The gauntlet has been thrown….

It is high time that someone start setting some of these teams straight…so, from now on, I will be issuing weekly challenges.

1. UCLA, No one thinks you stand a chance against Oregon. How about you prove them wrong? How about you double their score? I dare you.
2. Northwestern, THIS is your week to prove your 5-1 record is not a fluke. You are hereby challenged to beat Michigan State without going into overtime.
3. Penn State, Minnesota…..I challenge one of you to win this weekend. (PS….they play each other so hopefully this isn’t too far out of reach)
4. Duke, your mission is to allow Virginia Tech to hand you the biggest loss in school history.
5. Wyoming, PLEASE prove you can win a conference game. I’m begging!
6. Auburn, I hate to ask you win more, but this weekend you must destroy LSU and prove that their record is strictly a result of good luck. Seriously, Les has probably won the lottery five times already this season.
7. Washington State, how about you try to score more than 30 points?
8. Colorado State, are you really going to let Utah beat you this weekend? Make this most of your last shot at them before they skip over to the PAC. Prove to us you can beat them.
9. Tennessee, the current embarrassment of the SEC, you are challenged to give Bama a game. And, also, to not whine if you can’t.
10. Air Force, if you want any respect, you WILL beat TCU this weekend. We all know you can!

Oh…and BSU is pretty great too

Hot: Badgering it out of them

Going into Saturday’s matchup with Ohio State, Wisconsin had not knocked off a number one team since I was a newborn. And Ohio State had blown its last three AP number one rankings. Hmmm….so whose statistical history would win out? The game started with an extremely exciting kickoff return for a touchdown by David Gilreath that proved to be a sign of things to come. Going into half time, the Badgers had a 18 point lead and looked unstoppable. In the second half, the Buckeyes seemed a little less willing to just watch Wisconsin run away with the win, but they just didn’t quite have the effort needed to hold on to their number one ranking. Truly excellent work, Badgers.

Not: COLINoscopy…..er…..Kaepernick

Speaking of cursed statistics….did you know that Nevada has now lost 6 straight games at Hawaii? Their last win on the island was in 1948. Apparently Colin Kaepernick buys into superstition, or the Warriors put a Haka curse on him, because he threw two interceptions and fumbled twice. One interception came on Nevada’s final drive, which if it ended with a score would have resulted in a Wolf Pack win. And one of the fumbles occurred as Kaepernick dived into the end zone and lost control of the ball, resulting in a touchback. Sigh. Thanks for nothing, Nevada. Bronco Nation should have known better than to count on you.

Hot: Return of the Mack

Nebraska fans may have been surprised about the outcome of their game against Texas Saturday, but anyone who has taken a look at the Cornhuskers’ schedule to date really should have seen it coming. Prior to this week they have faced Western Kentucky, Idaho, Washington, South Dakota State, and Kansas State. With the exception of Kansas State, not a good opponent among them. (Don’t even try to convince me of anything different, Huskies fans.) Beyond that, Texas has won nine of the teams’ last ten meetings (since joining the Big 12). At any rate, great job on stopping the losing streak and knocking off one of the remaining undefeateds, Longhorns.

Not: But we have the 6th best offense in the country

On Friday night, a Boise news station claimed that because Idaho had the sixth-best offense in the country that they would be certain to beat LA Tech on Saturday. Clearly, no one ever told them that Idaho’s defense is not good (even though it might seem like it in comparison to last year’s D) and defense, not offense, typically wins games. Saturday, Idaho’s offense did do work, accruing 526 total yards. But guess what their defense did?! Even with FOUR Bulldog turnovers, Idaho allowed LA Tech to gain 683 total yards (a school record), which was more than enough for the win.

Hot: Coach Phillips ain’t no Joker

Despite the often discussed chance of a letdown loss after a big victory, with Steve Spurrier having won 17 straight games again Kentucky, the Gamecocks seemed certain to have an easy win against the Wildcats this week. After holding Kentucky scoreless in the first half, this looked like even more of a certainty. That is, if not for Joker Phillips’ truly remarkable inspirational skills. “We challenged our guys at halftime, that we were in a street fight,” he said. “We’re in a street fight. I’m in a street fight. I want to see who has my back.” Personally, I am dumbfounded by his words, but apparently the Wildcats’ players simply needed to channel their 10-year-old Street Fighter–playing selves to become effective on the football field. Who knew? Well, Joker, apparently. Randall Cobb caught a 24-yard touchdown pass with a little over a minute remaining then added the two-point conversion to make the score 31-28. South Carolina had one last shot at getting the win, but Stephen Garcia was intercepted as time expired.

Not: Beiber Nation

How exactly Oregon State managed to even get into a predicament that would require two overtimes against WASHINGTON is baffling. But sure enough, that is what happened Saturday. As shocking as that fact might be, it was even more shocking to watch Washington start the game out with 3 unanswered touchdowns. Thankfully the Beavers woke up and performed like a team that wanted to win for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. And in overtime, it was evident that Washington had all the momentum and Oregon State could merely try to keep up. Understandably, Mike Riley decided to try for the win at the end of the second overtime, going for two. Unfortunately, Ryan Katz’ spot on pass was dropped in the end zone and the Huskies were free to celebrate. For the record, Beavers’ play callers, as amazing as Jacquizz Rodgers is you cannot give him the ball on every play. Especially when your line is tired and the defense is expecting it. Try to change it up next time. You just might win if you do.

Hot: HOO saw this one coming?

Certainly, Houston has been in a bad spot since Case Keenum’s injury earlier this season, but a loss to Rice still seemed unspeakable. Like many other teams this weekend, Houston started out slow, working their way back from a 20 point deficit at one point. But it looked like they were going to be able to pull out the win after taking a three point lead in the fourth quarter. But the Owls would not have it. They scored on the next drive and then ensured victory after Houston’s quarterback fumbled on fourth down. With only two wins this season, the Owls had plenty celebrate this weekend.

