Week 4 college football can be summed up in two words: True Colors. And for the best examples, we need to turn to the teams in last year’s BCS National Championship game: Texas and Alabama.

Yes, the No. 7 Texas Longhorns were upset and many saw it coming… just not this soon.

This season, the Longhorns were like a Jenga tower; sooner or later they were going to tumble.

Instead of a tight knit structure like most people envisioned, the Longhorns were more like a team with a lot of missing pieces and it was only a matter of time before the Horns completely fell apart. Unfortunately for them it happened this weekend against the unranked UCLA Bruins and it was ugly.

With nothing clicking on offense or defense, the top ten Horns were slaughtered by the Bruins 34-12 in their home state of Texas, shocked at home for the first time since 2007.

Coming into the game, Texas was the top ranked rush defense in the FBS, allowing only 44 yards per game. Against the Bruins, the Longhorns gave up 264 with UCLA running the football right down Texas’ throat for the entire game. 

By the time the final whistle blew, the Bruins had given Mack Brown his worst loss in Texas history and showed the world how over ranked the Longhorns really were. You can be sure the voters won’t make that mistake again.

On that note, don’t expect the voters to forget how close No. 1 Alabama came to losing on Saturday to the No. 10 Arkansas Razorbacks.

Against the number one team in the land, the Razorbacks put up a pay-per-view worthy fight, but were unable to complete the upset due to costly mistakes late in the game by Heisman candidate quarterback Ryan Mallett.

With the game on the line and a winning drive taking shape, Mallett dropped back and placed the ball right into the arms of the Alabama secondary. Although Mallet finished with 357 passing yards in the game it was his final interception that will really be remembered and just like that, the upset was gone.

Unfortunately, Mallett’s performance outshines the impressive showing that his team displayed this weekend.

The fans and media will focus on the final score, but let’s not forget that the Razorbacks went toe-to-toe with the Crimson Tide for four quarters and were able to do what no other team has done this year: rattle Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy.

In the first half, McElroy looked less like the most effective passer in the nation and more like an out-of-rhythm redshirt freshman. He finished the day with two interceptions and his high-powered offense was only able to muster up 7 points in the first two quarters of the ballgame.

Despite McElroy’s mediocre showing, the Crimson Tide were able to do what all good teams do: win the game. It might not have been pretty, but the Tide walked away with a 24-20 victory while keeping their No.1 ranking intact.

All in all, we learned two very important things from this weekend:

1) Good teams find ways to win.

2) You can’t hide behind your name and legacy; you actually have to play the game.

Used with permission of the author.

Logan Rhoades is a Los Angeles-based writer and contributor to Sports Climax. With an extensive knowledge of ESPN topics and celebrity gossip, he is known for mixing sports and pop culture to entertain his readers. Check out his blog and Follow him on Twitter @loganrhoades.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

In this week’s NCAA Football action there weren’t big name matchups that are going to draw as much national recognition as most other weeks, but that doesn’t mean that there wouldn’t be any prime time performers making their case for the Heisman Trophy. We call these studs  our “Beasts of the Nation”.

So far this year Michigan Wolverines quarterback Denard Robinson is a record setting machine and took the college football season by storm by leading the country with 885 total yards from scrimmage in his first two games.  Shoelaces also known as ‘Nard Dog’ wasn’t quite as productive today against the FCS Massachusetts Minuteman, but who could expect him to continue averaging over 440 yards a game. 

Nard Dog still looked solid and even experienced some help from his halfback Michael Shaw who had 126 yards and 3 TD’s. This was the first time this year another player was productive in the Michigan offense.  The Nard Dog finished the game with 345 yards of total offense and 3 TD’s.  His first pass of the game was thrown into double coverage and was picked off for his only turnover this season. 

The Wolverines defense was pathetic and let Massachusetts have their way with them rumbling off 439 yards of total offense making the game much more interesting than it should have been.   This could be Nard Dog’s biggest hurdle is not opposing defenses, but the Michigan defense, not stopping anybody.   This could cause Michigan to lose some games that they should win and would ultimately cost him the Heisman down the road.

The other Big Ten super stud is Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback, Terrelle Pryor. Pryor had another solid outing against a feeble Ohio University squad, compiling 260 total yards of offense with 3 TD’s and two interceptions.  Many have Pryor sitting in the driver’s seat for the Heisman because he is on one of the best teams in the country.   The No. 2 Buckeyes are sure to rack up wins and his mistakes won’t cost him nearly as much as some of his closest competitors due to his strong supporting cast. 

Former Michigan QB Ryan Mallett has led his new team the Arkansas Razorbacks to a 3-0 start with a thrilling TD pass with 15 seconds remaining to break the tie against the Georgia Bulldogs.  Mallet finished the game with 380 yards and three TD’s.   This year Mallett has thrown for a total of 1,081 yards and 9 touchdowns while only being intercepted twice.  This win sets up Arkansas for a huge matchup next week against the defending champions and No. 1 team in the country, the Alabama Crimson Tide.   If Mallett can pull off an upset in that one, he should become the favorite Heisman candidate at that point in the season.

No player in NCAAF Week 3 had more to gain or possibly lose then the Heisman favorite going into the season; Washington’s, Jake Locker. Locker is considered a strong potential No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NFL Draft. He started his season off on the wrong foot with a loss to BYU, while throwing for 266 yards and only 1 touchdown.  He bounced back in his second contest putting up Heisman friendly stats throwing for 289 yards and 4 TD’s.  Then Nebraska came into town and he had his chance to spring a big upset and solidify his name in the Heisman discussion.  Instead, Locker put up stats that will take you entirely off this list of “Beasts of the Nation”. Locker went a frightening  4-of-20 for 71 yards and two interceptions.

When it was over, Locker had two meaningless touchdowns in the game and Washington got thumped at home by Nebraska 56-21.  Locker’s season won’t be getting any easier as the Huskies still  have five ranked  teams to play so don’t expect Locker to be in much more of the Heisman conversation. 

The dark horse in this conversation that you might not have heard of is Kansas State halfback Daniel Thomas.  He has led his wildcats to a 3-0 record, while averaging 184 yards a game in those contests and has scored 6 touchdowns this season.  If Kansas State can hold up and win the Big 12 North, I believe he has an outside chance.  They have a favorable schedule, so if they can find a way to beat the mighty Cornhuskers at home on October 7^th expect a lot of analysis to hop on the Daniel Thomas bandwagon. 

Three other names that will be in the discussion are Kellen Moore, Taylor Martinez, and Mark Ingram. Kellen Moore is playing on a top tier Boise State team in a league where they will not be challenged.  He will deliver eye-popping numbers against inept opponents who will not challenge the Broncos. 

If Boise St. beats Oregon St. next week, then you’ll be hearing a multitude of national championship and Heisman chatter for this WAC Conference School.  Taylor Martinez proved he was the real deal this week with another strong performance against Washington.  He now has 813 total yards and 9 total touchdowns.  He needs to improve his passing skills but still has loads of talent around him and his  Cornhuskers  only play one  game against a top 25 team. 

The last person I cannot leave out after today’s performance is defending Heisman trophy winner Mark Ingram.  After missing the first two games recovering from knee surgery he had 9 carries for 151 yards and two touchdowns.   He has a substantial gap to overcome to become a serious candidate but with Alabama’s weapons, he won’t need as many touches as most players to put up comparable numbers on the best team in the country. 

Used with permission of the author.

Mateo Ferda is a Detroit-based sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC