College Football 2011: Best and Worst of Week 2

Just when you think that the game of college football has shown us everything that we can possibly see, it unleashes a whole new slate of jaw-dropping feats.

Whether it's a two-way, two touchdown effort from a defensive lineman, an undefeated Washington State team or the instant classic ending to the Michigan-Notre Dame game, the magnificent beast that is college football digs deep into its bag of tricks to unleash something unprecedented.

Oh, did I mention a 61-year-old player made his collegiate debut?  Yeah, that happened too.

So now, here is the best and the worst in a wild and unpredictable week of college football action.

Best: Iowa State's Man of Steele

Perpetually the Hawkeye State's red and gold headed stepchild, the Iowa State Cyclone's made a statement this weekend in their thrilling 44-41 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes in triple-overtime.

The Cyclones were led by the dynamic playmaking of quarterback Steele Jantz.  The junior was terrific throughout the day, throwing for 279 yards and four touchdowns, the most crucial being the game-tying score with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter that forced overtime.  He also added 42 yards rushing.

It is the first win for the Cyclones over their in-state rivals since 2007, and puts them at 2-0 heading into this week's game against Connecticut.

Best: SEC Running Backs

The country's best conference has some of the best running backs, and they put on a show this week.

In the conference's marquee matchup of the week, South Carolina's Marcus Lattimore and Georgia's freshman phenom Isaiah Crowell were major factors.  Lattimore's 176 yards and one rushing touchdown helped to lead to the No.12 Gamecock's 45-42 win.  Georgia's failed upset bid was highlighted by Crowell's 159 total yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns, although he did have a costly fumble.

In the other inter-conference game between Mississippi State and Auburn, both teams showed off impressive ground attacks.  MSU's Vic Ballard ran for 135 yards and a score but that wasn't enough to overcome Auburn's Michael Dyer and his 150 yards and pair of touchdowns as the Tigers upset the 16th ranked Bulldogs.

Heisman hopeful Trent Richardson ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns to help lead No.3 Alabama as they handily defeated No. 23 Penn State.

Other standouts from the SEC backfield include: Ole Miss' Jeff Scott who had a hat trick of touchdowns in the Rebels win over Southern Illinois, and Tennessee's Tauren Poole and Kentucky's Josh Clemons, who each topped 100 yards in helping their schools to wins.

Best: Brock Osweiler Stands Tall

The hype surrounding Arizona State this offseason has been incredible, focusing on everything from "the meanest man in college football" Vontaze Burfict, to a set of edgy new uniforms all the way to talk of the Sun Devils as a national title contender.

However, the fact remained that ASU had not defeated a ranked team in their last 10 chances dating back to 2007.  Chance number 11 came on Friday, when No. 19 Missouri came to Tempe for a nationally televised battle against ASU and the debut of the Sun Devils' new all-black uniforms.

In a penalty-ridden and hotly contested back-and-forth affair, ASU junior quarterback Brock Osweiler was nearly flawless.  The 6'8" Osweiler had a coming out party, completing 24 of 32 for 353 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.  He also added 34 yards on the ground and another score, as he was consistently poised and led the Devils to a 37-30 win in overtime.

The now 18th ranked Sun Devils travel to Illinois where Osweiler and the nation's 14th best passing offense looks to keep up their momentum.

Best: Melvin Ingram's Versatility

If you're a head coach and make the bold decision to fake a punt at your own 32-yard line, naturally your first thought would be to give the ball to a 280-pound defensive lineman.

That's exactly what South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier did, and it paid off handsomely.  The snap went directly to upman Melvin Ingram, who cut left and was off to the races for a 68-yard touchdown near the end of the first half, showing off his old high school running back skills in the process.

That alone would make for a great game, but Ingram wasn't done.

With under four minutes left in the game and South Carolina clinging to a 38-35 lead, Gamecock defensive end Jadeveon Clowney forced a fumble from quarterback Aaron Murray.  Ingram scooped it up and ran five yards to score his second touchdown of the day.

He became the third player in the last five years to score a touchdown on both offense and defense in the same game.

And for good measure, he also recovered a Bulldog on-side kick to help secure the South Carolina win.

Just another day in the SEC office.

Best: The Michigan and Notre Dame Ending for the Ages

It took 84 years for a night game to be played at Michigan Stadium.  After the ending on Saturday, it may become a weekly occurrence.

Michigan entered the fourth quarter trailing Notre Dame 24-7, but two scores in the opening minutes of the final frame pulled the Wolverines within three with 10:47 to go.  

