The Week in Review

Here's a brief look at the highlights of the ninth week of the college football season, a week which featured two games between ranked teams and 12 of the top 25 teams in the nation going on the road. The rankings used in this recap are the BCS Standings from prior to the games.

RANKED SHOWDOWNS
#14 Nebraska 31, #4 Missouri 17: Nebraska's Roy Helu, Jr., rushed for a school record 307 yards as the Cornhuskers ruined Missouri's hopes for a perfect season.

#18 Iowa 37, #5 Michigan State 6: Michigan State had visions of the Rose Bowl, if not the National Championship, but Iowa dominated their Saturday meeting, defeating the Spartans for the seventh straight time in Iowa City.

UPSETS KEEP COMING
North Carolina State 28, #16 Florida State 24: Wolfpack quarterback Russell Wilson tossed a short touchdown pass with 2:44 left and then the Seminoles had a chance to win it, but fumbled inside the 10-yard line in the final minute.

Virginia 24, #22 Miami (FL) 19: Three different Hurricanes throw five interceptions and the Hurricanes get upset by Virginia, which picks up its first ACC victory.

BEST OFFENSES
#2 Oregon 53, USC 32: The Ducks, who came in averaging 55.1 points per game, trail in the third-quarter, but national rushing leader LaMichael James (239 yards, 3 TDs) leads them to 24 consecutive points.

#3 Boise State 49, Louisiana Tech 20: Boise State is proving to be a nightmare every week for opponents; in a Tuesday game this week, the Broncos piled up 468 yards of offense in yet another blowout.

#17 Oklahoma State 24, Kansas State 14: The Cowboys came in averaging 48.3 points per game, but with star receiver Justin Blackmon suspended, they have to turn to defense in picking up a key Big 12 victory.

BEST DEFENSES
#4 TCU 48, UNLV 6: TCU has now allowed a total of 16 points in five Mountain West games, while collecting 189 points of its own in that time.

#11 Ohio State 52, Minnesota 10: The Buckeyes come into the game allowing just 234.0 yards per game, second in nation, and hold Minnesota to 232 yards in a blowout victory.

ROAD WARRIORS
#1 Auburn 51, Ole Miss 31: Star quarterback Cam Newton didn't have to carry the full load for the Tigers this week, but the Tigers still ran for 343 yards - their fifth straight 300-yard rushing game as they avoided the upset on the road.

#8 Utah 28, Air Force 23: Utah's defense forces five turnovers and stops the Falcons twice on downs in the fourth quarter as the Utes improve to 8-0 for the third time in the last seven years.

#13 Stanford 41, Washington 0: Stanford's defense hands the Huskies their first home shutout since 1976, holding them to 107 total yards, their worst offensive performance in 37 years.

#15 Arizona 29, UCLA 21: The balanced Wildcats use a 300-yard passing game from Mike Scott and a 100-yard rushing day from Keola Antolin to upend the Bruins on the road.

#25 Baylor 30, Texas 22: The Bears go on the road and upend a reeling Texas squad as Robert Griffin, III, passes for two scores and runs for another to lead his squad to its first win over the Longhorns since 1997.

HOLDING STEADY
#9 Oklahoma 43, Colorado 10: Ryan Broyles catches three TD passes while recording a school-record 208 receiving yards as Oklahoma cruises to victory.

#19 Arkansas 49, Vanderbilt 14: Ryan Mallett sets a school record with 409 passing yards, connecting with eight different receivers as the Razorbacks score 43 unanswered points after trailing early.

#20 South Carolina 38, Tennessee 24: The Gamecocks are happy to have Marcus Lattimore back at full strength as the freshman runs for 184 yards in a win over the Volunteers.

#24 Nevada 56, Utah State 42: Nevada's potent rushing attack piles up 387 rushing yards to offset a 399-yard passing day by Utah State's Diondre Borel.

#25 Mississippi State 24, Kentucky 17: Johnthan Banks snagged an interception on the Bulldogs' own goal line in the final seconds to preserve his team's sixth-straight victory.

