In the SEC Alabama rains supreme above all else. This weekend the Crimson Tide was supposed to have a little bit of a challenge going up against the Vols in Rocky Top Country. From the very beginning Alabama had control and took the crowd out of this game. For some reason the Heisman voters are not paying attention to Quarterback AJ McCarron. They may want to take another look now as he put up 306 yards and 4 touchdowns against a top SEC defense. Nick Saban again and again is faced with challenges and is supposed to feel a little heat, but once those Crimson colors take the field, all bets are off.

The highlight game of the weekend took place in the number seven Gamecocks taking on the number two Florida Gators. Jeff Driskel absolutely went off against a struggling South Carolina defense. Driskel threw for only 94 yards, but he also threw for four touchdowns. You would have thought South Carolina would have come into this game with a chip on their shoulder after being dismantled by LSU last week. But Florida did exactly what LSU did in shutting down the Gamecocks two top stars in Clowney and Lattimore. The Gators have tied their total number of wins with last year and they still have a month of the season left. Florida does not have a high powered offense or defense, but it seems like everyone continues to underestimate them and clearly when teams do that they walk out of the swap hanging their heads.

With Heisman Trophy implications the Kansas State Wildcats and Collin Klein traveled to Morgantown to take on West Virgina and Geno Smith. Two of the best offenses in the country and an affair that was expected to reach of 100 combined points became a one sided upset. The Wildcat defense shutdown Geno Smith and held him to only 143 and two touchdowns. His counter part Collin Klein blew up the already struggling Mountaineer defense with 323 yards and seven touchdowns. After the first quarter West Virgina had no answer to Klein and the Wildcat offense. Tavon Austin and others tried to bring life back into the Mountaineer offense, but then his kick off return for a touchdown was brought back , because of a block in the back. The separation between Smith and Klein in the Heisman race grew quite alot of a dominating win by the Wildcats.

Other notable games were Kenjon Barner and the Oregon Ducks Blowing out the Arizona State Sun Devils as Will Sutton goes out with an injured knee in the first quarter. Texas bounced back against Baylor in a ol’ fashion Big 12 Shootout. LSU and the Tiger defense held on as the took down SEC newcomer Texas A&M in College Station. Notre Dame wins another nail biter as they stay undefeated against BYU. USC Quarterback Matt Barkley broke Matt Leinart’s touchdown record and now is the Trojans leading touchdown leader of all time as he threw six total against Colorado.

Week 8 Results:

Oregon 43-21 Arizona State

Baylor 50-56 Texas

Alabama 44-13 Tennessee

South Carolina 11-44 Florida

Kansas State 55-14 West Virgina

BYU 14-17 Notre Dame

LSU 24-19 Texas A&M

Texas Tech 56-53 TCU

BCS Standings:

1. Alabama

2. Florida

3. Kansas State

4. Oregon

5. Notre Dame

Heisman Watch:

1. Collin Klein – Quarterback Kansas State

2. Manti Te’o – Linebacker Notre Dame

3. Kenjon Barner – Runningback Oregon

For postgame quotes and a recap of the Hokies 38-17 loss, head on over to the Collegiate Times. With the Hokies falling to 4-4, hopes of a Coastal Division crown have fallen, but it’s not devastating.

Here’s some thoughts/notes on Saturday’s contest at Memorial Stadium.

1. The defense played good enough to win.

38 points says otherwise, but Bud Foster’s unit played outstanding. Of the two Clemson touchdowns in the first half, one was an interception return. The other was a 26-yard drive set up by the punt that hit Christian Reeves in the back of the leg. Despite allowing just 137 yards of total offense, the Hokies were down 17-10 at halftime.

In the second half, the defense forced five three-and-outs of the eight Clemson drives. Of course, those three other drives were touchdowns, but Tech wasn’t exactly winning the field position battle. The three Tigers’ touchdown drives: 52, 47, and 31 yards.

That’s not even taking into account the fact that Detrick Bonner stripped Sammy Watkins on the second touchdown drive, which may have been one of the worst reviews in the technology’s history. (We’ll come back to this.)

All in all, the defense allowed 295 total yards of offense. To put that in perspective, Clemson’s previous low for offensive output was 426 yards against FSU, and averaged 525 yards coming in.

