• Play hard through the echo of the snap of the quarterback's collarbone. Houston's Phillip Hunt is very sorry for the hit he put on Tulane quarterback Joe Kemp Saturday, he really is:

Tulane, understandably, is not in such a forgiving mood. Kemp is out for the season with a broken collarbone, coach Bob Toledo was angry Hunt wasn't ejected and athletic director Rick Dickson has asked for a review by Conference USA of both Hunt and the officials' reaction. Hunt, for his part, claimed he was the only player on the field who didn't hear a whistle because his "adrenaline was pumping," and he felt he was still being blocked. Watch the clip again, keep an eye on the right tackle allegedly blocking Hunt and judge for yourself.

Are right tackles like amputated limbs? You still feel them even when they're not really there?

• It's not a 'demotion,' Jarrett, just a chance to relieve us of your crippling Pick Six-itis. LSU fans have had a certain perspective about Jarrett Lee for weeks, and after the redshirt freshman tossed his 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th interceptions of the year Saturday against Alabama -- including the sixth run back for a touchdown -- Les Miles finally agrees with them. Well, almost: Lee will probably split time Saturday against Troy with true freshman Jordan Jefferson.

Miles hedged his bets, saying he's only "leaning" toward a rotation, depending on how Jefferson plays in practice and in his first opportunities under center in a game doing something other than the basic quarterback off-tackle play he's run once against North Texas, Mississippi State and Tulane. But the coach recognizes the Tigers need to get Lee "off the field a little bit," and if Jefferson allows "a little bit" to become "a lot," or "permanently," then so be it.

• West Virginia, ya bastard, Brian Kelly read your book. How did Cincinnati manage to hold the most talented backfield in West Virginia history to its lowest rushing output -- just 98 yards on 2.3 per carry -- since 2001? The Bearcats just did their homework on the Mountaineers' only losses in 2007:

"They did to us what South Florida and Pitt did to us last year, that's what they did," said [WVU coach Bill] Stewart ...
[...]
"I will say that clearly one of the things we did in the spring was spend a little more time at West Virginia," Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said. "We got a chance to look at [films of] South Florida and, in part, Pitt. So, clearly, we did steal some things."

Stewart had vowed West Virginia would develop a better passing game to prevent defenses from crowding the line of scrimmage, or burn them when they did, and you can't blame the Mountaineers for a lack of effort on that front: Pat White attempted 38 passes, a new career high, and only the second time he'd ever thrown 30 times (the first was against Villanova in this year's opener). A lot of that came on WVU's frantic, last-minute drives to force overtime in the final two minutes, but prior to that, the Mountaineers' first 13 drives resulted in 205 yards, seven points, nine punts, eight three-and-outs, two turnovers and a turnover on downs.

Quickly ... Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage was emphatic (or as emphatic as you can be via e-mail): Al Groh will be back in 2009, even if Virginia loses its last two games and finishes with a losing record. . . . Texas players support the dismissal of Buck Burnette as "appropriate" after the center posted an Obama-related racial slur last week on his Facebook page. . . . The Knoxville News-Sentinel's John Adams makes the case for Mike Leach to replace Phil Fulmer. . . . Georgia lineman Justin Anderson is out for at least the Auburn game, and possibly Georgia Tech, leaving the Bulldogs with seven offensive linemen down the stretch. . . . It wasn't just turf toe that kept Joe McKnight out of USC's win over Washington two weeks ago: Sources say the running back missed too many classes or tutoring sessions. He was back in the lineup and ran seven times against Cal, for 51 yards. . . . Nick Saban stands to earn an extra $600,000 in bonuses if Alabama wins a national championship and he's named national coach of the year. . . . And Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson won't get a key chop block penalty overturned, but he will lecture ACC officials about chop blocking in his offense at their offseason clinic.