Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

Ball State coach Brady Hoke said former wide receiver Dante Love could be released from the rehabilitation center in Indianapolis on Friday.

Love suffered a cervical spine fracture and a spinal cord injury during the first quarter against Indiana on Sept. 20 and needed five-hour surgery to stabilize the injury. A full recovery is anticipated, though it's unlikely that he'll ever play football again.

"He's getting close and hopefully Friday he may get out of the rehabilitation center," Hoke said. "He's making great strides and everything's going real positive. I know he's getting after it three times a day down there and really making great progress."

When Love is released from his rehab center, he will return to Muncie, Ind., to continue his rehab in the athletic facilities at Ball State. Hoke said he won't be with the team this weekend, but having him at a home game down the road would not be out of the realm of possibility.

Hoke said he'll visit Love on Tuesday morning and running back MiQuale Lewis said he and several other players would make the trip down to Indianapolis in the afternoon.

Although Love has not be on the football field with the Cardinals, his presence is felt all the time. Hoke said that Love calls players regularly to provide encouragement and even a little criticism from what he's seen on television.

Hoke said during the Kent State game, the week after Love was injured, Love was calling Hoke's cell phone telling him to have Lewis tuck his jersey in because he looked unfocused.

"He's the biggest critic of anybody about what were doing," Hoke said of Love. "You've got a guy who's a competitor like that and a guy who really loves his teammates and that affection is returned."

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

Western Kentucky redshirt sophomore quarterback K.J. Black is free to transfer to another school, coach David Elson announced in a statement Monday.

The Louisville Courier-Journal wrote Monday morning that Black was considering a transfer to an FCS team after being benched by Elson for last Saturday's game against Virginia Tech. Black's father, Kenneth, told the Courier-Journal that Elson told his son last Wednesday that "K.J. needs to find another school" and that he'd be released from his scholarship.

Elson said in the statement released by Western Kentucky that two schools already have inquired about Black, but did not mention them by name.

"I met with K.J. and his family last week, and I met with K.J. again today," Elson said. "We wish K.J. all the best and thank him for his contributions to our program as a student-athlete over the last three years."

Black started three games this year and was 1-2, though he suffered a dislocated left shoulder in the first half of the team's win over Eastern Kentucky. He completed 27 of 48 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 68 yards on 33 attempts.

Last season, Black played in 12 games as a redshirt freshman, starting twice. He was 88-of-134 for 1,007 yards passing with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also had 104 rushes for 324 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

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Few could argue that no non-BCS/Independent team has had a better three weeks than Navy.

The Midshipmen started the season 1-2, but have rallied to beat Rutgers, No. 16 Wake Forest and Air Force. The last two games were on the road.

I was one of the few who didn't believe the Midshipmen had it in them to rally from their poor start. The loss to Duke was baffling, even though coach Ken Niumatalolo says the Blue Devils are a good team (really?). I thought the loss of quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada would be a setback this season.

I was wrong.

After watching Navy play against Air Force last weekend -- on a side note I want to apologize for calling the Naval officers cadets. They are Midshipmen just like their team -- I was impressed. I was especially impressed with the way they seized the game in the second half.

Anyone watching the game would be hard-pressed to argue that Navy was pretty bad in the first half. There were turnovers, mistakes, and they had trouble moving the ball after the first drive.

But in the second half, the Midshipmen played like a veteran team. They capitalized on several Air Force mistakes and swayed the small section of Midshipmen in the Southeast corner of the stadium into their own little home-field advantage.

I've seen a lot of games this year. I said before that Boise State and Notre Dame, depending on which quarter you watch, have been the best offensive teams I've seen in person to date. But Navy weathered its first-half shortcomings, rebounded and capitalized on mistakes better than any team I've seen so far.

I suppose that's what you want out of a group of young men that are going to fight for our country.

The Midshipmen have a much-needed bye this week before facing No. 24 Pittsburgh. That will be an interesting game considering that no one knows which Pitt team will show up on any given week.

