1) Troy Smith

We all thought Texas was pretty damn good, and we're all pretty sure they're going to win the Big XII and end up in a BCS Bowl, barring some sort of dramatic meltdown by the coaching staff or the McCoy/Snead helmsman position.  Relying on that defense, running game and depth will do you well in most games.

Most games do not involve Troy Smith calmly steering a Buckeyes offense through the Austin night, refusing to even show off his legs in the town where Vince Young had so many spirited scrambles over the last few seasons.  Almost in a "I told you I was pocket passer" sort of way, Smith was fantastic, finding Ginn and Gonzalez and simply using the threat of that amazing speed to keep the Longhorns defense on their heels.  Obviously, if there isn't a goal line fumble in a scoreless game and if certain Texas players don't pass out with drugs and firearms on their possession, then this thing could go differently, but I can't imagine Smith allowing his team to lose this game under any circumstance.  Smith is now my Maxwell favorite, the Buckeyes one of the two teams I expect to end up in Glendale at the end of the season.

(This also really must make Buckeye fans burn about the possibilities of last year if Zwick hadn't seen the field against Texas in Columbus.  Considering the Vince Young Factor, I wouldn't say the Buckeyes win that game, but goodness, you have to consider.)

2) Calvin Johnson

How more people didn't vote for Johnson after Week One boggles my mind.  Heaps of expectations and a barely functional quarterback couldn't keep him from lighting afire a Notre Dame secondary that doesn't seem to be quite as bad as most would have you believe.  He goes out against Samford and only record four catches for 26 yards, but that's all his team needed in a romp.  And, oh by the way, two of those catches were four short touchdown passes because he's basically indefensible on fade routes.  Should Calvin shrink under the light of brighter ACC or Bulldog stages, I'll drop him from my list, but until then, talent plus results should equal trophies of some sort.

3) Tom Zbikowski

Due to my role as curator of this institution of Maxwell Pundit, I'm privy to all the votes of other great college football minds rather early on in the voting process.  Brady Quinn's game on Saturday made a lot of people believers, but one of those people is not me.  I think Brady played great, but I know he's capable of perfection, and that's what I'm expecting.  Also, I don't think Penn State's defense was that good - see: incredibly overrated by the Nittany Lion talking heads all offseason - so much like the promise of bumping Notre Dame to the top of the BlogPoll should they complete September unblemished, three more great games from Brady Quinn and he shall occupy a spot alongside the likes of Troy and Calvin.

But the name I want to praise today is the unquestioned leader of a defense that has yielded six legitimate points in the last seven quarters of play.  Granted, Morelli and Ball might not exactly be Young and Leinart, but the Irish defense is most definitely improved, and no one signifies the attitude change infused by Charlie Weis onto this program better than Zibby.  The Mohawk.  The golden gloves.  The hard hits.  The ballsy punt returns.    He only has fifteen tackles, two for loss, on the season, but nearly all of those tackles are of the hard-hitting, bone-jarring, "ooing"-variety that brings a smile to a football fan's face.  On Saturday, he jarred loose a fumble from Tony Hunt that stunted one PSU drive early and then recovered another for a touchdown that blew the game open early in the third quarter.  His ability to stop the run cannot be extolled enough for a team that is still finding its identity at linebacker.  So Tommy Z goes, so the defense goes; and so the defense goes, so Notre Dame goes.

(Chinedum Ndukwe, Zbikowski's partner in ball-hawking, run-stopping safety crime, could also have the majority of the same things said about him, but I won't turn too homerific in this space.)

4) Steve Slaton

As I said before, Slaton will need to show dominance over legitimate BCS teams, but when one runs up over a hundred yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, that's making the most of a blowout win.  Spotlight game for Slaton Thursday night as the Mountaineers play Maryland on their first of many ESPN weeknight primetime contests, as all the country - including MaxwellPundit voters- will be tuning in to see if he if his dominance spreads over crappy ACC opponents before the true tests against Louisville and Pitt.

5) Adrian Peterson

A truer PAC-10 test comes this weekend when Peterson must travel to Autzen and take on the bedazzled Oregon Ducks, but he again paced his team in what shouldn't have been a close game against the Washington Huskies.  If I were to guess if Oklahoma would have won either of their first games without Peterson, I'd lean towards "no", unless his backup was as capable of finishing off the Blazers and Huskies when it counted most.  Much like everyone else on this list with the exception of Troy Smith, Peterson's biggest tests are yet to come, but for now, he rounds out the top five.