Notre Dame is 7-0 for the first time in a decade, ranked fifth in the BCS standings, and linebacker Manti Te'o has become a household name and is generating Heisman Trophy buzz.
So why am I not jumping on the Fighting Irish bandwagon?
Although they have beaten three ranked teams so far, those victories have come against 4-4 Michigan State; Michigan, which, we can't forget, was embarrassed by Alabama in the opener; and a Stanford squad that lost to 3-4 Washington.
Still impressed?
The truth is, Notre Dame has yet to face a steady, veteran quarterback, which Te'o and Co. will see this week at No. 8 Oklahoma. Landry Jones is looking like the Landry Jones of old, throwing for 871 yard, seven touchdowns and one pick in the past three games. In that span, the Sooners are averaging 52 points a game. If the Notre Dame defense, which has allowed five TDs all season, can shut down the best offense it has seen and what is the most complete team the Irish have seen, I'll be a believer.
But the reality is a loss, especially against a team sitting eighth in the BCS, will do little to hurt the Irish's hopes of getting past the velvet rope and returning to college football's VIP room: a BCS bowl. Keep in mind that Notre Dame needs only to finish in the top eight to secure an automatic bid and even it suffers another loss (that regular-season finale against Matt Barkley a resurgent No. 9 USC looks treacherous), the Irish will still be an attractive option for any BCS bowl. Money talks in this game, and the Irish fan base is fluent in it.
This weekend should give us the most definitive answer to one of this season's most intriguing questions: Is Notre Dame back? The rankings would seem to say so. But something tells me we'll be hitting the snooze button on the echoes after Notre Dame leaves Norman.
The Mountaineers have lost their mojo
In the past two weeks, we've seen the air be sucked out of West Virginia's Air Raid offense. Once averaging nearly 600 yards and 53 points a game, the Mountaineers have totaled 671 yards and 28 points combined in two losses.
What happened? The easy answer is that West Virginia faced what was then the nation's top-ranked pass defense in Texas Tech and a stout Kansas State D that's giving up only 15.5 points per game. But opponents have put together a blueprint for stopping Geno Smith by producing enough pressure to keep him from staying in the pocket and limiting the big plays that defined WVU's early success. After averaging 9.5 yards per attempt the first five games, Smith has averaged 4.7 in the two losses.
Can the Mountaineers regain their early swagger? It gets no easier when they return to the field Nov. 3 vs. TCU, which leads the Big 12 with 14 interceptions.
David Cutcliffe, miracle worker
Let this ruminate: Duke is bowl eligible. That's right, the Blue Devils, who haven't gone bowling since Lloyd Christmas was searching for Mary Swanson, are in position to return -- and with four regular-season games to play. It's a major accomplishment for Duke, which went 19-117 in the 12 years before Cutcliffe arrived, but this shouldn't come as a major surprise. Cutcliffe, who thrived at Mississippi and as an assistant at Tennessee, has rebuilt the Blue Devils by finding hidden gems like receiver Conner Vernon, the Atlantic Coast Conference's all-time receptions leader.
But with this bowl milestone comes a key question: Can Duke keep Cutcliffe? He has three years left on the extension he signed in 2008, which while Duke has refused to release specifics of, paid him $1.7 million last year. With a number of Southeastern Conference jobs potentially coming open (Auburn? Kentucky? Tennessee?) Cutcliffe could be a hot commodity if Duke doesn't step up.
Heisman Watching (a ballot in progress)
1. QB Collin Klein, Kansas State, Sr.: He turned a would-be duel with West Virginia's Geno Smith into a highlight reel for the ceremony, accounting for seven TDs, including four on the ground. He is well on his way to joining Tim Tebow, Cam Newton and Colin Kaepernick as the only players to run for 20 TDs and throw for 20 in the same season.
2. Braxton Miller, Ohio State, Soph.: Miller struggled against Purdue before he was taken away in an ambulance, running for 47 yards on 12 carries and completing a season-low 45 percent of his passes. Still, he remains the nation's most electric player with five games with at least 313 yards of offense, including three in four Big Ten games.
3. QB Geno Smith, West Virginia, Sr.: Smith is suddenly hanging on by a thread. In the past two games (both Mountaineers losses) Texas Tech held him to a season-low 52.7 percent completion rate and he was limited to 143 yards by Kansas State and threw his first two interceptions of the season. He needs to rebound against TCU to stay in the hunt.
