College Football Corner: Joe Pa's House

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- This being week four of the season, it's now time to take stock of what we've witnessed to discern any trends.

No. 9

Oklahoma

, a pre-season darling to make it to the

Citi

(C) - Get Report

BCS National Championship Game, watched its season fizzle in a week one loss and on Sam Bradford's bum throwing shoulder. It was the same game that crowned now No. 20

BYU

as the latest in a line of potential BCS busters.

Fast forward to last weekend, and that same BYU team recorded its first loss at the hands of Florida State and its 512 yards of total offense. Oklahoma, meanwhile, is back in the top 10 after an early write-off, clubbing a more than adequate

Tulsa

program over the weekend on the arm of backup quarter Landry Jones and his six touchdown passes.

No. 16

Oklahoma State

, another fast-rising club in the pre-season, took on No. 17

Georgia

in week one, and came away with its best home-opening win in recent years. With boosted Cowboy hopes that pre-season prognosticators may have just gotten it right, Oklahoma State went on to get trounced by a fast-emerging No. 23

Houston

squad in week two.

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, who were forecast to languish at the bottom of the SEC barrel following the thumping in Stillwater, are 2-0 since, including rolling up 52 points on a more than formidable

Arkansas

Razorback squad.

No. 12

Virginia Tech

took a week one slapping by No. 3

Alabama

. Now, the Hokies are riding high after an impressive last-minute victory over No. 24

Nebraska

.

What's the point? Don't believe the hype one way or the other, particularly in September or the first weeks of October. Last week's downtrodden loser can become next week's darling.

No. 10

USC

might have lost to a much more energized and eager

Washington

squad, but you don't think wins against No. 6

Cal

or

Notre Dame

in October will put them right back into national title hunt.

On the other side, the overwhelming adoration for No. 13

Miami

and the whispered Heisman talk for quarterback Jacory Harris is frightening, considering the "U" is just now entering the back end of a four-game stretch that includes four top-20 ranked opponents.

In other words, settle down folks. There's still a lot of football left to be played.

Tonight, No. 5

Mississippi

is at

South Carolina

on ESPN. On Friday, No. 21

Missouri

goes to

Nevada

.

Here are some of the top games the Corner will be watching this weekend.

Iowa (3-0) at No. 4 Penn State (3-0), 8 p.m. EDT, ABC

: The Hawkeyes ruined the Nittany Lions' perfect run through the Big Ten last season, but Penn State Coach Joe Paterno doesn't buy into any revenge hype.

"I don't like the word you use when you say revenge," Paterno said at his weekly press conference, with his characteristic, Brooklyn-bred bluntness. "I don't know what revenge has got to do with it in football. It's not like they sneaked up on us and stuck us in the back with a knife or something. They played a good football game and they beat us. I don't think we're going to be too fired (up). We're going to play our game, and hopefully we'll be good enough."

The Blue and White will be backed up by a

100,000-plus crowd

all clad in white, and ESPN's College Football Gameday will be on hand. But Iowa -- sporting a seven-game winning streak -- has its own designs on a big season, as the Hawkeyes come into the conference opener undefeated despite a shaky start.

Safety Tyler Sash will roam the secondary for Iowa again. He has four interceptions this season, returning those picks for a nation's best 104 yards. It was Sash's interception last year that sealed Penn State's defeat.

Corner's choice: Penn State 21, Iowa 14

-- William Hennelly

No. 13 Miami at No. 12 Virginia Tech, 3:30 p.m. EDT, ABC

: Two ACC foes, each in the top 15, matching up with the wind at their backs. The Hokies are coming off a big home win against a then top-20 ranked

Nebraska

group.

Miami

seems to be taking on the swagger of a business-as-usual-type squad, ranking nationally in the top-20 in total offense after convincing wins against No. 25

Florida State

and

Georgia Tech

.

The signal-callers for each have gotten the lion's share of attention in the first few weeks -- Miami's Jacory Harris for his ACC leading passer rating and Virginia Tech's Tyrod Taylor's inability to use his more than able legs -- so let's turn our gaze elsewhere.

Let's get out the most basic story line there. If Randy Shannon's resurrection project includes a win this weekend at Lane Stadium, the "U" will find itself in the driver's seat of the ACC's Coastal Division. National title talk will heighten. Since the 'Canes have been out of the national glare for some time, the question remains:can that squad handle the spotlight this week? Also, don't think for a minute that home field advantage won't matter.

