Last Saturday, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert held the first-ever “Rally to Restore Sanity/or Fear” on Washington D.C.’s National Mall. Billed as “a rally for those who have been too busy to go to rallies,” the demonstration attracted hundreds of thousands of Americans from all over the country. Many more viewers tuned in online and on television.

Although unable to attend in person, this columnist went online to watch the rally. Jon Stewart pointed out early on that, “it does not matter what we say or do today. It matters what is reported about what we said and did today.” Hopefully I can do it justice.

On the eve of a polarizing Election Day, it was inspiring to watch the dueling comedic pundits promote reasonableness in the news and the country as a whole. Jon Stewart stayed true to what he posited as his “motto” leading up to the event, “Take it down a notch, America,” while Colbert, appearing in character, provided a humorous counterweight to Stewart’s message.

Colbert awarded honorary “Medals of Fear” to news stations who refused to cover the event for fear of appearing politically biased, including ABC, CBS and “especially NPR.” The joke was in fact on these stations, as the rally turned out to be more musical than it was political. The Medal of Fear was accepted, on behalf of the news stations by a 7-year-old girl, who Colbert made a point of saying is far more courageous than NPR. Medals of Fear were also awarded to “Anderson Cooper’s tight black t-shirt” and Mark Zuckerberg. Public figures and media outlets were depicted as the source of unnecessary angst in America, which needs to be countered by citizens.

During his keynote address, Jon Stewart reminded the crowd that all Tea Partiers are not racists, all Muslims are not terrorists and that, “if everything is amplified, nothing can be heard.” America has not had a traditionally radical political atmosphere, and in today’s polarizing world it is important to remember that we are all still working towards the same goals, and that these goals cannot be achieved without compromise.

The pair also reminded their audience to retain sanity in their own daily lives. Jon Stewart awarded “Medals of Reasonableness” to people such as Armando Galarraga, who was robbed of a perfect game last baseball season by a bad call but did not get angry, instead shaking the umpire’s hand and explaining that “nobody is perfect.” These awards demonstrated that regular Americans can promote sanity in simple ways on a day to day basis.

This is the message that we can most directly apply to our lives here at Vanderbilt. Whether Arkansas is pounding our Commodores in football, a chemistry test is taking place this Thursday or the tornado siren is whirring, we can all benefit by remembering Jon Stewart’s reasonable words, “we live now in hard times, not end times,” and retaining perspective on our lives and surroundings. Perhaps then we will be a little bit closer to sanity, for, after all, there is no substitute for sanity.

You haven’t heard it in more than a decade, so say it once, say it twice, say it as many times as it takes to resonate: Baylor football beat Texas.

Early in Saturday’s game, the No. 25/24 ranked Bears were not the well-oiled machine fans have come to expect. But Jay Finley’s 116 rush yards and one touchdown and Robert Griffin’s 219 yards and two touchdowns through the air supplemented a stingy defense for the first Baylor win in Austin since 1991.

“We have been going down to the wire at Texas Tech, Colorado and Kansas State, and since we have been going down to the wire, we are used to being in that situation,” coach Art Briles said.

“Our guys just think that something good is going to happen and [they] are believing that.”

The momentum seemed to change late in the third quarter, just after the Longhorns failed to expand their 19-10 lead and missed a 48-yard field goal. Finley took the Bears’ first play of the ensuing drive up the middle, dashing 69 yards for a score that was part of 20 unanswered Baylor points.

Texas’ subsequent drive lasted two plays, as Tim Atchison jarred a pass loose from an intended receiver and Antonio Johnson snatched it out of the air.

Griffin turned the resulting possession into a touchdown when he lunged one yard past the goal line. Baylor took a 23-19 lead following a missed two-point conversion.

Three plays before the touchdown, Briles’ team faced a fourth-and-1 from the 2-yard line. Instead of a field goal, Briles was thinking touchdown all the way.

“When you are on the road, if you can do something to swing the momentum, you got to take a shot at it. You got to have faith in your guys to do it,” Briles said.

The Baylor defense forced a punt, and the offense turned the opportunity into points. It converted two third downs on the next drive, the second of which was a 30-yard post pass to Kendall Wright for a touchdown and 30-19 lead.

The Longhorns managed a field goal but fumbled on their final drive.

After joining his teammates in a loud and joyous locker room celebration, Griffin admitted he started slowly.

“I just wasn’t on today,” Griffin said.”On the drives that we put up points, I was on enough to help us.”

Texas got on the scoreboard first after Griffin mishandled a shotgun snap on Baylor’s game-opening drive. The Longhorns reached the Bears’ 9-yard line and settled for a field goal.

Three more times before halftime, the Baylor defenders held Texas to field goals as the Baylor offense struggled to find its rhythm. Atchison said that after the first stand, his defense could feel confidence and momentum building.

“Once we got the few stops in the redzone we knew that we had control of their offense. We were confident in that and it was just a matter of finishing the game,” Atchison said.

Griffin kept his team in the game with an equalizing touchdown before the half. He beat a Longhorn blitz by finding Terrance Williams over the middle, and Williams evaded a tackler for a 59-yard touchdown.

