Wisconsin, Purdue Battle for Big 10

Will the real contenders please stand up? This is the time in every college football season when the big boys step forward and over hyped favorites start to drift out of the picture. Texas, Georgia, and LSU have each lost key games, removing them from any serious run at a national championship.Meanwhile, the heavy preseason favorite to win their second straight national championship, USC, remained unbeaten with a gutsy win over upstart Cal. Tennessee put a stranglehold on the SEC East by manhandling Georgia, and Auburn is off to an undefeated start and ranked in the top 10.Let’s not hand USC that trophy quite yet, though. For the fifth straight season, Oklahoma embarrassed Texas. Longhorn quarterback Vince Young never got any sort of rhythm going and the Sooners’ defense gobbled up three turnovers, handing the Longhorns their first shutout loss in 24 seasons.The BCS rankings are only a week way, but if they came out today, the Sooners would be just 19 points behind the Trojans. If Oklahoma can continue to dominate on the ground and if quarterback Jason White can even approach his Heisman Trophy form of last season, the Sooners will be nipping at the Trojans’ heels for the top spot in the BCS.The surprise of the year must be the Auburn Tigers, who were supposed to be this good last year, but were nothing short of a bust. Now 6-0 and the fourth-ranked team in the country, Auburn is a force to be reckoned with. They plastered Tennessee, beat LSU, and should make short work of Arkansas.There are other teams hunting for a BCS bowl game, though, and four of them comprise this weekend’s best games. One can always count on some classic conference clashes during the heart of the college football season. This weekend, Wisconsin travels to Purdue in a showdown of the two remaining undefeated Big 10 teams, and surging Virginia visits Florida State to fight for a top-5 ranking.WISCONSIN (10) AT PURDUE (5) 5:30 P.M., ESPN2Well, someone has to lose. Last week, the Badgers ended Ohio State’s 18-game home winning streak behind running back Anthony Davis and QB John Stocco. Stocco, who tossed two touchdowns, may not be a human highlight reel, but his steadiness and consistency are a perfect compliment to Davis’s electrifying rushing. The Badgers have perhaps the nation’s best defense, allowing just 193 yards per game and scoring almost seven points on defense alone. The last time Wisconsin was this good, they won the Rose Bowl in 1998.The Boilermakers, who have the leading Heisman Trophy candidate in quarterback Kyle Orton, boast the third best offense in the country, averaging a whopping 42 points a game.Unfortunately for Wisconsin, the only questionable area of their defense is the young secondary, which Orton is sure to attack early and often. If he is allowed to pass at will, the game will be over by halftime.The Boilermakers have a top defense of their own, allowing only 13 points a game. Their run defense will have to be especially sharp with the strong Wisconsin running attack coming to campus. Just as the Badgers have to contain Orton, the Boilermakers have to win the war in the trenches against a solid Wisconsin offensive line and not let Anthony Davis run wild.This is one of those games that did not sparkle on the schedule back in early September, but now looks like one of the best games of the season.***VIRGINIA (6) AT FLORIDA STATE (7) 7:45 P.M., ESPNThe big ACC game of the week – and perhaps of the season – finds the struggling Seminoles hosting the surging Cavaliers. Injured FSU quarterback Chris Rix swears he will be ready for this game, but the Seminoles plan to go with backup Wyatt Sexton again, his third start of the season. This could be trouble given Sexton’s struggles against unranked Syracuse last weekend, when he threw for just 169 yards and managed two third-down conversions out of 11 chances.Regardless of Sexton’s troubles, the Seminoles are likely to stay with their attacking style of offense. In his first start, Sexton threw the ball eight straight times in the first series against North Carolina; last week he threw on six of the first eight plays against the Orange. The Cavaliers should expect the same this weekend, which will test their defense early.Virginia is 5-0 for the first time in six years and one of the surprise teams in the country. Running back Wali Lundy leads the country with 10 rushing touchdowns and partners with Alvin Pearman to give the Cavs a powerful ground game.The natural mobility of quarterback Marques Hagans will be an important weapon in shaking up the FSU defense and freeing up his receivers down the field.If history is any guide, Virginia is in trouble. The Cavaliers have dropped the last 22 road games against top-10 opponents. Meanwhile, FSU is 11-1 all-time against Virginia.This season though, the Cavaliers are ready to buck the trends. They lead the ACC in scoring, rushing offense, and passing offense, and boast the second best run defense and fourth best passing defense in the conference. This will surely be their biggest test on both sides of the ball, but the Cavaliers are poised to start a new history by beating the Seminoles and contining their rise in the rankings.

Wisconsin, Purdue Battle for Big 10

Wisconsin, Purdue Battle for Big 10

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