How would No. 4 TCU match up with No. 3 Texas?

RC Slocum: TCU played a good Texas team a year ago and played them close for a half. Then Texas pulled away.  You know playing Texas, obviously they’re a good team and a lot of it hinges on the quarterback.  If I were playing them I think we’d match up pretty good because TCU is a pressure, quick pressure defense and they’d probably give Texas some problems.  You’ve got to do something to disrupt their quarterback and don’t let him get into a rhythm.  If you affected the production of the quarterback you would greatly slow their offense down.  They’re not a great running team.  The quarterback opens things up.  Shipley is a great player but if you get the quarterback you don’t have to worry much about Shipley except on special teams.  I think it would be a good match up.

What is your impression of TCU?

Slocum: I think TCU is a very good football team and over the years they’ve lined up and played Oklahoma and played Texas and teams like that.  This year they went to Clemson and beat Clemson.  That impresses me because I think Clemson is pretty good.  When you look at Boise or someone like that, you don’t see the same caliber athletes that you see at some of the big time SEC schools and other schools like that…and that’s where I think the matchup is significant to me, that a team like TCU, who you might question their talent and say they’re just a Boise, you know they went into Clemson against one of those big physical teams.  TCU, to their favor, played that kind of team and matched up pretty well.

Don James: That’s their last tough game — Utah this week.  If you look at their schedule there’s not much left

Fisher DeBerry: Having played TCU for many, many years I think it would simply boil down to the fact that Texas’ defense would make a lot of difference because I don’t think that TCU’s got quite the offensive people on that side of the ball that they have on the defensive side of the ball.  Like R.C. said, they’ll put some pressure on McCoy and if his offensive line can hold up and he can hold up because they’re a defensive pressure blitzing team, they’ve got people who can run on defense and keep up with anybody in country and I guarantee you that.  But I think Texas would eventually wear them down, and I think the difference would be at the quarterback position.

Would Texas would wear down TCU?

Pat Dye: Texas has got to be good.  Even though their schedule has been in their favor.  They’ve got to be good.  You can build up all kinds of statistics against weak football teams.  Top-ranked defense, tops in passing and the quarterback can stand back in the pocket and hold the ball all day long.  Auburn’s quarterback against Furman Saturday was 17 for 18 and he ain’t that good.  So your competition percentage has a lot to do with the way you look.  But I think they would wear down TCU.

Dick MacPherson: Everybody who plays Oregon better know how to defense the spread or they’re in trouble.  Because they’ve got a guy who knows exactly what to do if they don’t have the defense right and I think USC blew it.

Frank Kush: I watched that game very closely and I was so impressed with the diversity of their offense.  Not only the quarterback running the ball. Masoli, he’s very capable of passing, running, etc but their running backs too.  They’ve got two running backs —James and Barner — that I think are exceptionally good.  But above all I think the coaching is remarkable and the diversity of their offense is just as good as I’ve seen in the country.  They attack just about every hole at the line of scrimmage.  Whether it’s the quarterback or the running backs, whoever it may be, they’re pretty dog gone athletic.  James, that running back, to me has to be one of the quickest I’ve ever seen.  I was really impressed with them.  They just kicked the hell out of (USC).

Kush: I don’t think the entire Pac-10 matches up with the SEC what I’ve seen of them.  Southern Cal has talent but I don’t think they were into it for some reason.  Just watching the Pac10, Cal was over here (Arizona) and I wasn’t impressed with them even though they kicked Arizona State’s butt.  But the interesting thing about it is that Oregon and Oregon State, in my opinion, get the maximum out of what they have from the standpoint of talent.  But I think the Southeastern Conference, from what I see, has a heck of a lot more talent than the other conferences.

John Cooper: I’m going to tell you guys, Southern Cal has as much talent as anyone in the country — including Florida, LSU, and any of those teams down South.  And for Oregon to beat up on them like they did…I think if they play like that I think if you were to play them on the west coast or in Pasadena they could beat anybody in the country.  Based on what I saw.

