OU-Miami: Day or night kickoff?
ESPN will wait until Sunday to decide the kickoff time of OU-Miami. The game will air on ESPN at either 2:30 p.m. or 7 p.m., apparently determined by how the Hurricanes do against Virginia Tech this Saturday.
A Miami victory apparently would put OU-Miami in prime time.
However, I think ABC would be better off with OU-Miami at 2:30 p.m., regardless of how Miami comes out against Virginia Tech.
USC-Cal already has been set for 7 p.m. So if OU-Miami goes to 7 p.m. also, it would become a split doubleheader, which I hate. ABC marketed its Saturday Night Football series as a college equivalent of Monday Night Football, a game for the whole nation to watch. Instead, too often it has become a regional telecast that has no special characteristics, other than Kirk Herbstreit is calling one of the games.
At 2:30 p.m., OU-Miami would share the window with Penn State-Illinois and UCLA-Stanford. The latter has no marquee value; Penn State-Illinois has some, since it will be one of the few times this season the Nittany Lions line up against an opponent capable of defending itself.
Put OU-Miami at 2:30 p.m., and it would be the major game of the window. Put OU-Miami at 7 p.m., and it would share the spotlight with USC-California, which is likely a showdown for the Rose Bowl.
A night at the soap opera: Cowboys Stadium
I spent Sunday night at JerryWorld for the historic first Cowboys’ regular-season game in their $1.15 billion stadium. I like to say that Jerry Jones has built the second-best ballpark on Randol Mill Road.
The Ballpark in Arlington, which sits a block or two down the street from Cowboys Stadium, is much the better coliseum. Not as glitzy. Not as flashy. Not as otherworldly. But more stately. More beautiful. More character. Much more character.
Which is no indictment of the football stadium. It’s just that baseball parks almost always have more charm than football stadiums, which are bound by conformity. Football fields are regulated in size; baseball parks are full of nooks and crannies and odd little places that collectively can make up a stunning piece of architecture.
With all that said, the new Cowboys Stadium — what a horrid name; you almost long for the moment when Jones sells the naming rights to a corporation — was bubbling with excitement Sunday night.
The mass of humanity in the standing-room-only sections — perhaps as much as 25,000 fans — was a spectacle perhaps unseen in American sport. I’m glad I was nowhere near it. It looked like one giant mosh pit, with many of the fans drinking. Doesn’t sound like fun to me.
But again, the star of the show was the massive video board. OU fans who were at JerryWorld for the BYU game can attest to its dominance. Actually, the star was the camera that fed the video board. The closeups of the players’ faces are amazing. The eyeballs of Eli Manning and Tony Romo are like 15 feet tall. There’s never been anything like it in sports video.
Romo talked about the great crowd support, but from where I sat, the stadium seemed no more loud than when 75,000 were there for the OU-BYU game. The Cowboys historically have not had a rabid fan base like Green Bay or Denver or Cleveland. I don’t see where the new stadium gives the Cowboys any sort of extra homefield advantage.
The stadium was hot — temperatures near 90 at kickoff — and the roof was opened, surely for grandeur reasons. On television, the stadium look was spectacular with the roof and the ends opened. Inside the stadium, the open ends made for a great feel and effect, sort of like Allen Fieldhouse at Kansas or Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for day games, when sunlight shines through the windows at the top.
Traffic wasn’t even the nightmare I thought it might be. We left the pressbox probably 70 minutes after the game, and if you went the right direction, traffic had thinned out. We ran into construction up on Texas highway 121, 10 miles from the stadium, which cost us 30 minutes of backup, but otherwise, it ran smoothly.
And of course, the ballgame was spectacular. The NFL consistently produces the greatest sporting show. The Giants’ 33-31 was riveting from the opening kick. The better quarterback (Manning) beat the better team, which doesn’t always happen but sometimes does.
OU-Tulsa: Make it an annual series
OU-Tulsa wasn’t much of a football game. The Sooners won 45-0. But OU-Tulsa is an excellent football series. A solid opponent for the Sooners. A chance at the golden goose for the Hurricane.
It is getting harder and harder to get foes to come to Owen Field. The Sooners have started offering home-and-home series and some 2-for-1 offers — two OU home games, one road game — with opponents you wouldn’t normally think, including some mid-majors.
Why not establish an annual series with Tulsa. OU wouldn’t agree to a home-and-home with Tulsa, but the schools could make it a 2-for-1 deal. Even getting just one home game every three years would be a good deal for Tulsa, which would increase its season-ticket base.
Meanwhile, OU would have one less scheduling hole to fill. An annual game with TU would be a good, competitive matchup, this 2009 whitewash not withstanding. It would keep the money in the state, would hold down expenses for both schools and would give OU a greater presence in Tulsa.
Are there any downsides to OU playing Tulsa? “I don’t know what they would be,” Bob Stoops said. “We’ve gone over there a few times (since World War II, 1987, 2002, 2007). It’s a favorable experience for everybody.”
Football coaches don’t seem to have the same posturing as basketball coaches when it comes to in-state rivalries. OU and OSU absolutely should be playing Tulsa in every sport, every year. The OSU-Tulsa football series, with only one meeting since 2000 (2004), resumes on a limited basis next season.
Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech should be playing other Texas schools, including some road games (which they do some). Arkansas should be playing Arkansas State (it doesn’t). Ole Miss should play Southern Mississippi. Alabama should play UAB.
Such games are good for the economy, good for football spirit and good for scheduling in the crazy world of college football.
Emails in on Sooners, Cowboys, Jordan & Peterson
The new emails are in, and we’re talking all sorts of cool stuff. Adrian Peterson and Michael Jordan. Coaching shortcomings in Stillwater and Norman. Quarterbacks and strategy. Let’s get right to it.
