This past Saturday featured the best slate of games in recent memory and so ABC Sports decided to call it Separation Saturday.
You know, separate the pretenders from the contenders. It was clear by 5:30 on Saturday that Oklahoma and Miami are contenders and the rest are pretenders.
Miami went into Tallahassee in Hurricane-like conditions and came out with a 22-14 victory, which was never as close as the score indicates.
Oklahoma then did what they always seem to do and that's beat the Longhorns, but this time it was a Texas-sized whoopin', 65-13. Both Texas quarterbacks, Chance Mock and Vince Young, struggled while Oklahoma pivot Jason White established himself as the Heisman front-runner.
There happened to be many pretenders exposed on Saturday as well, with five of the former top ten teams in the polls losing their status as unbeatens.
Ohio State's 19-game winning streak came to a crashing halt at the hands of Wisconsin. Jim Tressel's weak offense was showcased as the Buckeyes could not pass the ball enough on a porous pass defense and the Maurice Clarett replacements struggled again, carrying the ball 15 times for 50 yards. A loss for the Buckeyes should be bad enough, but the classless move by linebacker Robert Reynolds should sting Ohio State even more.
With Wisconsin leading 7-3 in the third quarter, quarterback Jim Sorgi scrambled to get the Badgers closer for a field goal. He was stopped after a gain of eight yards and that's when Reynolds started to choke Sorgi while he was pinned underneath a pile of tacklers. The move knocked Sorgi out of the game because he couldn't talk, making it impossible for him to call out the plays. Tressel took action on Monday suspending Reynolds for one game and issued an apology to Sorgi and Badgers' coach Barry Alvarez. At least someone at Ohio State has some class.
There were two SEC "upsets" that ended undefeated seasons as Chris Leak led the Gators to a victory over LSU in Baton Rouge and the Auburn defense spearheaded an attack that allowed them to win 10-3 over Arkansas.
Missouri and Brad Smith knocked off Nebraska in a big way giving the Tigers their first win over the Cornhuskers since 1978. Mizzou scored 27 fourth-quarter points to win 41-24. Smith may have put on the best all-around performance by a quarterback this season. He passed for 180 yards, rushed for 123 and three touchdowns, and caught one pass for 47 yards and a touchdown.
The last pretender, I thought would be a top ten team, but despite having the country's most electrifying player in Larry Fitzgerald -- Pittsburgh lost again. This time the loss was to a down-and-out Notre Dame team starting a freshman at quarterback by the name of Brady Quinn. It could have been Jan Brady or Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman at quarterback because all they would have had to do was hand the ball off to Julius Jones. Jones had a Notre Dame record 262 yards as his team out-rushed the Panthers 352-8. The Panthers could still salvage their season with a run through the Big East. But, if they can't stop Jones and the Irish, how will they stop the nation's leading rusher Derrick Knight or the three other rushers from the Big East with over 600 yards rushing?
Big Ten and SEC
Is there any doubt that the Big Ten and SEC are the most balanced conferences in the country? Does that fact make them the best conferences in the country? I'd say yes.
The Big Ten and SEC both feature seven legitimate teams that are of Top 25 caliber. In fact there are seven Big Ten teams (Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin) and five SEC teams (Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee) currently ranked. Before the end of the season the Gators will be ranked and Alabama also as its four losses have come to teams with a combined record of 21-2.
The reason why these conferences may not be getting the billing they deserve is that they don't own any of the three major undefeated teams. That's only because their conferences are so tough that any game could be a loss. Combine that with some of the non-conference schedules these schools play and you can see why it is nearly impossible for a Big Ten or SEC school to win the national title. This makes Ohio State's season last year even more impressive.
Upset of the Week
Texas A&M goes into Husker country this week and should get a much better game than they did this past Saturday when they defeated Baylor 73-10. Smith, an athletic quarterback who ran and threw for over 100 yards, victimized the Blackshirts of Nebraska.
The Aggies (10-point underdogs) have a playmaker of their own in Reggie McNeal, who runs the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds. Look for McNeal to make mince meat of the Nebraska defense in a victory.
Last Week: I not only improved my record to 3-3 when Florida defeated LSU straight-up, but I gave you a bonus winner when Miami defeated Florida State.
