College football Saturday: Kansas State, Oregon knocked off

The Crimson Tide scored on all six of their first half offensive possessions, taking advantage of two Auburn turnovers and forcing three punts. Alabama would actually score touchdowns on their first seven possessions before settling into cruise control.

Alabama will face Georgia in the SEC championship game next week for the right to face Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship game in Miami.

Wittek might also be the guy that can clear the way for another all-SEC BCS championship game. The possibility exists for a title game featuring the SEC champion and one-loss Florida, the current pretender to the throne.

You might be sick of the SEC, but we’ll tell you who aren’t - and they matter a heck a lot more than we do: The voters in the Coaches and Harris polls. And these voters have a particular thing for Alabama and all things Nick Saban.

You want to flee the scene, but you cannot. You stomped to your car, with a faster pace than normal, fueled by a combination of anxiety, hours-old tailgate alcohol and “What just happened?” rage, only to find yourself in an endless line of traffic.

Maybe you then weave through the lot and cut in line and anger other already-angry drivers. Maybe you just sit in your car, resigned to defeat, for a good hour. But you cannot escape your brain, and you cannot escape the fact that your team just lost a game you didn’t think it would lose, and at home, no less.

As expected, Notre Dame is now ranked No. 1 in the BCS standings for its first time ever. Alabama, which just last week looked to be nearly out of the running for the national championship game, is now back in a driver’s seat at No. 2. And the team it’ll face if it gets to the SEC Championship Game (this is a very likely occurrence -- the Tide only has to beat Auburn), Georgia, shows up at No. 3. As it stands, there are three teams in the country that control their destinies, and two of them should play each other in two weeks. It gets complicated after that.

The two teams that fell from the top of last week’s rankings, Oregon and Kansas State, fall into the big one-loss morass that also includes Florida and Florida State, who’ll play each other next week. If Notre Dame falls at USC next week, the door will be open for the winner of Florida-FSU or Oregon (if it can beat Oregon State and UCLA) or mayyybe Kansas State, but it’s hard to imagine anybody beyond that making it in. So let’s say that as of right now, six teams still have a chance at the title game.

Puddles copes just like you and I do: kummerspeck, the German word for emotional eating.

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But the third quarter belonged to Baylor. After the Bears and Wildcats traded touchdowns, Aaron Jones kicked a field goal to put the Bears up 38-24. Then Baylor would punch it in twice thanks to a Martin 15 yard rushing score and a Seastrong 80 yard scamper.

If USC loses to No. 3 Notre Dame next week, they’ll be the second preseason No. 1 to ever drop five games and the first since Ole Miss in 1964. A loss in the bowl game would make them the first to ever lose six, though since those older teams didn’t have to play anywhere near 13 games, saying they’d finish a game above .500 might be fairer. Three preseason No. 1s have hit that mark, but none in 48 years.

Via USA Today’s Paul Myerberg, a list of the previous AP preseason No. 1 teams who’ve finished the year ranked outside the Top 10 (there was no preseason AP poll until 1950):

It wasn’t a good week to be a Heisman Trophy candidate.

Who’s slipping

The previous Saturday, No. 16 Oregon State lost a very close game to giant-killer Stanford, 27-24. This gave the Beavers their second loss on what used to be a perfect season. Determined not to drop any more games, the 7-2 Oregon State welcome the Cal Bears and proceeded to beat them up. Beavers make a statement against Cal by winning 62-14. This is Cal’s fifth straight loss.

Box Score Hero: Before being pulled when the game was clearly out of reach for Cal, Oregon State QB Sean Mannion completed 24 of 34 passing attempts for a total of 325 yards and 4 touchdowns. The only blemish on the night is his 1 interception.

Both teams were unable to reach the endzone a majority of the second quarter. The only exception being SJSU’s Grigsby’s second touchdown of the game with 13:58 to go. The Spartans held their 20-7 lead heading into halftime.

The third period was uneventful. Both teams failed to score. It wasn’t necessarily a defensive battle. BYU and San Jose State just couldn’t get into the endzone.

