Next week, there's only one game that really matters: LSU at Alabama. But last week, there were some big wins for Stanford and Oklahoma State, Clemson fell flat on the road and Wisconsin lost another one at the buzzer. Here is a look at some of the more interesting moments from this past weekend in FBS football.
*In the Pac-12, Stanford has now won 16 straight after they squeaked by USC in overtime, 56-48 on the road in three overtimes. Andrew Luck passed an important test as he brought his team back several times. USC was up 24-27 with 3:08 left and Luck brought them back for the tying TD, then directed three straight TDs in overtime.....Utah finally broke though with a win as they defeated Oregon State, 27-9. Utah and Colorado are now a combined 1-9 in their first year in the Pac-12. John White IV had 35 carries for 205 yards to lead the Utes....It's hard to figure out what's going on at Cal right now. They brought in transfer Zach Maynard from Buffalo and he went 14 of 30 and threw four picks in the Bears' 31-14 loss to UCLA. Cal was just 2 of 12 on third-down conversions against a defense that had the third-worst third-down percentage in the country.
*In the Big 12, Missouri continues to battle through a very difficult schedule. The Tigers beat Texas A&M for the fifth time of the last six meetings, as they won the road, 38-31 in overtime. QB James Franklin has been erratic this year replacing Blaine Gabbert and the Tigers have had to fight through injuries. They have four losses to four ranked teams with a combined record of 28-4. Texas A&M is having their own issues, ranking dead last against the pass among 120 teams and is 90th overall. A&M also blew a 17-point lead to Oklahoma State, an eight point lead against Arkansas and were up by 11 vs. the Tigers...Oklahoma bounced back from their loss to Texas Tech, destroying Kansas State, 58-17. QB Landry Jones now has 26 TDs, which is second to Case Keenum in the nation. He threw for a school-record 505 yards and five TDs in the rout. WR Ryan Broyles secured his third straight 1,000-yard receiving season, accumulating 14 catches for 171 yards and one TD vs. the Wildcats. The only bad news for the Sooners came when walk-on Dominque Whaley fractured his left ankle. Whaley had led the Sooners with 627 yards and ine TDs.
*In the SEC, while everybody is waiting for LSU/Alabama, South Carolina is quietly have a very good season. Unfortunately, the defense has had to carry them because the offense lost RB Marcus Lattimore to a knee injury on Oct. 15. They did defeat Tennessee, 14-3 and are now tied with Georgia in the SEC East. They beat the Bulldogs earlier in the season, so they hold the tiebreaker....Georgia continued their strong play after a 24-20 win over Florida gave them their sixth straight victory. Mark Richt is no longer on the hot seat as the Bulldogs ended a three-game losing streak to the Gators.....Auburn has been a pleasant surprise this season,, as QB Clint Mosely threw for four TD passes leading the Tigers to a 41-23 win over Ole Miss. Mosely completed 12 of 15 passes for 160 yards in his second career starter after debuting in their 45-10 loss to LSU. Auburn had to make a qb change after managing just 10 passing TDs in their first eight games.
*In the Big 10, Penn State coach Joe Paterno won his 409th game, as his team just got by Illinois at home, 10-7. That win allowed him to surpass the late Eddie Robinson for most Division I wins. The Nittany Lions are quietly 8-1 though they haven't won in impressive fashion, they are 5-0 in the Leaders Division of the Big 10. Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin are now 2-2. Fortunately for Penn State, they play Nebraska at home and Ohio State and Wisconsin on the road....Speaking of Ohio State, Braxton Miller made an incredible play against Michigan State last week, in their 33-29 win. Miller rolled out and threw a 40-yard TD strike to Devin Smith, who somehow got open in the end zone. Miller, a freshman, rushed for 99 yards and two TDs but he completed just 7 of 12 for 89 yards and a score. Wisconsin has now lost back-to-back games on the last play or last seconds and have to wonder about their secondary play and schemes in those situations.
*In the ACC, the big loss came at Georgia Tech, as Clemson went from unbeaten to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in the league, after a 31-17 loss to the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech qbs combined for 176 yards rushing. Now the best Clemson can hope for is the Orange Bowl. Georgia Tech (7-2, 4-2) is back in contention after their win but still trails Virginia Tech, who is 4-1 but barely beat Duke, 14-10 on the road. They had to stop the 3-5 Blue Devils twice on fourth down in the final quarter to save the win.....Boston College ran all over a terrible Maryland run defense, as Rolandan Finch rushed for a league-high 243 yards and two scores. BC won their first game of the season against an FBS opponent wit their 28-17 road win. What made it more impressive was that they did it in the snow and rain without their best back Montel Harris (the preseason pick for ACC offensive player of the year). Maryland (2-6, 1-4 ) continues to go backwards in their first season under Randy Edsall as the Terps have now lost more games this year than they did in Ralph Friedgen's first two seasons combined.
*In the Big East, West Virginia won in the snow as they defeated Rutgers, 41-31 to go 2-1 in the league and 6-2 overall. They have now won 17 straight games against the Scarlet Knights. Geno Smith threw two TDs in the second half to lead West Virginia., who bounced back from a bad loss at Syracuse...Louisville beat Syracuse 27-10 to improve to 4-4 and 2-1 in the league. They received an emotional lift from injured teammate Anthony Conner, who broke his neck in last week's game against Rutgers. Syracuse (5-3, 1-2) did nothing offensively against a quality Louisville defense, as they amassed 246 total yards.....The big news of the week in the Big East was not the Pittsburgh won over Connecticut (3-5, 1-2) on Wednesday night, 35-20). QB Tino Sunseri stepped up with 419 yards and two TDs but the Panthers lost all-world running back Ray Graham, who was the nation's second-leading rusher, to a season-ending knee injury.
This week's big games: LSU at Alabama, Oregon at Washington, Cincinnati at Pittsburgh.