This game wasn’t pretty. Actually, it was downright brutal at times. There were nine turnovers in total, but this isn’t to say either Indiana or Iowa’s defenses were stellar. Indiana exposed the Hawkeyes’ defensive weakness throughout the first three quarters. Yet, Iowa’s offense exploded out of nowhere in the fourth, leading their team to a 42-24 victory.

Nevertheless, people will continue to downgrade Iowa’s high ranking. Now with a 9-0 record, it’s tough to devalue their season. We’ll see how the rest of today’s games play out, but Iowa is currently one of seven undefeated teams in the Top 25. They don’t demonstrate great football by any means, but damn are their games exciting to watch. They have trailed in eight of their nine competitions this year, and have managed to come back to take each one.

Nevertheless, Iowa and quarterback Ricky Stanzi were shoddy at best until the fourth quarter. People will cite this as justification to knock Iowa down a few slots in the rankings. I completely agree with that sentiment. Iowa, the No. 4 team in the nation, should not trail a meager Indiana squad for most of the game. Stanzi threw five (I know) interceptions today. That’s inexcusable — he would be benched if it wasn’t for their record. But how in the hell have they managed to remain undefeated? The fourth quarter.

Somehow, Stazi came out with an undeterred confidence and immediately connected with star receiver Marvin McNutt for a 92-yard touchdown pass. Minutes later, Stanzi found Derrell Johnson-Koulianos for a 66-yard touchdown. By then, Iowa had found their groove. Stanzi continued to feed the ball to running back Brandon Wegher, who is subbing for the injured Adam Robinson. Wegher exceeded expectations, scoring three touchdowns on 119 yards and 25 carries.

While Iowa fans are drunk on happiness, detractors of the BCS system are fuming. With their improbable season, Iowa’s game against Ohio St. is going to be essential viewing. Who expected that?

In the past two weeks, Frank Beamer’s Hokies have seen their season implode. After winning five straight to get to 5-1 on the season (they dropped the opener to Alabama), Virginia Tech was soundly defeated by Georgia Tech last Saturday and then was shocked last night by North Carolina, 20-17.

How do the Tar Heels walk into Blacksburg and earn a victory you ask? Well it helps when quarterback Tyrod Taylor starts the game 3-for-9 passing and finishes with only 161 yards and no touchdowns. He was highly inaccurate all night and often put the Hokies in third-and-longs by taking unnecessary sacks instead of getting rid of the ball.

That said, North Carolina’s defense deserves credit for pressuring Taylor the entire night and not allowing freshman running back Ryan Williams to run wild. He finished with 96 yards on 23 carries and no touchdowns, which is certainly respectable, but a far cry from some of his previous outings.

The Tar Heel defense stepped up big time in the first half while their offense sputtered, and then held on in the second half when the Hokies tried to make a run. Jheraine Boyd’s 13-yard touchdown pass from T.J. Yates right before the half gave North Carolina the momentum and confidence it needed to compete with the Hokies in the second half.

Not to crap on North Carolina’s accomplishment, but this wasn’t a favorable outcome for the ACC. VA Tech’s loss will likely drop them out of the top 25 and probably out of the top 15 of the BCS standings. That leaves Georgia Tech as the only ACC team in the top 15, and chances are the conference won’t have two BCS bowl teams.

But as they say: Oh, well. For a struggling North Carolina team to upset Virginia Tech on the road is quite an accomplishment and the bigger picture in the ACC shouldn’t tarnish what the Tar Heels did last night.

Nobody should be surprised at the outcome in Starkville on Saturday night. No. 1 Florida (which has struggled in Starkville since its last win there in 1985) got a great effort from its defense, but the Gators struggled at times offensively and Mississippi State gave them a fight before finally falling 29-19.

But if Florida was looking to silence its critics, it certainly didn’t do even tonight to accomplish that. Outside of gaining 88 yards on 22 carries and one rushing touchdown, Tim Tebow wasn’t very good. In fact, one could argue that the only reason this game was close was because Tebow kept the Bulldogs in it by throwing two interceptions that Miss State returned for touchdowns. (He also took a truck load of sacks by holding onto the ball too long.)

Even though the Gators only held on to a 13-10 lead at halftime, this game was never really in doubt. The Bulldogs were horrid offensively and couldn’t sustain drives. Again, the only reason they were even in the game is because their defense gave an outstanding effort and managed to produce two touchdowns.