Kush: They were remarkable.  No question about it.

John Robinson: I think SC hasn’t developed as a team.  They started out having to replace 10 defensive players and they just couldn’t do it.  They just haven’t matured as a team.  They got preoccupied with the quarterback position and it seems like they just forgot about the rest.  Now Oregon. Utah was like Oregon a year ago.  I think they had an undefeated year and nobody thought they were any good and they go down and beat Alabama badly in a bowl game.  So those teams out West don’t see the spread as much and it’s effective especially when you put the speed element with it.  SC hasn’t seen it very much, doesn’t know how to defend it.

Robinson: I think Oregon for the last few years has really recruited speed.  They’re little guys, they all look like midgets when you see them but they can RUN.  And they teach speed.  I remember back in the wishbone, teams like Oklahoma were faster than everybody.  I think Oregon and Texas who throw the ball a lot are tough to handle.  And I know we’ve been talking about all this conference stuff, but what it comes down to is one team playing one game.  We don’t know that Oregon doesn’t match up with anybody in the country for one game.  Now, they’ve lost a lot of defensive players.  I think they could get embarrassed on defense against a really strong powerful team.

Robinson: SC is not the team it wanted to be and it’s slipped away from them.  The good players are not playing the way they’d like to be playing and it’s an anomaly for them because Pete Carroll’s teams have always played really well.  The story out here is Oregon, and I think they’re going to go the rest of the way and that’s a great thing for the Pac-10.

Pat Dye: I was impressed with Oregon’s defense against Southern Cal, and I know everyone’s going to be impressed with their offense…that quarterback is like Houdini, but I thought their defense was quick and they ran to the football.  After looking at them against Southern Cal, I guarantee you that you can call Nick Saban or Urban Meyer and neither one of them is going to want to play them.

Roy Kramer: I think Phil Knight gave Oregon new shoes to wear because I’ve never seen so much speed against Southern Cal as I did that night.  They were impressive.  You know they’ve got that loss to Boise State and in all fairness if you look at the ratings across the board, Boise State is riding Oregon’s balloon.  And if that balloon were to burst it would affect Boise State as much as Oregon.  This makes TCU a much stronger outside candidate because they beat Clemson at Clemson, they had that good win over BYU and if they beat Utah they’re going to have a better resume across the board than Boise does.

The only good thing about it at the BCS is that it sort of plays out with the rankings because Florida and Alabama play each other and I think Texas can ride it out to the national championship game.  You can argue about the other people but I think it’s hard to argue against Texas and the SEC champion playing for the national title.

If you asked me about the two best-coached teams in the country I agree that Oregon and Iowa should be it from what I’ve seen based on what they’re playing with.

Do you think Oklahoma State has a chance at Texas?

Slocum: It will be tough without their wide receiver (Dez Bryant) but they’re playing there at Oklahoma State, and they always play well there against Texas. But Texas always finds ways to beat them.

If I were picking this game, I’d say Texas would beat them.  I just think they’re a better overall team, a better defensive team.  And offensively, Texas always seems to move the ball pretty well on them.  I don’t think it’s as big of a match-up as people are making it out to be.  I know going in there it’s going to be a great atmosphere, but I just think Texas is better.

DeBerry: Well, their quarterback (Zac Robinson) is really playing better now.  He was hurt at the beginning of the year and they’ve had a lot of adversity. They lost their best running back (Kendall Hunter), and now they might get him back.  He suited up the other day but didn’t play. He’s the real deal.  Then of course they might get Bryant back, but it’s an NCAA issue and you know how long it takes them.

At the same time, the quarterback played great last week.  He was 23 out of 27 with no interceptions and three touchdowns.  He’s broken all their records over there now.  I thought this week (against Baylor) was their most complete game yet, mostly because they didn’t get but five penalties.

What is the key to the game?

DeBerry: I do think they’re playing better defense, and I think that’ll be the key to the ball game.  So, we’ll know about Oklahoma State after they play Texas.

Do you think Texas deserved to jump to No. 2 this week?

