National College Football Insider

Mon. November 02, 2009; Posted: 10:41 AM

Finally, a clear path to the national championship game emerges. Texas overcame its last major obstacle to an unbeaten season and spot in the BCS title game by whipping Oklahoma State. Florida routed Georgia and has only a couple of mild threats before its expected matchup in the SEC championship game against Alabama, which was idle this weekend. USC is now deservedly out of the title picture. The best hope for any of this year's Cinderellas -- Cincinnati, Iowa, Boise State or Texas Christian -- to get a crack at the BCS title game would be to hope Alabama loses at home to LSU this week. If that happens, and the Crimson Tide beats Florida, the BCS picture will fog up again.

The Big Ten Picture

The Iowa Houdinis, er, Hawkeyes, did it again. Just when an Indiana upset over Iowa seemed not only plausible but likely, the Hawkeyes escaped the water tank. Not many teams can survive four interceptions in one quarter, but Iowa has proved that the normal rules don't apply. Penn State finally shook off stubborn Northwestern in the fourth quarter. A week after looking lifeless against the Buckeyes without star receiver Eric Decker, Minnesota stunned Michigan State. Wisconsin had the most-dominating performance of the weekend. That's the Purdue that Ohio State expected to play two weeks ago. As for the Michigan Wolverines, reports of their life have proved to be exaggerated. Illinois has too much talent to be dormant all season, but a 25-point win? Yikes.

Heisman Snapshot

Just when it looked safe to write off preseason favorites Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow, the quarterbacks showed why they were preseason favorites. Tebow threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more to break Herschel Walker's SEC career record. McCoy was more efficient than spectacular in Texas' win, but a sort of career achievement Heisman is now a real possibility. Alabama and its candidate, running back Mark Ingram, had a bye. Houston's Case Keenum threw five more touchdown passes to keep his name in the conversation.

Climbing the BCS

Cincinnati jumped from No. 8 to No. 5 and now a path, although a very narrow one, to the title game is possible. First, Iowa must lose. (Imagine the angst hard-core Bearcats fans will feel rooting for the Buckeyes over the Hawkeyes in two weeks.) It's hard to imagine Texas losing to any of its remaining opponents in a Big 12 that's much weaker than a year ago, but stranger things have happened. Even if the Longhorns win out, an LSU victory over Alabama next week followed by a Crimson Tide victory over Florida in the SEC championship game might -- repeat, might -- push the Bearcats over both SEC teams. If Cincinnati goes unbeaten, the Bearcats will have beaten Pitt and West Virginia. Those two victories, if dominating, could give UC enough juice to land in the top two of the BCS.

Sinking in BCS

USC, of course. Alabama fell to No. 3, but that doesn't really matter. Win out, which would include an SEC title game victory over Florida, and the Tide will play for the national title.

In case you missed it from late Saturday

Other than the Texas-Oklahoma State and Oregon-USC games, there wasn't much late. Utah had to rally with 13 fourth-quarter points to beat Wyoming.

Did you see this play?

You've probably seen it already, but Tyler Sash's 86-yard interception return for a touchdown is a perfect microcosm of Iowa's charmed season. With the Hawkeyes trailing 21-7 and Indiana facing third-and-goal at the Iowa 2, A.J. Edds came free on a blitz. He hit quarterback Ben Chappell as he started to throw. The ball deflected off Iowa's Christian Ballard and Indiana tackle James Brewer before hitting off Chappell and going into the arms of Sash, who ran untouched 86 yards for a touchdown. A one-in-a-million play in a season that's already had a few of them.

Best performance

Congrats, Adam Weber. A week after it looked like his junior season was going down the tubes after losing his favorite receiver, Weber responded with a career game. The Golden Gophers looked anemic after star receiver Decker got hurt in the first quarter against Ohio State. It looked as if promising freshman MarQueis Gray would get more playing time. But Weber lit up Michigan State, completing 19 of 31 passes for 416 yards and five touchdowns. In the process, Weber became Minnesota's all-time leading passer.

Worst performance

Amazing how perishable the coaching genius label is. It wasn't long ago that Pete Carroll could do no wrong. He brought USC back to the national elite and masterminded the Trojans' tough defense. Well, that defense is now in tatters. After surrendering plenty of yards and points in wins over Notre Dame and Oregon State the previous two weeks, the Trojans were completely undressed by Oregon on Saturday. The Ducks gained 613 yards, including an astounding 391 on the ground. USC's national title chances already were fleeting at best. Now, the Trojans' streak of seven straight Pac-10 championships looks doomed as well.

Best upcoming game of the week

LSU vs. Alabama. The Tigers will have rooters in every part of the country, especially Cincinnati, Boise, Fort Worth and Iowa City.

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

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