Individual: Cody Hodges, Texas Tech
Hodges tossed five touchdowns and had more than 430 passing yards to lead his high-powered offense to an 80-point explosion Saturday against Division 1-AA Sam Houston State. Just one week earlier Hodges threw for 454 yards and four touchdowns against Florida International in his first career start.
Critics will cite Hodges' weak opponents in his first two games of the season, but his numbers don't lie, and they are good enough to earn his Red Raiders the No. 19 spot in this week's AP poll. Don't expect Hodges' numbers to slow down this weekend at home against 0-3 Indiana State, a team who two weeks ago gave up 42 points to St. Francis (Ind.) State.
Team: Vanderbilt
The Commodores soared over Ole Miss last weekend en route to their first 3-0 record since 1984. Quarterback Jay Cutler moved to second place on Vanderbilt's all-time passing yardage list Saturday with his 314-yard performance in the 31-23 victory.
The eight-point home win over Ole Miss came after successive four-point road wins over Wake Forest and Arkansas, leading some Vanderbilt faithful to name them the \Cardiac Commodores."" Close games or not, the Commodores take their undefeated record to the field this weekend against Richmond, and probably won't see a real test until Oct. 8 when they face LSU. (for more, see page 10.)
Individual: Rhett Bomar, Oklahoma
Redshirt freshman Rhett Bomar came to Oklahoma as one of the nation's top recruits at quarterback, but in his first two starts his youth and inexperience have overshadowed any stellar talent he might hold.
On Saturday, Bomar gained a respectable 241 pass yards and threw no interceptions, but he fumbled four times on his way to a 41-24 loss to UCLA. Bomar's first start came the Saturday before that in a week two victory over Tulsa. Give Bomar no credit though, as he threw for only 41 total yards in the run-intensive victory. Bomar's job appears safe for now, but he will have to start playing better if the Sooners expect to climb back into the top 25.
Team: Pittsburgh
The Panthers expected to compete for the Big East Conference title behind first year head coach Dave Wannstedt, but so far this season has been a bust. Losing the season opener to a powerful Notre Dame squad was understandable, but the Panthers have since fallen to much weaker opponents Ohio and Nebraska and have gone to 0-3 for the first time since 1984.
If Wannstedt can't find a way to put his team on a winning track, not only will they not have a chance at the conference title, they may find themselves without a bowl bid this winter. Pitt will try to turn things around Saturday at home against Youngstown State.
-Max Hooker