Corby: “Hey, Berry, you looked great with that funny mustache in the video the other day. I think you should try that thing on for size full-time.”
It would take me 16 years to grow something like that.
Bill: “I am prompted to write by your blog nominating Jimmy Brown as the greatest all time NFL running back and your opinion/hope that Adrian might equal or surpass him. I agree with all you said. However, what really moved me was the realization that I may be one of the few (possibly only) people who personally witnessed Jimmy and Adrian’s first college football games. In the fall of 1954, I was a freshman at Cornell when we played Syracuse in an early season game. Syracuse’s regular starting halfback up until that game had been a guy named Mickey Rich (a two or three year starter, as I recall). I can’t remember if he got hurt (I think he did) or if Jimmy just beat him out, but Jimmy started and played and was sensational. He was a sophomore (no freshman on varsity in those days) and my recollection is that he was never out of the starting lineup again. My wife and I have had season tickets for OU continuously since 1980. Adrian came in with lots of advance pub, and Gail and I were in the stands when he played his first game (and for every other game he played). We hope that Adrian gets to fulfill his promise. By the by, did you know that Jimmy was a four-letter man at Syracuse (football, basketball, track and lacrosse). He used to never come out for basketball until football season was over, but one year I remember that even with the short season he led the team (Syracuse) in rebounds. He was very good.”
Jimmy Brown played basketball? Jimmy Brown played basketball at Syracuse? The lacrosse, I knew about. But basketball? Let’s see Barry Sanders or Adrian Peterson top that.
Keesee wrote about OSU-Houston: “The Houston people are rejoicing after their win in Stillwater. Acknowledge they were lucky, but really feel that it was a breakout win. Now, they want a statement game. And that is Texas Tech on the 26th in 32,000-seat Robertson Stadium on the east side of downtown Houston. Cougars have an off date this weekend. Tech plays Texas in Austin this Saturday. I look for a very physical loss for the Red Raiders. Going in injured and badly beaten to Houston the next week could, as hoped in Houston, be a very decided loss for Tech. If so, the loss by the Cowboys won’t look as bad.”
Houston certainly could run the table. The trouble with the OSU-Houston result was not how bad the loss looks. It doesn’t look all that bad. It was the opportunity that was lost for OSU. A chance to spend most of September and October in the top five?
Todd wrote about my OSU-Houston column: “Biased much? Can’t you give OSU any credit? OK, so they lost one game, so what? The way you write, their season is down the tubes. To remind you; OU did lose a game last week, too. Does that mean their season is over? Every bit of your article in Sunday’s paper read as if to put OSU back in their place; they must be second to OU. Give me a break! I do my best to support both schools in this state, but it is OU fans like you that make that extremely difficult. Next time, why don’t you just keep your worthless drivel to yourself!”
You mean like the final score?
Meanwhile, Paul is an OSU fan who does what most fans do. Try to figure out what went wrong: “In the harsh light of the next morning and a little research it becomes clear that the OSU-Houston game was just a repeat of last year, at least on Houston’s part. They scored almost exactly the same amount of points, (taking away the interception return for TD), they had almost the same yards (little less passing, a little more rushing). OSU’s defense played essentially the same game as last year. It was the OSU offense that kept Houston in the game. I have seen basketball teams come out flat and lay an egg, but usually in football out of 11-plus players, someone steps up. As a fan I hope they improve offensively, but until Zac Robinson returns to himself they will not. This defense was better against Georgia but the same, almost to the yard, as last season against Houston. It was the offense that was 200 plus yards short of last season. Go figure.”
It was an offensive letdown, no doubt about it. Four offensive touchdowns is enough against some teams. Against others, not so much.
Wayne: “I have had time to further reflect on yesterday’s game (and the last couple of seasons) and offer the following. I keep thinking every year that something will be different. Our defense will improve, our play selection will be less than predictable and Gundy will be less than arrogant. If you analyze our performance from yesterday, I believe that we’ve missed on all three counts. OSU football fans dream of a Big 12 title, deep down a national championship, without a doubt we could be as close as we’ll ever be, but all the money in the world (or at least a good chunk, thank you T. Boone!) cannot buy you a championship without: 1. tremendous athletes (I think we have this covered); 2. preparation, practice, conditioning (both mental and physical), and scouting of the opponent. I don’t believe in luck. Hard work on and off the field creates opportunities; it appears that we focus on this as well; 3. rock-solid fundamental coaching (we’ve made improvements, but Gundy’s play calling system is too complex and time consuming. And it doesn’t matter how we get the plays in, if we repeatedly run the ball with less than two minutes to go, fail to compute that it’s a two-possession game … I can go on and on. Have we ever heard of the two-minute drill? Can we call more than one play at a time? Or provide an audible or two? I follow Texas 5A football. I’m a season ticket holder for the Katy Tigers and attend all of the games. They are the current defending state champions (two consecutive years). This football program is built on fundamentals where excellence is a tradition and championships are an outcome. They continue to win because they are balanced. Offense, defense and special teams all contribute to their success, in contrast to OSU’s performance yesterday. Some way say it’s the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle. I may not know a lot about college or high school football, but I believe that there is something that our OSU football program and coaches could learn about winning championships by looking outside of their own experience and arrogance to other very successful programs in college and 5A football. I’m afraid that OSU will continue to sputter, spin, and blunder. Yes, we’ll have winning seasons, but I’m not confident that championships will ever be in reach. I believe that we should be searching for a coach that believes in the KISS principle, that can as a minimum follow the fundamentals of football mathematics, one that can learn from season to season, and one that has the potential to deliver championships. I can arrange an extra ticket to a Katy game for Mike Holder or designate, if they are interested.”
