College football Top 25 review - Week 9

#1 Texas vs #6 Oklahoma
Texas quarterback Colt McCoy turned the ball over twice late, but the Longhorn defense stood up and held the Cowboys off, 28-24. McCoy, a Heisman candidate, fumbled late in the 4th and threw a 3rd quarter interception, but will likely lose little momentum as he totaled 391 yards and a pair of touchdowns as well. More of a concern for Texas would be that Oklahoma made them look beatable, with running back Kendall Hunter totaling 161 yards and a TD on the ground and leading a unit that put up 416 total yards on the usually stout Longhorn defense.

#2 Alabama @ Tennessee
The Crimson Tide continued to roll against the overmatched Volunteers, 29-9. Alabama continued to make a case to be in the National Championship game, slapping 366 total yards on the reeling Tennessee squad. Roy Upchurch and Glen Coffee put together 164 yards on the ground and 2 TDs as Alabama played more than well enough to retain their #2 ranking.

#3 Penn State @ #9 Ohio State
Worried about another Buckeye meltdown in a National Championship game? Worry no more as they have stepped out of the competition with a 13-6 loss to the Nittany Lions. Ohio State turned the ball over twice and it was more than enough for a game which had been ruled by sharp defensive play. Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor fumbled in the fourth quarter with a three point lead. Penn State recovered, but found themselves without their quarterback as Daryll Clark had been injured. However, backup Pat Devlin came in and led a seven-play, 38-yard drive that took 4:13 and ended with him scoring a touchdown and giving Penn State the win.

#4 Oklahoma @ Kansas State
Sophomore DeMarco Murray had 167 and 4 touchdowns and fellow Sooner running back Chris Brown added 142 yards and a pair of TDs as Oklahoma State overwhelmed a game Wildcats team, 58-35. Sam Bradford’s solid play was overshadowed by the numbers put up by Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman’s career high 478 yards and 3 touchdowns. Unfortunately those stats came with three of the Wildcats’ five turnovers and the Sooners took off ran out to a big first half lead and then just bled the rest of the game away.

#5 USC @ Arizona
For most of the game, the Trojans’ offense couldn’t get the job done, so it was up to Rey Maualuga and the USC defense to hold the fort in USC’s 17-10 victory in the desert. USC kept normally solid Wildcat quarterback Willie Tuitama to a mere 88 yards with an interception thrown in for good measure. Trojan quarterback Mark Sanchez moved the ball between the 20s and compiled 216 yards, but just one touchdown to go with an interception. But it was USC’s defense which was the story, stopping the Wildcats several times late in the game. Maualuga knew it was big, telling ESPN - "Guys were out there saying, 'This will determine who we are,' " Maualuga said. While the offense didn’t seem sure, the defense made sure people knew who they were loud and clear….

The rest of the active top 25 –

#7 Georgia finished #13 LSU’s hunt for another National Title 52-38, lead by Knowshon Moreno’s standout performance of 163 yards and a touchdown…… Red Raider Quarterback Graham Harrell threw for 386 yards and five touchdowns as #8 Texas Tech trounced #23 Kansas 63-21…… #10 Florida blew Kentucky out 63-5, led by quarterback Tim Tebow’s four touchdowns (2 through the air, two on the ground)…..

Led by a school record 226 receiving yards and three touchdowns by Jimmy Young, #14 TCU thumped visiting Wyoming, 54-7……. Chase Daniel continued his exceptional play at quarterback (302 yds, 5TDs) for the #15 Missouri Tigers as they shut out visiting Colorado out, 58-0…..

Louisville’s solid and stout rush defense throttled #16 South Florida’s run game and the offense did enough for a 24-20 upset …. #17 Pittsburgh did no better as Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel threw for six touchdowns (five in the first half) and led the team through a porous Panther defense for a 54-34 win…. Running back Cedric Peerman rushed for 118 yards and the winning touchdown as Virginia upset #18 Georgia Tech 24-17 and secured the top spot in the ACC Coastal Division…. #20 Ball State avoided being fourth team in this group to lose their game as they beat Eastern Michigan, 38-16. Quarterback Nate Davis not only threw a pair of touchdowns but caught one as well…..

#21 BYU had to rally late against UNLV to squeak out a win, 42-35. Quarterback Max Hall threw for 245 yards and four touchdowns…. Not only did Indiana surprise the #22 Northwestern Wildcats 21-19, but ended a five game losing streak….. #24 Minnesota continued Purdue’s disappointing season, beating them 17-6, forcing 4 turnovers…. #25 Florida State beat Virginia Tech 30-20, led by receiver Greg Carr’s 100 yards on just three catches…..

Who will slip into the top 25 with so many teams at the tail end losing? Will we see some Pac-10 teams slip back in? Can there possibly be more SEC teams? Will be interesting to watch…..