College Football 9/30

Great weekend of college football, here's a look at some early Heisman candidates.

Zach Mettenberger QB LSU 1,398 Yards 13 Td 1 Int

Aaron Murray QB Georgia 1,338 Yards 11 Td 3 Int

Jordan Lynch QB Northern Illinois 869 Yards 10 Td 2 Int 439 Rush Yards 7 Rush Td

Tajh Boyd QB Clemson 994 Yards 9 Td 0 Int

Teddy Bridgewater QB Louisville 1,214 Yards 14 Td 1 Int

Johnny Manziel QB Texas A&M 1,489 Yards 14 Td 4 Int 314 Rush Yards 3 Rush Td

Jameis Winston QB Florida State 1,048 Yards 12 Td 2 Int

Melvin Gordon RB Wisconsin 68-698-7

It's looking like it will be a QB again this year winning the Heisman, but Gordon is having a huge year. Sad that he flipped from Iowa to Wisconsin, he's good.

New top 25 for the week
1-Alabama
2-Ohio State
3-Oregon
4-Clemson
5-Stanford
6-Florida State
7-Georgia
8-Louisville
9-Texas A&M
10-Miami
11-UCLA
12-Oklahoma
13-South Carolina
14-Michigan
15-Northwestern
16-LSU
17-Florida
18-Washington
19-Fresno State
20-Baylor
21-Northern Illinois
22-Texas Tech
23-Arizona State
24-Virginia Tech
25-Oklahoma State

As conference play is getting started up lets take a look at some contenders.

AAC: Louisville is the clear front runner here, but don't count out Houston, Rutgers or UCF. Louisville is my pick.

ACC: It's Clemson or Florida State in the Atlantic, I'm picking Clemson, they get the Noles at home. Coastal will be up for grabs, I think Miami will edge Virginia Tech. Clemson will beat Miami in the title game.

Big 12: Oklahoma State's loss to West Virginia shocked a lot of people, they had a pretty sweet schedule, but now they'll be playing from behind. I think Oklahoma takes it, but Baylor gives a good run. Possibly Texas Tech.

Big 10: The Legends division is wide open with Michigan, Northwestern, Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan State all capable of winning it. I don't think the Spartans have enough offense to compete, Nebraska might not have enough defense. I'll go with Michigan, they have more talent than the other teams. The Leaders division was won by Ohio State Saturday, they'll beat Michigan for the title.

Pac 12: The North division features Oregon and Stanford, two powerhouses, but also include Washington and Oregon State. Oregon State has been rolling since their first week upset by Eastern Washington. I think Oregon gets the nod here. The South will be up for grabs, too, with USC not being a part of that after firing Lane Kiffin. They might actually be better without him, but they're already 0-2 in conference play. UCLA, Arizona State and Arizona should be in contention, with UCLA winning. Oregon will knock them out in the title game.

SEC: I have Georgia running the table the rest of the year and meeting Alabama for the conference title, with the Bulldogs winning and going on to the BCS title game with Ohio State.

Mountain West: I think Fresno will take on Utah State with the Aggies winning the title game. Chuckie Keeton is one of my favorite QB's in the country.

Last week I was 8-2 in my predictions, I missed on Virginia Tech and UNLV. Pretty good slate of games this week.

UCLA at Utah: Utah has looked better than recent years, but UCLA is one of the better teams in the conference. UCLA 42 Utah 31

Washington at Stanford: Both teams come in undefeated, should be a slugfest. I think Stanford pulls it off at home. Stanford 38 Washington 27

Maryland at Florida State: Maryland is undefeated, but they haven't had the most brutal schedule. Florida State got off to a slow start last week, but ended up winning. Florida State 45 Maryland 21

Kansas State at Oklahoma State: Both teams desperately need a win if they want any shot at a conference championship. I think the Cowboys will bounce back. Ok State 35 Kansas State 27

TCU at Oklahoma: TCU looked sharp against SMU and Oklahoma beat up Notre Dame, I think Oklahoma rolls. Oklahoma 34 TCU 17

North Carolina at Virginia Tech: UNC was awful against East Carolina and Va Tech surprised me by winning at GT. VT 31 UNC 24

