It was obvious the California Poly students were ready for North Dakota State last Saturday. The players began showing up at least an hour before the match armed with “thundersticks.” The California Poly are inflatable noisemakers that can make it hard to hear on the football field. North Dakota State University head coach Craig Bohl noticed them during warmups before the match and discussed the issue with the officials and the university athletic director Gene Taylor.

After Rod Huber took over the Mount St. Joseph football program 8 years ago, he insisted he build it with defense. Over the past 4 years, the coach has watched his plan put into practice. Heading into Saturday’s NCAA Division III 1st-round playoff game against Wabash College (9-1), Rod Huber likes his team’s psyche. They have won 4-straight matches, advanced to the postseason for the 4th-straight year. The team is showing the kind of defensive prowess that the coach was dreaming of when he started.

Illinois coach Ron Zook says that two injured starters Arrelious Benn and Vontae Davis will play Saturday against Northwestern. Ron Zook is not sure, however, about fullback Weil. Arrelious Benn, a freshman receiver, and Vontae Davis, a junior cornerback, left Saturday’s 28-21 upset of Ohio State with concussions. The coach said both players are practicing this week. However, neither is participating in contact drills.

BYU’s defense bent just enough to let Texas Christian University make it interesting, then smothered the TCU Horned Frogs before they could complete the comeback. Nixon and Kehl sacked Dalton in an eleven-second span to clinch Brigham Young University’s 27-22 win over the Horned Frogs yesterday night, keeping the BYU Cougars unbeaten in the Mountain West Conference for a 2nd straight season.

Somehow, the LSU Tigers were able to get out of Tuscaloosa with a victory last week. The team is 1 win away from locking up the SEC West division. They are in the Number 2 spot in the BCS rankings. Flynn’s 3 interceptions gave Alabama seventeen points and turned a blowout into a nail-biter that the LSU Tigers were fortunate to walk away from. LSU opposition in the SEC title game could be any number of teams, although, as the rest of the SEC is a complete mess. There are 8 SEC teams with either 2 or 3 losses in conference play and eleven of the twelve teams having overall winning records.

Michael Oher and many other top juniors now have to a make crucial decision about whether to stay in college without knowing all the facts. Oher likely has only a couple of hours left in his NCAA football career.

Fans of University of Mississippi football, where Oher now plays, have NCAA rules that are made to keep football players in college to thank for his departure.

Michael Oher is a promising left tackle for a disappointing Ole Miss. He is the subject of a book, “The Blind Side,” written by Michael Lewis. He is also set to be the subject of a 20th Century Fox new film due to start shooting in 2008.

Michael Oher’s personal story is perhaps even more thrilling than his athletic ability. The player has gone from nearly being a homeless high school drop out to the adopted son of a wealthy Memphis family on the cusp of National Football League riches in just a few years.

Michael plays left tackle. It has become one of the most valuable positions in the League. When he started researching his book, Michael Lewis discovered that left tackle has actually become the 2nd best paid position in the National Football League, trailing only quarterback. This fact has become really surprising for both NFL team officials and football fans.

Michael Oher, who is six-foot and six-inches tall and 322 pounds, is ranked as the Number 7 offensive draft prospect by SI.com, even though Oher is only a junior playing for a team that is 3-7 and winless in its conference games.

LSU’s Tigers are currently the second-ranked team in the Top 25 college football poll. The team beat Alabama to improve to 8-and-1. The top-team remains Ohio as the Buckeyes received 60 of the 65 1st place votes. Tigers got the remaining 5. Rounding out the top 5 are Oklahoma, Oregon, and Kansas. In the newest BCS standings, Ohios State is No. One and LSU No. Two.

The Cardiac Tigers did it again Saturday night, after having scored 2 touchdowns in the final 3 minutes to rally Number 3 LSU to a 41-34 win at Number 17 Alabama, which should serve as payback for the coach winning a title in Cajun Country but is now believed to be a turncoat by the purple and gold. LSU (8-1, 5-1) pulled this out in typical fashion, going down to the wire in their 4th straight match.

Oregon wouldn’t dare dream about BCS bowls or possible national titles just yet. The Ducks (7-1, 4-1) defeated USC 24-17 at Autzen Stadium on Saturday and hopped up a spot in the AP poll to Number 4. The USC Trojans dropped from Number 9 to Number 13. Arizona (8-0, 5-0) defeated California 31-20 in Tempe and took over the leading place in the conference. The Devils jumped a spot in the rankings to Number 6.