college football

[smazza]

CHRIS DUFRESNE ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Dates you don't want to miss

Chris Dufresne

October 26, 2006

There are dinner-and-a-movie dates, the fruity kind you eat and, in college football, these important upcoming calendar events:

•  Nov. 2. Breeders' Cup Week in Louisville. West Virginia is also in town to play Louisville on Thursday night in a game that possibly involves national championship jockeying. It's arguably the biggest game in Big East history  but still not big enough to play it on a Saturday.

ADVERTISEMENT

•  Nov. 7. Former Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler, a strong-armed Democrat, is making a congressional run in North Carolina's 11th district.

Republicans hope Shuler finishes second again, as he did to Florida State's Charlie Ward in the 1993 Heisman Trophy race. Shuler was a first-round bust for the Washington Redskins in 1994. One website joke is that he should never be allowed near Washington again.

•  Nov. 8. Bobby Bowden turns 77, and he has to be feeling older by the minute. Florida State has lost more games in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, three, than it did in its first nine years in the ACC from 1992 through 2000.

Some boosters think it's time for Bowden to step down. Some at Penn State said the same thing two years ago about Joe Paterno a year before his team went 11-1.

"Something good is going to come out of this," a beleaguered Bowden said this week.

When was the last time Florida State even won a conference title?

Try last year.

Some boosters, 30 years ago, ran Bowden out of West Virginia.

Some boosters are dumb.

Some boosters may not remember that, before Bowden started blowing whistles in Tallahassee, Florida State was an arm pit. Before that, it was a women's college.

•  Nov. 9. Louisville at Rutgers. Don't laugh, but the undefeated team here might be Rutgers. Ticket demand is so high in Piscataway fans will be allowed to watch the game from a hill in the stadium's open end and portable bleachers will be imported for the band. Also, we hear Tony Soprano is looking for two.

•  Nov. 11. South Carolina at Florida. Steve Spurrier has made so many round-trip social visits to Gainesville this fall  induction into the school's Ring of Honor; ceremony to celebrate 1996 national title team  it's believed he has earned two free airline tickets.

This time the second-year South Carolina coach is back for business. What if, 10 years after he coached Florida to a national title, he knocked the Gators out of one?

•  Nov. 18. The "Monster Truck Weekend" of college football as No. 1 Ohio State plays host to No. 2 Michigan in Columbus while No. 3 USC plays host to No. 12 California at the Coliseum.

•  Nov. 23. Boston College at Miami. It was on this date in 1984 that Doug Flutie heaved his famous last-second pass in the Orange Bowl. The only vertically challenged leader making news this time around is Miami President Donna Shalala.

•  Nov. 25. Notre Dame at USC. Two years ago after this game, Notre Dame fired its coach and hired Charlie somebody-or-other. Also on tap: Will North Carolina at Duke make Duke 0-12 and make everyone look forward to the real North Carolina at Duke in basketball?

Boise State is at Nevada, possibly with an unbeaten season and major bowl berth at stake in a game at Reno  the Biggest Little non-BCS city in the world.

•  Dec. 2. The Southeastern Conference title game (will the SEC champion get BCS-snubbed again?), UCLA vs. USC (Can Karl Dorrell afford another "Rout 66?"); Rutgers at West Virginia (will national columnists have to hitchhike there to chronicle a Mountaineers' march to the Mountaintop?); Cal at Stanford (Might this be the "big" game that sends Stanford to 0-12 and Cal to its first Rose Bowl since 1959?).

•  Dec. 3. Final BCS standings are revealed. It could break as cleanly as last year, when USC vs. Texas was forwarded by unanimous consent. Or, chaos and calculator confusion might ensue and deliver BCS flashbacks to 2000, '01, '03 and '04.

•  Dec. 9. The Heisman Trophy announcement in New York City. It'll be bigger news if, by then, it is reported that last year's winner will have to give his Heisman back.

ADVERTISEMENT

•  Dec. 16. Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, site of the Division III title game, the culmination of a champion crowned by a playoff. What a concept. This year's projected game: Mount Union (eight titles the last 13 years) vs. fill-in-the-loser.

•  Dec. 21. Joe Paterno turns 80. No one expects him to do a cartwheel. After last year's dream season, Paterno is back to being Mr. Cranky. Bowden and Paterno have won more major college games than any two coaches but this season they are a combined 9-6.

•  Jan. 1. Rose Bowl. Anyone ready for Boise State vs. West Virginia?

