Every week during the 2009 NCAA College Football season, NFLUK.com readers can rely on Jeff Reinebold to provide the inside scoop on all the biggest fixtures from across the USA. The SMU coach looks back over some upsets from last weekend and previews the fixtures you can see on TV in the UK.

Call this past weekend 'Upset Saturday' because all across America the underdog was rising up to take down the highly, and maybe over-rated, opponent.  In addition to the upsets this was a weekend of near fatal car wrecks for some of America's top college football teams; let's take a look at the carnage.

It all started on Thursday night when unranked South Carolina took on #4 ranked Ole Miss at home in Columbia, South Carolina. The Gamecocks had not beaten a top five team at home since who knows when and the 16-10 win over the Rebels put the rest of the SEC on notice that the Carolina Gamecocks are not a team to be taken lightly.

South Carolina's defense really played well in the game, limiting Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead to 7 of 21 passing attempts for 109 yards and the entire Mississippi offense to 248 yards of total offense on the evening.  During the game SC's under-sized defensive end Eric Norwood constantly harassed Snead and spent most of his night in the Ole Miss backfield.  Norwood, who had two sacks in the game, became the all-time sack leader in University of South Carolina football history against the Rebels.

Ole Miss, who I think is still a good football team, needs to go back to Oxford and spend some time as a staff to figure out ways to get the football in the hands of TB/WR/KR Dexter McClusker's hands more often.  McClusker, who played in the backfield for most of the second half, rushed for 86 yards averaging 5.7 yards per touch but it was too little too late for Ole Miss.  This team is way too talented to ever have an offensive night like they had against South Carolina.

Down in Florida, the University of South Florida Bulls upset Bobby Bowden and his #17 Florida State Seminoles with their back up quarterback B.J. Daniels at the controls.  South Florida, which did not even have a football team 20 years ago, now feels like they have arrived along with the other "big three" in the state of Florida.

Jim Leavitt, the only coach USF has ever had in its history, has seen the program go from a couple of trailers into the big time in his time at USF.  After the game Leavitt said, "You have to beat them to get talked about.  I think it is time you can talk about us". 

What USF fans will talk about is the play of Daniels, a redshirt freshman who accounted for 341 yards of USF's 368 total yards.  While rushing for 126 and passing for two touchdowns the young signal-caller has to have gotten the attention of coaches throughout the Big East Conference and around the country.

Penn State entered its game against Iowa at home as a double-digit favorite and the fifth  ranked team in America, but lost for the second straight season to the Hawkeyes.  Iowa's defense and kicking game were the difference in this one as the Hawkeyes blocked a Penn State punt for a touchdown and created four turnovers to win 21-10 in Happy Valley.

I was a little surprised at how the Hawkeyes were able to run the football against what had been at least statistically one the country's best defensive units.  Iowa, behind freshman running back Adam Robinson, rushed for 163 yards on the afternoon and that rushing threat kept Penn State off balance all afternoon

The loss almost certainly drops the Nittany Lions from the National Championship race for the second season and throws the doors open for a wild finish to the Big 10 Conference Title race.  For certain Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Iowa all now have legit chances at winning the Big 10 title.

Out west for what seems like a repeat of years past the Cal Bears, who opened the season well, would get blasted by a Pac 10 opponent.  This year it was the University of Oregon Ducks who did the deed, beating the sixth ranked Bears badly 42-3. 

Oregon which came into the game with a 2-1 record and more questions than answers after losing its opener to Boise State and then struggling to get past Purdue and Utah at home totally out played the Bears.  Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was 21 of 25 passing for 253 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.  Duck TE Ed Dickson caught 11 passes in the game and his three touchdown effort was as many touchdown grabs as he had all of last season.  OU did not just have success against Cal throwing the football they also ran for an amazing 236 yards as freshman RB LaMicheal James toted the rock for 118 yards and a touchdown.

Oregon's defense also had a big hand in the win holding, Cal's Heisman hopeful running back Jahvid Best to 55 yards rushing on 16 carries.  Best, who had scored five touchdowns the week before, was kept out of the end zone and his longest rush on the afternoon was 11 yards.  The fired up Duck defense held Cal to 207 yards of total offense and limited them to 15 first downs while causing 2 turnovers.

Down the Pacific Coast line in Palo Alto, California the Stanford Cardinal took on #24 ranked Washington the week after UW had beaten #3 ranked USC. 

Washington must have still been dealing with the hangover of beating USC, because Stanford took them out behind the woodshed and administered a convincing 34-14 win.  Stanford's game plan for this one was very simple...just put the ball in the hands of tailback Toby Gerhart.  Gerhart carried the football 27 times for 200 yards and a touchdown for the Cardinal.  The 6-foot-1, 230 pound senior from Norco, California averaged over 7 yards per carry against the Huskies and as the game wore on his physical running style wore down the Husky defense.

