ESPN College Football

The ACC has announced its future regular-season scheduling formats, which will keep the current divisional alignments the same but eventually include Pittsburgh in the Coastal Division and Syracuse in the Atlantic Division.

The current primary crossover partners will remain with Syracuse and Pitt becoming primary crossover partners with each other.

When Pitt and Syracuse join the ACC (the news release didn't state when that might be), the league will play a nine-game conference schedule. The format will consist of each team playing all six in its division each season, plus its primary crossover partner each year and two rotating opponents from the opposite division. This six-year cycle allows each team to play each divisional opponent and its primary crossover partner six times (three home and three away) while also playing each rotating crossover opponent two times (one home and one away).

Stay tuned for more on this.

USC, which finished this season 10-2 and ranked No. 5, will have 19 starters returning in 2012 including both specialists and a guy by the name of Matt Barkley.

The Trojans welcome back their top rusher, top three receivers, four starting offensive lineman and a guy by the name of Matt Barkley.

Also back in 2012: The Trojans' top four tacklers. And five of their top six. And a first-team All-Pac-12 kicker. And a guy by the name of Matt Barkley.

The Trojans looked like a preseason top-10 team a month ago. They looked like the preseason Pac-12 South Division favorites. But when Barkley announced Thursday, "I have not yet finished my journey as a Trojan football player," it sent a shockwave across the college football landscape.

Remember that little girl staring at the TV snow in "Poltergeist"? All together now: "They're baaaaack!"

Barkley makes USC a national title contender. Barkley makes things around Heritage Hall feel like it's 2002-2008 all over again. Barkley means Trojans fans can stop thinking about the injustice it suffered when the NCAA whacked it with severe sanctions and start dreaming of BCS bowls again.

Just FYI: Miami on Jan. 7, 2013. What happened the last time the Trojans played in South Florida with big stakes?

Ah, the Oregon fans have just arrived. To borrow a phrase: Not so fast, my friend.

The Ducks are the three-time defending Pac-12 champions. They've got a whole bunch of key guys coming back in 2012, too. They, too, are a certain top-10 team, perhaps top-five. They will be the overwhelming favorites to win the North Division.

Both have highly favorable schedules. USC's nonconference schedule: Hawaii (with head coach Norm Chow!), at Syracuse and Notre Dame. Oregon's is, well, pitiful: Arkansas State, Fresno State and Tennessee Tech.

Oh, then there is this little date for both in LA next year. The Pac-12 schedules aren't official yet, but the conference confirmed to the Pac-12 blog that USC and Oregon will play in the Coliseum next fall. That regular-season game, not hard to project as a matchup of top-five teams, very likely could lead to a rematch in the Pac-12 title game, which could be a gateway to the national title game for the winner.

Ducks and Trojans: Feel free to talk amongst yourselves.

Meanwhile, Barkley, by passing up a chance to be a top-10 NFL draft pick as Matt Leinart and Andrew Luck did before him, immediately established himself as the leading 2012 Heisman Trophy candidate. His status as front-runner is only slightly less firm than Luck's was last year when he announced a shocking return.

And that point -- thump -- should provide a speed bump of moderation for our foray into admittedly hysterical hyperbole about Barkley and USC. Just about every time you try to write a college football season's story before it plays out, you end up being wrong.

Preseason predictions can be completely off: Oklahoma was the consensus preseason No. 1 this year. Or they can be slightly off: Luck and the overwhelming Heisman favorite in August. Or they can fall just short in the end: USC as the best team in college football history in 2005.

Or, then again, sometimes they are spot-on: USC in 2004 was preseason No. 1 as well as the postseason national champion.

Still, while grand scenarios are merely reasonably conceived potential endings for something that is a year away and laden with unforeseen variables, there is no downside on this day for USC. In fact, it spiderwebs positives throughout the program, from making the future at QB more secure, to bolstering the present recruiting effort, to getting USC fans excited and reinvested again, ready to fill up the Coliseum next fall.