Not really. A better scenario, should the Rose lose Ohio State/Michigan and USC to the BCS title game, would be Cal against Notre Dame in the Irish's first appearance in Pasadena since the Four Horsemen rode.

•  Jan. 8. BCS national title game in Glendale, Ariz. If Ohio State gets there after beating Michigan on Nov. 18, well, rest assured, the Buckeyes will be well-rested.

Blitz Package

•  Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis wondered out loud this week why his Irish dropped one spot in the BCS, from eighth to ninth, after a last-minute win against UCLA. "Maybe I'm just stupid; just tell me how that works," Weis said.

The same way it worked last year when Notre Dame went from unranked to No. 10 in the Associated Press poll after wins against Pittsburgh and Michigan, which finished a combined 12-11.

This polling business is an inexact science. Weis is on the campaign trail because he thinks his one-loss team still has a remote shot at the national title. Also, the Irish get an automatic major bowl bid if they finish No. 8 or better in the BCS.

It is smart for a coach to do his team's bidding in the media. It worked wonders two years ago when Mack Brown pleaded Texas' Rose Bowl case.

Others, like Cal Coach Jeff Tedford, just don't have the stomach for it. Asked this week if he knew where his team was ranked in the BCS or how it worked, Tedford said "No."

•  Cal is trying to revitalize the Heisman campaign of junior tailback Marshawn Lynch, whose 150 rushing yards on two sprained ankles last weekend heroically lifted the Bears to an overtime win against Washington. The problem is Lynch is so selfless he refuses to promote himself, recently insisting that tailback teammates Marcus O'Keith and Justin Forsett appear with him on a mouse-pad pictorial the school issued.

The publicity-shy Lynch did make news when, after the overtime win over Washington, he commandeered an injury cart and drove it around Memorial Stadium. "I don't know where it came from," Lynch said of the impulse. "I just saw the keys were in it."

Tedford thought it was amusing. He also said, "I told him not to do that again."

•  Jeff Sagarin's weekly ratings in USA Today provide unique insight into how margin of victory, which is no longer allowed to be factored by the six BCS operators, affects a team's standing. Sagarin keeps two sets of books. This week, Cal is No. 2 in Sagarin but No. 7 in his adjusted-for-BCS listings. Arkansas, which suffered a 50-14 opening loss to USC, is No. 21 in Sagarin but No. 4 in his BCS. And check this out, Coach Weis, the pollsters may have punished your Irish for a 47-21 home loss to Michigan, but the computers did not. Notre Dame is No. 19 in Sagarin but a solid No. 8 in his BCS listings.

•  The Heisman race is Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith's to win, Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn's to chase and then anyone's guess after that. Eliminated from contention in recent weeks have been Oklahoma tailback Adrian Peterson (injury), Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson (no catches in loss to Clemson) and Northern Illinois tailback Garrett Wolfe (70 yards in his last two games). West Virginia has two stars in the same backfield, Pat White and Steve Slaton, but they may split votes.

Smith, who leads Ohio State against Minnesota this week, refused to be baited on the Heisman question during Tuesday's Big Ten coaches' conference call. Asked what jacket size he wore, Smith said, "I don't know…. It's a great thing to have your name mentioned with that, but I try not to think about it."

•  Bad memory lane: USC is not ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the BCS for the first time since the final release on Dec. 6, 2003. In those final BCS rankings, USC was ranked No. 1 in both polls but still finished No. 3 in the BCS behind Oklahoma and Louisiana State. If memory serves, that caused a bit of controversy.

[smazza]

FOUR GAMES TO WATCH

Peter Yoon

October 26, 2006

No. 10 CLEMSON (7-1) at VIRGINIA TECH (5-2)

•  Kickoff: Tonight, 4:30 PDT.

ADVERTISEMENT

•  TV: ESPN.

•  Line: Clemson by 4 1/2 .

•  Clemson update: The Tigers, who are on a six-game winning streak, statistically are the most complete team in the nation, ranking fourth in total defense (230.38 yards per game) and sixth in total offense (456.25 yards). No other team is among the top 10 in both. Leading rusher James Davis, seventh in the nation with 961 yards and second with 16 touchdowns, injured his shoulder in a victory over Georgia Tech last week and his availability will be a game-time decision. In his place, C.J. Spiller had 116 yards in 16 carries last week.

•  Virginia Tech update: The Hokies reached No. 11 in the nation before consecutive losses to Georgia Tech and Boston College. They match up well against Clemson, with a run defense that gives up an average of only 98.6 yards a game. On offense, they average a respectable 29.14 points a game but have struggled to run the ball, averaging only 119 yards a game on the ground. They combined for 75 yards in their two losses.

