Recap of Thursday night college football

Well, wow.  Oregon was shut out for most of the game against a Stanford team that looked clearly superior.  The game was only made reasonably close in the end by a blocked field goal for a touchdown and a converted onside kick late by Oregon.  Stanford consistently put pressure on Mariota who never looked comfortable.  Meanwhile, Stanford's quarterback Kevin Hogan consistently picked up first downs with his feet as Oregon made a habit of missing key tackles.  That is to say nothing of Stanford's running game, which had its way with the Oregon defense all game long as Tyler Gaffney racked up 157 yards on 45 carries.  I don't know if I've ever seen a running back get 45 carries, but it should have been even higher.  Every time Stanford threw the ball it was a bad decision, because Oregon could do absolutely nothing against the run.  I figured that Oregon would learn from their loss to Stanford last year, but it was just more of the same from a year ago, and Stanford looked much more dominant than the 26-20 final score looked.  At least we now know that Oregon against Alabama would have been an awful game, because if Stanford could do this to Oregon I can't imagine the bloodbath versus Alabama.  It also speaks to how good Stanford really is.

At least Baylor stepped up, as they routed Oklahoma 41-12.  The most impressive part of this win was Baylor's defense, which flew to the ball and consistently made impact plays.  The 42 points Baylor scored could have been a lot higher, as they made a few mistakes early in the first half before catching their stride right before the half ended.  Baylor definitely deserves consideration for the #2 BCS slot, but with Florida State playing as well as they are, the conversation is really who is the third best team in the country between Baylor and Ohio State.  You'd have to put Stanford in that conversation as well, but with one loss they're on the outside looking in right now.  Now we can look forward to a Saturday slate of games that includes #1 Alabama hosting #13 LSU capping off the action at 8 EST on CBS.