Many expected this game to be closer, but the Longhorns easily handled the Cowboys.

Curtis Brown and Earl Thomas each returned interceptions for touchdowns, and Cody Johnson had two short TD runs as the No. 3 Longhorns routed No. 13 Oklahoma State 41-14 on Saturday night to establish themselves as the clear frontrunner in the Big 12 South.

McCoy had an efficient 171-yard performance and threw his 100th career touchdown pass, and the Longhorns avoided the kind of letdown on Halloween weekend that cost them a chance to play for the Big 12 and national championships a year ago.

Texas (8-0, 5-0) came in with the nation’s toughest defense against the run, then played havoc with Zac Robinson and the Oklahoma State (6-2, 3-1) passing attack. Robinson came in as the conference’s top-rated passer after breaking the Cowboys’ record for accuracy in a game last week, but threw a career-high four picks against the Longhorns.

Texas scored 28 points off of Oklahoma State’s five turnovers, with Brown and Thomas cashing in immediately and Johnson scoring on runs of 2 and 1 yards after two other takeaways.

Let’s see. Texas cruises by a talented opponent. In the meantime, USC is upset by Oregon, college football’s dark horse. The Longhorns are looking better by the game, while USC is at a standstill. The Longhorns are obviously one of the best teams in the nation, but do they deserve to make the National Championship Game?

Maybe. As for USC, this day couldn’t get any worse.

“There’s a new king in the Pac-10.”

That’s what many pundits will be saying after Oregon’s daunting victory over USC. A couple games remain on the schedule, but Oregon is clearly the best team in the Pac-10 at this point. Oregon is still only undefeated Pac-10 team in conference play, while USC now has two losses. You can’t argue with that.

The Ducks came fully prepared to play this assumed Pac-10 championship game at the Autzen Zoo. Chip Kelly did something magical to this squad after their loss to Boise State, because the Ducks have been on a tear ever since. The Trojans, on the other hand, have recently looked shaky against Notre Dame and Oregon State. Strangely, their offense has been clicking while their defense has surrendered at least 27 points in their last two contests.

Many have ignored these performances but continued to criticize Oregon’s defense. Fact is, the Ducks have gotten it together on both ends of the field. Facing their toughest opponent yet in USC, the Trojans could only muster 109 yards rushing 160 receiving. Their quarterback Matt Barkley did throw two touchdown passes, but USC couldn’t convert third downs, as they finished 3-12 for the night.

Oregon quarterback Jermiah Masoli has taken a fair amount of criticism for his passing game. Like Tim Tebow, he likes to run the ball, but is often ineffective at involving his entire offense, unlike the Heisman winner. While four of Oregon’s five touchdowns came off rushing, Masoli did throw for 220 yards, including a nice touchdown pass to Jamere Holland. Most importantly, he looked confident out there, going great lengths to utilize his teammates.

Take a look at this: Oregon had over 600 yards of total offense. So much for USC’s impenetrable defense. We’ll see where Oregon ends up, but they truly should be proud of this win.

Greetings from “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party!” Of course, I’m not really in attendance, nor am I supposed to refer to this game by that moniker given the unsavory connotations. Since 2006, SEC officials have been calling it “The Florida–Georgia/Georgia–Florida Game.” How boring, but I understand their decision.

Since 1990, Florida has gone 16-3 in this game, following the domination by Georgia during the 70s and 80s. Last year, Florida got their redemption against Georgia after the notable “Gator Stomp” in 2007. Despite the intense rivalry, Florida was predicted to wipe out their opponents today. Simply put, Florida needed to have a huge day offensively to solidify their status as the No. 1 team in the nation. Although they weren’t dominant last week in their win over Mississippi, Alabama wasn’t impressive either.

To their fans’ delight, the entire Gators team showed up in Jacksonville in today’s 41-17 route over Georgia. Coach Urban Meyer decided to open up Florida’s passing game, which has been an issue all season. In doing so, he also strengthened Tebow’s Heisman campaign. Tebow completed 15 of 21 passes for 164 yards and two touhdowns (both to Riley Cooper). Of course, Tebow still ran the ball, scoring two touchdowns on 18 carries. With the first, Tebow surpassed Georgia alum Herschel Walker’s SEC record for rushing touchdowns. Tebow now has 51 to Walker’s 49.

All in all, Georgia’s flimsy defense was just what Florida to make an impact in the polls. Their defense is practically flawless week after week, so it should please Urban Meyer that his offense can overpower as well.

Man, we’re coming down to the wire. It’ll be very interesting to see what happens with Florida and Alabama.

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?

It’s probably fair to say that most college football fans would rather pull off one their arms and beat themselves with it than see another Big Ten team play for a national championship. But that’s exactly what might happen after Penn State defeated Ohio State 13-6 (their first win in Columbus since 1978) on Saturday night.

