Under The Radar: 6 Weeks In--Things That Are Now True

Things That Are True in Week 6…That Would’ve Surprised Us in August:

1. The Big Ten’s Signature Non-Conference Win This Year is….. Maryland 34 Texas 29. First not many gave Maryland a chance to win that game. Second most thought Texas would be a fringe Top 25 team…which brings us to….

2. Texas Is a Playoff Contender: Among the 1-loss teams Texas has a strong resume. Yes we know Maryland beat Texas in week one but since then Texas has wins over #22 USC, #17 TCU and #7 Oklahoma. Texas also gets points for scheduling 2 power-5 non-conference games to go with 9 conference games. With games against Oklahoma State, West Virginia and a potential Big 12 Title Game the Longhorns have all the things they need to make their case…If (and it is a big "if") they take care of their business.

3. Alabama and Ohio State Air Raids: Alabama is averaging 345 yards per game through the air….and Ohio State is averaging 365 yards through the air. Somewhere Woody Hayes and Paul Bryant are scratching their heads.

4. Colorado is The Pac-12’s Lone Man Standing: At 5-0 Colorado is the last undefeated Pac-12 team. Why? It is a combination of a schedule that played out to be weaker than expected and the electric play of WR Laviska Chenault. Colorado’s opponents have a combined record of 6-21 (including winless Nebraska and UCLA and a game against FCS Opponent New Hampshire with a 1-4 record). The schedule does toughen with 7 games left against opponents with a 23-16 combined record.

5. A New Notre Dame QB Would Spark the Irish to Playoff Contention: After 3 weeks of offensive struggles against Michigan, Ball State and Vanderbilt, Irish Coach Brian Kelly changed QBs to Ian Book. Offensive point production nearly doubled from 23.3 points per game to 46.3 points per game. Total offense numbers also rose from 365 yards per game to 518 per game.

6. We Might Want To Play That NC State-WVU Game After All: After the game was cancelled after Hurricane Florence most people simply moved on. With both WVU and NC State now undefeated and ranked it would be a great match-up.

Screen Shot of The Week: The overuse of cameras everywhere –Pylon Cam, the Official’s Hat Cam—has been kind of fun. This screen shot from the LSU-Florida Pylon cam brings the action right to you. If we ever do get the 3-D TV thing again this would have people jumping out of their seats and spilling beers, sodas, chips, snacks…