2011 College Football: Grading the Top 25 Teams' Performances from Week 6

Week 6 of the 2011 college football season is in the books. A few things were clarified this past weekend, and a few more were muddied further.

We found out that Texas may have been a shade overrated at No. 11. Florida may have been at No. 17 as well. Both were blasted by conference rivals—Texas at home.

South Carolina seems to have found the right pieces to make their offense fire on all cylinders finally. Kansas State continues to thwart their naysayers, and Clemson continues to show that they could be the best team in the ACC.

We also learned that Florida State doesn't belong any where in the Top 25 right now, and Nebraska's position within their new conference is still largely up for debate. Texas Tech didn't collapse in the second half this time.

And so, it's time again to grade what we saw on football fields across America this past weekend.

No. 25 Baylor

Opponent: Iowa State

Outcome: Won 49-26

The Cyclones made this game interesting for about a quarter-and-a-half. They led the Bears 14-7 midway through the second quarter.

Then the Baylor offense took control.

Robert Griffin III had another impressive day, completing 73 percent of his passes for 212 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 107 yards and another score.

Terrance Ganaway also had a good day, picking up 200 rushing yards on 23 carries, averaging 8.7 yards per carry.

The Bears played smart football, only committing two penalties for 20 yards.

The down side is, the Bears gave up 425 yards of offense and allowed James White to run for 148 yards, including a 76-yard TD scamper. On top of that, the team coughed up two fumbles, but grabbed a fumble and interception in return.

Overall, it was an impressive offensive performance, but was a little sloppy and the defense wasn't as solid as it will need to be going forward.

Grade: B

No. 24 Texas A&M

Opponent: Texas Tech

Outcome: Won 45-40

It wasn't always pretty, and the stuff that went on before the game was flat-out ugly. Still, the Aggies got a good win over a Texas Tech team that started the their season 4-0.

Offensively, the Aggies were pretty well balanced. They got 116 yards and a touchdown out of Cyrus Gray on the ground, while Ryan Tannehill tossed the rock for 188 more and another score. Tannehill also carried the ball for 55 yards and two more scores.

Special teams stepped up with a huge blocked field goal in the third quarter that Terrence Frederick scooped up and took back 64 yards for a score.

Perhaps most importantly, A&M didn't blow a first half lead. While they never held that comfortable of a margin, the closest Tech got to staging the upset in the second half was at the very end when they pulled within five points.

The Red Raiders couldn't pick up the onside kick though, and the Aggies were able to run out the clock on a big road victory over an in-state rival.

The biggest issue with the Aggies is defense, and it reared its head again this week.

They allowed Seth Doege to pass for 391 yards and three touchdowns without grabbing an interception. Eric Stephens also rumbled for 102 yards on the ground and picked up a score against the Aggies.

In total, the Aggie defense was on the field through 105 plays, giving up 523 yards to the Red Raiders.

The Aggies were also penalized nine times for 100 yards—five of which resulted in first downs. If they weren't allowing the Red Raiders to salvage drives through the air or on the ground, they were handing them first downs via penalty.

It wasn't a smartly played football game, but the Aggies stepped up where needed and came away with an important win.

Grade: B-

No. 23 Florida State

Opponent: Wake Forest

Outcome: Lost 35-30

Can we stop the charade now? On the heels of this reeling defeat, Florida State will finally fall from the Top 25—a place they never deserved to be in the first place.

Oh I know, their three losses have come to two Top 10 teams and a school that is now 4-1. The flip side is, their two victories have come against an FCS opponent and a Sun Belt team that's 1-3.

Wake Forest, as good as their record may look, also lost to Syracuse who is 4-2, but also hasn't beaten anybody of note (unless you consider Wake being a team of note). Spare me.

The Seminoles actually out-performed Wake in terms of yardage, but lost the possession battle and gave up five turnovers. I don't care who you're playing, turning the ball over five times is unacceptable.

On top of that, they gave up 109 yards on 13 penalties. To say it was a sloppy performance by the Seminoles would be a drastic understatement.

The ground game amassed over 100 yards rushing, but no one person had a stellar day. The leading rusher—Devonta Freeman—picked up only 37 yards, albeit on just five carries. Ty Jones also averaged five yards per carry on his limited six hauls.

Which begs the question—why didn't the Seminoles run the ball more than 27 times if they had a pair of runners that were picking up considerably decent yardage? Why did they continue to pass when E.J. Manuel threw two picks and Clint Trickett threw two more?

