What we learned Week 11
Olin Buchanan
Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden is the Heisman front-runner. How could he not be? On a day in which the Cowboys quarterback passed for 423 yards and five touchdowns, most of the other contenders faltered slightly.
Andrew Luck had a solid game but threw two interceptions in a 53-30 loss to
Oregon.
Trent Richardson had a good but unspectacular showing in a victory over
Mississippi State.
Boise State's
Kellen Moore threw two touchdown passes in a 36-35 loss to
TCU. Weeden has thrown for 3,212 yards and 26 touchdowns for the unbeaten Cowboys. He's thrown at least three touchdown passes in each of the past four games.
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Slideshow: Saturday's college football highlights]
Oklahoma is back in the national championship picture. Although the Sooners were ranked No. 1 entering the season, their national championship aspirations took a serious blow with a loss to
Texas Tech. But on a day in which the Sooners were off, they were big winners. OU is sixth in the BCS standings, but No. 4
Stanford and No. 5 Boise State lost. The Sooners face No. 2 Oklahoma State in the season finale. If OU wins out, the Sooners may just end up at No. 2 because numerous BCS voters may be averse to seeing No. 1
LSU play a rematch against
Alabama or Oregon in the national championship game. That is, assuming LSU gets there.
David Fox
Collin Klein deserves some Heisman attention. We've spent too much time in recent weeks talking about whose Heisman stock has slipped - Andrew Luck, Trent Richardson and others. Klein needs to be the list of risers. At the start of the season, the
Kansas State quarterback was a nice story on a surprise team, but he has shown in his past two games that he needs to show up in some voters' top five. At the start of the season, he was an effective runner and an adequate passer. That has changed. Klein passed for 231 yards in the 52-45 loss to Oklahoma State. On Saturday, he was 17-of-27 for 282 yards and a touchdown in the 53-50 quadruple-overtime win over
Texas A&M. Against the Aggies, he also rushed for more than 100 yards for the fifth time this season and had five rushing touchdowns. His 24 rushing touchdowns are more than Cam Newton had last season and more than Tim Tebow had in a single season. Klein is not near their league as a passer, but Kansas State wouldn't be even close to 8-2 without him. He'll also have trouble beating out Brandon Weeden, Robert Griffin and Landry Jones on the All-Big 12 team, but Klein should at least get some consideration on Heisman ballots.
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Winners and losers: Dream ends for Boise State ? again]
The spotlight now is on Houston. Fans of one-loss teams may have been waiting for Boise State to lose to end any question about the Broncos in the title game. Houston has been waiting for a Boise State loss, too. The Broncos' loss opens the door for Houston to play in a BCS game. The Cougars can't make a case for the national title; this Cougars team is a lot like the 2007 Hawaii team, which used a high-flying offense and ho-hum schedule to go undefeated on the way to a loss to
Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Is Houston deserving? Maybe not. The Cougars' best win is by four over
UCLA. They struggled with
Louisiana Tech and
UTEP. But I'm guessing an undefeated Houston team gets a BCS bid anyway. Finishing undefeated is no guarantee, though. Next week, Houston faces
SMU, and a road trip to
Tulsa to end the regular season could be difficult. If Houston gets through those two, it likely would face
Southern Miss in the Conference USA title game. The Golden Eagles might have enough offensive and defensive balance to slow Houston.
Mike Huguenin
Georgia is going to win the SEC East because it took advantage. Despite a solid record (8-2, with an eight-game winning streak), this is not a vintage Bulldogs team. But coach
Mark Richt and his staff deserve a ton of credit for making sure a team that started 0-2 didn't implode. Georgia basically clinched the SEC East title by routing
Auburn on Saturday; technically, the Bulldogs must beat
Kentucky next week to truly clinch the title, but the Wildcats are awful (if you needed conformation, losing by 30 to
Vanderbilt should provide that confirmation). The SEC East is as weak as it has been, but give the Bulldogs credit for taking advantage of that - and for taking advantage of
Florida and
Tennessee being down and for taking advantage of a schedule that didn't include Alabama,
Arkansas or LSU. A lot of things fell into place for Georgia, but unlike a lot of other teams nationally who have had things handed to them, Georgia fully appreciated the gifts.
