I’m an offensive guy but there are several offenses superior to the Cowboys’. Ignoring that, the chief leading statistic as to a team’s chances of a championship, even in this age of explosive offenses, is how it defends the run. Put bluntly, the Cowboys are *terrible* against the run.

Right now, they’re surrendering an absurd 4.53 yards a carry. That is 82nd, nationally. In all but two games, opponents have rushed for 153 or more yards, including 231 by Texas, 248 by Missouri and 365 by Tulsa! Only Arizona, an opponent extremely reluctant to go to the ground, has rushed for fewer than 100 yards. Mighty Tulsa’s 365 yards were 147 better than their next-best total this year. If not for Texas A&M inexplicably abandoning the run in the second half, they likely would have been yet another opponent with 300+ rush yards. As it was, the Aggies gained most of their 162 rush yards (at six yards a clip!) before halftime.

Say everything you want for the Cowboys’ offense, something is deeply wrong with the computers to be programmed to systematically ignore actual compelling and disastrous hard data like this. Meanwhile, another BCS contender with a great offense that actually does well against the run, Stanford, averages a mere 9th place by the same computers heading into this weekend.

I’ve always cautioned people to wait until the final BCS poll before having a fit, but this is worth noting for how badly the computers have collectively whiffed on such damning evidence.

Hopefully the big cheeses at the conferences that run the BCS can sit down and once again do some tinkering to make this process more realistic and credible. I’m all for booting the computers. The coaches’ poll, too, since its participants have chosen secrecy over transparency and accountability. The Harris Poll seems a bit too anonymous for my tastes as well, but its similar enough to the Associated Press poll to be sufficient, at least for now.

I have other ideas for BCS fixes, but this is more about Oklahoma State than something more down the road.

For what its worth, and in keeping with my caution about BCS gripes until the final weekend, the Cowboys are just now entering the meat of their schedule. Visiting Baylor will be a unique challenge this weekend, followed by still-undefeated Kansas State, Texas Tech which took down Oklahoma last weekend, the layup against Iowa State and then Oklahoma. Survive that and make significant defensive improvements without harming an otherwise effective offense and maybe the Cowboys’ BCS chances can be revisited. Until then: they’re frauds.

Like clockwork, Wisconsin and Oklahoma spit the bit while Boise State survived an unnecessary home scare from punchless Air Force.

Thats the thing about a regular season, you think you know everything and then the teams actually have to go and play things out.

Stanford still has two very tough matchups against upset-minded USC (this weekend) and Oregon. Oklahoma State, whose defense couldn’t stop a small child right now, must still face Baylor (this weekend), fellow undefeated Kansas State, Texas Tech which just upended Oklahoma, and the Sooners. Chances are they’re dropping a game or two. Boise State, for the lazy sportswriters who haven’t been paying attention, are not as strong as the legitimate BCS contenders we’ve rooted for the last 2-3 seasons. Their run defense is a bit off and the offense has lacked pop since losing a pair of great receivers to the NFL.

It should be obvious, but: CHILL OUT.

The most important part of the game, as always, has been in the week-to-week drama, not the emotional poll watching in the season’s final week to determine who plays in the “mythical” national championship. As always happens, that scary pool of eight to nine undefeateds whittles itself down and we’re left with a compelling and worthwhile shouting match about what to do about it. Some years, like 2005, its obvious. Some years, like 2007, the championship shouldn’t even be played. Some years, like 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2008, we get memorable, historic teams that take the game by storm. Some years, like this one, we have merely a couple of elite and near-elite.

Do them a favor and let them play a few more games and do some of the sorting out for us. Shit down, shut up, grab a beer, enjoy the show. Its the best week-to-week ritual in all of sport, no need to abuse it over some dissatisfaction about what happens at the end.

– Say what you want about Stanford and its schedule, the Cardinal are streaking and doing what good teams do, consistently blowing opponents out of the water. They set an NCAA mark Saturday by becoming the first team since 1936 to win 10 straight games by more than 25 points.

– We definitely didn’t see this coming, but probably should have. Kansas State is now undefeated at 7-0 after besting rival Kansas 59-21. An interesting graphic made the social media rounds, noting that the Wildcats are doing this with a less than full roster. This should be an encouraging sign to USC in light of their upcoming NCAA-imposed steep scholarship hits.

Their turnaround is made all the more unusual because coach Bill Snyder appeared to have lost his touch his final two seasons pre-retirement when he won just nine games.

– East Carolina quarterback Dominique Davis set an NCAA mark in completing 26 straight passes Saturday, and 36 overall dating to the previous week. This is significant because he broke WCW champ Aaron Rodgers’ mark of 24 consecutive set against USC in 2004 in one of the more hard-fought games of the 2000′s.