That said, did Florida do enough to remain No. 1 in the BCS standings? Before you say no, remember that Alabama wasn’t that impressive either. The Tide needed a blocked field goal to hold off Tennessee at home, as they too struggled offensively. No. 3 Texas might have an argument after routing Missouri 41-7 on the road, but it’s highly unlikely that the conservative BCS voters would make a move like that and rank the Longhorns No. 1.

Chances are that Florida will find itself atop the BCS standings for a second consecutive week. But for the second consecutive week, the Gators weren’t all that impressive either.

Even those that think they’re the most overrated team in college football have to admit how remarkable the Iowa Hawkeyes have been this season.

No. 6 Iowa stayed perfect on the season thanks to an improbable 15-13 win over Michigan State on Saturday. Both teams struggling generating any kind of offense until less than three minutes remaining when Iowa took a 9-6 lead on a 20-yard Daniel Murray field goal.

The Spartans then marched up the field (thanks to a great hook-and-ladder call) and scored on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Blair White with only 1:37 remaining in the game to put MSU up 13-9. Iowa answered back with a drive of its own, capping it off with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Ricky Stanzi to Marvin McNutt on a 4th and goal as time expired.

Iowa is 8-0 on the season and in all but one of those wins (a 35-3 rout of Iowa State), the Hawkeyes battled some kind of adversity. Whether they’ve been trailing at the start of the game, at halftime or late in the fourth quarter, Iowa has found a way to win and for that, voters must keep them ranked high.

I would be willing to argue with anyone who said Iowa isn’t impressive. Are they dominating opponents? No. Are the playing top-notch teams every week? No. Should they have probably suffered a loss at this point? Yes, if not several. Did Michigan State choke several times on the final drive? Absolutely.

But isn’t the point of the lame, stupid, idiotic BCS system to win games? Isn’t the point to treat every week like it’s a playoff game where victory reigns supreme? It’s not like the Hawkeyes play in the Big East or the Mountain West – they play in the Big Ten, where Ohio State has made a living off playing in BCS games or the national championship with one or no losses.

Iowa could lose next week and be dropped so far down in the polls that they would need a sniper lens just to see the top. But for now, they’re undefeated, are the team to beat in the Big Ten and will continue to be in BCS contention.

Go figure, Miami faces four ranked teams to start the season (Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma), manages to win three of those games, but then suffers its second loss of the season to an unranked Clemson team at home.

A pesky Tigers team knocked off the No. 10 Hurricanes 40-37 in overtime on Saturday, thanks in large part to Kyle Parker’s big passing day. The freshman quarterback completed 25 of his 37 pass attempts for 326 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. His 26-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Ford in overtime gave Clemson the victory.

Heisman candidate Jacory Harris made a slew of mistakes in this game and just couldn’t recover. He threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns, but his three interceptions doomed Miami as the Canes turned the ball over a total of four times.

With Miami’s loss, Georgia Tech now becomes the outright leader in the Coastal Division by a wide margin. The defeat also opens the door for the Yellow Jackets to leapfrog the Hurricanes in the BCS standings, which is obviously critical.

The “O” word will start to be thrown around Miami now. Their win over Florida State at the start of the season doesn’t look as impressive now as it did then given how the ‘Noles have stumbled. Of course, their win over Georgia Tech holds strong, especially considering how the Jackets continue to climb the rankings.

Still, with two losses in the ACC, the Hurricanes look rather average right now, don’t they?

At the end of the day, winning games in college football is the only thing that matters. That’s why Alabama won’t apologize for its 12-10 victory over Tennessee at home on Saturday, even though it needed a blocked field goal as time expired to secure the win.

That said, Nick Saban better figure out a way for his team to move the ball through the air or else the Tide won’t find themselves playing for a national title this year.

The Alabama coaching staff showed little to no confidence in quarterback Greg McElroy today. Either that, or McElroy played too conservatively because he barely threw the ball vertically and his average pass went for a paltry 4.1 yards.

The playcalling was also highly questionable at times for Alabama, especially in on the Tide’s final drive before halftime. Their offensive line was blowing the Vols off the ball and Mark Ingram had gapping holes to run through. Yet when ‘Bama got inside the 10 yard line, Saban’s crew called two straight passes on second and third down, both of which fell incomplete and the Tide had to settle for a field goal.