2. Same story, different chapter. The run game ultimately hindered the Virginia Tech offense.

It’s not like the Hokies had to air out a comeback; Clemson never took a 14-point lead until 4:30 remaining in the third quarter. Virginia Tech even handily won the time of possession battle at 33:57 to 26:03. Logan Thomas rushed for a season-high 99 yards, but the four running backs (Gregory, Scales, Coleman, Holmes) combined for just 93 yards on 26 carries (3.4 yards per carry).

If it’s been said once, it’s been said a million times. It’s extremely difficult for Tech to win when it’s Logan Thomas vs. The Opponent’s Defense.

3. Refs don’t decide games, but they provided the contest’s turning point.

Down by seven points in the third quarter, Thomas appeared to get off a pass to a wide-open Coleman with a defender attempting to bring him down. However, the referee had blown the play dead as a sack, and the Hokies punted.

Two plays later, Bonner appeared to strip Watkins on a first-down catch that the Hokies recovered. During the review, clear evidence of the ball being dislodged before Watkins’ fanny hit the ground was shown. For the Hokie faithful, it seemed as if the offense would get another shot to tie the game. As we all know, the call wasn’t overturned, and the Tigers took a 24-10 lead 5 plays later.

4. Two coaching decisions didn’t cost the game, but it certainly didn’t help.

Up 7-0 and facing a fourth-and-a long one at the Clemson 18, Beamer elected to give the ball to Michael Holmes, who was immediately stopped in the backfield. (Martin Scales, anyone?) Getting a two-score lead in Clemson certainly seemed like the logical choice.

To add insult to injury, the playcall for the Marcus Davis-double pass was severely ill-timed. Beamer said that the play had been open earlier in the game, so they tried it again. Did it ever occur to anyone on the staff that somebody from Clemson saw what Tech was trying to do, and made a halftime adjustment for it? Or just the plain fact that the Clemson defense is expecting a trick-play of that sort up 14?

Oy.

The Hokies have a bye week coming up, and Florida State comes into town the following Thursday. It should be noted that the Hokies are 4-0 at Lane Stadium this season.

Coming off of a heartbreak loss last week against the LSU Tigers, the Gamecocks are going to be welcomed to Gainesville as an Underdog. Florida is undefeated and the number two team in the country and possibly the most underrated team in the country as well. If the Gators can shut down Jadeveon Clowney as the Tigers did then they may just have a chance. The only issue would be then trying to slowdown Marcus Lattimore and that powerful run game. South Carolina does not lose two back to back games very often and the ol’ ball coach I do not believe will let that happen. The Gamecocks will be well prepared and will bring the heat against the Gators tonight and even though the game is in the swamp it is very likely that you may hear a, ” Let’s give a cheer cause Carolina is here.”

Showdown in Morgantown this weekend as the Mountaineers look to rebound from their loss in Lubbock and welcome the undefeated Kansas State Wildcats. West Virgina was not supposed to lose last week in which would have made this match-up even more crucial, but since they did it is not as big of a game. Since both teams are still in the national title hunt this game still has many implications when it comes to that glass football. Geno Smith currently leads the Heisman boards, but right behind him is Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein. Many experts believe that whoever performs better in this game will become the front runner and will be hard to knock off the rest of the season. The Wildcats are not going to be able to come in with a game plan of trying to stop Geno Smith, because that clearly cannot be done. You have to take away his weapons. Make him run and stay in cover two and he will have a very hard time getting positive yards. It seems Kansas State has this win sewn up, except for the fact the game is in a stadium where many opponents come in and have a very hard time winning. This game will define what kind of player Geno Smith is, whether he is a great player when he plays horrible defenses or if he is a warrior who can bring the life back in his team. I see Collin Klein having a big first half, but in the end Geno Smith will rally from a first half deficit and defeat the undefeated Wildcats.

Thursday night there is a game that many people think should be a easy win. Oregon has played the majority of their games this season at home against not very good teams. This week that travel to Tempe to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils. Todd Graham has done an absolute stellar job disciplining and creating a team who can actually compete in a tough conference. The Sun Devils have only lost one game when they traveled to Missouri a few weeks ago. Taylor Kelly has been more than just impressive this season and has really taken a leadership role in Tempe this season. The only thing I see the Sun Devils having a problem with is De’Anthony Thomas, Kenjon Barner, Marcus Mariota, oh and the entire Oregon defense who has simply shut every opponent down this season.  The Ducks have outscored the Sun Devils in Tempe 175-81 the last four time they have visited. Oregon is also eighth in the country in total yards to Arizona State’s twenty-fourth and the Ducks rank fourth in the country in rushing yards against the Sun Devils coming in at 41st. Their may be a bit of a game in the first half, but in the end Oregon is just too fast and too powerful in every category and I don’t see the upset happening in Tempe. This game will have plenty of implications though. Both teams are tied for top team in the PAC-12 and the winner of this game will be number one in the conference.

