Sunday 7: Florida's for real, Louisville can't seal the deal

Seven things we learned on Sunday:

•  Considering the circumstances in South Bend, until further notice it will be known as First Down Jesus.

For obvious reasons.

• Time to pencil in a new contestant for our little national championship chase. LSU, Oklahoma and USC now have to make room for Florida. Three games into his sophomore season, Tim Tebow is a Heisman candidate (favorite?) Florida is playing with Spurrier-like swagger and scoring with similar OBC frequency. The victim? Who else but Tennessee, which turns the third Saturday in September into an annual street party in Gainesville. These Vols suffered the school's worst loss in 26 years, 59-20.

"I finally realized the score when we scored the last (touchdown)," wide receiver David Nelson told the Orlando Sentinel. "And this was the SEC East. This isn't Western Kentucky anymore."

• If you're Brian Brohm, how mad are you right now that Bobby Petrino/Steve Kragthorpe haven't been able to leave you/build you a serviceable defense? Louisville's quarterback came back as a senior to chase a Heisman and a national championship. At least one of those goals might be out of reach after the Cardinals gagged one up to Kentucky in the Commonwealth Comeback.

Speaking of that defense: His name is Woodny Turenne. The juco cornerback must be identified because he let Kentucky's Steve Johnson slip behind him for the game-winning catch with 28 seconds left.

"If we're not ranked," Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said, "somebody's smoking something."

Check the rankings: the AP, coaches and Power polls are not on The Chronic.

• As we speak, paintings are being commissioned, quilts are being sewn and babies are being named in honor of Matt Caddell.

We kid you not. That's what happens in Alabama whenever a 'Bama player does something dramatic. Saturday night was beyond dramatic. Caddell officially kicked off the Nick Saban era (victories over Western Carolina and Vanderbilt don't really count). He caught the game-winning pass against Arkansas with eight seconds left.

'Bama is 3-0 for the fourth consecutive year so let's not get too excited ... Oh, OK, go get your knittin' stuff and start stitching ol' Matt's face into a comforter.

• Karl Dorrell is officially on notice at UCLA. If not from AD Dan Guerrero then from the Bruin message board police who won't tolerate what occurred Saturday in Salt Lake City. A ranked Pac-10 team with 20 returning starters that beat USC 10 months ago should not lose 44-6 to Utah, a team playing with a backup quarterback.

This offering from Bruins Nation might sum up a growing feeling in Westwood:

"This team quit on its head coach. It showed zero character, toughness or will to fight, which was a direct reflection of their listless, uninspiring ... in name only, head coach."

The last loss this bad to an unranked non-conference opponent came a mere 43 years ago. The 39-0 rout by Syracuse eventually cost Bill Barnes his job. So, Karl, it's officially a trend.

• How convenient that Lloyd Carr friend-who's-a-boy Russell Crowe was conspicuous at the Big House on Saturday. Crowe spoke to the team before Michigan's first win Saturday, then appeared in the postgame jollying with Lloyd.

That must mean one of two things. Either Crowe fired 'em up or maybe, that Crowe's new film 3:10 to Yuma is now in theaters.

• Everybody knows a Northwestern grad. They run major corporations, edit our newspapers and drive our economy. You won't be seeing any of them Monday. They are too ashamed to show their faces. Expect a sick-out after Duke ended the nation's longest losing streak (22).

And just when Wildcats everywhere were holding out hope that Duke would break Northwestern's all-time I-A record, 34 losses in a row from 1979-82.