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I can't believe we're already into the seventh week of the season. It seems like only yesterday we were pontificating on how awesome Central Florida and Florida Atlantic were going to be, and downgrading teams like Buffalo and San Jose State. Oh, what a difference six weeks makes and there's six more weeks of good times still in store. As we all know, anything can happen.

Let's take a look at some of the stories brewing Monday:

• The Orlando Sentine(a)l learned some UCF fans are in need of English classes. Some are upset about the Sentinel's coverage over the last eight months.

• The Honolulu Observer is thinks Hawaii should be happy with its win over No. 22 Fresno State, but there's still a lot of football to be played.

• Utah quarterback Brian Johnson accepted criticism regarding his play last week and says he would have booed himself, too.

• I missed this late last week, but Troy freshman running back Chris Anderson has been ruled academically ineligible this season.

• I don't usually link to fan sites, but a reader pointed this out and I wanted to share. Nice Boise State presence on College Gameday this weekend. I saw the sign live, nice to read the explanation.

• The war between Stanford and Notre Dame continued after quarterback Jimmy Clausen said after the game that Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh wouldn't shake his hand. Harbaugh said he didn't see Clausen.

• Are teams playing BYU tougher than they do other opponents? I guess that what you'd expect against the No. 9 team in the country.

• DeKalb Daily Chronicle reporter John Sahly writes that coach Jerry Kill infused much-needed energy into a struggling Northern Illinois football team.

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

There has been a lot of argument the past couple weeks about which team deserves to be considered the best of the non-BCS. And while various fans could go back and forth about opponents and such, I thought the best way to decide would be to look at the statistics.

There are five undefeated teams remaining in the non-BCS and four of them are in the Top 25 this week. But are those teams ranked where they should be? The NCAA's ranking of toughest schedules suggests that Boise State has played the toughest schedule to this point. But if you factor all of the competition, past and future, based on their record today, Utah has the toughest schedule.

BYU, the highest ranked team, has the second-toughest schedule overall, but has played the easiest schedule of the list to date. Consequently, BYU's offensive and defensive statistics are the best of the group.

I suppose it's all about which statistic you value most, but looking at the top 3 on this list based solely on statistics, you can make an argument for any of the three teams to be the best of the non-BCS. But statistically to this point, based on strength of schedule and statistics, Boise State fans would have a good case to claim their team the best of the non-BCS.

Remember, all of these statistics are from the NCAA. They are not from the computers that factor into the BCS standings.

(Read full post)

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

It's time for Notre Dame to find a new kicker.

As the Irish begin preparations for North Carolina this week, coach Charlie Weis said it might be time to switch kicking duties from Brandon Walker to Ryan Burkhart. Walker, who has been the starter all year, is 1-for-7. His only make was a 41-yarder against Purdue.

"I think we definitely have to explore Ryan kicking field goals," Weis said during his Sunday news conference. "We definitely have to explore that because in Brandon's case, it's not obviously a case of being able to kick it high enough or far enough. When you're 1 out of 7 kicking field goals, it just doesn't cut it."

If Burkhart does win the starting field goal kicking job this week, Weis said he'd yield kickoffs to Walker.

"What I don't want to do is I don't want to overload one guy to put both on him," Weis said. "I would think that if Ryan ended up kicking field goals, I would think that Brandon would end up kicking off. I would think that would be the direction we'd end up going."

Walker missed two field goals against Stanford on Saturday, which Weis said prompted him to pull special teams coach Brian Polian aside to discuss changes in the kicking game.

Weis said in past weeks that he's opened the kicking competition up during practice and Walker always prevails as the best kicker. But when the lights come on, something happens that he can't explain. In all fairness to Walker, some of his woes have been because of bad snaps and poor line play and he's also attempted a kick over 50 yards. But the bulk of his kicks would be made by most FBS starting kickers.

This isn't a new development either. Last year, Walker was 6-of-12 in field goals and he made just one that was longer than 28 yards (48). His play was a big point of contention heading into the season and many thought it would ultimately determine Notre Dame's success. Although a missed field goal hasn't hurt the Irish so far this season, the potential to do so is greater as the competition gets stiffer.

