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EUGENE, Ore. -- What coaches and players refer to as chemistry is really not chemistry at all. Chemistry is a science subject to irrefutable law. It is what it is.
That's not football. What coaches and players refer to as chemistry is really alchemy. Alchemy isn't subject to the laws of science. Alchemy takes a substance of lesser value and transforms it into something greater.
That pretty much describes what is going on at Iowa and at Oregon these days. The Hawkeyes commit six turnovers and beat Indiana 42-24. Quarterback Ricky Stanzi throws five interceptions and still averages 26 yards a completion. Iowa had no business beating Indiana -- and Michigan State, Northern Iowa, Michigan and so forth -- yet the Hawkeyes are 9-0.
Submit every position at Oregon and USC to the eyeball test and you'd take a Trojan almost every time. Ask Ducks defensive tackle Brandon Bair.
"They've got amazing athletes," Bair said. "If you had all of their talent they have on their team functioning as one unit, they'd be unstoppable."
That's where the alchemy takes place. USC didn't have that at Autzen Stadium on Saturday night. Oregon did. The Ducks won 47-20.
"We have a unit -- defensively, offensively -- we love to play with each other," Bair said. "We love to be out there on the field with each other. We feed off of each other's energy. We know if we mess up, somebody is going to be right there behind us. We don't have any fear of going out on the field together. We absolutely love being on the field together. The unity we have is absolutely unbelievable. I've never felt anything like it."
It may be unity. It may be love. It may have a little to do with blocking and tackling. Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said Friday he has never had a team listen to its coaches as well as this team does. "Everything we ask them to do, they do," Kelly said.
As coaches will tell you, that trait has a value greater than gold. Alchemy may not be a strong enough word to describe what is happening at Iowa and Oregon.
Instead of a word, try a phrase: "Rose Bowl opponents."
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The thought crossed Kirk Ferentz's mind. The Iowa head coach started to worry that his team's edge-of-the-cliff dance would finally come to a painful end.
"I thought maybe we had dug too deep a hole today," Ferentz said.
As it turns out, there's no hole too deep for Iowa. There aren't enough interceptions to keep Ricky Stanzi from rallying his team. There aren't enough mistakes to keep these Hawkeyes from believing and, eventually, prevailing.
And after escaping a 14-point canyon Saturday against Indiana, Iowa might end up on top of the mountain after all.
Team Comeback did it again, rallying for the eighth time in nine games -- this time from its largest deficit of the season -- to remain perfect at 9-0. It didn't come down to the final play this time, as Iowa actually could relax in the final three or four minutes of a 42-24 win.
But Ferentz and his players agreed Saturday's rally was the most improbable.
"It's got to be up at the top," Ferentz said. "I know I haven't been in a game like this, and I doubt I've seen one like this because it was just so, so different. You never survive five turnovers, let alone five picks. The odds are, I would almost say, nil."
Almost. Iowa defied the odds once again, and the biggest boost came from the man who put the team in the hole.
STILLWATER, Okla. -- The memories of Texas' only 2008 loss were never far away for Curtis Brown, Blake Gideon and Earl Thomas.
Texas safety Blake Gideon produced a pair of turnovers Saturday.
A nightmarish ending in the Longhorns' loss at Texas Tech last season boiled down to two plays that group didn't make. Gideon dropped a chance at a game-sealing interception with a celebrated drop on the next-to-last Tech offensive snap on a throw by Graham Harrell. And Michael Crabtree split Brown and Thomas on his game-winning touchdown grab on the next play.
The similarities with that game were striking this season as a tough trip to Oklahoma State materialized in exactly the same place on the Longhorns' schedule. Texas was playing its most difficult road opponent in front of a stadium packed with the largest crowd in school history.
Except this time around, the trio of Texas defensive backs slayed those memories with a masterful defensive game. All of them produced interceptions in a convincing 41-14 victory over Oklahoma State.
"I'm so proud of Blake Gideon and Earl Thomas and Curtis Brown," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "It was very fitting for all three of them to intercept balls -- two for touchdowns -- and put that thought to rest."