By the way, USC folks aren't the only ones smiling. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott is grinning ear-to-ear. He sees another bright, articulate Heisman Trophy candidate who conducts himself with class acting as the face of the conference, as Luck did this past fall. He sees two big ticket national title contenders in 2012, just as the conference's new TV contract kicks in. He's got broadcast partners -- ESPN and Fox -- as well as a new Pac-12 Network that are going to be thrilled that the conference's ratings-driving bell cow is back under the klieg lights in LA.

Toss in four new, high-profile coaches, and there are plenty of sexy story lines for the Pac-12 in 2012.

The week started with USC fans slapping their foreheads over Ohio State's middling NCAA sanctions for severe infractions. It was a frustrating reminder of the seeming cosmic forces that conspired to end the USC dynasty, including Pete Carroll skipping town back to the NFL.

But the week ends with an early Christmas gift for USC. Matt Barkley telling it, "I am staying because I want to finish what I started."

Yes, college football fans across the country pricked up their ears Thursday and thought, "Drat. I hear those darn "Tribute To Troy" drums again."

1. Texas Tech’s 41-38 upset of No. 3 Oklahoma proves that Red Raiders coach Tommy Tuberville is up to his old ways. In 16 seasons as an FBS head coach at Ole Miss (1995-98), Auburn (1999-2008) and Texas Tech (2010-present), Tuberville has won 13 games against top-10 opponents, five against top-five teams. Tuberville is, overall, 21-33 against higher-ranked teams. I don’t have records for all coaches, but winning two of every five sounds impressive.

2. We may be able, once and for all, to decide what is more indicative of quality: losing to top-10 teams or losing close games to good teams. All we have to do is find a bowl game in which Auburn, which has lost to three teams currently in the top 10, can play Miami, which has two last-minute losses to teams in the top 12 (the Hurricanes’ third loss came by eight points to Maryland). Let’s get the bowl projection boys, Mark Schlabach and Brad Edwards, to work on that.

3. USC returned to the AP Top 25 for the first time in seven weeks. The media poll is the best measure of the Trojans, given that their NCAA postseason ban renders them ineligible for the BCS standings. USC’s 31-17 victory at Notre Dame, where it hasn’t lost since 2001, should give the Trojans some cred in the street (previous best win: Syracuse) and in the mirror as they prepare for No. 6 Stanford, their first ranked opponent.

1. In 1940, when Cornell received five downs to score and beat Dartmouth, 7-3, Cornell offered a forfeit and Dartmouth accepted. In 1990, when Colorado got five downs to beat Missouri, 33-31, Buffaloes coach Bill McCartney flat refused to offer a forfeit. Colorado went on to a share of the national championship. From selfless to selfish to a shrug: Syracuse beat Toledo, 33-30, because of an officiating error and both sides agree that NCAA rules don’t allow a remedy. A rule change may create more problems than it would solve. That’s little solace for the Rockets.

2. The matchup of Alabama coach Nick Saban versus Florida coach Will Muschamp, a former assistant to Saban at LSU, will gain a lot of attention as the No. 3 Crimson Tide prepares to play the No. 12 Gators. Keep this in mind: in his 16 seasons as an FBS head coach, Saban has lost 53 games. As far as I can tell, none of those losses came to a team led by a first-year head coach. That seems more relevant than the discussion of Saban losing to a protégé.

3. No. 7 Wisconsin has committed two turnovers in four games, No. 4 Stanford one turnover in three. What do they have in common? Savvy veterans running their offenses. The Badgers’ Russell Wilson, a fifth-year transfer from North Carolina State, has thrown one interception in an offense he didn’t really learn until August (freshman Joe Brennan threw the other pick). The Cardinal’s Andrew Luck has thrown one interception, which bounced off a Stanford receiver’s hand. Sometimes, it’s not what a quarterback does. It’s what he doesn’t do.

Is Matt Barkley a Heisman Trophy candidate?