The concussion did not discourage the mobile ‘Zona QB from running. Scott ran for 10 yards and Arizona’s second TD of the game. With 4:16 left in the half, the Utes earned a touchdown on a 34-yard Travis Wilson pass to Jake Murphy, bringing the Utes within three at the close of the half.

Utah continued to score in the third. Coleman Petersen kicked a 24-yard field goal to tie the score at 17-17. Utah took the lead with 2:31 remaining in the quarter. Quarterback Travis Wilson gave the ball to DeVonte Christopher. Christopher ran 36 yards for the TD, capturing the lead for the Utes, 24-17.

Klein, under duress for most of the game, is just 20-of-39 for 211 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. The Baylor offense, boosted by 302 yards on the ground, has amassed 540 total yards through three quarters.

The Bears have all the momentum and all of the glory, as evidenced by this dancing exhibition on the sideline following Seastrunk’s touchdown.

As a former Baptist youth, I can confirm that anytime you see persons of the disposition doing this ...

... incredible things have happened.

One good streak kept going for Vanderbilt, and a bad one bit the dust.

The Commodores rolled over the Volunteers, 41-18, to win their fifth straight game and break a 15-game losing streak at home to Tennessee. The Volunteers, meanwhile, remain winless in SEC play after another dismal defensive showing.

Despite being handed a gift touchdown to get back into the game in the third quarter, No. 1 Kansas State continues to struggle offensively and now trails 45-24 after a quick 10 points by Baylor.

The Kansas State offense was once again forced to punt after just three plays, however, quickly giving the explosive Bears offense the ball back near midfield. Glasco Martin’s 15-yard touchdown run, his third rushing touchdown of the game, just four plays into the drive gave Baylor a dominating 45-24 lead.

No. 1 Kansas State received new life after it appeared that Baylor had once again taken control of the game and now trails 35-24 just over two minutes into the third quarter in Waco.

The Kansas State offense, struggling for most of the night, failed to gain a yard the drive after Baylor took a commanding 35-17 lead just minutes into the second half. The Wildcats tilted the field, however, when Ryan Doerr’s 49-yard punt was downed at the Baylor 1-yard line.

Klein is 14-of-23 for 149 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the game so far, with both turnovers leading directly to Baylor touchdowns.

No. 1 Kansas State used some furious play in the final minutes of the first half to get back within striking distance of Baylor, trailing the Bears, 28-17, at halftime.

Klein completed four consecutive passes to move the ball 63 yards in about a minute, boosted by a 15-yard pass interference penalty that moved Kansas State into the red zone. Klein connected with Chris Harper for 7 yards two plays later to pull Kansas State to withing two touchdowns with just under two minutes remaining in the half.

The resilient Rebels secured a lead heading into the half, when Wallace scored on a 1-yard run with 50 seconds remaining on the clock to give Ole Miss a 21-17 lead.

LSU threw a counter punch early in the fourth quarter when Hill scored on a 1-yard touchdown run and added a 2-point conversion to tie the game at 28, but Ole Miss answered back immediately on a 30-yard pass from Wallace to Donte Moncrief to pull ahead 35-28.

Here’s Odell Beckham’s entry in LSU-Ole Miss history, which tied the Tigers with the Rebels with nine minutes to go and set up the eventual win:

And here, at the 1:07 mark, is the Cannon version, which brought down perhaps the greatest team of all time:

Box Score Hero: Tajh Boyd. I mean, eight touchdowns. He had 102 yards on the ground to go with his 423 yards passing.

Rankings Ramifications: The No. 11 Clemson Tigers will keep their eyes on the Top 10 to see if any teams stumble this weekend, while North Carolina State goes under .500 in ACC play at 3-4.

USC lost to its rival UCLA today in a game where the Bruins looked better coached, more focused, and much more physical. In losing to UCLA, USC will likely drop out of both top 25 polls when they’re released tomorrow. The Trojans are now the first team since Auburn in 1984 to be ranked #1 in the top preseason top 25 and lose four games in a season. To say that fans and alumni are upset would be putting it lightly.

So have things gone poorly enough in Los Angeles for USC to consider making a head coaching change? Not according to Lane Kiffin.