Cam Newton

Cam Newton, QB, Auburn Buzz: Newton guided the Tigers to one of the most impressive offensive displays in recent memory in the Southeastern Conference. The junior college transfer could earn a spot as a Heisman Trophy finalist with a strong performance against unbeaten LSU. Up next: vs. LSU, Saturday. LaMichael James, RB, Oregon Buzz: With Oregon's rise to No. 1 this week, the sophomore running back will see more national attention from the East Coast voters.

Remember that new quarterback rating stat ESPN made up? How does it apply to Ravens QB Joe Flacco? Seven weeks into the 2011 season, the fourth-year quarterback ranks 21st in the league in Total Quarterback Rating . QBR is a confusing stat that measures the quality of quarterback play that ESPN invented because the NFL's traditional passer rating system was in itself a confusing stat measuring the quality of quarterback play. QBR is even more confusing than that last sentence.

Blame it on the Tigers Matt Murschel Orlando Sentinel The Auburn football program should be first on the NCAA Infractions Committee's to-do list, although it's like trying to decide which is worse: Milli or Vanilli. History is against the Tigers. Auburn has been near the top of the list of schools with major NCAA infractions since the early 1950s. The recent allegations by former Auburn players that they were paid to play just brings the program back into the spotlight.

Bear, if you're up there, "Mama's calling" again. When you coached at Kentucky in the 1940s and quarterback George Blanda first caught glimpse of you, he said, "This must be what God looks like. " It's time to warble another hymn. This is about Alabama and Auburn. It's about Friday, the 75th Iron Bowl, football's top rivalry in years when the Michigan-Ohio State winner likely determines whether Wisconsin or Michigan State goes to the Rose Bowl. Bear, college football needs Alabama to beat Auburn.

Mike Shanahan's switch from Rex Grossman to former Ravens backup John Beck as starting quarterback couldn't ignite the Washington Redskins, who suffered another series of critical injuries to their starters Sunday as they lost, 33-20, to the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. A week after Grossman got the hook during a loss to the struggling Philadelphia Eagles, Beck took over — making his first start since December 2007 — but he and his increasingly battered team were defeated, 33-20, by a one-win team for a second consecutive week.

Oregon sitting on top never did quite sit right, but we can report order has been fully and faithfully restored. Someone down at the sanity office got wind before it was too late and priority-rushed Auburn to the fore, while simultaneously returning the Southeastern Conference Network to regularly scheduled deprogramming. Whew, that was close. Only days ago, the Ducks were college football's jet-set juggernauts and Auburn was the team trailing Georgia 21-7. The Pacific-10, for weeks, was rated as the nation's top conference.

Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with some reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday -- that way I'll have an excuse to do the same at the start of mine. Running it back: The Ravens and coach John Harbaugh agreed to a contract extension on Monday. ... When spring training opened Monday, Buck Showalter started to mold the Orioles into his team. ... Koji Uehara and Kevin Gregg are eager to compete with each other for the closer spot.

Rest of the season Dan Pompei Chicago Tribune One of the reasons it took a while for Broncos coach John Fox to listen to the Tebow chants is it will be difficult to turn back to Kyle Orton now. Barring injury, it makes sense for the team to stick with Tim Tebow the rest of the way. The Broncos are 1-4 and going nowhere anyway. What they need to do is find out if Tebow can play, and the only way to do that is to give him an extended look. It might mean living with some rough performances.

Love him or loathe him, Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow was the biggest story on a pretty ugly Sunday of NFL football as he engineered a 15-point comeback in the closing minutes to overtake the Dolphins, 18-15. Tebow had completed just four of his 14 pass attempts for 40 yards as Denver trailed, 15-0, with just over five minutes remaining in the game. With every Tebow pass that bounced off the Miami grass, hundreds of Tweets were chirped out into the blogosphere about how he was pretty much the worst quarterback in NFL history.

Reggie Bush ruined it for everybody — at least maybe for Cam Newton. Bush smiled a lot, seemed like a nice guy and was, in 2005, the best player in college football outside of Vince Young's inner circle. Who, really, can you trust in a cesspool? Bush turned out to be a fraud — except between the lines — and ended up returning his Heisman Trophy while never quite apologizing for putting the school that made him famous on probation. Bush's taint lingered for years, the purgatory ending in June with the NCAA's declaration of major violations against USC, which was penalized with scholarship reductions, a bowl ban and more.