Erick Blasco's College Huddle: Week 7

The numbers from Chris Brown weren't anything special: 67 yards on 13 carries.

For the Oklahoma Sooners though, those 67 yards made the difference against Missouri.

While Oklahoma had no problems throwing the ball—Sam Bradford went 24-34 with 2 TDs and no interceptions—Oklahoma’s running attack had been inconsistent for the first 33 minutes of the game.

Brown’s entry into the lineup allowed the Sooners to grind out the win.

Brown only had two carries in the third quarter, but one produced a touchdown that gave the Sooners a 23-10 lead.

Two Missouri touchdown drives sandwiched around a muffed Juaquin Iglesias kick left the Sooners behind the eight-ball—and that’s when Brown went to work.

After Bradford maneuvered the Sooners to the Missouri 30, Brown caught a 12-yard pass on a 3rd-and-7 to keep the drive alive. The next three plays were Brown for 12, Brown for seven, and Brown for a one-yard touchdown to give Oklahoma the lead.

After OU returned a fumble for a score, the Sooners called on Brown for one last series to seal the win. He responded by making three simple runs for 24 yards and the clinching touchdown.

With back-to-back wins over Texas and Missouri, and with the rest of the top teams in the country dropping like flies, the Sooners are back in the National Championship hunt.

Meanwhile, you have to wonder if Oklahoma’s third string tailback will kick off Missouri’s annual swoon.


I understand Ohio State looks really good this year. I understand the Buckeyes have one of the best defenses in the country. And I understand that while their offense got off to a slow start, it looks like the Buckeyes have replaced last season’s NFLers with a crop of future pros.

What I can’t understand is why Ohio State is ahead of South Florida in the polls right now. I mean, compare their schedules.

Take out Youngstown State, Akron, Kent State, and Minnesota from the Buckeyes' schedule. Those teams are all horrible. Do the same with Elon and FAU from South Florida’s schedule.

In other words: Ohio State has two more joke opponents than the Bulls.

Next, compare the meat of their schedules.

Ohio State has wins at Washington, against Northwestern, and at Purdue. South Florida has wins over UCF, North Carolina, West Virginia, and at Auburn.

Northwestern and Purdue have no defense whatsoever; the Boilermakers' 5-2 record is a product of their blitzing weak opponents. And despite all the positive buzz surrounding Washington, they’re 2-4 right now.

On the other hand, North Carolina might be on par with Washington in terms of talent and resume, while wins versus West Virginia and Auburn are much more impressive than wins at Washington and Purdue.

Ohio State is ranked No. 1 is because the Buckeyes have name recognition. That’s well and good, and gives the Buckeyes a great tiebreaker over a team like Boston College—but it doesn't give them an edge over USF

Nobody is arguing the Buckeyes shouldn’t be a top-ranked team right now. If they win out, they have an excellent chance at earning at least a No. 2 ranking and punching a ticket to the National Championship Game.

But right now, even one-loss LSU, Oregon, and Oklahoma have resumes that outshine Ohio State’s. Those teams are Ohio State’s competition for the No. 2 spot.

And there’s no competition for the No. 1 spot at all.

It’s South Florida’s easily.


Just because LSU lost to Kentucky doesn’t mean their resume isn’t better than everyone else’s.

Where are Virginia Tech, Florida, and South Carolina in your polls? LSU has beaten them all. Their loss came on the road to a Top 10 team in triple overtime. Besides maybe USF, what teams out there have those credentials?

Oklahoma really needed their win over Missouri to legitimize them. Texas has been average at best this year, and Miami had one good week. Now the Sooners have to hope Missouri doesn’t collapse, making their lone big win lose its luster.

One thing I noticed watching Iowa beat Illinois? Wisconsin’s linebackers are either really undisciplined, really slow, or both. They’ve been outrun to spots by running backs, or they’ve taken bad angles all season long. They were helpless to stop Illinois’ option, and they had no idea how to contain lanes as Rodney Kinlaw and Evan Royster gashed them for a combined 31 rushes for 183 yards and two scores.

By the way, I love how a few of Iowa’s fans were chanting "overrated" during the final stages of their upset win over Illinois. What’s their record the last two years? Who’s lost to Iowa State this year? If a Big Ten team is leading Iowa 42-7 in the 4th quarter, that team’s fans have the right to chant “you suck Iowa” until the clocks hit :00. I mean it’s only fair right?

Michigan was up on Purdue 34-7 at the end of the third quarter. This is why nobody took Purdue seriously after they beat a bunch of nobodies to start 5-0. They always schedule a bunch of patsies and show off their offense and get off to great starts. And then a legitimate team comes in and knocks them back in their place.

Does the SEC know how to play exciting football games or what?

Speaking of exciting, every Northwestern game should be televised from here on out. Minnesota was up 35-14 in the 3rd quarter before Northwestern scored the last 21 points in regulation and won in overtime. C.J. Bacher channeled Bret Basanez with a 41-58, 470 yard 4 TD (3 passing), 0 INT game. Everything the Wildcats have done this year has been exciting.

I wanted to rank Wyoming, and then they go out and lose at home to New Mexico 20-3. And we thought the SEC was cannibalistic.

Classy move by Mark Richt, immediately stopping some of his players from jumping on Vanderbilt’s logo after Georgia pulled off a last minute comeback win. Richt has always been someone who “gets it,” and he understands his team has no right to disrespect themselves, their opponents, and their opponent’s fans by jumping up and down on an opponent’s logo.

Besides, Georgia was outplayed by Vanderbilt the entire game, and Vanderbilt had the ball at the Georgia 18 with 3 minutes to go in a tie game before Cassen Jackson-Garrison caught a pass and fumbled it to Georgia. The loss really hurts Vanderbilt’s bowl chances. Besides Miami of Ohio, there are no future games the Commodores are expected to be favored in. They’ll need to beat Miami of Ohio, Wake Forest, and pull off an SEC upset to go bowling.

If Kevin Riley isn’t a freshman, Cal might be the No. 1 team in the nation right now.

And it’s about time Oregon State got its act together and played a complete football game. Sean Canfield didn’t throw an interception, and the Beavers controlled the clock by giving Yvensen Bernard 33 carries for 110 yards. The Beavers also got a 4th and goal TD run from Bernard to give the Beavers the lead for good in the 4th.

When Louisville plays any defense, they’re tough to beat. They only allowed 24 points to Cincinnati which is enough with their offense.

Somebody predicted Vanderbilt would beat Georgia. Like Cassen Jackson-Garrison, I fumbled the prediction.

But I don’t make key mistakes in crucial moments when making my Top 25 poll. It’s guaranteed to produce in the clutch!

Top 25

1) USF
2) LSU
3) Ohio State
4) Oklahoma
5) Oregon
6) Arizona State
7) South Carolina
8) Kentucky
9) West Virginia
10) Boston College
11) Cal
12) Florida
13) Virginia Tech
14) Auburn
15) Missouri
16) Tennessee
17) Kansas
18) USC
19) Kansas State
20) Georgia
21) Virginia
22) Cincinnati
23) Michigan
24) Boise State
25) Texas Tech