Some of you may have noticed that my fellow Senior Analyst Chad Reuter took over the blog for the past few days. He did an admirable job with a detailed breakdown of Iowa defensive end Adrian Clayborn as the Prospect of the Week and Slippery Rock center Brandon Fusco as our Diamond in the Rough .

Chad took over because I was on a short deer-hunting trip in Washington state with my father, brother and a few close friends. The annual trip is one of the reasons I have not accepted an NFL scouting position. I love football, but my family and our annual trips together come first.

Getting back yesterday, I spent much of the evening reviewing film and talking to contacts within the league. While I absolutely agree with selection of Clayborn as our senior prospect of the week, here are several other players that caught my (and scouts') attention with strong performances on Saturday.

OLB/DE Chris Carter, Fresno State : Carter registered nine tackles, including four tackles for loss and three sacks and forced two fumbles in the Bulldogs' 33-10 win over New Mexico State.

DT Guy Miller, Colorado State: The 6-3, 302 pounder broke the CSU record with 4.5 sacks against UNLV Saturday. He'd been rated as a likely free agent prior to the contest and had only two sacks to this point, but the dominating effort left a strong impression on two league insiders I spoke to who attended/viewed this game.

WR/RS Jerrel Jernigan, Troy : Jernigan, previously highlighted as Diamond in the Rough , deserved consideration again this week after a 188 all-purpose yard, two touchdown performance in the 31-24 win over Louisiana-Lafayette. Jernigan caught six passes for 77 yards, including the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. He also returned a punt for a 75-yard touchdown. Jernigan has been invited to the Senior Bowl .

WR/RS Dwayne Harris, East Carolina: Against quality ACC competition, Harris exploded for a career-high 260 all-purpose yards Saturday versus North Carolina State. Harris caught nine passes for 91 yards in ECU's thrilling 33-27 victory and contributed another 95 on kick returns and 75 on punt returns.

WR Armon Binns, Cincinnati: Binns caught a career-high eight passes for 175 yards and three scores in the Bearcats exciting come-from-behind win over Louisville Friday night. For his efforts Binns also was recognized as the Big East's Offensive Player of the Week.

S Mark Barron, Alabama: Scouts love Barron's instincts and versatility and both were on display Saturday against Ole Miss. Barron registered seven tackles, including five solos, an interception, tackle for loss and a quarterback pressure.

ILB Chris White, Mississippi State: White was all over the field for the Bulldogs in their impressive 10-7 win over Florida, Saturday. He earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors with 11 tackles (including nine solos), as well as 4.5 tackles for loss against the Gators. White is among the conference leaders with 57 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and five sacks so far this season.

OLB Blake Sorensen, Wisconsin: Sorenson's game-clinching interception with only a few minutes remaining sealed the Badgers upset bid over Ohio State Saturday, but was only part of his impressive game. Sorensen also registered a career-high 10 tackles, including a tackle for loss.

There are several noteworthy senior prospects who will be on the field tonight when Cincinnati travels to North Carolina State.

Senior Bearcats' pass catchers Armon Binns and Ben Guidugli will certainly get a great deal of the attention, but it will be a player on the other side of the line of scrimmage that I -- and many NFL scouts -- will be keying in on.

North Carolina State inside linebacker Nate Irving appeared to be on the fast track to stardom in 2008. Despite missing a handful of games due to a nagging leg injury, Irving earned Honorable Mention All-ACC honors with 84 tackles and a school-record (for linebackers) four interceptions. 

A horrific car accident, however, robbed Irving of his 2009 season and he's struggled so far this year in his quest to regain his all-star status. 

Through the first two games, in fact, Irving has only three tackles. Those stops came last week against Central Florida, as Irving was surprisingly held without a tackle in the season opener against Western Carolina. 

When healthy, Irving, 6-1, 235 pounds, has demonstrated a legitimate NFL combination of speed, explosive hitting ability and range in coverage. 

The defending Big East champion Bearcats are not the explosive offense this year they were last -- considering the loss of quarterback Tony Pike and wideout Mardy Gilyard -- but they still spread the field well, as evidenced by the 40 points they put up last week against Indiana State. 

It will be interesting to see how Irving does in this contest. Scouts and those close to the NC State program are certainly pulling for him. The injuries he suffered in the accident (collapsed lung, compound fracture in his leg, broken rib, separated shoulder) were enough to end the career for most players. Irving not only has come back, he's doing it while explaining his progress in a weekly journal for NC State's Technician Online.

If he is to re-emerge as a legitimate pro prospect, however, Irving will need strong performances in high profile games just like the one tonight.  

Count me among those rooting for him...

The game begins at 7:30 pm EST and will be televised by ESPN.

In my preview to last night's South Florida-Cincinnati game I questioned Pike's downfield accuracy and whether he'd be successful against an athletic and experienced Bulls' secondary.

For the most part, South Florida held Pike in check. They even knocked him out of the game with a sprained left wrist in the 3rd quarter -- an injury that is expected to keep Pike out next week against Louisville and perhaps considerably longer.

Before the injury, however, Pike completed three legitimate NFL passes that were certain to impress NFL scouts.

The first one came on Pike's first touchdown. On the first play after a momentum-swinging interception, Pike fired a quick out to wideout Armon Binns for a three yard touchdown. The pass, thrown with good velocity, was perfectly placed, forcing Binns to make a finger-tip reception as he ran out of the side of the endzone, away from the defender.

Later in the second quarter Pike fired another impressive touchdown pass to Binns -- this time on a short drag route over the middle for an 8-yard score. Again, the pass was thrown with good velocity and perfect accuracy. Binns had to make a finger-tip catch to score on the play and he did so.

The most impressive play of the night for Pike, however, came in between these two plays and at the opposite end of the field. Pike, in fact, released the ball only a few yards out of his own endzone. One play after being sacked by George Selvie, Pike, showing surprising mobility for a 6-6 quarterback, stepped out of another Selvie tackle, rolled left, squared his shoulders and fired a 25-yard strike to DJ Woods on the far (left) sideline. The pass required legitimate NFL arm-strong and very good accuracy. It was a great catch for Woods, as well, as he secured the ball and dragged both feet to beat double-coverage by the Bulls.

According to the announcers of this contest there were upwards of 25 NFL scouts, including at least 5 personnel directors at this game. While much of Pike's production throughout this game came on the dink and dunk receiver screens and outlet tosses to backs and tight ends, these three throws left scouts in attendance impressed.