Players of the week
Offense: Iowa State tailback Alexander Robinson and Missouri wide receiver Danario Alexander. Robinson, a junior from Minneapolis, had 178 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns in a 31-10 win over Army. Alexander, a senior from Marlin, Texas, had nine catches for 170 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-21 win over Nevada.
Defense: Texas safety Earl Thomas. The sophomore from Orange, Texas, intercepted two passes that led to scores in a 64-7 win over UTEP.
Special teams: Kansas State wide receiver Brandon Banks. The senior from Garner, N.C., tied an NCAA record by returning two kickoffs for touchdowns (92 and 91 yards) in a 49-7 win over Tennessee Tech.
Bad votes of the week
The Harris Interactive poll, which makes up 33 percent of the Bowl Championship Series formula, has come out for the first time. A few of the votes were downright scary from this panel of alleged “experts.''
Two of the most egregious examples: Six votes for Washington, which is 2-2 and is coming off a 20-point loss to Stanford, and two for Kansas State, which is 2-2 with no wins over Division I-A opponents.
Strange move of the week
Bizarre is the only word for the officiating assignments for the Kansas-Southern Mississippi game. There were three officials from Conference USA, two from the Mountain West and two from the Western Athletic Conference.
The first-half penalty numbers were bizarre, too: Kansas 9 for 62 yards, USM 0 for 0.
Bits and pieces
Two years ago, when Kansas and Missouri were No. 2 and No. 3 and met in Kansas City, the game was dubbed “Armageddon at Arrowhead.'' This week, Iowa State and Kansas State meet at Arrowhead Stadium in a game nicknamed “Farmaggedon.'' ... Texas Tech coach Mike Leach admitted Monday that he should have kicked a field goal early in the fourth quarter instead of trying a fourth-and-goal play against Houston that failed. A field goal would have given Tech an eight-point lead. Houston won 29-28. ... Missouri's Blaine Gabbert is the first quarterback in coach Gary Pinkel's nine years to have five completions of 30 yards or longer in a game. ... Texas A&M's Jerrod Johnson is the first Aggie quarterback to have three rushing touchdowns in a game since 1991.
--Lee Barfknecht
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