by Bill Connelly, Brian Fremeau, and Robert Weintraub

College football fans were given flashbacks to this annoying summer this week, when off-the-field drama overshadowed on-field developments. Pay-to-play allegations against Auburn's Cameron Newton -- the leader in the Heisman hunt and the quarterback of the second-ranked Tigers -- gained both volume and steam this week (and on the week where the fantastic Marcus Dupree 30 for 30 documentary came out, no less). We almost certainly will not know any absolutes regarding his actions and/or possible violations by the time Heisman ballots are due, and it is impossible not to get caught up thinking about vacated wins, even as Newton remains eligible and claims no wrongdoing.

In other words, this was not the most fun weekend to be a college football fanatic. The potential for a tainted Heisman winner and national champion needs to be balanced by a fun weekend of games. Unfortunately, with this slate, that is far from guaranteed. No teams in the BCS Top 10 take on ranked opponents, and outside of the SEC, few games feature major conference title implications. Sometimes the weekends with the lowest expectations have the highest payoff. Here's to hoping.

Previews

Pittsburgh -5.5 at Connecticut (Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

The Big East is used to being the butt of its share of BCS jokes, and since everyone in the conference is unranked and saddled with at least three losses, the jokes are writing themselves once again. Pittsburgh stands at 3-0 in conference play and could theoretically recover some of that national respect by dominating the league the rest of the way. Two weeks ago, however, West Virginia strolled into a road game at Connecticut with their chests puffed out and shuffled away with an overtime defeat. The Huskies haven't lost at home yet this year. They'll lean on Jordan Todman out of the backfield (six 100-yard rushing games this season) to keep the ball out of Pitt's capable offensive hands. Nearly 20 percent of the Panthers' offensive drives last 10 plays or more, and the sophomore running back duo of Ray Graham and Dion Lewis ought to dominate.

No. 13 Iowa -10 at Northwestern (Saturday, 12 p.m. ET, ESPN)

The Wildcats have dropped three of their last four and have largely removed themselves from national attention. The fact that they held at least a touchdown lead in the second half of all three of those losses stings a bit for the fan base in Evanston, but a strong finish is not completely out of the question. Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa ranks first in the nation in completion percentage (73.4) but has been heading south in that department in the last month. His counterpart for Iowa, Ricky Stanzi, meanwhile, is starting to catch fire again, tossing 11 touchdowns against only two interceptions in Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes' defense forces three-and-outs on 45 percent of opponent's drives, and Northwestern's defense has had trouble getting opponents off the field.

Southern Miss +10 at Central Florida (Saturday, 12 p.m. ET, CBSC)

Almost any Conference USA storyline you've heard in the last year has probably featured some team other than Central Florida -- Houston losing two quarterbacks but still leading (with SMU) the C-USA West; East Carolina moving from all defense with Skip Holtz to all offense with Ruffin McNeill (and beating Tulsa via mini-Hail Mary); June Jones continuing to bring SMU back from the abyss; Memphis being, well, terrible. But Georgia O'Leary's Knights have been the class of C-USA in 2010. Only tight losses to N.C. State and Kansas State have marred their near-perfect résumé. With 5-foot-11 freshman quarterback Jeffrey Godfrey leading the way, the Knights have scored at least 35 points in each of the last five games, and a sturdy, run-heavy offense combined with the typical, O'Leary-esque solid defense produces a lovely result. UCF hosts a Southern Miss squad that is two one-point losses from an 8-1 record. They have racked up solid offensive yardage against a bad slate of defenses, but with receiving weapons like Johdrick Morris and Kelvin Bolden, and the possible return from injury of former star recruit DeAndre Brown, the Golden Eagles might be able to keep up on the scoreboard for a while.

Georgia +8.5 at No. 2 Auburn (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS)

The deep south's oldest rivalry stands at 53-52-8, in favor of Auburn. If the Bulldogs are to even the series and ruin the Tigers BCS dreams, their oft-befuddled defense needs to play better than it has since coordinator Brian Van Gorder left in 2004. Corralling Cam Newton has been a fool's errand, and the pre-scandal Heisman frontrunner is bound to play angry after a week's worth of allegations have smeared his reputation. Georgia is more likely to win a shootout with the Tigers, and they have the weapons to do so. Quarterback Aaron Murray has made plenty of freshman mistakes, but he also has made plenty of next-level throws. With A.J. Green around, all things are possible. Auburn's defense has hardly been of championship quality this season, but Josh Bynes and Nick Fairley have made the big plays when they had to.

