Week 11 of the college football season features a rarity this late in the regular season: three different matchups between top-10 (AP) teams. Given the nature of how this will shape the college football playoff landscape, I thought that it might be interesting to break down each of these games, the teams, and the history of the matchup. (All rankings noted are AP, given that the next College Football Playoff rankings aren’t until tomorrow night.)

The first game we’ll examine takes us to Auburn, where the 7-2 Tigers, now ranked #10, host undefeated #2-ranked Georgia.  This game has a long and storied history; in fact, it’s known as “The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.”  The teams have played each other 120 times since 1892, making it the most-played game in the SEC, the fourth-most played in the FBS, and the ninth-most played overall.  Georgia holds a 57-55-8 advantage in the series, and has won all but two games since 2006.  The game is well-known for producing personalities that have ties to both sides: Georgia’s long-time head coach Vince Dooley played quarterback and graduated from Auburn, and Pat Dye was an All-American offensive lineman at Georgia before becoming head coach at Auburn in 1981.  The teams both rank in the top 20 all time in winning percentage (Georgia 13^th at .651, Auburn 19^th at .632), and wins (Georgia 11^th with 804, Auburn 13^th with 763).  No team has beaten Auburn more than Georgia, and no team has beaten Georgia more than Auburn.  The teams have played many memorable games in the past, including the first SEC game to be decided in overtime in 1996 (a 56-49 Georgia win in 4 OT), and the “Prayer in Jordan-Hare”, in which Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall (himself a former Georgia player) threw a Hail Mary pass, tipped by Georgia safety Josh Harvey-Clemons directly into the hands of Auburn receiver Ricardo Louis to give Auburn an improbable 43-38 win.

The next matchup has a much shorter history, but a more acrimonious one to be sure.  One-loss #3 Notre Dame takes a trip to South Beach to visit unbeaten #7 Miami in the first game played between the two in the Sunshine State since 1989.  The Fighting Irish hold a 17-7-1 lead in the series, having won the last three games. The teams don’t play each other very often – this is only the fourth game since 1990, and the second true “home game” during that period – but the teams met annually between 1971 and 1990, with the exception of 1986. Notre Dame won each game in the 70’s, but Miami won seven out of ten in the 80’s. However, they did not win the most famous game in the series – the 1988 “Catholics vs. Convicts” game. A couple of enterprising Notre Dame students, noting Miami’s penchant for trash talk and intimidation tactics, printed the slogan on T-shirts in advance of the game between the two undefeated teams, and the media took it and ran with it. The Hurricanes, who were riding a 36-game regular season winning streak, scored a late touchdown to pull within 31-30. However, instead of kicking the extra point, they opted to go for two and the win, and the resulting pass was incomplete. Notre Dame finished 12-0 and national champions, while Miami finished #2 in the country with an 11-1 record. In 2005, a poll conducted by Notre Dame resulted in this game being called the greatest win in the history of the Notre Dame football program.

The third top-ten matchup of the week is the least-played of the three: TCU-Oklahoma.  Despite being separated by less than 200 miles, the Sooners and the Horned Frogs have only met sixteen times previously. Oklahoma holds an 11-5 edge in the series.  The teams played five straight games between 1944 and 1948, then only once between 1949 and 1992.   With the addition of TCU to the Big Twelve starting in the 2012 season, the game has become an annual matchup; the Sooners have won four of the past five games since TCU entered the league, although the games have been competitive; all of them were decided by a touchdown or less. This year, while the teams cannot clinch a conference title by winning the matchup, they can go a long way towards clinching a berth in the championship game. The Big Twelve takes the two teams with the best records to play in the conference title game, and the winner of this game will be the only Big Twelve team with one conference loss.  TCU’s lone win over Oklahoma, a 37-33 win in 2014, helped propel the Horned Frogs to a conference co-championship and final #3 ranking.

In small-school news: trivia question. What two schools have over 900 wins all-time in college football? The answer is Michigan…and Yale, which won its 900^th game against Columbia on October 28^th. (Notre Dame fans might argue that their program also has over 900 wins, but there are currently 21 wins in a vacated state that haven’t been ruled on by the NCAA yet, so they’re not counted here.)  They won their 901^st last week against Brown, 34-7. Yale is having one of their best seasons in quite some time. Currently 7-1 and 5-1 in the Ivy League, they are two wins from their first conference title since 2006 (and their first outright Ivy League title since 1980).  Those two games? Princeton, whom they’ve played 140 times (the second-most played game in NCAA history), and Harvard in “The Game”.  Incidentally, while Yale has been playing football since 1872, the Ivy League has only been around since 1954 (with the first Ivy League football season taking place in 1956).  Yale has won fourteen conference championships in that time.

Congratulations to pachyderm, who takes week 10 honors in a tie-breaker over AllySun!  Both finished with 186 points.  WarTiger91 and Crimson Gator were next with 183 points.