I know, I know. It sounds goofy. But you know what? This is exactly what OSU needs. Passionate fans. Not fans like the joker above who wants the media to give OSU credit when it loses to Houston and squanders a top-five ranking. It needs fans who get mad when the Cowboys close.
Dan: “I noticed watching the game yesterday, twice, Robinson between plays shook his head. The kind of shake like trying to shake out cobwebs or shake off dizziness. The thought occurred that maybe something from last week’s run-in with the wall?”
How about last season’s run-in with Oregon? Robinson hasn’t been the same since.
Josh: “Did you think Gary Gibbs was run out of town way too early? His record was a fairly solid from where he brought the team from. And do you think Bob Stoops could have won a national title with any of the Sooner teams in the ’90s? The ’94 team was stacked with talent. Or the ’99 team if DeMond Parker had been a senior?”
Let me get this straight. You’re saying the 1994 OU team, which finished 6-6, had national championship talent, then you’re asking if Gary Gibbs was run out of town too early. The answer to your questions are these. Stoops could not have won a national title with any of those ’90s teams, and the fans fired Gibbs. No one was buying tickets.
Shlomo wrote about my list of great OU backup quarterbacks: “Landry Jones may well have what it takes. But remember, the others on the list had a supporting cast; they were not out there on their own. Jones has a O-Line that will be suspect until it shows that it can do the job against a real contender. Further, there is a serious question about his receiving corp. The scrimmage against Idaho State featured a number of early catches by Broyles and a bunch by the backs. I know that the weather was bad, but if Jones is going to try to make a living throwing to his backs all day, then he may be in trouble. Good teams are going to see that and defense that. And if the running game gets bottled up… So this may not be so much about Landry Jones as it is about the people around him. And that goes for the D, as well. Charles Thompson managed that game, but the D held Nebraska to one touchdown. Had we needed to score in bunches, Charles Thompson may not have gone down in OU lore; he may just have gone down. This week will tell more.”
I don’t disagree with much of anything Shlomo wrote, other than to point out that beating Nebraska 17-7 in 1987 required a lot more than managing a game from the quarterback. But maybe we should hold off on the Landry Jones bandwagon. He’s played one mediocre half and a full game against Idaho State. Which means we know nothing.
Ralph: “I enjoyed your article on QB backups, but I think that Frank Reich belongs in the story. Did he not win the greatest comeback victories in both the NCAA (with Maryland vs. Miami as Boomer Esiason’s backup) and the NFL (with Buffalo vs. Houston in the playoffs as Jim Kelly’s back-up)? I’m going on memory, not research, so I could be wrong.”
No, Ralph, you’re exactly right. I don’t think Frank Reich fit my story – one-game wonders really isn’t the theme of Landry Jones – but the Reich story is remarkable. The greatest comeback in college and the greatest comeback in the pros both engineered by the same quarterback, and he was a backup in both games? Amazing.
Don: “Good story on the backups today. So how many sports guys do you think are going to know about John Milton?”
Oh, probably more than you think. Al Pacino’s “The Devil’s Advocate” gave Uncle Milton a little shelf life.
Mark: “In your column, you say, ‘God rest his football soul,’ speaking of Eric Mitchel. When did Eric Mitchel pass away? How?”
Eric Mitchel didn’t die. Not so far as I know. His football career died when he got stuck behind Jamelle Holieway.
Kent: “What’s up with Stoops and no comment on Bradford? ‘I’m not going there.’ That sounds like Bill Snyder How many losses will make this a disappointing season?”
I would say one more defeat makes this a disappointing season. I think Stoops just wants to stop all the questions. I don’t much believe in tea leaves.
Bill: “What bothers me and many others is that OU has been placed in the championship game at least once, after losing to KSU in the Big 12 Championship game 35-7, and last year, when Texas beat them head to head and should have been in the game, when they have been undeserving. It’s frustrating. When OU clearly deserves to be in the big game, even I will pull for them to win.”
This quite possibly will become the most tired argument that I have ever had to deal with. Did you read what Bill wrote? That Texas OU clearly deserves to be in the big game… No one from the Big 12 clearly deserved to be in the big game. That’s what happens in a three-way tie. There is no clarity. And using the BCS as the tiebreaker is imminently reasonable. In fact, it’s unreasonable NOT to use the BCS.
Larry, our resident Tech fan: “Was wondering when and where Big 12 officiating assignments are announced. No particular reason, just idle curiosity.”
They aren’t announced in advance. You have to show up at the stadium to find out. Either that or park outside Mack Brown’s house and see who comes over for a steak dinner.
Jim: “Here’s an idea for a question to ask or article to write about: what is the state of the audible in college football or OU in particular? Seems like an experienced and intelligent guy like Sam Bradford (when healthy) could be trusted to audible a lot of plays at the line. If true, that could cut down on all the times when OU lines up, then has to step back to look at the sideline to see the hand signals. Seems like that lets the defense off the hook and negates the advantage of the no-huddle offense. Maybe nobody audibles anymore. It might not work in today’s game, for some reason. Maybe coaches don’t want to surrender that power/privilege. Might not be practical. But it seems like in the past OU quarterbacks have had that option and I don’t know why an elite QB like Sam doesn’t have the green light to call the play at the line. Just curious.”
I think you hit on the head with the power. Coaches don’t want to surrender control.
