COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 8: A visit to Baylor High
KEEPING UP WITH COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Every Sunday starting in October, after the first BCS rankings are out, Mack Brown gathers his team and talks about the landscape of college football.
Where the Longhorns are ranked; who’s ahead of them and who’s creeping up. Where Texas stands in the Big 12 South and who they might be playing from the North in the Big 12 title game.
What were the big upsets from the previous and what were the close calls.
Brown said he does that to inform his players, who will be asked about it all week, so they might as well know.
Then there’s Bob Stoops, who says he never talks to his team about other games or rankings or standings.
Stoops said spending energy or focus on other teams is a waste of time. “You can’t do anything about it,” Stoops said. “Focus on what we have to do. We still have five Big 12 games left. A lot could change and has in the past.”
I’m not saying one method is right and another wrong. I’m not saying one method is better than another. To me it’s just interesting that two highly-successful coaches approach a similar situation in such drastically different ways.
BAYLOR HIGH
Going to a game at Baylor is fun. It’s sort of a throwback. Like going to a high school.
No offense intended. But you can drive right up to the stadium. We parked on some grass, walked right in. That’s the way you do it at most high school stadiums. I’ve never done that anywhere in college football, with the exception of Northern Illinois, and that’s going back a quarter century.
The fans turned out decently and cheered, but it wasn’t life or death. The post-game was low key. Didn’t need an army of security officers.
Baylor, of course, would like to change all that. But there’s something charming about going to a game in Floyd Casey Stadium.
TEN BIGGEST LOSERS OF THE WEEK
10. Southern Cal defense: Remember when the Trojans had a defense for the ages? You know, back in September. USC held Ohio State to 15 points, Washington to 16 and Cal to three. But in victories over Notre Dame (34-27) and Oregon State (42-36), the Trojans have proven vulnerable. Oregon State had 482 total yards and 22 first downs.
9. Louisiana-Lafayette: Only one carrot exists for a Sun Belt team. Win the league and go to the New Orleans Bowl. The Ragin’ Cajuns were keeping step with Louisiana-Monroe and Troy - and had both of those foes at home – until a 51-29 home loss to Florida Atlantic.
8. Indiana: The Hoosiers were flirting with bowl eligibility, with a 4-3 record and a 28-3 lead over Northwestern. But the Wildcats scored the final 26 points of the game, including a game-winning field goal with 21 seconds left. Now IU is 4-4 with Iowa, Wisconsin and Penn State awaiting.
7. Lane Kiffin: The Tennessee coach had a chance at a landmark victory - an upset of second-ranked Alabama, in Tuscaloosa. But Bama blocked a 44-yard field goal on the last play of the game, and Kiffin was partly to blame. He let the clock run down in the final 30 seconds, settling for a 44-yarder. Kiffin must have thought he still was in the NFL, where a 44-yard field goal is close to automatic. Not so on campus.
6. Michigan: Rich Rodriguez’s rebuilding has gone awry again. The Wolverines lost 35-10 at home to Penn State, and while 5-3 Michigan will make a bowl, it will be hollow. Other than Notre Dame, the Wolverines’ victims are Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Indiana and Delaware State.
5. Notre Dame hearts: Unbelievably, the Irish played their sixth straight game that went right down to the wire. Notre Dame beat Boston College 20-16 only when Brian Smith intercepted a pass with 98 seconds left in the game. That game was a rout compared to the final-seconds finishes the previous five weeks.
4. Miami: The Hurricanes were on a BCS track until the longest volley since Evert-Navratilova. Miami and Clemson took turns scoring in a game with 10 lead changes; Clemson won 40-37 in overtime and knocked Miami into fifth place in the ACC Coastal Division.
3. South Florida’s reputation: The Bulls’ collapse is happening again. In 2007, South Florida started 6-0 with victories over Auburn, North Carolina and West Virginia but finished 9-4. In 2008, USF started 5-0 with victories over Kansas and North Carolina State but finished 8-5. USF this year started 5-0 with a win over Florida State but has lost two straight, 34-17 to Cincinnati and 41-14 at Pitt.
2. Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson: Bo Pelini has returned big-time defense to Lincoln, but Nebraska’s offense is awful. The Huskers committed eight turnovers in a 9-7 home loss to Iowa State, a week after a 31-10 home loss to Texas Tech. Husker fans have been calling for a quarterback change. Soon enough, they will call for a coordinator change.
