Reiss' Pieces — Week 5 college football recap

Another Saturday, another Stanford blowoutThe Cardinal has the nations longest win streak at 12games. The last seven of those wins havecome by at least 26 points. So why thecontinued slide down the AP poll?...The answer is two-fold.The obvious part: Oklahoma State and Wisconsinhave leapfrogged Stanford after beating top-10 teams, while the Cardinal waseither on a BYE or beating lightly-regarded UCLA. But then theres the perception problemStanford is methodical, not explosive. This team doesnt run and gun anybody out ofthe building; it merely pounds opponents into submission over fourquarters. And thats just not sexyFrankly, Im tired of hearing about the lack of big-playoptions at wide receiver. The Cardinaloffense is as potent as any in the nation.You know whats coming, you still cant stop it. But the defense is less convincing than itwas a year ago, and that could prove to be costly once legit foes begin to dotthe scheduleFortunately for Stanford, that wont happen for another fourweeksat USC on October 29thAndrew Luck remains the Heisman favorite, not because of hisstats, but because nobody in the nation runs an offense as efficiently andadeptlyRobert Griffin III might have overtaken Luck in the strawpolls had his first interception of the season not resulted in Baylors firstloss of the season at Kansas StateThe guy moving up the charts with a massive bullet isWisconsin QB Russell Wilson. His numbersare better than Lucks across the board, and his team might well run the BigTen tableHow bout them Tigers?Clemson is the first ACC team ever to beat three straight rankedopponents. And theyve done it with theanti-Stanford offense (read: explosive, sexy, chuckin it downfield withreckless abandon). But before you gopenciling Dabo Swineys guys into the BCS, might want to wait for their game atGeorgia Tech on October 29thThe Yellow Jackets are second in the nation in points andyards per game, and theres simply no way to prepare for the speed at whichTevin Washington and company run that triple-option offense Ohio State. YeeeeechThe Buckeyes came within seconds of being shut out at homefor the first time since 1982I heard a Texas A&M fan on sports radio after the Aggiesgacked away a second consecutive big lead against a ranked opponent (Arkansas). The caller said it was a worse choke job thanthe Red Sox. Clearly he had just imbibedhimself into a post-game stupor, but his point is well-taken: A&M hasBCS-level talent yet has already eliminated itself from that equation Of course, that guy wont get any sympathy from South Carolinafans. The Gamecocks are a cautionarytale of how an abundance of star power can be derailed by shoddy quarterbackplay Stephen Garcia has thrown nine interceptions in fourgames. Steve Spurrier would probablytrade his superstar tailback, wideout, and defensive end for a guy capable ofthrowing the ball to his teammatesAuburn managed to beat South Carolina in spiteof its own QB. Couldnt be much lessimpressed with Barrett Trotter, but couldnt be much more impressed withMichael Dyer. The reigning BCS titlegame MVP played through a lot of pain to lead his team to victoryOther week five props: Oklahoma QB Landry Jones, Illinois QBNathan Scheelhaase, Michigan QB Denard Robinson, West Virginia RB DustinGarrison, LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, the Michigan Statedefensive front seven.

Week six feature games: Oklahoma-Texas, Florida-LSU, Ohio State-Nebraska, Arizona State-Utah and of course, Cal-Oregon.