Studs And Duds -- Sept. 24

Penn State RB Saquon Barkley came up big at crunch time (The Big Lead)

Every Sunday we take a look back at the good and bad of the college football weekend, and we have found this week's winners -- and non-winners.

STUDS
Stanford QB KJ Costello -- The Cardinal may not be serious contenders in the Pac-12 -- or may be, it's hard to tell with this group -- but they may have found a quarterback. With starter Keller Chryst ailing and backup Ryan Burns not really moving the team, Costello came into the game and was wildly effective, going 13-of-19 for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He presented enough of a passing threat for Bryce Love to rush for 263 yards, and for UCLA to be completely outclassed defensively. Costello had a nine-yard scoring run in the first half, and showed that he is more than capable of running the offense long-term if he has to.

Penn State RB Saquon Barkley -- The mark of a great player is stepping up when his team needs him the most. Barkley did that, rushing for 211 yards and a third quarter touchdown in the Nittany Lions 21-19 squeaker over Iowa. He also had a possible Heisman signature moment in the fourth quarter, and wasn't afraid to do the heavy second half lifting for Penn State. Barkley carried four times for 56 yards on its go-ahead drive and caught two passes on the game-winning drive, helping Penn State escape with its season intact. Nittany Lions fans, enjoy him while you can, because Barkley has roughly 10 games left in his college career.

TCU -- Almost no one was talking about the Horned Frogs heading into their showdown with Oklahoma State, and that's just how coach Gary Patterson likes it. Relishing the underdog role, TCU was the more physical team, rushing for 238 yards and converting 11-of-19 third downs to upset the Cowboys 44-31 in Stillwater. It was an old-fashioned butt-kicking as TCU forced four turnovers, frazzled the normally efficient Cowboys into eight penalties and made quarterback Mason Rudolph look human. Yeah, Rudolph finished with 398 yards through the air, but other than an on-the-money 86 yard TD strike to James Washington, Rudolph appeared bothered and off his game. Travin Howard had eight tackles and Nick Orr chipped in six more and an interception as TCU became the chief competition for Oklahoma in the Big 12 race.

DUDS
Vanderbilt -- This was the year. It was going to be 1969 all over again for the Commodores, who entered their game with Alabama unbeaten, with a snarling defense and feeling pretty good about themselves. There was a lot of talk about the Tide heading into the game, but Vandy was silenced as Alabama unleashed a righteous anger (can you tell I've been watching Pulp Fiction a lot lately?), winning 59-0 and erasing all doubts about the door being cracked open in the SEC. Vanderbilt ran just 40 plays, netting 78 yards, and going just 1-of-11 on third down. The vaunted Commodores D allowed Alabama to pile up 677 yards, including 496 on the ground, in a game that was basically over when Alabama took a 21-0 first quarter lead.

Purdue offense -- The Boilermakers were one of the feel-good stories of the season, taking Louisville to the wire in the opener and giving people reason to believe that maybe, just maybe, the B1G West Division had another contender for Wisconsin to deal with. Um, no. Purdue managed just 189 yards and failed to convert on 12 third down chances, falling 28-10 at home to Michigan. It was there for the taking as Purdue led 10-7 at halftime, but the Boilermakers managed just 15 second half yards, fumbled once and punted five times. Only one second half series wasn't a three-and-out.

Oregon -- Everyone was touting the Ducks, saying "they're back, they're back," and looking ahead to tasty Pac-12 showdowns against some of the best teams in the league. Well, maybe the Ducks were looking ahead because they lost to one of the poorer teams in the conference, Arizona State. The Sun Devils rolled up nearly 500 yards of offense and kept the vaunted Ducks attack to 401 yards, its lowest total of the season. Oregon did itself no favors by committing 14 penalties, and converted just 1-of-11 third downs. With Cal, Washington State, Stanford  and UCLA up next, it appears safe to say that Oregon still has work to do to be a legitimate Pac-12 threat.