Barkley completed 26 of 39 passes for 324 yards with five TDs and no interceptions as USC put together a solid four-quarter effort in a 38-17 crushing of Syracuse.

Barkley has nine TD passes and one interception in the Trojans' 3-0 start.

The Trojans figure to face a more substantial test in their first road game at Arizona State next weekend, a big Pac-12 South Division contest, considering USC already beat Utah.

Of course, USC can't play in the Pac-12 title game. But it can win the South Division.

Syracuse rushed for just 73 yards.

1. The NCAA has increased the minimum Academic Progress Rate (APR) from 925 in a given year to 930 over a rolling four-year average. More important, the penalties for not making the minimum include a postseason ban. I did the math for the six AQ conferences from 2007 through 2010 and found nine schools that failed to reach 930: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisville, Minnesota, Ole Miss, Purdue, South Florida, and Washington State. If the rule were effective immediately, they wouldn’t be bowl-eligible. That rule has teeth.

2. The Syracuse coaching staff has been a man down for 10 days after offensive line coach Greg Adkins got waylaid by an attack of pancreatitis. Adkins returned to meetings on Wednesday night, and after a medical procedure next week, will return full-time soon. While head coach Doug Marrone is glad that Adkins is returning to health, he has had a blast returning to coach the offensive line. “I don’t think the kids had fun,” Marrone said. “I had fun.”

3. When the Southwest Conference died in the mid-1990s, legend has it that Baylor got a seat in the Big 12 lifeboat because the governor at the time, Anne Richards, had a Baylor degree. I bring this up because the current governor and presidential-candidate-to-be, Rick Perry, is a Texas A&M alumnus. How much does that contribute to the emboldened talk among Aggies about bolting from Texas and the Big 12 to the SEC? Of course, it never takes much to make an Aggie swagger.

1. A few years ago, head coaches began bestowing exalted titles on their top assistants to make the program look good and make the assistants feel better. But I wonder if that came back and bit North Carolina. John Blake was more than Butch Davis’s top recruiter. Blake was “assistant head coach.” Blake got busted for lying to the university and to the NCAA, and for taking money from the late agent Gary Wichard. When your “assistant head coach” does that, it looks bad before the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

2. Temple coach Steve Addazio told me a nice story on the ESPNU College Football Podcast on Wednesday about his son Louis, a 6-3, 232-pound tight end who signed with Syracuse in January. When I asked Addazio how he let his son get away, he laughed. Turns out that when Addazio was an assistant at Syracuse a decade ago, eight-year-old Louis told him that someday he wanted to play for the Orange. What dad is going to mess with his kid’s dream?

3. ACC blogger Heather Dinich’s item this week about the large number of former FBS players now playing for Division II North Alabama coach Terry Bowden reminded me of a story that Terry’s dad loves to tell. When Bobby Bowden coached at Howard (Samford) some 50 years ago, he would get a call from Tuscaloosa to come watch Alabama practice. Bear Bryant had decided which players he couldn’t use. Bobby would watch practice, evaluate, and ask them to play for him. It’s almost Life Father, Like Son.

The Pac-10 chant for the 2010 season: "We're No. 2! We're No. 2!"

Hey, it could be worse.

It should come as no surprise that the SEC reigns supreme in ESPN Stats & Information final college football conference rankings for 2010. Sure, the SEC was only 5-5 this bowl season, but it won a fifth consecutive national championship -- with a fifth different team in the BCS Era -- and finished with six teams in the final AP poll.

The Pac-10 blog has taken issue with the almost reflexive assumption of SEC supremacy a number of times in the past, mostly because the Pac-10 blog -- humbly -- only wished to educate the ignorant. The Pac-10 blog, however, will only tip its cap to the SEC this year.

The SEC was way ahead of the Pac-10 in the final tally, while the Pac-10, No. 3 Big 12 and No. 4 Big Ten were fairly tight. More than a few folks from the Big 12 might give the final rankings a "harrumph." The Big 12, after all, had five teams ranked in the final top-25, the Pac-10 just two.

