South Florida LB Ben Moffit
Credit: Chris Livingston/Icon SMI

We finally got what many of us fellow college football fans have been anticipating since the kickoff of the 2007 season—“Upset Saturday”. Every season there is a weekend where college football goes on tilt and you just need to hold on for the ride because like any satisfactory rollercoaster it will leave discombobulated and once the ride is over you gather your senses and say “Man that was fun. Let’s do that again!” So goes “Upset Saturday” which happened to fall on week #5 this season where 7 of the top 13 teams lost and sent the landscape of college football in to a proverbial tailspin, and when the dust cleared Sunday morning, and the new college rankings were on display, it would be difficult for one who has followed college football all season long not to be stunned by what the rankings stated in black and white. (Using the AP Top 25) There is a new #1 in the land where LSU has surpassed former #1 USC, even though USC won their ball game on Saturday night. After their stunning upset of West Virginia on Friday night South Florida made a huge jump in the standings and in the consciousness of fans everywhere when they leaped to #6 this week. Boston College continues to roll on and have now reached the #7 ranking and Kentucky reached the #8 spot on the eve of their tough three game SEC tests against South Carolina, Florida, and LSU. The hits just keep on coming as this Saturday coming up there will be several huge match-ups including Kentucky vs. South Carolina on Thursday night, Florida vs. LSU, and Oklahoma vs. Texas, both on Saturday, all of which will go a long way in determining the conference champions as well as the representatives in this seasons National Championship game. Now on to this week’s “Prospect Stock Market”:

RISING:
South Florida Bulls: At the beginning of the season many pundits spoke highly about the South Florida program and how teams such as Auburn and West Virginia should be on alert when they face these Bulls. Well, even the most rabid South Florida backer would be stunned by the notion that after just five short weeks into the 2007 season the South Florida Bulls would sky rocket to #6 in the AP poll. You take a look at the South Florida schedule and all of a sudden with the recent struggles of the Louisville Cardinals and their schedule is no longer so formidable. South Florida may lose a game or two in 2007, but there is no program in America rising as quickly as the Bulls.

LSU Tigers: There is a lot of talk that the Tigers supplanted the Trojans this week in the polls due to the fact that the pollsters were just growing bored with no movement at the top. I’m not buying this propaganda, rather I am buying that so far in 2007 the LSU Tigers have flat out been the more impressive team of the two. When the smoke clears I expect the Trojans, and not the Tigers to be in the National Championship game, and become the victors of said game, but for the time being the LSU Tigers are the rightful #1 team in the nation.

The Big Ten Conference: After repeatedly slamming the Big Ten in consecutive weeks the Big Ten, Ohio State and Wisconsin specifically, fought back, with admittedly uninspired victories over Minnesota and Michigan State respectively, but at the end of the day, in today’s college football a win is a win. Both the Buckeyes and the Badgers have now entered into the top 5 in the polls so I need to give them some props. With rather lackluster schedules remaining aside from a match-up between the two, I must reluctantly admit that there is a possibility that an undefeated Big Ten team is a representative in the National Championship game. That being said, I still think both teams will lose at least one game and in my opinion neither will be in the BCS National Championship game.

California Golden Bears: I must admit that I was pulling for the Oregon Ducks in Saturday’s clash between the two, but I walk away even more impressed with the Golden Bears then I was before the game. Scoring 21 points in the 4^th quarter against a very good Oregon team on the road is extremely impressive. After Saturday’s career performance WR DeSean Jackson remains a Heisman front runner and offensively this team has everything you could ask for, and their defense is better than advertised. Now up to #3 in the country they have realized their potential. How fun is that game on November 10^th between USC and Cal going to be?

