Unfortunately, week five of the college football season didn't have as many marquee match-ups as last weekend. Nevertheless, there was plenty of quality football played.
TOP 25 BREAKDOWN: Although there wasn't a single game this weekend where a lower-ranked team defeated a higher-ranked team, the closest call occurred in the game featuring the defending national co-champion and No. 1 ranked USC Trojans.
After USC played some atrocious defense against the Stanford Cardinals, allowing 291 total yards and 28 points in the first half, including an 82-yard touchdown run on the final play before halftime, the Trojan men turned it around.
The Trojans' halftime brouhaha in the locker room after that play must have worked because the offense put 14 points on the board in the second half, while the defense, completely befuddled by the Cardinal offense in the first half, held Stanford to just 36 yards after the break.
USC Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Leinart completed 24 of 30 passes for a total of 308 yards and a touchdown. Trojan wideout Steve Smith toyed with the Cardinal defense, catching eight passes for 153 yards and a touchdown. And Reggie Bush finished with 95 yards on the ground, as well as returning a punt for 33 yards that would set up teammate LenDale White's go-ahead touchdown with 6:15 left in the game.
Number four Miami knocked off Houston 38-13, the fifth-ranked Texas Longhorns walloped Rice 35-13, and the seventh-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers beat James Madison 31-3. Coming off of last week's nail-biting victory over the Florida Gators, number eight Tennessee posted a convincing win over Louisiana Tech, 42-17. Tenth-ranked Auburn crushed The Citadel by a score of 31-3 as well.
In the anxiously anticipated Bowden father-son game of the year, Bobby handily defeated son Terry when his eleventh-ranked Florida State Seminoles almost doubled up the Clemson Tigers by a score of 41-22. For Bobby, it was his 344th career win, the most ever by a Div. 1-A coach.
Number twelve Virginia stomped Syracuse 31-10, and number thirteen LSU, on full tilt after losing a tight game last week, mutilated Mississippi State, 51-0. No. 14 Utah, No. 15 Purdue and No. 16 Florida all handily won their respective games.
The premier game of ranked opponents took place between No. 18 Michigan and the No. 24 Iowa Hawkeyes.
Iowa's Ed Hinkel had an amazing one-handed touchdown grab on the Hawkeyes' opening drive, but that was as good as it would get for Iowa. The Wolverines' star wide receiver Braylon Edwards caught six passes for 150 yards and a TD in leading his team to a convincing 30-17 victory.
Rounding out the top 25, No. 19 Minnesota, No. 20 Wisconsin, No. 21 Boise State, No. 22 Louisville, and No. 23 Maryland all posted victories over their unranked opponents.
In other big games, the local Boston College Eagles lost to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 17-14, and the North Carolina State Wolfpack knocked off the Virginia Tech Hokies.
A STREAK COMES TO AN END: With Cedric Houston scoring Tennessee's 11th touchdown of the season, the Volunteers had eleven different players each scoring a TD. However, wideout C.J. Fayton caught his second touchdown pass of the year in the second quarter against Louisiana Tech, ending the amazing run at 11 TDs.
PLATINUM PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Although many of this weekend's games were blowouts, two performances stuck out as being the best of the best.
The offensive platinum ball goes to Wisconsin Badger fullback Matt Bernstein. Never having carried the ball more than six times in a game, Bernstein was forced to step in as tailback due to teammates' injuries. He carried the ball 27 times for 123 yards.
Now many of you might be saying, "Well, that's just an average day for a good running back." Let me tell you a little secret: the Edgemont, N.Y. native did all of this after fasting in observance of Yom Kippur. He didn't take part in pre-game warm-ups and he didn't break the fast until after his Badgers had soundly defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Instead of having a defensive platinum ball this time around, I've decided to give out a special teams platinum ball. Justin Miller of Clemson set an NCAA record by returning six kickoffs for a total of 278 yards and two TDs. Too bad his team had to receive seven kickoffs (one was returned by another player).
