Helmet Stickers: Week 4

ACC—In Thursday night’s national spotlight game, the Hurricanes made a talented Pitt team look impotent. The Hurricanes hung up 31 points and only allowed the Panthers to get a field goal. Miami had nine tackles for loss; the Miami defense currently leads the nation in tackles for loss. Randy Shannon played linebacker under Dave Wannstedt when Wanny was the defensive coordinator for Miami from 1986 to 1988.

Big 12—In a game delayed an hour and a half due to rain, Kansas State was able to get a win, despite being outgained by UCF 344 yards to 272 yards.UCF was winning the game 13-10 with 5:14 left to play. Kansas State was able to put together a 67-yard drive for a touchdown and a 17-13 lead. The Wildcats proved their offense is more than just Daniel Thomas; Thomas was more or less held in check by the UCF defense, 76 yards and a fumble. Kansas State has its first 4-0 start since 2003. Bill Snyder has righted the ship in Manhattan.

Big East—With the Big East getting tossed around by everybody, Connecticut earns a helmet sticker this week for something fairly rare in the Big Least right now—winning a nonconference game. UConn got its first FBS win of the season over the Buffalo Bulls, 45-21. Randy Edsall’s team plays a well-disciplined brand of football, committing only two penalties for a total of 10 yards.

Big Ten—Penn State racked up its best quality win so far this season over Temple on Saturday. Temple scored 13 points in the first quarter, but the Penn State defense was able to make adjustments and shut out the Owls for the remainder of the game. Penn State was helped by the fact that Temple running back Bernard Pierce left the game with an ankle injury in the third quarter. Penn State running back Evan Royster had a career day with 187 yards rushing. Penn State has not lost to Temple since 1941.

C-USA—After losing to South Carolina in their opener, Southern Miss has regrouped put together three straight wins. The Golden Eagles held off a late surge by Louisiana Tech to get a 13-12 win. The Southern Miss defense forced four turnovers, three of which were interceptions. Golden Eagles quarterback Austin Davis passed for 233 yards and ran for 69 yards. Southern Miss is well on its way to its 17^th consecutive winning season.

MAC—Toledo upset Purdue 31-20. Toledo quarterback Austin Dantin threw two touchdowns and rushed for an additional two. Toledo wide receiver Eric Page had ten catches for 94 yards. The Rockets came away with their first win in West Lafayette since 1992. The Rockets look to be the team to beat in the MAC West. Toledo has won their last three contests and is 2-0 in conference play.

MWC—The Horned Frogs picked up their fourth win over a well-coached, up and coming Southern Methodist team. TCU receiver Jeremy Kerley racked up 245 all-purpose yards. Andy Dalton tied the school touchdown record with his 49^th touchdown pass. TCU got its 18^th straight regular season victory.

Pac-10—UCLA engineered a huge upset over No. 7 Texas. UCLA ran for 290 yards on Texas, who had the best rush defense in the FBS prior to the game. UCLA’s defense forced the Longhorns to turn over the ball five times—four fumbles and one interception. Mack Brown admitted to being embarrassed. UCLA got its first road victory against a ranked opponent since 2001.

SEC—No. 1 Alabama got all they could handle from No. 10 Arkansas. When it looked like Alabama would take a loss, the Crimson Tide buckled down and scored 17 unanswered points in the last sixteen minutes of the game. Arkansas squandered a 20-7 lead to lose the game 24-20. The Tide’s defense picked off Heisman candidate Ryan Mallett three times. Mark Ingram was reliable as usual, rushing for 157 yards.

Sun Belt—North Texas got its first win of the season in its Sun Belt opener versus Florida Atlantic. North Texas has been winless since beating Western Kentucky on Halloween last year. Third-string quarterback, and son of the head coach, Riley Dodge was 10 for 15 on the day. Running back James Hamilton amassed 122 yards. The Mean Green are perfect in conference play so far, 1-0.

WAC—I was one of those Bronco doubters, but I’ll admit that Boise State had an impressive primetime win against a good Oregon State program on Saturday. If they can run the table the rest of the way, they deserve another BCS bowl game. Kellen Moore, Austin Pettis, Titus Young, and Doug Martin could go head to head and win against just about any defense in the country. The Broncos outgained the Beavers 469 to 237, almost double. The Broncos are 6-1 against BCS conference schools since 2006.