Poor game management and sloppy play pushed the Seminoles to a record below .500.

Grade: F

No. 22 Arizona State

Opponent: Utah

Outcome: Won 35-14

The Utes made things interesting for a while. They kept the Sun Devils honest for two-and-a-half quarters, putting Arizona State down 14-10 early in the third quarter.

It didn't last much longer than that though.

Arizona State put up 17 points in the third and added a touchdown in the fourth for good measure to put the Utes in their place.

Brock Osweiller tossed up a trio of touchdowns without an interception, while his team forced Utah QB Jon Hays into three picks and the Utah team into two more fumbles. On the day, Arizona State was mistake-free in terms of turnovers, though they did give up 77 yards to penalties.

Arizona State amassed almost 400 yards of total offense, leaning heavily on the pass. Their ground game didn't really materialize, but Osweiler took care of things with his arm.

Gerell Robinson and Mike Willie each hauled in seven catches, and both were around 100 yards receiving with Willie picking up a pair of scores.

ASU special teams weren't spectacular on coverage, but they weren't terrible either, and the rest of the team took care of business.

Grade: B+

No. 21 Virginia Tech

Opponent: Miami (FL)

Outcome:Won 38-35

This was a very close call for the Hokies. Miami had them down 35-31 with just a minute to go in the game before QB Logan Thomas streaked through a gaping hole in the line and scored the go-ahead touchdown.

It was an exciting game and an important ACC victory, but I can't grade the performance solely on how thrilling the end was. In truth, it probably shouldn't have been that close.

The Hokie defense—which is supposed to be awfully good—allowed Miami to put up 519 yards of total offense. That's 150 yards more than the Hurricane were averaging coming into this game.

Jacory Harris was permitted to throw three touchdowns while Phillip Dorsett tossed up another one. Lamar Miller was also allowed to dash for 166 yards as three Hurricane runners topped the six-yard-per-carry mark on the day.

Thankfully, Tech's offense was working just fine.

Thomas threw for 310 yards and three scores without an interception. He also scrambled for 28 yards and two more scores.

Meanwhile, David Wilson was busy blasting out 128 yards on the ground and keeping Miami's defense on its heels.

Special teams (Beamer Ball) were decent, and the team didn't commit many penalties (5-for-35 yards), though they did cough up a fumble.

It was an important win for the purpose of staying firmly in the ACC title chase, but it wasn't that impressive a victory considering the defense gave up so many yards and the Hokies needed all 60 minutes to put this thing away. Especially considering it was played in Lane Stadium.

Grade: B-

No. 20 Kansas State

Opponent: Missouri

Outcome: Won 24-17

Though Kansas State is the ranked team and Missouri came into this game with a 2-2 record, the Wildcats weren't favorites to win.

Is that a slap in the face or what? Particularly because K-State had already gone on the road to beat Miami (FL) and had handed No. 25 Baylor their first—and only thus far—loss of the season.

Well, the Wildcats answered their detractors. The score isn't really indicative of what happened in this game. Kansas State had Missouri down 24-3 midway through the fourth quarter before the Tigers finally put something together to make it look respectable.

Collin Klein's passing numbers aren't anything to write home about. He completed 11-of-16 attempts for 112 yards and an interception, but that isn't their strong suit anyway.

Klein also carried the ball for 45 yards and three scores, while John Hubert put up the bulk of the Wildcat rushing offense with 126 yards.

The Wildcats only committed three penalties all day for just 13 yards and both teams handed over an interception. Kansas State forced Missouri to beat them purely on the strength of their offense—they weren't giving anything away for free.

If anyone took this game in its totality and didn't just look at the final score, they'd see that Kansas State took care of business where it mattered most—on the scoreboard and didn't allow Missouri to do anything meaningful until late in the game. Then they clamped down and held on for the victory.

Good win to push the Wildcats to 5-0 and shake up the Big 12 pecking order just a little.

Grade: A-

No. 19 Illinois

Opponent: Indiana

Outcome: Won 41-20

Illinois took a little bit to wake up in this one. Indiana forced them down 10-0 to start the game, before the Illini finally found a stride.

WR A.J. Jenkins was the Hoosier-killer of the day, hauling in six passes for 182 yards and two scores. Two of them however, were huge as he started the Illini offense with a 77-yard TD score in the first quarter and followed it up with a 67-yard TD haul in the third.