In an interesting twist, it is the Pac-10 that appears top-heavy compared to the Texas-Oklahoma conference. With No. 3 Oregon and No. 4 Stanford, the Pac-10 is the only conference with two teams ranked in the final top-five, but after that no other teams ended up in the top-25, and only one, Washington, received any votes in either final major poll.

And that was just a single vote in the Coaches poll. FYI: Steve Sarkisian was a voter this season.

The Pac-10 is helped in the conference standings by bowl victories against teams ranked in the final AP poll: Stanford against No. 16 Virginia Tech, the ACC champion, and Washington against No. 20 Nebraska, the Big 12 North champ. Further, the Pac-10 posted nonconference wins against Iowa, Notre Dame and Hawaii -- all three received votes in both final polls -- as well as Syracuse and Louisville, which both won bowl games. Victories against Texas, Colorado, Wake Forest, Tennessee and Houston don't carry as much weight as they would in most seasons, but they contributed to a strong 17-12 overall record versus FBS foes and a 12-7 mark against AQ conference foes.

While some are hung up on the Pac-10 only producing four bowl-eligible teams -- it actually was five; USC was just ineligible because of NCAA sanctions -- the tough nonconference schedules and the nine-game conference slate are mostly responsible for that. Arizona State, which lost by a single point at Wisconsin, would have been bowl eligible if San Jose State didn't break a game contract to chase a payday with Alabama, and the same could be said of Oregon State if it didn't schedule a pair of top-10 nonconference foes (No. 2 TCU and No. 9 Boise State).

The Pac-10's arduous schedule is accounted for, by the way, in the highly respected Sagarin Ratings, which rank the Pac-10 No. 1.

Still, the Pac-10 wasn't No. 1 in its final year before it becomes the Pac-12. The SEC earned the top spot after beating the undefeated Pac-10 champion for the national title.

Again, a tip of the cap. No trash talk.

One last thing, though: Oregon-LSU, Sept. 2.

Buckle up.

1. The New Era Pinstripe Bowl seemed like a good idea. Playing a postseason game in the new Yankee Stadium reconnects college football to the days when Army and Notre Dame annually played in the House That Ruth Built. But the blizzard that arrived the same day that Kansas State and Syracuse should remind all of us that bowls are made for warmer climes. Or at least indoor ones, and not the New York Sheraton, where the Wildcats had a walkthrough Sunday instead of practice at Columbia. With luck and a few shovels, Yankee Stadium might be clear of snow by kickoff Thursday.

2. James Willis had been a protégé of Tommy Tuberville at Auburn. Tuberville lured him from Alabama by making him defensive coordinator at Texas Tech. On Sunday, Tuberville dumped Willis, six days before the Ticket City Bowl, for flirting with new Florida coach Will Muschamp. If every coach who trafficked in careerism got fired, no one would keep a job, which means Willis must have breached some sort of protocol. I hope for Willis’ sake that Muschamp hires him.

3. The two wild cards in any bowl are motivation and rust. The Independence Bowl on Monday should present a case study. Air Force and Georgia Tech run option offenses that depend on timing that can go awry after a month’s layoff. But the Falcons should have an edge in motivation. They are, after all, at a military academy. Georgia Tech, one year removed from a BCS bowl and playing with backup quarterback Tevin Washington (starter Joshua Nesbitt is doubtful), is set up to lose its sixth straight bowl game.

Kansas State Wildcats (7-5) vs. Syracuse Orange (7-5)

Dec. 30, 3:20 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Kansas State take by Big 12 blogger David Ubben: Take me at my word, I'll spare you any sort of Apple humor for the duration of this game's coverage. That said, the two Manhattans will be linked when Kansas State heads to the Pinstripe Bowl, even though Yankee Stadium is in the Bronx.

