Wright's emergence makes 'Canes worthy of No. 3

QB Kyle Wright is finally bringing some big-play capability to the Hurricanes' offense. David Bergman/SI

It occurs to me that we may have witnessed more than a simple butt-kicking in Blacksburg, Va., two weeks ago. I have a feeling we'll be looking back one day at Miami's 27-7 win at Virginia Tech on Nov. 5 as the day a new star quarterback was born.

Kyle Wright's numbers that Saturday night weren't particularly gaudy (13-of-22, 146 yards), yet you could tell there was a little something special about the Miami sophomore. He has a laser arm for one thing, and, in a hostile atmosphere against a top-flight defense, he went to the right receiver play after play. It was a marked change from his decision-making earlier this season.

It was the kind of game that can do wonders for a young quarterback's confidence, and wouldn't you know it, last Saturday at Wake Forest, Wright exploded for 329 yards and five touchdowns on 17-of-27 passing. Now, you might say, "So what, it was Wake Forest" -- but I'd argue it was a significant occurrence nonetheless. For one, the 'Canes haven't gotten that kind of production out of a quarterback since Ken Dorsey was under center, and secondly, it was exactly the type of game -- against an inferior opponent in a half-empty stadium right after a big win -- in which Miami's offense had a tendency to sleepwalk in the past. This time, after falling behind 17-14 late in the first half, Wright and the 'Canes unleashed an old-school scoring barrage en route to a 47-17 victory.

I bring this up only because Miami now appears to be the "next in line" in the unlikely event USC or Texas fall victim to an upset. Though the 'Canes have a magnificent defense, I'd been reluctant most of the season to even consider putting "Miami" and "national title" in the same sentence due largely to its offensive inconsistency. Now that Wright is blossoming before our eyes, the only blight on the 'Canes is that "1" in the loss column.

NCAA Football Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 1 USC Trojans (10-0) USC's question marks always seem to disappear by November, don't they? Despite even more injuries to starters (latest victims: LBs Oscar Lua and Thomas Williams), the Trojans' once-shaky defense was dominant against Cal, limiting the Bears to their fewest points (10) of the Jeff Tedford era. Next game: Saturday vs. Fresno State. 2 2 Texas Longhorns (10-0) OK, so Vince Young doesn't let grudges go away easily. But putting aside the Mark Mangino-disrespect angle, the most impressive part of Texas' 66-14 rout over Mangino's Jayhawks was that the 'Horns ran for 326 yards against what was the nation's top-ranked rushing defense. Next game: Nov. 25 at Texas A&M. 3 4 Miami Hurricanes (8-1) Upon further review, I decided to move Miami ahead of Penn State, mainly because the 'Canes' recent dominance has come on the road, while the Nittany Lions' rout of Wisconsin, as well as their big Ohio State win, both came at home (somehow PSU has played just three road games all season). Next game: Nov. 26 vs. Georgia Tech. 4 3 Penn St. Nittany Lions (9-1) JoePa need only beat a 5-5 Michigan State team to clinch his first Big Ten title in 11 years, but the Nittany Lions best not overlook the Spartans. Michigan State is 9-1 against top-10 teams since 1997, a streak that began, eerily enough, when a 5-5 MSU team beat a 9-1 Penn State team 49-14. Next game: Saturday at Michigan State. 5 8 LSU Tigers (8-1) Credit offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher and a solid offensive line for attacking Alabama in the second half and overtime of Saturday's 16-13 win like no Tide opponent had all season. QB JaMarcus Russell, under heavy pressure in the first half, had all day to throw, and Fisher unleashed him. Next game: Saturday at Ole Miss. 6 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2) Where, oh where, were you the past three years, Maurice Stovall? The Irish receiver had one of the catches of the year in Saturday's win over Navy, a one-handed, body-balancing act in the end zone. Stovall, who is having a huge senior season, caught eight balls for 130 yards and three TDs. Next game: Saturday vs. Syracuse. 7 7 Ohio St. Buckeyes (8-2) Northwestern drove 80 yards for a touchdown on the opening drive Saturday against OSU ... and then managed no points and 171 yards the rest of the game. The Buckeyes also ran for 317 yards, and A.J. Hawk returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in a 48-7 win. Not a bad tuneup for the Maize and Blue. Next game: Saturday at Michigan. 8 5 Alabama Crimson Tide (9-1) Rather than dwelling on the Tide's first loss, let's take a moment to salute third-year coach Mike Shula. LSU had more Parade All-Americas sitting on the bench Saturday than the Tide had in their starting lineup, yet injury-plagued, NCAA-ravaged 'Bama was an overtime TD away from being 10-0. Next game: Saturday at Auburn. 9 10 Virginia Tech Hokies (8-1) The ACC doesn't unveil its future conference schedules, but here's guessing the Hokies are going to have to get used to playing both Miami and rival Virginia in the final weeks of the season. Such is life in the conference's Coastal division, which, this year at least, is a lot tougher than the Atlantic. Next game: Saturday at Virginia. 10 15 Auburn Tigers (8-2) The maturation of Brandon Cox is complete. The sophomore quarterback made one of the most clutch plays of the season with his fourth-and-10, 62-yard completion to Devin Aromoashodu in the last minute at Georgia on Saturday night. Bet the Tigers wish they could play Georgia Tech again now. Next game: Saturday vs. Alabama.

Read on for teams 11-20 ...