Whipping boys

Ohio State, Penn State redeem oft-criticized Big Ten

It was probably around 4 p.m. Saturday when the jeers started flying around Ohio State's press box.

Keep in mind that the Washington State-OSU game was early enough to be in doubt at this point. Meanwhile, Michigan State had suffered its debacle at the hands of the Golden Bears, Wisconsin had just barely fended off Northern Illinois, Northwestern was going down to the wire against Duke, Purdue and Minnesota were struggling with Western Michigan and Toledo, respectively, and Michigan was falling further behind Notre Dame.

"Can the Big Ten send a 6-6 team to the Rose Bowl?" someone sarcastically wondered.

"Can it send its champion to the Motor City Bowl instead?" remarked another.

As it turned out, all but Michigan ended up coming away victorious among the games still in question, with the Buckeyes making it particularly clear six wins won't be a problem. Then Penn State capped off the Big Ten's big day with the most impressive victory of all, and suddenly the league's nightmare scenarios were no more.

With its rich reputation and sterling TV and bowl lineups, the Big Ten is always an easy target for critics, especially in seasons like the past two, when the league's performance was hardly as enviable as its visibility. But so far this season, the conference hardly seems any worse off than, say, the Big 12 or SEC.

Barring an utter collapse, Ohio State will remain among the national elite the rest of the season, and upstart Penn State could soon join it (more on the Nittany Lions later). Talent-wise, Michigan and Michigan State aren't too far behind, if they could only get their acts together.

Meanwhile, everyone's flavor of the moment, the Big 12, has two legit Fiesta Bowl contenders in Oklahoma and Texas, but after that, Colorado and Nebraska are slipping fast, and Iowa State, Texas A&M and Kansas State aren't there yet. And in the SEC, whose supporters are usually the first to speak of its indisputable superiority, only Tennessee appears a proven commodity at this point, with Florida and Georgia leaving much to be desired.

If you're looking for a league on which to pin the proverbial "best" moniker in 2002, I'd look to the Pac-10, where Oregon, USC, Cal, Washington, Washington State and UCLA all look decent.

If not, there are any number of other places worth considering -- even the Big Ten.

Maurice Clarett, RB, Ohio State

Was there really any other choice? Sure, numerous others had big games statistically, but none were playing their third collegiate game against a Top 10 team with a more-than-capable defensive front. In fact, Washington State shut down Clarett before halftime. That didn't keep him from finishing with 31 carries for 230 yards and two touchdowns.

Penn State Nittany Lions

OK, Penn Staters, save yourselves the trouble of e-mailing, 'cause I'll be the first to say it: I was dead wrong about the Nittany Lions. In one remarkable night, Joe Paterno proved he's not afraid to open up the playbook and that he has at least two of the type of game-breakers he's been missing in recent years in Larry Johnson and Michael Robinson.

Colorado State 36, Louisville 33

In a two-minute span late in the fourth quarter, the Cards cut the deficit from 22 to three. They drove 84 yards to cut it to 36-20 with 4:45 left, recovered an onside kick and scored another touchdown with 3:44 left, then recovered a CSU fumble on the ensuing kickoff and converted again. Just too little, too late.

Following its 40-7 drubbing at Penn State, Nebraska is 1-7 on the road against ranked opponents under Frank Solich. … Cal has scored 150 points in its first three games after scoring 201 all of last season, when it went 1-10. … Yes, you read it right: Colorado had 61 total yards in its 40-3 loss to USC. … Iowa State QB Seneca Wallace was 23-of-37 for 361 yards in leading Iowa State back from a 24-7 deficit to Iowa. … Marshall's biggest threat in the MAC may be Bowling Green. The Falcons, 8-3 a year ago, put up 577 yards of offense in a 51-28 pasting of previously impressive Missouri. … N.C. State safety Terrence Holt set an unofficial ACC record when he blocked his 12th career kick, a field goal try against Wake Forest. … Despite losing star RB Chance Kretschmer to a knee injury, Nevada stunned BYU 31-28 behind 410 yards from QB Zack Threadgill, 213 of them to WR Nate Burleson. … Arizona QB Jason Johnson had a long-awaited breakout game against Utah, throwing for 416 yards. … Highly touted redshirt freshman J.R. Lemon ran for three touchdowns in Stanford's win over San Jose State. … Rutgers proved it's superior to at least one I-A team. Losers to Villanova and Buffalo the first two weeks, the Scarlet Knights blanked Army 44-0.

It's hard to say which was the more staggering during Georgia's 13-7 win over South Carolina: the play on which Georgia's David Pollack caught an interception in the end zone as it fell off South Carolina QB Corey Jenkins' body, or recurrent CBS embarassment Jill Arrington, in an interview with Bulldogs coach Mark Richt, pronouncing Pollack's last name as if it were slang for a Polish person.

Far be it from me to spoil my fellow males' enjoyment of a little sideline scenery with their football, but let's be honest -- this charade has gone on just a little too long.

Stewart Mandel covers college football for CNNSI.com.

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