David: “This morning I wrote you about ‘revenge’ and the ‘Umbrage Wars’ in football. You wrote that it never impacts a game, but here’s the question I’ve come up with for you that gets to the heart of my problem with it. Do you think it contributes to the rampant poor sportsmanship that plagues our games when players and commentators act like it’s the normal thing to take offense to everything? It doesn’t change the game score, but do you think it impacts what are commonly called pre-game or post-game altercations — things that are all too common? Even more, does it contribute to the thing that bugs me most — the incessant demand by college and high school athletes that they be ‘respected’ by their opponents? Respect isn’t something one gets by demanding it, it’s something one earns by actions. And respect of an opponent isn’t the kind that matters most anyway: that would be self-respect. The constant demands for revenge and respect by people in a position to be listened to for good or ill, I worry that it has an impact on something more important than the final score. That’s what bugs me about it.”
The answer to your question is no. This “revenge” stuff is merely a symptom. We have a crisis of spirit in America, which creates symptoms like revenge and all the respect talk. I don’t know what the answer is, but I do know what the cause is. Selfishness, materialism, misplaced priorities. All of which stems from this. Lack of good raising. No home training.
Robert: “I don’t always get the chance to read all of your blogs, but I usually make it a point to do so after an OU loss. You absolutely hit the nail on the head — too many of the OU fans have gotten spoiled and believe it’s their divine right to win every game. You summed it up best in your article: three straight Big 12 titles, six Big 12 titles in nine years and four national title appearances in nine seasons. Fans of virtually every other team would take those numbers even if you told them that they would only win one national title. Like you, I’m also getting tired of hearing about Mike Stoops. The D played plenty well enough to win against BYU. It will be interesting to see how this team handles adversity as something tells me that Bradford may be out longer than anticipated. Stoops has rallied the troops before (notably in 2006 when they lost early to Oregon, but still went on to win another Big 12 championship). Oh, but I forgot, conference championships apparently are easy to come by.”
Hey, I just thought of something. If OU wins the Big 12 title this year and goes, let’s say, to the Fiesta Bowl, wouldn’t that be a successful year? Wouldn’t OU fans have to be happy with that? Lose a quarterback and lose a game but rally and win a tough Big 12? Wouldn’t you have to label that a good year?
Bob: “Even with OU again embarrassing themselves on national TV and showing their coaches cannot (when does practice start this year?), BYU’s only chance to win was to knock Sam out, and they deliberately did it. It was deliberate and late, but expected. I knew someone would get Sam – figured it would be a leg.”
How dare an opponent actually hit Oklahoma’s quarterback. Of all the unmitigated gall. Arrest that man!
Mickey: “A lot of us would like to wake up and realize that the BYU game was a nightmare, instead of the opening game of the season. As a player and a baseball coach for a number of years, the one thing that I would not tolerate was mental mistakes. Mechanical mistakes can and will happen, but there is no excuse for not having your head in the game. How many times have you seen multi-millionaire baseball payers screw up because they did not know how many runners were on base or how many outs there were? Linemen are supposed to be big and dumb, but they surely can count from get set through four. I know a coach that would get his linemen down of the line of scrimmage in practice situations and blow an air horn or fire a shot gun blast over their heads while the snap count was being called out. Those that flinched were made to sit down. A Simple Simon drill like this worked wonders in eliminating false starts by the offensive line and or the running backs. Fortunately, OU worked hard to eliminate these stupid penalties in their game against Idaho State.”
Actually, I don’t see millionaire baseball players forget the outs more than once a year.
C.W.: “You get to talk to Kevin Wilson, right? Can you let him know that there’s not a rule that requires you to run it up the middle every time while in the red zone?”
Here’s what’s beautiful about OU football. Only the names change. The same things they’re saying about Wilson, they said about Chuck Long. They same things they said about Long, they said about Mark Mangino. The same things they said about Mangino, they would have said about Mike Leach, except he was here only 15 minutes and didn’t give them time.
Jeff: “What is going on with Jameel Owens? They sure were high on him on signing day.”
They’re high on everybody on signing day. Owens’ problem is he’s not very good. OU’s problem is most of the receivers don’t seem to be very good.
George: “I currently live in Utah. I am a graduate of the University of Oklahoma (and U.S. Grant High School) and lived in Oklahoma the majority of my life. Since the OU-BYU game, I have expected ceaseless teasing and taunting from the people up here about the outcome. In fact, I had surgery performed yesterday by a surgeon who had jokingly threatened to forget the anesthesia if we beat the Cougars too bad. However, I have received nothing but the highest compliments for a game well-fought – and condolences for what happened to Sam Bradford. The reason I write this is to report on what those Utahns who attended the game in Dallas have said: to a person they have stated that the OU fans are the classiest fans they have ever seen. They said they got many back-slaps and congratulations from the Sooners as they were leaving the stadium. They said that never happens to them, otherwise. I am, have always been, and will always be proud to be an Okie. The classy showing of my fellow Sooners after this game makes me even more so.”
Huh. And they even sold alcohol at the game.
Craig: “It appears from your blog that Landry Jones is everything that Rhett Bomar wasn’t. Isn’t that nice for a change in these times?”
Well, actually, Bomar was the change. Every Sooner quarterback is has been pretty classy. Nate Hybl’s one of my all-time favorite people. Jason White has turned into a swell fellow. Paul Thompson was pure class. Sammy B. is a lot like Josh Heupel; sort of hard to get to know but certainly nothing at all that you can say against his character.