Standings after ten weeks:

1st	AllySun	1969
2nd	Crimson Gator	1967
3rd	Paul Herron	1965
T-4th	AUBrian	1960
T-4th	Bamarock	1960
6th	JagRag	1955
7th	WarTiger91	1949
8th	Jeff4Bama	1948
9th	pachyderm	1941
10th	bamaken	1916

As I’ve mentioned, there are some big top-ten matchups this week, but they’re only part of the story.  There are four other games involving top-25 teams playing each other.  Divisions and conference championship game berths are on the line, and as the tension mounts, the games get tougher to pick! The first game this week is Washington at Stanford, Friday, November 10 @ 10:30 PM ET (good luck staying up for this one), so make sure to get your picks in by then!

Tonight, the first College Football Playoff rankings come out, and it will be interesting to see on what the committee puts emphasis.  There seem to be two obvious candidates for the coveted #1 spot. Alabama has looked dominant against every opponent they have faced, but some would argue that they haven’t faced enough quality opponents yet to make a convincing argument for #1, and the season-opening win over then #3 Florida State doesn’t hold nearly the cache most thought it would. Georgia has mostly matched the Crimson Tide in terms of dominance, and has a road win over Notre Dame as a trump card; is that enough to push the Bulldogs into the top spot? That’s not the only question to be answered this evening. How many 1-loss teams are in the top four, and who are they? Is Oklahoma, who whipped Ohio State in Columbus early in the year but has had struggles since, ranked above the Buckeyes, who have been mostly impressive and are coming off a big win against then #2 Penn State? Where does Notre Dame fit in? Some would put them as high as #3 overall. And so on, and so on…

When you’re not one of the college football blue-bloods, you learn to really enjoy the seasons where your team plays well over its historic pace. Iowa State fans find themselves in just such a situation this year. The Cyclones, owners of an all-time .451 winning percentage and one season of over seven wins since 1980, pulled off their second win over a top-5 team in the month of October by shocking TCU 14-7. ISU currently sits at 6-2, 4-1 in the Big Twelve. They’re bowl-eligible for the first time since 2012. But who’s to say that their dreams have to end there? That 4-1 mark has them tied for the lead in the Big Twelve, with tie-breakers already over TCU and Oklahoma. After the events of October, I’m not sure any Big Twelve championship contender wants to see Matt Campbell’s bunch in December…

John Wolford and Greg Dortch had themselves a day against Louisville. Wolford, the Wake Forest starting quarterback, became the first Demon Deacon to throw for 400 yards in a game since 1998, as he finished with 461 and five touchdowns.  Four of those went to Dortch, setting a new Wake Forest record for receiving scores in a game, in a 42-32 win over the Cardinals. Dortch could have even had a fifth score, but fumbled the ball out of the end zone when stretching for the goal line. With the win, Wake Forest is one win away from bowl-eligibility for the second straight season.

How can you go 8-0 quietly? Ask Wisconsin, about whom no one seems to be discussing with regard to the Big Ten or national championships. The Badgers don’t do anything flashy, they just run the ball and keep the ball (they’re second in the nation in time of possession and first in 3rd down conversions) and stop you from scoring (fifth in the nation in that department). They beat Illinois 24-10 on Saturday to keep their status as only one of four Power 5 undefeated teams left. Admittedly, the Big Ten Western Division is not a powerhouse lineup, but Wisconsin will get a chance to show its quality in the upcoming weeks, as matchups with Iowa, Michigan, and the Eastern Division champ loom.

In small-school news, you always hear that you throw out the records in a big rivalry game; Pittsburg State just demonstrated why that’s the case. In its annual game with Northwest Missouri State, the Gorillas entered with a 4-4 record, while the Bearcats were on a 38-game winning streak, just two shy of the Division II all-time record, and had won 34 straight conference games.  And yet, Pittsburg State forced six turnovers in a 20-10 win. Northwest Missouri State is 84-9 since the start of the 2011 season, having won three national championships. Four of those nine losses are to Pittsburg State. Now that’s a rivalry where the records truly don’t matter.

Congratulations to Crimson Gator, who wins week 9 with 176 points! Jeff4Bama was second with 175, and WarTiger91 was third with 174 points.

Standings after nine weeks:

1st	Paul Herron	1786
2nd	Crimson Gator	1784
3rd	AllySun	1783
4th	Bamarock	1780
5th	AUBrian	1778
T-6th	Ralphie	1774
T-6th	JagRag	1774
8th	Jeff4Bama	1769
9th	WarTiger91	1766
10th	pachyderm	1755

With that, we enter November, where the stakes get bigger and the tension gets higher! Twenty games comprise our slate this week, including several matchups between top-25 teams; it’s shaping up to be a big weekend! The first game this week is Memphis at Tulsa, Friday, November 3 @ 8 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

After the chaos of last week, you could forgive college football for regressing to the norm to a degree. And in our game, no major upsets meant no big point swings. But it’s extremely unusual to have multiple perfect pickers in a week, much less seven.  In the time that I’ve kept statistics on the game (since 2009), week 4 in 2013 (in which there were a mind-boggling 14 perfect pickers) eclipses this week’s performance. The group as a whole picked 92.4% of the games correctly, and scored 97.4% of the possible points, both season-highs, and the best for the group as a whole in both categories since 2014’s week 1.  Great job, everyone!