Ups and downs
Up: Clemson
Has coordinator Brent Venables' defense turned the corner? This was its best effort yet as the Tigers picked off Virginia Tech passes three times, including two by Jonathan Meeks and held the Hokies to 17 points (Clemson's best effort vs. a Football Bowl Subdivision team) to help keep Clemson's ACC Atlantic Division hopes alive.
Down: Texas A&M
The legend of Johnny Football hit a snag against LSU. Texas A&M led by 12 points, but LSU rallied, picking off three passes by Johnny Manziel and holding the Southeastern Conference's leading rusher to 27 yards in the process. The Aggies are 1-2 against Top 25 teams this season.
Up: Rutgers
Expectations were tempered after Greg Schiano left, but Kyle Flood has the Scarlet Knights at 7-0 for the first time in six years. With No. 16 Louisville at home in what may be a de facto Big East title game Nov. 29, Flood can do something Schiano couldn't: win a league title.
Down: South Carolina
Things started off poorly as QB Connor Shaw had the ball stripped away on the first play of the game – one of three Gamecocks turnovers – as Florida cruised. While the ground game averaged 160.4 yards in the first six games, it was held to 35 per in the past two.
Up: Wisconsin
Montee Ball is back, scoring two more TDs vs. Minnesota to stand four behind Travis Prentice's FBS career record of 78. With Ohio State and Penn State ineligible, Wisconsin is well on its way to the Big Ten title game.
Down: Colorado
For their latest trick, the Buffaloes yielded six touchdown passes to Matt Barkley and now rank 112th or worse nationally in four major defensive categories. Things are bound to get ugly this week as they try to slow down Oregon, which is averaging 51 points per game. Can Colorado win two games?
Telling stats
3 -- Oregon QB Marcos Mariota had a TD pass, reception and run in the win over Arizona State, running one in from 86 yards, hitting Bralon Addison for a 6-yarder and hauling in a 2-yard strike from Bryan Bennett.
4 -- In throwing for four TDs and 93 yards against the Gamecocks, Florida's Jeff Driskel became the first player since 2000 to throw for that many TDs and finish with less than 100 yards.
14-0 -- With a 52-7 rout of Kansas, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops improved to 14-0 in his career in the week following the Texas game.
They said it
"If they need 100 [turnovers], we'll give them 100. So it definitely felt good we were able to give them something."
--Oregon State defensive end Dylan Wynn after the Beavers forced four turnovers in a 21-7 win over Utah to reach 6-0.
"It's not the defense's fault. The score doesn't really matter; it's the fact that we lost the ball game."
--Baylor QB Nick Florence, whose offense has scored 113 points in two Big 12 road games while the Bears' defense has allowed 126, including 56 in Saturday in a loss to Texas.
"You know what? I'm happy with the victory. What are we now? 6-1. That's a good thing.”
--Georgia coach Mark Richt after the Bulldogs pulled past Kentucky 29-24 behind 427 passing yards and four TDs from Aaron Murray.
Crystal ball
No. 11 Mississippi State at No. 1 Alabama
Dan Mullen has the Bulldogs off to a 7-0 start, but three of those wins are against SEC schools with a combined 0-14 record in conference. Tyler Russell (15 TDs and one INT) has impressed, but the Bulldogs' hot start will end against the nation's top-ranked defense.
Prediction: Crimson Tide 31, Bulldogs 17
No. 2 Florida vs. No. 10 Georgia
The SEC East lead is on the line as these rivals clash in Jacksonville. Florida's defense has been dominant, allowing an average of 8.5 points the past four games. The Bulldogs have more complete offense than any team the Gators faced in that stretch, but Florida will punch its ticket to Atlanta.
Prediction: Gators 24, Bulldogs 17
No. 14 Texas Tech at No. 3 Kansas State
The Heisman is now Klein's to lose. Texas Tech's seventh-ranked defense, at least on paper, represents a step up in competition, but the Red Raiders just allowed 53 points to a TCU offense that came in ranked 45th. Look for the Wildcats to present similar troubles.
Prediction: Wildcats 31, Red Raiders 20
No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma
This is a chance at a true statement for Notre Dame. But even if the Irish's vaunted defense can keep Jones and Co. in check, it's hard to see an offense that has produced more than 20 points only once in the past six games stepping up vs. the Big 12's top-ranked scoring defense.
Prediction: Sooners 28, Fighting Irish 20