Georgia Tech at Miami: Miami is on a roll this year, GT coming off their first loss. Miami 34 GT 24

Illinois at Nebraska: Illinois has looked much improved and QB Nate Scheelhaase is putting up some huge numbers. He might be able to carve up the Husker defense. This is a tough one to predict, but I'm going Illinois on the upset. Illinois 31 Nebraska 28

Michigan State at Iowa: Both teams boast solid defenses thus far, but Michigan State's offense has been atrocious. Iowa has done well against the run, should be a defensive game, one big play could win this game. Iowa 17 Michigan State 13

Arizona State at Notre Dame: The Sun Devils blasted USC, putting up over 60 on the Trojans. Notre Dame suffered their second defeat of the season, will they lose again? Arizona State 34 Notre Dame 24

Ohio State at Northwestern: The Buckeyes are quite possibly the hottest team in the country right now. Northwestern has struggled with some weaker non-conference opponents, but are still 4-0. Ohio State 38 Northwestern 27

New Mexico State at New Mexico: The Lobos lost a heart-breaker against UNLV. They put up 500 yards rushing, but the defense was horrible. New Mexico State is one of the worst teams in college football. New Mexico 48 New Mexico State 27

Now lets recap Iowa's 23-7 win over Minnesota.

The Gophers were pretty cocky coming in at 4-0 and hosting the Hawkeyes in the first conference tilt of the year. Minnesota beat New Mexico State, UNLV, Western Illinois and San Jose State, nothing to get too riled up about. The Hawkeyes were coming off a huge win against Western Michigan 59-3, not the best competition, but to see the Hawkeyes play well in every aspect of the game was nice. They look much better than a year ago.

1st Quarter: The Hawkeyes started with the ball and were able to get into Minnesota territory, but ended up punting from the 39. The announcers were skeptical of the call, but Ferentz is all about the field position game. Minnesota started at their own nine and went three and out quickly. Iowa started their second possession with great field position starting at their 42. Thanks to a 19 yard run by Mark Weisman the Hawkeyes were able to get into Minnesota territory once again, but stalled out at the 31. Mike Meyer hit a 49 yarder to put the Hawks up 3-0. Minnesota could only come up with two yards on their ensuing drive going three and out once again. A nice punt by Minnesota put Iowa at their 33 to start their next drive. The Hawkeyes went three and out and again punted. The Gophers started at their 32 and their offense finally started coming to life with their first first down of the game. The quarter ended with Iowa up 3-0.

2nd Quarter: The Gophers started the quarter strong with Philip Nelson hitting Derrick Engel for a 15 yard gain to the Iowa 31. The Iowa defense came up huge the next three plays stuffing the run and Nate Meier came up with his first sack knocking Minnesota back. The Gophers punted into the end zone. Weisman got things rolling on first down with a nice 11 yard run out to the 31. On third and short, Jake Rudock hit rarely used fullback, Adam Cox, who rumbled 35 yards for a big first down in Minnesota territory. A pass interference call got the Hawkeyes down to the 8 and they were able to punch it in a few plays later on a Rudock scramble. His 5th rushing td of the season made it Iowa 10 Minnesota 0. The Gophers first play from scrimmage on the next drive was an interception by Christian Kirksey, who made a great catch making sure the ball didn't hit the ground. It was a huge opportunity for Iowa to turn into a blowout as they started at the Gopher 23. They only picked up two yards and Meyer's field goal attempt hit the upright. They still had a 10 point lead and were dominating. Minnesota was able to come up with another first down on their next drive with a nice 20 yard pass, but they again stalled out near midfield. Their punt pinned Iowa at the 15 with a few minutes before the end of the half. Rudock hit Tevaun Smith on a nice 11 yard gain on first down before hitting Damond Powell, who raced 74 yards for his second td of the season. Iowa 17 Minnesota 0 That was Powell's fourth catch of the year, he only has 206 yards. Over 50 yards per catch! Iowa defense held the Gophers again, with Dominic Alvis recording a sack. The Hawkeyes got the ball back at their 27, but with only :35 left they downed it. Halftime Iowa 17 Minnesota 0

