The college football weekend saw a slew of exciting games and some dominant performances from the top teams, including big wins by Alabama, Kansas State and Florida.
Notre Dame was able to squeak by BYU with a victory, while LSU stayed alive in the SEC with a win over Texas A&M. Some teams suffered big losses on the roster sheet, including for No. 14 Florida State, and Oklahoma State.
The biggest injury on Saturday was for Florida State, who lost leading rusher Chris Thompson for the season after suffering a torn ACL in the 33-20 victory by the Seminoles over Miami.
"He's what's right about college football," Fisher said to ESPN.com, "but this game takes no prisoners."
Thompson has rushed for 47 yards on seven carries and added two catches for 47 yards in the game before landing awkwardly on his knee in the second quarter. According to ESPN.com, "He was responsible for 94 of Florida State's 112 yards at the time."
The running back has dealt with injuries in the past, but had been relatively healthy this season. Last year he missed eight games after breaking his back and was leading the tea, in rushing this season before going down.
"It's a very big blow to us because of what he is to our team," Fisher said. "But we've got two very good guys behind him."
Thompson has 687 yards rushing this year through seven games, including a season-high 197 on Sept. 15 against Wake Forest. According to ESPN, he "was on pace to become the first 1,000-yard back since 1996 for the Seminoles."
The team is ranked No. 12 in the BCS, but will have a hard time climbing the polls without a more dominant rushing game.
Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller suffered a scary injury on Saturday against Purdue, but will not be forced to miss any time after getting cleared to practice on Monday.
Miller was hit hard after a 37-yard run and was brought to a local hospital for examinations. He passed all concussion tests and is only suffering from a sore neck.
"Braxton Miller, I went over to see him at the hospital, and all the test results came out negative, which is positive," Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer said to ESPN.com. "We expect him to practice tomorrow [Tuesday]."
The sophomore quarterback has been a revelation for the Buckeyes, throwing over 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. He has proven to be a dual purpose threat, rushing for 959 yards on 141 attempts.
Oklahoma State has been solid all season, going 4-2 so far in a tough Big-12 conference.
The rest of the season will be a challenge for the Cowboys, who will now have to play without their starting quarterback J.W. Walsh after he suffered a season ending injury in Saturday's 31-10 win over Iowa State.
The sophomore signal caller has been having an excellent season for Oklahoma State, throwing for 1,467 yards and 10 touchdowns with only three interceptions. Walsh hurt his knee early in the game in Saturday, but did not leave or complain about it until after the context was over with.
"He finished the game. He ran, made throws. I'm speaking a little bit out of turn because it wasn't an injury that progressively got worse. It just happened and then he was able to play with the pain," Coach Mike Gundy said.
Walsh passed for a career-high 415 yards and also rushed for 46 in the game. He passed for one touchdown and ran for another.
"I can only say that it was a pretty amazing performance, " said Gundy. I would hate to use that term for a guy or a player on my team that's only a freshman, but for him to finish the game the way he did and run the football and never say a word was really a terrific performance."
The Cowboys have dealt with a slew of injuries this season, including to tight end Justin Horton and receiver Tracy Moore.
"I just hate it for them because coaches, this is our life and we understand and we deal with these situations. But it just tears you up inside when you have to see a young man working their tail off get put in those situations," Gundy said.