1. Mike Leach: Sometimes, the emperor wears no clothes. Texas Tech’s 52-30 home loss to Texas A&M brought out the worst in Leach, who referred to his players listening too much to their “fat little girlfriends.” Then Leach declined to revise his comments. Hey, I know you love Pirates, Mike, and I know pirates were mean. But let’s just admit it. A&M’s toy soldiers took it to your pirates.
REALITY RANKINGS
Rankings based not on what we think a team might do but what a team has done.
1. Iowa:
2. Alabama
3. Florida
4. Cincinnati
5. Georgia Tech
6. Southern Cal
7. Boise State
8. TCU
9. Oregon
10. Texas
RADIO WARS
Driving back to Dallas from Waco on Saturday evening, we went old-fashioned and listened to football on the radio. Texas Tech-Texas A&M and Texas-Missouri.
A&M’s radio crew was not very good. Way too emotional. Couldn’t really follow the game. UT’s Craig Way, of course, is a fantastic announcer. Texas-Missouri was a much less interesting game but much more listenable simply because of the broadcaster.
TEN BIGGEST WINNERS OF THE WEEK
10. MiQuale Lewis & Cory Sykes: The Ball State tailbacks set an NCAA record for single-game rushing yards by two teammates. In a 29-27 victory over Eastern Michigan - in a battle of winless teams - Lewis rushed for 301 yards on 26 carries and Sykes for 203 yards on 23 carries. And it was a good thing; Ball State completed just two of 10 passes for 1 yard.
9. San Diego State: Brady Hoke’s first year with the Aztecs got a big boost with a 42-28 victory at Colorado State, With a home game against New Mexico approaching, San Diego State could get its first two-game winning streak since Chuck Long’s 2007 team.
8. Running game: Navy did not throw a pass in beating Wake Forest 13-10. In a torrential downpour, Navy ran triple option to raise its record to 6-2. Navy also beat SMU a year ago without attempting a pass, becoming the first team since Ohio U. in 1997 to not throw a single time.
7. Oregon mindset: The Ducks dismantled Washington 43-19 in Seattle, the same site where the Huskies upset Southern Cal. That should soar Oregon’s confidence going into this week’s USC-Oregon showdown in Eugene.
6. West Virginia fans: The Mountaineer fan base gave Connecticut a standing ovation as the Huskies took the field in Morgantown, in recognition that UConn was playing with a heavy heart in the wake of the murder of cornerback Jasper Howard. West Virginia’s fans were treated to a good game, too, won 28-24 by the Mountaineers on Noel Devine’s 56-yard TD run with 2:10 left in the game.
5. Houston Nutt: Arkansas didn’t want Nutt as coach after the 2007 season, so Nutt went to Ole Miss and now Nutt twice has whacked the Razorbacks, 23-21 a year ago in the Ozarks and 30-17 Saturday in Oxford.
4. TCU’s BCS hopes: The Horned Frogs went to Brigham Young and rolled the Cougars 38-7. Now TCU has moved ahead of Boise State in the BCS and might stay there.
3. Christian Ponder: Florida State has had quarterback problems since Chris Weinke won the Heisman in 2000. But those days seem gone. Ponder threw for 395 yards and three touchdowns as the Seminoles rallied from a 24-6 deficit and beat North Carolina 30-27. Ponder this season has completed 70 percent of his passes with 12 TDs and one interception.
2. State of Iowa: Few days have been so glorious in the Prairie State. First, Iowa State crossed the state line and won in Nebraska, 9-7, for the first time since 1977. Then Iowa protected its unbeaten season with a thrilling 15-13 win at Michigan State, earned when Ricky Stanzi threw a seven-yard TD pass to Marvin McNutt on the last play of the game.
1. Old coaches: Troy’s Larry Blakeney is 62. His team beat North Texas 50-26. Florida Atlantic’s Howard Schnellenberger is 75. His team beat Louisiana-Lafayette 51-29. Florida State’s Bobby Bowden is 79. His team beat North Carolina 30-27. Penn State’s Joe Paterno is 82. His team beat Michigan 35-10. Kansas State’s Bill Snyder is 70. His team beat Colorado 20-6. South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier is 64. His team beat Vanderbilt 14-10. Nevada’s Chris Ault is 62. His team beat Idaho 70-45. UTEP’s Mike Price is 63. His team beat Tulsa 28-24. San Jose State’s Dick Tomey is 71. His team didn’t play, which is good news for whoever they would have played. Old coaches had quite a week.