QB Nathan Scheelhaase was solid, completing 12-of-22 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. He also scampered for 88 yards and another score.

A slew of Illini runners put up good yardage as the team totaled 308 yards on the ground. There is the stat of the game for you. Illinois rushed for 308 yards while Indiana only put up 83 yards. Both teams passed for roughly 215 yards.

My concern in this one is that Illinois took Indiana too lightly and had to wake up from an early slumber to take control of the game. Both teams committed two turnovers apiece, and neither team committed a ton of stupid penalties.

It just wasn't a good start for Illinois, and they allowed Indiana to hang around a little longer than necessary.

Still, once they decided to start playing, they steamrolled over Indiana and came away with a win to give them their best start in a very long time.

On a side note, if anyone associated with Getty Images is reading, get up to Champaign and get us some photos of these Illini. You're killing me here...

Grade: B

No. 18 South Carolina

Opponent: Kentucky

Outcome: Won 54-3

Without Stephen Garcia, South Carolina finally started looking like a team worthy of their ranking. No, Kentucky isn't anyone particularly special as far as opponents go, but Connor Shaw completed 15-of-22 passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions in the first half alone.

The sudden stability of the pass game allowed the Gamecocks to open up a 20-3 halftime lead.

I've railed since the first couple of weeks that this South Carolina team was woefully overrated. I stand behind those early criticisms because I still believe they were.

After all, Stephen Garcia has thrown more than twice as many interceptions as he has touchdowns (nine and four respectively). Too much of the offense relied on the play of Marcus Lattimore and—as good as he is—no team deserves to be rated as highly as the Gamecocks were while giving away the ball so many times and relying so heavily on one man to save their hide.

I'm now ready to say that South Carolina might actually deserve to be where they are.

Connor Shaw ended the day with 26-of-39 attempts for 311 yards passing and four touchdowns. Andrew Clifford also got a couple of attempts and put up another Gamecock score.

Lattimore picked up a respectable 102 yards on 22 carries. It wasn't his most impressive performance, but he kept the defense honest and helped open up the fantastic aerial attack that South Carolina employed.

Meanwhile the defense allowed Kentucky to complete only 4-of-26 passes all day for a grand total of 17 yards and four interceptions.

They also limited the Wildcat ground attack to just 79 yards, making the total Kentucky offensive production a measly 96 yards while their offense was busily racking up 639 yards of their own.

South Carolina dominated this game all the way around and finally looked like a team that deserves to be squarely in the Top 25.

Grade: A+

No. 17 Florida

Opponent: No. 1 LSU

Outcome: Lost 11-41

Before I begin to rag on the Gators, it's important to note two facts. First, the Gators were without starting QB John Brantley due to injury. Second, this game was played in Tiger Stadium.

Oh yeah, and the third thing is, they were taking on the No. 1 team in the nation.

Now, having clarified all of that, Florida really got hammered in this one.

Freshman QB Jacoby Brissett got the call and had to face a very stout Tiger defense. He completed 8-of-14 passes for just 94 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

The run game was so-so. Mike Gillislee averaged a very nice 6.2 yards-per-carry on nine carries and Chris Rainey averaged another four per try as well.

The problem was, as a unit, the ground game only picked up 113 yards and couldn't find a way to score.

Defensively, Florida was out-matched. Their run defense that looked so good just a couple of weeks ago has been exposed.

They allowed Spencer Ware to rush for 109 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also letting Alfred Blue chew up 70 yards and another score. In total, the Gators surrendered 238 yards on the ground to a team that averages 172.6.

The Gators were just 2-of-11 on third-down conversions, were penalized 12 times for 90 yards and gave up Brissett's two interceptions.

The opponent was as tough as it gets, this was on the road and they were minus their starting QB, but this still wasn't a great performance by Florida.

Grade: D

No. 16 West Virginia

Opponent: Connecticut

Outcome: Won 43-16

The first half of this game wasn't pretty, and West Virginia looked like a team that probably shouldn't even be sniffing at the Top 25. They trailed UConn 6-3 at one point and only barely held on to a 10-9 lead going into halftime.

It all worked out though, as the Mountaineers went on a 33-point run in the second half to put the Huskies away comfortably.

The running game was only "meh", as the Mountaineers racked up just 72 yards on the ground. Of course, that's partly because QB Geno Smith was sacked a couple of times and held for -14 yards overall.

Dustin Garrison and Andrew Buie combined for 91 yards on 20 carries (4.55 average) and Garrison picked up a touchdown.