"You only can hang so long on this," Weis said. "We're fortunate it hasn't cost us more than what it's cost us already."

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

1. BYU: The Cougars didn't play the most inspired game on Friday, but a win is a win. Things get a little tougher this week against a New Mexico team that prides itself on its running game.

2. Utah: Thursday's win was huge in terms of rankings and confidence. The Utes notched their second win over a BCS team and could say they're one win removed from beating USC.

3. Boise State: The Broncos did exactly what everyone thought they would against Louisiana Tech. This week's game against Southern Miss lost its intrigue after losing two straight.

4. Ball State: The Cardinals finally cracked the Top 25, but there's still not a lot of people who think they're legit. A win over Western Kentucky this weekend won't legitimize them either, but the meat of the schedule is coming.

5. Tulsa: What can you say about a team that consistently blows out its opponents? There is no doubt that Tulsa is one of the best offenses in the country. I think a lot of us wish the Golden Hurricane would play someone.

6. TCU: After losing to Oklahoma, the Horned Frogs rebounded in a huge way against San Diego State. The task now will be to focus on Colorado State and not get caught looking ahead to BYU.

7. Notre Dame: There's no denying that the Irish are getting better, but the schedule takes a sharp turn this week in North Carolina. The Tar Heels have been tough to beat this year and Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen will have to be on.

8. Navy: Few teams have earned a bye week more than the Midshipmen. They've had a triumphant last three weeks by beating Rutgers, Wake Forest and Air Force. They'll welcome the breather.

9. Western Michigan: Western Michigan continues to compile wins and quarterback Tim Hiller continues to be effective. The task will be more difficult this weekend against a Buffalo team that's pretty darn good.

10. Fresno State: Tough and unexpected loss to Hawaii last week. Any talk about Fresno State in the BCS will quiet now, but the Bulldogs can still win the WAC championship -- they'll just have to be perfect from here on out.

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

Louisiana-Lafayette senior running back Tyrell Fenroy was named the Walter Camp Football Foundation Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for a school record 297 yards and scoring three touchdowns in a 44-35 win over Louisinana-Monroe.

"When our offense is clicking, when my line is blocking like that, my job is easy," Fenroy said after the game.

Fenroy is the NCAA's active leader in career rushing yards with 4,021 and he's 30 yards from breaking the Sun Belt Conference rushing record. He has rushed for more than 180 yards in each of his last three games and now ranks third in the country in rushing yards per game (150.0).

Fenroy becomes the fourth consecutive player(s) from a non-BCS school to win the award. Rice quarterback Chase Clement and receiver Jarett Dillard won the award last week and Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore won the award the week before. Ball State strong safety Sean Blake won the Defensive Player of the Week award for the week ending Sept. 14.

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

Utah and Ball State are the first non-BCS teams to reach the necessary six wins for bowl eligibility. The Utes and Cardinals join Penn State and Alabama as the only teams in the country to notch six wins six weeks into the season.

Utah actually became the first team overall to gain bowl eligibility with its come-from-behind win over Oregon State on Thursday.

For a team like Utah, which has had the requisite six wins for bowl eligibility each of the past six years, this might not be a big deal. But for a team like Ball State that's had two six-win seasons since 1996 and been to just one bowl game in that span, notching six wins this early is a big deal.

Rest assured, neither of these teams will stay at six wins. Both Utah and Ball State have beatable opponents this week and should notch that seventh win fairly easily. Utah finished last season 9-4 after starting 1-3. It's only loss after that was to BYU. Ball State finished last season 7-6, but didn't notch that sixth win until Nov. 13.

Four more teams will have a chance for bowl eligibility this week. BYU, TCU, Western Michigan and Tulsa all have five wins to this point and all but Tulsa face formidable conference opponents.

Tulsa plays 1-5 SMU, which has lost three straight.

TCU plays at Colorado State, which defeated UNLV this weekend. BYU hosts New Mexico, which defeated Wyoming this weekend. Western Michigan will face an upstart Buffalo team, which has had two weeks to prepare for the surging Western Michigan offense.