BLOCK PARTY
We ate dinner Saturday night at Uncle Julio’s a Mexican place at Wycliffe and Lemmon just north of downtown Dallas. Very good. I would go back.
And it was about the best people watching you’ll ever see. It was a block party in the Cedar Springs area, which meant tons of people in Halloween costumes strolled up and down the streets. Saw some wild stuff.
Dallas is an underrated city. I’ve always liked it. Lots of interesting neighborhoods. Traffic is bearable, if you know what you’re doing. Lots going on. And parts of it are very attractive. The Dallas skyline is gorgeous. You don’t have to have mountains or oceans to look cool.
BOWL PROJECTIONS
With the upheaval in the Big 12 North, did you know the Big 12 could have 10 bowl-eligible teams? Not that there are enough slots to go around.
New Mexico Bowl, Dec. 19, Albuquerque, N.M.
Air Force vs. Nevada
St. Pete Bowl, Dec. 19, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Connecticut vs. Central Florida
New Orleans Bowl, Dec. 20, New Orleans
East Carolina vs. Troy
Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 22, Las Vegas
Utah vs. California
Poinsettia Bowl, Dec. 23, San Diego
BYU vs. Oregon State
Hawaii Bowl, Dec. 24, Honolulu
Tulsa vs. Fresno State
Emerald Bowl, Dec. 26, San Francisco
Kent State vs. Stanford
Motor City Bowl, Dec. 26, Detroit
Marshall vs. Central Michigan
Meineke Bowl, Dec. 26, Charlotte, N.C.
Clemson vs. Pittsburgh
Music City Bowl, Dec. 27, Nashville, Tenn.
Boston College vs. Georgia
Independence Bowl, Dec. 28, Shreveport, La.
Texas A&M vs. Tennessee
Champs Sports Bowl, Dec. 29, Orlando, Fla.
North Carolina State vs. South Florida
EagleBank Bowl, Dec. 30, Washington, D.C.
UCLA vs. Navy
Holiday Bowl, Dec. 30, San Diego
Oklahoma vs. Oregon
Humanitarian Bowl, Dec. 30, Boise, Idaho
Wyoming vs. Idaho
Texas Bowl, Dec. 30, Houston
Nebraska vs. Northern Illinois
Armed Forces Bowl, Dec. 30, Fort Worth, Texas
Colorado State vs. Texas-El Paso
Sun Bowl, Dec. 31, El Paso, Texas
Kansas State vs. Arizona
Insight Bowl, Dec. 31, Tempe, Ariz.
Northwestern vs. Kansas
Chick-fil-A Bowl, Dec. 31, Atlanta
Miami vs. Kentucky
Outback Bowl, Jan. 1, Tampa, Fla.
Michigan vs. Ole Miss
Capital One Bowl, Jan. 1, Orlando, Fla.
Wisconsin vs. South Carolina
Gator Bowl, Jan. 1, Jacksonville, Fla.
Virginia Tech vs. Notre Dame
Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, Pasadena, Calif.
Iowa vs. Southern Cal
Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1, New Orleans
Alabama vs. Boise State
Cotton Bowl, Jan. 2, Arlington, Texas
LSU vs. Oklahoma State
Liberty Bowl, Jan. 2, Memphis, Tenn.
Houston vs. Auburn
International Bowl, Jan. 2, Toronto
Rutgers vs.Ohio
PapaJohns.com Bowl, Jan. 2, Birmingham, Ala.
West Virginia vs. Arkansas
Alamo Bowl, Jan. 2, San Antonio
Minnesota vs. Texas Tech
Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 4, Glendale, Ariz.
Penn State vs. Cincinnati
Orange Bowl, Jan. 5, Miami Gardens, Fla.
TCU vs. Georgia Tech
GMAC Bowl, Jan. 6, Mobile, Ala.
Missouri vs. Temple
Big Bowl, Jan. 7, Pasadena, Calif.
Florida vs. Texas
-------------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. Visit Berry's website here.
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Based on what they have done, Iowa is most definitely NOT No. 1. You can’t just ignore that they were one play away from losing to mighty Northern Iowa and Arkansas State.