It’s time we talk about Khalil Tate. The Arizona quarterback rushed seventeen times for 137 yards and a touchdown this week in a 45-44 overtime victory over California. Sounds like a good week, right? What if I told you that in the last three weeks, that’s his lowest-output performance? Tate, who was the backup and didn’t even play in the last two games in September for the Wildcats, burst onto the scene with a 14-carry, 327-yard, 4-touchdown game against Colorado after entering the game in the second offensive series after the starter was hurt. The 327 yards rushing is a new FBS record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a game. He followed that up with a win over UCLA in which he carried fifteen times for 230 yards and two touchdowns. Counting time in mop-up duty in the first couple of games, Tate’s 718 yards rushing puts him fourth in the country in rushing yards for a quarterback – behind two triple-option quarterbacks and Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, all of whom have played in at least seven games. It seems safe to say Tate’s not giving up that starting job anytime soon for the now 5-2 Wildcats.

What TCU did defensively this past week borders on incomprehensible. In a 43-0 win over Kansas, the Horned Frogs turned in a defensive performance for the ages. Kansas was held to twenty-one total yards of offense. They had -25 yards rushing on thirty-one attempts. Kansas quarterbacks completed eight of eighteen passes for 46 yards. Five TCU offensive players had a single play gain more yards than Kansas picked up all game. TCU limited the Jayhawks to three yards of total offense in the first half, and -6 yards through three quarters. Kansas never had a drive of more than 17 yards – and that was their final drive of the game. It was the fewest yards allowed to an FBS opponent in a game in the past twenty seasons.

North Carolina State’s season is about to be defined. Coming off of a bye, the Wolfpack stand at 6-1, with only an opening-game loss against South Carolina blemishing their schedule. They’ve knocked off Florida State and Louisville, but the next two games will determine if Dave Doeren’s squad becomes a dark-horse playoff candidate or not. It starts this weekend with a big road test at Notre Dame, also 6-1 and fresh off their biggest win over USC since 1966. After that, NC State comes home and face once-beaten Clemson in a game that has all appearances of deciding the ACC’s Atlantic Division. If the Wolfpack can beat the Tigers in the “Textile Bowl”, they have a great chance of playing for their first ACC Championship since 1979…

In small-school news, maybe Montana State University – Northern shouldn’t play Montana Tech again for a while. In the second matchup between the teams this year, the Montana Tech Orediggers set new school records by gaining 932 yards of total offense and 93 points in a 93-19 win over the Lights (Northern Lights – get it?). The Orediggers raced out to a 66-0 lead at the half, gained 519 yards on the ground and 413 through the air, and scored on their first play of a drive three times. I mentioned that this was the second time the teams had played this year. The result of the first game? 70-20 Orediggers, which marked the old single-game scoring record by Montana Tech in a game. Like I was saying, if your last two games against a team result in them setting new school records for scoring, maybe it’s time to take a break…

As I mentioned before, we had seven perfect pickers this week with 153 points, so it fell to the tie-breaker to decide the winner, and so Bamarock takes week 8! This is Bamarock‘s second weekly win! The other six perfect weeks were scored by Paul Herron, G8rBamaLvr, Ralphie, Jeff4Bama, Crimson Gator, and pachyderm.

Standings after eight weeks:

1st	Bamarock	1618
2nd	Paul Herron	1617
3rd	AllySun	1611
T-4th	Ralphie	1609
T-4th	AUBrian	1609
T-4th	JagRag	1609
7th	Crimson Gator	1608
8th	JagAL	1606
9th	pachyderm	1595
10th	Jeff4Bama	1594

Twenty big games comprise our slate this week, as conference races heat up and potential national playoff berths are at stake. The first game this weekend is Stanford at Oregon State, Thursday, October 23^rd @ 9 PM ET, so make sure to  get your picks in by then!

“Looking at this week’s games…well, this week’s games don’t look great on paper.” – Me, last week’s email

“…no game is an absolute gimme” – Also me, last week’s email

No team was safe this past week, as seven – count ‘em, seven – top-25 teams were upset by unranked opponents this past week. It started with a Friday that featured two top-ten teams (Clemson and Washington State) losing road matchups, ended with Arizona State holding a Washington team that was averaging 43 points per game to seven, and in between had two other teams lose leads of 20 (Auburn, at LSU) and 18 (Texas Tech, at West Virginia).  Several other games between ranked and unranked were very close to joining the chaos.  Miami beat Georgia Tech 25-24 on a last-second field goal after a juggling catch on fourth-and-10 went for twenty-eight yards. Indiana took Michigan to overtime before succumbing, 27-20. Utah pulled within one against USC with seconds to go, then went for two and the win, only to be stopped short of the goal line as the Trojans prevailed 28-27.  And in the Red River rivalry, Texas gave Oklahoma everything they wanted before finally falling short, 29-24.  It made for a wild weekend overall.

Now that the dust has settled, there are eight undefeated teams left in FBS football. Let’s take a quick look at each:

#1 Alabama has been its typical dominating self on D, as the Tide ranks #1 in rush defense, #7 in pass efficiency defense, #4 in total defense, and #2 in scoring defense. But Bama also has solid offensive rankings: #9 in rushing offense, #15 in total offense, and #9 in scoring offense; also, despite two turnovers in their last game, they still are tied for the national lead (with Miami, NC State, and Wake Forest) with only three all season.

