Just for humiliating me so badly by routing Iowa in a way the Hawkeyes were supposed to dominate, Iowa State gets the week off and can take it easy before completing its nonconference season with a 3-0 record after defeating Army next week.

This week’s picks:

Kansas 38, Louisiana Tech 10: The toughest opponent to date brings out the best in the Jayhawks. Brian Murph emerges as Brian Luke’s favorite target.

UCLA 28, Oklahoma 21: This upset pick has nothing to do with Adrian Peterson’s suspension from practice Monday and Tuesday for missing classes. Kudos to Sooners coach Bob Stoops for going public with that so that everyone knows it’s not like the good old days. Jocks across America do have to go to classes. If anything, Peterson will be motivated to play better because of the embarrassment. Has it occurred to anyone that overall the Sooners just aren’t any better than UCLA, which can beat you with the run (Maurice Drew) and the pass (Drew Olson)? The Bruins are 10-for-10 in the red zone, and the Sooners look vulnerable against a good passing attack.

Texas 55, Rice 3: Never again can it be said the Longhorns can’t win the big one. Games don’t get much smaller than this one and the only point of interest is Vince Young’s numbers for his Heisman chase.

Nebraska 17, Pittsburgh 13: The Chicago Bears, trying to steal some Dallas Cowboys’ magic, hired Dave Wannstedt and let him shop for the groceries. Initially, Bears ownership thought bad results were the consequence of bad grocery shopping, so those duties were taken away from Wannstedt. Once the Bears realized he couldn’t coach either, they canned him. The Dolphins repeated the cycle, taking away one job at a time from him before firing him, at which point everybody who’s ever met Wannstedt, one of the nicest guys in the business, hoped it was a case of a coach more suited to the college game. So far, not so good for Wannstedt, who seeks his first win. Neither Tyler Palko of Pitt nor Zac Taylor of the Cornhuskers has been impressive at quarterback.

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Texas Tech 48, Sam Houston State 14: Face it, Bob Knight isn’t the only coaching genius the Red Raiders have. Mike Leach has groomed another fifth-year senior to take over the quarterback job in a way that makes it seem as if he’s a fourth-year starter, instead of working as a first-stringer for the first time. Cody Hodges debuted as starter with 454 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Missouri 30, Troy 10: Put the real Troy of college football (USC) against Mizzou at this point and you can add a zero to this Troy’s final total. The Tigers allowed 45 points in losing to New Mexico last week and must find a way to tighten up in a hurry.

In other games:

Texas A&M 38, SMU 13.

Oklahoma State 31, Arkansas State 8.

Baylor 24, Army 14.