Other notable games this weekend are Baylor taking on the Longhorns who will try to come back after that embarrassing loss against the Sooners last week. Alabama will traveling to Knoxville and try to avoid the upset on Rocky Top. LSU will have to face the infamous twelfth man in College Station as the Aggies are ready to rumble and ruin the Tigers national title hopes.

College Gameday will be in Gainesville, Florida.

Week 8 Predictions:

Oregon 55-37 Arizona State

Baylor 24-35 Texas

Alabama 49-21 Tennessee

South Carolina 31-27 Florida

Kansas State 37-42 West Virgina

Upset of the Week:

LSU 18-21 Texas A&M

The Sooners of Oklahoma handed the Texas Longhorns their worst loss since before Bob Stoops was born. No one for Oklahoma had particularly great stats, they just simply outplayed Texas in every way. Their defense could not contain Landry Jones and anytime Oklahoma was within ten yards of a touchdown that brought in Blake Bell who Belldozed his way through the Longhorn defense, similar to what Tim Tebow used to do for Florida. Biggest play of the game was when Texas had finally backed the Sooners up to their five yard line and maybe Texas could get a stop and get good field position. Next play was a hand off from Landry Jones to Damien Williams which became a 95-yard touchdown run and the longest run ever in this rivalry. Texas is going to have to regroup and change their game plan so they can at least compete the rest of the season.

Before Saturday West Virgina looked like a National Championship contender and Geno Smith was ready to be handed the Heisman trophy. I don’t know if the Mountaineers were already preparing for next week’s showdown against undefeated Kansas State, but they were swallowed in Lubbock. Texas Tech stacked on 49 points against West Virgina, which is not too surprising Baylor and Texas did a similar thing to the Mountaineer defense. But what was surprising was the complete shutdown of Geno Smith. From the beginning all the way to the end the Red Raiders outplayed West Virgina. Geno Smith threw for a season low in 275 yards and one touchdown. They better change something and change it quick, because the undefeated Wildcats are on the horizon.

LSU finally held on to a lead and beat the number three team in the land in South Carolina. The only thing that the Gamecocks were out-gained in was total yards 406 to 211. The Tigers desperately needed a win here to even stay remotely in the national title talk after there beating in Gainesville last week. For South Carolina they need to regroup and do exactly what they have done all season, because they will be taking on the undefeated number two team in the Florida Gators this week and will need every weapon and have it ready to go. I do not think the Gamecocks will be in a downward slope from now on. They are too strong and too good to let that happen. They need to come out and make a statement against the Gators next weekend.

Other notable games were Notre Dame stopping Stanford in overtime with a goal line stand to stay undefeated. USC took down the Huskies in Seattle. Alabama came off of their bye week and put a beating on Missouri in Columbia giving them once again another SEC welcome.

Week 7 Results:

USC 24-14 Washington

Texas 21-63 Oklahoma

Alabama 42-10 Missouri

West Virgina 14-49 Texas Tech

South Carolina 21-23 LSU

Stanford 13-20 Notre Dame

BCS Standings:

1. Alabama

2. Florida

3. Oregon

4. Kansas State

5. Notre Dame

Heisman Watch:

1. Geno Smith – QB West Virgina

2. Braxton Miller – QB Ohio State

3. Collin Klein – QB Kansas State

New Hokies head coach James Johnson addressed the media earlier today before Tech’s first practice of the 2012-13 season. Here are some of the topics Johnson spoke about (also, here’s a video of two dunks during a 5-man weave drill at the start of practice):

What he hopes to learn from the team in preseason: “Just trying to learn how the way we want to play. We want to play a little faster, try and get up and down the floor…learn who can play multiple positions, see what we can get from our freshmen, maybe we can see if one of the walk-ons to give us some minutes.”

Expectations in camp: “We want to get better everyday. We want to work as hard as we can and get better everyday; individually, and as a team. And then we’ll go from there.”

