ESPN Bruce Feldman Blog

Here are this week's biggest story lines:

1. Bamapalooza! It's hard not to be impressed -- no, floored -- with what Alabama has done thus far this season. Totally dominating two top teams in the first half of games that weren't in Tuscaloosa. Wow. Nick Saban has the Tide cranked up faster than anyone could've imagined, and there has been so much for the media to love. We've heard all about the great run defense, so I'll go with this Mobile Register nugget as the best evidence:

"Opposing defenses often have known what is coming and still haven't stopped it. Never was that more apparent than Saturday night at Georgia. Alabama worked the nation's No. 3 rushing defense for 231 ground yards and five scores by halftime of a game in which the rushing attack was roundly expected to struggle for the first time."

New Tide OC Jim McElwain has demanded that his offense be more physical and Bama certainly has the O-line to back it up. Bama is punching opponents right in the mouth at the opening bell, outscoring teams 74-0 in the first quarter and 133-20 in the opening half. Wow.

Can they possibly keep this up?

2. Upstarts: It feels like we have this in some fashion every year whether it's spurred on by the MAC pulling some upsets or the MWC doing it. This year, there is plenty of buzz around perennial also-rans Vandy, Northwestern, Duke, Rice and Kentucky. Not sure which is the more shocking development: Duke having been a TD favorite in a conference game or Vandy hosting "College GameDay." I'll say the latter.

The one common thing each of the upstarts have been doing is winning the turnover battle. Vandy is No. 1 nationally; Rice is No. 3; Duke is No. 13; Kentucky is No. 20 and Northwestern is No. 38.

3. What's up with Tim Tebow? There has been much made about his diminished numbers. A few UF fans I know took issue with Tebow missing a couple of wide-open receivers. Truth is, when you're the defending Heisman Trophy winner, you're gonna be under the microscope. I still think Tebow is playing at a very high level and has an amazing knack for making big plays. It should be noted that he still hasn't thrown a pick this season and he's playing behind a line that has had some injury woes, but is there something just missing from the Gators superstar this year? Pat Dooley thinks the UF coaching staff needs to "free Tebow."

"I think the emphasis on having Tebow become a better pocket passer has backfired to a point. We saw it Saturday against Ole Miss when Tebow was sacked three times and that doesn't include the pass he threw to Maurkice Pouncey under pressure or any of the others that went awry because he held the ball too long. That's not Timmy being Timmy."

4. Who's Next? After a crazy week of upsets, there are a host of unbeatens on upset alert. Can Oregon State make it two weeks in a row and knock off No. 15 Utah? Can Baylor's dazzling Robert Griffin shock No. 1 Oklahoma? Can Curtis Painter carve up the Penn State D? I'm going to say no to all three, although I give the Beavers the best shot to take down another ranked team.

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The most intriguing of all the Upset Alert games: Pitt at No. 10 USF; UNC to beat No. 24 UConn; and maybe host Nebraska to scare Mizzou. Then again, since UNC is home and a TD favorite, it wouldn't be an upset.

RANDOM STUFF

•Could the Big 12 be better than the SEC? Chris Dufresne throws it out there: "The Big 12 is better than the SEC. There, it might be sacrilege, but it's been said. We'll only add this caveat. The Big 12 is better right now. The conference has four of the top seven schools ranked in this week's AP poll. Oklahoma, which battered No. 24 TCU in Norman, Okla., is the new No. 1, supplanting USC, with Missouri and Texas checking in at No. 4 and No. 5 and Texas Tech moving up three positions to No. 7. The SEC, which two weeks ago boasted a record five schools in the AP top 10, now boasts only two, with Alabama at No. 2 followed by LSU."

My three cents: I still think the SEC is the better league, but the gap has closed a lot this year because the Big 12's getting much better QB play.