Penn State +17.5 at No. 9 Ohio State (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN)

In the last four weeks, the Buckeyes have humiliated the bottom three teams in the Big Ten (Indiana, Purdue, and Minnesota) by a combined score of 139-20. In the same stretch, they also lost their only game of the year against Wisconsin, all but ruining any chance of national championship contention. Ohio State's resume is a little thin at the moment, but a closing stretch of Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan gives them plenty of opportunity to claim at least a share of the Big Ten crown and some more respect. They're getting it done on both sides of the ball, ranking No. 2 in fewest available yards given up (28 percent) and No. 5 in available yards earned on offense (62.3 percent). Crossing midfield may be a challenge for Penn State. The Nittany Lions celebrated Joe Paterno's 400th career win in a comeback victory led by walk-on quarterback Matt McGloin. He'll get the start again this week.

No. 25 Texas A&M -3 at Baylor (Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, FSN)

Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III' darkhorse Heisman hopes got mortally wounded when he was drastically outplayed by Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden last weekend, but he and his Bears have a shot at redemption when they host a Texas A&M team that has gained steam in recent weeks. Despite the injury of starting running back Christine Michael and the demotion of preseason conference player-of-the-year candidate Jerrod Johnson, the Aggies are thriving with new leaders. Running back Cyrus Gray tore through Oklahoma for 122 yards last week, and new starting quarterback (and former receiver) Ryan Tannehill is completing 68 percent of his passes at 8.5 yards per pass since stealing Johnson's snaps three weeks ago. Against a woeful Baylor defense, A&M's offensive hot streak should continue, and for the second straight week it will be up to Griffin and his favorite weapons -- primarily running back Jay Finley and receiver Kendall Wright -- to keep up.

No. 23 South Carolina +6.5 at No. 22 Florida (Saturday, 7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN)

The showdown for the SEC East title and a trip to Atlanta. For all the perception that South Carolina has had a sterling season and Florida a bummer of one, the Gators have scored more and allowed fewer points than the Gamecocks. The Swamp has been a scary place for South Carolina, a stadium in which it has never won and lost two years ago by 50. For the Ole Ballcoach to achieve the breakthrough victory he so desperately needs, and do it in his old stomping grounds, quarterback Stephen Garcia needs to find the magic he showed in the upset win over Alabama. Since that game, Garcia has thrown six touchdowns and six picks. He needs to be accurate against the Gators and its excellent secondary (17 picks on the season). In contrast, the putrid South Carolina back four rank 109th in yards allowed through the air. After scuffling all season with new quarterback John Brantley, the Gators have found an offensive tempo the past two games (albeit against horrid defenses). Florida's changeup quarterback has been freshman Trey Burton, but against Vandy Urban Meyer broke out his new Tebow, 240-pound flex player Jordan Reed. Reed threw for a touchdown, ran for another, and was eager to pound defenders. Sound familiar?

No. 19 Mississippi State +13.5 at No. 12 Alabama (Saturday, 7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

The semifinal game in the "Destroy Cam Newton Before He Destroys Us" tournament (the winner gets Florida). After Alabama's loss at LSU, the fight might be out of the Tide, and MSU can play. Quarterback Chris Relf and running back Vick Ballard are running it with authority, and Dan Mullen has the Bulldogs playing with fire and spreading it out. Relf is a slightly smaller Cam Newton, while Ballard has 13 touchdowns. The key matchup might be stud tackle Derek Sherrod against Bama defensive end Marcell Dareus. Should Sherrod and his linemates win the battle up front, the Cowbell Crew won't have to find a way to make plays in the passing game -- a task they aren't much more suited to than LSU was. Trent Richardson and Greg McElroy are dinged up, leaving Mark Ingram to carry the load. If he can regain that Heisman form, the Tide can avoid an upset that could cause them to crash them to fifth place in the SEC West.

