15. West Virginia 24, TCU 6
West Virginia is a different team at home. It’s 0-3 on the road – to be fair, playing Texas and Oklahoma State had something to do with that – and is now 5-0 at home with the Big 12’s best defense – it held TCU to 295 yards – and a decent enough offense this week to score in each quarter while the Horned Frogs only came up with two field goals. Next up? In two weeks it’s Oklahoma, and WVU has a chance to screw up the Big 12 race and be a friend to Texas, Oklahoma State and Iowa State.
14. Washington 27, Oregon State 21
Washington overcame a miserable punting debacle that ended up with an Oregon State touchdown, caught a few gigantic breaks on bad spots by the officials that hosed the Beavers. – watch it – and it was a fight, but Jimmy Lake got the win in his debut. The pass defense was great, the running game pounded away, and QB Dylan Morris was good enough. It looked like an opener for a team that needs a bit more tuning – just like everyone else in the Pac-12.
13. Iowa 35, Minnesota 7
Minnesota owes Penn State and Michigan for their respective flops, otherwise the biggest Big Ten story would be the disastrous start for the Gophers. Remember, last year they had a ridiculously easy start to the season to tune up for Penn State, but this year they’re not getting nearly enough from the run defense, the passing game isn’t clicking like it should, and with Purdue, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Nebraska to close, a 1-7 season is possible.
On the other side, Iowa has been great over the last two games thanks to the ground game – Tyler Goodson ran for 142 yards and two scores. However, the passing game isn’t working – Spencer Petras only hit 9-of-18 throws.
12. Miami 25, Virginia Tech 24
So, technically, Miami is the third-best team in the ACC, right? It’s a soft No. 3 team, but the Canes are still in the hunt for the ACC title and CFP if it wins out and Clemson has a hiccup in the final few games. The running game didn’t show up against the Hokies, and D’Eriq King was fine, but the team pulled out the road win. Neither team could block – both defenses came up with six sacks.
11. Oregon 43, Washington State 23
Everyone in the Pac-12 gets a bit of a free pass for a little bit. A whole slew of Oregon players opted out, there were going to be changes anyway in personnel, and the team is still playing like the most talented in the league. Tyler Shough was great – 312 yards and four scoring passes with 81 yards on the ground – and the O was outstanding on third downs, but the three turnovers made things more difficult than they needed to be. Take the 2-0 and keep moving on. As soon as the Ducks tighten up, watch out.