Back Judge: Tide rolling to spot of supremacy

Alabama is the nation’s No. 1 team. Forget about the BCS. Anyone who watched the three games featuring college football’s top three teams Saturday knows the Crimson Tide (7-0) are the only squad playing championship-caliber football.

Alabama handled No. 22 South Carolina in a manner befitting a title team, overcoming a dreadful performance by quarterback Greg McElroy (two interceptions and one fumble) to dispatch the Gamecocks 20-6 thanks to Nick Saban’s signature defense and a Heisman Trophy-platform performance by tailback Mark Ingram.

The sophomore back was sensational against South Carolina (5-2), vaulting to the top of the Heisman mix by rushing for a career-high 246 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries on a night when everyone in Bryant-Denny Stadium knew he was Alabama’s only offensive option.

The Tide dominated in spite of McElroy’s struggles and an injury to return dynamo Javier Arenas. Meanwhile, Florida and Texas were decidedly less impressive.

The Longhorns (6-0) remained unbeaten by slogging to a 16-13 victory over Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. If you simply saw the result and not the game, it might be assumed that Texas would have gained a BCS boost by downing the stingy Sooners (3-3) in Dallas.

In reality, reigning Heisman winner Sam Bradford went down on Oklahoma’s ninth play from scrimmage, reinjuring his right shoulder to give counterpart Colt McCoy and the Longhorns an opportunity to post a signature rout in the series against a lame-duck Oklahoma offense.

Instead, McCoy and Co. sputtered all afternoon. The senior slinger severely hurt his Heisman campaign by fumbling twice and completing just 21 of 39 passes for only 127 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

If Bradford plays, Oklahoma wins. Instead, McCoy and Oklahoma backup Landry Jones presided over an eight-turnover, offensive dumb-off with the Longhorns simply surviving. The game’s three defining late possessions ended with two Jones picks sandwiched around a McCoy interception.

Hook ‘em both and refund viewers for three hours of incompetence.

Amazingly, the Gators then totally dwarfed Texas on the dud meter by laying a dino-sized egg at home against hapless Arkansas (3-3). Sure, Florida (6-0) rallied to edge the Razorbacks 23-20 on a last-minute field goal by Caleb Sturgis. But at no point in the proceedings did the Gators look like a ranked squad, much less the country’s No. 1 team and defending national champions.

Saint Timothy of Tebow gave up two of the Gators’ four fumbles and was sacked six times by an Arkansas defense that ranks 97th in the nation in total defense and dead last in the SEC.

“You usually don’t win that kind of game,” said Florida coach Urban Meyer, who was clearly embarrassed by his team’s performance and was uncharacteristically critical of Tebow. “I think somebody held on to the ball too long. Six sacks and four turnovers? I’m going to get him in here and start yelling at him. We’ve got to get that fixed immediately.”

How bad is Arkansas’ defense? Well, the Razorbacks were blasted by Alabama 35-7 three weeks ago and yielded 52 points to sputtering Georgia earlier this season. But without major assists from the officials and Arkansas kicker Alex Tejada (who missed two field goals inside 40 yards in the second half), Florida would have gone down in the Swamp to a team likely to face Mississippi State on Nov. 21 for West Division cellar status.

Game balls and gassers

USC freshman quarterback Matt Barkley continued his double-time development by shredding Notre Dame’s secondary (19-for-29, 380 yards, two touchdowns) in the Trojans’ 34-27 victory over the resurgent Irish in South Bend. But this week’s leather goes to Alabama’s Ingram, who should be the Heisman leader after his third consecutive sterling performance. The 5-foot-10, 215-pound power back leads the SEC and ranks fourth nationally in yards a game (129.3). In his past three starts, the sophomore has punished Kentucky, Mississippi and South Carolina for an average of 186 rushing yards.

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