#2 Penn State has its highest ranking in the AP Poll since 1999.  The Nittany Lions are known for Saquon Barkley, but their defense is also to be feared. They’re currently #1 in the nation in scoring defense, only allowing nine points per game, third in the country in pass efficiency defense, and third in the country in takeaways.

#3 Georgia is 7-0 for the first time since 2005, and again, the numbers are eye-popping on defense. The Bulldogs are fifth in rushing defense, third in total defense, and fourth in scoring defense. They’re one of only five teams in the country to have scored every time their offense has been in the red zone. They also have perhaps the best-looking non-conference win in the country, with a 20-19 win over #13 Notre Dame in South Bend.

#4 TCU doesn’t have quite the defensive prowess the top three do, but remember that the Horned Frogs play in the offense-happy Big Twelve. TCU is 17^th in scoring defense; the next-best Big Twelve team is Kansas State, at 39^th. They’re also really good at keeping the ball; their 3^rd-down conversion percentage of 56.7% leads the nation.

#5 Wisconsin is old-school – run the ball, possess the ball, stop the run. The Badgers are third in the country in time of possession, due in large part to their 3^rd-down conversion percentage of 54.1%, also good for third nationally, and their fourth-ranked rushing defense.  They’re also the only FBS team in any conference to have at least a two-game lead in their division at this point in the season (they’re 3-0 in the Big Ten West, and own a tiebreaker win over 2-2 Nebraska).

#8 Miami is taking care of the ball. The Hurricanes have not lost a fumble all year, one of only three teams to do so (Iowa State and SMU are the others). As mentioned above, they’re tied for the national lead with only three turnovers all season. They’re also aggressive on defense, as they rank fifth in the country in sacks (3.4 per game) and third in tackles for loss (8.6 per game).

#16 South Florida are a bunch of ballhawks. They lead the nation in interceptions, with 15 so far, and turnover margin, at +2.17 turnovers per game. That contributes heavily to their second-ranked pass efficiency defense. But don’t forget about their rushing defense either; it’s ranked third in the county.

#20 UCF is the only team in the country to average 50 points per game at this point in the season (50.6). They are fifth in total offense, second in team passing efficiency and completion percentage, and fourth in turnover margin. But their special teams help the offense dramatically; the Knights are second in the country in punt return average at 22.50 yards per return.

In small-school news, Jacksonville State are kings of the OVC, and has the record to prove it! The Alabama school won its 27^th consecutive conference game in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 41-25 win over Eastern Kentucky. The Gamecocks have captured the last three OVC titles, have not lost a regular season game against a non-FBS opponent in 36 games, and currently hold the longest active conference winning streak in all of Division I football, FBS or FCS.  The Gamecocks are 6-1 this year; their only loss came against Georgia Tech. They are currently ranked #3 in the FCS, behind only defending FCS national champion James Madison and perennial power North Dakota State.  While another conference championship is nice, you couldn’t fault John Grass and company for setting their sights higher; Jacksonville State has not won a national title since 1992 and would like another chance at the brass ring after losing in the national title game against North Dakota State in 2015.

Congratulations to WarTiger91, who wins week 7 (their second weekly win!) with 196 points! AllySun and Paul Herron tied for second place with 195 points, and Noles was next with 193.

Standings after seven weeks:

1st	AllySun	1468
2nd	Bamarock	1465
3rd	Paul Herron	1464
4th	JagAL	1459
T-5th	AUBrian	1457
T-5th	JagRag	1457
7th	Ralphie	1456
8th	Crimson Gator	1455
9th	pachyderm	1442
10th	Jeff4Bama	1441

This weekend features several big mid-season rivalry games such as Tennessee at Alabama, LSU at Ole Miss, and USC at Notre Dame. While some of these games look like mismatches, heed the warnings of this past week! Pick wisely and well! The first game this week is Memphis at Houston, Thursday, October 19 @ 8 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

Over the past few years, the term “MACtion” has come into use to describe exciting games played (or hype upcoming games) in the Mid-American Conference, or MAC for short. It’s a little bit of a marketing tool, but sometimes the games truly live up to it. Perhaps peak “MACtion” was achieved this past Saturday, as Western Michigan and Buffalo staged a game for the record books. WMU eventually won in seven overtimes against Buffalo, 71-68. The final score, which honestly looks a lot more like a college basketball score, set a record for the most combined points between teams in the FBS era and tied a record for the longest game ever played. Several games have gone seven overtimes, most recently in 2006 when North Texas beat Florida International (strangely, the final score of that game was only 25-22). The teams combined for 77 points in overtimes alone, Buffalo set an FBS record for most points scored in a losing effort, and Buffalo quarterback Drew Henderson threw for 597 yards and seven touchdowns, and lost.

In the previous 81 meetings between Oklahoma and Iowa State, the Cyclones had a total of five wins and two ties to show for it. Iowa State had beaten the Sooners exactly once since 1961.  They hadn’t won at all against OU since 1990.  They were a 30 1/2-point underdog. Their starting quarterback was out with an injury. The game was in Norman, and Iowa State had zero road wins against top-5 teams in program history. That’s why you play the games. Iowa State shocked Oklahoma 38-31 behind a performance for the ages from Joel Lanning. Lanning played both offense and defense for ISU in the game, and finished with 35 yards rushing, 25 passing, eight tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery. Playing for 78 plays, he was the first Iowa State player to see significant playing time on both sides of the ball since 1971.