Daniel Thomas carried the Wildcats to an early 4-0 start, but Kansas State struggled to a 1-4 finish in conference play before finishing the season with a win over North Texas to finish 7-5. Thomas, a senior, will get a chance to prove his worth to NFL scouts with a big game against Syracuse, and he'll be coming off a 269-yard performance in the win over North Texas.

Kansas State found a new offense late in the season when it leaned on quarterback Collin Klein, who played receiver last season. Carson Coffman still sees plenty of time, but the Wildcats offense, even if it's one-dimensional with Klein, can be dangerous. In a 39-14 win over Texas earlier this year, the Wildcats needed just four pass attempts to jump out to a 39-0 lead. They ran for 261 yards in that game, and Klein and Thomas both topped 100 yards.

If Syracuse doesn't see enough Cats on Broadway, its front seven will have its hands full with these 'Cats.

No promises on other New York/baseball humor.

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Syracuse take by Big East blogger Brian Bennett: Syracuse won't even be leaving its own state for its bowl game, but there was a time not long ago when the postseason seemed far, far away.

Second-year coach Doug Marrone has engineered a remarkable turnaround, leading the Orange to their first bowl game since 2004. They actually were still in position to win the Big East title in their final conference game, but losing three of the past four to end the year took a little cheer out of the banner year.

Defense powered the improvement, as coordinator Scott Shafer's heavy blitz schemes caused problems for Big East teams all year. Led by tackling-machine linebackers Derrell Smith and Doug Hogue, Syracuse ranked sixth in the FBS in total defense.

This is an offensively-challenged team that sputtered to the finish line, scoring just 26 points in its final three games combined. That could spell trouble against a Kansas State team that averaged 33.5 points per game this season. The Orange are in no way built for a Big 12-style shootout.

But they should have a heavily pro-Syracuse crowd at Yankee Stadium. And after such a long absence from the postseason, the Orange are just happy to be bowling anywhere.

A lot has been made of California's split personality this season, but it's possible UCLA and Washington are even more deranged.

Both started the season with high expectations, particularly Washington, which thought it had a Heisman Trophy candidate when quarterback Jake Locker opted to return for his senior season.

Splat. Both opened with losses on the road to mediocre teams.

Washington bounced back with a strong win over Syracuse. Joy! Then it got run over at home by Nebraska. Despair! Then the Huskies won at USC. Joy! Then the Huskies got bounced at home by Arizona State. Despair! Then they beat Oregon State in double-overtime. Joy!

Then they got waxed in three consecutive games. Lots of despair.

UCLA followed up its loss at Kansas State by getting trenched at home by Stanford 35-zip. Abandon ship! Then it beat Houston and Texas when the Cougars and Longhorns were still considered good. Back on the bandwagon! Then, after beating Washington State, the Bruins got waxed in two consecutive games and couldn't make plays at the end to upset Arizona. Bail on the Bruins!

Then, the Bruins upset Oregon State. Hope?

It's hard to project either way for either team as they head into a meeting Thursday night in Husky Stadium.

"When they play well in all three phases, [they] look really, really good -- as we have this year at times," Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian said. "There are other times when things haven't gone well, that [things] have fallen apart on them, as they have for us."

And so both teams find themselves desperate for a win to keep bowl hopes alive. Sarkisian's Huskies need to win their final three game -- visits to California and Washington State are ahead -- while the Bruins need to win two of three -- they are at Arizona State then play host to USC in the season-finale.

So there's not a lot of margin for error, and everyone knows the stakes are high. A bowl game would make it a successful season for either team. A losing record would fall short of preseason expectations. Bruins safety Rahim Moore joked this week -- seemingly -- that he'd quit football if the Bruins didn't manage to earn bowl eligibility. It's clear both coaches aren't against dangling the bowl game as a motivational carrot.

"Whether I dangle it or not, our guys are well aware of what we need to do," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said.