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

It seems like every week we're talking about a new offensive record at Rice and this week the honor belongs to Jarett Dillard, who became the NCAA career leader in touchdown catches after a 25-yard grab from quarterback Chase Clement in the second quarter of Saturday's 63-28 loss to Tulsa gave Dillard 51 career touchdown receptions.

Last week, Dillard tied the record with Troy Edwards (1996-98) of Louisiana Tech during a game where he set the NCAA record for most touchdowns by a duo with Clement.

Dillard's record was lost in the drama of Saturday's loss. It was the worst defeat for Rice this season and the most points the Owls had allowed since losing 63-21 at UCLA in 2005. Tulsa scored 42 of its points in the second half and took advantage of a season-high four Rice turnovers.

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

Louisiana-Lafayette running back Tyrell Fenroy is 250 yards from history.

After his 297-yard performance against Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday, Fenroy's season rushing total sits at 750 yards with six games to get to the 1,000-yard mark. Fenroy is the only running back in the country to rush for at least 1,000 yards in each of the last three seasons. If he eclipses 1,000 yards, he'll be the first running back to have four consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons since DonTrell Moore did it for New Mexico from 2002-05.

After notching just 76 yards in his first two games combined, Fenroy has been unstoppable, bowling over the likes of Kent State, Kansas State and Louisiana-Monroe for 194, 183, and 297 yards respectively. The 297 yeards broke Brian Mitchell's record of 271 yards set against Colorado State in 1987. Fenroy averaged 14.9 yards per carry in that game and had a career-best three touchdowns.

"Every time I got the ball I was looking to score points and get yards," Fenroy told The Daily Advertiser. "This feels great."

To this point last year, Fenroy had rushed for 307 yards and that included games of 1 ad 0 yards. According to ESPN.com estimates, if Fenroy keeps on his current pace, he could finish with 1,800 yards, the highest total of career by more than 600 yards.

ESPNU looks at Saturday's top game-changing performances.

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

Ball State coach Brady Hoke wasn't doing cartwheels after the AP poll was released on Sunday, even though his Cardinals popped in at No. 25, the first ranking in the 84-year history of the Ball State football program.

His excitement was contained and even a little guarded as he spoke to the media Sunday afternoon.

"It's flattering obviously, but there's so much season left to play," Hoke said via teleconference. "This is a long football season. We've got six more football games to play and we've got a lot of work to do. We've got the real teeth of our schedule starting this week."

Hoke's attitude isn't surprising considering Ball State entered sparsely charted territory after the 31-0 win over Toledo this past weekend. The Cardinals are off to their best start since going 9-0 to begin the 1965 season. Ball State is 3-0 in MAC play for the first time since 1988. The Cardinals have only been to one bowl game since 1996 and that was last year. After Saturday's win, the Cardinals are bowl eligible and have six wins for only the third time in the past 12 seasons.

It's understandable that Hoke might be a little guarded when it comes to the increased national attention.

Now the chore for Hoke and his coaching staff will be passing the same attitude to the players. Hoke said he'd meet with his team later Sunday evening.

"All we've got to do is throw on the film of Western Kentucky, see the physicalness that they play with," Hoke said. "We've got to go back into our routine of preparing every week to play our best and we have not done that yet."

There are five non-BCS undefeated teams remaining, but Ball State might be the most consistent of the group. The Cardinals have not allowed more than 24 points to any opponent this year and have scored at least 31 points in every game. Prior to the Akron game, Ball State had a three-game streak of 40-points or more. The Cardinals have scored 40 or more points in all but two games this season.

Ball State travels to a 2-4 Western Kentucky team that already has played ranked foes Alabama and Virginia Tech, both were loses. The Hilltoppers have not scored more than 13 points in any game this season.

"Our maturity and the leadership of our football team has been phenomenal," Hoke said. "Our seniors and how they've prepared and how they've kept things in perspective and that's what they need to continue to do."