Notre Dame is beginning to make some people take notice. A one-point home loss to Georgia in the second game of the season is the only blemish thus far on the Irish’ ledger, and that loss looks more and more forgivable as the season goes on. Notre Dame beat North Carolina 33-10 on Saturday to register their fifth win of the season against that lone loss. Every win has been by at least twenty points. Admittedly, some of the games have been against inferior competition, but one of those wins came on the road against a Michigan State team that hasn’t lost again all year and just beat Michigan. Still don’t believe? Brian Kelly and company have a few more chances to impress. After a bye this week, the back half of the schedule includes four games against current top-25 competition: the annual USC and Navy games in South Bend, and trips to Miami and Stanford.

In small-school news, it’s time once again for the annual Mount Union report! You might recall from previous years that the Division III power with the crazy-long winning streaks always puts up impressive numbers, and this year’s edition of the Purple Raiders is no exception. After five games, UMU is 5-0, with an average final of 58-6. The closest any opponent has come to them so far is 29 points. Mount Union is averaging 525 yards per game while only giving up 217. Looks like they’re coming a long way towards turning around last year’s disappointment. What constitutes a disappointing year at Mount Union? Going 12-2, the first year they lost twice in a season since 1994!

Congratulations to Bamarock, who wins week six honors with 209 points! Chuck Norris and AllySun were next with 205 points each, and Jeff4Bama was one point behind with 204.

Standings after six weeks:

1st	Bamarock	1280
2nd	AllySun	1273
3rd	Ralphie	1272
T-3rd	Crimson Gator	1272
T-3rd	JagAL	1272
6th	Paul Herron	1269
7th	JagRag	1268
T-8th	AUBrian	1267
T-8th	BoomBoomTX	1267
10th	Publius	1255

Looking at this week’s games…well, this week’s games don’t look great on paper. No top-25 teams play each other. But there are 22 games, and learn the lessons of Western Michigan-Buffalo and Iowa State-Oklahoma well: every game has the potential for action and records, and no game is an absolute gimme. With lots of points on the line, the difference might be in who correctly picks the timely upset! The first game this week is Clemson at Syracuse, Friday, October 13 @ 7 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

Washington State has one of the most difficult situations in which to win in the Power 5. Pullman, Washington, is the 37^th-largest city in the state. Its home field, Martin Stadium, is the smallest in the Pac-12…by 10,000 seats.  Entering the 2017 season, Washington State football had the fewest wins in program history of any team in the Pac-12, and the second-most losses.  And yet, Mike Leach has the Cougars 5-0 for the first time since 2001, thanks to a heart-stopping 30-27 over then-#5 ranked USC.  Luke Falk threw his 105^th career touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to pass Oregon’s Marcus Mariota for second on the all-time Pac-12 list, and Erik Powell hit a 30-yard field goal with less than two minutes to go to provide the final margin.  Now Wazzu finds themselves #11 in the country, their highest ranking in the polls since 2003, when they finished the season ranked ninth after a 10-3 campaign.  The typical Leach Air Raid offense (ranked second in the country in passing yards per game) has been complemented by an opportunistic defense that has twelve turnovers this year, good for a tie for sixth in the country. That defense is coordinated by the coach with the best DC name in all of college football – Alex Grinch.

When people think of football in the state of Florida, the “Big Three” of Florida, Florida State, and Miami tend to come to mind first, and for good reason – the three have combined for eleven national championships and eight Heisman Trophies. But don’t look past what the two teams located on Interstate 4 are doing this year. South Florida has begun the Charlie Strong era with a bang, riding a rushing offense ranked fifth in the country to 44.8 points per game and a 5-0 record.  The Knights of Central Florida are just as impressive, if not more so. Despite having had several games moved or canceled at the beginning of the year due to Hurricane Irma, UCF has managed to play three games and look impressive in all three, including a 28-point win over Maryland and a 27-point week this past week against Memphis.  Admittedly with a smaller sample size, the Knights currently rank seventh in the country in scoring offense (46.3 points per game) and scoring defense (13.3 points per game).  These two teams meet in the “War on I-4” rivalry game on November 24^th; if things keep going as they are, the game will be for not only bragging rights, but a berth in the American Athletic Conference championship game and a possible New Years’ Six bowl bid on the line…

Bryce Love has quietly put up video game numbers for Stanford. The Cardinal are not in the national spotlight as much as is expected during this time of year due to early losses against USC and San Diego State, but what Love is doing right now can’t be overlooked. After five games, he has 1,088 rushing yards. That figure is not only tops in FBS, it’s first by 265 yards.  There are only ten other players in the country who have half as many rushing yards as Love.  His average of 217.6 yards per game would average 29^th in the country as a team.  What’s more? He’s done it on only 98 carries.  That works out to 11.1 yards per rushing attempt, a figure that’s best in the country by almost two yards.  He hasn’t had a game with fewer than 160 yards rushing, and had a school-record 301 in his last game against Arizona State. Love’s only the third running back since 2004 to eclipse the 1,000 rushing yard mark by his fifth game (Northern Illinois’ Garrett Wolfe had 1,181 yards in 2006, and LSU’s Leonard Fournette had 1,022 in 2015).  After near-misses with Toby Gerhart and Christian McCaffrey, maybe this is the year that a Heisman makes its way to a Stanford running back…