Corner's choice: Virginia Tech 17, Miami 9

No. 6 Cal (3-0) at Oregon (2-1), 3:30 p.m. EDT, ABC

: A tale of two West Coast programs, each moving in different directions, will unfold in Eugene this Saturday when the unranked

Oregon

Ducks welcome the No. 6

California

Bears in what could well prove a pivotal game for both.

Most books favor visiting Cal by 5.5 points, and the Bears certainly have looked like conference contenders in their first three games of the season, blasting their opponents by an average of five touchdowns each on the legs of tailback Jahvid Best, who has rushed for 137 yards a game and 7.8 yards per carry -- and into the thick of this year's Heisman race.

But Eugene is almost always one of the more difficult venues to play in the Pac-10, if not the country, and the Ducks are looking for redemption after a crushing season-opener loss to instant arch-rival

Boise State

. The Ducks, of course, lost star running back LeGarrette Blount, whose fisticuffs earned him a season-long suspension, and since then the team has struggled, barely subduing, at home, a

Purdue

Boilermakers squad firmly in rebuilding mode that went on to lose its very next game to

Northern Illinois

. Oregon did, however, rebound last week to defeat then-No. 18 Utah, 31-24, proving that the Ducks have the resilience required to make this game an interesting one.

So far this season, Cal head coach Jeff Tedford's offensive schemes have looked, for the most part, unstoppable, while the Ducks have been uncharacteristically wretched, ranking 111th in the country in total yardage. As for the defenses, Oregon has been workmanlike, especially against the run, allowing just 3.3 yards per rush. (Purdue's alarming 36 points were aided by four turnovers.) Cal's defense has likewise got the job done, ranking 20th in the country in points allowed.

The Bears, who have a long history of blowing promising seasons by losing to overmatched programs on the road, are coming off a stiff test at

Minnesota

, having almost lost the game after leading most of the way. Depending on how you look at it, Cal is either battle-tested or ripe for an upset after an exhausting interconference struggle. Oregon, staring down the barrel of the rest of the season, is in danger of becoming a Pac-10 also-ran, unless it can pull out the win. The score will likely be closer than most think, but the Corner believes that Cal will extend its three-game winning streak against its neighbor to the north.

Corner's Choice: Cal 27, Oregon 23.

-- Scott Eden

Texas Tech at No. 23 Houston, 9:15 p.m., ESPN2

: Is a loss ever considered a win? Maybe not to the players and coaches. But talk to fans about

Tennessee's

Lane Kiffin and his Volunteers'better-than-expected showing against No. 1

Florida

and you're likely to hear that things are on the upswing.

If there's any team that might have bragging rights after a loss, it could be Texas Tech. Though the Red Raiders found themselves on the short end of a 34-24 score in Austin, quarterback Taylor Potts outdueled Heisman finalist Colt McCoy to the tune of 420 yards passing and three touchdowns. Inspired defense along a depleted line helped put a stranglehold on the Longhorns' offense in the first half. It was inspired, and now the Lubbock faithful can see their future in the strong-armed junior, who has yet to throw for fewer than 400 yards in any game this season.

But Houston has its own QB prodigy in Case Keenum, who's already received dark horse Heisman buzz since the Cougars pulled off the upset against

Oklahoma State

in week two. With Houston's nationally first-ranked scoring offense matched against Tech's nationally first-ranked passing offense, expect a high-flying offensive free-for-all.

Ultimately, then, the game is likely to come down to pressure on those aforementioned quarterbacks. Surprisingly, the Texas Tech defense has managed to get into the backfield more than a few times, racking up tackles for losses and sacks at a respectable clip. Houston's defense, on the other hand, ranks near the bottom nationally in both categories. In other words, look for the Red Raiders to make just a few more key stops when it matters most.

Corner's choice: Texas Tech 52, Houston 45

Corner kicks

:

Indiana

(yes, I went there) takes a 3-0 record up to Ann Arbor to face No. 22

Michigan

(3-0). The Hoosiers, who were a 4-point underdog to Akron in a victory last week, are getting 21 for their trip to the Big House, where they haven't won a game in 42 years. ...

South Florida

(3-0) at

Florida State

(2-1) is an interesting regional battle that could have some recruiting impact. The Bulls are without veteran quarterback Matt Grothe; B.J. Daniels, a Tallahassee native, will fill in for the vistors in his hometown. The Seminoles are coming off a big-time romp over former top 10 team

BYU

, which makes Miami's win over FSU that much more impressive.

-- William Hennelly

--

Written in New York by Sung Moss, Scott Eden and William Hennelly

.

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