Not: BYU…….yeah. Still.

Okay, maybe it was a stretch to even begin to imagine that on their BEST day the Cougars could take down TCU. Alright, not maybe. It was more than a stretch. It was an ignorance-is-bliss-inspired leap of faith. After all, over the last three years, the Horned Frogs have been undefeated against BYU….winning by a combined score of 101-17. But still, someone needs to beat TCU and, dang it Cougars, I really wanted it to be you! Oh, oh….and, Beavers, you should be even more embarrassed about your loss because the ONLY teams BYU has been this season are San Diego State and Washington. Even Utah State beat BYU. Come on!

My name is Derek BooHooley….

Hot: 59 points in a glorified practice

Let’s be honest, with the exception of making mistakes, BSU did just about everything they could to NOT run the score up Saturday. And they still put 59 points on the board. Imagine the final if they had put their best foot forward. 200 to 0? You think? Saturday’s game featured scoring drives by 3 different quarterbacks (Moore, Coughlin, and Southwick) and touchdowns by Coughlin, Hodge, Martin, Potter, Avery, and Efaw (twice)! Even Brotzman made a lefty hashy field goal! In all, the Broncos racked up 400 yards more total offense (608 bsu/208 nmsu) than the Aggies—91 more rush yards than NMSU’s total yards.

Not: Another reason why I have no love for you, BYU

Four games into the season, BYU fired defensive coordinator Jaime Hill. Hill has been the D coordinator since 2008, and has been with the Cougars since 2006. As such, it seems unlikely that their current crappy performance can be attributed to Hill. It seems more likely that they are struggling to find their identity with a true freshman quarterback and several young skill players. Their defense is certainly not the only problem area. The Cougars rank among college football’s worst rush defenses, scoring offenses, and passing efficiency offenses. But, you know, throwing a coach under the bus mid-season is probably going to fix everything. Wins from here on out, eh, Cougs?

Hot: Crushing the Colosseum

For the second year in a row, Sarkisian’s Huskies managed to take USC down a few pegs. This time—far from their rainy comfort zone—in the land of sunshine. USC took the lead (30 to 28) with plenty of time left in the 4th quarter. The Huskies could not make the most of the opportunity, and it looked like USC would come away with the win. But no! Washington’s D stayed strong, forcing USC to attempt a long field goal. An attempt that was not successful. With little time left on the clock, the Huskies drove down the field and completed the game-winning field goal as time expired, winning the game by one glorious point. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Not: Trying to kill your coach

Oh, Gators. Don’t you know that your coach is likely to end up hospitalized if you keep this up? Don’t you love Urban anymore? With the exception of last week’s game again Kentucky, the Gators really have been unimpressive. Not terrible, exactly, just not real effective. And despite the claims of their black belt fan (look it up….”florida fan + Alabama + black belt”), Florida looked just plain bad against Bama Saturday. And how is it that the Gators are still ranked ahead of undefeated teams like Michigan and Michigan State that have looked much more impressive? Guess that’s the benefit of being in the SEC.

Hot: Shout outs for your friends!

Former Boise State player, Jeff Copp, and the UC Davis Aggies got a come-from-behind victory against San Jose State Saturday. Things were looking good for the nearly winless Spartans early on (up 13 to 0 at the half). But, Davis came out strong in the third quarter, scoring two touchdowns to take a one point lead that turned out to be all they needed for their second victory of the season. Even better, this was the Aggies first win against the Spartans in six tries. And, the second ever Aggies victory over an FBS opponent. Nice work, Coach Copp!

Not: Out of your Richt mind

As embarrassing as it is to start the season with 3 losses and only a win against Louisiana-Lafayette to your credit, it just gets so much worse to lose to Colorado just when you thought you had victory in sight. After driving the ball into field goal range, the Bulldogs looked to be minutes away from putting a stop to their losing streak. That is, until Colorado’s BJ Beatty decided to plow through the rusher and cause a turnover that would crush the Bulldogs’ spirit once again. A big Colorado victory = a tough time to be a Georgia fan.

Hot: W stands for Wildcats streaking (to victory)

The Northwestern Smarty Pants (or Wildcats some say) are off to a 5-0 start to the season. And after Stanford’s loss to Oregon, they must tarry on for all the smarties in the nation. The opponents may not have been amazing, but so far this season the Smarty Pants have a close-call win over Vandy (also fairly intelligent), a blowout over Illinois State, a decent win over Rice (again….bright ones), a nice win over Central Michigan, and this weekend’s nail-biting one-point win over Minnesota. Keep it up Cats. The nerds are counting on you!

Not: Coach, your whining has been Dooley noted

Well, Tennessee finally put together a solid game on Saturday. All except for that one, glaring game-losing mistake. If you missed it, LSU had the ball on the goal line and amidst confusion from personnel changes, mishandled the snap and seemingly lost the game as time expired. But only seemingly, because upon closer inspection, Tennessee had 2 extra players volunteer on defense. Yep, two defenders ran in and lined up, oblivious to the fact that their counterparts did not leave the field. So the unlucky 13 were flagged for too many men on the field and LSU was granted another attempt at the final play. This time, the snap was clean and they easily ran the ball in for the game-winning score. In disgust, Tennessee’s head coach, Derek Dooley threw his headset down in frustration. Post game, he was quoted saying, “Things happened fast and guys didn’t run off the field. The ball was snapped pretty quickly, and so we lose the game. The rule is, when they run guys out on the field, we have to have adequate time to run guys off.” Yeah, coach. No one on your team was trying to run off the field. They all just lined up. That’s not cheating. It’s poor execution. Suck it up and deal with it.