Ron Higgins, Memphis Commercial Appeal: You've seen the commercial in which the referee peers into the sideline monitor and asks patrons in a private video hookup if they want the game to last a little longer? When they answer "yes," the ref promptly makes a bogus call and later trips a runner. That's the way he felt watching the Louisiana State-Georgia officiating crews whistle a celebration penalty each on each team after both of their final TDs.
Loren Tate, Champaign News-Gazette: The good news: Illinois ended a stretch of 22 consecutive possessions without a touchdown. The bad news: Is any swagger left in the team after three devastating beatings?
Michael Rothstein, Ann Arbor.com: While Michigan can survive and beat Mid-American Conference teams and scrape by against Indiana, the rest of the Big Ten is going to exploit the defense all year long. The run defense was better Saturday against Michigan State, but no one accounted for the quarterback on most plays and any misdirection sent Michigan into miscommunication.
Geoff Calkins, Memphis Commercial Appeal: Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead had three passes intercepted against Vanderbilt. Next up is Alabama, and if the Rebels are to stand a chance, Snead is going to have to be brilliant and sensational instead of bungling and sputtering.
Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Lack of focus. Failure to execute. That’s what Texas A&M is, and will continue to be, as the season unfolds. After three weeks of sparkling-but-empty statistics, Saturday’s reality check from Arkansas drove home that point. Loud and clear.
David Climer, Tennessean: In an era when quality quarterback play is essential for success in college football, Tennessee's Jonathan Crompton simply doesn't measure up.
Berry Tramel, Oklahoman: Oklahoma played without its three best ballhandlers — Sam Bradford, Jermaine Gresham and, for 59 minutes, Ryan Broyles. The Sooners needed the defense to win it for them and when it failed, Oklahoma's hopes for a national title disappeared.
Dick Weiss, New York Daily News: Break out the combat fatigues. The Miami swagger is back in all its glory.
Bart Wright, Greenville News: Clemson is a team that, for years, has had an unrealistic self-image. Through different coaches and players, they’ve always thought they were quite good in spite of the fact that they haven’t won anything of consequence since an Atlantic Coast Conference title in 1991. On Saturday, it was the lowly Maryland Terrapins applying the sleeper hold to the Tigers.
Sean Keeler, Des Moines Register: A classic, it wasn’t. The difference between Iowa State and Kansas State came down to Cyclone kicker Grant Mahoney, who was a career 47 for 47 on extra points entering Saturday's game. But his missed extra point with 32 seconds left made K-State a winner, 24-23.
Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle: For the first time since Tom Holmoe became Jeff Tedford, California football is looking up at Stanford football. Parse it, bend stats, analyze the schedule any way you like until your face turns purple. This is what it is, until further notice.
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