Over the past couple years, the most two-faced program in college football has to be the Maryland Terps. One week they’re losing to Middle Tennessee State and the next they’re beating a ranked California team. Then another week they get crushed 31-0 at Virginia, only to bounce back and rout the No. 21 team.

That No. 21 team in the nation was (emphasis on was) the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, who laid an egg in College Park on Saturday, falling to a near flawless Maryland team, 26-0. Terps’ QB Chris Turner was impressive in the victory, completing 28 of 41 passes for 321 yards and a touchdown, while junior wideout Darrius Heyward-Bey hauled in 11 catches for 101 yards and a score.

Getting back to Maryland’s inconsistencies – they have to be the most perplexing team in the ACC. They obviously have enough talent to compete and they continue to be incredibly tough to beat at home, but for some reason they can never get over the hump. Whether the blame falls on the coaches for not getting their team focused week in and week out or the players just aren’t executing, the bottom line is that the Terps are good enough to be ranked every year, yet continue to underachieve on so many levels.

As I’m sure some of you were this past Saturday, I sat on my couch in utter amazement at what I was watching go down in college football.

Maryland beat Clemson?

Navy is on top of Wake Forest??

Mississippi might knock off Florida???

USC lost to Oregon State????

Okay, so we knew that last outcome because it happened on Thursday night. And we shouldn’t have been that surprised when upsets happen in college football because, well, upsets happen in college football.

But the reason they’re happening this year is more prevalent than in years past: From smaller to big-time programs, the talent level is better across the nation.

Ole’ Miss isn’t afraid to walk into Gainesville these days because they have players like Jevan Snead and Shay Hodge that can compete with Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin. The Beavers could care less that the Trojans are the top ranked program in the nation not just because they beat USC in Corvallis two years ago, but also because quarterback Lyle Moevao and freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers can play for just about any team in the nation.

Granted, Florida is going to beat Mississippi on most Saturdays and that’s why the Gators were No. 5 in the nation and the Rebels weren’t anywhere near the top 25 coming into weekend. Voters are often clueless, but they’re competent enough to recognize that the Gators and Trojans have more overall depth and talent than the Rebels and Beavers. But the fact of the matter is that the mid-level programs have caught up dramatically over the years.

For the second year in a row, Navy pulled off one of best upsets in college football. Last year the Midshipmen beat Notre Dame for the first time in 43 tries, defeating the Irish 46-44 in South Bend. On Saturday, they pulled off an even bigger upset, beating No. 16 Wake Forest 24-17 at BB&T Field.

Wake, who perhaps was looking ahead to its game next week with Clemson, absolutely shot themselves in the foot all game. The Deacons turned the ball over an astonishing six times and mustered only 39 rushing yards. Conversely, Navy ran at will, racking up 294 yards and once they built a 17-0 lead at halftime, they never looked back.

Apparently nobody wants to win the ACC. One would have thought that with their big win last Saturday at Florida State, Wake would have used the momentum to take control of the conference. Instead they lost to an unranked Navy team that picked off four passes and dominated in time of possession, 35:40 to 23:19. Maybe Maryland, who pulled off an upset themselves on Saturday in beating No. 20 Clemson 20-17, can emerge in the Atlantic. But then again, the Terps also lost to Middle Tennessee State earlier this year.

Just a quick note about Navy, the Midshipmen go into virtually every game undersized, outnumbered and often with less overall talent on their roster. But they also have more heart, determination and focus than a lot of their opponents. And their upset over Notre Dame and Wake the past two years proves that.

Time to check out the big games, top matchups and potential upsets as college football heads into Week 4.

Top 25 Action:
No. 6 LSU (2-0, 0-0 SEC) at No. 10 Auburn (3-0, 1-0 SEC), Saturday 7:45 PM ET ESPN
The last time these two teams met in Auburn, JaMarcus Russell and the LSU offense was stuffed by the Tigers’ defense in a 7-3 loss in 2006. LSU hasn’t won in Auburn since 1998 and 11 of the last 18 meetings between these two schools have been decided by a touchdown or less. LSU and its 33rd-ranked offense might have trouble moving the ball against Auburn’s 10th-ranked defense, but the LSU defense should have no issues stopping an Auburn offense that has struggled mightily so far this season. LSU is currently a 2.5-point road favorite.

