Week 7 Report Card: Kiffin schools his former employer to earn high marks

While Saturday's slate wasn't the best of the season thus far, it still sent Alabama into a hostile Neyland Stadium, featured Ohio State-Wisconsin in a massive Big Ten showdown, and included a huge day for a USC duo.

Here are the grades from an exciting Week 7 on the college football schedule.

A

Lane Kiffin's offensive game plan

The Lane Kiffin-Tennessee breakup after the 2009 season was about as ugly as they get in college football, and the Alabama offensive coordinator must have taken great satisfaction in smashing the Volunteers in Knoxville on Saturday. It wasn't just the 49-10 final scoreline, it was the brilliant offensive game plan Kiffin created to gash Butch Jones' defense with a zone-read attack. In games against his former employers Tennessee and USC this season, Kiffin is 2-0 with a total score of 101-16. If revenge is a dish best served cold, consider Saturday a sub-zero beatdown.

Florida's and West Virginia's defense

Drew Lock entered Saturday's game against Florida as one of the nation's most prolific passers. After three hours in the Swamp, it's likely the Missouri quarterback won't want to run into the Gators' secondary again any time soon. Florida returned two interceptions for touchdowns and held Lock to just four completions on 18 attempts and 39 yards all game. That is not a typo. Florida's offense continued to sputter, but with a defense like that, the Gators flew to the 40-point plateau with no issues.

Texas Tech had scored 50-plus points in nine of its last 10 games at home, which led oddsmakers to put the game total at 83 when West Virginia came to Lubbock on Saturday. Here's hoping you took the under. The Mountaineers absolutely shut down the high-powered Red Raiders attack, holding them to just 17 points while piling up 650 yards of total offense on their own. The rest of the Big 12 looks to be a dumpster fire, but the Mountaineers appear willing to carry the beleaguered conference in 2016.

B

Ohio State's road win in Madison

It's a testament to Urban Meyer's impressive run at No. 2 Ohio State that a road win over a fellow top 10 opponent only earns the Buckeyes a B. Meyer has now been in charge for 60 games, and emerged victorious in all but four of those contests. The Buckeyes looked vulnerable in the cauldron of Madison on Saturday, but Wisconsin couldn't close them out in an overtime thriller. J.T. Barrett continues to show he should be at the Heisman ceremony in New York, but Corey Clement rushing for 164 yards will keep the defensive coaching staff up at night with a Michigan date looming at the end of the season.

Sam Darnold/JuJu Smith-Schuster

USC appears to have found its next great quarterback in redshirt freshman Sam Darnold, and it certainly doesn't hurt having JuJu Smith-Schuster catching his passes. Darnold threw for 235 yards and five touchdowns against Arizona on Saturday, hitting the dynamic receiver for 132 of those yards and three scores. The Wildcats have the nation's 100th-ranked defense, so we can't move the USC duo higher than a B grade, but expect the gaudy numbers to continue. The Trojans' next two games are against 123rd and 125th-ranked defenses Cal and Oregon.

C

Rutgers scored ... finally

Good news: Rutgers finally scored a touchdown Saturday against Illinois, ending an 11-quarter scoreless drought.

Bad news: They lost 24-7 and things like this are still happening.

D

UCLA's backward punt

Here's a quick word problem to solve. UCLA has the ball at its own 43-yard-line, and decides to punt it away. No Washington State player touches the ball throughout the play, and the kick gets away without being contested, but the Cougars gain a yard - and the ball - on the play. How is this possible?

Answer: The punt travels a total of minus-1 yards, just as the Bruins experienced Saturday night in Pullman,

F

Michigan State

Nick Saban didn't just beat his former employer in last year's College Football Playoff - he apparently ripped out the soul of Michigan State's entire football program. Entering the Cotton Bowl last season, the Spartans had won 12 of their last 13 games. Since kickoff of that contest, they've gone 2-5, getting outscored by a combined 218-145. Mark Dantonio's bunch has now lost four straight, including its last three at home, and Saturday, the Spartans allowed Northwestern to score 54 points. Yes, the nation's 82nd-ranked offense hung 54 on the "vaunted" Spartan defense. Might want to hide any young children when Michigan State faces Michigan and Ohio State later this year.