The pass game was tremendous. Smith threw for 450 yards and four touchdowns against a UConn defense that is averaging just 240.4 allowed through the air. Stedman Bailey and Ivan McCartney combined for 309 yards receiving on 13 catches and Bailey picked up a pair of scores.

West Virginia wasn't mistake-free though. They handed over an interception and a fumble, and were penalized eight times for 80 yards. Plus, there was that slow start against a Huskies team that is 2-4 and hasn't beaten anyone of note this year.

Grade: B+

No. 15 Auburn

Opponent: No.10 Arkansas

Outcome: Lost 14-38

I'm not an Auburn-hater, though my writing may have sometimes reflected that opinion. I'm just confused by this team.

They started the season in the Top 25, but dropped out after losing to Clemson. Then they skyrocket from a position outside of the Top 25 to No. 15 after defeating a South Carolina team that had been playing fairly poorly.

Now they lose again.

So, is this team good or not? Are they Top 25 material or aren't they? I'm sorry, but I'm a little confused.

The Tigers looked pretty good in the opening of this game, jumping up to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter. Then, Arkansas took it to them.

The pass attack was horrendous as four different hurlers combined to complete just 9-of-25 passes for 104 yards and three interceptions.

On the other hand, the ground game was very effective. Michael Dyer gained 112 yards on 21 carries and scored a touchdown. As a team, they carried the ball 52 times for 291 yards, averaged 5.6 yards per carry and scored two touchdowns.

The run game alone just wasn't enough.

Defensively, they gave up three rushing touchdowns and two more passing. On top of that, they were penalized 11 times for 105 yards and gave up those three turnovers while only grabbing one fumble recovery of their own.

This was a one-dimensional game for the Tigers and that one dimension wasn't nearly enough to get it done against a team like the Razorbacks.

Grade: D+

No. 14 Nebraska

Opponent: Ohio State

Outcome: Won 34-27

This analysis should be prefaced by saying that this was the best performance I have seen from Ohio State all season. They actually looked just a little like the Buckeye team of old.

Now the question is, was that due to Nebraska making them look that good or is Ohio State finally coming around? I'm betting it's more a case of Ohio State putting up a good performance rather than Nebraska looking that poor.

Having said that, the Cornhuskers didn't look that good at the start of the game. Give them their due props for putting together the biggest come-from-behind win in school history. That was exciting to watch.

It just probably shouldn't have gotten to that point.

The first half was all Ohio State. From Braxton Miller hitting Jake Stoneburner for a 32-yard touchdown to Carlos Hyde ripping off a 63-yard sprint-for-six, Ohio State was picking apart the dreaded "blackshirts" every which way they looked.

It wasn't until midway through the third quarter, with Nebraska trailing 27-6, that the Cornhusker defense started locking down on Ohio State and the offense started really putting together something exciting.

RB Rex Burkhead and QB Taylor Martinez eventually started burning down the Buckeye defense as the two combined for 221 rushing yards and a score each. Burkhead also hauled in five Martinez passes for 59 yards and another score.

Across the stat sheet, this was an evenly fought football game. The rushing yards were comparative, as were the passing yards. Both teams committed penalties that totaled in the 50-75 yard range and both teams turned the ball over (Ohio State twice, Nebraska once).

Watching this game, I really got the feeling that Ohio State came out with something to prove and Nebraska was a little shell-shocked. Once they got their feet back under them, they turned the tide and wore the Buckeyes down.

It was an exciting win and a great comeback. The Huskers deserve a measure of props for hanging tough and not giving up when things looked bleak. 

Great first Big Ten victory for the Cornhuskers.

Grade: A-

No. 13 Georgia Tech

Opponent: Maryland

Outcome: Won 21-16

This one is a little tough to grade. Typically, the quality of the opponent is taken strongly into consideration—as I think it should. However, how good is Maryland?

The Terps are a team that defeated Miami (FL) and played tough against No.16 West Virginia, but also were blown out by Temple and didn't look that impressive against Towson.

Which Maryland team was this that we saw?

It also bears noting that the score isn't indicative of exactly what happened on the field either. The Yellow Jackets had the Terps down 21-3 after three quarters before Maryland put together a 13-point fourth quarter to make it close.

Georgia Tech is an option team, so passing numbers aren't that big a deal. Still Tevin Washington only completed 6-of-19 attempts for 114 yards and an interception.