3rd Quarter: Minnesota started with the ball in the second half and picked up a couple of first downs. James Morris was able to sack Nelson and forced another Gopher punt. Iowa started at their 20 and got a big third down pass from Rudock to Jake Hillyer for a 14 yard first down. Another third down conversion by Rudock pushed the Hawks near midfield. On third and nine, Rudock kept one for a 22 yard run to the Minnesota 32. Weisman picked up 25 yards on the next two runs, but penalties knocked the Hawkeyes back. Rudock hit Martin-Manley for 14 yards to get them down to the five, but the Hawkeyes settled for another field goal. Iowa 20 Minnesota 0 The Hawkeyes had the Gophers up against the wall and Minnesota needed something big, and Marcus Jones provided that play. He took the kick off 66 yards down to the Iowa 34, they were finally in business. Nelson ended up hitting Engel for a 23 yard touchdown, burning B.J. Lowery on the play. Iowa 23 Minnesota 7 The home crowd was finally starting to make some noise and it felt like a momentum shift could be coming up. Jordan Cotton had a nice 25 yard kick return, he could have been gone if not for being tripped up. Rudock hit KMM for a nice 14 yard pass pushing Iowa to the 43. Damon Bullock ripped off a 22 yard run to get Iowa into Gopher territory. The quarter ended Iowa 20 Minnesota 7

4th Quarter: Iowa has struggled to put teams away this year, but it was looking as if they were about to put the nail in the coffin. Rudock hit tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz on a 13 yarder getting into the red zone. After a three yard Weisman run, Rudock threw an interception in the end zone to Brock Vereen. Alvis came up with another sack on the next drive, but Minnesota pushed the ball up to the 43 after getting the first down on fourth down. After three straight Nelson incompletions they decided to punt. Iowa would start at their own 10. This is the point in the game where Weisman comes in handy wearing the defense down and eating some clock. He ran the first three plays and picked up gains of 15, 9, and 8 respectively as the Hawks got out to the 42. On third and nine, Rudock came up big again hitting KMM for 18. Weisman picked up 14 on the next play as the Hawks got down to the 25. After three straight plays of minus yards, Meyer kicked a 46 yarder. Iowa 23 Minnesota 7 The Gophers needed two touchdowns and a couple two point conversions, things were looking good for Iowa. With only 5:30 left it seemed to be pretty much wrapped up. Antonio Johnson took the kickoff 53 yards, but they were called for unsportsmanlike conduct, which was a huge penalty. The drive started at the 42, they had fourth and five when James Morris picked off Nelson's pass and sealing the victory for Iowa. With four minutes left the Hawkeyes used a heavy dose of Weisman and Jordan Canzeri to run the clock out. Iowa 23 Minnesota 7

Iowa dominated most of the game, but Minnesota was able to complete a few 10 yard plus pass plays. The secondary did do a nice job for a majority of the game, but had a few lapses, including Lowery getting burned on the touchdown. Jake Rudock is improving every game and makes great decisions other than the pick he threw. He has made some great runs this year, too. Weisman is a bull and is among the rushing leaders in the country. Bullock provides as a decent number two back so Weisman can get some rest. KMM is the most consistent WR, as the they're still looking for a solid second guy. Smith, Hillyer and Powell seem to be guys they can depend on. There is plenty of talent at TE, but they're not getting the ball much. The OL dominated the Gophers, once again Rudock went untouched. If the line continues playing this well, the Hawkeyes could have a chance to contend for the division title. Minnesota DL Ra'Shede Hageman wasn't much of a factor in the game at all. The DL was impressive holding Minnesota to 30 rushing yards. They were able to get a few sacks as well, two for Alvis and one for Meier. Morris added a sack and a huge interception. Kirskey and Hitchens were making plays, too, the LB group played a great game. A lot of people were down on the secondary, but they were able to put together good coverage which allowed the DL to get to Nelson. They were out of place on some plays, but overall they weren't bad.

Iowa takes on Michigan State this week, homecoming at Kinnick Stadium. The Spartans really have no offense to speak of, but they have one of the better defenses in the Big Ten. Should be similar to last year's game which was won by Iowa 19-16 in double overtime. I could see both teams struggling to get to 20 points.