Games of the Week
No. 3 Texas (9-1) at Kansas (6-4) -- Saturday, 12:30 p.m. (ET)
Despite losing three of their last four games, Kansas can still pose a serious threat to any defense.
The Jayhawks, led by junior quarterback Todd Reesing, currently sit at 21st in the country averaging 34.5 PPG. Reesing has struggled a bit lately throwing seven of his ten interceptions in the last four games.
On the season, Reesing has tossed 13 touchdowns compared to just three interceptions in the six Jayhawk victories while he has ten touchdowns and seven interceptions in losses.
Kansas will need Reesing to be at his best if they plan to hang with the Longhorns who climbed back up the rankings to No. 3. Junior quarterback Colt McCoy continues to carry the Texas offense leading the Longhorns in both passing and rushing yards.
McCoy still leads the nation completing 78 percent of his passes while also ranking in the top five in yards per attempt (9.2) and passer rating (180.27).
The explosive Longhorn offense is probably not what Kansas wanted to see considering the fact the Jayhawks have allowed 51.3 PPG over their last four games. Meanwhile, Texas has scored at least 40 points in seven of their ten games this season.
No. 25 South Carolina (7-3) at No. 4 Florida (8-1) -- Saturday, 3:30 p.m. (ET), CBS
While nothing is guaranteed in the world of the BCS, Florida is almost assured a spot in the national championship game if they win out. But in order to do so they must first get past a familiar face in Steve Spurrier and one of the hottest teams in the SEC.
The Gators have ripped off five straight wins since suffering their only loss of the season and they have done it in dominating fashion defeating opponents a combined 243-57 including wins over then No. 4 LSU 51-21 and No. 6 Georgia 49-10.
During those five games Florida has averaged 232 rushing yards per game while scoring 18 of their 26 rushing touchdowns. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has eight rushing touchdowns in the last four games, this after have just two rushing scores in the first five weeks of the season.
South Carolina is on a streak of their own, winning six of their last seven games after starting the year 1-2. While South Carolina does not have a traditional high scoring Steve Spurrier offense sitting at 75th in the nation at 24.0 PPG they do have one of the best defenses in the country allowing 15.6 PPG.
The only problem for South Carolina is Florida's scoring defense is even better at 11.9 PPG and the Gators offense puts up a SEC best 42.8 PPG.
No. 10 Georgia (8-2) at Auburn (5-5) -- Saturday, 12:30 p.m. (ET)
At the beginning of the season this game looked to be a battle of two teams in the thick of national championship contention. Now both teams are just vying for a better bowl game, if one at all.
Georgia entered the season at the preseason No. 1 team but after losing to Florida two weeks ago the Bulldogs national championship, SEC championship and BCS bowl dreams likely went down the drain.
Georgia was nearly upset at the hands of 6-4 Kentucky last week despite quarterback Matthew Stafford's best game of the season. Stafford struggled in the loss to Florida throwing a season high three interceptions but he rebounded against Kentucky posting season highs in yards (376), touchdowns (3) and passer rating (216.6).
Auburn has suffered an even greater fall this season from preseason No. 10 to now needing a win against either Georgia or Alabama to just become bowl eligible.
The problem for the Tigers has been on the offensive side of the ball. Their 19.5 PPG average is good for 104th out of 120 teams.
The Tigers are losers of four of their last five games with their only win coming at the hands of Tennessee-Martin last week.
Still, traditionally this matchup has been as close as they come with Auburn leading the all-time series 53-50-8. The Tigers also lead the scoring battle by a razor thin 45 points 1730-1685.
Three Players to Watch
Kerry Meier, WR, Kansas
While Meier was recruited out of high school as a quarterback, he has fit in nicely at wide receiver this season leading Kansas in receptions. On the season, Meier has 69 catches for 794 yards while becoming one of Todd Reesing's favorite targets. Not bad for a guy who threw for 1193 yards as a freshman quarterback.
Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon State
Rodgers, a true freshman, has wasted no time acclimating himself to the college game. The explosive Beavers running back has at least 94 rushing yards in eight of nine games this season. The freshman has already eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark with 1,089 yards on 229 carries.
Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech
Crabtree is becoming the face of Texas Tech's rise in the BCS standing and while he may not match last seasons 1962 receiving yards he remains a touchdown machine. Crabtree has at least one touchdown reception in every game this season and has 40 touchdown grabs in 23 career games.
Cold, Hard (College) Football Facts of the Week
ONE - Kansas ranks them 21st in the nation, scoring 35.4 PPG. But it only good enough for seventh best in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma (51.4), Texas Tech (47.9), Missouri (45.1), Texas (44.3), Oklahoma State (42.8) and Kansas State (35.3). Big 12 teams make up five of six highest scoring teams in the nation.
TWO - Despite the fact 21 running backs have already eclipsed 1000-yards rushing,
Alabama is the only team ranked in the BCS top seven with a 1,000-yard rusher (Glen Coffee). Oklahoma is the only other top seven team to even have a running back with over 700 yards.
THREE - Through the first four weeks of the season Toledo receiver Nick Moore had 20 receptions for 199 yards, modest numbers for a senior receiver. However, in the last four games Moore has exploded for 37 receptions for 381 yards nearly doubling his output.
College GameDay Update
After spending what seems like the entire season in SEC and Big 12 country, the GameDay crew now heads to unfamiliar territory, the MEAC. That's right Kirk, Lee, Chris and Desmond are in store for a little Div 1-AA action between 7-3 Florida A&M and the 5-4 Hampton Pirates. Nothing spells tradition like MEAC football.
Going Polling
Penn State's loss to Iowa leaves just two undefeated teams atop the BCS poll this week (Alabama and Texas Tech), while Florida and Texas saw their national championship hopes increase. If either Alabama or Texas Tech loses then Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, USC and even Utah could all be in contention for a top two spot.
On the Grill
While its always smart to come to a tailgate equipped with an array or marinades, rubs and spices, there are times where you are in a hurry (or hungover) and forget. Thankfully, any respectable tailgate is bound to have plenty of the best backup marinade there is and for those instances we give you
Beer Salmon.
We missed our college pigskin primer the last couple weeks for a variety of reasons that we can't discuss with you in the interest of national security. But Cold, Hard Football Facts boy wonder Mark Sandritter is back with his quick preview of the best of the weekend ahead in college football (you know, that "other" kind of football that's actually much older than the NFL and that has larger fan bases and bigger stadium and tons of young hotties in the stands, but that many of you pro-only heathens refuse to watch and should therefore burn in hell ... but we digress ... ).
