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'College Football Monday' - Blog
Frank Coyle's Weekly Column

Cam Newton Wins Player of Week Honors For Bama Victory

Photo - Andrew Luck - Stanford

The last complete weekend of college football brought one of the most exciting series of games of the wild 2010 season. Four teams entered the weekend games undefeated with only Boise St falling from the unbeaten ranks with a dramatic overtime loss to Nevada. TCU, Auburn and Oregon all won leaving the BCS title game still in limbo with one weekend left in the regular season.

The Auburn- Alabama ‘Iron Bowl’ game was a classic that saw the Tigers QB Cam Newton work heroics that puts the explanation mark on this year’s Heisman Trophy award. His second half heroics will live in SEC lore as the Tigers came back to shock the defending champion Tide 28-27. Alabama falls to 9-3 and out of the top 15 in every poll for the first time since the 2008 season.

Oregon won a wild game vs Arizona that was close over the first half until the Ducks wacky spread offense took over to win a 48-29 affair. The Ducks ranked #1 in every poll, but Draft Insiders poll, but fell out of the top spot in the BCS this week to Auburn. Both clubs play this week with Oregon facing rival Oregon St and Auburn meeting South Carolina in the SEC title game. If either fails to win it opens the door for Texas Christian that completed its second consecutive season undefeated.

The Horned Frogs have a strong defense and a balanced offense that can play with any team in the nation, but most likely will only get a chance at the national title if one of the top two teams lose this upcoming week. TCU announced today it will enter the Big East that improves that struggling conference that receives an automatic BCS berth. That berth gives TCU considerably more leverage chasing the elusive national title. West Virginia returned to the Top 25 rankings giving the Big East conference a lone representative after several weeks with no teams in the elite standings.

In a season of surprise, the Big Ten has a three way tie between Wisconsin, Ohio St and Michigan St. The Badgers rank the highest in the BCS standings that earns them a Rose Bowl bid probably vs Texas Christian. They lost only to Michigan St., but has been clearly the most impressive team in the Big Ten especially over the second half of the season. Ohio St. suffers in head to head mention after losing to Wisconsin in a lopsided defeat. Michigan St. won several games in late dramatics that left their resume third among the Big Ten powers. They did have an outstanding season including beating Wisconsin while overcoming HC Mark Dantonio’s midseason heart attack.

The Oklahoma vs Oklahoma St. ‘Bedlam’ game may have been the best game of the year in the Big 12. The Sooners won a wild matchup 47-41. The victory over in state rival earns them a berth in the Big 12 title game vs Nebraska. The Big 12 title game will mark the end of the Nebraska time in the conference after they joined the Big Ten last year for the 2011 season.

Notre Dame earned some late respect beating Southern Cal that ended their long losing streak to the Trojans. The Irish finish at 7-5 that will earn a minor bowl invitation. Tennessee also had a strong finish that brought them to 6-6 on the merits of a four game winning streak.

College Football Week 11 Notes
Stanford’s Andrew Luck has had an outstanding performance that has been instrumental the Cardinal 11-1 season. He has been a leader on this club that may be the surprise of the season and currently ranked either #5 or 6 in every poll. The Cardinal defense has been excellent especially off recent history. They had three shutouts this season plus four other games of holding opponents to 17 points or fewer. For the season, Luck completed over 70% of his passes in a pro style offense. As a third year sophomore, he could declare for the NFL Draft 2011 in January if he wants to leave the Pac 10. He has developed quickly on the finer points of the position under the tutelage of HC Jim Harbaugh. He has developed a keen sense of reading coverage, well beyond his limited playing experience. He is a top athlete with fine speed, in addition to a strong NFL arm capable of making all the throws. He has the skill set to be the #1 overall selection in either of the next two NFL Drafts.

Florida St senior guard Rodney Hudson and Maryland junior wide receiver Torrey Smith had excellent performances that helped their teams win key ACC games. For Hudson, his effort earned him his third ACC player of the week award of the season and the ninth player of the week honor of his career - a conference record. Against Florida, he registered four knockdown blocks in the Seminoles 31-7 win. Hudson was part of a line that did not allow a sack and helped the offense tally 333 total yards. Hudson was a mainstay as the 'Noles did not allow a sack against Florida's defense and controlled the clock for 33 minutes. It marked the fourth time this season that Hudson, an Outland Award finalist, posted a score of 90 percent or better.

Smith had four touchdowns as the Terps topped No. 21 NC State, 38-31. The four scoring receptions set the school's single-game record, turning in one of the most outstanding performances by a receiver in Maryland history. He set the school's single-game record with four TD receptions, while setting career highs with 14 receptions and 224 receiving yards as Maryland knocked off #21 NC State 38-31. His receiving yardage is the third most in a single game in school history and 18th-most on the ACC books, while his receptions are just two off the ACC mark. Smith's 1,045 yards are the second-most in a season in school history. Smith finished the regular season with 12 TD catches, which is a Maryland record and is tied for the ninth most in a season in ACC history.

Frank Coyle writes ‘College Football Monday’ 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