On Erick Green saying conditioning has been tougher: “(laughs) I kind of agree with that. That’s part of trying to play at a faster pace, and also we want to make sure we’re well-conditioned. We don’t have a lot of bodies, so the guys that are playing I want to make sure they’re in really good condition to be able to play extensive minutes.”

How up-tempo can the offense be? “Offensively we’re gonna wanna play fast, ss fast as we can, and then we’ll see where we’re are. And that’s something I’ll learn in preseason practice with preseason scrimmages.”

On defense: “Defense is my staple. It was as a player, it was at my stop at George Mason…and we were very successful there. Defense is always going to be a big key for us.”

On transition from assistant coach to head coach: “It makes the transition a lot smoother, and it makes the guys’ transition smoother too. They know me and what to expect from me. I know their strengths, their weaknesses, and the things that they need to work on…and the type of person they are.

How much will offense rely on Erick Green: “He’s gonna be a focal part of our offense, our entire team.”

On Freshman Marshall Wood: “[Wood] is having some great individual workouts. He can really shoot the basketball and is very athletic. We’re looking forward to seeing what he’s able to do and also where he’ll fit in.”

How different will practice will be: “I think it’s gonna be a little more up-and-down. We’ll do a few more full court drills, and a lot more competitive things…guys going against each other [orange against maroon], and losers having to run or do some push-ups. So it will be a little more competitive.”

On Green: “He’s had an unbelievable summer, and a great fall. We do look forward to him upping his point-per-game average, and in fact his total game. He’s our senior leader, and we all know what he needs to do for us. I think he’s up to it.

Where Green will play: “We’re gonna play him at the point. If we have to play three guards, we’ll do some things to get up and down the floor. That’s a luxury we have, we have some guys that can have the ball in full court and be able to make plays.”

The three guards: “Brown, Green, and Eddie.”

On being selected to finish amongst the bottom 4 in ACC: “It is what it is. People can say whatever, but we have to play the games regardless…whether we were picked 1st or picked 12th, you still gotta play. We’re gonna go to work and prepare for a tough season here.”

On his personal expectations for the team: “I think every time we take the floor we want to win. It’s all about getting better every single day, and get as good as we can possibly. And how good that is, we don’t know yet. But the first thing we’re gonna do is get better every time we take the floor, and everything else is going to take care of itself.”

Follow @MikeMoooch on Twitter for Hokies football and basketball coverage

This week we have the annual Red River Rivalry where the Sooners and the Longhorns will butt heads once again in the Cotton Bowl. If Texas would have been victorious last week against West Virgina this game would mean a bit more, especially to the Longhorns. If Oklahoma was not upset a few weeks ago this game would mean more too them as well. Regardless, each team is going in with one loss and still very much in  national title contention. Overall looking at both of these teams the Longhorns have been a much better team and have had more nationally televised games in which they have preformed very well. This game will come down to who decides too be more accurate David Ash or Landry Jones. Whoever steps up into leadership position will end up coming away with a victory.

The big showdown this week is once again in the SEC at it will be happening on prime-time in Death Valley. LSU is struggling right now and will be ready to take on the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks. The Tigers will finally have their home fans cheering and as every team that has played in Death Valley, the place gets loud and not just loud it gets really really loud. The only thing LSU is going to have a problem with is the fact that on one side of the ball the Gamecocks have Marcus Lattimore who seems to simply run  over everyone in his path and Jadeveon Clowney on the other side that has been terrorizing offenses since he was the number one defensive recruit out of high school two years ago. Les Miles does not lose very often at home and the last time he lost back to back games was in 2008. If South Carolina can shut the crowd up early they will be on their way to take on Florida next week still undefeated.

The last time College Gameday was in South Bend the Irish lost to USC in a nail-biter in 2005. The undefeated Irish will be welcoming the once loss Stanford Cardinal who beat then number one USC, had a bye week, then lost two unranked Washington. This will be a great test to see if the Cardinal can hang with the big boys in the top 10. Notre Dame still is not being respected as a top team and if they can come out on top this week against the Cardinal the will gain much needed respect. Stanford likes to keep games close so I wouldn’t look for a blowout from anyone, but if its close in the fourth an upset may be headed Notre Dame’s way.

College Gameday is in South Bend, Indiana

Week 7 Predictions:

Arizona State 44-13 Colorado

Texas 31-30 Oklahoma

South Carolina 24-17 LSU

West Virgina 55-45 Texas A&M

USC 27-14 Washington

Upset of the Week

Stanford 45-42 Notre Dame