Draft Insiders' Digest Premier NFL Draft and Free Agency Publication
www.draftinsiders.com

'College Football Monday'
Frank Coyle's New Column

Photo - QB Cam Newton - Auburn
Cam Newton Wins Weekly Honors

Auburn Heads BCS Poll
The BCS ranks Auburn #1 this week in their second poll that began in mid month. Auburn was our most underrated team in the nation in August and one that I ranked in the Top 15 teams during the preseason. Auburn was not ranked in the Top 25 teams by any other poll or by any of the major network preseason shows. In fact, the SEC national shows did not even begin to mention Auburn until October despite a perfect record. The emergence of young Auburn QB Cam Newton is the hottest topic in college football. He is the clear leader in the Heisman Trophy race as we enter the final six weeks of regular season play. Newton is a unique athlete at 6’6” 250 lbs with natural running skills that poses major problems for a defense. He can outrun any linebacker and run over any defensive back. He has already set a new SEC rushing record for QBs, breaking long standing SEC records in the process. This past weekend, he led the Tigers to a major victory over rival LSU who also entered the game undefeated. Newton has rushed for over 100 yards in just 8 games, surpassing all SEC QB performers including legends Jimmy Sidle, Pat Sullivan and Tim Tebow. Newton rushed for 217 yards on 28 carries and 2 TDs vs LSU while Auburn pounded the Tigers for 440 total yards on the ground. It was the 4th straight game that Auburn rushed for over 300 yards with Newton the key catalyst and performer. He set these new rushing yardage (1006) and TD (26) records in only eight games. His 49 yard TD run is a highlight film that may be the signature play of the year that earns him the Heisman Trophy in December.

The college football season hits the midseason mark with an unusually broad range of opinions on the #1 team in the nation. Draft Insiders.com ranks Texas Christian #1 off their perfect record into late October. They are not rated higher than #4 on any of the four other major team polls. Those major polls have changed dramatically weekly as their #1 teams, Alabama, Ohio St. and Oklahoma have all lost recently on consecutive weeks. DraftInsiders.com ranked Ohio St. #1 in August and retained that status until losing to Wisconsin two weeks ago. TCU has not received the credit due for building a fine program and every poll has them behind Boise St., mainly off the Broncos win over them in the January 2009, Fiesta Bowl. That game should have no bearing on rankings in October 2010, but unfortunately polls continually rated teams off last season when many of those players are no longer with their clubs. College football changes dramatically from year to year with many clubs moving up quickly in the standings with new surprise players changing their team overall makeup. It works both ways with highly regarded teams falling quickly with major losses like Florida, Penn St. and Texas this season, all out of the Top 25 teams.

With 7 teams currently undefeated, the rankings will probably continue to undergo weekly changes. Michigan St. faces Iowa this week and could fall easily after the Spartans overcame a scare at Northwestern last Saturday. Oregon has run over every Pac 10 opponent this fall with one of the most explosive wild offenses in the game. They are 7-0 for the first time in 70 years and are ranked #1 in three major polls, the AP, Coaches and Harris. They face a major test this week at Southern Cal who is disqualified from bowl participation this year. The Trojans are 5-2 entering the Oregon game that they look at as their Rose Bowl game this season. They have two weeks to prepare while coming off their bye week and should be pumped up to knock off the exciting Ducks. I see at least three clubs, Oregon, Michigan St and Missouri all falling from the unbeaten ranks this week. It should be an exciting final week of October football that sets up a wild November on the quest for the national title.

College Football Week Eight Notes
Baylor is one of the major surprises this fall that has them ranked in the Top 25 off their 6-2 record. Young QB Robert Griffin is one of the most exciting players in the nation with the ability to beat defenses with his passing or running. They play at Texas this Saturday, facing one of the most erratic and inconsistent clubs thus far this season. The Longhorns have played up and down to the competition with a disappointing 4-3 record that includes a horrible home loss to Iowa St last Saturday. That makes them only a marginal bowl participant currently. The Baylor game is shockingly a must win situation for Texas to impress bowl committees for the postseason. Look for the Longhorns to come out fired up and play at the level that earned them a victory over Nebraska earlier in the month.

Missouri continued their undefeated season with a huge win over Oklahoma. They matched the Sooners through the early action and pulled away with a fine 36-27 win. QB Blaine Gabbert directs this offense very well getting the most out of his skill position players. The Tigers go to Nebraska this week and face a major test that could cost them this perfect record. Nebraska is the class of the Big 12 and this week is their last major test. At 6-1 entering the Missouri game, they could coast in November with four mediocre Big 12 opponents on the schedule. Look for the Cornhuskers to bust the Missou bubble in a national TV game.

West Virginia lost a horrible game to Syracuse. It cost them a Top 25 ranking that currently shows no Big East teams. Syracuse is one of the great stories of the season with HC Doug Marrone a strong Coach of the Year candidate. Syracuse was 4-8 last season and are already 5-2 this fall with five winnable games on the remaining schedule.

Iowa HC Kirk Ferentz of Iowa made a major mistake at the end of the game, calling his final timeout at 12 seconds left in the game when spiking the ball was the proper decision. Ferentz is a fine coach who has built an excellent program at Iowa, but his decision is baffling considering how obvious the decision was at the time. The clock expired when on the next play, the Iowa ballcarrier was tackled inbounds short of the sidelines.

Frank Coyle writes College Football Mondays weekly during the season. He is a longtime scouting consultant for the Senior Bowl, the nation’s premier postseason All-star game. He is also a member of the FWAA and voter in College team and player awards - Heisman, Outland, Nagurski, Thorpe, etc. He is a voter for weekly Team and Player Awards