Michigan picks Gardner, Ohio State fan loses big and Oklahoma's big stat

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1. Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill's QBR of 89.8 leads the SEC and is fourth in the FBS, a remarkable showing by a sophomore. The rise of Hill has led to discussion among Aggie watchers as to who has been the best offensive mind on the Texas A&M staff: the current offensive coordinator, 29-year-old Jake Spavital, or his predecessor, Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury. My write-in vote goes to a guy with a longer track record. Between Hill, Johnny Manziel and NCAA career passing leader Case Keenum of Houston, the one constant has been Kevin Sumlin.

2. Bravo to -- gulp -- the NCAA, which bent a rule to do something good for Baker Mayfield, the sophomore who transferred earlier this year from Texas Tech to Oklahoma. The NCAA ruled against Mayfield's appeal to grant immediate eligibility. Mayfield must sit out this season per NCAA rule, which is in place for competitive reasons. But the NCAA did decide to allow Oklahoma to grant an 86th scholarship, one above the limit, to Mayfield. That has nothing to do with competition and everything to do with the welfare of one particular student-athlete.

3. The problems of the Stanford offense in the red zone are well-documented. But those are not the Cardinal's only offensive problems. The running game is averaging 165.5 rushing yards per game, the lowest since 2007. Two issues: (A) a talented but inexperienced line still trying to find its rhythm, and (B) the running-back-by-committee (Barry Sanders Jr., Remound Wright and Kelsey Young) has so far shown that the Cardinal have no one to follow in the footsteps of Toby Gerhart, Stepfan Taylor and Tyler Gaffney. Notre Dame plays Stanford on Saturday, and, by the way, the Irish have allowed 108 rushing yards per game and only one score in 131 rushes.

"We can put points on them. I think we can put points on anybody."

Those were the words of Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace prior to last year's Alabama game. The only problem was the Rebels didn't score any points, not a one. They were shut out by the Crimson Tide to the tune of 25-0.

It wasn't all on Wallace, who finished 17-of-31 for 159 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Ole Miss failed to convert twice on fourth down in Alabama's red zone, and then there was the lack of a rushing attack. The Rebels rushed for only 46 yards, mustering a measly 1.8 yards per carry.

But none of that mattered after the game. The loss and the shutout came back on Wallace because of the "guarantee" he made beforehand. He took a lot of heat, and it didn't help that the Rebels proceeded to lose their next two games to Auburn and Texas A&M. It was a difficult stretch for Ole Miss and Wallace.

The senior quarterback has grown up since then. He's a different player, both on and off the field, as he heads into Saturday's rematch with No. 3 Alabama.

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Notre Dame middle linebacker Walk-on Joe Schmidt living dream & lifting the Irish defense » http://t.co/xJzLa8vNHy pic.twitter.com/n40r5TBHhJ

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