Cardinal Head coach Jim Harbaugh has been preaching toughness and the ability to run the football since he came to Stanford three years ago and his dedication to the running game is paying off.  Stanford is now 3-1 and unbeaten in the Pac 10 after sweeping the state of Washington.  There is a lot of football left to be played but you got to think that the Cardinal have a chance to be bowling for the first time in years.

#9 Miami went into Blacksburg, Virginia and got blown out by #11 Virginia Tech 31-7 on Saturday.  The Canes, who had really been playing good football over the first month of the season, got totally shellacked by the Hokies.  VT jumped out to a 21-0 lead and just ground it out after that.  The Hokie defense got after Miami QB Jacori Harris limiting him to 9 of 25 passing for 150 yards and no touchdowns with one interception.  Tech's standout DE Jason Worilds never let Harris get comfortable in the pocked sacking him once but hitting him on several occasions.

Tech RB Ryan Williams rushed for 150 yards on a career high 34 carries for Tech and Frank Beamer's team blocked a punt for a touchdown for their 74th non-offensive touchdown scored in the last 11 seasons, the most in the country during that time span.  

Add on to those upsets the close calls that #7 LSU, #14 Cincinnati, #15 TCU, #21 Georgia and #23 Michigan had and you can see why I am calling this past weekend "Upset Saturday".

WEEK FIVE GAME BALLS

OFFENSIVE GAME BALL - Jeremiah Masoli - QB University of Oregon - Masoli, who had struggled in early season games, came alive in the big 42-3 Duck win over previously #5 ranked California passing for 253 yards and three touchdowns on 22 of 26 passing.

DEFENSIVE GAME BALL - Jason Pierre - Paul - DL University of South Florida - The junior college transfer had a sack, three tackles for loss and a fumble recovery for the Bulls in their win over in state rival Florida State.

SPECIAL TEAMS GAME BALL - Chad Jones - PR - Louisiana State University - Jones' 93-yard punt return was the deciding score in LSU's close 30 - 26 win at Mississippi State on Saturday.

INTERNATIONAL PLAYER GAME BALL - Jack Crawford - DE Penn State University - The Englishman made 5 tackles a tackle for loss and a sack for Penn State in their loss to Iowa last weekend.  Raised in England, Crawford went to high school in the USA then on to Penn State.

ESPN will be showing these games in the UK this weekend so let's take a look at the matchups you will be able to watch this weekend on the telly at home or in your favorite pub!

In Morgantown, West Virginia on Thursday night the Colorado Buffaloes make a rare trip into Big East country to battle the West Virginia Mountaineers.  Colorado has bounced back from two early losses on the road at Toledo and in Boulder against Colorado State.  Two weeks ago Buffs got their first win of 2009 beating Wyoming 24-0.  Last weekend the Buffs were off and the extra week to prepare will really help them against the WVU spread offense.

When I watched Toledo go through around and over CU in their game I could not help but be shocked at just how slow and un-athletic the Buff defenders looked.  CU struggled with Toledo's speed outside and with the vertical passing game.  The Buffs looked much better against Wyoming but the Cowboys don't have the kind of speed that West Virginia can run out there at you.  Buff defenders have given up 77 points in three games and that includes the shutout of Wyoming.

Buffalo QB Cody Hawkins, son of head coach Dan Hawkins, has come under fire from CU fans for his erratic play in 2009.  So far in 2009 Hawkins is only completing just over 50% of his passes and he has thrown five interceptions in three games.  In addition to the struggles throwing the football, CU has not really been able to run it effectively with tailback Rodney Stewart.  In three games as the starting TB, Stewart has yet to crack 200 yards rushing.  Colorado is young upfront and I think they will continue to struggle offensively with no speed outside to threaten the Mountaineers secondary.

West Virginia is a tough place to play and a Thursday night national television audience will bring out the crazy in the WVU fan base.  West Virginia has scored at least 30 points a game in each of its first three games.  Noel Devine at RB is averaging over 6 yards per carry and scored five touchdowns and the 5-foot-8 junior speed demon is a threat to go the distance every time he touches the football.  QB Jarrett Brown is doing a real good job of replacing Pat White at QB throwing for 798 yards and five touchdowns but WVU Coach Bill Stewart would like to see his QB cut down on his almost two interceptions a game average.

Colorado beat West Virginia last year and the Mountaineers have had this game circled on their calendar ever since.  I think West Virginia will win this one and go to 3-1 as it enters Big East play.

Deep in the southern part of the USA, two age old SEC rivals get ready to battle again in what could be a preview of the SEC title game.  #4 LSU goes to Athens, Georgia to play the #15 Georgia Bulldogs "between the hedges" in Sanford Stadium on the Georgia campus. 

