TCU mining possible BCS gold with ACC wins

Scattershooting around the college football scene while wondering what Florida would be without Tim Tebow, BYU without Max Hall or New Mexico if the Lobos had the previous coaching staff.

THUMBS UP: TCU is now 2-0 in the ACC with road wins at Virginia and Clemson and that gives the Frogs computer love if they continue to climb in the rankings in a race against Boise State for BCS post-season gold.

THUMBS DOWN: The Matt Asiata knee injury is a tragedy for a hard-working athlete who expected to have a break-out senior season. It is unlikely the Utes will be able to get him a sixth season of eligibility through the NCAA.

THEY SAID IT: BYU defensive captain Jan Jorgenson on 5-foot-6 corner Brian Logan: "He makes plays. He comes up and hits receivers, he knocks down balls and breaks up passes. With receivers, getting physical with them gets in their heads, they don't like getting touched. He makes tackles in the open field and last year that particular corner position couldn't bring guys down. He does that for us and it is huge."

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Ute RB Asiata leaves the game leading the MWC in rushing with 330 yards on 74 carries or 82.5 ypg. BYU's Harvey Unga is second with a 75.67 average. BYU's Logan ranks No. 3 nationally in passes defended (deflected).

AFTER FURTHER REVIEW: Logan's 9 pass breakups after four games almost doubles the 5 by BYU's 2008 leader Scott Johnson.

MY MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: I'll go with Wyoming freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels, not for a nifty name, but his 24-of-37 passing for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in his first college start in a 30-27 win over UNLV in Laramie.

DUMB AND DUMBER: The squabble between DirecTV and Versus only makes both of them more and more irrelevant in non-ESPN college football coverage.

UNSUNG HERO: It's gotta go to BYU receiver Matt Marshall and Utah corner R. J. Stanford for blocking kicks that led to touchdowns for the local teams.

YEAH, BUT: They've all been ranked in the Top 10 but find themselves with losses in the first month. Welcome to the Club of Disappointed Dreams: Oklahoma, USC, Oklahoma State, BYU, Penn State, California and Mississippi. Yeah, pollsters are geniuses.

TREND SETTERS: If Jimmy Clausen continues to make plays for Notre Dame, the California Kid could prove key in bringing the Fighting Irish back to respectability and save the skin of his head coach.

OVERRATED: I'll add USC to a list that includes LSU of the SEC.

UNDERRATED: Houston, after knocking off Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, this might be a team that could rattle Boise State or TCU as the ultimate 2009 BCS buster.

BOTTOM LINE: The MWC's Top Three (TCU, BYU, Utah) remain on a collision course to eat one another up in a few weeks. The Pac-10 is actually getting entertaining and Cougar fans down on Brian Logan have memory issues.

MY TOP FIVE: 1. Florida, 2. Texas, 3. Alabama, 4. Virginia Tech, 5. TCU.

e-mail: dharmon@desnews.com