In small-school news, you want video game numbers? Let’s talk Hardin-Simmons.  The Abilene, Texas, Division III school is achieving numbers of which the Oregons, West Virginias, and Oklahomas of the world could only dream.  After four games, the Cowboys are averaging – averaging – 68 points per game, best in Division III by 11.7 points per game. They are averaging 684.3 yards of total offense per game, best in Division III by 117 yards per game.  Their attack is almost perfectly balanced – they average 345.3 yards rushing per game (fifth in Division III) and 339 yards passing per game (13^th in Division III).  The fewest number of points they’ve scored in a game is 55. It’s been fun, but it might be a little tougher in their next game.  Their opponent? Mary Hardin-Baylor, the defending Division III national champions and owners of a nineteen game winning streak.  The Cru, as they are affectionately known to their fans, has not allowed more than ten points in a game this year.  Something’s gotta give…

Congratulations to BoomBoomTX, who wins week 5 with 152 points! Vern Troyer, Ralphie, and Noles tied for second with 142 points each.

Standings after five weeks:

1st	JagAL	1081
2nd	Ralphie	1080
3rd	BoomBoomTX	1079
4th	JagRag	1073
5th	Paul Herron	1072
6th	Bamarock	1071
7th	Crimson Gator	1070
8th	AUBrian	1069
9th	AllySun	1068
10th	Publius	1064

We have made it to October, and with the changing of the seasons come some big mid-season rivalries and a slew of interesting matchups.  This week we have 21 games to pick, and the race at the top is still tight! The first game this week is Louisville at NC State, Thursday, October 5 @ 8 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

Alabama heard that they were next. They heard from others that perhaps there were cracks in this team’s armor. Two easy but perhaps not overwhelming wins over outmatched opposition had some wondering if this was the best team in college football despite their current #1 ranking.

Then Saturday came, and with it, a performance unlike any seen in Alabama history. In a 59-0 demolition of a then-unbeaten Vanderbilt that had just come off a win over a ranked Kansas State squad and had the nation’s #1 statistical defense, the Crimson Tide produced these eye-popping statistics:

• Alabama outgained Vanderbilt 677-78, a 599 yard difference. That is the largest margin in a game in Alabama history.
• The 677 yards of total offense is second in Alabama single-game history and the most in a game since 1973.
• Alabama had 38 first downs, a school record for a single game. Vanderbilt ran 38 offensive plays.
• Six different Alabama players had at least 40 yards rushing, as Alabama had 496 total. They averaged 7.5 yards per carry as a team.
• Vanderbilt never had a drive of more than six plays or sixteen yards, had three first downs, and never crossed their own 45-yard line in the game.

It’s safe to say that the nation took notice.

When you graduate the NCAA FBS all-time leading rusher, you’d think you’re in for a downturn in offensive rushing production. San Diego State hasn’t missed a beat. Donnell Pumphrey had 6,405 rushing yards for the Aztecs, but now Rashaad Penny carries the load. He had a somewhat low-output day in the rain against Air Force, running for 128 yards (well below his former average of 196 a game), but had three touchdowns, including a 53-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter as SDSU improved to 4-0 with a 28-24 win over the Falcons.  Penny currently ranks second in the FBS this year with 716 rushing yards. San Diego State looks like the class of the Group of Five conferences, but they should be on their guard. Northern Illinois comes to town this weekend, and the Huskies already have a win over Nebraska on their record…

There may not be many quieter 4-0 records out there than Duke. The Blue Devils, after having won only four games last year, reached the mark in the most satisfying manner imaginable, beating rival North Carolina 27-17 on Saturday. The win was their second straight over the Tar Heels, only the second time that’s happened since 1989.  Both sides of the ball are playing well for Duke, with the average final score of a game at 41-15, but their defense is especially good right now.  The rush defense is currently second in the country, only allowing 65.3 yards per game, and is best in the country at third-down conversion percentage, only allowing a first down 14% of the time.

In small-school news, small schools don’t always mean small crowds. Minnesota schools St. John’s and St. Thomas played their annual rivalry game at Target Field in Minneapolis in front of 37,355 people, by far the largest crowd to ever witness a Division III college football game. The previous record was set last year between Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Wisconsin-Whitewater (17,535). For more perspective, the 37,355 in attendance was a larger figure than half of the 40 bowl games played last season and the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers’ first home game attendance. Oh, the game itself? St. Thomas won, 20-17, to keep the “Holy Grail” trophy and extend their win streak in the series to four games, their longest in the series since 1954-1957. St. John’s holds a 51-35-1 lead in a series that began in 1901.

Congratulations to G8rBamaLvr, who wins week 4 in a tie-breaker over TigerEyes17! They each finished with 235 points. Crimson Gator and pachyderm were each one point behind, with 234 points.