Why, when you’re completely dominating the line of scrimmage and running the ball at will, would you call two straight pass plays? The calls made no sense and they probably cost ‘Bama six points. Granted, Monte Kiffin’s defense deserves a lot of credit for taking away the run and neutralizing Ingram (he had 99 yards on 18 carries) as much as possible, but the Tide coaching staff flat out blew it before half.

Outside of the final two minutes when they allowed Tennessee to get back into the game, the Tide defense played great. There were multiple times today when the Vols got on ‘Bama’s side of the field and the Tide defense knocked them backwards. Just as they’ve been all season, they were impressive.

But again, if this team wants to play for a national championship then Saban needs to figure out how to move the chains outside of handing the ball to Ingram every play.

After his dismal effort last week in a loss at Purdue, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor rebounded as the Buckeyes trounced Minnesota 38-7 on Saturday.

Outside of his 62-yard touchdown pass to DeVier Posey early in the second quarter, Pryor looked as bad in the first half as he did against Purdue. He underthrew open receivers, forced passes into coverage and threw an interception right before half that killed a potential scoring drive for the Buckeyes.

But in the second half, Pryor used his legs to move the chains and his decision-making was much better. On one play in particular, he escaped a potential sack and once he scrambled towards the sideline, he threw the ball away instead of forcing it to a covered receiver. He finished 13-of-25 for 239 yards, two touchdowns and the one interception, while also rushing for 104 yards on 15 carries.

This performance certainly doesn’t erase how bad Pryor has looked at times this season, but maybe the game will give him confidence going forward. Maybe he did learn something from the loss to Purdue last week.

Minnesota gave Ohio State so many opportunities in this game. They turned the ball over four times, which included fumbling the opening kickoff of the second half. Without receiver Eric Decker, the Golden Gophers are absolutely hapless offensively.

Besides earning a victory to move into first place in the Coastal Division, Georgia Tech’s goal this week was to make sure that their upset over Virginia Tech last Saturday counted for something.

With their impressive 34-9 win over the Cavaliers in Week 8, the Yellow Jackets accomplished their goal.

With all due respect to Virginia Tech’s Ryan Williams, the combination of Jonathan Dwyer, Anthony Allen and Josh Nesbitt gives Georgia Tech the best backfield in the ACC. The trio rushed for 310 yards on 56 carries against Virginia on Saturday as the Yellow Jackets’ triple option once again took over the game. The Cavilers were very much in control in the first half, but Georgia Tech ran away (excuse the pun) with the game in the third and forth quarters.

Virginia also blew plenty of opportunities offensively in the red zone. But give credit to Georgia Tech’s defense for producing a couple of big plays, perhaps none bigger than Rashaad Reid’s hit on Kris Burd in the end zone to break up what could have gotten the Cavaliers back in the game in the second half.

If the Yellow Jackets’ defense continues to match the production of the offense, then they’ll stay atop the Coastal Division standings. It’s time to stop calling Georgia Tech a one-dimensional team and start giving Paul Johnson’s program credit for being a sound football team.

No. 11 Iowa had to overcome an early 7-0 deficit to narrowly beat Michigan last week, a 10-0 deficit on the road to beat Penn State in late September, and also needed to block two last-minute field goals to avoid a shocking upset to Northern Iowa in the opening week.

So is anyone surprised that the Hawkeyes once again had to overcome adversity to beat Wisconsin on Saturday?

Iowa owes much of its 20-10 victory over the Badgers today to its defense, which was amazing in the second half. Pat Angerer and Adrian Clayborn essentially took the game over as the Hawkeyes shut the Badgers out in the second half.

Quarterback Ricky Stanzi also played a key role in Iowa’s victory. Despite leading the Hawkeyes to an undefeated record, Stanzi has been often criticized by fans and college football pundits this year. And while his final numbers (17 of 23, 218 yards, 1 TD) weren’t eye-popping, the junior quarterback never panicked despite facing the early deficit and turned in a solid second half performance.

Wisconsin once again shot itself in the foot with turnovers and the inability to move the ball offensively in the second half. After looking great in the first quarter, Badger signal caller Scott Tolzien was brutal in the second half and was the main catalyst in Wisconsin’s collapse. He continues to waste solid performances by sophomore running back John Clay.

With Ohio State’s loss to Purdue on Saturday, all eyes are now on Iowa in the Big Ten. It’s the Hawkeyes’ conference to lose and outside of a pivotal game in Columbus in November, Iowa doesn’t face many roadblocks the rest of the season.