ESPN College Football

Time for a little trivia and your weekly installment of non-AQ Did you know? Thanks to the school and league sports information departments for these notes, along with ESPN Stats & Information.

• San Diego State hosts Utah on Saturday. The Aztecs are 4-0 at home this season, marking the first time they have won their first four home games of a season since 1996. That season, the Aztecs posted a perfect 6-0 home record. The last time the Aztecs won four consecutive home games was during a five-game stretch from Oct. 9, 1998 to Sept. 4, 1999.
• TCU has scored 454 points this season, ranking second in school history. The TCU record, set last year, is 498. The top-three point totals in TCU history have been accomplished in the past three seasons.
• Colorado State's Mychal Sisson has forced six fumbles this season, and all have come in the past three games. His six forced fumbles tie the MWC single-season record and are the most by a Ram in a season since 1998 (Joey Porter, eight; Clark Haggans, seven;
• Southern Miss tied a school record by clinching its 17th consecutive winning season with its victory over UCF last week, matching the mark set from 1951-67. That is the fourth-longest active streak among FBS schools behind Florida State (29), Florida (20) and Virginia Tech (18).
• Tulsa has a four-game winning streak, and the Golden Hurricane have averaged 43 points and 490.5 yards of total offense during that span.
• Kent State defensive tackle Roosevelt Nix is tied for seventh in the nation in forced fumbles (4), sixth in tackles for loss (17.5) and tied for 14th in sacks (8.5).
• Utah State running back Derrvin Speight did not have a 100-yard rushing game in his first 31 contests, but has reached that mark in each of the past two games. The Aggies are looking for their first three-game winning streak since winning four in a row in 2001.
• Nevada has won 10 straight home games. A win over New Mexico State would give the Wolf Pack their first 10-win season since it was an FCS member in 1991 (12-1). It would also be the 500th victory in program history.
• Meanwhile, quarterback Colin Kaepernick needs 51 rushing yards to record his third consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season and become the first player in NCAA history with three seasons of 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards.
• Hawaii wide receiver Greg Salas needs 218 yards receiving to break Jason Rivers’ career school record of 3,919. Fellow wide receiver Kealoha Pilares needs 55 receiving yards to reach 1,000 on the season.
• Arkansas State quarterback Ryan Aplin broke the school records for passing touchdowns (18) and total offense (3,036) in a loss to Western Kentucky last week. He became just the fifth player in Sun Belt history to record more than 3,000 yards of total offense in a single season.
• North Texas has shown improvement under interim coach Mike Canales. The Mean Green have won two of three and had more than 400 yards of total offense in all three games. They accomplished that just three times in the first seven games this season. North Texas is also plus-5 in turnover margin in those three games. In the seven games under Todd Dodge, the Mean Green was minus-6 in the turnover margin. The Mean Green have also increased their scoring average from 16.9 points a game to 30.3 points a game.
• Northern Illinois has won seven straight, but the Huskies have not had a winning streak of longer than that since becoming an FBS program in 1969. The last time a Northern Illinois team won more than seven games in a row was in 1965, when Coach Howard Fletcher’s Huskies put together an undefeated (9-0) regular season before losing to North Dakota in the Mineral Water Bowl.

Come one, come all for your top 10 non-AQ storylines for Week 12:

1. Boise State has the spotlight to itself. As the only undefeated team playing this weekend, the Broncos have a big chance to make a big impression. That serves twofold this week, as they host Fresno State on Friday night. This is actually the second of a three-game stretch of Friday night games. They get a big spotlight game next week, too, at No. 18 Nevada. This of course can be good and bad. Good if you win big and look impressive. Bad if you win somewhat big but do not look impressive.

2. Broncos or Horned Frogs in BCS standings? Since Oregon and Auburn are idle, they will remain atop the BCS standings. No. 3 TCU had its lead on Boise State cut in half, and many believe if the two win out, Boise State will be able to leap the Horned Frogs. But that depends on the human voters, who tend to be fickle. With TCU off, voters are going to be watching Boise State for a perfect performance. Their elevation is no sure thing where the polls are concerned. Remember, total poll points are tabulated into the BCS standings.