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

Undefeateds are tough: Week 6 opened with five undefeateds and five emerged, though some in grander fashion than others. There was some doubt about the strength of teams such as Tulsa and Ball State -- the two non-BCS undefeateds not in the Top 25 -- asserted their dominance this weekend over opponents Rice and Toledo. I've been saying for weeks that Ball State was for real, but Tulsa's beatdown of the Owls makes me wonder if the BCS pundits should be looking East of the Mountain West and WAC for the next BCS buster. Unfortunately for Tulsa, it won't play anyone tough enough to get a serious sniff at the BCS top 12. Ball State on the other hand will get to prove its worth against Central Michigan and Western Michigan.

UTEP on the rise: Mike Price said prior to the season that he believed his Miners would be a better team than the 4-8 squad a year ago, but I think the Miners strengthened that thought Saturday in an overtime win against Southern Mississippi. The Miners have matched their Conference USA win total from last year (two) and appear to be gaining momentum in a C-USA West that is loaded with offensive talent. UTEP did take a step back defensively by allowing 541 yards of total offense to the Golden Eagles, the highest total of the season. Prior to that, UTEP had allowed fewer yards than the week before it.

Fresno State's done: The WAC is yours for the taking, Boise State. After Fresno State struggled Saturday night in a 32-29 overtime loss to Hawaii, the Broncos will be the only WAC team in the Top 25 and the conference's last hope to keep the dream of sending its third consecutive team to a BCS bowl. What about Hawaii, you say? Well, credit to the Warriors, but Fresno State had six turnovers in the game and had to claw their way back from a 17-point deficit. Hawaii's win does, however, prove the statement that any team can beat anybody at any time. But I think we must accept that any dream season imagined by Fresno State is now gone.

Notre Dame circa 2006: I wrote something about cautious optimism when talking about Notre Dame this year. Its schedule isn't the toughest in the country. But the last two games quarterback Jimmy Clausen has strung together have been brilliant. He's starting to show flashes of the quarterback many thought he would be coming out of high school, and he's only going to get better as he matures, his receivers mature, and he gets his confidence going. This week's game against North Carolina will be a huge test for the Irish because they need to prove that they can take the magic they've had at home on the road. North Carolina worked No. 24 UConn this week.

TCU's still kicking: If anyone had thoughts of writing off the Horned Frogs after they lost to the now-No. 1 Sooners, think again. TCU came out with a fury against San Diego State this weekend and blasted the Aztecs 41-7. TCU leads the Mountain West Conference in total defense and is second in total offense. It faces a Colorado State squad this week that is a bit of an enigma, but a beatable foe, setting up a clash against BYU in Fort Worth, Texas in two weeks. Utah State exposed some weaknesses and with TCU's new running quarterback Marcus Jackson, things could get interesting in the Mountain West earlier than most thought.

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

Tyrell Fenroy, RB, La-Lafayette: Rushed for a school record 297 yards on only 20 carries (14.9 ypc) in a 44-35 win over Louisiana-Monroe. He also had three touchdowns.

Rashaun Greer, WR, Colorado State: Caught eight passes for 211 yards and his first career TD in a 41-28 win over UNLV. Greer averaged 24.6 yards per catch.

Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame: Had a career day by completing 29 passes (72.5 percent completion rate) for 347 yards and three touchdowns. He also didn't throw an interception for the second consecutive game.

Collin Mooney, FB, Army: Had 187 yards and four touchdowns on nine carries in a 44-13 win over Tulane. Mooney hadn't scored a touchdown since 2006.

Navy special teams: Blocked two punts and carried them both back for touchdowns in a 33-27 win over Air Force.

Damion Fletcher, RB, S. Miss: Rushed for 260 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries to become the program's all-time leading rusher. Southern Miss lost 40-37 to UTEP in overtime.

Dan Kelly, K, Hawaii: Hit the game-winning 33-yard field goal in overtime to give Hawaii a 32-29 win over No. 22 Fresno State in Fresno, Calif. He made a career-high four field goals on the day.