Bob: “Time for me to come out of my cocoon. I am in the dark this year more than normal. I have no feeling about this team until after the Miami game. If we go out and beat Tulsa easily, it says hope, but no answers yet. If we struggle it says a lot. Here is the way I see it now. Landry Jones is good enough to beat everyone up to Texas only if the offensive line blocks average and does not cause penalties. All that theory goes out the window if only one guy can catch passes. This is nothing new that everyone watching this team knows. If OU comes up with some receivers and offensive line they are good enough to beat anyone in the Big 12. I was at the BYU game and our players were more interested in the big screen than the game. If you look at time of possession, BYU had the ball a whole quarter longer than us. This will wear out a defense. Even at that they only scored 14 points. People are forgetting that our defense is everything we thought it would be, and they will keep us in games if we can come up with offense.”
Hey, I couldn’t peel my eyes off that video screen, either.
Jason wrote about my twitter that ripped football games played on baseball infields, like Miami-Georgia Tech: “I don’t like the dirt infield either. I would seem to me, some innovative people could come up with a way to secure field turf over the dirt. Something that could be removed by the grounds crew before the baseball games. I know you can’t put the pieces of rubber underneath it, but I would imagine it would still work better that what they have.”
I’ve never understood how the NFL allows this to happen. NFL players, in specific. Part of the field is this lush grass, then all of a sudden you’re on hard dirt. Madness.
Mary wrote about my mid-majors column: “I have a degree from both Wyoming and OU and wanted to remind you that Wyoming did knock off Tennessee two years ago, too. I know they aren’t usually very good, but hopefully the new coach will make a difference. Being an OU fan is so different than being a WY fan, but I do like to see them do well too.”
I went to an OSU-Wyoming game in 1995. Thoroughly enjoyed it. There once was a Star Trek episode, a time-travel plot, called City on the Edge of Forever. Going to Laramie, Wyo., was like the Game on the Edge of Forever. It was the pure frontier. Great scenery driving up from Colorado, then get into an Old West-type town, with a little stadium sitting there and a pretty good crowd, 30,000 or so.
Tom, a TCU alum: “Thank you for writing an honest article about the quality of play in the Mountain West Conference. The MWC has earned respect on the field and it is nice to see the media take notice.”
It’s hard not to notice. Go Frogs!
Marc: “Every time one of you big dogs gets your ass beat by a school that is not on the BCS list, you put them down by calling them a mid-major. So if you get beat by a low life mid major team that is not good enough to be called a major universities (I think BYU and TCU are two of the finest private universities this country has), doesn’t that make you a lower major school, not good enough to be called a big time operation? Drop the title mid major when you talk about BYU or TCU and we will stop laughing at you. From a true football fan who has a MBA form a school, that taxpayers did not pay for.”
I think this guy’s name is Marc. He didn’t even sign his name, which means he not only lacks class, but he lacks courage. I guess that’s two things they don’t get around to teaching at schools that taxpayers don’t pay for. Hey, pal, don’t get mad at us because you didn’t get into Yale.
David: “You’ve come around some since 2005, when you wrote OU ‘lost to the likes of TCU.’ You have written several complimentary articles about TCU and the Mountain West the last couple of years and today’s was really, really appreciated, especially by a major daily in a Big 12 market. Thanks. Go Frogs!”
I don’t want to start a fight, but the week after TCU beat OU in 2005, the Frogs lost to the likes of SMU. All that said, go Frogs!
Roger: “Last week I happened to turn on my TV while the Basketball Hall of Fame inductions were taking place. I wanted most of all to see the induction for David Robinson, but it turns out he was the first player on the stage and I missed his entire presentation. But I stayed tuned to see the Michael Jordan portion of the program. The other inductees spoke with a good dose of humility along with well-earned pride: Coach Sloan, John Stockton and a woman coach. Very well done by all of them — but Jordan had none of that. Not a drop of humility in his acceptance speech. His speech was intended to show his strong, competitive spirit, along with a dose of Michael Jordan humor. But what his acceptance speech did was show him to be mean-spirited and a bully! His speech revealed more about Jordan than I knew before, but it wasn’t pretty. I decided I really don’t admire him – or even like him as a person.”
The truth about Jordan always has been apparent for those who wish to see it. He’s pretty much a punk.
No OU-Iowa games in the near future
Arizona plays at Iowa on Saturday, which means a homecoming for Mike Stoops. Don’t expect the same anytime soon for Bob Stoops.
Both Stoops boys, and little brother Mark, too, played at Iowa. Bob Stoops rarely shows his humanity so much as when he talks about his days at Iowa or growing up in Youngstown, Ohio.
Stoops repeated the story this week how his family would drive 10 hours through the night to Iowa City, after his dad’s high school football games on Friday, then head back on Sunday morning.
“There was one of us there for 10 years,” Stoops said. Some fan from Michigan or Michigan State once said, with Stoops’ mom overhearing, “is that No. 41 ever going to leave? They’ve been here forever.”
Bob, speculating on how Mike will feel Saturday, said, “in the end, it’ll be fun, going into the stadium, but it gets down to straight business. We’re real oblivious to everything that’s going on.”
Just don’t count on Oklahoma going to Iowa. The Stoopses were and good friends with Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, who was hired by the Hawkeyes the same year OU hired Stoops. And Stoops has been consistent in not wanting to play against good friends in the profession.
“I’d rather not,” Stoops said. “I don’t see a lot of purpose in it. Somebody’s got to lose. Unless you’re meeting them in a championship game. Then someone’s got to win.”
Count that among the perks of being head coach. No one will blink that Kevin Wilson went to North Carolina, should the Sooners and Tar Heels be matched or be thinking about it. A head coach can exorcise such veto power.
Rex Ryan: The new Les Miles
Jets coach Rex Ryan did something Wednesday that mirrored Les Miles. And nobody seems worked up about it.
Ryan, in his first year with the Jets, taped a message that was then mass-telephoned to Jets season-ticket holders, seeking a loud crowd for Sunday, when New England plays at the Jets. Here’s the interesting part: “I’ve already admitted that, hey, the Patriots have a better head coach and they’ve got a better quarterback than us. But we’re going to see who’s got a better team.”