3. Does Utah stop the losing? Getting beaten 47-7 at home to TCU was one thing. But to go on the road and lose 28-3 to a struggling Notre Dame team is another. The Utes are officially reeling heading into a tough game at San Diego State. It is easy to say that Utah was completely demoralized after the TCU game, having gone from potential BCS busters to Las Vegas Bowl contenders. So they were not as focused as they should have been heading into South Bend. But how does any of that excuse the sudden hibernation of an offense that once averaged 45 points a game? Utah has lost three in a row just once under coach Kyle Whittingham – that happened in his first season in 2005. The third team in that streak Utah lost to – San Diego State.

4. How does Southern Miss respond following a trying week? The Golden Eagles have had a really tough week. Players Martez Smith, Deddrick Jones and Tim Green and were shot following a dispute at a club. Smith is paralyzed from the waist down, while Green can’t speak. Three teammates will wear the respective numbers of the injured players against Houston on Saturday. But you have to wonder how much of an emotional toll will show on the players, who have been taking turns shuttling back and forth from the hospital to school. Coach Larry Fedora acknowledges it will be a huge test to see how his players respond.

5. Can Army run at will on Notre Dame? A nostalgic scene is set to unfold in New York on Saturday night when Army and Notre Dame play at the new Yankee Stadium. The two were once bitter rivals from the 1920s to the post-World War II boom and played in some epic games at the old Yankee Stadium. Aside from the pageantry surrounding the game, the biggest question is whether Notre Dame has made enough adjustments to slow down the triple option. The Irish got gouged on the ground against Navy in a 35-17 loss to the tune of 367 yards. Army runs a version of the triple option and has vastly improved behind sophomore duo Trent Steelman and Jared Hassin.

6. Will Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick and Vai Taua set another NCAA record this week? The Wolf Pack teammates are closing in on the career mark of most yards gained by two players. Eric Dickerson (4,450) and Craig James (3,743) hold the record of 8,193, set from 1979-82 at SMU. Going into their game against New Mexico State, Taua and Kaepernick are 241 yards away from the record. Taua has 4,108 career yards and Kaepernick has 3,855.

7. Does Northern Illinois clinch the MAC West? The Huskies need one win in their final two games to go to the league title game for the first time since 2005. They are on a huge roll, having won seven straight, and appear to be the favorites to win the entire league. Northern Illinois is a big favorite to win Saturday, too, against a struggling Ball State team. Coach Jerry Kill is set to become the first coach in school history to take his team to three straight bowl games.

8. Can FIU play as favorites? The Panthers find themselves in a position they have never been in before -- alone in first place atop the Sun Belt and the favorites to win the conference crown. They have win out to clinch the title and a first bowl appearance for the program, and the quest starts Saturday at Louisiana. The Ragin’ Cajuns have dropped three games by a touchdown or less, including a 24-23 decision to FAU last week. FIU coach Mario Cristobal is going to remind his players to stay focused and ignore the potential distractions that come with increased expectations.

9. Bowl-eligibility update. Houston, SMU, BYU and Troy all have five wins and an opportunity to become bowl-eligible this weekend. The Cougars travel to play Southern Miss, while SMU hosts Marshall, BYU hosts New Mexico and Troy is at South Carolina. SMU and BYU are the overwhelming favorites to win their games.

10. Elimination games. Several teams meet this weekend with their slim bowl hopes on the line. Western Michigan (4-6) hosts Kent State (4-6) and Idaho (4-6) travels to Utah State (4-6). Whoever wins will have to win next week, while the loser will be eliminated from bowl contention. Idaho needs to win three because it plays 13 games this season.

» Predictions: ACC | Big 12 | Big East | Big Ten | Pac-10 | SEC | Non-AQ


Four straight weeks of going 7-3 -- is this as good as it gets? I did my upset special right, though I did not expect Utah to continue its implosion, or FIU to beat Troy for the first time ever.

With a 71-43 overall record and several tough games to call this week, bring on Week 12.

No. 4 Boise State 45, Fresno State 17. The Broncos have won four straight in the series, and a few of those wins have been “close” at least in Boise State terms. Last season, Boise State won 51-34, and in 2007 the Broncos on 34-21. Scores that “close” may make voters think twice about where the Broncos stand in the rankings, especially since they have the Friday night spotlight to themselves. The Bulldogs have good balance on offense, but the Boise State defense will be able to shut down Robbie Rouse, who has posted back-to-back 200-yard rushing games.

No. 18 Nevada 55, New Mexico State 10. The Wolf Pack have rebounded nicely from a loss to Hawaii, and relied on Colin Kaepernick and Vai Taua to pull out a close game against Fresno State last week. With a combined five touchdowns in that game, Taua and Kaepernick set the NCAA record for the most touchdowns and most points scored by two players on the same team in a career. Taua and Kaepernick have combined for 103 touchdowns and 616 points.

