Posted by ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel

1. The increase of offensive production over the last few years has made for more volatile games. Two-score leads are no longer safe. Georgia, Auburn, Southern Mississippi, Michigan State and Northwestern all trailed by at least 10 points in the first quarter Saturday. All five led in the fourth quarter. Yet the first three won and the last two lost. I classify this as a good thing. Then again, I’m not a defensive coordinator.

2. Is it me or has there already been an inordinate number of offensive stars who have been knocked out of action? Quarterbacks Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and Matt Grothe of South Florida; tight ends Jermaine Gresham of Oklahoma and Rob Gronkowski of Arizona, wide receiver Michael Floyd of Notre Dame, tailback Darren Evans of Virginia Tech. Of those six, which injury will most cripple its team? Grothe, then Floyd.

3. The NCAA does a better job of keeping football statistics than it ever has. You may see them at www.ncaa.org. But the one stat I don’t trust is tackles. Stats that depend on yards and points are not subjective. Awarding a tackle may be a subjective decision made by a press box spotter in a few seconds with no video to replay. Defensive coaches who grade their video have more accurate tackling numbers. (And congrats to linebackers Joe Pawelek of Baylor and Carmen Messina of New Mexico and UTEP safety Da’Mon Cromartie-Smith, the current national leaders at 14 stops per game.)