Here are five things we know at the quarter pole of the college football season:

1. Carthage College is a D-3 college version of the New Orleans Saints. Quarterback Evan Jones guided the Red Men to their third straight victory, earning his second consecutive CCIW Player of the Week honors. Carthage is averaging 593 all-purpose yards per game.

Much like the Saints, it’s all about protecting the ball and getting enough stops for the Red Men. So far, so good. Carthage is plus-3 in turnovers and holding opponents to 33 percent conversions on third down.

2. Wisconsin is going to be pretty good. The Badgers have found a QB in Scott Tolzien who has enough command of the offense to carry his crew until a young offensive line gels enough to turn RBs John Clay and Zach Brown loose.

The defense has made its share of mistakes in the early going, but has been much better on third down, a bugaboo last season. Don’t be surprised if Bucky is playing on Jan. 1.

3. The Big Ten has no national title contender. With Ohio State and Penn State losing early, no other Big Ten squad started high enough in the polls to reach the BCS pinnacle.

4. Expect the unexpected. Oklahoma loses to BYU, who gets crushed at home by Florida State, who in turn loses at home to South Florida. I smell a Syracuse upset of South Florida Saturday at the Carrier Dome.

5. Injuries change everything. Oklahoma and USC fell from the unbeaten ranks largely because of injuries. Florida will meet the same fate too if Tim Tebow can’t shake off the lingering effects of his first concussion.

Fantasy Flash

* Must start: Houston Texans offensive skill players. The Oakland defense has given up an average of 400 yards the last two weeks against the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs — not exactly offensive juggernauts. WR Andre Johnson and QB Matt Schaub are always a must start, but this is the week to dust off WR Kevin Walter, TE Owen Daniels and RB Steve Slaton if they’ve been spending time on your bench.

* Bust: Pierre Thomas. The Saints running back returned from injury with a huge second half against the Bills. New Orleans is back home (read: more passing) and the Jets have been tough to run on all season.

* Sleeper: Matthew Stafford. Despite a more aggressive approach, the Bears secondary is still a weak spot. The rookie Lions QB should have ample opportunity to turn short passes to Calvin Johnson and Co. into long gains.

Book it

The Packers made good on my cherry-picking prediction to push my record to 24-21. This week, give me the Badgers, a 2½-point underdog, to win at Minnesota.

Mike Larsen can be reached at