No. 10 Oklahoma State -6 at Texas (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, ABC)

After putting up pinball-game numbers against Baylor last Saturday (725 yards, 55 points) to stay atop the Big 12 South standings, Oklahoma State heads to Austin to face a Texas team that is stout on defense but abominable on offense. Longhorns quarterback Garrett Gilbert threw five interceptions against Kansas State last week, including three on consecutive passes, and sports a 1-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio for the season. Texas probably passes too much considering their amazing lack of success in doing so, but aside from the game against Nebraska, they haven't run well enough to rely on it either. (The Nebraska game seems so long ago, no? Texas was considered "back" after the big win in Lincoln, and they have followed that win up with three consecutive losses.) If Gilbert and company can figure out how to move the ball, their defense might (might) be able to hold up for a while against the merciless Cowboys offense. Rarely can teams put together a run-pass combination like running back Kendall Hunter (1,240 rushing yards at 6.1 per carry) and receiver Justin Blackmon (1,285 receiving yards, 15 touchdowns).

Clemson +7 at Florida State (Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, ABC)

For those of you laughing at the SEC East, we present the ACC Atlantic, a division seemingly no team wants to win. Florida State still leads, despite losing two straight. Clemson desperately needs to make it three to have any shot at capturing the crown. Christian Ponder has a lame wing and might miss the game, leaving the Seminoles in the hands of E.J. Manuel. Clemson survived a narrow win over N.C. State thanks to a questionable decision to punt late in the game. They too are missing a crucial offensive contributor, running back Andre Ellington. The Tigers offense looked lost without Ellington to haul the mail. Quarterback Kyle Parker seems to be regretting his decision not to play baseball. He was benched briefly against the Wolfpack, and he must improve. The game features two of the best defensive linemen in the nation, Clemson's Da'Quan Bowers and FSU's Brandon Jenkins. Control of the line of scrimmage is paramount -- whichever side prevents the tackles for loss is likely to keep its conference title game dream alive.

Storylines of the Week

Rob Weintraub: What would happen if Boise State played in a real conference, like the Pac-10? No chance they'd be unbeaten? Well, Boise's strength of schedule is 58th in the nation. Undefeated Oregon, the consensus No. 1, has an SOS of 80. Virginia Tech is looking better and better, but the stink of the James Madison loss is still attached to Boise like a barnacle. Boise began the season behind only Alabama and Ohio State in the rankings. Both the Tide and the Bucks have lost. Yet Boise still gets Dangerfielded. Hell, I dropped them in my poll, too. Must be the blue field. Everyone loves to talk about the quirky Smurf Turf, but it's hard to fathom a national championship contender actually calling that home. Rip it out and go back to the green stuff, boys, and perhaps the nation won't go looking for teams to jump you every November.

Brian Fremeau: I'm taking a closer look this week at a few first-year coaches in college football. It's been a rough road for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, Jimbo Fisher has improved Florida State but modestly, and Tommy Tuberville has Texas Tech clicking only some of its cylinders. It isn't as though these or any other first-year coaches were expected to light the world on fire right out of the gate, and there are many members of those respective fan bases that have a good grip on patience with program development. There are others that need results now. Each of these coaches has an opportunity to end the season on a high note, and each has at least one really big test remaining (Florida State vs. Florida, Notre Dame vs. Utah and USC, Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma). Will we be discussing the positive trajectory of those programs in a few months? In a few years? Weekends like this one without any marquee matchups are good opportunities to take a closer look at the details.

Bill Connelly: What happens if Cameron Newton goes out and puts together a 200-200 passing and rushing game against Georgia on Saturday? What about 300-300? What if he puts together the single greatest quarterbacking game in the history of college football? Will Heisman voters be any more conflicted than it appears they already are? With the stink of the Reggie Bush saga and the vacated 2005 Heisman still wafting around in the air, voters are both scarred and wary, and even if Newton both remains eligible and lifts his already ridiculous level of play, I'm pretty sure a good portion of them have decided they will not be voting for Newton. This is great news for Oregon's LaMichael James, Boise State's Kellen Moore, and the rest of the Heisman hopefuls, but it makes for such an awkward all-around situation. Newton is innocent until proven ineligible here, but paranoid voters will likely take the better-safe-than-sorry-again approach.

Picks

Posted by: Bill Connelly on 11 Nov 2010

18 comments, Last at 14 Nov 2010, 3:57pm by mm