Campus rewind: Saturday Classics

Let's start off the rewind with the three sensational games on Saturday night:

1. "Little Giants," big play: The play is called "Little Giants." With new kicker Dan Conroy lining up for a tying 46-yard field goal in overtime, Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio made the extremely gutsy decision to call a fake field goal. It worked perfectly as holder Aaron Bates hit a wide open Charlie Gantt for the touchdown, giving the Spartans a stunning 34-31 win over Notre Dame. Yes, gutsy call by Dantonio. But after watching the play develop and ultimately succeed, one thought came to mind: it was the only call to make. Michigan State needed this win. The Spartans have had some success under Dantonio. This call, however, is potentially a career changer for Dantonio and a season changer for the Spartans. Michigan State, now 3-0, should be ranked for the first time this season when the polls are released later. With Iowa losing, Wisconsin not looking impressive thus far, and Michigan needing a lot of work on defense, Michigan State could slide into the No. 2 or 3 spots in the Big Ten by the end of the season. The Spartans have a potent rushing attack (203 yards against Notre Dame) and Kirk Cousins is a good passer. A New Year's Day bowl or better would be a nice season. For Notre Dame, the offense is fine. Dayne Crist threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns. The defense, however, needs work. With the schedule the rest of the way, I think Notre Dame goes 8-4 or 7-5. The Irish have seven of their final nine games at home. Stanford, which has been very impressive, travels to South Bend next Saturday.

2. Iowa stumbles in the desert: Iowa's national title hopes are gone after a 34-27 loss to No. 24 Arizona. The No. 9 Hawkeyes, who will undoubtedly drop in the polls, couldn't overcome an extreme;y sloppy first half, getting into a 27-7 hole by halftime. Iowa rallied to tie the score at 27-27 in the fourth quarter, but Arizona quarterback Nick Foles, about as cool a player as I've seen this season, lead the Wildcats on the game-winning drive. Foles completed 4 of 5 passes on the drive, hitting William Wright from four yards out with 3:57 to go. Foles completed 28 pf 39 passes for 303 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Couple of thoughts: Arizona is going to be a contender in the Pac-10. Oregon is the favorite now, but the Wildcats can play. Iowa can still play their way into a BCS bowl and even win the Big Ten. But three things really stood out. Iowa's special teams need to improve. The Hawkeyes had a punt blocked to set up Arizona's first score, gave up a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown after closing the gap to 14-7 in the second quarter, and had a point-after blocked that would've given them a 28-27 lead in the fourth quarter after Broderick Binns returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown. Iowa's offensive line, usually a strong group, allowed Arizona to sack Ricky Stanzi four times on the final drive. Plus, Iowa managed just 29 yards rushing for the entire game. Iowa's defensive front is solid, but the cornerbacks are a weakness.

3. Auburn survives in overtime: I was surprised Auburn fell behind 17-3 at halftime against Clemson. Auburn rallied with 21 points in the third quarter and won it in overtime after Clemson kicker Chandler Catanzaro missed his second shot at tying the score. Catanzaro initially made a 27-yard field goal to tie it at 27-27. But a penalty pushed him back 5 yards and he missed the second try. Auburn won, 27-24, and improved to 3-0. Auburn quarterback Cameron Newton didn't have a great first half, but played much better in the second half. He finished 7 of 14 for 203 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He threw both touchdown passes during the third-quarter comeback. I expect Auburn to contend in the SEC West. Yes, Alabama is the favorite, but Auburn has already notched some tough wins. The Tigers won a tough game at Mississippi State and now the Clemson win.

4. Ranked road teams roll: Only two ranked road teams lost on Saturday: No. 9 Iowa at Arizona and No. 23 Houston at UCLA (star quarterback Case Keenum was hurt in the second quarter). No. 1 Alabama was impressive, destroying Duke 62-13 behind two touchdowns from Mark Ingram, playing for the first time this season after minor knee surgery. No. 10 Florida won at Tennessee and No. 18 USC won at Minnesota. No. 12 Arkansas had a nice win at Georgia. Two teams I was impressed with most: No. 6 Texas winning at Texas Tech and No. 8 Nebraska blowing out Washington. Texas hasn't had great success in Lubbock in the past. But this win was nice and it was good for new quarterback Garrett Gilbert, who was making his first road start. Gilbert engineered a nice drive in the fourth quarter, hitting Barrett Matthews for a 1-yard touchdown pass to make it 24-14, which ended up being the final score. Gilbert had three interceptions, but settled down and played well in the second half. It was definitely a game for Gilbert and the Longhorns to build on moving forward. I think Nebraska is the best team in the Big 12 right now. Freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez, making his first road start, was very impressive. He threw for 150 yards (7 of 11 completions) and a touchdown, and ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns in the 56-21 rout of Washington. We knew Nebraska had a solid defense this season (Washington quarterback Jake Locker was 4 of 20 for 71 yards with two interceptions). The offense looks equally potent, rolling up 533 yards of offense, including 383 on the ground, against the Huskies.