Andre Woodson QB Kentucky and Matt Ryan QB Boston College: If I had to cast my vote for the winner of the Heisman trophy today, these two senior signal callers would be #1 and #2 on my ballot. Both quarterbacks are leading their teams to unprecedented heights while having career seasons. It will be exciting to see how far each QB can lead his respective team as both are going to be tested here very shortly.
Missouri Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks: Don’t look now folks, but after “Upset Saturday” only the Missouri Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks are undefeated among Big 12 teams

STATUS QUO:
In a weekend dubbed as “Upset Saturday” where virtually nothing went as scripted there is very little to state that has remained status quo, if I was forced to state one thing, the SEC Conference continues to be the best week in and week out college football conference in America.

FALLING:
Where do I begin?
USC Trojans: They didn’t falter on Saturday as many teams did, but they did fall off the top perch for the first time in 2007 and that in itself is the most notable “fall” in week #5.

West Virginia Mountaineers: For the second consecutive year I have predicted West Virginia to make it to the National Championship game, and for the second year in a row it appears as if they are going to let me down. They were thoroughly dominated Friday night by the South Florida Bulls and after watching every game West Virginia has played this season I am beginning to become concerned about the pro potential of RB Steve Slaton. Look, I think he is a dynamic player, especially in the open field, but he needs work running the football between the tackles. The offense attack of the Mountaineers has up to this point been focused on attacking the perimeter of their opponents defense via the running attack, but at some point you have to run the ball straight forward, and that is something that WVU has yet to show they can do on a consistent basis.
The Big 12 powers—Oklahoma Sooner’s and Texas Longhorns: After both teams fell victim to upset defeats on Saturday the “Red River Shootout” has to lose a little of its luster. The winner still is the frontrunner for the Big 12 title and keeps their National Title hopes alive for the time being, but the loser will see a once promising 2007 season fall to the way side in the span of two weeks.

Florida Gators: The defending National Champions lost for the first time to an Auburn team that had been very unimpressive so far in 2007. If the Gators want to have any shot at repeating and becoming National Champions once again then they will have to dust themselves off and beat the #1 team in the land the LSU Tigers on Saturday, which will be a tall task indeed.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights: After West Virginia was upset on Friday night, and following Louisville’s struggles earlier this season the Big East was left wide open for the Scarlet Knights to grab control of, and on Saturday they reiuned this golden opportunity when they lost to Maryland. The Big East eventual champion is now anyone’s guess.

Clemson Tigers: The Clemson Tigers missed four field goals in a game in which they lost by 10 points. They also had a punt blocked, so their special teams were a huge factor in Saturday’s upset loss to Georgia Tech.

Colt Brennan QB Hawaii: Brennan threw 5 interceptions for the Rainbow Warriors on Saturday, which was virtually unheard of for a QB that has been praised for his accuracy throughout his career. Is this just one bad outing or a sign of things to come?

Alabama Crimson Tide: Nick Saban’s bunch did not appear to get over the hang over of losing to the Georgia Bulldogs in overtime the previous week. The Crimson Tide need to get themselves back into gear if they are going to remain a float in the ultra-competitive SEC.

*Don’t miss the SEC battle between newly crowned #1 LSU Tigers and defending National Champion Florida Gators at 8pm Saturday night.