•The downfall of Al Groh at UVA? His decision to name his son Mike as offensive coordinator, David Teel writes:

"Good ol' horse sense argued against, and not because of the Bobby and Jeff Bowden fiasco at Florida State. And not because nepotism is often a colossally bad idea. Mike Groh simply wasn't ready. ... In three games against I-A opponents in 2008, Virginia has scored two touchdowns and 20 points -- Southern California, Connecticut and Duke, meanwhile, scored 128. Saturday at Duke the Cavaliers failed to dent a defense that yielded 31 points to Navy and 24 to Northwestern."

•Kentucky has a very underrated defense, but Mark Story says it "will prove to be the best at UK since Art Still and Co. stoned people all around the South during 1977's 10-1 season."

We'll find out a lot more about that forecast with the game against Bama coming up. The Crimson Tide leads the SEC at 37 points a game.

•Quote of the Day: "That quarterback's a beast," OU defensive coordinator Brent Venables said of Baylor QB Robert Griffin. "He's fast, got a huge arm. They spread out all over the place and create a lot of space for him."

As I've written several times before, I'm on the Griffin bandwagon (BUT that doesn't mean that I'm saying Baylor will upset OU.) Anyhow, I do think the freshman QB deserves all the pub he can get and Guerin Emig has a nice story on him:

"Griffin is precisely what Briles had in mind for his version of the spread offense when he recruited him out of Copperas Cove, Texas, while still coach at Houston. Here was someone versatile enough to amass 2,641 yards and 40 touchdowns running and passing his senior football season, fast enough to break state high school track records in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, and smart enough to graduate a semester early, ranked seventh in his class. When Briles took the Baylor job last November, he brought Griffin with him. By spring, Griffin was gaining on upperclass quarterbacks Blake Szymanski and Kirby Freeman, and placing third in the NCAA 400-meter hurdles after winning Big 12 and Midwest Regional titles."

•After getting no carries in the Trojans' loss at Oregon State, USC RB Allen Bradford could not contain his frustration, writes Gary Klein:

"Even with as many tailbacks that we have, I shouldn't be going through this," Bradford said Monday after practice. "I just want to play. I came here to play."

•Miami has cranked out more stud tight ends than anyone in the past decade, and junior Dedrick Epps is starting to look like he might be the next future pro in the pipeline. The 6-foot-4, 252-pound Epps says he has never met Jeremy Shockey, but he worked out with Kellen Winslow II and Ken Dorsey this past summer and that definitely has made an impact on him, reports Susan Miller Degnan:

''I try to model myself after Winslow,'' Epps said of the tight end who also had phenomenal success against FSU -- Winslow caught seven passes for 106 yards in UM's 2003 victory in Tallahassee. "He helped me with technique, leverage on the route, hand movements, how to read the linebackers and how to tell defensive coverages. It helped me a lot.''

•Robert Elliott tore two ligaments in his knee on a run in the second half of State's 34-24 loss to LSU and will miss the rest of the season, Kyle Veazey reports.

I feel bad for Elliott. He was the small-town tailback, who I had covered in Meat Market. He had committed to Ole Miss early, then his stock with the Internet recruiting analysts sky-rocketed after FSU offered him in the spring of his junior year, and ultimately he opted for Mississippi State after a lot of drama leading up to Signing Day. He redshirted last season after battling some fumbling issues in fall camp.

•It's not just some head coaches who are on the hot seat. At K-State, defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar has drawn the ire of many fans after the Wildcats have surrendered 400 yards in eight of their past 11 games against FBS opponents, including five games of 500-plus, Austin Meek reports:

"The Wildcats have allowed 300 rushing yards and 500 total yards in back-to-back games. Their rush defense ranks 104th nationally and 11th in the Big 12, giving up an average of 206 yards. Those struggles have some Wildcat fans calling for change heading into Saturday's Big 12 opener against No. 7 Texas Tech, and Tibesar is an easy target. K-State's assistant coaches are not available to the media during the season, and head coach Ron Prince had little to say about the subject at his Monday news conference. Asked if he had confidence in his defensive coaches, Prince said, 'Yes.'

"Asked if he could envision a scenario that required making a midseason change, as the Red Raiders did a year ago, Prince shook his head and walked away."