CFB Week 7 (10/7-10/11) News and Picks

Franklin fired as Auburn offensive coordinator


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Mike Szvetitz
Staff writer
Published: October 8, 2008
Tony Franklin has been fired as Auburn’s offensive coordinator a source close to the program told the Opelika-Auburn News on Wednesday afternoon.
Franklin was hired in December of 2007, just a few days after then-AU offensive coordinator Al Borges was let go by head coach Tommy Tuberville.
Franklin, who spent the last two years at Troy, was brought to Auburn to run the spread offense - or the “Tony Franklin System” which has been installed at high school programs across the country.
Franklin’s offense hasn’t lived up to its expectations this season, as the Tigers are 4-2, 2-2 in the SEC.
The offense is near or at the bottom in most offensive categories in the SEC and the country. Auburn ranks 104th in total offense (309.2 yards per game), 105th in pass efficiency (104.98), tied for 111th in red zone offense (65 percent) and 112th in third-down conversions (29.7 percent).
For more, check back to http://www.oanow.com and read Thursday’s Opelika-Auburn News.
 
ACC Championship Roulette: Wake Forest, your last, best hope

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
i>Round and round she goes, where the ball stops, nobody knows ...
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This week's bet: Wake Forest. The only thing you know about Wake is its oxymoronic mascot and its quarterback's not-safe-for-anything self-portrait. That, and they've strung together an improbable, largely unexplainable 13-5 ACC record since 2006 by the most impressive means of all: just because. Smells like a winner, baby.
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Let 'em ride: I don't know that Jim Grobe is a genius or anything, but in a choppy, stormy sea of uncertainty, where nearly every other team in this motion-sick league might conceivably capsize at any moment, Grobe is a resourceful skipper par excellence. Everybody knows Wake has risen from decades of futility, but it's easy to overlook just how thoroughly un-talented this program remains -- over the course of Grobe's tenure, the Deacons' recruiting is arguably the worst in any of the "Big Six" conferences. Statistically, they're not running, stopping the run, rushing the passer, protecting the passer or scoring on defenses other than Baylor. They're just the favorite for the ACC Championship game because ... wins are appearing from thin air?
Wake is legitimately good at a couple things: stopping the pass (sixth nationally in pass efficiency defense, fifth in yards allowed; cue gushing praise for all-everything corner Alphonso Smith) and creating turnovers (fifth nationally in TO margin, even after finishing -4 in the loss to Navy, because the defense created 15 takeaways in the first three games). And in a league defined by clutching and grabbing for 55 minutes to preserve a chance to win in the end, there's no better finisher than kicker Sam Swank.
Bet the field: They're not running, stopping the run, rushing the passer, protecting the passer or scoring on defenses other than Baylor. They rely too much on big mistakes by the other team to mask shortcomings. The talent level is still low enough that the Deacons can lose to another athletically-challenged but well-coached outfit like Navy when they get a little sloppy. The stellar pass defense is at least as much a result of playing Baylor, Florida State and Navy (which passed four times) as it is actual competence in the secondary. There were two passable big-play guys on the offense the last two years, Kevin Marion and Kenneth Moore, and nobody yet is making a move for that role on this team.
This is really a concern against a team like Thursday night foe Clemson, which blew the Deacson out of the stadium last year and rallied fairly easily from a big hol to win in Winston-Salem in 2006. The Tigers, of course, are sketchy as they come, consistency-wise, but they're also one of the few teams in the conference with a respectable enough quarterback to challenge Wake downfield -- Cullen Harper had 266 yards and three touchdowns last year -- and if James DAvis andor C.J. Spiller is set to "perform" (as opposed to their other settings, "frustrate," "disappoint" and "fumble"), Wake doesn't have the firepower to keep pace.
Payout: 4-to-1. At the moment, Wake's the only team in the Atlantic division without a conference loss, with its tallest remaining hurdle coming up Thursday, on national television, at home. You have to give the Deacons the edge there, and ofr the season, if for no other reason than they're the only non-schizo option left. If Clemson wins and throws the Atlantic into a four-way tie, it's a triumph for chaos, nihilism and the terrorist vision to cripple civilization with uncertainty. In the name of order and the basuc values of a free people, Wake Forest -- and of keeping us from being forced to reconsider Maryland -- take hold of this division.
 
Morning Coffee Checks In

from Burnt Orange Nation by PB @ BON
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Muck cleaning up. Pop quiz: When was the last year a linebacker led the Texas defense in tackles? If you're scanning your memory banks for Derrick Johnson's last year, you're right--2004. But as Cedric Golden points out in the Statesman this morning, Roddrick Muckelroy leads the team with 40 tackles this season, two years after having to avoid football for 16 weeks due to a ruptured tendon in his ring finger.
Long a BON favorite, Muckelroy laid the foundation for his breakout year in 2007, despite sharing time with a penalty-inclined Sous Chef and veteran Carnie. He's thriving in 2008 under Will Muschamp, cleaning up making tackles behind a vastly improved defensive line that, when not in the backfield itself, is occupying blockers which might otherwise be taking on linebackers. Also improved is his pass coverage--a weakness in 2007--which allows Muschamp to keep Muck on the field no matter the situation.
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Muschamp for UT head coach! Fans are already rallying behind the idea of Will Muschamp as the next head coach at UT. As in, replacing Phil Fulmer at the University of Tennessee. Boooooooo!
I've got a better idea: Let's beat OU on Saturday, ride the momentum to a national title in 2008, repeat in '09, and send Mack Brown off with a parade, three rings, and a permanent corner office in the AD Office where he can remain a face of the program, while Will Muschamp takes over as head coach, promoting Major Applewhite to be his co-head coach and Offensive Coordinator. Garrett Gilbert will become the first four-time national title winner, Deloss Dodds will hire me to be the team's traveling blogger, chain restaurants will be banned from advertising, someone will invent a mute button for real life, and teachers nationwide will be paid like astronauts.
Okay. I really should stop sucking on nitrus balloons when I write these. Still... don't leave, Will. Ever.
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Texas-OU. The game. Adam Jones, author of Rose Bowl Dreams (weekly prize for our pick em contest), has an outstanding complementary piece to 54b's Texas-OU post below. Pretty much everything Adam writes is worth reading, and this is no exception.
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Was Jarboe not available?. Ah, what would a big time college event be without a rap battle between warring fan bases? We may never know.
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Tony Franklin fired at Auburn, cementing 3 to 2 legacy

