Fourth and inches…(week of Oct. 25, 2008)

By Todd Erickson  |   Wednesday, October 22, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

College Football
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How badly does Tulsa want to prove it deserves a BCS berth? Leading 63-35 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter against UTEP, head coach Todd Graham kept his starting offense on the field to run up the score to 70-35. Tulsa was still passing in the fourth quarter with its second-string QB and ran the score even higher to 77-35.

This might blow your mind…Minnesota is 6-1 and bowl-eligible after going 1-11 last season. If the Golden Gophers manage to win at Purdue this weekend, they’ll have Northwestern, Michigan and Iowa at home plus Wisconsin on the road to finish out the 2008 campaign. It’s conceivable the Gophers could end up 11-1 this year. That could put them in the Rose Bowl Game for the first time since 1961.

Heading the other direction…Michigan’s loss to Penn State dropped the Wolverines to 2-5 on the year. They need to win three of their remaining five games to become bowl-eligible. It’s beyond my imagination to see them winning at Ohio State. That means the Wolverines will have to beat Michigan State and Northwestern in The Big House and Minnesota and Purdue on the road to maintain their 33-year bowl game appearance streak.

For the first time ever, the Mountain West Conference has three teams in the BCS rankings…BYU is No. 21, TCU is No. 14, and Utah is No. 11.

BCS Busters still standing: Utah, Boise State, Tulsa and Ball State. Ball State was idle, Tulsa ran up the score on hapless UTEP, Boise State struggled with Hawaii for a half before pulling out a win, and Utah crushed Colorado State.

One tough cookie…Three weeks ago, Cincinnati QB Tony Pike broke his non-throwing arm and surgeons reset it with a plate and six screws. Now sporting a soft cast, he intends to be back in the lineup against Connecticut this weekend.

Heisman Thermometer: Red hot: Colt McCoy, Texas. Regaining the heat but Sooners need to win Big XII title: Sam Bradford, Oklahoma. Mercury rising, but needs wins over Texas and Oklahoma: Zak Robinson, Oklahoma State. Climbing back in the race: Tim Tebow, Florida. Two off games and two losses pretty much does him in: Chase Daniel, Missouri. Cooled off and checking out: Javon Ringer, Michigan State.

Soon to hit eBay: Those nifty, special edition Viewmasters that Mizzou sent out to promote Chase Daniel for the Heisman Trophy.

Conference Power Meter: 1. Big XII. 2. SEC. 3. Big Ten. 4. Tie: Pac-10 and MWC. 6. ACC. 7. Big East. 8. C-USA. 9. WAC. 10. Sun Belt.

Top games this weekend and why:
No. 25 Minnesota at Purdue. This is a good litmus test to prove the Golden Gophers are for real this year.
No. 8 Texas Tech at No. 19 Kansas. Graham Harrell and Todd Reesing will light up the Great Plains sky with at least 100 passes between them.
No. 6 USC at Arizona. An upset in Tucson would make the Wildcats bowl-eligible, put them in the driver’s seat for the Rose Bowl Game berth, and save Mike Stoops’ job.
No. 2 Alabama at Tennessee. The Vols are always dangerous when they are an underdog at home against a major rival like 'Bama. It's happened before in this series.
Auburn at West Virginia. This looked like a bowl game matchup type of clash before the season began. Now, it’s just for regaining some respect and getting back in the rankings.
Virginia at No. 21 Georgia Tech. After a horrendous 1-3 start, the Cavaliers have reeled off three impressive underdog victories and they now control their own destiny in the ACC Coastal Division race.
No. 14 South Florida at Louiville. The Cards are starting to get their mojo back and would love to knock USF out of the conference race this weekend.
No. 9 Georgia at No. 11 LSU. One of these big boys is gonna get the knockout blow to their SEC title dreams this Saturday. Tigers have the edge because of home field advantage.
**Co-Game of the Week** No. 7 Oklahoma State at No. 1 Texas. Texas is marching toward the BCS title game the old-fashioned way: They’re earning it.
**Co-Game of the Week** No. 3 Penn State at No. 10 Ohio State. This one is for the Big Ten title. The Nittany Lions don't need to be reminded they haven’t won in Columbus since 1978.

Upset Specials: I went 2 for 3 last week, correctly picking Boston College over Virginia Tech and Maryland over Wake Forest. This week: San Jose State over Boise State, North Carolina over Boston College, Michigan over Michigan State.

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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 Top 25 college football power rankings and "Fourth and inches..." weekly columns from August thru January. He is currently working on the second edition of Road to the Rose Bowl ...
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