Matthew Stafford - Credit: Lynn Bass/Icon SMI

Following Week #4 of the College Football Season I resemble a prophet in regards to some of my opinions towards the college football landscape as a whole. As inspired as I am to watch the weekly tussles that take place in the SEC and as much enjoyment as I get from watching the top-tier teams in the Pac 10, I am completely uninspired yet again by the Big Ten. As stated following the Week 3 roundup, there is nothing to take from the Big Ten teams that even resemble a National Championship contender. The Nitney Lions lost on Saturday to the Michigan Wolverines starting a true freshman QB in Ryan Mallett, this statement in itself should explain where the Big Ten resides in the hierarchy of college football conferences. What was once the cream of the crop has now fallen to the basement. I would rather watch the Big 12, ACC, or Big East as a matter of fact. Not even the Wisconsin faithful can send in hate mail this week considering that they squeaked out a victory last Saturday 17-13 over un-ranked and undermanned Iowa. Hopefully the Big Ten does us all a favor and ensure us that all of the Big Ten teams lose at least once or they take their conference out of the running for consideration in the National Championship game, because otherwise, it would be a disgrace. Switching gears briefly, the other topic I wanted to discuss prior to getting to this week’s “Prospect Stock Market” is the official arrival of the next in the line of great college football quarterbacks, Matthew Stafford QB Georgia. It takes time for a young QB to assimilate the speed and skill level of college football, but throughout the great careers of the quarterbacks you remember in college football there are several games that stand out in your memory, and most importantly there is always that one game you can point to as the “arrival” of that QB. If you missed it, last Saturday the Georgia Bulldogs visited the Alabama Crimson Tide in their backyard, following all the momentum the Tide had following the previous week’s victory against Arkansas, and beat them in stunning fashion in overtime 26-23. To use a pun “the tide did in fact turn” as Stafford threw a perfectly thrown ball into the corner of the end zone to WR Mikey Henderson to complete the win. The rest of the SEC better be on alert, because the Matthew Stafford era at Georgia has OFFICIALLY begun, and this is just one of the many, many reasons why, for my money, the SEC is the best week in and week out college football action on the planet. Now, to this week’s “Prospect Stock Market”:

RISING:
Miami (FL) Hurricanes: After getting obliterated in the opening game of the season against Oklahoma, the Hurricanes have turned what could have been a horrendous season around and are now 3-1 and a legitimate threat to win the ACC.

Michigan Wolverines: The Wolverines were left for dead following their two losses to Appalachian State and Oregon to open up the season. Following RB Mike Hart’s comments following the Oregon loss the team has rallied for consecutive victories over Notre Dame and Penn State and it is not inconceivable that in the porous Big Ten the Wolverines still couldn’t make a run at the Big Ten crown and salvage their season. Stranger things have happened.

Matt Ryan QB Boston College: He just continues to impress, and the possibility of Ryan making a run at the Heisman trophy and a first round selection are very real indeed.

Hawaii Warriors: No Colt Brennan, no problem, without their star QB, they failed to skip a beat and continue to roll on. Could they be this year’s Boise State and crash the party that is the BCS? Stay tuned…

Kentucky Wildcats: With a Heisman Trophy candidate at QB in Andre Woodson the Kentucky Wildcats have turned the college football world upside down and they are legitimate contenders for the BCS bowl games at this point. Their talent was evident on Saturday night, but was most impressive to me anyway was that they displayed some moxie in taking down a very talented Arkansas team down on the road, and scoring three touchdowns in the 4^th quarter only increased the impression left on the fans who watched the game. Their remaining schedule is vicious including three games in a three week stretch that includes: @South Carolina, then home games against top 5 teams LSU and Florida. This stretch will in most likelihood eliminate them from National Championship contention, but they will most assuredly be a team to keep your eye on during that stretch and for the remainder of the 2007 season.

The Heisman candidacy of Tim Tebow QB Florida: I understand the argument that sophomores very rarely win the Heisman trophy, but what Tebow is doing so far this season for the Gators does deserve some consideration. So far in 2007 Tebow leads the team in passing, obviously, but also leads the team in rushing. He has produced a combined 1454 yards and 17 touchdowns in just four games so far this season. Tim Tebow is the engine that makes the car that is the Florida Gators go. Do I think he will be able to run the football 20 times against LSU? No I think Glenn Dorsey and Co. will make mince meat of him before that happens, but what he has been able to do via the air and ground this year is impressive.

STATUS QUO:
The Major Powers: USC, LSU, Oklahoma, Florida, West Virginia, California, and Texas continue to roll own without a hiccup and any incidents that would cause concern. Status Quo remains the optimal term for these teams.

The Up-Starts: You have to be impressed by Oregon, Boston College, and Clemson respectively. They continue to win games in impressive fashion and won’t be too much longer before the ‘major powers’ notice as well and feel them on their heals.