“Before I threw that pass to T-Dub, I missed a hot [route]. It was third and ten and I was looking for the deep ball and I got sacked. Next time I threw the hot [route] and he ran forever,” Griffin said.

The score gave Baylor a short-lived 10-9 advantage before Texas ended the half with its fourth field goal of the game.

The win keeps the Bears atop the Big 12 South. Looking ahead, the Bears say the sky is the limit.

“We’re number one right now, so that’s all I’m saying. Get ready,” Finley said.

The Nevada Wolf Pack may have defeated Utah State 56-42, but the mood in the locker room wasn’t filled with happiness. After playing one of its worst halves defensively of the season, there was little cause for celebration for the team.

“It was very quiet,” safety Doyle Miller said. “That wasn’t a game we can play and win a championship. Obviously it was a win, but defensively we still have a lot of things we can make.”

In the first half, the defense played almost flawlessly, shutting out the Aggies as the Wolf Pack built a 35-0 lead heading into the half.

Nevada’s defense held Utah State to 98 yards of  total offense as the Aggies went 0-for-6 on third down conversions. The Wolf Pack offense went 4-for-4 in red zone scoring chances as Kaepernick had 125 pass yards and 102 rush yards at the break.

Backup quarterback Tyler Lantrip entered the game in the first quarter, scoring one rushing touchdown as it appeared Nevada would run away with the game, taking a 35-0 lead in to the break.

“Offensively, I thought it was a nice rebound from the way the team played last game against Hawaii,” head coach Chris Ault said.

The offense gained 339 yards of total offense and Kaepernick, Lantrip and running backs Lampford Mark and Mike Ball each recording a rushing touchdown. Ball also had a receiving touchdown in the first half.

For the defense, however, it was a tale of two halves.

After shutting down Utah State’s offense in the first half, the second half turned into a scoring clinic as the teams combined for five touchdowns in the third quarter. The Aggies had 244 yards of total offense in the third quarter as Utah State had six pass plays go for at least 15 yards.

Utah State scored on its first four possessions of the second half as the Aggies pulled to within 49-2It8 with 11:01 to go in the game.

The Aggies attempted an onside kick, but the kick went out-of-bounds as Nevada took over in Aggies territory. Nevada failed to take advantage of its field position, turning the ball over on downs to Utah State with 7:04 remaining.

On Utah State’s first play, receiver Xavier Martin went down hard around mid field. Martin didn’t move for several minutes but was able to be helped off the field.

The teams traded touchdowns as the two teams combined for 63 second half points.

The Aggies had 315 passing yards in the second half as Utah State quarterback Diondre Borel threw for two touchdowns and ran for one.

“Defensively speaking, I can’t think of another another time in my career that I’ve seen a group play a worse half of football,” Ault said.

The Aggies offense scored three touchdowns in both the third and fourth quarters as Nevada saw its 35-point lead reduced to 14.

It was a stark contrast to the way the defense played in the first half, when Utah State was held to seven first downs.

“(In the first half) we were playing as a team as a defense,” linebacker Kevin Grimes said. “We were making the plays we were supposed to and executing like we were supposed to.”

The second half, Utah State had 20 first downs and went a perfect 6-for-6 on third down conversions.

“If anything it was a wake up call,” Grimes said. “We, obviously, are not where we are supposed to be. We have to practice harder than we ever practiced before and prep better than we ever prepped before.”

With the victory the Wolf Pack improved to 7-1 on the season and 2-1 in Western Athletic Conference play. Nevada is now bowl eligible.

The Wolf Pack begins a two-game road trip at Idaho Nov. 6.

News and notes:

Running back Mike Ball injured his leg during a kick return in the third quarter. He did not return to the game.

The Wolf Pack scored more than 49 points for the fifth time this season and has scored at least 21 points in each of its eight games.

USC knew what was coming.

The Trojans studied the Oregon up-tempo, dynamic, spread offense for two weeks. They still couldn’t stop the Ducks.

No. 1 Oregon (8-0, 5-0 Pac-10) ended the game scoring 24 unanswered points to defeat the Trojans 53-32. The Ducks capitalized on three turnovers from a Trojan offense that couldn’t find a rhythm throughout the game.

“We did a terrible job on third down and gave the ball back way too many times,” USC coach Lane Kiffin said. “I think our defense at times played well enough to win but I thought our offense was terrible today, and obviously that starts with myself.”

The Trojans (5-3, 2-3) started the second half on a 14-0 run as junior defensive end Jurrell Casey’s interception and senior wide receiver Ronald Johnson’s 55-yard punt return set USC up for two quick scores. Yet, following explosive games against Cal and Stanford, the USC offense stalled after taking a 32-29 lead in the third quarter, and sophomore quarterback Matt Barkley never looked entirely comfortable in the pocket.

“We were in a rhythm and for whatever reason, went back out of it, then back in it,” Barkley said. “It wasn’t consistent. We needed four quarters of solid football and it seems like only the first quarter and the start of the third quarter where we were rocking and the stadium was in it. Finishing was what we didn’t do at the end of the first half and end of the second half and you can’t win when you don’t do that.”

