Week 3 National Notebook

USC — The Trojans were sensational in just about every facet en route to a breathtaking 35–3 win over Ohio State. Mark Sanchez ‘only’ threw for 172 yards, but he tossed four touchdown passes and was in complete control of the USC attack. The Trojan defense, as expected, was terrific, holding the Beanie-less Buckeyes to 207 total yards. USC still has 10 regular-season games remaining, but it will be a major surprise if Pete Carroll’s club is not playing for the BCS national title game in early January.

High honorable mention

North Carolina — When North Carolina is contending for ACC titles in the next few years, Tar Heel faithful likely will look back at last Thursday’s win at Rutgers as the turning point of the Butch Davis era. After a sluggish 35–27 win at home over Division I-AA McNeese State in the opener, North Carolina rebounded with a stunningly easy 44–12 victory over Rutgers witnessed by a national television audience. It was the Tar Heels’ first win outside the state of North Carolina since Oct. 5, 2002, when John Bunting’s club outlasted Arizona State 38–36 in Tempe.

Honorable mention

Maryland  — We’ve been hard on Maryland this season — and for good reason — but it’s time to give the Terps some credit. One week after a disheartening loss at Middle Tennessee, Maryland bounced back with an impressive 35–27 win over a very good California club. The Terps jumped to leads of 28–6 and 35–13 before surviving a late Golden Bear rally to hold on for a very important win. Chris Turner was outstanding at quarterback (15-of-19 for 156 yards, two touchdowns), and both Da’Rel Scott (19 for 87) and Davin Meggett (13 for 82) ran the ball well.

Disappointments of the Week

Ohio State — There’s no need to pile on the Buckeyes too much. As we are likely to find out over the next two months, very few teams will be able to hang with USC this season, especially at the Coliseum. Ohio State is still the team to beat in the Big Ten, but the Buckeyes played their way out of a third straight trip to the national title game.

Arizona — The high-powered Wildcats rolled up 111 points in their first two games (wins over Idaho and Toledo) but missed a great opportunity to improve to 3–0 for the first time since 2001 with a 36–28 loss at New Mexico. Quarterback Willie Tuitama threw for 321 yards and three scores, but the Cats lost the turnover battle 5-to-1 and had no answer for the Lobos’ rushing attack. New Mexico is a quality opponent, but this was a bad loss for a team that likely needs to get to a bowl game to keep coach Mike Stoops employed.

Washington State — After a 45–17 loss at Baylor, the Cougars are now 0–3 and have lost those three games by an average score of 50–12. Baylor rushed for 426 yards on 42 carries (for an astounding 10.1-yard average) en route to the alarmingly easy win. The Cougs’ best (and only?) opportunity for a win comes this week when Portland State visits Pullman.

Player of the Week

Max Hall, BYU — The one-time Arizona State Sun Devil completed 27-of-35 passes for 271 yards and seven touchdowns in just over two quarters of work in the Cougars’ 59–0 win over UCLA. The Bruins have plenty of issues on offense, but this is not a bad defensive team. In the opener, UCLA limited Tennessee’s Jonathan Crompton to 189 yards and no touchdowns. 

Freshman of the Week

Robert Griffin, Baylor — Griffin gets the honor for the second straight week. In the Bears’ 45–17 win over Washington State Friday night, the true freshman quarterback did most of his damage with his legs, running for a school-record 217 yards on 11 carries and two scores while adding 129 yards passing and another touchdown. 

Highs and Lows

• The Mountain West went 4–0 vs. the Pac-10, with wins by New Mexico (Arizona), UNLV (Arizona State), TCU (Stanford) and BYU (UCLA). UNLV is 2–1 for the first time since 2003.

• Also 2–1 for the first time since 2003 — Duke. The Blue Devils topped Navy 41–31 on the strength of Thaddues Lewis’ 317-yard, three-touchdown performance.

• Air Force is a surprising 3–0 after a 31–28 win over Houston in Dallas. The Falcons did not complete a pass (Shea Smith was 0-of-7) but rushed for 380 yards on 71 attempts.

• Mississippi State managed 116 yards of offense in a 3–2 loss to Auburn. Quarterback Wesley Carroll had 78 yards on 25 pass attempts.

• Vanderbilt is outscoring its opponents 45–10 in the second half, including an impressive 17–0 shoutout vs. high-scoring Rice last Saturday night.

• The schedule hasn’t been too taxing (Maine, FIU and Iowa State), but Iowa has yet to allow a touchdown this season.

• Missouri and Oklahoma have each scored 23 touchdowns in three games — 20 more than Virginia and Washington State (also in three games).

• SMU true freshman Bo Levi Mitchell has already tossed eight interceptions this season. No other player has thrown more than five.

• Ohio has to be the best three-loss team in the nation. The Bobcats lost a one-point game at Wyoming in the opener, led Ohio State for much of the way in a Week 2 26–14 loss and dropped a 31–28 decision to Central Michigan last weekend. 

• In two games vs. Division I-A competition, Clemson’s James Davis has totaled only 47 yards on 20 carries. Teammate C.J. Spiller has 68 yards on 12 carries.