Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:41 pm EST
Snap judgments on Saturday's best.

Teachers' Pet(s): Jeremiah Masoli and Nick Foles. Oregon and Arizona's rocket-armed quarterbacks put on a laser light show in the 44-41, double-overtime game of the week to reaffirm the Ducks as Pac-10 frontrunners. Masoli was responsible for all six of Oregon's touchdowns -- three passing, three rushing -- and finished with 345 total yards. Foles kept pace nicely with 314 passing yards and four touchdowns that earned the Wildcats the respect of an exhausted but rapt nation. (You were rapt, right, Harris Poll voters?)
Most School Spirit: While the vultures were circling the opposing sideline, it got a little misty as longtime UConn coach Randy Edsall struggled to hold it together while declaring the Huskies' overtime win at Notre Dame -- their first after a series of razor-thin, disappointing losses since cornerback Jasper Howard was murdered last month -- the biggest victory in school history.
Most Unlikely Couple: Charlie Weis and the Cleveland Browns? Still no word this morning on the fate of Notre Dame's top dog, but if the Irish brass are really waiting for the Stanford game to pass judgment ... well, despite the Cardinal's troubles Saturday at Cal, we can't imagine them not dispatching the Domers with ease next week in Palo Alto.
Most Creative: Mike Locksley. New Mexico's punch-happy head coach finally has one in the W column, but only after multiple turnovers, five lead changes and a field goal with 12 seconds remaining to put away equally hapless Colorado State. Honorable mention: UTEP, which once again found a way to lose to a one of C-USA's irredeemable bottom dwellers -- in this case, Rice, which took out the Miners 30-29 despite passing for just 55 yards with a long gain of 17 for the game. Our sincere congratulations to the Owls on their two-game win streak after an 0-9 start.
Mister Personality: Rick Neuheisel. It's probably not how he envisioned his team would get there, and it's certainly later than UCLA partisans were hoping, but the Bruins are bowl-eligible after extending Arizona State's puzzling losing streak to five games. (A nice, round number to correspond to the five fumbles the Devils coughed up to the Bruins in a 23-13 loss, ending their own bowl hopes.)
Most Popular: The Pac-10, for livening up an otherwise wobbly Week 12 slate with a pair of highly diverting, to-the-wire matchups in primetime, keeping things interesting into late night with the aforementioned Arizona-Oregon tilt and a thriller of a Big Game in Stanford.
Grape Job! Les Miles, that old so-and-so, didn't so much snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as he forced a crushing loss to Ole Miss down his own throat, sword-swallower style. This only bears out my theory, by the way, that Miles makes all sideline decisions with a 20-sided die he keeps tucked up under his hat. When you ride with the god of chaos, kids, buckle up. And have a grape day.
Drama Queen: Oklahoma has tried every trick in the book from cutting itself "just to feel alive" (Sam Bradford's shoulder) to sulking in the corner and refusing to score touchdowns (the Nebraska game), and now returns to its wheelhouse by losing a big game it could have handled in embarrassing fashion at Texas Tech. (We will take all this back once it comes out that Bob Stoops threw this game so the punditry would quit touting him as the next head coach at Notre Dame.)
Class Clown: The Big XII North. Stop me if you've heard this one before: With a win over Nebraska yesterday, Kansas State could have clinched the division title. Instead, with a loss in Lincoln, the Wildcats aren't even going to a bowl at 6-6 -- they have the raw win count to qualify, but are only allowed to count one of their two wins over I-AA patsies -- thereby reducing the season from "potentially special" to "over" in a matter of hours. Hilarious!
Most Likely To Succeed: Colt McCoy, the most realistic candidate left standing from the preseason's clean-cut Heisman triumvirate. Saturday's 32-of-41, 396-yard, four-touchdown performance lifted Texas a decisive win over outmanned basketcase Kansas, broke the Division I record for career victories and did nothing to dispel the assumption that the Longhorns will be the team to beat in Pasadena.
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Holly welcomes your adulation and veiled threats at nastinchka-at-yahoo, etc.
Dr. Saturday is a college football blog edited by Matt Hinton. Email him tips and feedback.

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13 Comments
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Go Ducks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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If you don't like that game, you're not a fan. As for the Masoli hype, only a Beaver would be that negative about his fellow state's performance or school. I love it when JQuizz ran wild on USC. I want Oregon to win this Civil War.
It's really incredible that Beaver fans are not more supportive of the local schools.
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that was a hell of a game and if anyone wants to pay attention nationally, it should have shone a light on how lame the SEC is....playing FIU and Chattanooga at the end of the year??? what the hell are they so afraid of if they're supposed to be the best?
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And Boise won by 11 over Oregon this year and by 5 last year (after a cheap shot knocked Masoli out of the game in the first quarter). And you say the games "were never even close"? Just goes to show how little you know.
And where did anyone mention Masoli for the Heisman?
Enjoy the Poinsettia Bowl.
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My advice Jim, become a Duck fan, we need the dues. Famous Ducks include Ahmad Rashad (Bobby Moore), Dan Fouts, Joey Harrington (only two losses as a Duck starter), and Halotti Ngata of the Ravens. Boise State has produced...err...someone help me here...can't think of one, oh well.
Case in point, worse case scenario we lose to OSU and we play in the Sun Bowl, or maybe the Holiday Bowl.
Best case, and since the road to Pasadena goes thru Eugene, the most likely outcome, we face Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and show the Boise State Broncos how to play a tight schedule and beat a big team.
All you guys did was beat us...just us...I could continue to build a case, but in the end the Ducks proved last night they can come from behind AND deal out a$$ whippins...we may not get a national title game, but neither will you.
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But, BSU does deserve to be up there more than TCU. Give me a break, TCU. What the hell have YOU guys done?
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Oh, and an overrated BYU and Utah team...give me a break.
At least BSU beat a top 10 team...geesh.
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Go Oregon Ducks..............
Next stop oregon state.....
I am saying it MASOLI FOR HEISMAN.....
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GO OREGON DUCKS!!!!!
BEAVERS STILL SUCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!1
1 - 13 of 13