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
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Auburn's flirtation with that new-fangled spread lasted ... let's see ... six games? Yep, Tony Franklin got halfway home:
Tony Franklin has been fired as Auburnâs offensive coordinator a source close to the program told the Opelika-Auburn News on Wednesday afternoon.
[...]
The offense is near or at the bottom in most offensive categories in the SEC and the country. Auburn ranks 104th in total offense (309.2 yards per game), 105th in pass efficiency (104.98), tied for 111th in red zone offense (65 percent) and 112th in third-down conversions (29.7 percent).​
And he was just feeling like his old self.
Franklin's high-flying "Spread Eagle" featured prominently in losses to Vanderbilt, the 3-2 epic at Mississippi State, a mostly rancid second half in the process of blowing a double-digit lead at home to LSU, a spectacular parade of punts against Tennessee, a grand total of five offensive touchdowns in the last four games and many, many fascinating posts.
It might be a little sooner than expected, but it's not like we didn't see this coming a mile away. It was fun while it lasted, Tony. At least we'll always have Starkville.
 
Colt McCoy run for his (and Texas') life

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
The first thing you should know about Colt McCoy is that -- while conceived, genetically engineered and reared in an oil-drenched bunker underneath a nondescript dude ranch outside Amarillo to fulfill his destiny as the quintessential scrappy Longhorn quarterback -- he is Not Vince Young. The second thing you should know is that he is a better runner than you think:
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That was last year, when Texas' running game centered around Jamaal Charles' shiftiness and breakaway speed in the zone read. But every week this year, we've been reminded before the ritual slaughter of the weekend's sacrificial lamb that, yes, McCoy is still the 'Horns' leading rusher, and, no, surely they will proceed into the Big XII gauntlet in this fashion. Yes, he's gone over 70 yards and led UT on the ground in three of five games, averaged more yards per carry (7.04) than Young did either of his two seasons as a starter and run with surprising vision, power, occasional speed and improvisation. But not only is he Not Vince Young, he's a kinda scrawny white guy with the face of kid no higher'n yonder yucca scrub and a 40-time best left to the imagination. It looks like one thing against Florida Atlantic, Rice and other teams nicknamed the "Owls," and something else completely against Oklahoma.
If Texas partisans weren't exactly excited by Chris Ogbannaya's apparent breakout game against Colorado -- 75 yards on nine carries, 116 yards (all run-after-actch) on six grabs -- they were satisfied, with the implicit assumption being that no offense based largely on Colt McCoy's athleticism has a prayer against OU. Hell, for a while, it seemed like no offense based on Vince Young's athleticism could overcome the Sooners, after they picked off redshirt freshman Vince twice in a 65-13 blowout in 2003 and swarmed sophomore VY in a 12-0 shutout in 2004. McCoy's first two games against Oklahoma have been much, much better (he threw two TDs in a UT win in 2006 and passed for 324 yards with a sky-high 195.5 efficiency rating in last year's close loss), but a one-dimensional attack with no reliable running threat is meat against the No. 1 team in the country. Isn't it?
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If not, it's only because McCoy really is a legitimate threat to do something significant with his legs on the zone read, both by making runs when he keeps the ball and subsequently commanding attention when he gives it. Texas' backs certainly aren't picking up the slack: Ogbonnaya is not the kind of back who's going to create much on his own without the right execution on the right call, and the two guys expected to provide that big play element, Cody Johnson and Vondrell McGee, are both averaging less than four per carry. Brian Cook has a pair of excellent examples today of why the shotgun running game is a disaster when the defense doesn't have to contain the quarterback, a light that seemed to go on for the Horns last year when they put John Chiles in to hand off a single time and instantly broke a three-quarter funk against Nebraska. McCoy has to hurt OU when he keeps the ball -- or at least make OU think he can hurt them -- or it's lights not only for the Texas running game, but the entire offense, which can't be expected to hold up if it can't keep the Sooners honest.
In other words, the Horns remain "frighteningly dependent" -- that's their own words, not mine -- on Colt McCoy emerging their best running back. If he's good enough in that role to outscore Oklahoma (or if he's just a much better passer than anyone realizes, too), Vince Young will have to start wearing Colt McCoy pajamas to the psych ward.
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Photo of McCoy via the Associated Press.
 
Blame Tuberville, Not Tony Franklin

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
Filed under: Auburn, Troy
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Mark Hasty notes that Tony Franklin just got axed, and thus ends the most botched coordinator hire since people started paying attention to who the coordinators were.

Last year, Tony Franklin was riding high, master of a top 20 offense despite taking the Troy Trojans of Troy (We're From Troy!) into battle against foes far superior to his own. The Trojans put up 34 points on Georgia -- only Tennessee exceeded that -- and went 8-4, tying for the Sun Belt championship.

Then he got hired by Auburn and this happened:

<table> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top">Category</td> <td valign="top">Ranking</td> <td valign="top">Avg</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Rushing Offense</td> <td>60</td> <td> 148.50</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Passing Offense</td> <td>103</td> <td> 160.67</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Total Offense</td> <td>104</td> <td> 309.17</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Scoring Offense</td> <td>103</td> <td> 18.67</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
No doubt the Auburn fanbase celebrates at Franklin's demise, but the invaluable Smart Football points out that Tony Franklin never got the opportunity to run his Air Raid offense, which is closer to Texas Tech's spread than the awful melange of whatever Auburn threw out there. Instead, Franklin was forced to use Auburn's ponderous power back on zone stretch plays time and again, to sit Kodi Burns on the bench despite his suitability for the offense, and generally run nothing from his actual playbook.