No. 23 Utah 28, San Diego State 27. I have gone back and forth on this one this entire week, and was leaning Aztecs up until this morning. I love what Brady Hoke has done with the program, and think Ronnie Hillman is a future star. But Jordan Wynn usually comes up big at Qualcomm, and a return home should do him some good and help the offense get out of its doldrums. He is on notice, and he has got to respond.

Tulsa 35, UTEP 17. The Golden Hurricane are streaking now, having won four straight games, and find themselves in a tie atop the West. They need to win out and hope for SMU to lose at least once to get the division crown. Meanwhile, UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe has been hampered by injuries the last several weeks and won’t be 100 percent. Going with the hot team.

Western Michigan 35, Kent State 28. This one is for the battle to keep bowl hopes alive. Both teams are 4-6, and both have had disappointing seasons. But the Broncos have a good thing going with Alex Carder, Jordan White and Juan Nunez on offense. Kent State has some uncertainty at quarterback -- Spencer Keith played last week with a sprained thumb but was benched after throwing an interception. Backup Giorgio Morgan threw two.

Wyoming 33, Colorado State 30. Anything can happen in “The Border War” season finale between the two teams. The last two seasons, the road team has won this game. Wyoming is winless in the Mountain West and in desperate need of a positive note to close out the season. The Rams have not won a road game yet, and have scored just 29 points in their past two games.

UPSET SPECIAL: Army 28, Notre Dame 20. Sorry, I am not on the Irish bus despite the win over Utah. The Utes were totally deflated going into that game and imploded. I still have visions of Navy dancing for 367 rushing yards against the Irish in my head. While the Black Knights aren’t as proficient as the Midshipmen in the triple option yet, they are much improved will give them fits. No doubt Notre Dame will make adjustments, but I still think Army will be able to run.

FIU 30, Louisiana 20. I have a big fear the Panthers may suffer from a letdown in this game following their first ever win over Troy, a victory that has them in the driver’s seat for the Sun Belt. FIU has never been in that position. But they are streaking offensively, having scored a combined 94 points in the past two games. T.Y. Hilton is a big reason why. Louisiana, meanwhile, has lost six straight.

UPSET SPECIAL, PART II: Houston 28, Southern Miss 24. Houston has got to win to keep its bowl hopes alive. The Cougars are no strangers to pulling the road upset, with a win at SMU last month. If the Cougars limit the mistakes, they win. The Golden Eagles have had a terrible week after three players were shot following a fight at a club. You have to wonder whether they will be motivated to play for them, or distracted because of the events of the week. Southern Miss has lost its two league games by a combined two points.

ULM 27, North Texas 20. The Mean Green have won two of three under interim head coach Mike Canales, and have largely done it behind Lance Dunbar, who has combined for 677 yards and six touchdowns rushing and receiving. ULM has to win this to keep bowl hopes alive, and is unbeaten at home. Kolton Browning had thrown for 200 yards in eight straight games before that streak ended last week against LSU. He will do enough to win.

We are running out of weekends for teams to become bowl eligible. Here is a look at where teams stand in the nonautomatic-qualifying conferences.

Conference USA

Already eligible: UCF, Tulsa, Southern Miss, UTEP, East Carolina.

Vying for a spot: SMU and Houston are each 5-5. After a bye, the Mustangs return to host Marshall before closing the season at East Carolina. If they win out, they win the West. Meanwhile, Houston is in danger of missing a bowl game for the first time since 2004 after dropping its second straight game. The Cougars have two toughies left -- at Southern Miss and at Texas Tech. Freshman quarterback David Piland threw five interceptions last week in a loss to Tulsa, but coach Kevin Sumlin is sticking with him.

On the other end of the spectrum: Tulane (4-6) and Marshall (4-6) have to win out. UAB, Rice and Memphis have been eliminated.

Guaranteed bowl spots: Six.

MAC

Already eligible: Temple, Toledo, Ohio, Northern Illinois, Miami (Ohio).

Vying for a spot: Kent State and Western Michigan are both 4-6 and play this weekend in Kalamazoo with bowl hopes on the line. Whoever loses is eliminated from contention. Kent State closes with Ohio, while Western Michigan closes at Bowling Green.