One thing we do know: Florida, Texas and Alabama are the teams in the driver's seat in the race for the BCS National Championship Game. Florida and Alabama, first and second in the BCS standings, will have to face each other for the SEC title if they win out. Texas, at No. 3, waits in the wings to move up. Lurking in the shadows are a couple of undefeated teams that don't look like they want to yield to the powerhouses.
Iowa Falling Behind (2009) Trailed Result
Indiana 21-7 W, 42-24
Michigan State 13-9 W, 15-13
Wisconsin 10-0 W, 20-10
Michigan 7-0 W, 30-28
Penn State 10-0 W, 21-10
Arizona 10-7 W, 27-17
Iowa State 3-0 W, 35-3
Northern Iowa 13-3 W, 17-16
Only game did not trail: Arkansas State
The fourth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes continue to be the cardiac kids. For the eighth time in nine games this season, Iowa fell behind its opponent. Once again it did not matter, as the Hawkeyes scored 28 points to improve to 9-0. Iowa had six turnovers, including five picks by quarterback Ricky Stanzi, yet managed to pull out the win.
Iowa has home games with Northwestern and Minnesota, sandwiched in between a trip to Columbus and a battle with the 17th-ranked Buckeyes, a game that will most likely decide the Big Ten title. Iowa's regular season ends Nov. 21, so the Hawkeyes will have to wait and see where the chips fall. At the very least, a trip to the Rose Bowl would await a 12-0 Iowa team.
The Cincinnati Bearcats aren't going anywhere either. However, unlike Iowa, the Bearcats are rolling opponents. Saturday's 21-point win over Syracuse was the fourth consecutive double-digit win, and the seventh in eight games this season. And lately, Cincinnati has been without starting quarterback Tony Pike. Cincinnati dropped from fifth to eighth in the BCS last week, but still has conference games left with Connecticut, 21st-ranked West Virginia and 15th-ranked Pittsburgh, and a nonconference game with Illinois remaining. The Pittsburgh game is Dec. 5 during all the conference title games, giving the Bearcats one last chance to impress the voters.
The Hawkeyes and Bearcats will need to win out impressively and hope for help to reach the BCS title game, but the two teams look like they plan on being in the discussion come early December.
Three Weekend Observations
1. Colleges have been operating under the 85-scholarship limit for nearly two decades, and the belief that it has established parity is accepted on faith. But there's a difference between parity and depth. Indiana, Northwestern and Wake Forest all coughed up fourth-quarter leads Saturday to teams with more talent than they have. I can't think of anything more frustrating to a coach.
2. Meet tight end Anthony McCoy, the MVP of the USC offense. Quarterback Matt Barkley leaned on McCoy against Notre Dame. McCoy didn't make the trip to Oregon because of injury. Barkley found backups Rhett Ellison and Blake Ayles open early. Both dropped passes, and Barkley not only rarely looked at them again; he also rarely threw downfield again. Without that, the Ducks' defense closed in against Barkley in the second half and finished with two sacks.
3. So Tim Tebow has a breakout game against Georgia and all in the Heisman race is forgiven? Boy, I don't know. The way Tebow performed against the Dawgs makes you wonder where that has been all season. Yes, the concussion against Kentucky had a lot to do with Tebow's tentative play in the past couple of weeks. Perhaps in another month, Tebow's early play will be forgotten. The polls sure seem to work that way.
Heisman Watch
1. Mark Ingram, Alabama, RB, Soph.
Last week: Idle
Season: 153 rushes, 1,004 yards, 8 TDs; 19 receptions, 186 yards, 3 TDs
Heisman-o-meter: Someone has to be No. 1 in this Heisman traffic jam, and Ingram makes a case better than anyone right now. He is the nation's fifth-leading rusher and would be higher had he not sat most of the Florida International game due to illness. He has been great against the Tide's toughest opponents. And he had a signature moment in the game-sealing drive against South Carolina. On Saturday, he has another chance to win the favor of voters in the weekend's marquee matchup.
Up next: Saturday vs. No. 9 LSU
2. Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska, DT, Sr.