However, the minutes passed and the mistakes mounted for both sides before Denard Robinson led Michigan down the field and found Vincent Smith for a go-ahead touchdown with just 1:12 left.

Undaunted by their series of costly turnovers, the Irish were marched down the field by Tommy Rees and scored the presumptive winning touchdown with just 30 seconds left.

Just enough time for Denard Robinson.

After a touchback, Robinson's first pass fell incomplete.  However, the Irish secondary took the next play off, and Robinson found Jeremy Gallon for 64 yards to the Irish 16 with just eight seconds left.  Would they settle for the tying field goal?

Nope.

Robinson lofted a fade to Roy Roundtree, who timed his leap perfectly for the real game-winning touchdown.

Three touchdowns in 72 seconds.  Unbelievable.

Worst: Mark Richt's Job Security

Most any coach would kill for a career record of 96-36.

However, when you're 6-9 in your last 15 games, that hurts.  When that 6-9 happens at the University of Georgia, that could spell doom.

Most people believed that Mark Richt's 6-7 season in 2010 was an aberration, and with a strong incoming class, the Bulldogs opened the season ranked 19th as they faced No. 5 Boise State.

However, the Bulldogs (perhaps undone by their atrocious uniforms) came out listless and were defeated 35-21 by the Broncos.

Despite a balanced offensive showing, three turnovers and Melvin Ingram undid the Bulldogs as they fell to No.12 South Carolina, 45-42.

The hot seat in Athens is now scorching.

Worst: The Corvallis Nightmare Continues

Last week was bad enough, when Oregon State lost in overtime to FCS foe Sacramento State.

The freefall continued this weekend when the were dominated in a 35-0 loss to Wisconsin.  

Starting quarterback Ryan Katz may very well have lost his job when he was benched and Sean Mannion filled in capably, throwing for 244 yards.  

A week after running for for 266 yards against the Hornets, the Malcolm Agnew-less Beavers managed only 25 yards on 26 attempts.

The road ahead doesn't get any easier for OSU head coach Mike Riley.  After a week off to regroup, they host a solid UCLA team before traveling to No. 22 Arizona State.

Worst: The End of the Garrett Gilbert Era

A season after tossing an alarming 17 interceptions, Garrett Gilbert's hold on the starting quarterback job at Texas was tenuous to say the least, especially with a new offense being installed under coordinator Bryan Harsin.

A slow start in last week's win over Rice did little to win over Longhorn faithful, setting up a possible make-or-break start this past week against BYU.

Gilbert broke.

Gilbert threw eight times in his stint in Saturday's game, completing as many to Texas receivers (two) as BYU defenders.

He was benched and replaced by the duo of Case McCoy and David Ash, with McCoy (Colt's younger brother) seeming to have the edge to get the start next week.  Meanwhile, Gilbert is now third on the depth chart.

Texas eeked out a win over BYU 17-16, but the future in Austin is as murky as ever.

Worst: Big Ten's Big Escapes

It was a weekend to forget for the Big Ten.

The conference went 7-5 overall, and it was not so much the losses—Rice over Purdue, Virginia over Indiana, Alabama over Penn State, New Mexico State over Minnesota and Iowa's previously mentioned loss to Iowa State—that cast a shadow over the weekend, but some wins by supposedly elite teams that were much closer than they had any right to be.

It started with No. 15 Ohio State's struggles against Toledo, a team that the Buckeyes had crushed 87-0 in their previous two wins.  Yet, here was Toldeo, leading Ohio State 22-21 late in the third quarter before a Carlos Hyde touchdown put the Buckeyes up for good, although the Rockets did threaten late in the game.

Another highly ranked Big Ten team, this time No. 10 Nebraska, struggled in their eventual win over pesky Fresno State.  In fact, the Bulldogs led the Cornhuskers at the half 17-14, and it wasn't until Taylor Martinez' touchdown with 2:02 left in the game that Nebraska put a two-score cushion between themselves and their WAC opponent.

Worst: Notre Dame's Goal Line Ball Security

You won't win many games when you turn it over four or five times.

You most certainly won't win ANY games when you have five of them inside an opponent's 5-yard line over the first two weeks.

Notre Dame has done just that.  Despite having the 10th best offense in the nation (510.5 yards per game), they rank just 74th in scoring (25.5).

As a result, they are dead last in the nation (120th) in turnover margin.  

That also is the primary reason they are dead last in another category—wins.

Bonus Worst: Making the Worst of a Bad Situation

This can't be good for Michigan State.  

This can't be good for anyone.

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