What's the point of even having him around? You hire a guy, then refuse to let him run his offense, then fire him halfway through his first season. Yeah, Franklin didn't work out but if I was an Auburn fan I'd be pointing the finger at the head coach, not the scapegoat.
 
Thursday Headlinin': Franklin follows the flood through Tuberville's revolving coordinator doors

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
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• It's not your philosophy. It's you. Tony Franklin may have felt Auburn's staff never bought into his spread system before he was given the boot Wednesday after just six games, but Tommy Tuberville says philosophy was not the problem, and won't change on a couple days' notice:
"We played four conference games and we just haven't done that well," Tuberville said. "It had nothing to do with X's and O's. He's a heck of a football coach. It was about getting it done on the practice field and to the game field - we're all responsible to that."
Tuberville said he would stick with the concepts of the spread offense.
"We're not going to change our philosophy," he said.
​
Bobby Petrino, whose Arkansas staff is planning to be hammered by the Tigers no matter what they run Saturday, doesn't buy that, and he's not the only one. Tuberville has gone through five offensive coordinators in ten years, including another guy, Al Borges, who was brought in to install a fast-paced, high-octane, West Coast system and left amid three straight years of diminishing returns. It looks like receivers coach Steve Ensminger will move into the coordinator role on an interim basis -- he was coaching the quarterbacks in Franklin's place Wednesday -- but a hook this fast, after years of rotating doors on both sides of the ball under Tuberville, is a big warning sign to anyone who might be enticed by the chance to become an SEC coordinator come coach-swappin' time in December.
• The next coach could be anyone, unless you lose, in which case it could be anyone. The Harrisburg Patriot-News' David Jones doesn't want to speculate, and knows better by now than to count out Joe Paterno. But if he had to guess, JoePa's fate at Penn State will depend on the next seven games:
The tipping point, I believe, is an 11-2 finish. That or better and Paterno can offer his resignation, either in January or after one more year, in exchange for a say in getting someone on his current staff hired as his successor.
If it's 10-3 or anything less, he either relinquishes some clout or loses it altogether. Then PSU President Graham Spanier effectively will retain carte blanche to do whatever he chooses. And dismissing Paterno and making an outside hire that could purge the entire current staff is then in play.
​
Almost everyone on Paterno's staff has been with him forever, and a couple of them -- Tom Bradley, namely, as well as Galen Hall and, naturally, Jay Paterno -- have been floated as successors. Jones adds a new name: defensive line coach Larry Johnson, father of the ex-PSU/Kansas City Chiefs star. But first, the Lions have a Big Ten championship to win, starting Saturday against Wisconsin.
• Statesman is fair and balanced, says Muschamp's mom. One of Tommy Tuberville's old assistants, Will Muschamp, left to be the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the country at Texas, and most of his salary is for beating Oklahoma. And honestly, asks the Austin American-Statesman, how could he not?
This borderline-fanatical defensive coordinator brings a work ethic that would embarrass a mailman in a blizzard and has an encyclopedic knowledge of strategy and a knack for calling the perfect defense at the perfect time.
​
And he's a handsome one, too, isn't he?
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I guess Sam Bradford doesn't stand a chance.
Quickly ... Looks likely USC will have both Mark Sanchez and Rey Maualuga in the lineup against Arizona State, although Rey Maualuga might like to know. . . . Percy Harvin was back at practice Wednesday and will definitely be in the lineup against LSU. . . . Florida State special teams coach Jody Allen isn't making excuses for the errors that nearly cost FSU a huge lead at Miami. . . . Fullback Brandan Southerland was in the lineup at Wednesday's practice, but Mark Richt also booted a pair of Bulldogs off the end of Georgia's bench. . . . Tennessee hasn't given up on the idea of putting safety Eric Berry at quarterback, maybe alongside occasional scrambler Gerald Jones. . . . Rich Rodriguez knows who his offensive linemen are, now he just has to get them in the right places. . . . Dreaming up a way for Penn State's discipline problems to bite the Lions on the field. . . . Georgia may be down to its third-team quarterback against, eh, Gardner-Webb. . . . Syracuse could really use a good rival these days. How about Wyoming? . . . Washington coaches aren't happy that former Husky quarterback Hugh Millen is criticizing personnel moves. . . . Oregon's Jaison Williams apologized to Mike Bellotti for his serial butterfingers. . . . Stanford is on pace for a bowl game. . . . Nebraska remembers the 70-10 beating it took in Lubbock in 2004. . . . Kicker Daren Daly is making the Sunshine rounds: from Florida State to Miami to Central Florida. . . . And Tyrell Sutton is looking for a fashion change on Northwestern's campus.
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Photo of Franklin exiting Auburn's offices via the Huntsville Times.
 
I love Coach Boom. What a fuckin' quote. Guy knows why he was brought in.

The game Muschamp was hired to coach

Texas' defensive coordinator has the Will to win.