Sugar Bowl Bowl Projections

(BCS Rankings)
#6 Alabama at #10 LSU: Another huge game in the SEC West between top 10 squads. Both teams have one loss and likely need to avoid a second loss to keep in the hunt for a BCS bid.

#18 Arkansas at #19 South Carolina: Arkansas' potent passing attack goes head-to-head with a hard-nosed run game for the Gamecocks in the SEC's second marquee game of the week between ranked opponents.

#3 TCU at #5 Utah: A battle of unbeatens in the Mountain West as the winner of this moves into excellent position for a possible BCS Bowl bid.

#15 Arizona at #13 Stanford: With Oregon looking so dominant, this might be the battle for second-place in the Pac-10, but the reward for that could be a Rose Bowl bid if Oregon goes to the Championship game.

#21 Baylor at #18 Oklahoma State: Two dynamic Big 12 offenses meet in Stillwater; the surprising Bears are not satisfied with just being bowl-eligible, they are looking to make a run at the Big 12 Championship.

#8 Oklahoma at Texas A&M: A&M is the disappointment of the Big 12 this year while the Sooners are hoping to solidify their hold on the top slot in the Big 12 South.

Washington at #1 Oregon: The top-ranked Ducks bring the most potent offense in the country while inconsistent Washington hopes highly-touted QB Jake Locker has an NFL-caliber performance.

Hawaii at #4 Boise State: A major game in the WAC; many haven't thought of Hawaii as a potent foe, but the Warriors have won six straight behind standout quarterback Bryant Moniz.

Georgia Tech at #22 Virginia Tech (Thu.): Virginia Tech has heated up with six straight wins to become the top-ranked ACC team, while Georgia Tech has been somewhat disappointing after winning the league last year.

From the players currently on the Watch List for the Manning Award, here are some of the standout stars from week nine:

Landry Jones, Oklahoma
(32-of-46, 453 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT)
Jones posts the second most passing yards in Sooners' history as Oklahoma crushes Colorado, 43-10.

Ryan Mallett, Arkansas
(27-of-44, 409 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT)
Mallett sets a school record for passing yards (breaking his own mark from last year) by connecting with eight different receivers in a 49-14 blowout of Vanderbilt.

Kyle Padron, SMU
(18-of-32, 354 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT)
Trailing 17-3 late in the third quarter against Tulane, Padron leads the Mustangs to four unanswered touchdowns as they post a 31-17 victory.

Denard Robinson, Michigan State
(11-of-23, 190 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT)
Robinson continues his dynamic season, adding 191 yards and three scores on the ground, but it's not enough for the Wolverines, who fall 41-31 to Penn State.

Ricky Stanzi, Iowa
(11-of-15, 190 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT)
Stanzi has a near-flawless performance in directing the Hawkeyes to a convincing 37-6 upset of sixth-ranked Michigan State.

While the final additions have been made to the Manning Award Watch, all quarterbacks remain eligible to win the award. Here's a look at this week's top performances from quarterbacks who are not on the Watch List:

Matt Christian, New Mexico State
(23-of-44, 259 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT)
Christian, who also rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown, throws the game-winning TD pass with five seconds to go in a 29-27 win over San Jose State.

Terrence Owens, Toledo
(10-of-15, 234 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT)
Owens is very efficient, tossing four TDs with only 15 attempts as the Rockets cruise to a 42-7 victory over Eastern Michigan.

David Piland, Houston
(20-of-23, 292 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT)
The freshman has a near-perfect day as he leads Conference USA's highest-scoring offense to a 56-17 thumping of Memphis.

Nathan Scheelhaase, Illinois
(16-of-20, 195 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT)
Scheelhaase, just a freshman, has a big game passing and also rushes for 118 yards to leads the Illini to a 44-10 win over Purdue.

Ryan Tannehill, Texas A&M
(36-of-50, 449 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT)
Making his first career start, Tannehill sets the Texas A&M record for passing yards in a 45-27 victory over Texas Tech.