Sunday 7: Wear and tear taking a toll

Seven things we learned on the seventh day:

It's getting late in the season, which means bodies fatigue, muscles tear and bones snap.

We offer as exhibits Oregon's Kellen Clemens and Georgia's D.J. Shockley.

Shockley is officially listed as doubtful for Saturday's Cocktail Party after spraining his knee against Arkansas. It might be longer than that. Shockley was quoted as telling teammate Tyson Browning that doctors told him he might not be back until Nov. 12 against Auburn.

The Dawgs, 7-0 and agonizing about an SEC and BCS title, have a bye week after playing Florida. The question becomes, can the immortal Joe Tereshinski fill in as a backup as he did on Saturday?

Tereshinski made just enough plays for the Georgia to hang on 23-20. He is listed as the starter until further notice. To get on the field, Tereshinski has been a long snapper and was a blocker on the punt team.

Clemens, the Ducks' fine quarterback, was busy positioning Oregon for a possible 10-1 season until breaking his leg in a 28-21 victory over Arizona. Clemens is out for the season.

On the next snap, Oregon backup Dennis Dixon was knocked out. Mike Bellotti finished with third-stringer Brady Leaf.

If that name sounds familiar, yes, Brady is the brother of Ryan.

Nowhere to hide: This is a week when it's too bad that Auburn, Ala., is a small town where everybody knows everybody else. Knowing the SEC mentality, John Vaughn is going to need a place to lay low for a while.

The Auburn kicker missed five field goals in the Tigers' crushing 20-17 overtime loss at LSU. Vaughn didn't just miss, he yanked the heart out of Tiger Nation and stomped on it. The final try, a 39-yarder that would have tied the game in the first overtime, bounced off the left upright.

John, old friend, there's some Florida State kickers you need to call this week for grief counseling.

This is getting creepy. Vaughn went oh-fer on the same field where Oregon State's Alexis Serna missed three extra points last year.

All of Vaughn's five misses were of at least 37 yards and attempted in a swirling wind. The loss cripples Auburn's SEC chances. Meanwhile, Vaughn needs a security detail assigned to him.

He needs to at least start saving up for when that scholarship is yanked. Vaughn is only a junior.

Running backs can be goats, too: We're taking nothing away from Tennessee running back Cory Anderson. With the game on the line, Anderson fumbled into and out of the end zone at Alabama with 5:08 left in a 3-3 game.

Don't be surprised if Anderson finds his way to a witness protection of his own. This gut wrencher was eventually decided in 'Bama's favor 6-3 on Jamie Christensen's field goal with 13 seconds left.

Christensen's nickname is "Money."

'Bama is 7-0 for the first time since 1996 and no longer has self-esteem issues. The Great Tattler, Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer, was escorted off the field by a phalanx of 10 state troopers.

"It kind of settles the score," said Mike Shula who, as a coach, is no longer just a famous last name.

The joy of six: Brady Quinn sure did have a hard time getting over the USC loss, didn't he? All he did was throw for a school-record six touchdowns against BYU. Quinn was so distracted that he actually missed on nine of his 41 attempts.

Quinn already has a tough decision coming up in January: Declare for the draft after setting the Notre Dame single-season passing record under Charlie Weis or come back for a national title run in 2006, which the Irish most certainly will be poised to make.

Meanwhile, Penn State's Michael Robinson threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more in the first half against Illinois. For us math majors, that makes six TDs for the receiver/tailback/athlete who some said (don't look at us!) couldn't play the position.

UCLA's Drew Olson threw for a school-record six touchdowns in the Bruins' 51-28 victory over Oregon State and still can't get much love as No. 1 USC continues to win and steal the hearts of L.A.

Olson's teammate, Maurice Drew, went for 250 all-purpose yards, and fewer than 50,000 showed up at the Rose Bowl.

Even Gary Barnett couldn't do this: That is, win by 35 on the road in the Big Ten. Northwestern's 49-14 victory at Michigan State was the Wildcats' largest road margin of victory in 62 years.

The bigger news is that Northwestern (5-2, 3-1) is in the Big Ten title race with home games coming up against Michigan and Iowa.

"Coach Walker says to act like you've been there before but I don't remember being there," said offensive tackle Zach Strief.

Like USC, it is having to outscore opponents to win. But Saturday the nation's No. 4 offense got help from the stumbling Spartans. Drew Stanton's fumble turned into an 86-yard touchdown return. There were two missed field goals.

Quarterback Brett Basanez is developing into the Big Ten offensive MVP after throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for two.

"We looked like we were mesmerized," coach Randy Walker said of the offense. "I'm not sure they could do that against air, let alone 11 guys."

BCS execs are salivating over Rutgers: OK, not so much, but the Scarlet Knights are one victory away from being bowl eligible.

What does that mean to you in these uncertain times?

Nothing really unless you sympathize with a program that hasn't been to a bowl game in 27 years. Rutgers beat Connecticut 26-24 to improve to 5-2. With games left against Navy, South Florida, Louisville and Cincinnati, there's room in there for victory No. 6, isn't there?

We'll see. Rutgers is infamous for its second-half collapses. It blew a big lead in the opener against Illinois that would have made these paragraphs needless.

On the upside, Rutgers, believe it or not, is in line not only for a bowl but a $17 million payday in a BCS bowl! That's so much money alum James Gandolfini might become "involved."

Lost in the shuffle: After trailing Washington 10-7, USC scored four consecutive touchdowns on nine offensive plays. ... UCLA is 7-0 for the first time since 1998 and is one of the more underreported stories in the country, for obvious reasons because of USC ... The Bruins surpassed 40 points for the sixth time this year. "They played well but I don't know about them being a top-10 team," Oregon State safety Sabby Piscitelli told the Los Angeles Times. ... Then again any trash talking by a guy named Sabby loses a lot of credibility. ... Missouri's Brad Smith is one of the best players in Big 12 history. Still, freshman Chase Daniel was increasingly being seen as the quarterback of the future. Don't throw Smith under the bus yet. He became the sixth player in history to rush for 200 and pass for 200 in beating Nebraska. His 480 yards of total offense was a school record. ... Just let us know, Virginia, when you're ready to join the big time. A week after upsetting Florida State, the Cavaliers couldn't respond after North Carolina threw up seven on the board. The Tar Heels won one of the worst games of the year, 7-5. ... This is how bad it's gotten for Oklahoma. It survived Baylor in double overtime 37-30, and Sooners bum-rushed the field as if they'd beaten ... TCU.