Call it put-up-or-shut-up weekend among the unbeatens in college football.
Call it conference turf wars at the highest level.
Call it case closed (at least temporarily) for Wisconsin, Alabama, and Clemson.
All three teams entered Saturday’s conference games looking for respect.
Unbeaten Wisconsin hosted the first Big Ten Conference game of the new kid on the block, Nebraska, which also was unbeaten.
The Badgers had climbed to the No. 7 ranking with wins in their first four games as new quarterback Russell Wilson turned himself from a former North Carolina State QB/baseball player into a Heisman Trophy contender - against such powers as UNLV (51-17), Oregon State (35-0), Northern Illinois (49-7), and South Dakota (59-10).
But Saturday, everyone said, recess was over. Coming to Madison was eighth-ranked Nebraska. Let’s see how good Wisconsin would be against a legitimate opponent.
Wisconsin 48, Nebraska 17.
Hmmm. After Nebraska took a 14-7 lead in the first half, Wilson and the Badgers said enough was enough and finished in a rout.
Next stop for the Badgers? Pasadena and the Rose Bowl? New Orleans and the Bowl Championship Series title game?
“There was a lot of hype going into this game,’’ Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema said. “That’s why I kind of challenged our players to embrace it all week. I knew if we went out and played well and did what we do, we’d get a lot more attention.’’
All Wilson did was throw for 255 yards and a pair of TDs and run for another score, and running back Montee Ball rushed for 151 yards and four TDs.
A thousand miles to the Southeast was the showdown between unbeaten Alabama (not a surprise) and unbeaten Florida (a mild surprise).
New Florida offensive coordinator Charlie Weis was ready to match wits with Alabama coach Nick Saban, who was one of the mentors of first-year Gators coach Will Muschamp.
Almost everyone conceded Alabama was better than Florida. The equalizers were the offensive genius of Weis and the speed of the Gators.
Weis had predicted he would use all of his plays, and on the game’s first play threw the kitchen sink into the mix as Florida took a 7-0 lead on a 65-yard pass from John Brantley to Andre Debose.
But by the half, Alabama had made the adjustments. Brantley was out of the game with a leg injury, and Alabama held a 24-10 lead.
Alabama 38, Florida 10.
“We showed the maturity to overcome the adversity we created for ourselves,’’ Saban said. “I liked our resiliency. This is about as good as it gets.’’
Florida clearly has some work ahead of it, starting next week when it must travel to Baton Rouge for a meeting with No. 1 Louisiana State.