Despite the 21-point end margin, USC was still in the game in the fourth quarter. The Trojans had the ball on the Ducks’ 36 yard line and were driving for a touchdown that would’ve gotten them within four points. The drive ended when a shotgun pitch to senior fullback Stanley Havili went for a loss of four yards on third and five and the subsequent fourth down pass completion came up short.

Those two plays after a strong drive personified the Jekyll and Hyde game the Trojans offense played.

“We were in the four down range, we were hoping to run and get some yards and unfortunately we lost three or four yards,” Kiffin said. “Obviously it wasn’t a very good call under field pressure.”

As USC’s offense got caught in a ditch, Oregon’s offense continued to demonstrate the speed that’s been its trademark this year. Multiple Trojan defensive players said that fatigue wasn’t a big issue due to the raised conditioning workouts in the past two weeks, but it was missed assignments and players not sticking in their positions that did them in.

“They didn’t run a lot of plays, they just ran the same plays to perfection and we had too many breakdowns as a defense,” senior cornerback Shareece Wright said. “There’s times when we didn’t break down and they didn’t have a chance against us, and times we did and they capitalized on it.”

Even if Oregon ran only a few plays with variations, it worked. Oregon running back LaMichael James ran 36 times for 249 yards and three touchdowns, while quarterback Darron Thomas had a better day than his counterpart Barkley, going 19-for-32 for 288 yards and four touchdowns.

“I thought it had the feeling like we couldn’t even breathe out there,” Kiffin said. “It was so fast we couldn’t even get lined up. If you’re going to give them that many chances and fail that many times on offense, [James and Thomas] are two great players that had career days today.”

Oregon took advantage of blown coverage multiple times to find wide open receivers, mostly Jeff Maehl who had eight catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns, down the middle of the field.

“We had blown coverage on the first touchdown and on the second touchdown we blew the coverage,” senior cornerback Shareece Wright said.

Blown coverage isn’t going to beat the No. 1 team in the nation and the game showed that in order to beat Oregon, teams almost need to play perfect football.

“They’re flawless,” Barkley said.

OXFORD, Miss. – The Auburn Tigers remain undefeated and will likely retain the top spot in the BCS rankings after defeating Ole Miss 51-31 Saturday night at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.

Auburn’s running attack went for 343 yards against the Ole Miss defense.

True freshman runningback Michael Dyer rushed for a career-best 180 yards on 21 carries with one touchdown. Sophomore running back Onterio McCalebb added 99 yards on 9 carries, including a 68 yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

But it was Dyer’s 30 yard scamper around right end early in the third quarter that put the game out of reach at 44-17.

Auburn quarterback Cameron Newton, who was leading the SEC in rushing with 134.6 yards per game, was held to 45 yards rushing on 11 carries.

“They had an excellent game plan with the scheme that we had,” Newton said, “but with what they were giving us, it makes me go to other options I had, which is handing the ball off every single time, which is what I had to do.”

Other options included wide receivers Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery, who caught one touchdown apiece and had 75 and 54 yards receiving, respectively. Sophomore wide receiver Emory Blake also added 60 yards receiving on 5 receptions.

Newton passed for 209 yards and two touchdowns, but the Heisman moment might have been his touchdown reception on senior wide receiver Kodi Burns’ 20-yard pass in the first quarter.

“That was all Cameron right there,” said Blake when asked if he gave Newton any pointers. “They practice that every week. He’s 6’6, so he better come down with the ball.”

Auburn also got a boost from its special teams, which consistently pinned Ole Miss inside its own 30-yard line on kickoffs.

The special teams’ highlight of the game came at the end of the second quarter, when senior cornerback and kick returner Demond Washington returned an Ole Miss kickoff 95 yards for the touchdown, giving Auburn a 31-17 lead.

“I’m not worried about the way they respond being the No. 1 team in the country,” Chizik said. “I don’t think that really plays a part in what we are trying to accomplish every week. They hear it and they see it, but it does not play a part in how we proceed day-to-day.”

Auburn racked up 28 first downs and 572 yards of total offense, while holding Ole Miss to 407 yards for the game.

The 51 points scored by Auburn are the most the Tigers have scored in a game in its 35-game series against Ole Miss.

Placekicker Wes Byrum kicked three field goals for the night.

The defense was led by junior cornerback Neiko Thorpe, who had seven total tackles, and Washington, who had 6 tackles, one interception and one pass broken up.

Ole Miss senior quarterback Jeremiah Masoli finished the game with 189 yards passing, while freshman runningback Jeff Scott ran for 140 yards on nine carries, including an 83 yard dash up the sideline on Ole Miss’ first possession of the game.

Auburn improved its record to 9-0 for the first time since 2004. Ole Miss’ record is now 3-5.

Auburn returns home to face Tennessee-Chattanooga in Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday at noon. The game will be available on pay-per-view television.

Read more:The Auburn Plainsman – A spirit that is not afraid