As far as subplots, Neuheisel is one. The Huskies coach from 1999-2002, he's not very well liked by some in Seattle, who still blame him for the program's lengthy downturn, even though Neuheisel went to four bowl games in four years -- the worst was the Sun Bowl -- and won a Rose Bowl after the 2000 season.

Neuheisel, who has been gracious in his comments about Washington since being hired at UCLA, said he expects the animosity to die down, and that Huskies fans will mostly focus on rooting for their team. And as for his role in the program's downturn?

"There were a lot of mistakes made. Certainly, I made some," he said. "But it's been seven years. My last year coaching there was 2002. There's been ample time to fix things."

Another subplot is the return of Locker from a rib injury that sidelines him for the defeat at Oregon on Nov. 6. This will be Locker's final home game after a hugely disappointing season. Can he put on one final, big show, something like did down the stretch last year?

Speaking of quarterbacks, there's also UCLA's Richard Brehaut, who's been surprisingly effective running the Bruins pistol offense and has breathed some life into a once moribund passing game. It's taken some time, however, for Neuheisel and -- particularly -- offensive coordinator Norm Chow to develop confidence in Brehaut. Their hands were forced when starter Kevin Prince was lost for the year with a knee injury.

"Richard is kind of a swashbuckler who can get in there and throw the ball around and make it look really easy," Neuheisel said. "Then all of a sudden, when the defense is coming from a lot of different places, is he really aware of what's happening and remembering all the nuances that go with playing quarterback? He wasn't as advanced [as Prince]. Now that he's having to do it, he's learning and getting better very quickly."

Then there's the weather. It's expected to be cold and rainy. The perception is the Southern-California-centric UCLA roster won't be accustomed to that, particularly Brehaut.

Whatever the weather, though, Brehaut's best bet is to hand the ball off. The Bruins have run the ball well this year, and the Huskies rank 118th in the nation in run defense (219.6 yards per game).

Finally, Washington is going for a blackout -- black uniforms, black shirts for fans, black end zones -- in order to make a statement for the ESPN broadcast.

You could say they are dressing for a funeral. The question is: Will it be their own, or the Bruins in mourning after the game?

1. There is talk around South Carolina that when head coach Steve Spurrier decides he has had enough, defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson is the obvious choice as his replacement. Johnson has quietly assembled a strong résumé as one of the best defensive coaches in the game. Witness how the Gamecocks held Alabama to 36 rushing yards on Saturday. He also has deep ties in the state, including three seasons as head coach at The Citadel and a spouse who is a Columbia native.

2. Lane Kiffin is about to earn his money. Does a young, second-year head coach with an 11-8 career record and deep NCAA-mandated scholarship cuts on the way have the ability to motivate a team that has suffered two consecutive last-play losses and can’t play for any postseason reward other than pride? Kiffin bolted Tennessee for USC because, he said, it was his dream job. Some dream. Some job.

3. Watching the Big East on Saturday felt like one of those hospital shows where one of the ER docs yells, “Wait! I’ve got a pulse!” Preseason darlings Pittsburgh and Connecticut continue to disappoint. But West Virginia’s lone slip-up, a six-point loss at LSU, looks better with every Les Miles magic trick. Syracuse, 4-1, beat South Florida by dominating the line of scrimmage and the fourth quarter. The Orange must win seven games to reach a bowl, thanks to having two FCS victories. But c’mon, don’t spoil the mood.

1. Boston College coach Frank Spaziani said Sunday that he will replace starting sophomore quarterback Dave Shinskie this week against Notre Dame. Spaziani must decide whether to start sophomore Mike Marscovetra or commit to the offense’s real future, freshman Chase Rettig. Shinskie, the 26-year-old former minor leaguer, has been a disappointment. But don’t forget -- not only did he bail out a team that had no talent at quarterback last year, he led the Eagles to an 8-5 record. That’s worth something.

