r of the team and the captain. Its my job to deliver the ball. They got open for me. They did their part.Now, its my responsibility to just deliver it to them.

As the college football season makes the turn into the back half of the season, were due for a startling upset.The first week of the season, two teams ranked in the top 10 lost to unranked teams.No. 5 LSU fell to Wisconsin and No. 10 Notre Dame lost to Texas . Since then we have learned Notre Dame is not all that good and Wisconsin really is.Only one top 10 team has lost to an unranked team since that first week. That was Navy upsetting then-No. 6 Houston .It almost happened last week, when North Carolina State nearly upset Clemson.Maybe Penn State can do it this week against No. 2 Ohio State. N.C. State gets another shot Saturday at No. 7 Louisville.Five things to know for college footballs Week 8:BEST GAMENo. 6 Texas A&M at No. 1 Alabama.Recommended with caution because the Crimson Tide can often turn these marquee matchups into opportunities to watch third-teamers play in the fourth quarter. By the way, many of Alabamas third-teamers are future NFL players.The odds makers dont have much hope for the Aggies, who are 18-point underdogs. Still, it is a huge opportunity for a season-shifting victory. A victory by Texas A&M has the potential to lock Alabama out of the Southeastern Conference championship game and the College Football Playoff.HEISMAN WATCHTexas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight could get the beat-Bama bump with a big game in Tuscaloosa, but lets look a little deeper.Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield came into the season as one of the big-name returning stars getting Heisman hype. Losing two September games pretty much ended that talk, but Mayfield might still have a chance to get the invitation to New York he probably deserved last season.The oh-so accommodating Texas Tech defense awaits the No. 16 Sooners in Lubbock on Saturday.NUMBERS TO KNOW0-7 -- Penn State coach James Franklins record against Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State.20-6 -- Alabama coach Nick Sabans record in games matching top 10 teams.11 for 12 -- No. 20 Western Michigan leads the nation in fourth-down conversion rate (91.67) heading into its game against Eastern Michigan.OFF THE RADARUCF (3-3) visits Connecticut (3-4) in a game between two American Athletic Conference teams hoping to stay in the league title race and inch closer to bowl eligibility. Thats pretty far off the radar.But what you need to know is that last year UConn coach Bob Diaco named this rivalry the Civil ConFLiCT (FL, CT. Get it?) and had a trophy made . Diacos enthusiasm for the rivalry seems to have waned and new UCF coach Scott Frost was not about to get lured in this week .But beyond the comic relief, Frosts Knights are worth watching. The former Oregon offensive coordinator took over a team that was a winless wreck last season. Its already a noteworthy turnaround, but if Frost can get UCF to a bowl his own stock will soar.COACH IN NEED OF A WINSpeaking of Oregon, Frosts former boss is having a tough time. Mark Helfrichs Ducks (2-4) have lost four straight games.If the season is to be salvaged a victory at California on Friday night is almost a must. This is another series the Ducks have dominated in recent years, winning seven straight. But Oregon has already had its five-game Pac-12 winning streak against Colorado snapped, a 12-game streak against rival Washington broken and lost consecutive years to Washington State for the first time in 13 seasons.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP Cheap Adidas Bruins Jerseys . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Cheap Bruins Jerseys China . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. http://www.cheapbruinsjerseys.com/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Boston Bruins Jerseys . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front. Cheap Bruins Jerseys . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing. NORMAN, Okla. -- When it comes to the negative, Oklahoma?coach Bob Stoops prefers to avoid singling out his players.But during his weekly Monday news conference, Stoops couldnt help but reference one player on the heels of the Sooners 33-23 Week 1 loss to the Houston Cougars.Stoops, however, was a few minutes too late. That player had already singled himself out.Thats all on me, quarterback Baker Mayfield said of the offenses second-half problems. [The receivers] got open. Thats all on me as the leader of the team and the captain. Its my job to deliver the ball. They got open for me. They did their part.Now, its my responsibility to just deliver it to them.Oklahomas offense came out humming in the opening minutes of the game, scoring two touchdowns and a field goal through its first four drives. Mayfields decisiveness was a big reason, as he quickly delivered passes to the Sooners top playmakers -- notably Joe Mixon.Just comparing the first and second half, the first half I got the ball out of my hands quick, eliminated the best part of Houstons defense, which we had game-planned, Mayfield said. Then second half, obviously things changed. I didnt get the ball out as quick as I wanted.In that second half, Oklahomas offense dissembled into Mayfield scrambling around haplessly in the backfield trying to make a big play that wasnt there. As a result, the Sooners didnt score until a meaningless touchdown in the final two minutes when the outcome had already been decided.I only have one quarterback. I dont like to throw players [under the bus] or name names, but at times, Baker held on [to the ball] and instead of taking what was open and what was there in his first read, was waiting for something different, Stoops said. Something that takes a little longer to progress, and thats not how the offense operates. We had guys in certain spot that would have been easier throws and wouldve helped us.Mayfields go-for-broke, second-half style resulted in several ugly numbers. He ended up with more rushing attempts (13) than Mixon and Samaje Perine combined (12), to go along with a negative rushing total. After completing all nine of his passing attempts in the first half, Mayfield had nine incompletions in the second. He also took five sacks that, as Stoops pointed out, were more on him than the receivers not getting open or the offensive line protecting.On a few occasions, he might have beeen more effective taking something sooner and that was available instead or waiting for that to come open -- Im thinking of one particular case that sticks in my mind, said Stoops, who later alluded to another play where Mayfield kept the ball instead of pitching it on an option call.dddddddddddd If he pitches the ball, its going to get [the running back] 50 [yards] or a touchdown, then he doesnt pitch the ball.I think [Mayfield was] probably pressing. Trying to make the big play instead of the simple play and the obvious play.The Houston loss wasnt all due to Mayfields pressing. Oklahoma executed disastrously on a pair of critical plays in the second half that had nothing to do with its quarterback.After Oklahomas first drive of the third quarter stalled out, Houston returned a 53-yard field goal attempt 109 yards for a game-swinging touchdown. Later in the fourth quarter, the Sooners called a beautifully designed double pass that seemed destined to be a touchdown. Receiver Dede Westbrook, however, overthrew a wide-open Dimitri Flowers. The next play, Mayfield was sacked and stripped, and the Cougars recovered the fumble.We were in a good balance, and then the third quarter happens, and now youre behind 16, Stoops said. We fumbled two times and we had the long field goal that gets returned. Then all of a sudden youre in a hole and you lose your patience. ... it gets you out of your rhythm.The Sooners have a prime opportunity to regain their rhythm this weekend against Louisiana-Monroe before Ohio State comes to town Sept. 17. With TCU and Texas to follow, Oklahoma can get back into the playoff mix, despite opening with a loss, if it can reel off three consecutive wins against such formidable opponents.But the only way the Sooners will have any chance of accomplishing such a feat is if Stoops most important player performs much better than he did in Week 1.Ive just got to be better, Mayfield said. I know what to expect of myself, and knowing how the team reacts to my play, its even more important. Just getting the ball out and keeping everybody on a positive note and keeping the attitude good and on the bright side is important for me, and ultimately, thats getting the ball out of my hands, getting it into their hands and letting them make plays. ' ' '