What is Wazzu? Serious national contender? Or overrated? Ditto for Ohio State.

Is Penn State back from it's two-year exile to mediocrity? Is Nebraska capable of a strong road performance against a ranked team?

Is USC worthy of the preseason hype . . . or will they again come up a play or two short in a big road game?

	Are Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions righting the ship? We'll find out Saturday.

Is Notre Dame's borrowed time about to expire . . . or can the Irish go 12-0 without an offensive touchdown?

Can Georgia overcome its Gamecock nemesis . . . or are the wheels coming off at South Carolina?

Those questions and more will be answered on a day you could call "Yardstick Saturday." That is, of course, if you like cute little labels attached to your college football weekends, as we at ESPN do.

I know some of those questions can't be fully answered in sixty minutes of football. But, strong statements will be delivered Saturday about the quality of teams and direction of programs. Anyway, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it. More on the measuring stick matchups below.

In the meantime, here's another question: what flavor of mind-altering medication are the three coaches and six AP voters who aren't ranking Miami first OD'ing on? Uh, let's see: Texas grinds past North Texas, Oklahoma gets physically whipped but rallies to beat 'Bama, and Florida State survives Iowa State with a goal line tackle . . . and they are still more deserving of No. 1 than a winner of 24 straight that just mugged Florida in the Swamp by 25?

Hey, I'm not one of those who say Miami is upset-proof and should immediately be elevated from the Big East to the AFC East. Saturday's woodshed number had as much to do with bad Florida as great Miami and, believe me, the 'Canes and their coaches know it. Now, I chuckle when I hear Miami's Brett Romberg complain about "No Respect." Romberg is another in the long line of hilarious Canadians: Mike Myers, Tom Green, Barry Melrose, we could go on and on.

But Brett-ski, give that tired line a rest. You were ranked No. 1 last week, right? If what you mean is "We can't frickin' believe Las Vegas made us a frickin' underdog to frickin' Florida," well, that's another discussion about how the experts in Sin City set up a sucker's spread. But when it comes to ranking teams the third week in September, there should not a nanosecond's hesitation about who looks best so far.

If Miami is beaten, it'll be by a team that can handle a power running game. Watching from field level, UM's offensive line surge forward two or three yards each snap Saturday was awesome. Yet, without slowing down Willis McGahee and making the 'Canes one-dimensional, you have no chance. Then you have to hope Ken Dorsey has an off day, as he did at Boston College and Virginia Tech last season. And then, by the way, you have to find a way to block their front four. Temple, what do you have for us?

Running with the big boys
McGahee is just one of many muscular, tough backs to steal some early thunder in the supposed "Year of the Quarterback." Greg Jones of FSU is a beast; Colorado State's Cecil Sapp is a relentless, pounding type; Chris Perry and B.J. Askew of Michigan are loads; Chris Brown of Colorado has been carrying the load; Derrick Nix of Southern Miss ran over Illinois; and Marty Johnson continues Utah's heritage of tough runners.

Unfortunately, Johnson (the nation's rushing leader) sprained his knee last Saturday and will be out a month or more. He was a hard luck case last year, averaging 16 yards on six carries, then going down with a season ending injury. That'll make it tough on the Utes, one of my surprise teams for '02, as they visit Arizona and Michigan the next two weeks.

These backs were not the most hyped guys in the preseason magazines, but they've outshone Onterrio Smith, Dahrran Diedrick, and Anthony Davis so far. There is a continuing trend toward these physical runners, like the last three Heisman tailbacks -- Eddie George, Ricky Williams and Ron Dayne.

Ochs' tough call
One guy I'm hurting for is Craig Ochs. Colorado's quarterback will sit out the USC game and possibly others after his fourth career concussion Saturday. He's getting numerous CAT scans and MRIs and doing some serious soul searching with his mom and dad, who is a doctor. Craig will hear a lot of opinions from experts and loved ones. Some of them will ask him to give up football.

Ochs has a deep passion for the game. He loves everything about college football: playing, watching it on TV and dissecting it. He chews on strategy. Craig made staying healthy this season his focus, working out like a fiend. He also promised coaches, parents and himself that he'd play prudently, not recklessly as is his nature. A concussion against Kansas last year made him miss the first Texas game. He's also struggled with ankle injuries.

But there he was Saturday, near the sideline, just a step from safety, when he turned up field and was slammed by a pair of San Diego State tacklers. It was a clean hit. Craig's instincts told him to fight for a few extra feet, and they overrode good judgment. As you might imagine, he's mad. At himself.

Concussions are more common than you probably realize. A study I read estimated that 35,000 occur each high school football season. Quarterback is the position most affected. Here's the problem: players who've had one or more are up to six times more likely to suffer another concussion. Returning to sports while still suffering symptoms like headache, dizziness, memory loss can be dangerous. In rare cases, trying to "tough it out" leads to "second impact syndrome," which caused to 26 deaths in a recent 16 year span. It can also lead to amnesia and learning disability.

Obviously, a bruise to your brain can be scary. It cannot be rehabbed and forgotten about like any other injury. Lots of athletes do play on after multiple concussions. Many ignore medical advice. Some never have a problem.

Craig Ochs now has a tough call to make. All the tests in the world can't tell him for sure how likely another concussion is and what harm it might cause. It would be agonizing for him to step away from football. He was hoping for a big junior year, when he could measure himself against the best QBs in the country and begin to sense what kind of shot he'd have at the NFL.