2. Let’s hear it for the state of New York! Army and Syracuse are both 3-1, the first season that both teams have started that well since 1993. You may say that the Orange has beaten two FCS teams, and that the Black Knights have beaten three teams that went a combined 7-29 last season -- and are 2-10 this season. And you would have a good point. But October isn’t even here yet. Let them throw their parades.

3. Let’s hear it for Washington State! The Cougars led USC, 7-0. OK, so it was the first quarter, and the Trojans needed exactly 15 seconds to erase the deficit. Still, that’s the first time the Cougars have led the Trojans by at least a touchdown in eight years. Wazzu has lost 19 consecutive conference games, which is no surprise. It is a surprise that USC is 4-0 and ranked only 18th. The Trojans no longer own the benefit of the pollsters’ doubt.

Washington receiver Jermaine Kearse's final stats looked pretty good after the BYU game. He caught five passes for 108 yards, among them a 43-yard reception and a 19-yard TD. That shouldn't be surprising. Kearse is one of the best receivers in the Pac-10 and quarterback Jake Locker's favorite target.

But the stat box doesn't include drops. Or "what ifs." As in: What if the normally sure-handed Kearse didn't drop three passes? Might that have changed the ultimate number -- the scoreboard reading a disappointing 23-17 in favor of BYU?

"I put too my pressure on myself," said Kearse, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior when asked to diagnose what went wrong on the drops. "It's the first game and you have so much adrenaline going on in the first game."

The dreaded dropsies can be the ruin of a receiver. So it wasn't unfair to wonder how Kearse might respond when the Huskies played host to Syracuse last weekend. It was enough of a concern, in fact, that coach Steve Sarkisian gave his second-team All-Pac-10 receiver a brief pep talk.

"I said, 'Don't try too hard.' Sometimes when a guy doesn't have the best game of his career -- you know, he struggles a little bit -- he can come out and try too hard," Sarkisian said. "I just said, 'Just let the game come to you. You're going to get your opportunities.' And I thought he did that.''

Oh yes he did. Kearse earned Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week honors after hauling in a career-high nine passes for 179 yards with three touchdowns. And no drops. As for the three TDs, each involved him making a play with the ball to get into the endzone. The best one came on the first play of the third quarter, when he transformed a short pass into a 57-yard TD, which sparked the Huskies rout.

Said Locker, whose numbers were far shinier due to Kearse's efforts: "I think Jermaine took it upon himself to really come out and be dominant [against Syracuse] and he was. It was really fun to watch. He expects a lot out himself, and I think you were able to see that [last] Saturday."

Ah, but Locker, Kearse and the Huskies face a far tougher test on Saturday: No. 8 Nebraska. And it's not just that the Cornhuskers are a top-10 team. For Locker and Kearse, it's a matter of facing an elite defense whose strength is the secondary, which might be the best unit in the nation, led by cornerback Prince Amukamara.

While Nebraska lost five starters from last season's dominating defense, including extraordinary tackle Ndamukong Suh, coach Bo Pelini hasn't been shy about saying this year's crew should be better. The Cornhuskers, who often employ seven defensive backs at a time, already have six interceptions.

"You'd like to think you have better odds of running the football, but they hold up pretty well," Sarkisian said. "The minus [for an offense] is, they've got defensive backs not only covering your receivers but covering your tight ends and covering your running backs out of the backfield. So they're able to stay close to guys. There's not a lot of room for error, not a lot of room to throw balls. So there's a real onus on the quarterback to know what coverage it is and anticipate throws and be accurate.''

In other words, Nebraska will pose a major test for Locker to prove he's improved his accuracy. If Locker can complete 60 percent of his passes vs. Nebraska, he can do it against any college defense. And NFL scouts will take note.

And Kearse is Locker's go-to guy, even though the Huskies are deep at receiver. Kearse is third in the nation with 143.5 yards receiving. No. 2 receiver, junior Devin Aguilar, averages 69 yards per game.

"I think we have enough playmakers to make them defend the whole field," Kearse said.