DeBerry: I think we have to look at the schedule of the first three too.  Alabama plays Tennessee, and gosh Tennessee is still a good football team. They’ve got good players.  Then Florida playing Mississippi State over there, they hadn’t beaten them (in Starkville) in a long time. So, I was kind of surprised that we had Alabama going to third (in the Legends Poll) because I think Alabama could be the best team in the country.

What makes Alabama’s defense so good?

Stallings: Alabama’s got it all defensively, there’s no question about that.  The thing about their secondary is they can all play man to man, they’re not afraid to blitz, they can really put pressure on the offense.

What about their offense?

Stallings: Offensively they’re struggling a bit, their quarterback hasn’t played a whole lot.  But they’ve got excellent running backs, we’ve said that all along.  Ingram really performed.  Every time he ran the ball it went for 6, 8, 10 yards.  They finally quit throwing the football and gave it to him and he ran for 200+ yards.  They have some more running backs behind him.  They’ve got excellent wide receivers, Jones hadn’t caught a lot of passes but he’s good.  And the quarterback, if he just doesn’t turn the ball over, I think they’re an excellent team.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Stallings: They’ve got a good field goal kicker.  He doesn’t miss hardly anything from 35 yards in, he might struggle a little bit from 50 yards but he’s very accurate.  Punt coverage is good, kickoff return is good.  I ranked them the number one team myself.  I don’t see anyone beating them.

How would they fare against Florida and Texas?

Stallings: I think if they played Florida today they’d beat Florida.  If they played Texas today they’d beat Texas.  I ranked them number one.

What are your thoughts on Alabama?

Dye: First of all Alabama’s not going to be too far behind anybody. Because no one’s going to score many points against them.  I mean if you’re talking about them getting behind by two or three touchdowns, that’s a lot for anybody to overcome, but not many are going to score many points against Alabama.  The Patriots maybe or New Orleans but nobody in college football.  Just like Gene said, they can rush the passer, they play the run.  How many points did South Carolina score on Saturday? 6? How about Ole Miss the week before? 3? You know, they’ve been scoring enough points to win.  So, if you don’t get too far behind, you can catch up running the football.

What do they do best offensively?

Dye: Alabama appears to me to be a football team that can just take control of a football game and just impose their will and make you do what they want to do.  Saturday they struggled throwing the football so they just lined up and ran it up and down the field.  That kid (Ingram) set a record and Alabama’s been running the football a long time.  He set a record for the school, 240 or 250 yards or something and the ones behind him don’t look much different.

What could they improve upon?

Dye: The only thing that I think is average is their offensive line. Probably maybe a little above average.  And they might be a little average at quarterback.  He’s not a Bradford or McCoy but he doesn’t have to be.  All he’s got to be is a good manager.  They’re going to dominate the football game defensively and the offensive line is going to get better as the defense gets tired just like on Saturday.  So at the end of a football game they just take control of it.  They already have control of it defensively and they’ll take control of it offensively because they’re playing against tired defensive folks.  Those running backs, they rest them enough during the course of the game, now that kid got tired Saturday, but they rest them enough to have fresh legs at the end of the game and it makes all the difference.

George Welsh: I think that the game this weekend with Georgia Tech hosting Virginia Tech is huge. I believe that Georgia Tech will be able to run the ball. I think Virginia Tech has had too many close calls — with Nebraska who had them beat, then to let Duke take them down to the wire. I’m just not sure about Virginia Tech yet, even though I ranked them in the top-10. If Georgia Tech can get that running game going — which I see no reason they won’t be able to — they have a great chance to knock off Virginia Tech. Duke beating NC State on the road, I just don’t think there are any defenses left in the conference. Past Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech there really is no one left in the ACC. I saw Miami get pounded by Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, so I’m not sold on them.

Dick Macpherson: Georgia Tech is winning with their head coach (Paul Johnson) calling the plays. I’m interested to see if that can work against Virginia Tech.

