Letter perfect: halfway through, the 2004 season has it all—a packed Heisman race, several new powerhouse teams and a potentially explosive situation at the top of the BCS poll

Reggie Bush--when he touches the ball for USC, you hold your breath.

Sure, FSU's Wyatt Sexton looks like you, lanky, Joe Average quarterback, but understand this: At least he's not Chris Rix. And for the Seminoles, that could mean a 10-game winning streak and finding a way to the Orange Bowl.

Who wants a piece of Texas A&M? Oklahoma travels to College Station on November 6 to take on the surging Aggies, a game that could end the Sooners' Big 12 and national championship hopes. The Aggies are a lock for a bowl--continuing coach Dennis Franchlone's turnaround pattern of his teams reaching a bowl game in his second season.

U better believe Urban Meyer's Utah team will be unbeaten come December, and U better believe the Utes would win the Big East or the Big 12 North Division or maybe, just maybe, the SEC West. Meyer is a young Nick Saban: a masterful motivator and game planner who gets the most out of his players.

OK, so Virginia tanked against Florida State. But the Cavaliers won't stumble against Miami in Charlottesville and will eliminate the Cardiac Canes from the Orange Bowl race.

Washington coach Keith Gilbertson will be the first to lose his job this season. Look, it's not Gilby's fault. He was put in an untenable situation when former Washington athletic director Barbara Hedges tried to save her tail with a quick-fix hire after panicking and firing Rick Neuheisel. Look for new athletic director Todd Turner to go hard after Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, a longtime UW assistant with ties to Seattle. Others on the hot seat and their potential replacements: Ron Zook, Florida / Urban Meyer, Utah John Bunting, North Carolina / Neuheisel Ben Turner, Illinois / Randy Edsall, Connecticut Gary Crowton, BYU / Bronco Mendenhall, BYU

Xavier Adibi, Virginia Tech's athletic, dynamic freshman linebacker, is a reason to watch the HoMes once he returns from a torn biceps in late October or early November. He played just one half against USC in the season opener but clearly was the best defensive player on the field that night.

Y? Because we haven't given up on Georgia, our preseason pick to win it all. USC will be the only unbeaten team at the end of the regular season, and the BCS will choose between numerous one-loss teams to fill the other Orange Bowl slot. If Georgia wins out and then wins the SEC--that means Tennessee will lose one more league game--the Bulldogs likely will have two wins against Auburn and a shiny trophy from the SEC, the nation's best conference. That should be enough, even for the computer geeks.

Ron Zook in the Joe Don Baker classic, Walking Tall--coming to a theater near you. Cut to Scene 1, outside of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity in Gainesville, where Zook is huddled with a group of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds yelling at, well, 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds.

Zook, screaming at those mean frat boys: "I'm not going to let you bring this (expletive) program down!"

Frat boy: "You beat us to it."

And there's nothing confusing about that.