Studs And Duds

 Each Sunday during the college football, we select three players/teams/plays that made us stand up and take notice -- studs -- and three that made us hang our heads in shame -- duds.

 There were no shortage of candidates for the honors this week, so let's get right to it.

STUDS
CLEMSON DEFENSE -- Auburn was supposed to be the real test, a Gus Malzahn-led unit that finally had a quarterback in place. That's the kind of team that gave Clemson problems last season, and with Dabo Swinney's team still trying to find itself offensively some early Auburn momentum might be enough to win the game. Nope. After a 13-play opening drive that resulted in an Auburn field goal, Clemson locked things down the rest of the way. How good was the defense? Auburn had 42 rushes for 38 yards, and QB Jarrett Stidham was sacked 11 times, four times by junior Austin Bryant and twice by All-America DT Christian Wilkins. Auburn netted just 117 yards and averaged 3.3 yards per attempt passing. It's safe to say that Clemson's defense is every bit as good as the group that won last year's national title.

BAKER MAYFIELD -- The Oklahoma quarterback talked about how he and his team felt disrespected last year after Ohio State came in to Norman and left with a 42-24 blowout. The Buckeyes sang the alma mater -- hardly inflammatory, it's done after every game -- but Mayfield stuck around to watch, storing that . memory away for fuel. Man, did it work. Mayfield routinely kept plays alive, delivered the football on time and kept his foot on the gas pedal in leading the Sooners to a 12th straight road win, their longest streak since the glory days of the 1970s. Mayfield finished the night with 386 yards and three touchdowns, averaging a healthy 11.0 YPA, and made a real statement by taking the OU flag and planting it at midfield of Ohio Stadium. It may not be what everyone likes, but hey -- you win, you can do what you want to.   

SAM DARNOLD -- A week after playing what some called a bad game -- it wasn't -- Darnold answered with a monster showing, going 21-of-26 for 316 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-24 romp over nemesis Stanford. It's not often that the Cardinal defense is bludgeoned to the tune of 623 total yards, but Darnold was masterful. He threw lasers on scoring passes to Deontay Burnett and Steven Mitchell Jr., and just looked more confident in his offense. It helped him immensely that USC had a pair of 100 yard rusher, and that Stanford had just one sack, but Darnold was the center of attention in this one, and he responded.

DUDS 
OHIO STATE OFFENSE -- Kevin Wilson was hailed as an offensive guru after building Indiana into a competitive team, and when Urban Meyer announced Wilson's hiring Buckeye Nation went berserk. Finally, the offense was going to break out of the funk it was plagued by at the end of last season. As a noted philosopher once said, "Not so fast, my friend." The Buckeyes have scored just 65 points in two games, and against Oklahoma everything was off-kilter -- the pass protection (J.T. Barrett was sacked three times, hurried numerous other times and pushed out of the pocket most of the night), the receivers (broken record, not much separation), Barrett (just 19-of-35 for 183 yards and zero touchdowns) and, strangely enough, the running backs. Meyer has always prided his teams as being physical running offenses -- so why did running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber combine for just 16 carries against an Oklahoma front that was vulnerable to the ground game? Until Meyer and Wilson get on the same page, and figure out just what this offense is, the Buckeyes will struggle.

NEBRASKA DEFENSE -- The hiring of Bob Diaco was supposed to make Nebraska more like the Blackshirts of old, aggressive, swarming and scary. Oregon put a stop to that, putting up 566 yards on the way to a 42-35 victory. The Huskers had zero sacks and just three tackles for loss against the Ducks, who are supposed to still be getting used to new coach Willie Taggart and the way he runs things. QB Justin Herbert was barely hassled, and completed 25-of-33 for 365 yards and three scores. His passing opened things up for Royce Freeman to average over 5.2 YPC and score twice on the ground. Coupled with the 415 yards and 36 points Arkansas State scored a week earlier, and it's not tough to figure out that the Huskers need some help on defense.

LOUISIANA TECH -- This one has to be seen to be believed. All we'll say is that it broke a record for most yards needed on third down -- third and 57 -- set by Georgia against Tennessee in 2011. Tech was lined up second and goal at the Mississippi State six-yard-line, and then this loveliness happened.