Thursday, October 09, 2008 To clear up one fallacy, Will Muschamp wasn't promised his entire $425,000 annual salary to concoct a brilliant defensive game plan to beat Oklahoma.
Just most of it.
By now, everyone in college football realizes that the emotional, 37-year-old whiz kid from Georgia has transformed the defense on a Texas team that Howard Schnellenberger labeled softer than Oprah's heart into a band of fire-breathing mercenaries.
And the nation's second-highest-paid coordinator — behind only Jimbo Fisher's $625,000 at Florida State — is earning every penny.
This borderline-fanatical defensive coordinator brings a work ethic that would embarrass a mailman in a blizzard and has an encyclopedic knowledge of strategy and a knack for calling the perfect defense at the perfect time.
As Longhorns defensive tackle Roy Miller noted when asked when Muschamp started working on OU following Texas' road win over Colorado, "I don't know, but I saw the lights on in the front of the plane."
Muschamp hasn't met himself leaving work when he shows up by 6 a.m., but he could. He's so into the job that he got a ticket warning on his white Silverado Z71 truck recently because he hadn't had time to attach the new permit he received in August. That's the same truck that until recently had the "Go Tigers" bumper sticker from his days at Auburn.
He won't forfeit his paycheck if Texas loses to top-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday, but if the Longhorns are to have any shot at an upset, Muschamp's the reason. He was hired to beat OU. He's done it before.
Muschamp is accustomed to the big-time arena, having worked in the NFL with the Dolphins and coached at LSU and at Auburn, where the Iron Bowl, pitting Alabama and Auburn, provided many of the same subplots as Texas-OU.
Muschamp's not into the trivial. He's taking up golf at Mack Brown's request, and he'll fit in an Alan Jackson concert and trips to the beach for his wife and two kids. But he wastes no time with small talk and has been known to make the 10-minute walk from the football offices to Bellmont Hall for press conferences without uttering a single word to a companion. He's not so serious he doesn't cut up with his players, and school officials say he keeps it lively.
His players crack jokes about the time he spends, remote in hand, eyes trained on the screen as he breaks down tape of the upcoming opponent. It's his usual pose in his office. Rewind. Forward. Rewind. Forward. You could call him Coach Rewind.
He's taken more than a few peeks at the 2004 Sugar Bowl in which his LSU defense dismantled Oklahoma's high-scoring offense 21-14 to win the first of the Tigers' two national championships this decade. In fairness, Jason White's hurt elbow, sprained thumb and broken toe were big factors, but the Tigers defense just devoured OU.
Has he watched it much?
"A bunch, yes," he confides.
OU coach Bob Stoops reminded this week that quarterback Sam Bradford isn't hurt, and Texas isn't LSU. He's right. Those Tigers had future Dallas Cowboy Marcus Spears and eight other defensive starters who made NFL rosters, including freshman safety LaRon Landry. Texas starts two freshman safeties.
No matter to Muschamp. He makes do — without complaints about what he doesn't have.
This defense is a throwback to some of those Leon Fuller designed under Fred Akers in the late 1970s and early '80s, and Muschamp is part of a legacy at a school that has bred outstanding defensive coordinators. The late Mike Campbell, Darrell Royal's right-hand man, is the gold standard at Texas, with David McWilliams and Fuller right behind. Muschamp reminds of all three and is putting a tenacious defense on the field that reminds of years gone by.
"His defense looks like ours used to," McWilliams says. "The good thing about those defenses, you always felt you had a chance to win the game."
McWilliams learned at the elbow of Campbell and remembers how he would "try to take away what you did best and make 'em try to beat you left-handed. ... He didn't work on a bunch of what-ifs, and I think Muschamp is the same way. It looks like he makes great adjustments at halftime and sometimes takes things out if he sees his guys are confused."
In fairness to the man Muschamp succeeded, Duane Akina didn't have a healthy Brian Orakpo or Sergio Kindle last season. With those two on the field, Texas has a dominant defensive line that gets great push; strong, mobile linebackers; and young but aggressive defensive backs capable of manning up with talented, speedy wide receivers.
"I think he's done a great job," Akina says. "If you talk about players needing to put their egos in their back pocket, coaches have to do the same thing."
Together, he and Muschamp have changed the mindset and expectations for a unit that was much maligned the last several years for its shortcomings against the pass. In its place has turned up a defense that can rely on a front four — front eight actually — to put pressure on the quarterback and allow the linebacking corps a chance to help a secondary so young that it's rumored they break for cookies and milk during team meetings.
"Coach Champ," as his players call him, is into winning, not winning the stats game. But that doesn't mean he wasn't chewing on his second-team defense for giving up a late touchdown to Colorado. He's out for perfection.
The credit shouldn't all go to Muschamp because he joined a smart staff with Akina, Mike Tolleson, perhaps the least-appreciated defensive tackle coach in America, and Oscar Giles. Muschamp also has good enough people skills that he has interacted cohesively with the man he replaced and allowed Akina to shine as a terrific secondary coach who can also teach a dachshund to block kicks.
"I think he's really found a home at Texas," says Michael Bonnette, LSU spokesman and Muschamp's friend. "I think his wife is tired of jumping around. He's just a great football coach."
Muschamp isn't so much a rising star as the next head coach-in-waiting. He may never succeed Brown as head coach at Texas — the school hasn't promoted an assistant into the head man's chair since Ed Price replaced Blair Cherry in 1951 — but there have been worse ideas. He could wind up at Clemson, Tennessee or Washington, where the former LSU chancellor is now the president.
But first things first.
Muschamp won't tell you how much he's held back in preparation for this game, but Miller claimed he's barely scratched the surface and used just 25 percent.
"We've still got some stuff up our sleeves," cornerback Ryan Palmer says. "We've got some tricks."
Texas fans can count on it.
So is Muschamp spending every night in his office?
"You've got to do what you've got to do," he says.
 
Are these the last days of Tommy Tuberville?

from Fanblogs.com by Kevin Donahue
After Wednesday's impromptu firing of new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, I have to wonder if Tommy Tuberville has backed himself into a corner.
By all accounts, Tuberville has been questioning the lack of production by the Auburn offense for the better part of two weeks. It's rumored that a meeting between Franklin and Tubs came to a head on Wednesday, with the OC asking for more control and the head coach deciding to cut bait.
Was this just a big squirting match with Tubs? After all, he was insistent that no one call the Tigers offense the "Franklin Offense". Of course, that was easy to do, because Auburn wasn't really running the full "Franklin Offense". Tuberville backers will say that the head coach wanted to put team first - as in 'let's call it the Auburn offense' - but... was it something more? Insecurity?
So where does Auburn stand? They are stuck somewhere between "committed to the spread offense" and no apparent interest in the spread whatsoever. How would you like to be one of those prized 2009 recruits right about now?
Raymond Cotton, 4-Star QB:

"Actually I was a little disappointed to see him go. He was the one who offered me and was the one I talked to most of the time so it's a little messed up to see him let go like that. But I'm committed to Auburn. I don't think this will impact my recruitment. That's all I can say." (emphasis added) ​
Brandon Heavens, 3-Star WR:

"When I first heard I was like, 'Whoa.' I couldn't believe it. I kept asking everybody if it was true or just a rumor. They kept telling me it was true but I couldn't believe it. It probably doesn't change my commitment. I feel like I'm still going to go to Auburn. I'm just curious what kind of offense we're going to run now." (emphasis added) ​
Philip Lutzenkirchen, 4-Star TE

"I'm a little disappointed in the fact that they are probably going to get rid of the spread. It was one of the reasons I picked Auburn, but I wouldn't say it was the biggest reason I chose Auburn. Me liking the coaching staff, the campus, the whole atmosphere, those are much bigger reasons than the offense. I'm still committed. I want to talk to the coaches and get their thoughts on it." (emphasis added) ​
You have to wonder... what in the heck is Tuberville thinking?
In making this leap, Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville has cast his lot with the same offensive coaches that nearly got him fired in 2003.
That's right Tiger fans - your die has been cast with Ensminger, Nall, Gran, Knox, and company - the very same braintrust that was so deplorable that the Auburn brass had to get on a plane and fly to Louisville, Kentucky, thus beginning the Bobby Petrino scandal.
And who do the Tigers play this weekend? Petrino's Hogs. Irony... much?
 
Will Muschamp: ‘Stats are for losers. I like winning games.’

from Bevo Sports by Brian
Who do I send my check to to make sure Will Muschamp stays in Austin for at least one more season? ESPN’s Pat Forde has an outstanding article on the Texas defensive coordinator that will make you want this guy around for a long time. Check out some of these choice quotes from Muschamp:

  • “Stats are for losers. I like winning games.”
  • “Jog off the field! Jog your ass off the field, goddammit!”
  • “I like what I do. It’s my job to get these guys to play well and play physical. I play through them. When they make plays, I make plays. When they make a mistake, I make a mistake.”
  • “Boom mother****er! Knock these mother****ers out!” (Okay that’s an old one.)
I just hope we’re as enamored about Coach Muschamp after this weekend and after this season as we are now. I was excited about the scheme and the energy he would bring before the season, so the fact that the defense has performed better than expected hasn’t changed anything. What do we (I’m looking at you DeLoss) have to do to keep him around and make sure he gets the chance to finish turning this team into a consistently dominant defense?
 
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Hey RJ I follow WMU pretty closely and havn't been able to pull the trigger on them all week. I keep telling myself it's because of the +1.5 -115 the greek has going and I'm waiting for the juice to come down, which hasn't happened. But in reality this Buffalo team has me a little scared coming off a bye week after a tough loss. And WMU going on the road the week before their biggest rivalry game of the year (CMU). I just see this as an easy spot for a let down. Just wondering what your thoughts are, maybe you know something about Buffalo I don't, I just havn't seen much in here other than the picks and article stuff.
 
Morning Coffee Wants To Bomar Bradford

from Burnt Orange Nation by GhostofBigRoy
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Blast from the past. Going into the 2005 season, I had endured three losses to Oklahoma as a Texas fan after showing up on the UT campus in 2002. I wasn't sure if a Mack Brown-coached team could even compete against OU. But then there was Rhett Bomar. Ah, Rhett Bomar, my heart swells with happiness at the sound of your name. The Longhorn defense abused the young quarterback and young offensive line (the same lineman that are now seniors) that day, sending OU crawling back to Norman with their tails between their legs. And for me, Texas finally showed that Bob Stoops didn't own their mortal souls and that the team could come out with every bit of the OU swagger that had turned Texas players into little sniveling wrecks. Bomar symbolized the victory, as Texas defenders harassed him into a 12-33, 1 int performance. Revel once again in the victory, Longhorn fans, and let's go to Dallas and Bomar Sam Bradford.
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Rhett Bomar gets laid out (via dbw11783)
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McCoy becomes a man. He may not be 40 (or 41 now), but Colt McCoy is every bit (and probably more) of the man Mike Gundy claims to be. And he won't be afraid of Oklahoma players coming after him. Not with the nearly 30 pounds of muscle he's added since showing up on the 40 Acres, newly-acquired speed to burn, and guns that I'm positive he must carry a concealed weapons permit for when he wears long-sleeved shirts.
Looking into McCoy's now-grizzled (okay, maybe not grizzled, but he doesn't look like he's 12 any more) face, there's no doubt that every Texas player sees in him the leader of a good, possibly great football team. In 2006, it was still Vince Young's team. Last year, McCoy started taking control, especially with an impassioned speech after the loss to Oklahoma, but turnovers cost him crucial respect.
This season, the team is unequivocally his. He's taken on the role Vince Young used to occupy, challenging his teammates when necessary, and keeping them loose when they need a spark. He sets the tone for the team's toughness, taking on defenders at the goal line against Rice and forcing not one, not two, but three Colorado defenders to bring him down. Little country boy Colt McCoy, starring on one of the biggest stages in college football. What a story.
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BOOM! The first great test of his Texas career awaits a sleepless Will Muschamp. The Statesman reminds that Muschamp wasn't promised his $425,000 just to scheme a defense capable of stopping Oklahoma, but it sure feels that way this week. In a coaching match-up long dominated by Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma staff, Muschamp is the Texas wild card, the first coordinator in Mack Brown's tenure whose stratospheric trajectory ensures he will give the Longhorn defense any advantage possible. So far, that advantage has resulted in 3.8 sacks per game and 222 yards lost by opponents, with both numbers leading the nation. Oops, I forgot that stats are for losers. Oh well. Not only has the defense taken on Muschamp's fiery personality, but with some tricks still up his sleeve and a knack for in-game adjustments, there is no doubt that Muschamp will put the Texas defense in a position to win the game. He believes there's nothing the defense can't do to win the game:
We've taken positive steps every week. I've never watched a film and thought that there was no way we could do this or that we couldn't handle something. It's just a matter of the reps and the experience.
​
And for all those Texas fans worried about Muschamp leaving after the season? Well, a close friend says in the Statesman article that Muschamp's wife is tired of moving and that Coach Boom may have found a home in Austin. With athletic department coffers full to overflowing, rest assured that money won't be a factor in keeping Will Muschamp in burnt orange for the next several years.
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More DKR expansion. The north end zone expansion wasn't ambitious enough for planners who envision a stadium expanding more quickly than Mark Mangino's waistline. The south end zone is next in line. The temporary bleacher seats beneath the Godzillatron will be replaced with permanent seats, while increasing capacity by 500. The football academic center will increase from 2,500 square feet to 8,500 square feet. The recent improvements to the football stadium, coupled with the new renovations and the upgrade to the Erwin Center, addition of the Cooley Pavilion, and renovations to UFCU Disch-Falk Field all mean that Texas remains near the top of the college sports world in terms of quality facilities. Even more reason to love being a Longhorn. Just sit back and watch the recruits continue to pour into Austin.
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From the Land of Miscellany. This just in from the news room: It's 12:59 and OU still sucks. Groundbreaking stuff...More 2005 TX/OU highlights...Colt McCoy's start to the 2008 season is the best ever for Texas quarterbacks...Roy Miller is a beast...Texas still looking for third wide receiver.
Hook 'Em!
 