On the other end of the spectrum: Buffalo, Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Akron, Eastern Michigan and Ball State are out.

Guaranteed bowl spots: Three.

Mountain West

Already eligible: TCU, San Diego State, Air Force, Utah.

Vying for a spot: BYU (5-5) hosts New Mexico with a chance to become bowl eligible. The turnaround has been remarkably gratifying for coach Bronco Mendenhall, whose team was 2-5 after a loss at TCU on Oct. 16. Since then, his team has found its confidence and an offense. It has outscored opponents 104-17 in the last two games.

On the other end of the spectrum: Colorado State, Wyoming, UNLV and New Mexico have been eliminated.

Guaranteed bowl spots: Five.

Sun Belt

Already eligible: No one.

Vying for a spot: Troy (5-4) is stuck on five wins after losing to FIU last week for the first time ever. A win over South Carolina, Western Kentucky or FAU would get the Trojans bowl eligible for the third straight season.

FIU and FAU are each 4-5, but the Owls have a difficult stretch of games at Texas, Middle Tennessee and home to Troy. FIU has some tough ones, too: at Louisiana, then home to Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee. If the Panthers win out, they win the Sun Belt. ULM (4-6), Arkansas State (4-6) and Middle Tennessee (3-6) have to win out. The Red Wolves are at Navy and FIU; Middle Tennessee is at Western Kentucky, home to FAU and at FIU; ULM has North Texas and Louisiana.

On the other end of the spectrum: North Texas, Louisiana and Western Kentucky have been eliminated.

Guaranteed bowl spots: Two.

WAC

Already eligible: Boise State, Hawaii, Nevada, Fresno State. Hawaii has accepted an invite to the Hawaii Bowl.

Vying for a spot: Louisiana Tech, Idaho and Utah State are each 4-6 and face a difficult road to become bowl eligible. Utah State has to win out over Idaho and Boise State; Louisiana Tech has to win out over San Jose State and Nevada; while Idaho needs to win out over Utah State, Fresno State and San Jose State. The Vandals need seven wins because they have a 13-game schedule this season.

On the other end of the spectrum: New Mexico State and San Jose State have been eliminated.

Guaranteed bowl spots: Four.

Independents

Navy (7-3) and Army (6-4) are bowl eligible. Navy will head to the Poinsettia Bowl. Army is eligible for the first time since 1996. Though the Black Knights don’t have an automatic bowl tie-in this year, they have backup agreements with the Armed Forces Bowl and Military Bowl. Notre Dame (5-5) needs one more win with games remaining against Army and USC.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

The worst scheduling week in Big 12 history might be approaching.

Four Big 12 teams will be playing opponents from the Football Championship Subdivision in contests that have euphemistically been termed by many coaches as "body-bag games."

Coaches of those FCS schools know what they have to do in these games. Mainly, collect a big check and hope they emerge out of the game relatively unscathed for the rest of the season.

A 12-game season makes these games more necessary for the big boys from the Football Bowl Series, even if they aren't necessarily appealing, according to Texas coach Mack Brown.

"It's probably better if we didn't," Brown said, "but I don't know if it's possible right now."

Brown knows about these games after once coaching at Division I-AA Appalachian State, which then played two games against Division I-A teams as financial salvation for the rest of the school's athletic department.

"As tough as it is with the score and kids being mismatched sometimes," Brown said, "it is a positive for the university from the standpoint of exposure.

"And a lot of the kids I've talked to like the experience of going into big stadiums, even though they lose."

But try telling that to fans who pay full price, with increasing full costs, to travel to stadiums in order to watch these glorified exhibitions.

The difference is more than just the 22 extra scholarships that the FBS teams have -- 85 scholarship athletes on a roster compared to 63 for FCS teams.

During the first week of the season, FBS teams went 31-1 against their siblings from the FCS. The lone FCS victory was Cal-Poly's 29-27 triumph over San Diego State, coached by former Oklahoma assistant Chuck Long.

Baylor, Colorado, Kansas State and Missouri can only hope not to join the Aztecs on that dubious list this week.

Until then, here are a few morning links that are always competitive.