Now go back to 2003, when Miles coached Oklahoma State. Miles never admitted that OU had a better coach or quarterback (Jason White over Josh Fields). But he did issue the infamous statement that drew the ire not just of Sooner fans, but Bob Stoops himself, before the 2003 Bedlam game. “Next Saturday, two teams are going to play. One is maybe the best team in college football and the other one is a darn good football team. We’re going to play to figure out which one is which.”
Miles couldn’t have angered Sooner Nation had he called their colors burnt red. Couldn’t have angered Stoops more had Miles said Carol Stoops wears combat boots.
I never saw what was the big deal. All Miles said was, let’s go play and find out who’s what. He was building up his team, and there’s nothing wrong with that. He wasn’t disparaging the Sooners, who though many thought were the best team in America, turns out weren’t. OU won that game 52-9 and everyone in crimson took it as validation that Miles spoke out of school and got his just reward.
But what he said did not breach any code of conduct or standards of respect. Miles basically said Rex Ryan said this week. Let’s play and find out.
The NFL is a little different than college in that huge fan bases don’t get all riled up over what someone might say. Don’t spend 300 days a year looking for a sleight from any corner in the country. College fan bases do exactly that, and when someone says something the least bit provocative, like what Miles said, it’s considered an insult.
Even when it’s not.
Week 2: College football adventures
I’ve been at the Upset of the Day in college football the last two weeks. OU-BYU and OSU-Houston. I’m covering Oklahoma-Tulsa this Saturday.
I’m not saying, I’m just saying, these are the salad days of mid-majors. The schools from conferences on the outside looking in have stormed the Bastille. Two teams in the top 10 (No. 7 Brigham Young, No. 10 Boise State). Five teams in the top 25 (No. 15 TCU, No. 18 Utah, No. 21 Houston).
BCS bowl victories in two of the last three years – Boise State over OU, Utah over Alabama.
A legit national title contender in BYU, which hosts Florida State on Saturday night and can make even more ripples.
If not OU-Tulsa, from where will come the next big upset? Utah winning at Oregon would not be an upset. The only upset in Provo, Utah, will be if Florida State wins.
But keep your eye on some other games. Ohio State-Toledo in Cleveland, a trap game if ever there was one for the Buckeyes. Eastern Michigan at Michigan, a trap game if ever there was one for the Wolverines. Don’t count out East Carolina at North Carolina.
The Mountain West went 6-2 vs. the Pac-10 last season but so far is 0-2 against the Pac-10 (UCLA beat San Diego State and Oregon State edged Nevada-Las Vegas). That makes the Utah-Oregon game huge for the Mountain West.
The Pac-10′s new nemesis is the Western Athletic Conference. Boise State popped Oregon and Hawaii beat Washington State, while Washington beat Idaho and Southern Cal beat San Jose State. That makes Saturday’s San Jose State-Stanford game the rubber match.
It would be very embarrassing if the Pac-10 had a losing record against another mid-major conference, the year after the Mountain West debacle.
REALITY RANKINGS
10. North Carolina: Won at UConn on a late safety. You don’t see that often.
9. Missouri: Narrow win over Bowling Green, but Falcons aren’t bad.
8. Cincinnati: Bearcats offer a little relief for football fans who suffer through the Bengals.
7. UCLA: Beat Tennessee for second straight year.
6. Boise State: Routed Miami-Ohio; no MAC magic in the Rockies.
5. Houston: Cougars will get a lot of mileage out of win in Stillwater.
4. Miami: Sweep its Tech back-to-back games – Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech – and Miami will be a top-10 team when OU visits.
3. Alabama: Didn’t put away Florida International until second half.
2. BYU: No hangover in New Orleans; 54-3 rout of Tulane.
1. Southern Cal: Few road wins more impressive than winning in Ohio Stadium.
MEN’S ROOM
The pressbox men’s bathroom at Boone Pickens Stadium also is connected to the hallway that leads to a section of suites. Which means you run into a different crowd from time to time.
Like Saturday, when I found Barry Switzer and he told me of buying at a benefit auction some tickets for Pickens’ suite.
“You think I wanted to watch Idaho State,” Switzer asked.
So he found himself in Stillwater, and not on the sidelines, for one of the few times in his life. OSU trailed Houston 24-7 at halftime, and Switzer left.
He missed “a hell of a game,” by his own admission, but said Houston’s eventual 45-35 victory was “same old story. Not enough defense.”
Switzer was at least in the spirit of the occasion. He sported a pale orange shirt – very pale, but undeniably orange.
TEN BIGGEST WINNERS OF THE WEEK
10. Washington: OK, it was Idaho. But still. The Huskies hadn’t won a football game since Nov. 17, 2007. Fifteen straight losses. Beating Idaho 42-23, on the heels of a close loss to LSU, revives spirits in Seattle.
9. June Jones: SMU went 1-11 last season, making Jones ask, “I left paradise for this?” But after a 35-33 victory at Alabama-Birmingham, the Mustangs are 2-0, 1-0 in Conference USA.
8. Jacquizz Rodgers: While many of the nation’s top tailbacks are off to slow starts, the Oregon State sophomore gained 166 yards on 26 carries in a 23-21 win over UNLV.
7. UCLA: Nice home-and-home series with Tennessee. Steal a win in 2008 in the Rose Bowl, then do the same in 2009 in Knoxville, 19-15.
6. Oregon: The Ducks had a disastrous opener at Boise State and host Utah this Saturday. Which means a loss to Purdue in Week 2 could have spiraled the season out of control. The Boilermakers made it interesting, but Oregon turned back a late 2-point conversion and won 38-36.