The Wannabe Wagerer lets 'er rip with LSU in the Swamp

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Doug Gillett
Hey Jenny Slater's Doug Gillett offers betting advice without bias, malice, or credibility. Or, you know, money.
We begin this week with the official video of Les Miles cojones references:
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The Pick: LSU (+4) at Florida
Confident Enough to Bet: White Nike LSU cap
Approximate Value: $20
Last year, as Les Miles cojones-inspired team converted an entire season’s worth of fourth downs on their way to erasing a 10-point deficit and defining SEC win. On paper, Florida should be better this year than in ’07, while LSU shouldn’t be: Florida returned the lethal Tebow-to-Harvin combination and added a wealth of desperately needed experience on defense, while LSU is missing both their starting passer and top rusher from last year, on top of a whole stable of defenders now cashing NFL paychecks. Yet it’s the Tigers who have looked like the stronger and more confident team this year, blasting through a couple out-of-conference scrubs while also weathering Auburn’s furious defense behind a redshirt-freshman QB who was supposed to qualify, at most, for “Best New Handoff Artist.”
Florida's been the target of more “What’s up with their offense?” stories so far, and the Gators' continuing inability to find any consistent playmakers other than Tebow and Harvin is beginning to inspire worries that the rest of the conference -- and certainly its most talented overall defense -- might be catching up to Meyer’s spread option. I’m picking the Tigers to not only beat the four-point spread but also to pull the straight upset. If they do, my inflated sense of predicting superiority will require the only hat big enough to contain an id as gargantuan as Les Miles'.
The Pick: Vanderbilt (-2.5) at Mississippi State
Confident Enough to Bet: Golf scorecard marked by President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Approximate Value: $3,000 on eBay
I wish I could have bet on the odds of Vanderbilt becoming bowl-eligible before mid-October two months ago, because all the Commodores have to do to secure .500 is beat Mississippi State, from whom Bobby Johnson apparently bogarted the statistically-they-suck-but-gosh-darn-it-they-find-a-way-to-win blueprint sometime during the offseason. Just for the record, all the trends here scream Bulldog upset: Vandy hasn't won in Starkville since before Watergate; they’ve lost the last five games there by an average of four touchdowns; and I still can’t get over my memories from almost exactly three years ago, when the Jay Cutler-led Commodores had a bowl in their sights but lost a home layup to Middle Tennessee and ended up finishing 5-6. But dammit, ’Dores, you’re just such a good story that I can’t help but pick Vandy to cover two and a half and earn that extra game. Keep it up, and you might even win in the postseason, for the first time since Ike shot an 89 at the Eldorado Country Club in Palm Desert back in '55.
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The Pick: Arkansas (+19) at Auburn
Confident Enough to Bet: Three pounds of artisanal dry-cured bacon from Vanderose Farms
Approximate Value: $51.80
Now is not an especially great time to be a fan of either of these SEC West teams, but Arkansas fans, at least, had some idea their team was going in the tank this year. Auburn fans, on the other hand, had their expectations inflated by a Chick-fil-A Bowl win and perhaps a wee bit of overconfidence on the parts of Tony Franklin and Tommy Tuberville during the summer, only to watch Franklin’s vaunted spread offense sputter and wheeze through the first half of the season and die in the middle of the road, mid-week, with half a season to go. Having amassed only 112 points in six games, the Tigers aren’t even averaging 19 points, nor have they beaten anyone by that much since blanking UL-Monroe in the season opener. And while I’m sure there’s a temptation for plenty of speculators to say “But come on, it’s Arkansas,” I got two words for them: “Mississippi” and “State.” Arkansas actually showed some signs of life against a ranked opponent last week, avoiding a third straight humiliating blowout at Florida, I’ll bet thirty-six ounces of fine-lookin’ pork that those 18 points stay uncovered.
The Pick: Middle Tennessee (+1) at Florida International
Confident Enough to Bet: Copy of An Inconvenient Truth signed by Al Gore
Approximate Value: $500 on eBay
I'm sure none of the Auburn or Alabama obsessives in my neck of the woods would ever stoop to paying attention, but there's actually an interesting little conference race brewing in the Sun Belt. Florida Atlantic, the consensus preseason favorite, is 1-4 and already behind the eight ball in conference play after losing a thriller to MTSU; the new favorite is suddenly either 3-2 Arkansas State; Troy, which wasn't supposed to do anything after losing its top passer, rusher and receiver and offensive coordinator; and, somehow, Florida International, owners of a 6-29 record in their first three seasons in D-IA.
Then there's the Blue Raiders, who have a top 20 passing offense and a major-conference scalp (Maryland's) hanging from their belt, and they'd have another if receiver Eldred King had managed to run Joe Craddock's Hail Mary pass just one yard further as the clock hit zeroes against Kentucky. Neither of these teams are going to come within a hundred miles of anyone's "BCS Buster" conversations, but with wins over Vandy, Louisville and now the Terps since 2005, MTSU has the far stronger track record both within the Sun Belt and without, and they'll cover one point in Miami for the "upset." And celebrating right along with the Blue Raider fan base will be former vice president and visiting MTSU faculty member Al Gore, currently taking a break from hunting Manbearpig to teach "community building" in Murfreesboro.
 