– Meanwhile, Houston quarterback Case Keenum set the NCAA career yardage mark.

– We didn’t catch College GameDay’s Chris Fowler’s rant about the website Fire Jerry Kill, but we gotta say how can you dislike any site with a hilarious sad-faced gopher?

1. Alabama

2. Stanford

3. LSU

4. Clemson

5. Oklahoma State

6. Boise State

7. Oregon

8. Kansas State

9. Michigan State

10. Arkansas

On the cusp: Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Houston, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech

Lane Kiffin, following his Trojans 31-17 road victory over the Fighting Irish (via the Los Angeles Times‘ Gary Klein):

I’m sure mass was full this morning in South Bend after all the things that were said to us

Randy Sanders after Kentucky finally found something resembling an offense in 38-14 triumph over Jacksonville State (via the Courier-Journal‘s Kyle Tucker):

Winning makes supper taste better…After 5 weeks without it.. everything starts to taste like oatmeal with no brown sugar

Now, here are the 10 games I see as being the best plays for this weekend. All lines courtesy of Docsports.

Maryland (+18) at Florida State — The Terrapins are hard to get a handle on. They’ve played two ranked teams very tough the last two weeks and I think they’ll stay very close here and may even get the upset.

Florida State 24, Maryland 21

Texas A&M (-21) at Iowa State — Too much firepower on A&M for ISU’s defense to handle. The Cyclones will move the ball but have trouble scoring.

Texas A&M 45, Iowa State 20

Oregon (-31.5) at Colorado — Even with its injuries, things will keep chugging along for the Ducks in Boulder. This one should be in hand by half time.

Oregon 56, Colorado 17

Nebraska (-25.5) at Minnesota — The Gophers are one of the worst teams in the FBS and Nebraska is on a high after coming back to beat OSU last week. The Cornhuskers roll.

Nebraska 52, Minnesota 21

California (-1) vs. Utah — The Bears are an average team and the Utes are a bit below average. Big game for Keenan Allen and the Cal defense stifles Utah.

California 31, Utah 17

Kansas State (-11.5) at Kansas — The Wildcats still have a few scores to settle from recent years when the Jayhawks were good. Kansas has a horrible defense and KSU will move the ball at will.

Kansas State 38, Kansas 16

Washington (+20) at Stanford — I like the Cardinal to win in this one, but Washington has the horses to score some points. Keith Price is kept in check, but a nice game by Chris Polk and the Huskies cover.

Stanford 41, Washington 30

Auburn (+21) at LSU — I think Gus Malzahn will have a few surprises in his bag of tricks for this one. Kiehl Frazier has his first big game and Auburn pulls the upset.

Auburn 24, LSU 20

Michigan State (+8) vs. Wisconsin — If Wisconsin is going to lose this season, it’s going to be here against the Spartans. Russell Wilson struggles for the first time and Sparty gets the upset.

Michigan State 31, Wisconsin 27

Northwestern (+4) vs. Penn State — The Nittany Lions are very lackluster and Dan Persa is just now rounding into shape.  I like for the Wildcats to win this one outright.

Northwestern 21, Penn State 17

After a turnover fueled rough start that saw them open up 0-2, the Irish have roared back with four consecutive victories. The offense has been with them all year but thanks to some emerging young linemen, the Irish defense has awoken. Notre Dame feels strongly enough about its chances here that it 1)turned the usual afternoon matchup into an extremely rare night start at Notre Dame Stadium 2)decided to wear its green uniforms and 3)made this its biggest recruiting weekend in years. Put bluntly: they’re All In for this one.

Meanwhile, USC coach Lane Kiffin no doubt realizes he needs a definitive showing on Saturday. A full 19 games into his tenure, Kiffin still lacks a signature win and must make deep amends for last year’s near-impossible defeat.

For all its frustrations this year, USC remains a highly talented and skilled team. It has arguably the nation’s top receiving duo in nation-leading sophomore Robert Woods and the scary good Marqise Lee. When he’s been accurate (a week-to-week ordeal), third-year starter quarterback Matt Barkley has been lights-out connecting with that duo along with young tight ends Randal Telfer and Xavier Grimble. USC lacks any semblance of consistency on offense but on the rare occasion everything comes together, they’ve shown they can score at will.

Given the charged setting, I expect USC’s star players to wake up from the doldrums of facing a so-far uninspiring schedule and make a ton of plays. Watching the Trojans this year, they play their best when given a spark. Former coach Pete Carroll‘s high-energy act wore thin his last few years when USC perhaps needed a more balanced and cerebral touch, but right now Kiffin’s arguably been too cerebral with a bunch that has shown it will play tremendous football when inspired.

