By:  Rob Thompson

It wasn't the most impressive weekend of football I’ve seen this year but it did have it’s moments. NC State just hammering UNC was one of those games that get talked about for years. Butch Davis looked to be building something at UNC. The pathetic Notre Dame debacle continues. If you want to run with the big dogs you get off the porch and Notre Dame cannot get off the front steps. This weekend was the battle for variety of unique and very regional trophies. I mean who could fathom the thought of not having the “Old Oaken Bucket” in your trophy case. These are my favorite big games and trophies:

Iron Bowl,  Auburn v Alabama  -  Bama is Steel!

The Egg Bowl, Ole Miss – Mississippi. Jevon Sneed leads Ole Miss to nest party.

The Game – Michigan – Ohio State. That was an embarrassment to ole Bo.

The Holy War, (a) Boston College, Notre Dame. God loved Boston College by 17

The Holy War, (b) Utah – BYU. Utah = BCS Busters on a mission from god

The Apple Cup,   Washington – Washington St. Goodbye Tye. We barely knew ya.

Paul Bunyan’s Axe,  Minnesota – Wisconsin.  Hey Badgers nice Axe!

The Old Oaken Bucket, Indiana  - Purdue. Joe Tiller retires with an antique. 

The Shula Bowl,  Florida Atlantic – Florida International. The Shula Bowl, really?

The Textile Bowl, Clemson – North Carolina State. Our polythyrene is tougher than yours!

If you have others get them to me, maybe we can SIM a play from the big game.

We had a respectable week by any standards, Mike went 4-1. We are now a healthy 72- 19.

Here’s what happened.

Prediction   Texas Tech 35 – Oklahoma 38

Final            Texas Tech 21 – Oklahoma 65

We knew Oklahoma was a great team and we knew Tech had been on an emotional and physical roller coaster over the past month. So the odds didn’t look good for the Red Raiders. We just didn’t know how good OU really is. Texas might be #2 in the BCS but long term OU plays in BCS Title game, count on it.

Prediction   Michigan 10 – Ohio Sate 41

Final           Michigan   7 – Ohio State 41

Did Mike nail this one or what? The Buckeyes went out and dotted the Wolverines eye. Beanie Wells only carried the ball 15 times and still gained 134 yards. Rich Rodriguez you were hired for an explosive offensive scheme. To bad it won’t mean much if you can’t play smash mouth Big X defense. Go get some players Rodriguez or you’ll be back in the Big East.

Prediction   Penn State 31 – Michigan State 28

Final           Penn State 49 = Michigan State 18

We said going into the game that stopping Javon Ringer stops the Spartans. Well JoPa closed the door on Mr Ringer, 17 carries for 42 yards. He unleashed Daryll Clark for 341 yards and 4 touchdowns and that was all she wrote. Coach Paterno is recovering from what was called “successful” hip replacement surgery on Sunday. He’s in his 43rd season coaching the Nittany Lions, he will turn 82 in December. Good luck JoPA,

Prediction   BYU 40  – Utah 31

Final           BYU 24 -   Utah 48

In front of a capacity crowd a Rice-Eckles Stadium the Running Utes finished their season a perfect 12-0. They surely punched their ticket to a nice well paying BCS bowl.

While Utah’s QB Brian Johnson threw for 303 yards and 4 touchdowns it was Utah’s  defense that kept the game in check. They forced six turnovers by BYU QB Max Hall, including five interceptions. We knew BYU was going to have to protect him with a better running game but they didn’t expect such a poor passing performance from a good quarterback. BYU Head Coach Bronco Menedenhal has put together a solid BYU team and you can bet they will win any bowl they attend.

 Rob Thompson (aka "Mamboking") is one of EA's Radio/Television Broadcasters and one of the voices along with his brother of the popular EA Sports World. Rob and Jason were nationally syndicated Sports Radio hosts before coming to EA. When Rob's not talking sports he's talking politics. He can be seen regularly on FOX News' "Americas Voices".