Standings after four weeks:

1st	JagAL	941
2nd	Ralphie	938
T-3rd	JagRag	935
T-3rd	Bamarock	935
T-5th	Crimson Gator	931
T-5th	Paul Herron	931
7th	AUBrian	930
8th	Publius	929
T-9th	AllySun	928
T-9th	G8rBamaLvr	928

We are in the thick of the conference season! Historically, that generally means the picks get tougher. A comparatively small slate of seventeen games awaits you this week, so points will be at a premium! The first game this week is Miami (FL) at Duke, Friday, September 29 @ 7 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

Train Right Open, Big Ben In.

They’re six seemingly incongruous words, but put together, they have a fond spot in the heart of every Florida fan. With nine seconds left on the clock, on their own 37-yard line, all the momentum of the game against them, and having squandered about 25 seconds of game time due to not calling a timeout when coming short of a first down on the previous play, the completely unexpected happened. The play call, “Train Right Open, Big Ben In”, combined with some scrambling and a really good Kordell Stewart impersonation by quarterback Felipe Franks, resulted in a 63-yard touchdown pass and an improbable 26-20 win for the Gators over Tennessee. It was the last six of 37 combined points between the teams in the fourth quarter after entering the period as a 6-3 slugfest. Oh, one other thing about that play, Train Right Open, Big Ben In. It was also the play call Florida used in 2015 to take the lead with 90 seconds to go in a 28-27 win over the Vols. The result of the play? A 63-yard touchdown pass. If I’m Jim McElwain, I know what play I’m calling next time from my own 37 against Tennessee with time running out…

Oklahoma State is scary this year. In their first three games, the aggregate first-quarter score has been Cowboys 59, opponents zip. Oklahoma State had 516 yards of total offense and 49 points against Pittsburgh – in the first half. They scored touchdowns on each of their first seven possessions. Quarterback Mason Rudolph had 423 passing yards in the first half alone, and ended the game with 497 after being pulled in the third quarter. Now the Cowboys enter their Big 12 schedule, and no team in the conference shy of their rivals from Norman seem capable of slowing them down. Bedlam on November 4 is going to be extra-special this year, and due to the reinstatement of the Big 12 Championship game, it might be the first of two games the Cowboys and Sooners play…

There is no better advice for coaches in college football than this: don’t punt the ball to Dante Pettis. The Washington wide receiver took a punt back 77 yards to the house against Fresno State in the first quarter of a 48-16 Huskies win. It was the eighth career punt return for a touchdown for Pettis, tying the NCAA record for a career with Antonio Perkins of Oklahoma and Wes Welker of Texas Tech. He also tied the NCAA record for consecutive games with a punt return for a score with three, having turned the trick against Rutgers and Montana in the first two games of the season. Colorado is the next team to try its luck against Pettis in his quest for punt return glory.

In small-school news, Slippery Rock’s Division II football program is probably best known for its strange school name, nickname (The Rock), and the tradition of having scores of its games announced at Michigan Stadium since 1959 (other large schools used to do it as well, but Michigan is the only one who has continued the tradition). But now they can add another bit of history: Marcus Martin, their senior defensive end. In a 33-7 win over Lock Haven, Martin had three tackles for loss and two sacks to bring his career totals to 79.5 TFL and 47 sacks, both career NCAA Division II records. He is only 6.5 sacks shy of the all-division NCAA record of 53.5, set by Mike Czerwien of Division III Waynesburg University. Given that he already has 6.5 sacks this year through his first three games, there’s a reasonably good chance that he’ll get there.

Congratulations to WarTiger91, who wins week 3 with 219 points! JagAL was second with 218, and AUBrian and AllySun each had 216.

Standings after three weeks:

1st	JagAL	715
2nd	Ralphie	711
3rd	Paul Herron	710
4th	AUBrian	708
T-5th	AllySun	707
T-5th	JagRag	707
7th	Bamarock	705
8th	Publius	704
9th	BoomBoomTX	700
10th	Crimson Gator	697

Week four brings another large slate of games – 22, to be precise – so lots of points are at stake. Pick wisely! The first game this week is Temple at South Florida, Thursday, September 21 @ 7:30 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs had been having a rough night, trailing their counterparts from Mississippi State, 57-14. Now they faced third-and-goal from the 7.

Their own 7.

You see, on the previous play, second-and-goal from the Mississippi State 6, the ball was snapped over the quarterback’s head. It was promptly chased after and kicked around by members of both teams until Louisiana Tech finally fell on the ball, eighty-seven yards from where the play began. Not surprisingly, Louisiana Tech failed to convert 3^rd-and-93 and performed the rarely-seen punt on 4^th-and-goal on the next play in an eventual 57-21 loss. Do yourself a favor and look up the YouTube clip of the play, preferably with “Yakkety Sax” playing in the background.

Oklahoma put themselves in the national spotlight in the biggest of ways, taking a 31-16 win over Ohio State in Columbus. The Sooners rolled up 28 points in the second half as Baker Mayfield threw for 386 yards. Mayfield has never lost a true road game with Oklahoma – he’s now 10-0. Conversely, it’s only the third loss (and the largest) at home for the Buckeyes under Urban Meyer, who has coached Ohio State since 2012.

