Weather neutralizes Noles' attack

In the midst of a torrential downpour, unranked Louisville shocked the then-fourth-ranked Florida State Seminoles 26-20 in overtime. The Seminoles, who boast the ACC's second leading passer, Chris Rix, second leading rusher in Greg Jones, and second leading receiver in Anquan Boldin, were absolutely grounded.

Louisville, which should have been destroyed, and might have been in good weather, matched State's marquee player's stat for stat. In fact, quarterback Dave Ragone passed for nine more yards than Rix and Florida State (129) amassed only eight more yards on the ground than Louisville (121).

The weather made the contest so sloppy that the game's leading passer at halftime was Boldin, who completed a pass from the wide receiver position for 33 yards. It was difficult for either team to pass a ball that became slippery as soon as it was placed on the ground to be snapped. Rix had balls slip out of his hand as he threw to seemingly open receivers and running backs lost their feet due to mud. The weather conditions took away Florida State's solid team speed and placed them on a somewhat level playing field with Louisville.

Florida State was ahead for most of the game, but like that guy who comes in your dorm room to harass you every night, Louisville would not go away. In fact, the Cardinals were not down by more than seven at any point in the game. The playing field was so similar that the game went into overtime. A Louisville interception on the Florida State possession led to a 25-yard touchdown run by Cardinal running back Henry Miller.

The Seminoles' loss dropped them to 4-1 and 11th in this week's poll, while Louisville upped its record to 3-2. The Cardinal's victory was not convincing enough to break into the top 25, but they did receive votes in this week's poll.

What is this you say? Iowa football is back! Excuse me, I know you mean the Hawkeyes, but Iowa as a whole? Like you actually mean that Iowa State is good? The Cyclones are putting together a decent season? Have they even had a win since Heisman hopeful Troy Davis graduated to be an NFL bust?

It's true: Iowa football is putting together another solid season, putting it on pace for a bowl selection. This is expected for a Big Ten contender such as the Hawkeyes, but the Iowa State Cyclone's performance this season could not have been predicted..

After starting its season with a terrible first half of football against Florida State, Iowa State has played like bats out of hell. The Cyclones stormed back from what was playing out to be a blowout to loss to the Seminoles 38-31. Iowa State has not played a bad half of football since, winning five straight en route to its current national position as 18th in the country.

Among those five victories are Big Ten pretender Kansas and instate rival Iowa, who are ranked 24th in this week's poll. Most recently the Cyclones knocked the roofs off of Cornhusker faithful, digging into the Midwest's team 36-14. The loss means Nebraska is unranked for the first time in 21 years and Iowa State has been elevated to a pedestal from which it could be deposed by the remaining competition.

While the Cyclones are only two wins away from being bowl eligible, they still must be on their toes as they play Oklahoma (3), Texas (2), Kansas State (17), and last year's Big 12 champion, Colorado, over the next six weeks. Knocking off Nebraska earned the team respect, but the next six weeks will be the difference between a good season ending in a good bowl and a Big 12 championship and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).