Well, well, well…a very interesting weekend of college football…interesting being the understatement of the year. Nearly all of the top ten struggled, putting the BCS up for grabs. Let’s have a look…

The Golden Gophers pull out their six victory in dramatic fashion, making them bowl eligible for the first time since 1986. As time ran out, kicker Dan Nystrom nailed a 32 yard field goal…destroying the Nittany Lions hopes of a perfect season.

Penn State took a 17-9 lead into the third quarter, but gave up two huge plays that led to Minnesota touchdowns. That gave the Gophers a 21-20 lead after a pair of failed two-point conversions. Penn State re-took the lead with just over 9 minutes remaining on a 44 yard field goal. Minnesota had one last chance at upsetting the number two team with just under a minute left in the contest. Back at his own 20 yard line, Gopher quarterback Billy Cockerham hit receiver Ron Johnson for a 46 yard gain. The Lion defense followed with three huge stands, causing two incomplete passes and adding a sack for a six yard loss. Faced with a fourth and 16, out of field goal range, Minnesota had to toss up a prayer. The prayer was answered, as the tipped pass fell into the hands of Arland Bruce at the Penn State 13 yard line. The Gophers ran the clock down to two seconds, moving the ball into the middle of the field to set up for Nystrom’s game-winning kick.

I figured PSU would lose sooner or later…just not to Minnesota! Both teams have been involved in some pretty close games this season…Penn State struggled with Pitt, Miami and Purdue…Minnesota barely lost to Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin. This week, the tables turned. Unfortunately for Penn State, the loss comes late in the season, leaving very little time to work their way up in the polls. The Nittany Lions dreams of a national title are now more or less just that…dreams. Congrats to Minnesota, they are guaranteed their first winning season since 1990 and look to be headed towards a bowl game.

Overall performance: Minnesota – A…Penn State – B-

Late in the second quarter, Tennessee only had a three point lead over the Irish…then they stepped up. After an 81 yard touchdown drive, the Vols took a 17-7 lead at the half. They looked even stronger in the third quarter, scoring another two touchdowns, sealing the victory. Tennessee quarterback Tee Martin looked amazing…throwing for three touchdowns and running for one. While the Vols did put on an impressive performance, let’s remember that they were playing Notre Dame…

Overall performance: Tennessee – B+…Notre Dame – C-

Go Hoos?!?!? It was pretty obvious up to this game that the Yellow Jackets biggest weakness was their defense. Joe Hamilton and the GT offense saved the Jackets from losing to North Carolina and Duke earlier in the season. Wouldn’t happen this time. Virginia’s running back and sudden Heisman candidate Thomas Jones had a phenomenal outing, rushing for 213 yards and two touchdowns. Georgia Tech suffered its second loss and is now eliminated from the BCS picture. And as much as I hate to say it…thank you, Virginia, for helping to boost Virginia Tech’s strength of schedule!

Overall performance: Virginia - B…Georgia Tech – C

Now this really surprised me. The Hurricanes looked pretty flat in their last couple of games, having to overcome huge deficits to beat Boston College and West Virginia. Pitt has put up some great fights this season, which led me to believe that this game would be a battle to the end…possibly resulting in a Pitt upset. Miami, once again saving its stuff for the fourth quarter, scored 23 unanswered points, making this one a blowout. I’ll tell you one thing…Virginia Tech is going to have its hands full next weekend. I have a feeling Miami will too.

Overall performance: Miami – B…Pittsburgh – C

Vanderbilt??? Maybe Florida State won’t have such a tough time in the Swamp after all…

K-State has to do better than that if they want to hang next week at Nebraska.

The Aggies are the biggest disappointment in football.

Ron Dayne wins the battle of the Heisman candidates, as Drew Brees’ impressive numbers were tainted with two key interceptions.

Marshall continues to add to the nation’s longest winning streak, beating always tough KENT.

A HUGE goal-line stand as time expired helped the Tide avoid the upset.

Congratulations to the Blazers on their first victory ever against a ranked team!

"I seen it hanging in the air, like, ‘Come get me! Come get me!’" – Minnesota receiver Arland Bruce on his miracle catch off a tipped pass.

Ron Dayne – Wisconsin. Dayne ran for 222 yards against Purdue. He needs just 99 more to break the division 1-A career rushing record.

Jamar Fletcher – Wisconsin. Fletcher had two interceptions against Drew Brees and Purdue, running one back 34 yards for a game-clinching touchdown.

LaVar Arrington – Penn State. Arrington had a personal best 15 tackles in the loss to Minnesota.

Michigan State Defense. The Spartans only allowed 79 total yards in their 23-7 victory over Ohio State.

I didn’t see too much poor sportsmanship on the gridiron, so I’ll give the award to that crazy lady who shot at her ex-husband/ABC cameraman before the Purdue – Wisconsin game.

Easy…Miami.

Not only can I not figure out the ruling on the strange kick-off return by West Virginia, I can’t for the life of me figure out what that dude was thinking when he tried to throw it to his teammate.

This weekend, to steal a quote from Tony Barnhart, "few teams in the top 10 played like they belonged there". Very true. The Hokies struggled against a weak West Virginia team, Florida struggled against Vanderbilt (of all teams) and Alabama struggled against a mediocre LSU squad. Not to mention the huge upsets of Penn State and Georgia Tech. Will anyone finish the year unbeaten? And with teams like Tennessee still in the hunt, will a perfect season make that much of a difference? It all makes for a pretty exciting November. I for one am looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

Take care, y’all. And as always…

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- Drew Jacobs

Drew Jacobs graduated from Tech in 1998 with a Marketing degree and is employed as a Marketing Communications Specialist with Videoconferencing Systems, Inc., where he serves, among other things, as the company's webmaster.