College football Saturday, Week 7: Big upsets include wins for Utah, Texas, Mizzou

The results on the Michigan internet have been mass chaos. A guy got maced, and 85 percent of Michigan fans perceiving this made the same joke about how that guy was the luckiest Michigan fan of them all. I myself posted a naked lady with a unicorn head vomiting a kitten. A guy I employ to write words on the internet made this his entire game recap…

…and his boss, me, is fine with that. So was everyone in the attached 385-comment thread.

Les Miles is not a carpenter by trade, though his name is enshrined in Home Depot lore. What he is is a man with opinions on the eternal battle between the hammer and the nail. He’s also a person who gets very excited after football games.

In response to an attempted question about LSU taking over for Florida as “the hammer” in this rivalry (because Florida was “the hammer” in Gainesville last year, LSU was thus the nail), Miles went all Miles:

Washington couldn’t pull off an upset in Stanford last weekend, but the Huskies were competitive throughout and actually out-gained the Cardinal by a wide margin, looking the part of a top-20 team. Now the Huskies have the unpleasant task of turning right around and taking on Oregon, which presents a whole different set of challenges.

Oregon has yet to be even remotely challenged this season, winning its games by an average score of 59.2 to 11.8. The Ducks haven’t seen a team of Washington’s caliber yet -- especially not on the road -- so this will be their first major hurdle in their quest for a conference title and BCS championship game appearance. Will we see any signs of weakness this week?

This week’s can’t miss SEC matchup sees No. 10 LSU host No. 17 Florida in Baton Rouge. Television coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

The Tigers enter the game 5-1, with non-conference wins against TCU, UAB and Kent State. In conference play, they beat Auburn by two touchdowns, lost at Georgia by three points, and are fresh off a dominating win against Mississippi State. LSU has a new-look offense that has been a big force in the new surge of strong SEC offenses -- they are scoring 45.5 points per game (ranked ninth in the country) and have a balanced attack with multiple offensive weapons.

Arkansas comes into this one having lost three straight, having lost nearly all the momentum from their 3-0 start. They’ll be looking to right the ship, and fast. Unfortunately, the task before them is yet another tall one -- No. 14 South Carolina will be the visitors in Fayetteville this weekend.

South Carolina had more trouble than anticipated with 1-4 Kentucky last weekend -- the Wildcats rallied from a 27-7 deficit to close to one score with 11:50 to go in the fourth quarter, and were it not for a Connor Shaw touchdown run and conversion to provide some cushion, could very well have lost. A loss against this Razorbacks team is very possible if they are not careful.

To get to 6-0 and protect its No. 3 ranking, Clemson will have to ground a team that does have some offensive talent -- Andre Williams, the ACC’s leading rusher, will see the ball plenty on Saturday, and he’s been instrumental in carrying BC to a winning record through five games. In fact, this Boston College squad is already much improved -- it won only two games last season, a total it surpassed last weekend after beating Army, 48-27.

Clemson has made short work of all its opponents after a season-opening squeaker against Georgia, and only NC State has even kept within two touchdowns of the Tigers. Could this finally be the year they rid themselves of the dreaded “Clemsoning” label?

Is Virginia Tech back? That’s the question in the ACC, as the Hokies reappeared in the rankings last week -- five straight wins have earned them the right to a nice number on the left of their name, the first time in over a year that they have been able to claim that right. Strangely enough, it was a loss to Pitt last season that ended their ranked run, something that may very well weigh on their minds heading into this one.

The Hokies are poised for even bigger things, if they play their cards right. With beatable opponents each of the next three weeks, not much is stopping them heading into a Nov. 9 meeting at Miami, a game that may very well decide the Coastal Division title.