COTTRELL COLUMN: Teams starting to show true colors

You no doubt remember former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green’s epic “They are who we thought they were” press conference meltdown after a loss to the Bears in 2006.

By the end of the night Saturday, we could say the same thing about several SEC teams.

The most obvious may very well be Auburn.

The Tigers looked bad for a third consecutive week in dropping their third game in a row after a 5-0 start.

The excitement of that start, and how good Auburn looked doing it, had many — myself included — beginning to think big things.

But it’s becoming painfully apparent that the preseason prognostications of a team that would be somewhere between slightly below average and slightly above average may have been right after all.

However, the team stomping mudholes into Auburn all night also finally made a statement.

LSU had been, at best, underwhelming through its first six games. But quarterback Jordan Jefferson finally lived up to the promise he showed in his two starts last year and the entire team seemed to respond in its blowout win.

The Bayou Bengals have several big games left, most notably their Nov. 7 trip to Alabama. But if they play the way they did Saturday, they could very well inject themselves back into the SEC title picture.

Alabama’s offense also gave us reason for pause.

Heading into the season, conventional wisdom was that the Tide would rely on their stout defense as the offense matured. After big-time performances through the first month, that thinking didn’t seem to apply.

But for the third consecutive game the Tide offense was not good. Quarterback Greg McElroy is struggling mightily, and without Mark Ingram and that defense Bama would have no doubt lost to a Tennessee team that isn’t even in its same league.

And even Ole Miss finally seems to be getting things together after a very nice win over Arkansas, proving maybe they are pretty good after all.

In the bonus player category, Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton had his second straight solid outing in the Vols’ loss at Alabama. Perhaps he is finally becoming the capable quarterback we all thought he could be when he took over the starter’s job a year ago.

‘You Are My Density’
The football gods are smiling on Iowa.

So much so that it might not be premature to slap the “Team of Destiny” tag on the Hawkeyes.

Somehow a team that needed two blocked field goals in the final seconds to get past FCS Northern Iowa and barely held off Arkansas State is sitting pretty atop the Big Ten and is taking dramatic victories left and right.

They had already used second-half rallies to get past Penn State and Wisconsin on the road, then drove down the field and scored on the final play to down an upset-minded Michigan State team Saturday, also on the road.

With only one game remaining against a game foe — their Nov. 14 trip to Ohio State — the Hawkeyes could very well go undefeated, barring an indefensible upset, which has been a hallmark of the Kirk Ferentz era in recent years.

Whether that would be enough to get them into the national title game is anyone’s guess. All signs point to no. But that would be pretty good for a program that appeared dead midway through last season.

Bonus Iowa
The other school in the state — Iowa State — managed its first win over Nebraska in Lincoln since 1977.

The Cyclones, awful the last two seasons, are one win away from bowl eligibility. Which former Auburn defensive coordinator you credit for that — current ISU coach Paul Rhoads or current AU coach Gene Chizik — is up to you.

The Time Is Now
For all you SEC fans that have been itching to see USC knocked down a peg, Saturday could be your day.

The Trojans clearly don’t totally have it this year, and will make the single toughest road trip in the Pac-10 when they visit No. 10 Oregon.

The Ducks have rebounded in a big way since their ugly opening loss to Boise State, and are now playing like one of the better teams in the country, as they were expected to in the preseason.

If a team from the Pac-10 is going to keep USC out of the Rose Bowl sometime before 2025, this is their best chance.

BCS Busted
We could be heading for one of those lame controversies that happen only in college football.

A team from a non-BCS conference (Conference USA, the MAC, the Mountain West, the Sun Belt and the WAC) automatically qualifies for a spot in one of the big games if it finishes in the top 12 in the final BCS standings. However, only one team is guaranteed of doing so.

This is why Utah got to rain all over Alabama’s parade in the Sugar Bowl, while undefeated Boise State was relegated to the Poinsettia Bowl last season, despite also finishing in the top 12.

We appear to be looking at that again.

Boise State will not lose from here on in. The WAC is really bad.

TCU, which would’ve won the ACC or Big East last year if it played in either conference — and only finished second in the Mountain West — also appears headed for a perfect season.

Boise has the leg up, having started higher in the rankings.

Look for plenty of jockeying and various appearances by coaches Chris Petersen of Boise State and Gary Patterson of TCU campaigning for votes.

Either way, the whole system is still pretty dumb.

Neil Callaway’s Cure-All
Got a struggling team in need of a boost?

Schedule UAB!

Thus far this season, the Blazers have been an elixir for two underperforming preseason darlings.

First, they visited Troy in September. The Trojans were 0-2 and apparently going through a bit of infighting. Quarterback Levi Brown threw an interception on the game’s first series, and hasn’t thrown one since as Troy has dominated Sun Belt play.

Then, a couple of weeks ago the Blazers visited supremely underwhelming Ole Miss. The Rebels racked up 48 points and then came out and beat a good Arkansas team the next week while looking good doing so.

With Conference USA semi-disappointments Memphis and East Carolina still on the schedule, UAB may have more healing power before the season ends.

Tim Cottrell is sports designer of the Opelika-Auburn News. He will write a weekly column on college football during the season. You can also read him on the O-A Sports Blog at oanow.com. He can be reached at 737-2511 or .