Coming down from the Bama-A&M high: Lovers of college football, I have bad news: It's time to come to terms with the distinct possibility that what we witnessed on Saturday may not be topped this season. Sure, there'll be games with more drama, but a game as well played between two teams with as much quality as Texas A&M and Alabama? The combination of quality and drama helped Saturday's rematch between the two SEC West rivals live up to the hype and perhaps exceed it, when you count Johnny Football doing all kinds of Johnny Football things, like scrambling 26 yards behind the line of scrimmage for a 12-yard gain on third down and throwing a 95-yard touchdown pass to keep the Aggies alive in the fourth quarter. Maybe it ends up being topped, but this may be the rare occasion in which the Game of the Year actually ends up being the … Game of the Year.
Battle of the BCS busters: Boise State is the BCS buster everybody knows, and the Broncos have crashed the biggest bowl stage twice, winning both games against TCU and Oklahoma. Fresno State, led by senior quarterback Derek Carr, has eyes on replacing Boise State this year as college football's best team from outside the major conferences and ripping off a 12-0 season. Boise's already been disappointing this year after a 32-point loss to Washington, but this will be a fun Friday night date in primetime. Most important, it's a wide-open national stage for Fresno State. Those are rare, and the Bulldogs have to take advantage if they want respect from pollsters. Winning big over Boise would do it.
Coming back to the sidelines: Minnesota coach Jerry Kill suffered a seizure on the sidelines of Saturday's win over Western Illinois and was taken to a hospital, but it's ignited some talk of Kill's long-term future in Minnesota. The seizure was Kill's fourth in 22 games and third in 11 games. He's dedicated much of his life to the game of football, but being a college football coach isn't helpful to his health and seizures like the ones Kill suffers from can prove fatal. It's an uncomfortable discussion, but an important one.
Taking a target to targeting: We saw a handful of targeting flags lead to ejections on the field this week, but on at least three occasions, the ejection was overruled by replay, including one instance in Alabama's win over Texas A&M. Possible first-round pick Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, a Crimson Tide safety, was allowed to stick around for the second half of Alabama's win, but we saw a high-profile instance of a new, non-sensical NCAA rule: Even if the ejection is overturned, the penalty stands. It caused a mild uproar when it was made official in the offseason, but seeing it play out on the field has raised the volume on those complaints.
Coaches under fire: It's been 10 years, five games and two coaching changes since Mack Brown beat Kansas State, but the Wildcats come to Austin this weekend to face a reeling Longhorns team in need of a win. A loss would send Texas to 1-3 and turn up the heat on Brown in Austin to levels rivaling the sun. It's doubtful Texas would make a move in midseason, but last week's 21-point loss to Ole Miss put the Longhorns way behind schedule for a team with no excuses and hopes for a BCS bid by the end of the season. For now, Brown is trumpeting hope for a Big 12 title, and Texas does open conference play on Saturday night. Still, a loss on Saturday might mean even a win over Oklahoma later this season wouldn't be enough to keep Brown around for 2014.
Nebraska's Bo Pelini also caught heat after his team was outscored 31-0 in the second half of a 41-21 loss to UCLA. Program legend Tommie Frazier, who led the Huskers to consecutive national titles in 1994 and 1995, advocating firing assistants after Saturday's loss. Pelini was defiant on Monday, saying the Huskers “don't need him.” They don't, but Pelini needs the support of his fan base, and distancing himself from one of the program's most beloved figures isn't the way to earn it.
USC's Lane Kiffin took care of business on Saturday with a 35-7 win over Boston College, but the struggling Trojans' offense will need a big game on Saturday when Utah State brings phenom QB Chuckie Keeton to the Coliseum. A loss would send USC to 2-2 and though the Aggies are a good team, USC's not a program OK with losing to schools like Utah State.
More madness? There were only two games between top 25 teams last week and we came a play away from witnessing one of the biggest upsets ever. Akron's final toss to the end zone fell incomplete, and the Zips (1-11 in 2012) came just short of upsetting No. 11 Michigan. This week, there's only one game between top 25 teams. Arizona State and Stanford will kick off their Pac-12 seasons on FOX after the Sun Devils were the beneficiaries of some questionable officiating vs. Wisconsin last week. The league apologized for the mistake, reprimanding the officials and promising further sanctions. Still, that madness might just be a taste of what could come this weekend. A table full of double-digit spreads is a recipe for surprise.
