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College football saw two possible national title contenders fall in week 10. Undefeated teams largely took care of their opponents this week as well.
Week 10 saw some teams solidify their bowl hopes, while other teams' bowl hopes took a big hit. Two teams' bowl hopes took a hit and landed their coaches on very hot seats.
The Heisman race is wide open, but three players might have made their case for the award.
We take a look back at week 10 and touch on the effects on each team's bowl hopes. The teams we will look at have a mathematical chance even if they do not get a bowl bid.
Let’s take a look at week 10, Heisman hopes, and bowl dreams.
Iowa runs out of magic against Northwestern and other Big Ten games
The Hawkeyes had been living on the edge each week in college football. Iowa had trailed in eight of their nine wins.
Iowa looked good as they raced out to an early 10-0 lead. Northwestern was playing backup quarterback Dan Persa, and starter Mike Kafka, who had suffered a hamstring injury, was playing as well.
The game changed when Ricky Stanzi was sacked in the end zone. Stanzi fumbled the ball as he was sacked by Corey Wootton, and the ball was recovered by Marshall Thomas to cut the lead to 10-7.
Stanzi was injured on the sack with a leg injury, and his replacement, James Vandenberg, had only thrown three passes all year. The close games Iowa was playing did not allow Vandenberg to get much playing time, and it showed.
His first pass after replacing Stanzi was intercepted by Quentin Davie. Northwestern did what other teams have not done, which was make Iowa pay for the turnover.
Persa used the pick to throw a touchdown to take a 14-10 lead. The Wildcats added a field goal to take a 17-10 lead after Persa suffered an injury to his throwing hand.
Northwestern had to play Kafka, who could not run very much because of the hamstring injury but could throw the ball effectively. Iowa was not able to mount a final drive to win the ball game.
The Hawkeyes could point to the injury of Stanzi or calls that could have gone their way for the loss, but the real reason Iowa lost was four turnovers.
Two turnovers committed by Stanzi, a fumble and an interception, led to Northwestern points. Overall the Hawkeyes had four turnovers in the second quarter, which kept them from blowing out Northwestern early.
Even with the loss, the Hawkeyes can still represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl. All Iowa has to do is beat Ohio State and they can smell the roses. The win also made Northwestern bowl eligible with the necessary six wins.
Ohio State took some pressure off Jim Tressel and Terrelle Pryor with a 24-7 win over Penn State. After a loss to Purdue, the Buckeye faithful questioned Pryor as the starting quarterback.
Pryor completed eight of 17 passes for 125 yards with two touchdown passes. He also rushed five times for 50 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, Pryor had no turnovers.
Tressel was questioned for his play calling after the loss to USC and for playing Pryor after the Purdue loss. Winning fixes everything now that the Buckeyes have a chance to play for the Rose Bowl.
If the Buckeyes win against Iowa and play in the Rose Bowl, all will be forgiven until the outcome of that game. If Ohio State loses to Iowa, then all the questions about the Buckeyes will start once more.
Illinois kept its bowl hopes alive after beating a struggling Minnesota team. Strangely, all this team needed to start winning was to know that Ron Zook would be back next season.
The Illini will have to keep winning without Juice Williams, who suffered an ankle injury. The Gophers were once 4-2 and are now just a 5-5 team struggling to win the required six games.
Speaking of struggling, Michigan State had no struggles against Western Michigan. The Spartans improved to 5-5 with the win.
Alabama beats LSU to set up de facto BCS title game against Florida and other SEC games
The Crimson Tide had two weeks to prepare for LSU and get healthy as well. Alabama was playing for a right to meet the Florida Gators in the SEC title game.
LSU struck first and was able to take 7-3 lead into the half. The Tigers were unable to take advantage of a Tide safety and a touchdown in the third quarter.
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