FALLING:
Brian Brohm and the Louisville Cardinals: A week after watching their defense get portrayed as fraudulent on national television by the Kentucky Wildcats, they manhandled again by the Syracuse Orange who one reporter had dubbed earlier this season as “the worst team in college football”. Things just went from bad to worse. They lost 38-35, but they rallied for 3 touchdowns late to make the game look much closer than it actually was. They got thrashed plain and simple. The Heisman candidacy of Brian Brohm is over, the possibility of him going #1 overall in the 2008 NFL Draft has taken a serious body blow of which he may never be able to overcome.

The Big Ten Conference: I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but in case I didn’t make myself clear in the opener, none of these teams are ANY good.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Well Notre Dame fans…trust me…it can’t get any worse. A year or two from now when QB Jimmy Clausen is leading the Irish to winning seasons you will look back at the 2007 season as a necessary evil. Kind of like the Big Ten.

* If you get a chance this weekend football fans, please by all means do yourself a favor and check out the California Golden Bears face off with the Oregon Ducks. This game will prove to be one of the better college games all year long.

Credit: Greg Drzazgowski/Icon SMI

Four weeks of the college season are in the bag, and several Heisman candidates are out of the running due to their team’s early failures. I’m looking at you Brian Brohm and Chad Henne. Still, at this juncture, the best performers are likely not to be there at the end of the season due to their team’s suffering losses in conference play.

So who is still alive? USC is still undefeated, as expected, and John David Booty has put up solid, if not spectacular numbers. He has been very efficient, but is averaging just 213 yards per game. Booty still remains the favorite in my eyes, due the USC having the best chance of running the table.

LSU and Oklahoma do not have true stars on the offensive side of the ball, which probably cancels them out. Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin have been terrific for Florida, and if they can manage to go undefeated in the SEC, both would get consideration. However, it is almost impossible for a true sophomore to win th award.

The West Virginia duo of Steve Slaton and Pat White have been phenomenal and will likely continue to shine. If WVU can defeat South Florida this week, the Mountaineer players take a big step forward, but still run the risk of “splitting” the vote

Cal’s Desean Jackson has gotten a lot of hype and looked good in the national game against Tennessee. However, his receiving stats leave something to be desired. The game against USC will determine his fate.

Wisconsin’s P.J. Hill has been solid, but is likely to run into some bias of a weak Big Ten conference. If Rutgers can win the Big East, Ray Rice looks like a shoe in for the top 5 in voting. Hawaii’s Colt Brennan is putting up video game numbers, but missing last week’s game with a sprained ankle pushes him off of the top five for now.

However the two biggest risers in the early season at the QBs for a pair of undefeated teams - Andre Woodson and Matt Ryan. Woodson has led the Wildcats up to #14 in the polls and has received a lot of attention. A victory over LSU or Florida would catapult Woodson to the top of the pack.

Boston College’s Matt Ryan has really impressed me so far this season. He is a much better player than I ever thought. NFLdraftdog’s Robert Bryant has always loved Ryan, but the Golden Eagles look to have a strong chance in the ACC and he has blossomed under coach Jeff Jagodzinski’s system.

If Ryan can run the table in the ACC - no easy task with games at Clemson and Virginia Tech, he might just bring the Heisman back to Boston College for the first time in 23 years.

A pair of QBs off to hot starts also join our top five - Oregon’s Dennis Dixon has 11 TDs and 0 INTs, while Purdue’s Curtis Painter is invoking memories of Drew Brees with an incredible 16 TD to 1 INT for the undefeated Boilermakers.

While Desean Jackson is getting a lot of attention, the best WR so far this season has been Texas Tech wide out Michael Crabtree, who is on pace for a record season. Like many of the top players so far, Crabtree’s success is going to be tied to his team’s. Crabtree also lacks the pre-season hype typically needed to win the award.

The Week 4 Heisman top five:

1. Matt Ryan, BC, QB
2. Andre Woodson, Kentucky, QB
3. Curtis Painter, Purdue, QB
4. Dennis Dixon, Oregon, QB
5. Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech, WR