Washington did pick up 120 yards on the ground with a pair of scores as the Yellow Jacket ground attack amassed 272 yards and three touchdowns.

The issues were that, while their defense did hold Maryland's pass attack to just 6-of-24 for 87 yards and two interceptions, they also gave up 246 yards rushing and a pair of scores. A little tougher run defense might have blown this game out of the water entirely.

Also, Georgia Tech committed eight penalties for 63 yards while Maryland only had one five-yard penalty all game.

All in all, decent win, but it could have been better.

Grade: B

No. 12 Michigan

Opponent: Northwestern

Outcome: Won 42-24

If there was any doubt about whether or not Michigan had made significant strides forward this year, they should be answered by now.

No, Northwestern isn't one of those teams that really get you salivating when you see them on the schedule. They often don't get the credit they deserve, though.The Wildcats are a scrappy team that finds ways to give just about everyone in the conference fits.

Northwestern did more of the same, jumping out to a 14-7 lead over the Wolverines in the first quarter and extending that lead to 24-14 at the half. That was the last scoring they'd see as Greg Mattison's defense clamped down on them in the second half and allowed Denard Robinson & Co. to work their magic.

Robinson demonstrated his true dual-threat capability. The junior passed for 337 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also running for 117 yards and two more scores.

Of course, he also demonstrated where he still needs work as he threw three interceptions on the day.

Junior Hemingway accounted for 124 receiving yards, but really this was Robinson's offense. The Heisman hopeful accounted for 65 percent of the rushing yards, 93 percent of the passing yards and put up 454 total yards.

Defensively, they allowed Dan Persa to pass 331 yards, but pulled down an interception and didn't allow a passing touchdown. The Wolverines allowed just 107 yards on the ground and gave up a pair of early rushing touchdowns, but held tight down the stretch.

Those three turnovers hurt Michigan a little, but it was a solid overall performance to get them to 6-0 on the season.

Grade: B+

No. 11 Texas

Opponent: No.3 Oklahoma

Outcome:Lost 17-55

I'm sorry Texas fans, but I don't see how or why the Longhorns were ever ranked this high. There was no good evidence to support such a lofty rating in their first four games.

My consternation would appear somewhat justified considering their performance in the Red River Rivalry.

In the first half alone, David Ash was just 2 of 6 passing and threw two interception—one of which went back for a touchdown. The Longhorns turned the ball over three times and gave up 17 points off those turnovers.

The defense allowed opposing QB Landry Jones to put up over 300 yards passing and three touchdowns in just that first half.

The second half opened up with Texas fumbling the ball on their first series and Oklahoma taking it back for a touchdown.

The defense fared pretty well against the run, but couldn't stop Jones and the pass attack. That is, until midway through the third quarter when Dominique Whaley broke free and bolted 64 yards for yet another Sooner score.

The bright spot for the Longhorns would be special teams. They returned two kicks for touchdowns. Unfortunately, one was called back on an illegal block penalty.

In the end, nothing was working for Texas. Case McCoy completed better than 50 percent of his passes for 116 yards, but couldn't get anything out of that, Meanwhile Ash picked up 107 yards and a touchdown, but threw a pair of picks.

The running game went virtually nowhere and the defense couldn't stop anything Oklahoma tried to do.

If this is an indicator of how good this Texas team is, it could be another disappointing year for Longhorns fans.

Grade: D

No. 10 Arkansas

Opponent: No.15 Auburn

Outcome: Won 38-14

Against three consecutive ranked opponents, Arkansas comes out 2-1. The lone loss was against No.2 Alabama. No shame there, and the Razorbacks made a strong statement about being a true Top 10 team.

The Razorbacks played smart football, committing just four penalties for 26 yards and were relatively clean, giving up just one turnover compared to Auburn's three.

If you want to see more stats, just check out Auburn's slide. There's no need to recount all of that again.

In a nutshell though, it wasn't a statistical dominance by the Razorbacks. They gave up almost as much as they took, except in the area of turnovers and penalties.

Where they did dominate is where it matters most—on the scoreboard. Offensively, they were a little slow starting, but were steady throughout the day and kept putting points on the board. Defensively, they gave up a little too much early, but held steady through the second half and eventually shut Auburn down.

It was a strong performance that showed this team is for real.