LSU got by the upset-minded Mississippi State Bulldogs last week when it stopped MSU on a fourth and goal play from the one yard line.  LSU, led by athletic QB Jordan Jefferson and pounding runner Keiland Williams, look to get going against a Georgia defense that has struggled at times this year but looked better last week against Arizona State.  Jefferson is throwing the football well right now and he has a great chemistry with WR Brandon La Fell.  Last week LaFell and Jefferson hooked up on two long touchdown passes and they will need to make a big play or two against a sketchy Georgia secondary.

Georgia has gotten great quarterback play itself from senior Joe Cox.  Cox has thrown for over 900 yards and nine touchdowns for the Bulldogs this season.  On the outside WR A.J. Green is the featured guy.  Green is a big play guy in his own right averaging over 17 yards per catch and with four touchdowns he is the go-to guy for Cox.  Georgia is getting great balance offensively with the running of Richard Samuel and Caleb King.  Both Samuel and King are the kind of guy who can rip off big runs outside but tough enough to pound it between the tackles.

I think this could be a trap game for LSU. The Tigers have not really found their offense yet and at times they don't seem to want to run the football.  Both teams are loaded with skilled football players but I think Georgia at home is my upset special this week.

Out west, USC takes on a Cal team that has to regroup after getting ambushed at Oregon last weekend.  Pac 10 fans have pointed to this game for over a year but most people are surprised that both of these teams enter with a Pac 10 loss.

USC is dealing with the loss of TB Stafon Johnson who was injured seriously in a weight room accident on Monday.  Johnson dropped a bar full of weights on his throat and had to go through emergency surgery.  While doctors are optimistic about a full recovery his football season is over.  Joe McNight now becomes the feature back in the Trojan backfield and the New Orleans native leads the Trojans in both rushing and touchdowns scored.

Who plays QB for the Trojans is maybe a bigger issue than anything.  The USC offense struggled to close out drives against Washington State last week and Pete Carroll was vocal in his concern about the direction of his offensive football team.  The Trojan coach needs freshman QB Matt Barkley to play and play well against a Cal defense that until last weekend in Oregon had been playing really good football.

Cal, on the other hand, needs Jahvid Best to snap out of the doldrums after being held almost 100 yards under his average against Oregon.   Best, who led the Pac 10 in rushing last season, was well on his way to winning the rushing title again.  Jeff Tedford knows he needs the feature guy in his offense to produce if the Bears are going to beat USC.  Best struggled in last year's Cal 17-7 loss to USC and if the Bears don't want history to repeat itself he must get off early against a very tough and talented USC defense.

Bear QB Kevin Riley has been very efficient for Cal, passing for 821 yards and five touchdowns without throwing an interception.  Riley likes to put the ball in the hands of Verran Tucker, who is a down-field threat, averaging over 20 yards every time he touches the football.  Marvin Jones provides a solid second option if USC wants to double Tucker.

The table is set perfectly for Cal. SC has been dealing with distractions all week and the game is in Memorial Stadium on the Cal campus. Cal has gotten close before and not been able to close out the Trojans and I think it will be more of the same with USC winning a close game.

In Fort Worth on Saturday night we take on the #10 ranked TCU Horned Frogs in a game for the Iron Skillet.  The Skillet is symbolic of Metroplex football superiority and the two teams have battled for the Skillet for over 80 years.  We have not had the Skillet here in our locker room since SMU upset the then #22 ranked Frogs in 2005.  Our kids will be motivated to fight hard to try and bring the Skillet back to "The Hilltop".

Frog coach Gary Patterson has developed a consistent football team that plays great defense every season.   This year is no exception with the Horned Frogs leading the country in most defensive categories and on film we watched them totally dominate ACC opponents Virginia and Clemson.  TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes led the nation in sacks last season and most of the pro scouts I see come through here tell me he is a definite first day draft guy.

QB Andy Dalton is a consistent winner, having won a state championship in high school and he has not stopped winning since.  Dalton is very smart with the football, having thrown for over 650 yards but only one interception.  Offensively TCU pounds the football behind a big physical offensive line and RB Joseph Turner is grinding out a nasty 6.9 yards per carry average.  We expect TCU to try and dominate the line of scrimmage and control the clock then use play action to get the ball down the field.

Our football team needed the week off last week.  We are still a little beat up with a few starters still not getting much work in practice.  While nobody gives a shot to beat TCU, we think it is a great opportunity to play against a traditional rival and a top 10 football team.  Among Carter Stadium should be rocking and if you're a competitor than where the heck else would you rather be than playing in a showcase game like this one.

Until next week enjoy the college football.  Get out and see a University game or a local amateur game, while the crowds may be smaller the game is still the same game....our game...the greatest game.