Another college football Saturday
Saturday morning had to be one of the five best mornings of my life. My job: baby-sit my granddaughter, now 16 months old. We had the time of our lives. I gave Rileybird a wagon ride down to the park area in our neighborhood. We got out and played in the gazebo. Then we played over an angled foot bridge that spans a small creek, and when Rileybird headed down one side of the bridge at a speed I thought unsafe, I bolted to get in front of her to cushion a fall. And I was the one who slipped, giving me a good lesson in the cycle of life.
The weather was pristine. Somewhere around 63 degrees and crisp. Smelled like autumn. Nice breeze. We watched dogs and birds and airplanes (she loves airplanes). Then we went home and raked leaves, and Rileybird wanted to play in my truck cab, which is her favorite thing to do, and then grew tired and stretched out her arms.
I took her inside, and she laid her head on my shoulder, and she got a kick out of Lee Corso on ESPN’s GameDay donning the purple cow head of Williams (which was playing Amherst), and then she fell asleep. So I did some work, watched some early kickoffs and wished that every Saturday could be that fun.
ORANGE BLOSSOMS
The Orange Bowl stadium will no longer host football. Miami U. is moving to Dolphins Stadium, where the Dolphins and the Orange Bowl game long ago moved. The last game was Virginia’s 48-0 rout of Miami. ESPN.com listed the top 30 football games in Orange Bowl history, and only OU game made the list — the Sooners’ 20-14 loss to Miami in the 1988 Orange Bowl. So I made my own list. The 10 best OU games played in the ancient old stadium:
10. 1985 Orange Bowl: Washington’s 28-17 victory over OU is remembered for two things — UW’s constant trapping of Sooner nose guard great Tony Casillas, and the penalty against the Sooner Schooner for going onto the field when a penalty wiped out a Sooner field goal.
9. 1956 Orange Bowl: The second showdown between Bud Wilkinson and the man who brought him to Oklahoma, Jim Tatum, who was coaching Maryland. The Terrapins led 6-0 at halftime, but Carl Dodd’s 82-yard interception sealed OU’s 20-6 victory.
8. 1986 Orange Bowl: Keith Jackson’s 71-yard TD catch from Jamelle Holieway helped beat Penn
State 25-10 in a national-title showdown.
7. 1988 Orange Bowl: A national title game was largely a dud; Miami dominated, but OU scored late on a fumblerooski to make it interesting before losing 20-14.
6. 1976 Orange Bowl: The Selmon brothers’ last OU game was a defensive masterpiece, a 14-6 win over
Michigan that sealed the Sooners’ fifth national title.
5. 1975 OU-Miami: Before the Hurricanes became a national power, they gave the eventual national champ Sooners all they wanted before succumbing 20-17.
4. 1986 OU-Miami: Hurricanes won a showdown in which quarterback Vinny Testaverde outdueled Sooner linebacker Brian Bosworth in a battle royale, won 28-16 by Miami.
3. 1954 Orange Bowl: The first Wilkinson-Tatum showdown. Larry Grigg’s 25-yard TD run in the second quarter provided OU with a 7-0 win.
2. 1981 Orange Bowl: J.C. Watts’ late heroics, including a 2-point conversion pass to Forrest Valora, gave the Sooners an 18-17 win over Florida State.
1. 1968 Orange Bowl: Chuck Fairbanks’ first OU team zipped to a 19-0 halftime lead over
Tennessee, then held on to win 26-24 when the Vols missed a late long field goal.
TEN BIG WINNERS FROM WEEK 11
10. Tennessee: Critics said the Vols’ run defense might get gashed by Arkansas. But Tennessee held Darren McFadden to 117 hard-earned yards and routed the Hogs 34-13 to keep the driver’s seat in the SEC East.
9. Clemson: Tommy Bowden is in constant hot water, but he might be nearing his first ACC title. The Tigers routed Wake Forest 44-10 and now host Boston College for the division title.
8. USC: A few weeks ago, the Trojans’ demise was a popular theory. But SC beat California 24-17 and plays at Arizona State on Thanksgiving night for a likely BCS berth.
7. North Carolina State: Tom O’Brien left behind a good thing at Boston College and got off to a 1-5 start with the Wolf Pack. But after a 31-27 win over North Carolina, NC State is 5-5 with two winnable games left, at Wake Forest and home to Maryland.
6. Cincinnati: Beware the Bearcats. Cincinnati routed Connecticut 27-3 to set up what could amount to a Big East title game this week against West Virginia. And the game is in River City.
5. Black shirts: Georgia coach Mark Richt agreed to let his Bulldogs wear black against Auburn, and while I don’t like color changes, I’ve got to admit, pretty sharp. Same as Georgia’s performance: 45-20 over Auburn.
4. Kansas: In the previous 10 years, the Jayhawks had four Big 12 road wins. But after a 43-28 win at Oklahoma State, KU has four Big 12 road wins this year alone, in some tough places. Stillwater, College Station, Manhattan and Boulder.
3. Sylvester Croom: The Mississippi State coach, overlooked by Alabama, his alma mater, in 2003, exacted his revenge for the second straight year. The Bulldogs beat Bama 17-12 and are 6-4, with games left at Arkansas and home against Ole Miss.
2. Nebraska: To all the detractors who claimed the Huskers had quit, check out Nebraska’s 73-31 rout of Kansas State. One week earlier , the Huskers lost 76-39 at Kansas. Surely, no football team in the history of shoulder pads has scored 70 points the week after allowing the same.
