No team is safe

With less than two minutes left in the game and the majority of the football field ahead, Florida needed a miracle. Down five points to Miami, either Gator head coach Ron Zook had tremendous faith in a freshman or was just a rotten coach. Nevertheless, freshman quarterback Chris Leak was in it to win.

Many were shocked by Zook's decision to play Leak in such a situation, especially since sophomore Ingle Martin, who played well throughout the game, was available. Still, Leak looked impressive, at least for a minute.

He completed one pass to a receiver on a fade pattern. Next, he threw the same ball for a second completion and got the Gators in position for the upset. An experienced quarterback might vary his passing options to lead his team to victory. A freshman might throw the same pattern and get intercepted.

And Leak, a freshman, threw an interception to end the threat and seal the 38-33 loss.

The Hurricanes fighting off the underdog was not an aberration because many other ranked teams such as Oklahoma, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Colorado narrowly escaped upsets, while North Carolina State, Virginia, Auburn, Purdue, and Penn State failed to live up to their rankings.

These slips by supposedly good teams either mean there is an extreme case of the early season blues going around or Division IA football is finally experiencing parity.

Wake Forest is not a bad team. It strolled into Chestnut Hill last weekend and beat a quality ball club, Boston College. However, regardless of the home field advantage, the Deacons were not supposed to deliver the 11th-ranked N.C. State Wolfpack a gift-wrapped 38-24 loss.

In the same fashion, Boston College thumped Penn State and Virginia was treated to a 31-7 romping at South Carolina. While these underdogs are quality football teams, they should not be winning these games.

If there really is parity this year, the college football fan is in for some roller coaster rides. Miami may not win the Big East, Florida State could have trouble pulling out an ACC crown, and every other major conference championship is up for grabs.

Maybe this weekend was a trick to get college football fans dreaming that a perennially weak program has all of a sudden put together a strong team, or maybe it's true. San Diego State played a flawed game, but still almost defeated Ohio State 16-13.

In addition to the possible shift of power in any given division, parity could also mean some tremendous battles for Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bids. After watching some of the "elite" teams play on Saturday, it does not appear any team will go undefeated.

Also, injuries have plagued a couple of teams. Virginia was forced to play at South Carolina without star quarterback Matt Schaub, and started freshman quarterback Anthony Martinez instead. This did not prove to be a good move. Like Leak, who was learning on the job, Martinez was forced into a starting roll, but could not hold down the fort.

In-state rival Virginia Tech also fell victim to the injury bug, as preseason All-American running back Kevin Jones was maliciously hit out of bounds and driven into a concrete wall. Jones hurt both of his hands, although not seriously. The Hokies won their game, so it seems they got a better deal than the University of Virginia.

But, do be on the lookout for parity this season. Perennial champions may not dominate like they have in the past.