That includes trying to get the running game going with Chris Polk. That might be a significant challenge vs. the Cornhuskers, particularly with a shuffling on the offensive line this week that might make true freshman Erik Kohler a starting guard.

In other words, the Huskies must be consistent in the passing game to win. If Locker makes his national breakthrough, that likely also will mean Kearse posts a "hello world" performance.

"Obviously, I have personal goals," Kearse said. "But those will come with helping the team win."

That means walking off the field with an impressive box score as well as no "what ifs."

An undefeated weekend. Unless you're UCLA.

Team of the week: Oregon actually in some ways looks better because it came back from a 13-3 deficit at Tennessee with a 45-zip run. If the Ducks had rolled from the get-go, it would have been a case of "that's what we expected." But by bouncing back from adversity -- nothing went right in the first quarter on either side of the ball -- Oregon showed notable resilience and grace under pressure. And, let's face it, it was kind of fun that the early going spawned some SEC trash talk -- "We play defense in the SEC!" -- that was notably muted by game's end.

Best game: So Washington State nearly went down to Montana State? Think Virginia Tech, Kansas and Minnesota would prefer a "nearly" for themselves? The Cougars showed some heart by rallying from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to win 23-22.

Biggest play: LaMichael James' all-on-his-own 72-yard TD run was a thing of beauty. Just spectacular. And when he made the Tennessee defense look silly -- there was a palpable wince in Neyland Stadium -- you could sort of sense that the Ducks were about to deliver a beatdown. And they did.

Offensive standout: Washington receiver Jermaine Kearse bounced back from an inconsistent performance at BYU to dominate Syracuse's secondary. He hauled in nine receptions for 179 yards with three TDs. Kearse ranks third in the nation with 143.5 receiving yards per game.

Defensive standout (s): Two strong performances from Bay Area teams. California linebacker Mohamed led the Bears defensive effort against Colorado with 14 tackles and an interception for a TD, while Stanford safety Michael Thomas had five tackles -- one for a loss -- and forced two fumbles in the shutout win against UCLA. The second forced fumble he returned 21 yards for a TD.

Special teams standout: Kenjon Barner returned a punt 80 yards for a TD, giving the Ducks three punt returns for scores in two games after Cliff Harris had two against New Mexico in the opener.

Smiley face: The Stanford defense, which recorded its first road shutout since 1974, a 35-zip blanking of UCLA. Also, the Pac-10, a week after going 6-4 in nonconference games, went 7-0 against nonconference foes, including wins against the Big 12 (Colorado), the SEC (Tennessee), the Big East (Syracuse) and the ACC (Virginia).

Frowny face: UCLA. The Bruins rank 115th in the nation in scoring, 115th in passing and 111th in total offense. The defense? It ranks 116th vs. the run and 102nd in scoring. And Arizona State's rushing offense, which only produced 56 yards on 29 carries against Northern Arizona. That's 1.9 yards per rush vs. an FCS team.

Sloppy: Look at the bottom of this list. Arizona State and USC rank 118th and 119th in penalty yards per game (112 and 120, respectively). Both have committed 24 penalties in their first two games. Yeech.

Quote of the week: "That's the most miserable 2-0 locker room I've ever been in," USC coach Lane Kiffin said after his Trojans beat Virginia.

Quote of the week II: "Tonight was an offensive disaster," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said after his Bruins were blanked.

Thought of the week: Here's are the top games (Oregon vs. Portland State is not included).

Iowa at Arizona
Arizona State at Wisconsin
Nebraska at Washington
Cal at Nevada (Friday)
Wake Forest at Stanford
Houston at UCLA
USC at Minnesota
Washington State at SMU
Louisville at Oregon State

The win-loss record on Saturday night will play a huge role in how the Pac-10 is perceived this season. And, Oregon fans, if you are starting to entertain national-title dreams, you should root hard for the conference to do well. And, yes, that includes the Huskies and Beavers. Saturday's results will resonate in both the national and computer polls -- and later the BCS standings.