For now, his football career is measured week by week, test by test.

Trojans vs. Buffs
Colorado is favored, with Robert Hodge as Ochs' replacement. Hmm. Hodge is a Southern California kid not recruited by the likes of USC. He's 5-foot-11, 185 pounds and comes via El Camino College, where his QB coach was Steve Sarkisian, the former BYU star. Sarkisian now works under his old mentor, Norm Chow, as USC's QB coach. Steve will no doubt have a chat with the Trojans' defensive coaches to lend knowledge on Hodge, who has exactly three career completions.

The most memorable play in Hodge's CU career came against Texas in the Big 12 title game, when he was an accomplice in one of the goofiest calls in recent memory. Hodge was the up back who short-armed a fake punt pass attempt that was picked off and returned by Rod Babers, cutting a 13 point fourth quarter lead to six! Oy. Not a good moment for Buff fans.

Hodge thus made Gary Barnett look very bad. The coach has long since forgiven him. But Hodge now has a chance to create positive memories. He'll need a bunch of help from the running game, defense, and possibly higher powers to beat USC.

Cornhuskers vs. Nittany Lions
Now back to the yardstick games. It's well known in Big Red country that under Frank Solich, Nebraska has lost six of seven to ranked teams on the road. The one win barely qualifies, since it was hardly a road game in front of a 50-50 crowd at Notre Dame. But let's be fair. The six losses were all to Big 12 teams that won their division that season, and three went on take the conference title. True, the Huskers were favored in five of the six losses, but they shouldn't have been and that's not their fault.

	Jammal Lord will have to back up his confidence for the Huskers to have a shot in Happy Valley.

Here's the point: Solich and his program need a big, solid road win. He knows it, the guy on a combine in Beatrice knows it, and his players sure know it. I'm not sure beating a still-hard-to-read Lions' team qualifies as a monster win, but it's a good start. Most Nebraska folks I talk to are more worried about next week's game at dangerous Iowa State, which of course counts in the divisional race.

Jammal Lord exudes confidence this week. Let's hope he can back that up. The Huskers entire master plan, including the extra game with Arizona State, was designed to prepare Lord and the rebuilt offensive line for 106,000 folks in Happy Valley. Now we'll see if it worked.

The Huskers have been anything but dominant, outgained by Troy State and "held" to 203 rushing yards by Utah State. A vintage Big Red bunch, fans complain, would've flattened the Aggies for 403. They're right. This team isn't vintage Nebraska yet, but to be fair we're still in the barrel-tasting stage.

There's undoubtedly a lot they haven't shown. Over the next two games we'll check out the Big Red's true bouquet, it's legs (wine terms), and see if the faithful's palette will be satisfied.

An ugly taste is left by the Thunder Collins saga, fit for a checkout-stand tabloid. The seemly he says/she says can't help but be a distraction. But let's just say there are some fellow I-backs not teary-eyed that Collins is out of the mix for at least a couple more games.

Itching to stop any I-back with the football is Penn State's burly run plugger, Jimmy Kennedy. He's calling this week a test of his "manhood." Know this: Big Jimmy is one Kennedy who's not into touch football.

Penn State needs a statement win, too. The Lions are 12-16 their last 28 games.

It was unsettling for PSU fans to see the Central Florida bunch they outlasted get waxed 46-13 at mediocre Arizona State, which was a 48-10 loser at Nebraska. But that score was very misleading.

One red flag, though, is that a UCF team that riddled the Nittany Lions' soft pass defense for numerous third conversions in the second half was 0-for-11 on third down against the Sun Devils. That tells you PSU may have some issues down the road, although pass defense won't be their main concern Saturday night.

And on offense, please open the play book and let Zack Mills use his considerable skills. Run Larry Johnson and sneak the ball to 265-pound Sean McHugh with short H-back style passes, where he excelled in the spring game. Like NU, the Lions have much they haven't shown yet.

This one is worth watching.

Cougars vs. Buckeyes
Not since the hyped QB duel between Bledsoe and Herbstreit in '91 has there been this much buzz around a Wazzu-OSU game. Actually, that's the last time they played. Kirk's side had the edge that day. Drew got revenge on draft day.

GameDay is going to Columbus not so Kirk can sleep in his own bed, but because this is a compelling and rare non-conference matchup. Washington State rarely comes east and rarely takes on a big non-conference challenge. The Cougars' three other non-Pac-10 foes are Nevada, Idaho, and Division I-AA Montana State. Without this game, that schedule would be an embarrassment.

Both sides have had things easy so far, and have not tasted real adversity. Jason Gesser and the gang are publicly downplaying this. Jason called Ohio State "just another team." That didn't come out right. It might be used as bulletin board stuff, but that's not how he meant it. He was trying to talk his guys into not being freaked by a crowd more than three times the size they play for in Pullman.

The Cougars have not allowed a run longer than 18 yards in two games, but they also haven't seen Maurice Clarett yet. Wazzu's offensive line has been hyped this season. Early reviews are so-so. Saturday's the day to make a statement against big Will Smith, if they can.

Will Mr. Corso have the courage to don a Cougar head outside the Shoe? Tune in.

Also on GameDay, Rocket Ismail acts as special correspondent, sent back to Notre Dame in search of the Irish offense. If you see a fast guy making plays against Michigan, unmask him and check his eligibility. Even hurt, Rocket could boost that offense!

Chris Fowler is host of ESPN College GameDay.