If they can’t get up for this game, then there’s no helping them.

Meanwhile the Irish have been ascendant. Even in defeat it was clear they could play. We jokingly called them the nation’s best 0-2 team after the slow start, but they’re a quality outfit that will finish the season ranked and itching for a big run in 2012. They’re not as talented as USC, but both have a wave of young talent just starting to make an impact. Notre Dame’s advantage is it is further ahead in getting to where they want to be than Kiffin’s Trojans.

Quarterback Tommy Rees isn’t much to watch, but he gets it done. Although a bit of a turnover machine, Rees is also charitable to his receivers hitting anyone and everyone, all over the field. Contrast that with USC’s more Woods-focused approach. Rees consistently moves the ball and should find plenty of real estate against a so-far troubled USC defense. Mix in a healthy monster of a receiver in Michael Floyd and USC will have to play catchup much of the game against a hostile and hungry Irish crowd that has not seen its program field an elite team since 1993.

Oddsmakers have installed the Irish as heavy favorites, anywhere from eight to 9.5 points. They should win this game, but don’t count out the Trojans’ talent and the restorative power the hostile road setting could actually provide for some of their better playmakers. Keep an eye out for true freshman converted tailback George Farmer who lost his redshirt last week but has rare physical tools to be a big, fast and versatile offensive threat that opponents just don’t have much film on and few comparable athletes on their defense to prepare for him. This should be excellent in that for the first time in years both programs have something to prove and are hungry to achieve a result here as the future gains of both arguably hang in the balance.

Notre Dame 35 USC 31

But sometimes exceptionally accomplished players (and coaches) slip through the cracks. Here are our Misfit honorees:

Kick Magnet All American – USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil

All Kalil has done this year besides anchor a young and far from deep offensive line is block an incredible four kicks. Each block has been crucial to USC’s chances this year as the program has mostly achieved razor-thin victories in getting out to a 5-1 record. Kalil’s blocks have been the margin on more than one occasion.

Jack Outside Of The Box All American – Georgia Tech “back” Orwin Smith

The junior has posted some of the most incredible numbers this year, all over the field. Mind you this is in the Yellow Jackets’ highly productive offense but you still rarely see numbers like these. He has eight rushing touchdowns and a 13.19 yard average on the ground, rushing for 488 yards. The few times Tech takes to the air, he’s making huge plays as well. His nine receptions have gone for just under 29 yards a play. And of course he returns kicks. Add it up and he’s notching 135 all purpose yards a game on just 57 touches this season. Get this man the ball more!

You Don’t Notice Him Until He Wins You The Game All American – Colorado State defensive lineman Nordly Capi

The sophomore has bust out of nowhere for the Rams to pick up eight sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss among his 18 tackles. He also paces the country in forced fumbles with five to go with four quarterback hurries and a broken up pass. So pretty much every time he’s involved in a play, something big happens. We often speak of offensive efficiency but this guy cleans up on the defensive side of the ball.

Hidden Yardage Master All American AND Special Merit All American – LSU punter Brad Wing

The freshman from Melbourne, Australia is a big hit for the nation’s top team. In LSU’s two national showcase games against Oregon and West Virginia, he consistently pinned both explosive offenses inside their own 10 yard line. Simply put, combined with LSU’s already capable defense this … punter … may be the most demoralizing force so far this year in college football.

If that isn’t enough he’s our personal hero for making a mockery of the NCAA’s new celebration rule. In a game against Florida, the Tigers faked a punt and Wing rushed for a lengthy touchdown. His pre-goal-line celebration — he briefly pointed at two nearby defenders — brought out the hankies and LSU’s touchdown was negated. Problem is the moral police in college athletics are morons. The play happened. Everyone in the country saw it yet just like Reggie Bush’s accomplishments at USC, Wing caused his own personal asterisk. Look it up, he’s credited with a 44-yard rush but no touchdown. He scored!

Dude scored.

Video Game Numbers Special Merit All American – College football’s offensive coordinators

Arguably, there are maybe two to four credible defenses in college football. Except for a few holdouts practicing a pro-style offense abandoned by the NFL almost a decade ago, offense is flourishing in college football. Defenses will adjust and have their day, but its not today.

Just two small pieces of amazing evidence to hoist up, no essay necessary: 16 quarterbacks are completing 68 percent or better of their passes. Four of them are at 74 percent or better! Additionally, 13 tailbacks are averaging eight yards a carry or more. This is astonishing stuff especially when you start looking at the old record books and powerhouse programs being led by rushers totaling maybe 800 yards a season or quarterbacks rarely crossing the thousand-yard mark. Sure, some gimmick offenses remain but everyone else is picking up the slack from Wisconsin to Florida to Oklahoma to Michigan.