Hot
Kentucky's Offense
Kentucky is no longer just a basketball school. The Wildcats put up 43 points against the top-notch defense of LSU and have been wracking up the points throughout the season. The Wildcats were able to keep their cool in the three overtimes against the former No. 1 Tigers. After a huge defensive stop, the Wildcats' senior quarterback Andre' Woodson completed a seven-yard pass to senior wide receiver Steve Johnson in the third overtime to finish the Tigers off. Woodson was coming off of a so-so game against South Carolina, the only game where the Wildcats scored below 40 points, but he was able to shake it off and throw for 250 yards and three touchdowns against LSU. Let's see if they can take down another SEC monster, Florida, which is coming off of two heart-breaking losses to Auburn and those very same LSU Tigers, this weekend.
South Florida
There is only one undefeated team from the Sunshine state. It's not the Gators, the Hurricanes or the Seminoles; it's the Bulls. South Florida tacked on another win to their record (6-0) by stomping Central Florida 66-12, playing amazing defense throughout the game. They shut down UCF's dominant junior running back Kevin Smith, holding him to only 55 yards on 18 carries, and sophomore defensive end George Selvie added another sack to his nation-leading total of 20.5, as well as recording three tackles for a loss and a forced fumble. The No. 2 Bulls have a couple of challenging opponents in front of them, including Rutgers, Cinci, and Louisville, but if they can escape from those three unscathed they may be playing their first BCS bowl game for a National Championship. Who would have predicted that at the start of this year?
Oklahoma
Oklahoma has bounced back from its loss at Colorado. The Sooners went to Dallas and took down the Longhorns and then came home to beat undefeated Missouri. Their overwhelming offense seems to be back on track, scoring 41 points against the Tigers. Senior running back Allan Patrick and sophomore running back Chris Brown seem to have taken over Adrian Peterson's slot with little dropoff. Brown totaled 67 yards on 13 carries and scored three touchdowns against Missouri. Freshman quarterback Sam Bradford has also cleaned up his game, not throwing an interception against either of the two ranked opponents. It's a shame that the Sooners don't have a game against the top Big 12 team, Kansas, to see how they would match up, but with games against Texas Tech and Texas A&M down the stretch, OU should be challenged enough that if they win, they will have their BCS Bowl bid back.
Cold
LSU's Defense
Before the season started and through the first weeks of the season, there was a debate on who had the best defense: USC or LSU. LSU rightfully took the crown from USC, only allowing a few points per game. But then they gave up 43 against KENTUCKY. Kentucky has a great offense, LSU is supposed to be competing for a BCS National Championship Bowl this year, and anything below that is supposed to be a failure. How can you let this team from the Bluegrass State light you up like that? The defense of LSU let the Tigers down especially in the first overtime, where sophomore defensive end Tyson Jackson had a roughing the passer penalty putting the Wildcats in prime field position, which led to a quick touchdown at the start of overtime. Unless they're lucky, LSU lost their hopes for a National Championship.
USC's Offense
With senior quarterback John David Booty out with a broken finger, USC's offense struggled against Arizona. Not the undefeated Sun Devils from ASU, but the 2-5 Arizona Wildcats. Sure they got the win, but they barely did so with a dominant defense and a terrible offense against a very average team. This is not the offense that USC was supposed to have. Sophomore quarterback Mark Sanchez was a weak substitute for Booty, throwing two interceptions and only a single touchdown, but Booty also struggled in their loss against Stanford, where he threw four interceptions himself. While Sanchez is excused since he is only a backup sophomore, Booty needs to step up his game if he hopes to overcome Oregon in two weeks. Luckily for him, he can beat up on a bad Notre Dame team this weekend to build his confidence, if he plays.
CALIFORNIA
Oh how far Cal has fallen. The Golden Bears had the perfect opportunity to take the Pac-10, with USC's loss to Stanford and a win against Oregon. But, like their southern rivals, they stumbled over a lesser team, Oregon State, to lose their hopes of going to the National Championship game. Now they are sitting at No. 12 in the BCS standings, where they most likely would have been No. 1 if they had won against the Beavers at home. With a string of tough games in front of them, Cal may fall even further, possibly out of the BCS Bowl games. Looking at the schedule, they play at UCLA, next week, then play at undefeated ASU and then further down the road have to play USC. Cal has to completely forget about this loss if it hopes to win out the rest of the season.