No. 18 Wake Forest (2-0) at No. 24 Florida State (2-0), Saturday 7:00 PM ET ESPN2
Don’t let Florida State’s gaudy stats fool you – the Seminoles have beaten two FCS teams and have yet to be challenged. They’ll get their first real test of the year when the Demon Deacons travel to Tallahassee this Saturday. While their two wins might have given FSU confidence heading into this game, the Noles are still young at a lot of positions, especially quarterback where sophomore Christian Ponder (396 yards, 6 TDs) is off to a great start this season but has yet to face a real defense. Deacons’ QB Riley Skinner will also look to continue his hot play after amassing 487 passing yards and five touchdowns in Wake’s first two games this season. The Seminoles are currently favored by 4 points at home.

Upset Watch:
Troy (2-0) at No. 13 Ohio State (2-1), Saturday 12:00 PM ET Big Ten Network
OSU head coach Jim Tressel said RB Chris “Beanieâ€� Wells is questionable to play Saturday after missing the past two games with an injured big toe. The Buckeyes also have issues at quarterback, where incumbent starter Todd Boeckman has strung together three poor outings in a row, including a disastrous effort in OSU’s 35-3 loss to USC last week. Tressel appears to be giving freshman Terrelle Pryor more of a role in the offense, which might be aiding in Boeckman’s troubles, as it’s hard for a quarterback to establish rhythm when he’s coming out of the game every other snap. Troy has wins over powder puffs Middle Tennessee State and Alcorn State, but the Trojans are no pushovers. They currently own the top ranked pass defense in the nation and have averaged over 500 yards a game offensively in their two victories. If anyone thinks a smaller school can’t compete with OSU at the Horseshoe, just look at what Ohio was able to do two weeks ago in Columbus when they went toe to toe with the Buckeyes for three and a half quarters. Ohio State is currently a 21-point favorite.

Other notable games:
No. 4 Florida at Tennessee, Saturday 3:30 PM ET CBS
No. 3 Georgia at Arizona State, Saturday 8:00 PM ET ABC
No. 9 Alabama at Arkansas, Saturday 12:30 PM ET

Time to check out the big games, top matchups and potential upsets as college football heads into Week 2.

Top 25 Action:
None. Nobody in the top 25 plays each other this weekend, which must have the television networks really, really excited.

Keep your eye on:
Ohio (0-1) at No. 3 Ohio State (1-0)
The Buckeyes should have no problem with instate rival Ohio this weekend, but it’ll be interesting to see if head coach Jim Tressel plays injured running back and Heisman hopeful Chris Wells. With a trip to Southern Cal on the docket, there’s no reason to play Wells this week against a cupcake like Ohio. (Although I’ll be the first to note that the MAC deserves more attention than what it gets. See the “Upset Watch” section for proof.) A running back-by-committee of David Herron, Maurice Wells and Brandon Saine should be more than enough for OSU to roll the Bobcats, so there should be no reason for “Beanieâ€� to even dress.

Upset Watch:
No. 8 West Virginia (1-0) at East Carolina (0-1)
While it’s true that I wouldn’t even have mentioned this game had it not been for the Pirates knocking off VA Tech last week, East Carolina has proven that it can hang with top programs. ECU will be looking for its third straight win over a ranked opponent, although West Virginia has won seven straight over the Pirates coming into this contest. Oddsmakers clearly feel that ECU can hang with the Mountaineers given that WVU is only an 8-point favorite.

Central Michigan (1-0) at No. 2 Georgia (1-0)
Yes, outside of the MAC last year the Chippewas got smacked by Kansas (52-7) and Purdue (45-22). But as Bowling Green proved by beating PITT last week, the MAC has some talented teams and CMU is currently the class of the conference. They have a Hesiman candidate at quarterback in Dan LeFevour and a playmaker at running back in Ontario Sneed. There’s no doubt Georgia has better and deeper talent and it’s tough for any team to win between the hedges (let alone a MAC team), but could UGA overlook little ol’ CMU with a trip to South Carolina on the schedule next week? Obviously oddsmakers don’t think so as they’ve made the Dawgs a 24-point favorite.

Other notable games:
Miami (FL) at No. 5 Florida – Saturday, Sept 6, 8:00pm ET
No. 15 BYU at Washington – Saturday, Sept 6, 3:00pm ET
Mississippi at No. 20 Wake Forest – Saturday, Sept 6, 3:300pm ET