Half a season has wiped out a whole lot of notions

• Big scores and big plays are great for highlight shows, but not always for on-field success
• Matt Barkley has not exactly been a bust but he's been overtaken in the Heisman race
• Even after losing its starting QB and top rusher from last season, Oregon has not slowed down

We held these truths to be self-evident about the college football season. Turns out, they weren't.

So to begin the second half, we need some new ones.

Pass-happy offenses and video game scores are the road to the promised land ...

Sure, if you mean the promised land is the evening highlights. But while the Big 12 and Pac-12 put on fine fireworks shows, notice that several teams are doing it the old-fashioned way. Alabama is No. 1 with defense. Notre Dame is waking up the echoes with defense. South Carolina and Florida have moved into the top tier of the rankings with defense and strong ground games.

OK, Oregon and West Virginia are there, too. But not every flavor has to be tutti-frutti.

It's Matt Barkley's Heisman to lose ...

Not that the Southern California quarterback has gone bust, but the guy at West Virginia has thrown 24 touchdown passes without an interception, completed 81% of what he sends airborne, and put up points like the tailgaters put down brats.

It's Geno Smith's Heisman to lose.

LSU and Alabama are the teams to beat in the Southeastern Conference ...

Going back to last year's national championship, the Tigers have one touchdown in their last 12 quarters against SEC opposition. They can either get more consistent or plan on more of what happened Saturday in the Swamp. "We will make corrections and understand where we are at," coach Les Miles said.

And everyone else understands something, too. Alabama is the team to beat.

Oregon lost so many weapons, the Ducks will have to slow down a step ...

Oregon is ranked No. 2, averaging 52.3 points. The Ducks don't slow down for a school bus.

Auburn can't be that bad again ...

No, the 1-4 Tigers could be even worse. They just managed seven points on an Arkansas defense that had given up 110 in two SEC games. Auburn has been outscored 45-3 in the fourth quarter and produced seven offensive touchdowns in five games.

Barely 21 months ago the Tigers were celebrating a national championship. Now, if Gene Chizik doesn't fix his offense in a hurry, the sky will fall on him, if it hasn't already. Nobody asks what have you done for us lately faster than the SEC.

"The bottom line is that the Auburn fans and the Auburn family, they did not deserve this today," Chizik said of the Arkansas loss.

"There are peaks and valleys that you have to live through in your life. We are going to keep going through the valley and keep working. I don't know any other way to do it, and I am not changing."

Old coaches are out of style ...

Bill Snyder turned 73 on Sunday, and 5-0 Kansas State went into the top five of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

Penn State's season will be a train wreck ...

Looked that way after two defeats, as the exodus from State College continued. But those who've stayed proved stubborn, and now the Nittany Lions have won four in a row.

The campaign for Bill O'Brien as Big Ten coach of the year has officially begun.

The schedule will kill Notre Dame ...

Not yet it hasn't. The Irish are the only FBS team that has not been behind this season. And it won't, if the defense stays at a level that has allowed 39 points in five games.

Urban Meyer won't take over the Big Ten right away ...

Guess who's the only unbeaten left? One week, the Buckeyes win a 17-16 game, the next it's 63-38. That was such an explosion against Nebraska that quarterback Braxton Miller -- the new No. 1 contender to Smith in the Heisman race -- reported a confused coach asking in the locker room afterward, "How many points did we put up again?"

The Buckeyes are on a direct path to the Michigan Bowl, which is the only bowl they'll get this season.

They also are ineligible for the coaches poll, which is why the rankings are Big Ten-less this week for the first time since USA TODAY Sports took over the rankings in 1991.

Reviews of the week

Four stars ...

-- South Carolina. The Gamecocks mashed Georgia so badly, even Uga felt the pain. But Steve Spurrier certainly can't beat Georgia, LSU and Florida three weeks in a row. Can he?

-- Florida. Nothing describes how ready to rumble the muscled-up Gators are this season more than this: Trailing at halftime against Texas A&M, Tennessee and LSU, they outscored three SEC teams 51-6 in the second half.

-- West Virginia. The eyes of Texas were upon Geno Smith, and they still couldn't stop him. In track meets with Baylor and the Longhorns, points have been scored an average of once every 3 minutes, 32 seconds.

-- State of North Carolina. North Carolina State upsets Florida State, North Carolina whips Virginia Tech, Duke is 5-1 for the first time in 18 years. OK, never mind Wake Forest.

Three stars ...

-- Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are 5-0 for the first time since 1999 and only the second time since the end of World War II. But before we ask Alabama to move over, note the four FBS teams Mississippi State has beaten are a combined 6-15.

-- Arkansas. The win at Auburn might not be the light at the end of the tunnel, but it certainly beats losing the first two SEC games 110-10.

-- Oklahoma. Can't keep a good Sooner down. The win against Texas Tech makes them 19-0 after a regular-season defeat since 2004.

-- Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs are one of those unbeatens nobody notices, but they're 5-0 for the first time since 1975, and have at least 50 points in four of their five games. Virginia held them to 44.

-- Navy. You got up pretty early in the morning to beat Air Force. In a game that kicked off at 9:40 a.m. Mountain Time, the Midshipmen edged the Falcons in overtime to take a large step toward the Commander-in-Chief trophy.

Two stars ...

-- Northwestern. Stout effort at Penn State, but the Wildcats continue a recent history of laboring amid prosperity. They've lost their last six games when ranked.

One star ...

-- Miami. The Hurricanes are 4-0 against unranked opponents but lost 93-16 to Kansas State and Notre Dame.

Statistic of the Week

-- No shootout losses for Ohio State. The Buckeyes are 272-0-1 in games they have at least 35 points. The tie was 35-35 with Southern Methodist in 1978.

Quotebook

"I don't blame them." -- Gene Chizik on Auburn fans leaving early from the 24-7 mess against Arkansas.

"It stinks." -- Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray, on what the mashing by South Carolina does to the Bulldogs' morale.

"Losing is a disease. If you don't do something about it, it will just keep spreading. I'm not a very good loser." -- TCU coach Gary Paterson, after the Horned Frogs' 12-game winning streak ended against Iowa State.

"You have to realize what kind of player you are and realize what you're capable of, and kind of silence the outside and not really listen to what's going on around you." -- Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones, coming back with a strong game against Texas Tech after recent criticism of his production.