Welsh: Virginia Tech won’t hesitate to give you an eight-man front  — which is one of the keys to stopping the triple-option. I don’t think Virginia Tech is going to get beat that way.

Frank Broyles: Georgia Tech rushed for over 400 yards Saturday. It’s hard to prepare for the wishbone and option when you have worked the team for five weeks in a row on defending the pass and sitting back on their haunches, which makes it hard to get a picture in just a week. I can remember when Darryl (Royal) started running the wishbone and we tried preparing for it one week and we just didn’t know how to run it. It’s a big advantage for Georgia Tech.

Welsh: If I was coaching these teams, I would start preparing for the option in the spring and then they could also prepare for it in the summer. You also need to try and find out what those line calls are.

Broyles: The problem is Georgia Tech is not the top team on the other team’s list to prepare for. But it’s so different you just can’t not prepare.

Welsh: The other problem is you cannot simulate that speed with your B team. I figured by now the ACC would catch up with that speed and that style. I think that Virginia Tech is good but I do still think Georgia Tech has a chance against them.

Slocum: Texas is winning every week and you have to give them some credit for that, but they’re just inconsistent.  Early on (in the season) I thought they weren’t playing very well on defense and I worried about their special teams. But the other day they won the game on special teams and defense. So, we’ll find out this week.  They’re playing Oklahoma in the biggest test they’ve had.  It appears to me that Colt McCoy is turning the ball over.  He’s playing like he did the year before last — just kind of an average guy.  Last year he was the difference in their team.  This year he’s had a less than spectacular start.

I don’t think Texas has the defense — ranking these teams I had Texas at No. 3. They don’t have a defense like Florida and Alabama, I don’t think they can run the ball like Florida and Alabama.

Donahue: The best teams I’ve seen so far are Florida and Alabama.  I’ve done (color commentary) Alabama twice and Alabama is a team to me with no apparent weaknesses.  They’ve got a whole lot of athleticism everywhere around their football team.  Their offensive line is very good, maybe not as good as Florida’s, but certainly good.  They’ve got a whole group of running backs they can throw at you.  The quarterback is better than I ever thought he would be after watching him in the opening game against Virginia Tech.  Greg McElroy is really playing well for them.  He’s good with the ball.

Florida’s offensive line is the most impressive line I’ve seen in a lot of years.  I’d have to go back to some of the great lines, you know, over the years to see a better one than Florida’s offensive line.  So those are the two best teams I’ve seen.

Slocum: I’m kind of curious about the LSU game.  I was impressed with LSU’s speed and everything and I’m curious about in the poll if you play Alabama who we all have as number two and you get beat 13-3, I don’t know why you drop so far.  You know, you play a team ranked ahead of them and you think the team ahead of them should win and they won by a fairly close margin so I didn’t mark them down much.  I think LSU is one of the better teams around.

Don James: Well, one thing is they didn’t play that well out here in Washington, you know.  They played a very average football team and struggled to win.  That was just the opener and we all know how openers are so we all know how openers are.

Bill Mallory: I think the big question with LSU is their offense.  I’m still not sure how good of an offense they really are.

Vince Dooley: I think the quarterback (Jordan Jefferson) is still inexperienced and that’s a problem with them.  I think they have great athletes and they’ve won a lot of close games which is part of winning I guess.  Despite the fact that they got beat 13-3 I thought Florida was a much, much stronger football team.  Everything was going for LSU in the ball game, but Florida still played well.

Slocum: When you play the No. 1 team in the nation and lose 13-3, you probably played pretty well.  They’re a one-loss team now, and I compare them to other one-loss teams.  Southern Cal lost to a Washington team that’s not very good.  So USC with one loss compared to losing to the No. 1 team in college football, I didn’t mark them down as far.

“It’s the coaching part of the game that I’d be curious about. Like why Alabama is different from everybody else. They’re more physical and tougher, and it seems like a year or two ago, it was the fast quick, not so physical teams that were good. And here Alabama looks like a throwback to the era when we all coached.“

Why do these teams have certain things going for them?

