Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson
1. BYU is the non-BCS' best hope: No, not for a BCS bid, there are a still five other teams with undefeated records, but the Cougars might be the non-BCS' best hope for a national championship bid. I know, I know, it's only the fifth weekend of the season. Trust me, I've said the same thing a gazillion times to BYU fans. But you can't deny that there's something special in this team. After its controversial win against Washington, the Cougars have gone on to outscore their opponents 103-0. That's dominant no matter whom the Cougars are playing. The Cougars have their highest national ranking since 2001, and if things continue to go the way they're going, they'll be in the Top 8 by the time they meet Utah in November.
2. Broncos need Moore: There's not enough praise available to heap on Kellen Moore for his performance in a 37-32 against No. 17 Oregon in a hostile Autzen Stadium. The Ducks admitted that they thought the redshirt freshman quarterback would come into the game jittery because it was his first road game and first game against a BCS opponent. But Moore was cool. Antarctica cool. After a couple of incompletions to begin the game, he completed 66.6 percent of his passes for 386 yards and three touchdowns. More importantly, Moore led the Broncos to their first-ever true road win against a BCS team.
3. East Carolina is fallible: The Cinderella story of East Carolina came to an end this weekend as the Pirates were defeated 30-24 by NC State in overtime. While this was a bit of a surprise, it wasn't shocking. East Carolina seemed to hit a wall after two emotional games against ranked teams to start the season. Unfortunately, many will blame QB Patrick Pinkney for the fumble he lost in overtime. But the coaches lost the game with about 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when they decided to go for a touchdown instead of settling for a field goal. East Carolina was already leading and there was no reason to get greedy. When Jonathan Williams was stopped at fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line momentum swayed momentum to NC State.
4. Beware Ball State: There's been a lot of focus on the undefeated teams of the Mountain West, but on the other side of the country, Ball State is putting together a nice resume, especially after its win -- the first BCS win in program history -- over Indiana this past weekend. Even more inspiring is that Ball State was able to get the win despite the fact that many players were likely thinking about the serious injury to teammate Dante Love. Love suffered a fracture spine, but has use of his extremities. Running back MiQuale Lewis, who already has played more games this year than any of his previous two seasons, has rushed for 529 yards and seven touchdowns this season. The Cardinals are averaging 41.5 points per game this season.
5. UNLV hitting its stride: Prior to the season, several players around the Mountain West said that UNLV wouild be the team to give Mountain West opponents the most trouble. Well, it took the Rebels a couple weeks to figure it out, but after two wins over non-BCS opponents, the Mountain West better be prepared as conference play gets underway. UNLV defeated Iowa State 34-31 in overtime a week after defeating then-No. 15 Arizona State by a field goal in overtime. The Rebels couldn't have picked a better time to figure it out with in-state rival Nevada coming up this weekend and full-time Mountain West play right around the corner.
Watson joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four seasons covering the Missouri Tigers and the Big 12 Conference for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She also covered college football recruiting for the Dallas Morning News.