Joe Paterno’s bunch has just one road game left on its schedule (at Iowa next Saturday), before wrapping up the 2008 season with home contests against Indiana and Michigan. And while the Hawkeyes are an improved team, there isn’t a whole lot standing in the Nittany Lions way of running the table and finishing the year undefeated.

Those who watched Saturday night probably didn’t come away too impressed with PSU, but don’t forget that the Buckeyes have one of the most experienced defenses in the country. They held tough runner Evan Royster under 100 yards and even though Daryll Clark completed 12 of 20 passes for 121 yards, OSU’s defense battered him all night. (He even had to come out for most of the fourth quarter after taking a legal hit to the head.)

This game came down to Terrelle Pryor’s fumble early in the fourth quarter that PSU eventually turned into a touchdown. On a 3rd and 1 from the 50-yard line, Pryor tried to make a big play by bouncing outside instead of rushing forward for what should have been an easy first down. He had the ball stripped and in the end, it was the key play that turned the game around in the Lions favor. Still, he’s only a freshman and he’s got an incredible future ahead of him because despite the loss and what ESPN’s Mark May said earlier in the season, Pryor is clearly ready for prime time.

Penn State might not stand a chance against the best in the Big 12 or SEC, but outside of a bad half against Michigan last week, they’ve soundly beat opponents all season. They’re not flashy, but they play hard and do the little things right. General college football fans might not want to see another Big Ten team play for a title, but they might not have a choice after Saturday night.

In early May, the LSU Tigers kicked quarterback Ryan Perriloux off the team following multiple legal and disciplinary problems. After SEC rival Georgia trounced LSU 52-38 on Saturday, it’s clear that Perriloux is still costing his team.

Perriloux was supposed to help the Tigers win another national championship this season. But because he couldn’t fly straight, sophomore Jarrett Lee has had to step into the starting quarterback role.

While Lee has been far from bad this year (he has thrown for over 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns), he clearly is no match against tougher SEC opponents like UGA. Although he did throw for three touchdowns, the Bulldogs befuddled Lee at times, forcing him into three interceptions and some rather costly mistakes.

But Lee deserves a pass this season. He was supposed to be on the sidelines watching Perriloux run the offense. And perhaps even worse than Lee having to play is the idea that Perriloux also drove away blue chip prospects who didn’t want to ride the bench because he would block their playing time.

Even though Les Miles has kept his team in contention much of this year, one got the feeling that eventually LSU’s inexperience on both sides of the ball would doom them. It did against Florida two weeks ago, and certainly did once again on Saturday vs. the Bulldogs. Matthew Stafford abused a young Tiger secondary, which opened up running lanes for Heisman candidate Knowshon Moreno, who rushed for 163 yards and a touchdown. All in all, it was an impressive performance by UGA.

Michigan has gone to a bowl game the past 33 consecutive years. But with their 35-21 loss to instate rival Michigan State on Saturday, the Wolverines bowl streak – which is currently the longest in college football – is doomed.

Michigan would have to win its remaining four games to have a shot at a bowl, but that’s incredibly unrealistic considering they travel to Minnesota and Ohio State still.

To say the least, it’s been a long year for Rich Rodriguez. And if he doesn’t find a quarterback to run his spread option offense, things might get worse in Ann Arbor before they get better.

…playing for Florida State right now.

Graham Gano, a senior for FSU hit a 50-yard field goal Saturday against Virginia Tech. So what, right? That’s Gano’s fourth field goal of 50-yards or more in the past four games.

Considering numerous collegiate kickers around the nation are missing extra points on a regular basis, Gano’s achievement is pretty cool.

Looks like No. 8 Texas Tech will have to wait yet another week before finally facing a decent opponent as they run roughshod over No. 23 Kansas on Saturday, 63-21.

Don’t be fooled by the score. Yes the Red Raiders offense is unbelievable and they again showed how explosive they are in racking up 63 points and close to 600 yards. But the Jayhawks have shown week in and week out that they aren’t the same team that finished 12-1 last year and beat No. 3 Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

Kansas turned the ball over five times and couldn’t have stopped Tech’s offense had they only played with Graham Harrell (386 yards, 5 TDs) and Michael Crabtree (9 rec. 70 yards). Again, not to take anything away from them, but the talk next week (depending on how the Longhorns do against Oklahoma State) is how the Red Raiders could upset Texas. I guarantee you everyone is going to hop on the Tech bandwagon and forget how the Longhorns absolutely destroyed Oklahoma and MIZZOU this month.

I think Texas Tech is fun to watch and Harrell and Crabtree are amazing. But Texas is the most complete football team in the nation right now (again, assuming they don’t stumble against OK State and make me eat my words), so hopefully the mainstream media doesn’t go overboard with the upset talk next week. (Although who am I kidding, we all know they will.)