Grade: A

No. 9 Oregon

Opponent: California

Outcome: Won 43-15

Don't let the score mislead you here. Yes, it was an Oregon blowout, but it wasn't necessarily as easy as all that. The Ducks were in a dogfight with the Golden Bears throughout the first half. At the break, Cal was up 15-14.

Oregon didn't pull it all together and put Cal well behind them until the third quarter, then cruised through the fourth to make it look like a walk.

Still, the Oregon defense held Cal to half their seasonal average for points scored. However, they also gave up 321 passing yards and another 144 on the ground.

It wasn't the greatest defensive effort ever seen, but they did allow just one touchdown and three field goals. It could have been much worse with that kind of yardage given up.

Darron Thomas completed just over 50 percent of his passes and tossed three touchdowns and an interception.

LaMichael James had another great week, carrying the ball 30 times for 239 yards (8.0 average) and a touchdown. Unfortunately, he also dislocated his elbow (ouch) and will be questionable for a week or two now.

De'Anthony Thomas hauled in six passes for 114 yards and a pair of scores.

This is pretty much what you'd expect from a high-flying offense against a team that's decent, but hasn't really beaten anyone of note and is 3-2 overall on the year. The slow start, one turnover and 91 penalty yards hurts their grade, but only barely.

Grade: A-

No. 8 Clemson

Opponent: Boston College

Outcome: Won 36-14

And Clemson keeps rolling. No, Boston College wasn't as exciting as beating Florida State and Virginia Tech in consecutive performances, but it's another ACC notch in the belt.

Granted, BC is now just 1-5, but that's beside the point.

Tajh Boyd was exception once again, completing 16 of 26 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown before injuring his hip. He also picked up 37 yards rushing with another touchdown before having to sit down.

Andre Ellington was solid, picking up 117 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown.

The defense wasn't completely dominant as they allowed two BC runners to pick up over four yards per carry and gave up touchdowns both on the ground and through the air. However, that was really all they gave up.

BC was only allowed 258 yards of total offense compared to Clemson's 500 yards. The Tigers also committed just two penalties (for 20 yards) and didn't give up a single turnover while taking away two from the Eagles.

Strong performance top-to-bottom. We'll have to see how they do in the future if Boyd can't come back at 100 percent, but for this past weekend, things looked pretty good.

Grade: A

No. 7 Stanford

Opponent: Colorado

Outcome: Won 48-7

This was pretty much what was expected of the No.7 team in the country against a weak Colorado team.

The Cardinal dominated the Buffalo in just about every way imaginable. Andrew Luck tossed for 370 yards and three scores, though he did give up an interception. Several Cardinal runners found success with Stepfan Taylor, Jeremy Stewart and Tyler Gaffney all finding their way into the end zone.

Even special teams got in on the action as Max Bergen scooped up a blocked field goal attempt and scurried 75 yards for the opening touchdown.

Defensively, they allowed Tyler Hansen to toss for just 202 yards and a touchdown, took away an interception and allowed just 60 yards on the ground.

They were penalized for 65 yards and turned the ball over twice, but otherwise was a dominant performance.

Grade: A-

No. 6 Oklahoma State

Opponent: Kansas

Outcome: Won 70-28

As so often happens—and as lopsided as the score already is—it could have been even worse. Oklahoma State racked up an enormous 56-7 lead before starting to slow down and still extended it to 70-14 before pretty much giving up altogether.

Brandon Weeden completed 24 of 28 passes for 288 yards and five touchdowns before turning the reigns over to Clint Chelf. Chelf went on to complete 14 of 21 passes for an additional 206 yards and two scores.

The run game was pretty much an accessory in terms of yardage, chewing up 106 of them, but added three more touchdowns to the pile.

Defensively, the Cowboys allowed Jordan Webb to pass for 316 yards and a pair of scores, but also took away a couple of interceptions. They also surrendered 153 yards on the ground with a couple more scores.

It bears repeating again though, that 21 of those points came in the second half, after the Cowboys had already racked up a 56-7 lead. It's hard to say that Kansas would have scored those had the game been tighter.

Oklahoma State played a clean game, committing only five penalties for just 35 yards and didn't turn the ball over. Meanwhile, they forced the Jayhawks into four turnovers.

It doesn't get much more dominant than this was.

Grade: A

No. 5 Boise State

Opponent: Fresno State

Outcome: Won 57-7

Fresno State isn't the kind of opponent that's going to garner a ton of respect for the Broncos. In fact, now that TCU has dropped out of the rankings, their schedule is about as light as one could ask without dipping into FCS status.