5. Rich Rodriguez: No coach in America needed a big win more than the beleaguered RichRod. A 3-9 debut season, multiple legal scandals, NCAA violations alleged by his own players. All since he was hired at Michigan. But a 38-34 upset of Notre Dame promises better days ahead for the Wolverines.
4. Case Keenum: Oklahoma State has touted Zac Robinson for the Heisman and the Big 12 has touted its stable of quarterbacks, but no Big 12 QB was better than this Houston gunslinger. Keenum completed 32 of 46 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns in Houston’s 45-35 upset of OSU.
3. Gamblers: Central Michigan coach Butch Jones went for the win and didn’t make it. He won anyway. Down 27-26 after a TD with 32 seconds left, Jones ordered a 2-point conversion that would knock off Michigan State. The pass failed, but such bravado was rewarded – Central recovered an onside kick and Andrew Aguila hit a 42-yard field goal with three seconds left. Contrast that with Fresno State coach Pat Hill, who with a chance to win in the first overtime at Wisconsin nixed a 2-point conversion try and kicked to send the game into the second OT. When Fresno State’s Ryan Colburn threw an interception, Wisconsin was set up for a 34-31 victory.
2. Matt Barkley: Here is how legends are born. A true freshman quarterback, his team down five points in an epic showdown and less than seven minutes left in the game, takes his team on an 86-yard drive. That’s what Barkley did in USC’s 18-15 victory over Ohio State, and now he’s a made man in Los Angeles, at the ripe old age of 19.
1. Scott Blair: The Georgia Tech junior had one of the greatest games ever played by a kicker. Three field goals, including a 34-yarder to tie with 5:40 left in the game and a 36-yarder with 57 seconds left to beat Clemson 30-27. But also a 34-yard touchdown pass off a fake field goal, and it was a well-thrown deep ball.
BIG MACs
The Big 12 prides itself on its quarterbacks. As well it should. Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Todd Reesing, Zac Robinson, Robert Griffin, now Taylor Potts at Tech and Blaine Gabbert at Missouri.
But no league is deeper in quarterbacks than the Mid-American Conference.
Did you see Toledo’s 54-38 thrashing of Colorado? The Rockets trotted out a senior quarterback, Aaron Opelt, who has garnered little national acclaim. Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour and Western Michigan’s Tim Hiller, we’ve heard of. But Opelt?
Then Opelt against Colorado completes 15 of 23 passes for four touchdowns and 319 yards; he runs eight times for 109 yards, including a 61-yard TD run. He threw like Bradford and ran like Robinson.
And Opelt is nowhere near the best QB in the MAC.
Hiller has 78 career touchdown passes and LeFevour (Bradford has 87 and before the shoulder separation had a chance at Graham Harrell’s NCAA record).
Bowling Green’s Tyler Sheehan has 46 career TD passes. Akron’s Chris Jacquemain has 35. Eastern Michigan’s Andy Schmitt 33.
There are good quarterbacks all over the MAC, the league of Ben Roethlisberger, Byron Leftwich and Chad Pennington, and that’s why Mid-American teams routinely pull upsets.
Toiedo, you know about.
LeFevour led Central Michigan to a 29-27 upset of Michigan State.
Hiller and Western Michigan lost at Indiana 23-19 Saturday.
Sheehan and Bowling Green lost 27-20 at Missouri.
Schmitt and Eastern Michigan lost 27-24 at Northwestern.
And though the senior quarterbacks soon will be gone, more are on the way. Buffalo lost 54-27 to Pitt, but sophomore QB Zach Maynard completed 24 of 35 passes for 400 yards and four touchdowns.
TEN BIGGEST LOSERS OF THE WEEK
10. Texas punting: Wyoming blocked one Texas punt and returned it for a touchdown, and the Cowboys got another field goal when UT’s Justin Tucker faked a punt with the ball on the Longhorn 9-yard line and was tackled shy of the first down.
9. Dan Ryan: There are few worse ways to lose a football game than this – holding in the end zone late in a tie game. That’s what the UConn tackle did with 1:32 left, giving North Carolina a safety and a 12-10 victory.
8. Bill Snyder: Kansas State brought back as much for good memories as anything else, but a 17-15 loss at Louisiana-Lafayette takes K-State back to the early Snyder years, when beating anyone was a task.
7. Jonathan Crompton: The Tennessee senior threw three interceptions and no touchdowns against UCLA, giving him career totals of 14 TDs and 14 intercepts.
6. Atlantic Coast Conference: Here’s how bad the ACC has gotten. It goes 8-1 out-of-conference last week and still stunk. Florida State had to score 12 points in the final minute to beat I-AA Jacksonville State 19-9. Maryland needed overtime to beat I-AA James Madison.
5. Mid-American Conference: The MAC got two great victories – Toledo routed Colorado and Central Michigan upset Michigan State. But the MAC was oh so close to a monumental day. Eastern Michigan lost 27-24 to Northwestern on a field goal with six seconds left. Western Michigan lost a fumble inside the Indiana 10-yard line in the fourth quarter and lost 23-19. And Bowling Green led Missouri in the fourth quarter before allowing two touchdowns and losing 27-20.
4. Washington State: WSU announced last week that it would buy out of the contact with Hawaii and this would be the final game of the series. Poor timing. The Rainbows waxed Washington 38-20.
3. Oklahoma State: With a chance to spend most of September and October in the top five, the Cowboys pulled a clunker, losing 45-35 at home to Houston.
2. Dan Hawkins: Colorado was blitzed 54-38 at Toledo, and the Buffs’ beleaguered coach now looks like a goner, if the school can figure out how to pay for his contract.
