BCS Rankings 2011: The Fatal Flaw of Every Single BCS Top 25 Team

Nobody is perfect.

The team that wins the 2011 BCS Championship game this year will have to overcome at least one flaw to win.

Whether it's quarterback play, shaky pass defense or bad special teams, every team has at least one fatal flaw.

Let's take a look at the BCS Top 25 teams and see what fatal flaw they'll have to overcome to make it to a BCS bowl game.

25. Washington Huskies (5-1)

Fatal Flaw: Scoring Defense

The Huskies simply allow too many points to be a legitimate contender.

They've only held their opponent under 20 points once.

When they start playing the Stanfords and Oregons on their schedule, 50-plus points allowed isn't out of the question.

24. Texas Longhorns (4-2)

Fatal Flaw: Quarterback Play

The Longhorns only pass for slightly more than 200 yards per game.

That's due in large part to a quarterback carousel between David Ash and Case McCoy.

Until they pick one quarterback, they'll continue to struggle in the passing game.

23. Illinois Fighting Illini (6-1)

Fatal Flaw: Coaching

Ron Zook is a great recruiter. But, he's not a great head coach.

He is bad at managing the clock and does some strange things on the sidelines.

The Illini had a shot for a come-from-behind victory against Ohio State on Saturday before Zook's questionable strategy cost them a chance.

22. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-1)

Fatal Flaw: Passing Attack

The Yellow Jackets are one of the best running attacks in the country, but they don't pass very often.

And, sometimes that gets them in trouble.

When they play a team with a good run defense like Virginia, they can slip up and lose games they should win.

They need to be more effective passing if they want to have a good ending to this season.

21. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-1)

Fatal Flaw: Offense

Penn State's offense simply isn't good enough to win a Big Ten Championship.

They have a world-class defense, but won't be able to score enough points offensively to keep them competitive.

They are ineffective running and passing, so it could be a long year if they don't figure out a way to score some points.

20. Auburn Tigers (5-2)

Fatal Flaw: Defense

The Tigers have allowed 30 or more points four times already this season.

That's not going to get the job done in the SEC.

The offense has been picking up the slack so far, but that's not going to be the case against LSU and Alabama.

19. Houston Cougars (6-0)

Fatal Flaw: Weak Schedule

The Cougars are a good team.

But, a weak non-conference schedule followed by a bad Conference USA schedule means Houston is going to have a tough time moving up the rankings.

They can win the rest of their games and still not make the Top 10.

Even with a 13-0 record, they might not make a BCS bowl.

18. Michigan Wolverines (6-1)

Fatal Flaw: Denard Robinson

Robinson is a great runner, but he's not a great passer.

Also, as the season wears on and he gets hit more and more, he wears down.

We saw it last year and we'll probably see it again this year.

If he can't become a good pocket passer, the Wolverines are going to slide down in the rankings.

17. Texas A&M Aggies (4-2)

Fatal Flaw: Second-Half Defense

The Aggies have already seen the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Arkansas Razorbacks mount second-half comebacks against them.

The defense seems to get tired in the second half, allowing good offenses to put up some serious points after halftime.

Mike Sherman needs to start making better halftime adjustments, or the Aggies are going to continue to have problems beating teams with good offenses.

16. Michigan State Spartans (5-1)

Fatal Flaw: Kirk Cousins

Cousins has a hard time bouncing back from adversity.

He thinks about his interceptions too much and that causes him to make more mistakes.

In the 10-7 win against Ohio State, Cousins threw a couple picks and was horrible all game.

He needs to have a shorter memory if the Spartans are going to compete for the Big Ten title.

15. West Virginia Mountaineers (5-1)

Fatal Flaw: Rushing Attack

The Mountaineers have a true freshman running back in Dustin Garrison.

He's not been doing bad for a freshman, but West Virginia ranks 91st overall in rushing yards per game.

That's not going to cut it when winter hits.

You don't need a great running game to win in college football, but you need a better one than West Virginia has.

14. South Carolina Gamecocks (6-1)

Fatal Flaw: Missing Players

Shortly after Stephen Garcia was dismissed from the team for another arrest, Marcus Lattimore went down with a season-ending injury.

That's devastating for an offense that was counting on those two players to lead them to the SEC Championship game.

They still have a shot at it, but it's not looking good now.

13. Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-1)

Fatal Flaw: Taylor Martinez as a Passer

Martinez is one of the best running quarterbacks in college football, but his passing game leaves a lot to be desired.

He's thrown six touchdowns and six interceptions.

He's going to have to improve that ratio drastically for Nebraska to be a legitimate threat.

12. Virginia Tech Hokies (6-1)

Fatal Flaw: Inexperience

The Hokies had to replace Tyrod Taylor and Ryan Williams this offseason.

That's not an easy task, though Logan Thomas and David Wilson are doing a pretty good job of it so far.

But, the Hokies lost their only game to a ranked team this year, showing that the youngsters still have a long way to go before they are ready to win big games.

11. Kansas State Wildcats (6-0)

Fatal Flaw: Passing Offense

The Wildcats have one of the worst passing attacks in college football, averaging 130 yards per game.

When they face Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas A&M, that's going to come back to bite them.

I wouldn't be surprised if K-State lost all four of those games.

10. Oregon Ducks (5-1)

Fatal Flaw: Turnovers in Big Games

When LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner were cramping in the LSU game in Week 1, De'Anthony Thomas came in and showed his inexperience.

The freshman had poor ball security and fumbled a couple times, costing the Ducks the game.

If the Ducks continue making bad turnovers on the big stage, they'll have trouble beating Stanford.

9. Arkansas Razorbacks (5-1)

Fatal Flaw: Running Game

The Razorbacks' leading rusher has a grand total of 284 yards on the year.

That's a lot of pressure on Tyler Wilson and the passing game.

Against LSU and Alabama, they are going to be in a lot of trouble if they can't develop a more balanced attack.

8. Stanford Cardinal (6-0)

Fatal Flaw: New Head Coach

Jim Harbaugh is now a successful NFL head coach.

His replacement, David Shaw, has yet to lose a game.

But, when the games get bigger and tougher, how will he handle the pressure?

I'm sensing a couple of rookie head coaching mistakes in his future.

7. Clemson Tigers (7-0)

Fatal Flaw: Inexperience

The Tigers weren't supposed to be 7-0. Their fast start has surprised everyone.

Led by an inexperienced Tajh Boyd at quarterback, it will be interesting to see if Clemson cools off a little bit as the season wears on.

But, if he stays consistent, the Tigers have an outside shot at the national championship.

6. Wisconsin Badgers (6-0)

Fatal Flaw: Russell Wilson

Wilson has been great so far this season.

But, what's he going to do when he has to lead the Badgers down the field late in the fourth quarter?

So far this season, he's only thrown four passes total in the fourth quarter, an amazing statistic.

Can he lead his new team to a come-from-behind victory? That remains to be seen.

5. Boise State Broncos (6-0)

Fatal Flaw: Young Wide Receivers

Kellen Moore is one of the best quarterbacks in college football history.

But, he has two new receivers to work with this year after Austin Pettis and Titus Young moved on to the NFL.

When they get on the big stage, will the new guys get a case of the drops?

We'll see just how good they are when Boise State plays TCU in a couple weeks.

4. Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-0)

Fatal Flaw: Pass Defense

The Cowboys simply allow too many yards and points to be an elite team right now.

When they play a game against Oklahoma that might have a national championship berth at stake, they'll need to play the game of their lives.

Landry Jones and Ryan Broyles are salivating at the thought of picking apart the OSU secondary.

3. Oklahoma Sooners (6-0)

Fatal Flaw: Road Games

Landry Jones and the Sooners have typically had a tough time winning tough games away from home.

They've won at Florida State and at Texas this year, but neither of those teams were as good as their ranking suggested.

So, if the Sooners play in a bowl game away from Oklahoma, it will be interesting to see whether or not Jones can lead them to victory.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-0)

Fatal Flaw: Young Quarterback

A.J. McCarron has been getting better and better every week.

But, how will he handle the intense SEC games against LSU, possibly the SEC Championship game and possibly the BCS National Championship game?

It's not hard to imagine the young QB imploding in any or all of those games.

1. LSU Tigers (7-0)

Fatal Flaw: Lack of an Explosive Quarterback

Let's face facts: Jarrett Lee isn't going to lead a massive come-from-behind victory.

He's the perfect QB for when he's playing with a lead because he doesn't turn the ball over.

But, if you need a quick score, he's not the guy to get it.