Pat Dye: I think Alabama can play the way they’re playing because they have better people than anybody else in the conference except Florida and maybe LSU. That’s Saban’s style of coaching: He’s going to get better people and they’re going to line up and he’s going to be as simple as he can be. They’re not too simple on defense, but they impose their will upon you on offense. They make you defend the run game, and then they go with the play action pass.

Robinson: It’s good to hear that still works!

John Cooper: Nick Saban, I’ve coached against him and Bill Mallory has in this league, and he’s a damn good football coach. He’s a tough, hardnosed, no-nonsense type guy. He coaches probably the same way as us when we thought we were pretty good.

Dye: Auburn can’t line up against Alabama and be conventional and beat them. There’s no way. They have to do something that’s going to give them problems with getting in the right place on defense and keeping up with where the ball’s going. I think that’s what you’re seeing across the country —with the Houstons and the Boise States and their offenses — is creating problems for defenses until you get to somebody like Alabama where their people are better than your people.

RC Slocum: I hear people talk right now, saying that nobody even plays defense anymore. I think you need to look at that. Back in the day, when both sides of the ball were running a wishbone or a conventional run-type offense and were getting 50-55 plays on offense and both teams were doing that, defenses weren’t giving up as many points. But they weren’t getting exposed. Now when teams are getting 90 snaps against you — with the way they’re managing the clock and the no-huddle offense — a defense can play pretty well and still give up some points. If you get exposed that many times, you’re probably going to give up some points.

Frank Kush: Some teams — like Oregon State — are very consistent. They’re not the most talented, but I’ve been impressed with them fundamentally. In contrast, there are some teams that commit a lot of penalties, make a heck of a lot of mental mistakes and are inconsistent. I think coaching is so significant. That’s why the likes of the Paternos and some of these guys continue to win — they’re getting the maximum amount out of their players and get them prepared mentally.

• Billingsley says we’ll get some answers about undefeated teams this week.
• Slocum says Nebraska and Missouri are strugglilng for an identity.
• Billingsley says LSU is No. 1 across the board in the computer polls.
• LSU is No. 1 in computers because of strength of schedule.
• Texas and Florida are suffering in computer polls because they haven’t had a tough schedule.

The excessive celebration penalty against Georgia’s A.J. Green late in Saturday’s game with LSU should not have been called, the SEC supervisor of officials has told CBSSports.com.

Rogers Redding, the SEC supervisor of officials, said Monday that after reviewing video of the play, “I’ve concluded that it was one that we probably should have let go.”

“We tell our guys not to go looking for this stuff but if it’s right in your face, you have to call it,” Redding said. “He (the SEC official) is beating himself up pretty bad over this one.”

Former Georgia head coach Vince Dooley and former Arkansas coach Frank Broyles joined us to discuss the outcome.

What did you think of the Georgia-LSU game?

Broyles: “LSU, I thought, did a great job defensive — the fact that there wasn’t a touchdown scored until late in the game. It was an unbelievable last three minutes of the game. The celebration penalty gave LSU a chance to win and they took advantage of it and did.”

Dooley: “LSU dominated the first half and only got six points. Georgia dominated the third quarter and half of the fourth, and only got seven points. Like Frank said, the final three minutes were outstanding. AJ Green made an incredible catch for the go-ahead touchdown.”

Did the celebration penalty cost Georgia the game?

Dooley: “It’s tough to say. Even with the celebration penalty, Georgia had too many people on one side and not enough on the other on the kickoff team. And it got scrambled. After the great sprinter for LSU (Trindon Holliday) returned the ball, Georgia got penalized another five yards. Then Scott made a heck of a run. Somebody hit him one yard behind the line of scrimmage and didn’t lock him up. He bounced off and scored. And that really stunned Georgia.”

What are your thoughts on LSU after this game?

Dooley: “I think LSU is really a talented. But you scratch your head watching them. I think if they had a better quarterback, they would really be good. He does some things really well and some other things not so well. They have still been able to win despite themselves.”

