Teams that were supposed to win won, and players that were supposed to perform performed, as the day’s early games seemed just an appetizer for the big OSU-Michigan and Texas-Mizzou tilts.

(The closest Vandy came to stopping Moreno all day).

As Knowshon Moreno goes, so goes the Georgia Bulldogs. Vanderbilt found that out the hard way, falling to UGA 24-14 in the early slate’s only matchup of ranked teams. Moreno trampled the Commdores for a season-high 172 yards, touching the ball on more than a third of Georgia’s snaps. Freshman AJ Green, who is becoming one of Matthew Stafford’s favorite targets, had 132 yards and a touchdown.

Vandy, for the second week in a row, couldn’t clinch bowl eligibility for the first time since 1982. I have a feeling that’ll change when they host Duke next week.

The “upset” of the early games was an upset by technicality only, as this one pretty much stuck to the pregame script. Maryland had won four games against ranked opponents, while Wake Forest had struggled with its offense, putting up 41 points in its previous three games. Make that 41 points in four games, as the Terps shut out the Deacons, 26-0. Wake Forest had no answer for the Terps’ air attack, as Chris Turner threw for 321 yards, while Darrius Heyward-Bey hauled in 11 for 101. It’s a logjam atop the ACC, where two thirds of the teams have either one or two wins.

In the annual “These Teams Ought to Have a Rivalry, But Don’t” showdown, Texas Tech topped Texas A&M, 43-25, in a game that was a lot more interesting than the score suggests. The Aggies actually led this one at the half, before Graham Harrell strapped the Red Raiders on his back. Harrell threw for 449 yards, tossed three TDs and ran for two more. Undefeated Texas Tech’s schedule gets brutal from here on out, with its next four games against Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

South Florida must have been overjoyed to see Syracuse on their schedule this week. They had two weeks to stew over an inexcusable loss to Pitt, and took our their frustrations on the hapless Orange, beating them 45-13. Matt Grothe did it all for the Bulls, throwing for three touchdowns and running for a fourth while leading his team in rushing.