#7 Oregon St. - 6-0 (4-0 in the Pac-12):
Before the college football season began, most people assumed that a team from Oregon would be heading into the last week of October unbeaten. While Oregon have cruised through their first 7 games without a blemish on their record, their rivals just up north in Corvallis have also shocked the college football world with a 6-0 start. Although the Beavers still have to get by Washington, Arizona St. #17 Stanford, and California, there is a definite possibility that the winner of the Civil War game in Eugene will move on to play in the Pac-12 Championship Game and possibly even the BCS title game.
The impressive play of Oregon St. has been such a surprise to the country because of how poorly the team played last season. Mike Riley's club finished the 2011 season with a woeful 3-9 record, which included an embarrassing loss at home to FCS school Sacramento Sate in non-conference play. However, Sean Mannion looks greatly improved behind center in his second year as the teams starting quarterback and the Beavers defensive unit has not let up more than 7 points at home this season.
The Beavers have had really good quarterback play from both their starter Sean Mannion and their backup Cody Vaz. Mannion began the season by throwing a touchdown in each of the team's first 4 games and had a 379 yard performance in a win on the road against UCLA and a 433 yard game against Arizona in Tucson. When Mannion was sidelined for two games due to a knee injury, Cody Vaz stepped in and the offense didn't miss a beat. Vaz threw for 323 yards and added 3 touchdowns in a 42-24 rout over BYU, a team that has held four of its eight opponents to seven points or less.
#11 Mississippi State Bulldogs - 7-0 (3-0 in the SEC):
Mississippi St. Athletic Director Scott Stricklin better be ready for a nerve-wracking off-season, as the Bulldogs head coach, Dan Mullen, is going to be one of the most desirable names in all of college football. Mullen, who was the offensive coordinator at Florida from 2005 to 2008, has led Mississippi St. to a very surprising 7-0 start, especially considering the team was 2-6 in conference play last season and lost their starting quarterback Chris Relf and star running back Vick Ballard.
Although the Dwags offense has been better than expected, the team's calling card is their stout defense. The Bulldogs may have the best defensive backfield in the country, as Johnthan Banks and Darius Slay are two of the nations best cornerbacks. Banks and Slay, who are tied for the 4th in the FBS with 4 interceptions, are apart of a Bulldogs secondary that has held five of their seven opponents to less than 175 yards passing.
Despite starting out the season 7-0 for just the second time in school history, and playing in the vaunted Southeastern Conference, the Mississippi St. Bulldogs are ranked outside the top 10 and many people consider them the 4th best team in their own 7 team SEC division. Aside from college football phonetics, not many people even know that the Bulldogs are one of the few remaining unbeaten teams. A large reason for their lack of national attention has been the Bulldogs lack of a major win, as the club's 4 non-conference victories (Jackson St., South Alabama, Troy, Middle Tennessee) are obviously nothing to brag about, and their 3 SEC wins are against teams who have yet to win a conference game (Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee). Although they have had a fairly easy schedule through mid-October, the Bulldogs have still only allowed more than 14 points in two of their seven contests and they have won by double-digits in every one of their 7 victories. Dan Mullen's squad will have a chance to prove themselves in their next 3 games, as they travel to Tuscaloosa to take on #1 Alabama this weekend, then return to Starkville to play #20 Texas A&M, and then finally travel to Death Valley to play #6 LSU in early November.
#14 Texas Tech Red Raiders - 6-1 (3-1 in the Big 12):
In Tommy Tuberville's second season in Lubbock, Texas Tech had its worse year since it became a member of the Big 12. The Red Raiders didn't appear in a bowl game for the first time since Spike Dykes's last year as the school's head coach in 1999 and the team lost 7 games for the first team in over two decades since 1990. TTU also finished with just 2 conference wins, their fewest league wins since they joined the Big 12 in 1996. However, Tuberville's ball club has drastically turned things around this year, as the team's offense is one of the most explosive attacks in the country and has propelled the Red Raiders to an impressive start including two Big 12 wins against ranked opponents (West Virginia and TCU).
Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege leads one of the most high powered offenses in all of college football. The Red Raiders have scored more than 40 points in five of their seven games and Seth Doege leads the nation with a whopping 28 touchdown passes, which is about 4 per game. The gun slinging quarterback is averaging over 360 yards passing per game as well, which is the 4th most in the FBS. Doege, who threw for 499 yards and 6 touchdowns against West Virginia and 318 yards and 7 touchdowns against TCU, is very well suited to run the Raiders fast paced spread attack. The senior QB completes a high percentage of his passes (70.8 percent, which is 5th best in the nation) and isn't overly turnover prone, as he is averaging just 1 pick for every 40 passing attempts.
Although the Texas Tech offense will get most of the praise and accolades for the program's strong start, the improvement of the team's defense has been the biggest change from last year's disappointment. The Tech defense shut down Geno Smith and the dangerous West Virginia passing game in their 49-14 victory over the Mountaineers two weeks ago and are allowing just over 21 points per game, which is very solid considering their offense can put up so many points.
#14 Texas Tech Red Raiders - 6-1 (3-1 in the Big 12):
In Tommy Tuberville's second season in Lubbock, Texas Tech had its worse year since it became a member of the Big 12. The Red Raiders didn't appear in a bowl game for the first time since Spike Dykes's last year as the school's head coach in 1999 and the team lost 7 games for the first team in over two decades since 1990. TTU also finished with just 2 conference wins, their fewest league wins since they joined the Big 12 in 1996. However, Tuberville's ball club has drastically turned things around this year, as the team's offense is one of the most explosive attacks in the country and has propelled the Red Raiders to an impressive start including two Big 12 wins against ranked opponents (West Virginia and TCU).
Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege leads one of the most high powered offenses in all of college football. The Red Raiders have scored more than 40 points in five of their seven games and Seth Doege leads the nation with a whopping 28 touchdown passes, which is about 4 per game. The gun slinging quarterback is averaging over 360 yards passing per game as well, which is the 4th most in the FBS. Doege, who threw for 499 yards and 6 touchdowns against West Virginia and 318 yards and 7 touchdowns against TCU, is very well suited to run the Raiders fast paced spread attack. The senior QB completes a high percentage of his passes (70.8 percent, which is 5th best in the nation) and isn't overly turnover prone, as he is averaging just 1 pick for every 40 passing attempts.
Although the Texas Tech offense will get most of the praise and accolades for the program's strong start, the improvement of the team's defense has been the biggest change from last year's disappointment. The Tech defense shut down Geno Smith and the dangerous West Virginia passing game in their 49-14 victory over the Mountaineers two weeks ago and are allowing just over 21 points per game, which is very solid considering their offense can put up so many points.