Broyles: “They’ve had a hard time running the football all year long. Jefferson (the LSU quarterback) is a young man that has a lot of talent but he’s inexperienced really.”

What must Georgia change going forward?

Dooley: “Georgia’s got more problems on the offensive line than I had anticipated. They have most everybody back. They were very inexperienced last year, and I thought they’d be much better. There’s no question they don’t have the running back that can inspire an offensive line like they had last year.”

What’s your impression of the SEC so far?

Broyles: “The SEC’s got 4 undefeated teams. The western division has 3 with a 5-0 record and Mississippi with a 3-1 record. It’s really unusual because we start our conference games — for tv reasons — earlier than anybody else. We’ve already played two conference games in the first three weeks, which is really unusual.”

Vince Dooley – VA Tech. Only have lost to AL.
Don Nehlen – USC. They seem to stub their toe once each season and beat everybody else.
Pat Dye – I like VA Tech over USC, because USC seems to play down to their competition.
Don James – Miami – they’ playing with lots of energy and disciplined swagger.

2. If Tebow plays, as expected, what do you expect to happen in LSU-Florida.

Vince Dooley – Florida beats LSU with Tebow. If LSU wins, they will be the all-time finalizer in college football. They’ve been doing that game after game. But I don’t see Tebow missing a beat.
Don Nehlen – don’t think LSU is that good offensively. Florida by more than a touchdown. Florida will win, regardless if Tebow plays.
Pat Dye – Florida wins if Tebow plays. They will probably cut down his running and try to pass the ball more. LSU is not a good place to try to break in a new quarterback.
Frank Broyles – don’t know if Tebow will run less. Florida’s plan is always to have the quarterback run, which gives them a one-man advantage on the defense. Florida will be less effective if they have to rely so much on the pass. LSU can’t consistently run the ball, and that will catch up with them against Florida.

3. Is Cincinnati a legit national title contender?
Vince Dooley – don’t know about the National Championship, but they can certainly be in the top 10.
Don Nehlen – I’m waiting to see what they do against West Virginia and South Florida.
Pat Dye – Heck no. Nice team, but not a National Championship team.
Frank Broyles – their schedule won’t let them get there unless they dominate.

4. If Boise is one of two unbeaten teams at end of regular season, think they deserve to play in the BCS final?
Vince Dooley – I’ll reserve judgment on Boise until the end of the season to see what happens to the other top teams.
Don Nehlen – I see them in a BCS game, but not the championship game.
Don James – No, their schedule is not deserving enough.
Frank Broyles – I’d want to see who else would be their competition. With Florida, Texas and Alabama in the mix, two would have to stumble for Boise to make it.

5. Who’s the player you’ve been most impressed with this season?
Vince Dooley – A J Green. He has great timing on the football, great competitiveness and hands, all in one package.
Don Nehlen – Jake Locker. He runs, throws and pulls an average team up a couple of notches.
Pat Dye – Rolando McClain. He is as good a defensive player as Tebow is an offensive player.

6. Who’s better – TCU or Houston?
Vince Dooley – TCU because they play defense and Houston doesn’t.
Pat Dye – TCU. They’re better than all those BCS busters, Cincinnati, Boise and BYU.
Frank Broyles – TCU. They’ve dominated their opponents defensively, which gives them a chance in every game. They’re in the top 5 or 10 in every defensive category.

7. Is Iowa the class of the big ten (despite near-loss vs Arkansas State)?
Vince Dooley – that remains to be seen, but it probably will be Ohio State.
Don Nehlen – no, Ohio State is the class of the Big 10.
Frank Broyles – I have great admiration for the Iowa coaching staff, but they don’t have the players Ohio State has.

8. What’s wrong with Cal?
Vince Dooley – they’re overrated and don’t live up to their hype.
Don Nehlen – that’s a good question. I’d like to know the answer.

9. What’s wrong with Illinois?
Vince Dooley – same answer as CAL.
Don Nehlen – Illinois can’t stop people. The quarterback has a great arm, but the team doesn’t make big plays.