So, what's a team that's hoping for a BCS bowl appearance to do? How about mercilessly beating the snot out of the teams that are on the schedule.

Kellen Moore threw three more touchdowns without an interception and Doug Martin averaged just under six yards per carry.

The Broncos only gave up 15 penalty yards, didn't commit a single turnover and didn't allow the Bulldogs to get on the board until the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, they forced the Bulldogs into four turnovers and kept them off the board and out of range most of the night.

The only real negatives were that they allowed one big run by Robbie Rouse and allowed an extra point to be blocked. Obviously, those weren't detrimental to the overall performance and won't hurt their grade.

Grade: A+

No. 4 Wisconsin

Opponent: Idle

Outcome: N/A

The Badgers have had a tremendous start to their 2011 season. QB Russell Wilson has quickly won ove the hearts of Badger faithful with his tremendous play and RB Montee Ball continues to impress weekly.

Last week's dominance over Nebraska was the first and only real test of the season to this point, however. Wisconsin is undoubtedly very, very good. We'll know just how good as the season progresses.

The rest of their schedule shakes out like this:

Indiana

@ Michigan State

@ Ohio State

Purdue

@ Minnesota

@ No.19 Illinois

Penn State

The entire Badgers season may hinge around the Illinois game as all the rest should be easily winnable. There may not be anyone from the Legends Division that can step up to Wisconsin and make a game of the Championship in Indianapolis either.

Grade: N/A

No. 3 Oklahoma

Opponent: No.11 Texas

Outcome: Won 55-17

Things couldn't have gone much better for the Sooners. Despite a slow start that saw them leading only 6-3 after the first quarter, Oklahoma turned it on and burned down the bulls in the burnt orange.

Landry Jones was exceptional, throwing for over 300 yards in the first half alone. The ground game was mediocre with Dominique Whaley gaining about a yard per carry,until a 64-yard touchdown scamper in the third quarter improved his stats.

The Sooners didn't really need Whaley (or any other runner) to have a big day, though. Jones and the receivers were doing more than enough to let the running game do little more than keep the defense honest.

Defensively, the Sooners had Texas' number, shutting down the Longhorn run game and forcing five turnovers (actually more, but recovered five), including a pick-six and a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

The only dark shadow falling on Oklahoma this week was kick coverage. They allowed two kickoffs to be returned for touchdowns, though one of them didn't count because of a penalty.

Other than those special teams woes, it was a pretty flawless performance and a big win in a huge rivalry game.

Grade: A

No. 2 Alabama

Opponent: Vanderbilt

Outcome: Won 34-0

The Commodores have a somewhat better team than you might think. That's no excuse, mind you, but I'm kind of impressed with them.

Yes, they've been manhandled in consecutive weeks by ranked opponents. Hey, I never said they were really good. I just said I was impressed with their 3-2 start.

Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way, Alabama had a slow start against Vanderbilt. Through the first two quarters, the Crimson Tide managed just two touchdowns to build an unspectacular 14-0 lead at the half.

The Tide never really did turn on the heat, but simply methodically worked over the Commodores.

A.J. McCarron threw for 237 yards and four touchdowns. Trent Richardson rushed for 107 yards on 19 carries and scored a touchdown. Overall, Alabama racked up 419 offensive yards to Vanderbilt's 190.

The Tide only gave up 15 yards on penalties and didn't commit a turnover. Meanwhile, they picked off two interceptions.

It really felt as though the Tide were sleepwalking their way through an easy victory. I'm not entirely sure that was the case, but the outcome was never in doubt as they played a clean, consistent and dominant game.

Grade: A

No. 1 LSU

Opponent: No.17 Florida

Outcome: Won 41-11

Is LSU really the best team in the nation? Are they even the best team in the SEC?

I don't know, but I do know one thing: Florida certainly doesn't fit either description.

The Tigers went straight at Florida's run defense with a heavy ground game. The air attack served its purpose as LSU came out of the contest with relatively equal running and passing numbers.

Through the air, Jarrett Lee led the Tigers to 215 passing yards, while Spencer Ware led an army of Tiger runners to 238 yards on the ground.

LSU out-passed Florida, out-rushed the Gators, controlled the game clock and won the turnover battle. If there's any kind of negative to be found, it might be that they committed 9 penalties for 65 yards, but that's not all that bad.

The Tigers continued to make their case for being the No.1 team in the nation with a complete victory over an SEC foe.

Grade: A