Good college football week for Lobos, Devils, 'Cats

Scattershooting around college football relieved that a boring World Series, upstaged by A-Rod, is over.

THUMBS UP: New Mexico's hold-on win over Air Force and Arizona State's ability to stay atop the Pac-10 with a win over Cal after trailing by almost two touchdowns. Unfortunately, the Sun Devils will lose at Oregon this week.

THUMBS DOWN: Imagine how much more respect ASU (ranked No. 4 in the BCS) would get from voters if its undefeated run this year didn't include falling behind 13-0 to Cal, 14-0 to Colorado and 19-0 to Oregon State. Starbucks, anyone?

THEY SAID IT: "I told offensive coordinator Robert Anae any time we cross the 50, we're in four-down territory," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall on Monday, describing how injuries to his kicker have resulted in limited kicking practice most of the season.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Hats off to Weber State and Portland State for a scoring carnival last Saturday that created several NCAA records in the 73-68 Wildcat win. This highest-scoring game in modern NCAA history had 20 touchdowns and 485 yards in kick returns after a first quarter score of 7-3.

AFTER FURTHER REVIEW: Has Nebraska given up? Texas RB Jamaal Charles rushed for 290 yards on the Huskers' defense — 216 of those came in the fourth quarter. UCLA is tied for second in the Pac-10 but has lost three games by a combined score of 91-19 to opponents with a 10-15 combined record, with six of those 10 wins by Utah. What gives?

MY MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Rodney Ferguson had a career-high 41 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns in New Mexico's 34-31 victory over Air Force. The 41 rushes set a Mountain West Conference record for carries by a junior and rank as the second-most in league history overall.

DUMB AND DUMBER: Remember how the SEC has a challenge with sportsmanship? Well, Saturday you had Georgia coach Mark Richt trying to fire up his team against Florida — a game they won — by challenging players to get a celebration penalty after the first touchdown. If players didn't, they'd have to do early morning runs. Why not light a fuse on a bomb?

UNSUNG HERO: UNLV's Beau Bell is stuck on a very bad football team, but the big-time linebacker continues to impress. He had his third career interception against Wyoming on Saturday, returning it for a touchdown. He also had 10 tackles, three for losses.