The lessons learned from this week's MaxwellPundit?

1)    If you're a running back, don't schedule your bye week on the same weekend some guy's going to run for over three hundred yards.
2)    If you're a receiver, they're better be one hundred-plus yards and a score or two every game.
3)    If you're a quarterback, just keep throwing four touchdown passes a game, especially when you're on the road at night.

Interestingly enough, even after great weeks, this round of balloting didn't feature a single vote for Brady Quinn or Erik Ainge, and only one vote for Chris Leak.  Seems a little unfair after the weekends they had, but when you scroll down through the results, it's hard to argue with any of the picks that came above them.

Your voters for this week's MaxwellPundit:

DawgSports
SundayMorningQB
Deadspin
BurntOrangeNation
ConquestChronicles
BruinsNation
TrojanWire
BlueGraySky
RockyTopTalk
UDubDish
The Morning After - SportsTalk Cleveland
Rakes of Mallow

1) Troy Smith, Facilitator of Fatalities, Ohio State

"The numbers aren't -quite- as silly as Wolfe's, but Smith is proving himself to be college football's best passer by a pretty wide margin. He's just lasered in right now, throwing bullets with laser-guided accuracy, making the Buckeye offense an absolute horror for defenses. You can't give Smith an inch, which means you've got to cede ground to the running game. Which just sucks. Smith's the key, and gets our nod as the nation's top quarterback right now." - BON

"Ohio State goes into a hostile Iowa crowd and Smith lights up the Hawkeyes for four touchdowns. Smith, through five games, now has over 1,000 yards passing and 12 TDs. Did we mention that Ohio State is the top team in the country? Well, they are, and Smith is a big reason why. That's why he's still our top guy." - UDubDish

When I first started tabulating votes, I thought Smith might not even be in first, but as it turns out, he's a got a rather commanding lead and more first-place votes than any other candidate combined.  The perfect mix of weapons around him and primetime beatdowns to make sure everyone realizes just how shiny and good he is.  I'd still love to see him run a little bit more, but until he has to, why bother?  As I mentioned before, it's going to be interesting to see how the weak OSU schedule affects his season until the Michigan game - lots of stats for blowing people out, or minimal stats as Tressel runs the ball and gets out of town with a W?  Both seem highly possible.

2) Calvin Johnson, Death From Above, Georgia Tech

"How frustrating must #21 be to defensive coordinators in the ACC? You center your entire gameplan all week around "Make Reggie Ball beat us," which is a fairly logical defensive strategy, and then all Ball has to do is put the pigskin within 5 yards of CJ and there will be a big play. Also, he torched a stingy VT defense for 6 catches, 115 yards and a pair of TD's in Blacksburg." - Morning After...

"Is it fair to say that he torched the Hokies? I think so. With 6 catches for 115 yards and 2 TD's at Blacksburg, Johnson is clearly becoming one of the best receivers in college football." - ConquestChronicles

So now most of you have seen the light of destruction that shines from Atlanta - or other ACC stadiums which will never be the same - every Saturday.  Already has more touchdown catches than he achieved last year and has his team on track to contend for the ACC championship.  Of Reggie Ball's nine completions Saturday in Blacksburg, Calvin brought down six of them for a couple of scores to put the Hokies into a 21-0 hole.  And it's not like he was just walking into the endzone with them:

3)Garrett Wolfe, Zip-A-Dee-Dop-Scat Back With Power, Northern Illinois

"Wolfe's ridiculous, outrageous, ludicrous 353 yards and three TDs this weekend brought his average to mind boggling 236 yards per game.  That's about 75 more yards per game on average than any other running back, including Adrian Peterson.  Okay, so most of Wolfe's stats have come against questionable competition, but I will remind you again: 171 at Ohio State.  Wolfe's on pace to break the single-season rushing record set by Barry Sanders in 1988." - RockyTopTalk

"Absolutely no way to knock our front runner down a notch after a line like that. Those are video game numbers, kids, and before I hear any "Yeah but it was Ball State" crowing, let me remind you that Indiana and Purdue combined for only 264 yards rushing against the Cardinals. And thatw was on 57 carries. There isn't a better story in college football right now. And we'll be damned if we won't be among the loudest cheerleaders for the little man. Once again: Go, Garrett, Go!" - BON

"Everybody's scared off by the "Northern Illinois" thing, and the fact his last four games have been against Ohio, Buffalo, Indiana State and Ball State. But he's doing what he's supposed to be doing against those cupcakes: taking huge chunks at will, 9.3 yards at a time, at a pace that will take him well over 2,800 yards in 12 games. In fact, if he stays healthy on his current pace and Northern Illinois plays for the MAC championship and in a bowl game, where stats count these days, Garrett Wolfe will easily eclipse 3,000 yards rushing in one season. That cannot be denied. If he has the same kind of game he had at Ohio State when NIU is at Iowa later this month, the Northern Illinois thing shouldn't matter." - SMQ

The little fella from the little school is starting to get some big-time love, including some national attention from the World Wide Leader.  A lot of mainstream Heisman voters dismiss Wolfe for the competition he's going against, but we here at MaxwellPundit realize that 200+ yards a game is 200+ yards a game.  If he combines for four hundred against Ohio State and Iowa, what's your argument then?

4)Adrian Peterson, Rested and Waiting for Longhorn Tacklers, Oklahoma

"Had a week off to get ready for this week's Red River Showdown with Texas, where he could cement his legacy (and place atop our ratings) with a big day against the 'Horns." - TrojanWire

"It wasn't entirely fair of me to drop the Sooner tailback a spot after an open date, but, hey, out of sight, out of mind. His numbers remain unchanged and 117 carries for 643 yards and seven T.D.s remain impressive, but the intervening efforts of his competitors allowed them to inch up a bit. If Peterson has a good day against Texas, though, he'll rocket back up to the top." - DawgSports

Adrian fell on everyone's ballot because of his bye week, although almost everyone included the caveat of "He'll be right back up if it's a great game against Texas".  We all remember how excellent you've been, AP, and absence generally makes the heart grow fonder if it wasn't for 353 yards.  You get half of that against Mack Brown and I'd imagine a lot of people are going to be moving you back up.  

5) Mario Manningham, Key Outside Component of Wolverine Death Machine, Michigan

"Probably my favorite player (besides the guys on our roster of course) of this college football season. Manningham had a huge night blistering yet another Big-10 defense (Minnesota) for 131 yds (26.2 per catch) and a TD. The kid is only a sophomore and is on pace for a 1000 yards, 17 TD season.  Michigan v. OSU tilt could shape us as Maxwell award showdown between Troy v. Mario." - BruinsNation

"It's so, so difficult to put up great numbers as a wide receivers on a consistent basis, in large part because your performance is directly tied into the play- and decision-making of others. Manningham isn't slowing down a bit, though, and enjoys another week of crippling deep ball catches. His outburst is the #1 reason why you have to take Michigan seriously as a contender, offensively speaking. It changes the way defenses have to play Hart and the rest of the gang." - BON

Wisconsin was probably the best defense Manningham's faced this year, and he made them look silly.  Minnesota and ND were clearly overmatched, and I can only imagine the pain The New Math has in store for John L. "Slappy" Smith and the Spartans Saturday.  He needs to curb the development of Adrian Arrington, who took a couple of touchdown grabs away from him Saturday night, if he wants to be high enough on the list to make a run at the Buckeyes defense at the end of the season.  Continued national exposure will only help his campaign to supplant CJ as the top wide receiver on this list.

Final Balloting