Pressure to stay perfect taking its toll on teams

It was only a few weeks ago that ESPN sage Kirk Herbstreit told us not to worry about the high number of undefeated college football teams, saying the growing pressure to stay unbeaten would lop teams off the list week after week.

How correct he was. The casualty report started with Oklahoma and Wisconsin in Week 8 and has continued to include a total of seven teams. Last week it was Oklahoma State, plus defeats by three one-loss teams (Oregon, Oklahoma, Clemson) that were waiting in the BCS championship on-deck circle.

With two more weekends to go before the bowl bids come out, it's anyone's guess which teams will be playing for the big prize.

For Alabama, the job is to take care of business against Auburn and remain in contention for the BCS championship game.

It's also safe to say many Crimson Tide players also would like to get Trent Richardson enough yards to further burnish his credentials for the Heisman Trophy and other honors such as the Maxwell Award.

Richardson's focus is on the team. "I don't think of the Heisman race when it comes to this," he told the Associated Press. "I'm just worried about this ball game here. I just know when I do get out there, I have to showcase everything I've got."

No Heisman candidate is hotter than Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, who threw for 479 yards in the Bears' upset of Oklahoma a week ago.

With a win over Texas Tech at Cowboys Stadium, the Bears have a chance to get to the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 6, and Griffin may get to New York for the Heisman presentation, and then who knows? He leads the nation in total offense at 412.2 yards per game, but like Richardson, he is thinking of the team, which lost its last four games in 2010.

"We know we've got to finish the job this year," he told the Austin American-Statesman. "We won't be riding last week's high."

David Shaw doesn't understand the BCS ranking system. That doesn't make the Stanford coach unique, but he believes that he deserves an explanation for how Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech are ranked ahead of his No. 6 Cardinal.

"Oklahoma State is outstanding," he said during his weekly news conference. "But we lost to a team [Oregon] that's in the top 10. They lost to a team [Iowa State] that's not ranked. I don't get it."

He also said he believes that the Pac-12 is better than the ACC, so one-loss Stanford should be above one-loss Virginia Tech. The Cardinal need a win over Notre Dame to stay in the national title chase.

Brady Hoke, Michigan's first-year coach, has ruffled some feathers since his hiring by referring to his team's archrival to the south as "Ohio" instead of Ohio State.

So, he was asked at his news conference this week, why does he leave out "State" when talking about the team?

"Always have," he said.

OK, since what time?

"Always. So whenever always is," he replied.

Even though he grew up in Ohio, Hoke has called the rivalry "almost personal," and that should be evident in his players when the teams meet at the Big House.

The Big Ten hasn't made an impact in the BCS standings this season, and it's possible that the loser of the conference's first-ever championship game - Michigan State, Wisconsin, or Penn State - won't get an at-large bid.

The Spartans are the highest-rated team in the BCS this week, at No. 14, the last rung where a team may be considered for an at-large bid. The winner of the conference title game goes to the Rose Bowl, a BCS game. Michigan is ranked 15th and has a shot at the top 14 with a win over Ohio State.

Hoke noted that with the "competitiveness that's shown every Saturday, I don't know why they wouldn't" have an at-large team from the Big Ten.

While everyone will be paying attention to Richardson in Saturday's Alabama-Auburn game, the Tigers' Mike Dyer will try to attract some of his own at tailback.

Dyer, the offensive MVP of last year's national title game as a freshman, has rushed for 1,194 yards behind an offensive line that has made a number of changes this season.

"I think he is an outstanding running back," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "He's probably as good as anybody we've played against this year."

At 6-foot-6 and 254 pounds, redshirt sophomore quarterback Logan Thomas of Virginia Tech is a load to take down. He already has run for nine touchdowns this season, topping Michael Vick's regular-season record for a quarterback during the 25-year era of head coach Frank Beamer.

Against Georgia Tech, Thomas had one quarterback "sneak" in which he knocked down defenders up the middle like so many bowling pins and went 12 yards for a touchdown.

Oklahoma still is wondering how it managed to give up 616 yards - the most in the history of the program - in last week's loss to Baylor.

The Sooners secondary, which had called itself "the Sharks" based on a Lil Wayne song, was torched for 479 yards by Griffin. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said the problems in the defensive backfield were a matter of bad communication, an inability to play at the Bears' pace, and simply poor coverage.

The secondary will have to step it up in the next two weeks against dynamic quarterbacks - Iowa State's Jared Barnett and Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden.

Maryland had gone since 1892 without a 10-loss season until two years ago, and now the Terrapins are trying to avoid double digits in that department once again.

The Terps, losers of seven in a row, play at North Carolina State looking to finish at 3-9 in coach Randy Edsall's first year. Maryland's last three losses have been by a total of 63 points.

"Anything that probably could have gone wrong this year has gone wrong," Edsall told the AP. "I don't know what else could come up. But you deal with it."

1. Louisiana State 12-0

2. Alabama 10-1

3. Houston 12-0

4. Stanford 10-1

5. Virginia Tech 10-1

6. Arkansas 10-2

7. Oklahoma State 10-1

8. Boise State 9-1

9. Oregon 9-2

10. Oklahoma 8-2

- Joe Juliano

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TOP CHOICE

Penn State at Wisconsin, 3:30 p.m., ESPN; WNTP-AM (990), WNPV-AM (1440): This one is for all the marbles in the Leaders Division, with the winner facing Michigan State in the first Big Ten Conference championship game. The Badgers have run wild at home, where they are averaging more than 52 points in their six games there, while the Nittany Lions are allowing only 13 per game this season. The Lions hope that they can score points with the help of the Wildcat offense they introduced last week.

PICK SIX

Ohio State at Michigan, noon, 6ABC: The Wolverines have an outside shot at a bid for a BCS bowl, but they must post a win, which would break a seven-game losing streak against the hated Buckeyes.

Alabama at Auburn, 3:30 p.m., CBS3: The Crimson Tide seek their share of the SEC West crown, plus they want to make people forget about their el foldo against their archrival last year.

Virginia Tech at Virginia, 3:30 p.m., 6ABC: Some strange stuff has to happen for the Hokies to reach the BCS championship game, but anything is possible after the carnage of last week.

Texas Tech vs. Baylor, 7 p.m., CSN: Robert Griffin III gets one more chance to put up big numbers to impress Heisman Trophy voters against one of the nation's worst pass defenses.

Clemson at South Carolina, 7:45 p.m., ESPN: The Tigers have lost two of their last three and need a win over their intrastate rival to go into next week's ACC title game with momentum.

Notre Dame at Stanford, 8 p.m., 6ABC; WPEN-FM 97.5: The Cardinal have two reasons to perform well - position in the BCS standings in case other teams falter and getting Andrew Luck's name back to the top of the list of Heisman Trophy candidates.

- Joe Juliano
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