• Colorado can't afford a reprise of the last visit by a Football Championship Series when Eastern Washington visits on Saturday. The Buffaloes lost 19-10 to Montana State in their 2006 opener. "It's almost surreal when you look back and you think about it," DT George Hypolite told the Boulder Camera.
• Texas A&M may consider a change in kickers after Richie Bean shanked two short attempts in the Aggies' loss to Arkansas State last week.
• Natalie England of the San Antonio Express-News writes about Texas QB Colt McCoy's emergence as a running threat.
• We now know who wears the pants in Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy's family. If you don't believe it, check the 7:43 mark of this Oklahoman video to find out.
• Steve Sipple of the Lincoln Journal-Star writes about the development of Nebraska LB Cody Glenn and QB Joe Ganz, two seniors who have hardly played most of their college careers.
• Oklahoma WR Manny Johnson is filling the void after Malcolm Kelly's departure to the NFL.
• The Columbia Tribune's Dave Matter writes about improvement necessary for Missouri's leaky secondary, which allowed Juice Williams to squeeze them for 451 passing yards.
• Missouri beat writer Mike DeArmond of the Kansas City Star writes and has video on the development of Missouri TB Derrick Washington.
• Baylor CB Dwain Crawford, a converted safety, tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Dwain Price about his enjoyment of his new position's challenges.
• Des Moines Register beat writer Andrew Logue chats about Iowa State's extra rest from playing on Thursday, the Cyclones' memories of Kent State from last season and the Cyclones' looming rivalry game against Iowa next week.
• Iowa State RB J.J. Bass will suit up for his first game this season after being suspended for the opener.
• Kansas coach Mark Mangino isn't expecting Louisiana Tech to be a cupcake.
• Oklahoma State WR Dez Bryant's athleticism makes him effective in jump-ball situations.
• Texas Tech inside receivers coach Lincoln Riley is responsible for providing Mike Leach reports from the press box. It's not a surprising evolution, considering Riley has been Leach's right-hand man since he was 19 and helping coach quarterbacks as a student assistant.
• Kansas State's passing game was effective -- as QB Josh Freeman predicted before the start of the season -- even without graduated WR Jordy Nelson.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Kurtis Taylor might not have the athleticism associated with a breakaway running back. Although the 6-foot-2, 250-pound defensive end briefly tried to flash those kind of moves after an interception in the Cyclones' season-opening victory over South Dakota State.

Taylor recorded one of six turnovers for the Cyclones -- a high in the Gene Chizik era -- when he intercepted a pass in ISU's first game. He punctuated the pick with a flashy spin move that had his teammates busting him for the next several days throughout their film review.

"They were calling me Barry Sanders after that spin move," Taylor said, chuckling. "But they can joke all they want. I'll take a turnover like that any chance we can get it."

Chizik has been preaching producing turnovers throughout his ISU tenure, but said he finally felt like the lessons were taking hold after his team's big season-opening performance.

The Cyclones produced a school-record 202 yards of interception returns, including 48 on Taylor's wild ramble. ISU's five interceptions were the most for the Cyclones since 2001. They produced 10 interceptions last season.

"It was great to see that," Chizik said. "We just didn't ever feel last year that we were very good in our turnover ratio. We've been really preaching ball security and turnovers. We started getting more comfortable in our defense and starting to play faster. It was a great start to show the kind of gains and what happens when you get turnovers."

The major reason for the defensive improvement was because of familiarity with the philosophy of defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt.

"All of the schemes and the language and the concepts we are using are a year old," Taylor said. "Obviously, they are asking us do something and want us to fit into their ideas. Now, we just have to refine things and do them a little bit faster."

The Cyclones' awareness grew as turnovers starting piling up against their opponent from the Missouri Valley Conference.

"We got on a roll and you are able to build on what we've been able to do," Chizik said. "You could see in their eyes along the sidelines. We had two, let's get three. We got three, let's get four and on and on. It certainly was catching and we hope it will continue the rest of the year."

The recent Iowa State defensive improvement began late last season when the Cyclones played well in a 17-7 loss to Oklahoma.

"After that game, we realized we could play with anybody in the country," Taylor said. "It's just a shame we didn't learn that earlier. We could have played better against more teams last season. And we didn't have any more talent. It was just because we played together more."

That returning defensive group has been boosted by the arrival of seven freshmen and sophomores in their two-deep defensive lineup. Taylor said the new additions have provided a boost to his unit's playmaking abilities. 

The next step will come Saturday against Kent State, a team that ruined Chizik's coaching debut last season.

"I remember how disappointed I was walking off that field," Taylor said. "I don't like to lose and it was definitely a bad feeling that we lost the game. They came into our house last year and beat us. The good thing is that this season we get to start over and come in with a new identity."