Panthers senior defensive end Joe Clermond told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that a win on Saturday over West Virginia "would be a real good treat for me, the seniors and everyone else on the team -- even the alumni." He forgot about Ohio State and Georgia, who sit at Nos. 3 and 4 in the BCS standings, respectively. They're huge Pitt fans right now. Should the Panthers do the unfathomable and upset a West Virginia team that's averaged 566.5 yards of offense in the past two Backyard Brawls, it would open a door for either the Buckeyes or Bulldogs to slip into the national title game (as would a loss by Missouri in the Big 12 Championship).
In the process of beating Stanford to save a small amount of face at the end of their miserable season, the Fighting Irish still allowed five sacks, bringing their national-worst total to 56 on the season. The Irish offense lost a grand total of 411 yards on sacks; that's 87 more yards than the second-most porous offensive line -- Syracuse's -- lost on sacks in 2007. Tennessee allowed the fewest sacks of any team this season: four, for just 44 yards. That stat makes it slightly less surprising that the Vols are in the SEC title game.