Sammy Watkins does it again. And again. And again. Clemsons true freshman wide receiver had his breakout game two weeks ago, setting a new school record for receptions by a freshman in a single game, and he was back at with force at home against Florida Stat. He made two touchdown grabs, the latter covering 62 yards to give Clemson a commanding 35-23 lead in the fourth quarter. This is how Watkins typically scores: Tajh Boyd finds him for about 15 yards, Watkins makes one or two guys miss and then outruns everyone else to the end zone. Watkins is one of several true freshmen making an impact for the Tigers, who are 4-0 for the first time since 2007. Touching on Watkins and other B.C.S. conference themes:
Clemson’s jaw-dropping freshman What was Watkins’ line against the Seminoles? Try 8 receptions for 141 yards and 2 scores. If hes doing this now, whats he going to be like as a sophomore and junior? Whats he going to be like in November, in fact? Watkins has been nothing short of a revelation; he came in with all the high school accolades you could ask for, but that he’s this good this fast — well, that should have Clemson awful excited about his future. Through four games, Watkins leads the Tigers in receptions (28), receiving yards (433) and touchdowns (6), not to mention 100-yard games (two) and jaw-dropping moments (lost count). This coming week is big for Clemson and its freshman star: the Tigers take on Virginia Tech while Watkins draws all-American cornerback Jayron Hosley. If Clemson wins, it’ll be thanks another big game from Watkins. If Watkins can have a big game opposite Hosley, he won’t just be Clemson’s best receiver: he may be an all-American himself.
Kansas State is pretty good, actually Kansas State is not a national title contender, but the Wildcats are absolutely better than most gave them credit for heading into September. The defense isn’t the best in the country, such as it was through two games, but the defense is good enough to hang with the sort of athletes it’ll meet in the Big 12. We saw that on Saturday, when the Wildcats kept the number of talented Miami (Fla.) athletes under wraps. Lamar Miller did crack the 100-yard mark, ending with 106; 59 yards came on one play, however, and Kansas State did a nice job minimizing his impact. More than anything, the Wildcats have Bill Snyder: as I said heading into Saturday, he’s the glue that holds an otherwise average package together. He always has this team ready to go.
Petrino can’t get over the hump Arkansas had Alabama on the ropes last fall only to cough up a lead in the fourth quarter. Arkansas wasn’t even in the same ring with the Crimson Tide this fall, tying the game for a brief moment in the first quarter but barely sharing the same air as Alabama for much of the game’s 60 minutes. Bobby Petrino is a tremendous, tremendous college coach; until he can get past Nick Saban, however, Petrino won’t enter the top tier of coaches in the country. He’ll get another shot in 2012, with a slightly wiser quarterback and another talented recruiting class on campus. For now, Petrino needs to get his team refocused on a Texas A&M team looking to avenge Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma State. There’s a brief lull after that, followed by a November slate that begins with South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi State at home and ends with L.S.U. on the road. So a 12-0 regular season isn’t in the cards; Arkansas can still return to a B.C.S. bowl, however, and develop further momentum for another run-in with Saban and the Tide in 2012.
A few perfect surprises You knew Oklahoma, Alabama, L.S.U., South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Stanford, among a few others, would be undefeated heading into October. There are plenty of undefeated surprises out there, however. Illinois is 4-0 after beating Arizona State and surviving against Western Michigan on Saturday. Kansas State is 3-0 after beating Miami, as noted. Clemson and Georgia Tech are 4-0. Iowa State and Baylor are 3-0, and don’t ask me the last both those teams entered October without a loss in the same season. Michigan is 4-0, though the Wolverines had perfect opening months under Rich Rodriguez. Which of that group has the best chance at running the table? It won’t be Illinois. It won’t be Kansas State. Michigan’s not surviving the Big Ten unscathed. I think Clemson loses this weekend to the Hokies. That leaves Georgia Tech: not a great shot — a long shot, in fact — but the Yellow Jackets are playing very well.
Oct. 22, Nov. 12 and Dec. 1 Three Big East teams have stepped to the forefront: West Virginia, South Florida and Cincinnati. Based on September’s results, one of that threesome will earn the league’s automatic B.C.S. bid. Only one is perfect, U.S.F., but all three have had moments. West Virginia’s offense has flashed signs of the future while also exhibiting the growing pains most expected. The Bulls beat one good team thanks to turnovers but have dismantled three poor teams in succession. Cincinnati couldn’t get its defense off the field against Tennessee, which cost the Bearcats a shot at a win, but they dominated N.C. State last Thursday. Meanwhile, the rest of the league has struggled. Perhaps there’s a team waiting in the weeds — maybe Pittsburgh will turn things on during conference play. For now, these dates stand out: Cincinnati hosts U.S.F. on Oct. 22, Cincinnati hosts West Virginia on Nov. 12 and South Florida hosts West Virginia on Dec. 1.
Oklahoma’s not happy A win is a win, but Oklahoma needs to win convincingly to hang with the SEC. The Sooners lost their grasp on the top spot in The A.P. Poll after struggling with Missouri as L.S.U. dismantled West Virginia in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t a pretty showing defensively: Missouri racked up 532 yards of offense, had two 100-yard rushers, averaged 5.7 yards per carry and had 24 first downs despite converting only 3 of 12 third downs. After looking so good against Florida State, it marked a sizable step back for the defense. The silver lining? I can find two: one, the Sooners can use the sloppy performance as motivation for Texas, Texas A&M and the rest of the Big12; and two, Oklahoma knows attrition will knock at least one SEC team out of the race. So all O.U. needs to do is keep winning, in essence.
Don’t look now There’s still ground to make up, but don’t look now: Oregon’s back in this thing. It’s going to be hard for the Ducks to overcome a season-opening loss to L.S.U., especially if the Tigers finish the season with one loss or less — looking like quite the possibility, by the way. But Oregon’s getting what it needs to leap back into the national title mix. South Carolina’s first loss is in the near future. Arkansas lost. So did Florida State, twice. Virginia Tech looks good but not great — yet. Either Nebraska or Wisconsin will lose on Saturday. The Ducks get a crack at Stanford in November. Yes, there’s the SEC to deal with. Still, you can’t ignore Oregon’s chances at maybe, just maybe, earning another shot at a national championship.
Conference power rankings Of the B.C.S. conferences, with average P.S.R. ranking, highest team ranking and number of teams in the top 25 in parentheses:
1. Big 12 (32.2, 3, 5)
2. SEC (35.9, 1, 5)
3. Big Ten (45.4, 7, 3)
4. Pac-12 (50.5, 6, 3)
5. Big East (50.5, 18, 2)
6. A.C.C. (52.0, 9, 4)
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