•  Story line: Clemson would be in the thick of the national title hunt if not for a missed extra point in a double-overtime loss to Boston College in Week 2. But the Tigers might not even win the Atlantic Coast Conference title because Boston College holds the tiebreaker if they both win out.

•  The pick: Clemson. Virginia Tech has shown that it can't compete with top teams.

*

No. 19 OKLAHOMA (5-2) at No. 23 MISSOURI (7-1)

•  Kickoff: Saturday, 9 a.m.

•  TV: Game Plan only on West Coast.

•  Line: Missouri by 2.

•  Oklahoma update: With running back Adrian Peterson out because of a broken collarbone, the Sooners will have to rely on a defense that ranks 12th nationally, giving up 266.71 yards per game. The Sooners gave up 71 points in their first three games, but have given up only 40 in their last four and only 12 in their last two. Allen Patrick, subbing for Peterson, had 35 carries for 116 yards last week against Colorado, but quarterback Paul Thompson passed for a season-low 105 yards.

•  Missouri update: The Tigers start this week with an offense averaging 419 yards a game  No. 14 in the nation. Sophomore quarterback Chase Daniel is eighth in the nation in passing yards, with 2,003, and touchdowns, with 19  a school single-season record. Defensive lineman Brian Smith, who is fifth in the nation with 7 1/2 sacks and is the school's all-time leader with 31 1/2 , is out for the rest of the regular season after suffering a broken hip last week.

•  Story line: Missouri started the season 6-0, yet is still fighting for credibility. A victory in this game would go a long way. Oklahoma is trying to hang on for a decent bowl bid while Peterson is out.

•  The pick: Oklahoma. The Sooners should be able to control the clock by handing to Patrick, a bruising runner, 35 more times.

*

GEORGIA (6-2) vs. No. 9 FLORIDA (6-1)

•  Kickoff: Saturday, 12:30 p.m., at Jacksonville, Fla.

•  TV: Channel 2.

•  Line: Florida by 14.

ADVERTISEMENT

•  Georgia update: Through five games, Georgia had given up 34 points, was undefeated, and ranked No. 10 in the nation. Over the next three weeks, the Bulldogs gave up 99 points, lost twice, and dropped from the top 25. The Bulldogs still have the No. 12 defense in the nation, giving up an average of 267.38 yards a game, but they have given up 324 per game over the last three. The Georgia offense has 17 turnovers.

•  Florida update: The Gators had an open date last week, meaning they had two weeks to think about a loss to Auburn that knocked them from the No. 2 spot in the rankings. The strength of the team is a defense that gives up an average of only 12 points a game, which is fifth in the nation. Opponents have averaged only 67.71 yards a game on the ground.

•  Story line: They'll have to come up with a new nickname after Southeastern Conference officials urged the game no longer be referred to as "The world's largest outdoor cocktail party." Florida could make it "Celebration Day" with a victory because it has a relatively easy remaining schedule.

•  The pick: Florida. The Bulldogs are struggling on both sides of the ball while Florida still has to be considered one of the nation's elite teams.

*

MIAMI (5-2) at No. 21 GEORGIA TECH (5-2)

•  Kickoff: Saturday, 12:30 p.m.

•  TV: Game Plan only on West Coast.

•  Line: Georgia Tech by 5 1/2 .

•  Miami update: A series of setbacks has led many fans to give up on Miami, but, believe it or not, the Hurricanes can still win the Atlantic Coast Conference. Miami is No. 8 in the nation in total defense and No. 3 against the run. The Hurricanes, who have given up only 35 points during their current four-game winning streak, will get 12 players back from suspensions for their roles in an Oct. 14 brawl with Florida International. Receiver Ryan Moore, suspended since allegedly assaulting a woman on Aug. 26, practiced with the team this week and might play for the first time this season.

•  Georgia Tech: Receiver Calvin Johnson and the Yellow Jackets' offense had been rolling since a 14-10 opening-game loss to Notre Dame. But they hit a wall in a 31-7 loss to Clemson last week. Johnson, the ACC leader in receiving yards with 559, was held without a catch for the first time in his career.

•  Story line: The winner of this game takes control of the ACC Coastal Division and has the inside track for a spot in the conference title game. Georgia Tech, which last won a conference title in 1990, has a half-game lead over Miami.

•  The pick: Miami. Motivated by turning talk of their season-long troubles into ACC title talk, the Hurricanes come out on top.