ACC
Florida State and Georgia Tech rebounded from devastating losses to Big 12 teams last week with big wins this week. The Seminoles used a dominant running game to overwhelm BYU, and Georgia Tech racked up 448 yards of offense against the Tar Heels. Elsewhere, Virginia Tech's offense found footing in a 49-27 win over East Carolina and North Carolina State continued its run of success by beating Cincinnati Thursday night.
After surging to a 17-0 lead behind quarterback Kyle Parker and its defense, Clemson collapsed in the third quarter and blew numerous chances late before losing 27-24 in overtime at Auburn. Maryland was unable to contain West Virginia's speedy offense, and Wake Forest and Duke were completely overwhelmed by Stanford and Alabama, respectively.
Big 12
The Big 12 looked strong in Week 3. Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez outplayed Heisman candidate Jake Locker in Nebraska's rout over Washington in Seattle, and Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden totaled six touchdowns against Tulsa in a 65-28 win. Elsewhere, Missouri receiver T.J. Moe bolted to the end zone in the closing seconds to save Missouri from being shocked by San Diego State at home. Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert overcame early mistakes to lead the Longhorns to a road win over Texas Tech, and Colorado dominated Hawaii in the second half en route to a 31-13 win.
Oklahoma survived a huge scare from Air Force, thanks mostly to the work of runner DeMarco Murray, while running back Daniel Thomas helped Kansas State defeat Iowa State in Kansas City.
Coming off the huge win over Georgia Tech last week, Kansas struggled in a 31-16 loss to Southern Mississippi Friday. TCU dominated Baylor as quarterback Robert Griffin struggled against the Horned Frogs' speedy defense.
Big East
West Virginia bolted to a 21-0 lead against Maryland and finished off the Terps in Morgantown, while Syracuse made up for early blunders and cruised to an easy win over Maine.
The rest of the conference wasn't so lucky.
Cincinnati looked overmatched at times against North Carolina State's defense, and Louisville fought valiantly before falling short against Oregon State. MAC power Temple knocked off UConn 30-16 in a huge non-conference win for the Owls.
Big Ten
Although Iowa took a tumble against Arizona, it was mostly a week of miracles for the Big Ten.
Michigan State pulled off one of the gutsiest plays in recent memory, throwing a touchdown pass on a fake field goal to defeat Notre Dame 34-31 in overtime. Wisconsin avoided disaster at home by blocking an extra point after an Arizona State touchdown in the closing minutes. Illinois rallied to defeat Northern Illinois, and Denard Robinson authored another gem as Michigan survived a scare against UMass in Ann Arbor.
Ohio State, Northwestern and Penn State all cruised to easy wins.
Conference USA
Week 3 was very unkind to Conference USA.
Although Southern Mississippi and Southern Methodist pulled off wins over BCS Conference opponents, the rest of the conference wasn't so fortunate.
After breaking into the top 25, Houston lost star quarterback Case Keenum for the season en route to a surprising 31-13 loss to UCLA. Tulsa and East Carolina were unable to stop Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech respectively, and both Marshall and Rice struggled in losses.
Independents
After struggling on offense early in the season, Navy finally figured things out during a 37- point performance against Louisiana Tech as quarterback Ricky Dobbs totaled over 300 yards of offense. Army improved to 2-1 on the young season with a 24-0 win over North Texas.
Despite a strong performance by quarterback Dayne Crist, Notre Dame fell to 1-2 after the heartbreaking 34-31 overtime defeat to Michigan State at East Lansing.
MAC
Al Golden recorded an impressive non-conference win over favored UConn Saturday as running back Bernard Pierce ran for 169 yards to lead the Owls to a 30-16 win over Jordan Todman and the Huskies. Elsewhere, Bowling Green and Miami of Ohio also authored wins against non- conference foes.
Despite allowing 416 yards of offense, Toledo handed Western Michigan a second-consecutive conference loss with a 37-24 win Saturday.
Northern Illinois sprinted to an early lead against Illinois before falling short, and Kent State hung around against Penn State despite being shut out. Akron looked awful in the 47-10 loss to Kentucky, and Eastern Michigan was routed 56-14 by Central Michigan.
MWC
Utah and TCU just keep right on winning.
Terrance Cain played flawlessly while again filling in for starting quarterback Jordan Wynn as the Utes destroyed New Mexico, and Ed Wesley rushed for 149 yards as TCU ripped Baylor
Saturday.
Elsewhere, San Diego State and Air Force suffered nail-biting road losses to Big 12 teams.
The Aztecs got a 228-yard rushing performance from emerging star running back Ronnie Hillman before allowing a 68-yard catch and run to Missouri's T.J. in the closing seconds to fall short of the Tigers.
Despite the lack of a prolific passing attack, Air Force rolled up over 350 yards rushing and nearly rallied past Oklahoma in Norman.
Wyoming and Colorado State appear to be entering rebuilding mode after suffering big losses Saturday.
Pac-10
Mike Stoops looked as if he wouldn't make it through the agony of the fourth quarter Saturday night in Arizona, but Nick Foles and the Wildcats managed to score a late touchdown and hold off the top 10 Iowa Hawkeyes. Elsewhere, Oregon State held off Charlie Strong's Louisville team and UCLA knocked out Houston's top two quarterbacks to pull off a 31-13 upset in the Rose Bowl.
Stanford's' Andrew Luck destroyed Wake Forest both as a passer and a runner Saturday night as the Cardinals produced a 68-24 win over the Demon Deacons in Palo Alto.
On the losing end, Arizona State suffered a tough loss to Wisconsin in Madison and Nevada ran all over Cal Friday night in a 52-31 win.
SEC
If Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett wasn't a Heisman candidate before, he certainly is now after a strong performance against Georgia. Cam Newton overcame early mistakes to lead Auburn to a thrilling comeback win over Clemson in overtime, and Florida and LSU just kept on winning.
Mark Ingram celebrated his return to action by bolting for 151 yards on just nine carries as top- ranked Alabama routed Duke.
Elsewhere, things went from bad to worse for head coach Houston Nutt, as Vanderbilt dominated his Mississippi team en route to a 28-14 win in Oxford.
Sun Belt
It was another week filled with non-conference losses for the Sun Belt, as Middle Tennessee State, Florida International and Troy suffered close losses.
Arkansas State recorded its first win of the season as dual-threat quarterback Ryan Aplin threw for 243 yards and added 75 yards on the ground for the Red Wolves in the 34-20 win over
Louisiana-Monroe.
WAC
Finally, Nevada has a marquee non-conference win. Colin Kaepernick and the Wolfpack dominated Cal Friday night in a 52-31 win that featured Kaepernick scoring five touchdowns.
Elsewhere, Boise State destroyed Wyoming and Fresno State recorded a big win over Utah State. San Jose State registered its first win of the season by barely hanging on to defeat Southern Utah.
Hawaii led early, but wilted late against Colorado as the Buffs exploded for 452 yards of offense, and Louisiana Tech came up short against Navy's powerful rushing attack.