Infographic: Rick Neuheisel returns to Oregon

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Rick Neuheisel has never been much of a favorite among Oregon fans. As coach of Colorado, he called a fake punt with his Buffaloes ahead of the Ducks 31-6 in the 1996 Aloha Bowl, leading to final CU touchdown. Two years later, again in the Aloha Bowl, when UO coach Mike Bellotti suggested his team had played the better game in a loss, Neuheisel's answer was brief: "Scoreboard, baby." And leading Washington into Autzen Stadium in 2002, Neuheisel's Huskies dominated in a 42-14 victory, left the field, and re-emerged from the locker room to dance on the Oregon logo at midfield. The colors may have changed again, but the blood is sure to boil when Neuheisel returns to Eugene Saturday as a 21-point underdog with UCLA. In light of his touchy history with the Ducks, the Doc asks ...
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Clemson Might Want To Win Tonight

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
Filed under: Clemson, Wake Forest, ACC
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By now, you know the drill with Clemson- OMG if they don't win it this year (it being the ACC, or at the very least, the Atlantic Division), Tommy Bowden will literally be drawn and quartered on the 50 yard line, at which point, the horses will be slain and fed as stew to local orphans. Who will then wash it all down with Bowden's blood and a mixture of four different flavors of Hi-C (Ecto Cooler being the only mandatory inclusion).

But even with what could most generously be described as an inauspicious start to the season, a win tonight against Wake Forest actually puts them in pole position to get to Jacksonville. Yeah, they dropped one to Maryland, but any squad that loses 31-0 to Virginia can't be assumed to run the table from here on out in-conference. But a loss puts them two down with Florida State and Georgia Tech coming right up. Thursday nights have tended to be wacky more often than not, so heads are cautiously high amongst the Tiger faithful. So says center Thomas Austin
"The only way to get that bitter taste out of your mouth is to get a win, and to right the ship in a sense," Austin said. "We're definitely kind of tired of hearing what's being said. We want to go out and prove ourselves again."
​
It doesn't hurt the Tigers cause that in what should be a close battle, Wake Forest's Sam Swank, perennial kicker/EA Sports "impact player" may be out. We'll have more tonight as the game progresses.
 
FACTOR FIVE FIVE FACTOR PREVIEW: CLEMSON AT WAKE FOREST

from Every Day Should Be Saturday by Orson Swindle
Welcome to our Factor Five Five Factor Preview of Clemson at Wake Forest. No matter how this happens, this game is conveniently prepackaged to reinforce of any your chosen prejudices about the ACC. Close game? Shitty ACC offenses! Blowout? Further proof that [insert losing coach] is an overrated paycheck-stealing stuffed shirt! Shootout? See how inconsistent this conference is!
It’s an Escher drawing no matter how you look at it: inscrutable, meaningless, and will likely give you a headache. It’s also on tonight, meaning you will watch it.
Category one: Nebulous Statistical Comparisons of Dubious Validity. Well, gakked straight from the Clemson Football team’s website comes this extraordinarily interesting tidbit:
Clemson owns 56 wins over Wake Forest in history, its second highest victory total over any opponent. Clemson has 63 wins over South Carolina.
Gamecocks fans, you’re welcome. Over the past five years Clemson has gone 3-2 against Wake, including a 1-2 record against them at BB&T Field, officially the most antiseptic name of any stadium in the known college universe. If they try to bully the Wakesters around tonight at home, they might find themselves overdrawn with no chance for bailout! Topical humor! Get Leno on the phone he’s gonna LOVE this one!
The Nebulous State of Dubious Statistical Validity for Wake Forest: Six, the number of turnovers Wake had two weeks ago against Navy, and an aberration that still left them with the fifth best TO margin in the nation. Grobe sexy, that is, as is a defense that can be devilishly hard to read at times thanks to the Demon Deacons continued use of zone blitzes, fancy binders for their book reports, really nice business cards, and every other possible little edge they care to take in the effort to remain competitive at their size. They have a credit for 42 cents at this casino, and they’d like to use it.
Advantage: Wake Forest, thanks to Clemson being generous with the ball. (79th in the nation in TO margin.)
: Wake Forest: You’ve been factor’d!
Category Two: Mascot:

You can’t tell, right you can’t tell right COOOL that’s good lemme tell you how we’re gonna do this we’re gonna put on some music and call my friends and we’re just gonna rage that’s right we’re gonna RAGE and if we have to we have Steve’s number and we’ll just call him and get some more hey have you seen Underworld it’s unreal vampires are awesome I feel so STRONG on this shit is my nose bleeding OH SHIT MY NOSE IS BLEEDING
Advantage: Clemson.
Clemson, you’ve been factor’d!
Category Three: Aura. Clemson really, really needs this game to maintain some semblance of competitive edge in the ACC. Even factoring in the powerful Tommy Bowden Bitch Mentality, this means they should, according to the script, begin their comeback toward an 8 win season, forcing Clemson to embrace the meh and re-up with Bowden, who will dampen expectations, then succeed beyond them, and thus prolonging Clemson’s turn on the Wheel of Life with Bobby Bowden and keeping them from a hypothetical trip to coaching nirvana.
Advantage: Clemson.
Clemson, You’ve Been Factor’d!
Category Four: Names. Wake Forest has a guy named “Junior Petit-Jean”, which loosely translates to “Little John, Jr.” Aw, look! He has his own pimp cup!
Advantage: Wake Forest
Wake Forest, You’ve Been Factor’d!
Grudges? Scores to settle? Sheer cussedness? Wake Forest are far too tasteful to hold grudges. Rather, they shall pip away and give one for the Black and Yellow, yes they will! Clemson, meanwhile, beat them 41-10 last year, so grudgery doesn’t really apply here, but again: they really, really need this game.
Clemson, you’ve been factor’d!
EDSBS FACTOR FIVE FIVE FACTOR PREVIEW SUM: Clemson, You’ve Been Factor’d! Reminder: THIS MEANS BET ON THE OTHER TEAM.
 
