCS poll) USC, whose loss came to a team with a sub-.500 record (Washington), is rated ahead of three undefeated teams and nine one-loss schools. Three of those one-loss programs (No. 9 LSU, No. 10 Oregon and No. 12 Penn State) fell to teams that are currently undefeated (respectively, Florida, Boise State and Iowa).

Am I missing something?

Then there's Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. No argument here that he fully deserved his 2007 Heisman Trophy and that he may be the toughest guy to have to line up across since Chris Spielman -- and he was a linebacker. If St. Paul and William Wallace could be morphed into a quarterback, it would be Tebow. But can anyone defend the concept of, this late in the season, his still being a Heisman frontrunner?

The Gators have played five BCS-level opponents and have beaten four of them by 10 points or fewer. Tebow has thrown eight touchdown passes against four interceptions. In the past five games no player has scored more touchdowns off Tebow passes than true freshman Johnthan Banks, who happens to play free safety for Mississippi State. Banks returned a pair of Tebow tosses for 100 yards and 20 yards in Florida's 29-19 win in Starkville on Saturday evening.

Tebow defenders point out that he is without Percy Harvin this season and that concussion he incurred at Kentucky. Tough. Jimmy Clausen at Notre Dame has played the past four games without Michael Floyd and he has not used that as a crutch (Clausen, though, does wear a protective boot for his turf toe).

Or how about Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore who, like Tebow, dons a blue-and-orange uniform each week as he leads an undefeated team toward a BCS bowl berth? Moore leads the nation in passing efficiency (Clausen is second; Tebow is 14th) and has tossed 21 touchdowns against only two interceptions.

USC has been the most glamorous program this decade and Tebow likely the most glamorous player. The Trojans, however, who are supposedly built on defense this season, have allowed more points the past two weeks than they have since September of 2003 (66 combined, to Hawaii and Cal). Oregon State had both a 300-yard passer (Sean Canfield, 329 yards) and a 100-yard rusher (Jacquizz Rodgers, 129 yards) against the supposedly daunting Trojan defense. Tebow's signature moment this season, alas, remains the hit he took at Kentucky.

Maybe at season's end the Trojans, who visit Oregon this week, will be worthy of their No. 4 (or higher) station. And perhaps Tebow will merit a third straight invite to New York City. Not yet, though. Not even close. Right now they are both coasting on reputation and on the sloth of pollsters and Heisman pundits who are either too lazy or too intractable to assess matters with an open mind.
Margins

For those of you who place an emphasis on margin of victory, I went through the trouble of doing some math homework this weekend. Here are the top five teams in each of the following categories: overall margin of victory, margin of victories against only FBS opponents, and margin of victory against only BCS opponents. Not that this information will clarify the big picture any better, but perhaps your favorite team is rated higher in one of these rankings than in the BCS polls (hello, Cincy!) and that will provide extra ammunition in your next skirmish with a co-worker.

Overall

1) Texas.......................................29.7 ppg

2) Cincinnati...............................27.0

3) Boise State............................. 25.8

4) Florida.....................................25.2

5) TCU..........................................21.7

Against FBS Only

1) Boise State.......................................27.1

2) Texas................................................26.5

3) Alabama..........................................20.6

4) Cincinnati........................................20.3

5) (tie) TCU/Florida............................19.5

Against BCS Only

1) Oregon.......................................................25

2) Cincinnati...................................................22.5

3) Texas...........................................................17.7

4) Alabama......................................................15.2

5) Florida..........................................................13.4

Should Pike Be Piqued?

When is the last time, this late in the season, that an undefeated team missed its starting quarterback less than Cincinnati missed Tony Pike Saturday? After the Bearcats' decisive 41-10 beat down of Louisville, in which backup Zach Collaros was 15-of-17 for 253 yards and three touchdowns, Cincy coach Brian Kelly said, "Nobody was worrying about where Tony Pike was."

The fifth-year senior was on the sideline, in sweats, just four days after undergoing surgery on his left forearm (Pike is a righty). Collaros, who ran for 52 yards one week after rushing for 132 in the second half alone at South Florida, adds an extra dimension, or as wideout Mardy Gilyard calls it, "a little more spice," to the nation's most potent offense. How potent? Cincy is No. 2 in scoring offense (40.71 ppg) yet second-to-last in time of possession (25:20 per game).

It's odd, but Pike may actually receive "Get well soon" cards from opposing coaches. "I was hoping Tony Pike would play, actually," Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe said.

Shipleys-McCoys Entirely Unlike Hatfields-McCoys

Best buds Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley hooked up for two touchdown passes Saturday at Missouri, but their families' ties only began there last weekend. The previous evening in Brownwood, Texas, Jordan's dad, Bob Shipley, led his Brownwood High team against Graham High, coached by Colt's dad, Brad McCoy.

As you may already know, Bob Shipley and Brad McCoy were teammates and roommates at Abilene Christian a quarter century ago. And the familial fraternity does not end with their respective All-American caliber sons in Austin, Jordan and Colt. On Friday evening, Graham quarterback Case McCoy threw four touchdown passes while Brownwood wide receiver Jaxon Shipley caught two touchdown passes to help Brownwood win, 28-27.

Case and Jaxon are headed to Texas next season and, yes, they are planning on rooming together.

Face Time

Georgia Tech defenders get about as much air time per broadcast as Andy Richter. In Saturday's 34-9 win at Virginia, the Yellow Jacket offense ran off four drives of 10 or more plays and held onto the ball for more than 42 minutes. One drive lasted 18 plays and exhausted 10:47 from the clock as well as the Cavalier defense. As for the Tech defense, there may be time to catch up on homework during games.