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Forde: Penn State tries to regain a shred of normalcy on a solemn day]
The Big Ten championship game is going to feature a rematch.
Penn State's loss to
Nebraska,
Purdue's shocker over
Ohio State,
Michigan State's dominating performance at
Iowa - all those results go a long way toward setting up a Michigan State-
Wisconsin rematch in the inaugural Big Ten title game. Wisconsin plays a reeling
Illinois team this week, then closes at home against Penn State in a game that will decide the Leaders Division title (as long as the Badgers beat the Illini). Meanwhile, in the Legends Division, beating Iowa was Michigan State's last real hurdle. The Spartans close with
Indiana and
Northwestern, and winning both would mean they will wear the division crown.
Steve Megargee
Andrew Luck needs more help. Stanford's 53-30 loss to Oregon may have cost Luck his front-runner status in the Heisman race. Luck wasn't at his best, as he threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns but also tossed a couple of interceptions and lost a fumble. But he certainly wasn't the reason Stanford lost the game. Frankly, he's one of the major reasons Stanford was even competitive. Luck won't get a shot to play for the national title mainly because his team lacks an elite receiver or an outstanding defense. Stanford's defense didn't come close to containing
LaMichael James, and Luck's receivers dropped numerous passes. Stanford's hopes of winning a BCS game for a second consecutive season depend on whether Luck's teammates can step up their level of play.
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Video: Andrew Luck down after Stanford's loss to Oregon]
Nobody wants to win the Pac-12 South. Do we really need to have a Pac-12 championship game this year, or can we just hand out the automatic BCS bid to the North champion? No eligible teams in the South Division deserve a shot at a conference title. The only South Division team that could give Oregon or Stanford a decent game is
USC, which isn't eligible for the conference title because it's on probation. That leaves
Arizona State (6-4, 4-3 Pac-12) or
UCLA (5-5, 4-3) as the likely South Division representative, though neither team is playing as if anything is at stake. UCLA fell 31-6 at
Utah on Saturday, while Arizona State lost 37-27 to
Washington State.
Mike Huguenin's Week 11 awards
COACHES
Wish I were him:
Oregon's
Chip Kelly
Glad I'm not him:
N.C. State's
Tom O'Brien
Lucky guy:
Clemson's
Dabo Swinney
Poor guy: Boise State's
Chris Petersen
Desperately seeking a clue: Arizona State's
Dennis Erickson
Desperately seeking a P.R. man:
Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Ohio State's
Luke Fickell
Desperately seeking ... anything: Kentucky's
Joker Phillips
TEAMS
Thought you'd kick butt, you did: Houston
Thought you'd kick butt, you didn't:
Arizona
Thought you'd get your butt kicked, you did:
Minnesota
Thought you'd get your butt kicked, you didn't:
Wake Forest
Dang, they're good: Oregon
Dang, they're bad: Texas Tech
Did the season start? Illinois
Can the season end?
Maryland
Can the season never end? Georgia
GAMES
Play this again: Kansas State 53, Texas A&M 50 (4OTs)
Never play this again: Oklahoma State 66, Texas Tech 6
What?
Missouri 17, Texas 5
Huh? Washington State 37, Arizona State 27
Are you kidding me?
Boston College 14, N.C. State 10
Oh ? my ? God: Purdue 26, Ohio State 23 (OT)
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: Nebraska at Michigan
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: None
Best non-Big Six matchup: SMU at Houston
Why are they playing? Georgia Southern at Alabama
Upset alert: Vanderbilt over Tennessee in Knoxville
Must win: Arizona State vs. Arizona in Tempe
Offensive explosion: USC at Oregon
Defensive struggle: Louisville at Connecticut
Intriguing coaching matchup: Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy vs. Iowa State's Paul Rhoads
Who's bringing the body bags? The Citadel at South Carolina
Plenty of good seats remaining: Maryland at Wake Forest
They shoot horses, don't they? LSU at Ole Miss
Waco Kid's College Football Week 11