1. Ohio State: With a chance to put years of discouraging defeats behind them, the Buckeyes instead gave up an 86-yard touchdown drive to Southern Cal in the waning minutes and lost 18-15, and now coach Jim Tressel faces more questions on why he can’t win the big one.
The unassuming Landry Jones
I got my first up-close-and-personal look at Landry Jones on Monday night. Sat next to him for several minutes during an interview Jones gave to several reporters.
I came away impressed with Jones. He’s unassuming. Very unassuming. Almost like he hasn’t figured out what a big deal he now is, with Sam Bradford on the disabled list and the Sooner football fortunes transferred to Jones’ hands.
When our man Jake Trotter informed Jones that the American Moustache Association had suddenly jumped on the Jones bandwagon, Jones sort of smiled but otherwise gave no reaction. “No, really, he’s telling the truth,” I told Jones.
“Really?” Jones replied. He had to be thinking, why is there an American Moustache Association and why is it interested in me?
Welcome to your new world. The Oklahoma quarterback, no matter the experience level, is lightning-rod position. A national post. And if Bradford isn’t back for Miami on Oct. 3, millions of Americans are going to hear about, see and in their own way critique that now-famous little moustache.
I don’t know if Landry Jones can quarterback. Anyone who puts any stock in anything he did against Idaho State is frantically loading up on fool’s gold. Idaho State is a far less guide than even practice. Every Sooner could go three-quarters speed in terms of decision-making and still come out fine.
You know how they always say football speeds up when the games arrive? Well, when Idaho State arrives, the game slows down. You can be sluggish and slow and be extra careful, because you’ll still have time to get the ball off or decide which receiver is open or which play to check to.
Not anymore. Not starting this Saturday with Tulsa. But the early returns on Jones are solid. His demeanor has been reviewed well by coaches and teammates, and nothing he has done in the public eye counters that assertion.
Including keeping that moustache.
Peterson: Chasing Jimmy Brown
I try to avoid over-the-top statements. But sometimes, events warrant radical thought. Take, for instance, Adrian Peterson.
Two seasons and one game into Peterson’s NFL career seems as good a time as any to discuss where he might land on the all-time running back list. And here’s the kicker: Peterson has a chance to be No. 1.
Might as well get the arguments started immediately. Here’s my top five all-time:
1. Jim Brown
2. Barry Sanders
3. O.J. Simpson (character doesn’t count, especially post-career)
4. Eric Dickerson
5. Walter Payton
If you want to argue about Dickerson and Payton, don’t bother. Not that big a deal to me. You could insert Emmitt Smith and Red Grange, or Tony Dorsett and Marcus Allen, or Earl Campbell and Marshall Faulk, and I wouldn’t have a beef.
The top three, I’m pretty set on.
O.J. was truly an epic ballplayer, both in style and production, and that’s all been overshadowed in the 15 years since we found out he’s a reprehensible thug. One of the most underrated records in sport: Simpson’s 143 yards rushing per game in 1973.
Sanders was an American original; there never has been anything like him, before or since. Think about that for a minute. Think of the hundreds of thousands of football players you’ve watched in your life. Not one of them comes close to playing like Sanders played. Nobody.
But Brown was the best. Eight rushing titles in his nine seasons. Retired at the very top of his game. Big and fast, strong and tough.
Just like Adrian Peterson. When Peterson was drafted by the Vikings in April 2007, only fools thought he wouldn’t be a star. By that November, I was writing that Peterson might be the next Brown. I think we can affirm that now.
Peterson opened Year 3 on Sunday with 180 rushing yards against Cleveland, including a long touchdown run in which he toyed with the Browns defense like it was some poor Texas high school trying to tackle Peterson back at Palestine.
To set records and reach the top of the NFL’s various rushing lists, Peterson will have to stay healthy and play at least a decade. But for just sheer impact on a game, he’s approaching the greats already. Peterson’ is that rarest of ballcarrier; a guy who runs away from defenders but will run violently if need be. Or sometimes when it’s not necessary.
Peterson is a man among boys in a league that is all man. He’s got a chance to the NFL’s greatest ballcarrier.
What does OSU learn from Georgia?
While we dissected OSU’s 45-35 loss to Houston, some of the Boone Pickens Stadium pressbox televisions displayed a very interesting game. Georgia-South Carolina.
Georgia won 41-37 when a late Gamecock threat was turned back. Who won was not as interesting as the score: 41-37. Predictions on the game centered around 10-6. These teams traditionally play low-scoring games. When Georgia led 17-14 early in the second quarter, it was the most points these foes had scored on each other in years.
So coming on the heels of OSU’s 24-10 victory over Georgia — defense was great, offense was a little off — and now in the light of the Houston game (offense nothing special, defense a sieve), what do we think of the Cowboys?
Well, Georgia’s offense is better than we thought, so OSU’s defense deserves all the plaudits handed out a week ago. But Georgia’s defense was not as stout against South Carolina. The Gamecocks were not good offensively in Week 1, when they beat North Carolina State 7-3 and were lucky to get the seven.
So why did South Carolina ring up 26 first downs and 427 total yards against Georgia?
That’s the troubling part about OSU’s 1-1 start. The offense is not in gear. The Cowboys scored four touchdowns in 12 possessions against Houston. That’s decent production but nothing special. Anything below 30 percent is poor; anything above 40 percent is outstanding. In the 30s in terms of percentage is just average. And OSU was in the low 30s (33 percent) against Houston.
And after South Carolina’s beleaguered offense lit up Georgia, it makes you wonder even more what’s wrong with the Cowboys.