The Lamar Jackson show is back! Last year’s Heisman winner from Louisville put up huge numbers for the second straight week, this time against North Carolina. Jackson went 25 of 39 passing for 393 yards and three touchdowns, and added 132 yards and three touchdowns rushing in a 47-35 win. The Cardinals amassed 705 yards of total offense.  All Jackson has done so far in two games this season is account for over 1,000 yards of offense (771 yards passing, 239 rushing). Can Jackson do it again this week? If he does, it’ll be really impressive – he faces Clemson, who is coming off of an 11-sack, 117-yards-allowed defensive performance against Auburn.

People who have followed this column for years know of my affinity for service academy football, and this year’s editions of Army, Navy, and Air Force are all off to great starts!  Army came back from ten points down to beat Buffalo, 21-17.  Army has won their two games this year despite only 17 yards total passing between the two. The Black Knights are on a five-game winning streak, but making it six might be tough; they travel to Ohio State this weekend.  Navy is 2-0 following a 23-21 win over Tulane.  Quarterback Zach Abey ran for 108 yards and threw for 132 more. The Midshipmen are off this weekend; they host Cincinnati on September 23. Air Force is 1-0, having beaten VMI 62-0 in their first game. The Falcons rang up 457 rushing yards in improving their record in season openers under coach Troy Calhoun to 11-0. They play Michigan next.

In small-school news, give Saint Scholastica credit. The Saints, one weekend removed from a 98-0 destruction at the hands of St. John’s, defeated Greenville 47-27 on Saturday. A 118-point differential doesn’t happen every week! Saint Scholastica isn’t as bad as that first-week score would make you believe. They have a 26-7 record over the past three seasons. The Saints next play Westminster – who knows what the final margin will be for that one?

Extra-special congratulations to the week 2 winner, JagRag, who picked perfectly this week! They finished with 231 points, one ahead of TuscaloosaGumps with 230. JagAL, BoomBoomTX, and Vern Troyer finished with 229 points.

Standings after two weeks:

1st	Chuck Norris	500
2nd	TigerEyes17	499
3rd	Paul Herron	498
T-4th	ralphie	497
T-4th	JagRag	497
T-4th	JagAL	497
T-4th	CrimsonWhite	497
T-4th	G8rBamaLvr	497
9th	Publius	496
10th	TuscaloosaGumps	495

With Hurricane Irma’s aftermath still leaving things in doubt in the state of Florida, keep an eye out for more potential game site changes, postponements, and cancelations this week.  However, as it currently stands, the first game this week is Illinois at South Florida, Friday, September 15 @ 7 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!

Josh Rosen had a tidy little stat line this weekend: 19 for 26, 292 yards, 4 touchdowns. That’s a pretty good game’s worth of work. Thing is, Rosen did it in a quarter. Specifically, the fourth quarter of what ended up being the second-largest comeback in FBS history, a 45-44 UCLA win over Texas A&M in which the Bruins at one point trailed 44-10 late in the third quarter. In the final 19 minutes of the game, UCLA scored on drives of 75, 85, 96, 74, and 66 yards.  Rosen finished with 491 passing yards on the night.

You can be forgiven if you looked at the scoreboard and thought Missouri and Missouri State had played basketball instead of football. Mizzou beat the Bears 72-43 in a game that featured 1,307 yards of total offense. Missouri’s 815 yards of total offense is a new school record, and was the most accumulated by an SEC team in a game since 1973.  Tigers quarterback Drew Lock threw for 521 yards and seven touchdowns, both new school records as well. Missouri should find things a little more difficult this weekend as South Carolina comes to town.

Believe it or not, there was defense played this weekend, and perhaps the best defensive performance was turned in by LSU. The Bayou Bengals held BYU to 97 total yards, -5 yards rushing, and never allowed them to cross the 50-yard line in a 27-0 whitewashing. It was one of only two shutouts of an FBS team on the weekend (the other was Penn State’s 52-0 win over Akron). Auburn also had a solid defensive performance, as they stymied the Georgia Southern triple-option attack to the tune of 78 total yards in a 41-7 win.

Washington State is off the schneid. The Cougars had lost their last two openers against FCS opponents, and had not won an season-opening game at all under Mike Leach. They broke both streaks with a 31-0 win over Montana State.  Other FBS schools were not as fortunate against lower-division teams. Baylor lost to Liberty, 48-45, in the first game of the Matt Rhule era. James Madison knocked off East Carolina, 34-14. At least the Pirates can comfort themselves knowing that they lost to the defending FCS champions. And then, there was the biggest upset in college football history – at least figuring by point spread, as 45-point underdog Howard beat UNLV, 43-40.

Finally, Jake Olson will never win a Heisman Trophy for USC, or be an All-American. But the fact that he played at all in this past week’s 49-31 win over Western Michigan is pretty impressive in itself. Olson, a sophomore, is blind, having lost his sight eight years ago.  However, he has loved USC since the Pete Carroll days and learned how to long snap by feel. He made the snap for the final Trojans extra point. He was named the Pac-12 special teams player of the week for Week 1.

Congratulations to Paul Herron, who wins Week 1 in a tie-breaker over Chuck Norris with 274 points! TigerEyes17 was next with 272 points.

What a great first (long) weekend of college football! And week two looks to be awesome as well, with four top-25 games included in the list. The first game this week is Oklahoma State at South Alabama, Friday, September 8 @ 8 ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!