Revenge was sweet for Eagles, others

Call it the ultimate payback weekend of the college football season.

Let's start with some results from last season:

1. No. 1 Southern California suffers a stunning last-second loss to Stanford, a 41-point underdog.

2. No. 2 and unbeaten Boston College sees its national championship dreams disappear when Florida State comes to Boston and knocks off the Eagles.

3. No. 2 South Florida, a surprise team every week, is upset by Rutgers.

4. No. 1 Ohio State is shocked by Illinois.

5. No. 2 Oregon, another surprise visitor to such a perch, is knocked off by Arizona.

And don't forget Notre Dame, enduring its worst season in more than 30 years, losing to Navy for the first time in 43 years, and Mississippi State, one of the have-nots in the Southeastern Conference the last few years, knocking off Alabama for the second consecutive season.

Now let's take a look at some results from last weekend:

1. Southern Cal, still in the hunt for a Pacific-10 title and a Bowl Championship Series berth, rolls over Stanford, 45-23.

2. Boston College, looking to stay alive in the hunt for another Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Division crown, travels to Tallahassee and posts a 27-17 victory over Bobby Bowden's Seminoles.

3. South Florida, suddenly floundering after a fast (5-0) start, has to wait another season for revenge after the Scarlet Knights roll to a 49-16 victory.

4. Ohio State, still chasing a Big Ten title and a BCS bid, travels to Champagne and knocks off the Illini, 30-20.

5. Oregon comes back to outscore Arizona, 55-45.

Also, Notre Dame, which lost to BC, 17-0, last week, becomes bowl eligible with a tougher-than-anticipated 27-21 win over Navy.

And No. 1 Alabama, looking forward to playing Florida for the right to go to the BCS title game, crunches Mississippi State, 32-7.

For everyone but South Florida on Saturday, it was sweet revenge indeed.

'Canes gaining

Don't look now, but here comes Miami. With their 16-14 win over Virginia Tech Thursday night, the Hurricanes have a five-game winning streak, their longest since 2005. Leading the way is the defense, which in its last five games has been on the field for only 76 plays in the third quarter for a total of 139 yards, an average of 1.8 yards per play. "It's hard to beat a good football team when you run only six plays in the third quarter," said Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer.

Wednesday night lights

At this time of the year, most must-win games are played on Saturdays. Such is not the case in the Mid-American Conference, where unbeaten Ball State continues its dream season with a MAC Western Conference showdown against Central Michigan Wednesday. Ball State is 10-0 for the first time and has made it look easy, winning each time by 12 points or more. What can one expect? Central Michigan (8-2) did win last season's meeting, 58-38 . . . Rutgers, amazingly, is now 5-5 after its 49-16 win over South Florida and has won four straight. The difference? Turnovers. In the Scarlet Knights' losses they forced no turnovers. In their wins, they forced 13 . . . Michigan's 21-14 loss to Northwestern triggered all sorts of bad statistics. But one of the more remarkable is this: It marked the first time since 1962 that Michigan (3-8) has failed to win consecutive games.

A pointed suggestion

Memo to Tulsa: If you have a game scheduled against Houston in 2028, take the forfeit. How else to explain this 20-year cycle: 1968 Houston 100, Tulsa 3; 1988 Houston 82, Tulsa 28; 2008 Houston 70, Tulsa 30. Saturday's game had 1,142 yards of offense and was the fourth time this season Houston has compiled more than 600 yards . . . Texas has been the most consistent of winners in the Mack Brown era. With their victory over Kansas Saturday, the Longhorns reached the 10-victory mark for the eighth straight season.

Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.