Week 9 Aftermath: How the Top 5 Fared

#1 Alabama defeats #11 Mississippi State: 38-7 in Tuscaloosa. Alabama QB AJ McCarron hasn’t thrown an interception all season.  But are they good enough to go undefeated? Last year, Alabama won the National Championship with the #1 rushing defense, #1 passing defense, #1 total defense and #1 scoring defense.  Heading into Week 10, Alabama actually has the #1 rushing defense, #1 passing defense, #1 total defense and #1 scoring defense.  And next week they face LSU in a rematch of the title game.

#10 Georgia defeats #2 Florida: 17-9 in Jacksonville.  Florida’s loss to Georgia allowed things to shake up in the rankings.  Florida fell to #7 and Georgia moved up to #6.  Kansas State moved up to #2, Notre Dame to #3.

#3 Kansas State defeats Texas Tech: 55-14 in Manhattan, Kansas.    Kansas State QB Collin Klein has led his team to an 8-0 start and is in the Heisman trophy candidate discussions.  While the Wildcats are only ranked 89th in passing, Klein is the 7th ranked QB in the nation in rushing (with 16 TDs) and has the 2nd best passing efficiency in the nation (he is completing 71% of his passes thrown 12 TDs with just 2 INTs).

#4 Oregon defeats Colorado: 70-14 in Eugene, Oregon.  Obviously, Oregon leads the nation in scoring (fewest points they’ve scored in a game so far this year has been 42).  From the AP: “The Ducks piled up 617 yards in total offense, including 425 on the ground, and the Buffs simply could not keep up. Colorado went into the game ranked 112th in the nation on defense, allowing an average of 489 yards. Oregon had 447 by halftime.” And Oregon pulled the starters before the 1st half even ended.  10 different players rushed for Oregon and 9 different players caught passes.  Despite the complete and utter domination, Oregon stayed put in the BCS standings.

#5 Notre Dame defeats #8 Oklahoma: 30-13 in Norman, Oklahoma.  CFB Girl Recap is here.  The teams were tied at 13-all heading into the 4th quarter, but Notre Dame scored 17 unanswered points to end the game, thanks in part to the 2nd ranked scoring defense in the nation.  Thanks to the Irish victory and the loss by Florida, ND moved up to #3 in the BCS rankings. This is ahead of Oregon, but both teams face USC in the month of November, and that’s as close to a direct match-up that we’ll get.