Last week: 5 tackles, 3 solo; 3 tackles for loss; 1 sack; 1 quarterback hurry in a 20-10 victory at Baylor
Season: 49 tackles, 28, solo; 13 tackles for loss; 5 sacks; 1 interception; 7 passes broken up; 14 quarterback hurries; 1 forced fumble; 2 blocked kicks
Heisman-o-meter: Suh backers may not want to hear this, but on Saturday against Baylor, Nebraska's defensive tackle didn't cause the kind of havoc up front that he usually does. The Huskers' other tackle, Jared Crick, who had five sacks, looked like the real All-America. But give Suh credit: Twice he showed his amazing sideline-to-sideline speed (amazing when you consider he's 300 pounds), once chasing the quick Kendall Wright and once tracking down quarterback Nick Florence. Perhaps Suh's most impressive play was when he avoided a cut block, found Florence and sacked him. (The tackle, however, incurred a questionable 15-yard penalty for "slamming the quarterback to the ground.") And it was not as if he was getting double-teamed a lot either. On the five plays Crick recorded his sacks, Suh battled two blockers only once.
Once Suh returned to Lincoln, Neb., after the game, he was having other issues.
Up next: Saturday vs. No. 20 Oklahoma
3. Golden Tate, Notre Dame, WR, Jr.
Last week: 4 receptions, 80 yards, 1 TD; 4 rushes, 61 yards, 1 TD; 1 punt return, 0 yards in a 40-14 victory over Washington State in San Antonio
Season: 56 receptions, 927 yards, 9 TDs; 19 rushes, 155 yards, 2 TDs; 7 punt returns, 47 yards; 3 kickoff returns, 62 yards
Heisman-o-meter: Many readers have written in wondering why Tate is ahead of teammate Jimmy Clausen on The Watch. Here's one reason: At the end of the first half against the Cougars, Tate hauled in a 50-yard Hail Mary pass by going up against three Washington State defenders for a catch that coach Charlie Weis called "one of the most phenomenal catches I've seen anyone make, ever." Tate, not Clausen, was the reason for that touchdown, and that wasn't the first time this season either. And how about that touchdown run, in which he spun out of a tackle? (Granted, all of this came against Wazzu.) I realize Clausen is getting a lot more Heisman love than Tate, but it's well past the time that voters reconsider.
Up next: Saturday vs. Navy
4. C.J. Spiller, Clemson, RB, Sr.
Last week: 5 rushes, 27 yards, 1 TD in a 49-3 victory over Coastal Carolina
Season: 113 rushes, 574 yards, 4 TDs; 18 receptions, 267 yards, 2 TDs; 5 punt returns, 182 yards, 1 TD; 12 kickoff returns, 459 yards, 3 TDs; 0-of-1 passing
Heisman-o-meter: Reason No. 9,831 why it's shortsighted to only rely on stats to measure Heisman candidates: Stats don't reveal how much a player played. Spiller, for example, wasn't needed against FCS member Coastal Carolina, so Clemson coach Dabo Swinney pulled the do-it-all running back after his 6-yard touchdown run with 10:56 remaining in the second quarter so as to not risk injury. Unfortunately for Spiller, Heisman voters love their stats, so this game may end up catching up to him in December if voters don't do their homework.
Up next: Saturday vs. Florida State
5. Case Keenum, Houston, QB, Jr.
Last week: 44-of-54 passing, 559 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT; 5 rushes, 10 yards in a 50-43 victory over Southern Miss
Season: 285-of-398 passing, 3,293 yards, 25 TDs, 5 INTs; 35 rushes, 74 yards, 3 TDs
Heisman-o-meter: Forget the numbers. What was most impressive about Keenum's career passing day against Southern Miss was that he was clutch. With 57 seconds remaining and the score tied at 43, he drove the Cougars 77 yards and hit Patrick Edwards for the game-winning, 28-yard touchdown with 21 seconds remaining. And remember that Keenum pulled all this off against what was Conference USA's top defense.
Up next: Saturday at Tulsa
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