1. Ron Zook: The original Internet victim — remember fireronzook.com? — is proving he’s a solid coach. Zook has turned around Illinois, witness the Illini’s 28-21 upset at top-ranked Ohio State.
BOWL BUSINESS
The bowl lineup is a long way from completion but is a little more focused each week. My predictions:
Jan. 7 Big Bowl: Oregon vs. LSU
Jan. 6 GMAC: Tulsa vs. Central Michigan
Jan. 5 International: Rutgers vs. Bowling Green
Jan. 3 Orange: Kansas vs. Virginia Tech
Jan. 2 Fiesta: Missouri vs. West Virginia
Jan. 1 Rose: Ohio State vs. USC
Jan. 1 Sugar: Georgia vs. Hawaii
Jan. 1 Outback: Auburn vs. Wisconsin
Jan. 1 Cotton: Texas vs. Tennessee
Jan. 1 Gator: Oklahoma vs. Clemson
Jan. 1 Capital One: Florida vs. Illinois
Dec. 31 Armed Forces: Air Force vs. Indiana
Dec. 31 Sun: California vs. Cincinnati
Dec. 31 Humanitarian: North Carolina State vs.Boise State
Dec. 31 Music City: Arkansas vs.Wake Forest
Dec. 31 Chick-fil-A: Alabama vs.Virginia
Dec. 31 Insight: Colorado vs. Iowa
Dec. 30 Independence: Kansas State vs.Mississippi State
Dec. 29 Meineke Car Care: Florida State vs. Connecticut
Dec. 29 Liberty: Central Florida vs. Kentucky
Dec. 29 Alamo: Oklahoma State vs.Penn State
Dec. 28 Texas: Texas A&M vs. Houston
Dec. 28 Champs Sports: Boston College vs. Michigan
Dec. 28 Emerald: Georgia Tech vs. Purdue
Dec. 27 Holiday: Texas Tech vs. Arizona State
Dec. 26 Motor City: Michigan State vs. Miami-Ohio
Dec. 23 Hawaii: East Carolina vs.Fresno State
Dec. 22 Papajohns.com: South Florida vs. Memphis
Dec. 22 New Mexico: Utah vs. Nevada
Dec. 22 Las Vegas: Oregon State vs. BYU
Dec. 21 New Orleans: Troy vs. Southern Miss
Dec. 20 Poinsettia: TCU vs. Navy
TEN BIG LOSERS FROM WEEK 11
10. Michigan: The Wolverines played without veterans Michael Hart and Chad Henne and lost 37-21 to Wisconsin, looking much more like the team that lost to Appalachian State than the team much of America was hoping would beat Ohio State.
9. Purdue: The Boilermakers were 7-2 and headed for a prime Florida bowl. But after losses at Penn
State and to Michigan State, 48-31, Purdue is fast sliding down the bowl ladder.
8. Mike Leach: The Texas Tech coach came off looking bad following a 59-43 loss to Texas in which Leach challenged the integrity of the officials. Trouble was, the zebras got right the calls in question.
7. Colorado: The Buffs won at Texas Tech and beat Oklahoma, but a 31-28 loss at Iowa State spiraled Colorado to 5-6, and now Dan Hawkins must beat Nebraska just to go to a minor bowl.
6. Steve Spurrier: When South Carolina opened the season 3-0, including a win at Georgia, 2007 seemed like a magical year for the ol’ ball coach. But now the Gamecocks are 6-5, with Clemson remaining.
5. Bobby Bowden: The Florida State icon had little to preserve from the proud program of the ‘80s and ‘90s. He has even one less, after his first loss ever to Virginia Tech, 40-21, dropped the Seminoles to 6-4.
4. Orange Bowl: The proud old stadium deserved better than Virginia’s 48-0 rout of Miami for its final football game.
3. Pac-10 officiating: Now the Oregon State athletic director is calling out his own league’s officials, after a shoddy fourth quarter against Washington. Of course, if it happens in conference games, the rest of the nation doesn’t care.
2. Ohio State: The Buckeyes drew within 28-21 of Illinois with eight minutes left and never got the ball back. Quarterback sneaks and quarterback draws did in Ohio State’s national title hopes.
1. Football as we know it: Halftime score of the Navy-North Texas game was 49-45. Halftime! OSU-Texas Tech was a 49-45 final, and we all talked about what a wild and woolly game it was. The final in Denton, Texas, 74-62 Navy, might become the trend. And I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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Comments
Barry:
I read over you bowl predictions and I don’t have a huge problem with them. I can see you think OU loses to MU in the championship game.
I still would be surprised if the BCS picked a one loss KU team over a 2 loss OU team.
I guess KU could be in the top 4 of the BCS but I doubt it with a loss to MU.
KU would still be a fill good story but fill good story’s don’t fill up hotel rooms or gas tanks.
OU does.
And another #2 goes down, which is just ducky in Tucson and Lawrence. The only good time to be #2 will be after the conf. champ. games. Right now, it’s a curse.
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I remember the 1956 Orange Bowl; I was 12 at the time; that Christmas before the ‘56 Orange Bowl, our family was visiting my aunt and uncle in Philadelphia; one late night, during a game of cut-throat checkers between my dad, my uncle, my uncle’s brother, my uncle’s brother and my dad “verbally “got into it concerning the OU-Maryland game a few days away. The result was a $5 wager (in 1955-56 dollars) on the game. My dad’s position was that he didn’t care how good Maryland may be, they just don’t play “real football” outside of Oklahoma and maybe Texas. My dad was all smiles when he was able to take a new Philadelphia $5 bill back to Oklahoma where he probably framed; and,
he was pleased to tell anyone how he came upon such “easy money.”