Elevation

The thing about mountains is that they have elevation, they don't, like dunk-contest participants, get elevation. Such was the case with Alabama nose tackle Terrence "Mount" Cody in Tuscaloosa. The 6-5, 350-pound Cody blocked two second-half Tennessee field goals, the last as time ran out, to preserve the unbeaten Tide's 12-10 win versus Tennessee.

"I didn't really get off the ground," said Cody, who blocked Daniel Lincoln's 44-yard try on the game's final play. "I just reached my arm up."

Cody celebrated his block by taking off his helmet and tossing, angering Vols head coach Lane Kiffin.

"If a play's still going, you can't take your helmet off," Kiffin said. "A guy throws his helmet as the ball's still live. He throws his helmet and then two of their guys go and recover the ball. It's a 15-yard penalty, and you kick again."

As for the Vols, Kiffin is drawing comparisons to first-year NFL head coach Josh McDaniel for all the right reasons. Both early thirtysomethings seemed way in over their heads when the season began. McDaniel is 6-0 with the Denver Broncos while Kiffin has taken his Vols and an utterly impotent quarterback on the road to Gainesville and Tuscaloosa and, against the nation's No. 1 teams at the time, lost by a total of 12 points.

Kiffin is even learning the art of diplomacy. Afterward he referred to Nick Saban's Tide as "the best-coached team around."

Tough Guy

In the first half of Utah's game against Air Force, Ute tailback Eddie Wide was bent backwards on a tackle. Wide was taken into the locker room for X-rays, but he convinced the trainers to allow him to return to the game in the second half. Wide rushed for a game-high 121 yards in Utah's 23-16 overtime win.

Potts Panned

The fans in Lubbock are either spoiled or ungrateful or both. Quarterback Taylor Potts, who suffered a concussion three weeks ago against New Mexico, committed three turnovers in the Red Raiders' 52-30 home loss to Texas A &M. Instead of "Guns up!" fans at Jones AT&T Stadium could be heard chanting "No more Potts!". Never mind that Texas Tech is second in the nation in passing offense and Potts second nationally in passing yards per game.

Luck-and Gerhart-Will Have a Lot to do with it

If Stanford is to become eligible for its first bowl since 2001, freshman quarterback Andrew Luck will need to continue playing with the poise of an upperclassman. Luck is second in the Pac-10 in passing efficiency behind only fellow frosh Matt Barkley of USC (the pair are 17th and 18th overall nationally). The Cardinal are 5-3 following their 33-14 win versus Arizona State Saturday but landing that sixth, bowl-eligible victory won't be easy. Stanford's final four games are against No. 10 Oregon, at No. 4 USC, against arch-rival Cal and finally against No. 25 Notre Dame.

On the other hand three of those games are in Palo Alto, where Jim Harbaugh's team is 8-1 since the beginning of 2008. Stanford's only loss in that span came in November to the Trojans. Also, Luck will end the season versus the Irish, who have allowed the three frosh QBs whom they have faced (Michigan's Tate Forcier, USC's Barkley and Boston College's Dave Shinskie) to enjoy career passing days against them.



Stats Incredible

-- Miquale Lewis rushed for 301 yards to lead winless Ball State past fellow victory-deprived MAC foe Eastern Michigan. Cory Sykes added 203 rushing yards. The 300-200 feat marked the first time in college football history -- at any level -- a school had running back reach those levels in the same game. The closest to the accomplishment came in 2007 when Mary Hardin Baylor's Jarvis Thrasher gained 324 yards and Quincy Daniels added 199 in a game with Mississippi College.

-- Miami scored 37 points but lost to Clemson, 40-37, in overtime. It was only the second time in the past 115 games, dating back to 1985, that the Hurricanes had scored 37 or more points and lost.

-- Meanwhile in Lincoln, Nebraska held Iowa state to nine points and lost, 9-7. It was the first time in 127 games that the Cornhuskers had held an opponent below 10 points and lost.

- -Vanderbilt punter Brett Upson had punts of 57 and 64 yards against South Carolina as well as two punts downed at the one yard-line. The Commodores still lost, 14-10.

-- Navy became the first team since ... well, Navy, a year ago to play an entire game without attempting a pass. The Midshipmen, playing in a deluge of rain and without starting quarterback Ricky Dobbs in Annapolis, ran the ball 64 times and threw zero passes in a 13-10 win against Wake Forest. Before the Middies went to their "No Fly Zone" offense last season versus SMU, no offense had gone pass-free since 1997.

-- A healthy at last Colt McCoy threw more touchdown passes (two) in the first half at Missouri than he had in the Longhorns' previous two games.

-- The Beavers gave it a good run at the Los Angeles Coliseum -- not since Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl had any opponent scored that many points against the Trojans -- but Oregon State still has not won in the Los Angeles area since 1960.

-- Colorado lost 20-6 at Kansas State, marking the 10th straight road loss the Buffs have suffered under Dan Hawkins. CU is 2-17 overall on the road under Hawk.

-- Typical mood-swing game in Evanston, as Northwestern rallied from 25 points down and, despite three Max Kafka interceptions in the second half, edged Indiana 29-28.

-- Arizona State freshman linebacker Vontaze Burfict is a future All-American, but the hyper-aggressive first-year stud picked up his fourth personal foul penalty in the past two games at Stanford.

-- Central Michigan is 7-1 with its lone defeat being a season-opening 19-6 loss at No. 23 Arizona. Quarterback Dan LeFevour and the Chippewas have a Halloweeen date at Boston College and a victory should propel them into the AP poll if voters are paying attention. CMU has already beaten Michigan State in East Lansing. Ask Iowa how easy that is to do. Sparty, by the way, has lost two of its four games on the final play and a third, at Notre Dame, in the final minute.