College Football’s Top 25 after 10 weeks

#8 West Virginia

Boy, was that an entertaining game or what? The Mountaineers and Longhorns went back and forth and Will Grier has finally established himself as one of the absolute top candidates for the Heisman trophy. The WVU quarterback had some head-scratching performances in recent weeks, throwing four TDs but also four picks combined against Kansas and Iowa State, before getting back to picking apart Baylor’s lackluster secondary.

At Austin he was special. His number were off the charts, completing two thirds of his passes for 346 yards, three touchdowns and no INTs, but he also came through big-time in the clutch, taking his offense down the field for the game-deciding score with two-and-a-half minutes left and converting for two points with his legs on a draw play.

Obviously the Mountaineers high-powered spread offense can put up big numbers, averaging over 40 points per game, and outside of those four picks in two games, Grier has thrown the ball to the opposition just three other times, but I was surprised to see that they hold opponents to 22.2 points a contest.

Outside of linebacker David Long their personnel isn’t well-known around the country, but they force almost nine tackles for loss each game. Of course they have taken advantage of matchups with Kansas, Baylor and Kansas State, but that PPG is only a point more than the lowest mark in the Big XII held by Iowa State.

With that being said, they will face pissed off TCU and Oklahoma State squads playing for nothing but pride and then they have a season-finale against Oklahoma. They might have to put up 50 to have a chance versus the Sooners, but they could get a second crack at them a week later already in the conference championship game.

That is if Iowa State slips up on the way, since they are only a game back and own the tie-breaker over WVU.

#9 LSU

Take Alabama out of the equation and LSU probably runs away with the West and faces Georgia in a huge SEC championship game matchup. However, Big Bad Bama is still out there dominating the country and the Tigers were their latest victims in a 29-0 shutout. Let’s forget about winning the conference or any playoff implications – LSU is a really good team. Their defensive personnel is excellent. They probably have the best overall secondary in the country with a premiere shutdown corner in Greedy Williams and a safety in Grant Delpit trying to step into the shoes Jamal Adams, Devin White to me will be an even better draft prospect than Reuben Foster or Roquan Smith and Rashard Lawrence makes life uncomfortable for anybody up the middle. Offensively they might not have a star running back like Leonard Fournette or Derrius Guice, but Nick Brossette is a bruising runner, who has reached paydirt ten times already. I’ve been defending quarterback Joe Burrow because I think his numbers don’t display that he has delivered on a ton of critical third downs and I think he still is the best LSU signal-caller over the last five years or so. With that being said, he limits what you can do to some degree, especially when you play against a defensive front like Alabama’s, which can completely shut down the ground game and force you to put the ball in the air. So to kind of recap which type of team the Tigers are – they are a tough-minded group that relies on their rushing attack and defense, plus they have a guy under center who can deliver when they need him, but has a ceiling that puts them in the third group of teams.