More than any other variable -- Oklahoma's inexperienced offense, Adrian Peterson's tender ankle, Texas' dominant offensive line and defense -- it is Young's presence that should give the 'Horns some long-lacking confidence when they face the Sooners on Saturday. "I'm feeling more at home; Coach is letting me be me," said Young. "Knowing the offense a little bit more and all the protection schemes and things like that ... if the [Sooners] throw different things at me, I am prepared for them this year."

It's not the first time we've heard that from a Texas quarterback during Oklahoma week. This time, however, there's reason to believe him.

Scoping out the country

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• In preparation for Saturday night's showdown with Ohio State, Penn State coaches will be watching tape of the Buckeyes' Sept. 10 loss to Texas for hints, but they already have a leg up. Offensive coordinator Galen Hall and quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno visited Austin last spring to study how the Longhorns use the mobile Young in spread formations. Many of those aspects were evident in last weekend's 44-14 win over Minnesota, in which Nittany Lions QB Michael Robinson ran for 112 yards on 18 carries. He will be facing a much more athletic defense, however, against Ohio State, which figures to put heavy pressure on the fifth-year senior and try to force him to make mistakes. "[OSU] is one of the better defensive teams you will ever see," said Penn State coach Joe Paterno. "If we are comparable to them, I would feel pretty good."

• Purdue may be this season's most poignant example of why the preseason emphasis on "returning starters" can be misleading. The Boilers, despite going 7-5 last year, were considered a Big Ten darkhorse, due largely to their 11 returning starters on defense. But many of those starters struggled considerably at times last season, and after disastrous performances against Minnesota and Notre Dame, Purdue's once-vaunted defense ranks 110th in the country. "Don't mistake chronological age for maturity," said coach Joe Tiller. "I think we have some immature guys." The once-untouchable Tiller is himself coming under fire for the Boilers' embarrassing showing. Though Tiller has taken Purdue to bowl games each of his first eight seasons, the program has been seemingly stuck in second gear since the 2000 Rose Bowl season, going 18-15 in the Big Ten following a 22-10 run his first four seasons. "You're responsible as a coach," he said, "whether you want to be held accountable or not."

• It's time to find out whether Cal is for real. With the Bears 5-0 record and top-10 ranking, it's easy to forget they are still an extremely young team (12 first-year starters) that has yet to face a serious challenger (Sacramento State, Washington, Illinois, New Mexico State and Arizona). That ends Saturday when Cal visits fellow undefeated UCLA, which is garnering its own share of skepticism following last week's near-loss to the 1-4 Huskies. After shutting down Oklahoma star Adrian Peterson a few weeks back, the Bruins' defense was weak against Washington's running game, which doesn't bode well going against Cal's Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett. However, UCLA has a lot of offensive weapons itself, and this will be the staunchest test to date for a Bears defense led by juco LB Desmond Bishop. Cal hasn't allowed a touchdown in 10 quarters.

• Star linebacker Ahmad Brooks' return to the Virginia lineup may have lasted just one game. After missing the season's first three games recovering from offseason knee surgery, the preseason All-America made his season debut in last weekend's 45-33 loss to Maryland and promptly sprained his ankle. He's questionable for Saturday's game at Boston College, according to the Washington Post. It's a tough blow for a team already reeling with injuries. Tailback Wali Lundy, who had 864 yards and 17 touchdowns last season, has been hampered by a foot injury, carrying just 18 times in three games, and All-American tackle D'Brickshaw Ferguson (knee) and starting center Brian Barthelmes (ankle) missed last week's game and may not be ready for BC, either.

• It's an even more puzzling result today than when it happened four weeks ago: How did TCU lose to SMU on Sept. 10? Since that game the Mustangs have lost to Texas A&M (66-8), Tulane (31-10) and Marshall (16-13) to fall to 1-4, while TCU, which started the season by stunning Oklahoma, has beaten Utah (23-20), BYU (51-50) and New Mexico (49-28) to improve to 4-1, 3-0 in the Horned Frogs first season in the Mountain West. Last week's win was particularly impressive, as first-time starting QB Jeff Ballard filled in for injured veteran Tye Gunn and accounted for six touchdowns (four running, two passing). We'll find out for sure whether TCU is the team to beat in the Mountain West when it visits fellow conference unbeaten Wyoming (4-1, 2-0) on Saturday.

Some quick predictions

At a few readers' request, I have reinstituted the under-the-radar "Upset Special" of seasons past:

• Texas 24, Oklahoma 13
• Ohio State 26, Penn State 23
• Tennessee 21, Georgia 17
• UCLA 30, Cal 27
• Texas Tech 28, Nebraska 24
• The Holmes/Cruise child will be very attractive.
• Arizona State 34, Oregon 28
• Boston College 31, Virginia 19
• LSU 27, Vanderbilt 17
• Upset Special: Kansas 27, Kansas State 20