Added:

Ball St -16' (-110)

Line keeps rising from 15 and 15' so I'll grab it before the 17. Like it and more than happy to tail CB on this one.
 
hmmm wonder why ballst hasnt been talked about much.


you got me thinking there. Care to share what you see ?
 
Just good all around offense vs a team that is not all that good. Ball St needs to keep it on to stay ranked.

See a very lopsided game here.
 
With you on WMU, and may join you on Ball State.

GL this weekend buddy! I'll be pullin for your Horns too!

:cheers:
 
Bates Transfer Thoughts

from Clone Chronicles by BryceC
The Bates transfer has created headlines and mass reaction from Cyclone fans over the last day. Myself, I'm not necessarily angry or overly bothered by it. It's not as though the possibility of Bates transferring has never been broached by people following the team. I am mostly confused by it and bothered by two things.
The two things that bother me are:

  • The timing - I don't feel like Bates necessarily owes ISU or the fans anything. But I do believe he owes his teammates the respect of finishing the year. He will obviously have friends on the team and he has actively been involving in hosting recruits. Obviously he didn't take that responsibility seriously.
  • Not telling the coaching staff himself. I understand that it would be hard to approach somebody like Chizik and tell him you're quitting the team. However to have your dad call Pollard and have Pollard relay the message to the staff... I'm sorry there is no other way to describe that than gutless.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not intending to rip the kid. I think there is more at work here than just Bates making a decision as his father was heavily involved. Those two things irk me but don't necessarily impact Cyclone football other than emotionally and I hope the rest of the team is emotionally mature enough to handle him cutting out.
The thing I really don't understand is the reasoning behind leaving now. For one it does not reflect well on him at his future stop. He also cannot practice the rest of the season and even if he were a backup I would think time spent on the field would help him get better as opposed to time spent otherwise.
Something else bothering Cyclone fans is the rumors that he is looking at Nebraska. I don't doubt that he is, but let him go there if he wants to. I think he'll find that sitting to play one year would probably have been a tremendous waste of his talent and I highly doubt Nebraska doesn't have at least one other quality quarterback coming in or on the roster. Nothing is going to be given to him even if he's from Omaha.
Honestly best of luck to Phil. I don't think he's a bad kid, he helped ISU many ways off the field, and he conducted himself with class on and off the field until this moment. Do I think he made a mistake leaving in the middle of the year? Yes, but he's confident enough I doubt it will effect him. And since he was obviously beaten out by Arnaud on the field... I don't think it will effect Iowa State football as much as some believe either.
 
Friday Headlinin': The last days of Tommy Bowden

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
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• Tiger Sag. Tommy Bowden spent most of Thursday night with a sour, resigned, "I am here and this is happening and it is going to end badly" expression affixed on his face, looking generally like a very tired man at the end of his rope. Accordingly, his team was outgained nearly 2-to-1 in yards and first downs. And still Clemson was never really out of the game at Wake Forest. At one point, in fact, as atrociously as the Tigers played in the first half, they led 7-6 and had the Deacons facing a 3rd-and-24 from their own eight, with the noose tightening as the fourth quarter ticked down.
Wake, unsurprisingly, did its scrappy Wake thing from there, converting on a 28-yard pass that sparked its only touchdowns drive of the night, and the only one it needed. Unlike the usual Grobe/Skinner voodoo, there wasn't a shred of doubt that Wake controlled the game and deserved to win it by a much wider margin than five points -- surely it would have if kicker Sam Swank had been around to boot through a pair of botched field goals -- and the sense of dread emanating from the Tiger sideline throughout the night seems very appropriate this morning:
If the loss to Maryland nearly two weeks ago served as the funeral for Clemson’s football season, then Thursday’s defeat at the hands of Wake Forest served as the graveside service.
The same rites could have been administered to Tommy Bowden’s coaching career at the school. In fact, Clemson fans might want to begin passing the hat. They will need to pony up $4 million to buy out Bowden’s contract and send him on his way at season’s end.
​
That's the nice, newspaper version of affairs. You don't even want to read what the fans were saying in real time. No, you do actually. You totally do.
• Feel the glory of Notre Dame Foosball. Michael Rothstein at the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette gets a handful of Notre Dame players to run down the best trash talk they've heard, and tackle Sam Young delivers::
Sam Young: "OK, here we go. This one's weird. Freshman year, Georgia Tech. So I'm pass setting and their defensive tackle comes over and gets some pressure on me and he pokes me in the eyes. I'm sitting there, one of my eyes is all blurry, and I'm going 'What the hell?'
"And he just goes, 'Captain Insano shows no mercy.' This is my first college game and so, I mean, quoting Waterboy. I'm just sitting there. I didn't really have any response to that. I don't know if you can top that one."
​
<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bT4IMWzRvsk&hl=en&fs=1" allowscriptaccess="never" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344">Popout​
Well, you can, Sam (I know; I've heard it), but not in print. At least he wasn't quoting "Little Nicky."
Quickly ... Houston rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit against UAB for 42 points in the second half of an easy-looking win. . . . Iowa State part-time quarterback/receiver Philip Bates didn't play against Kansas and has quit the team. . . . Steve Ensminger is taking over Auburn's heap of an offense in the wake of Tony Franklin's dismissal. . . . Florida gets troubled defensive tackle Torrey Davis back in the lineup, and Percy Harvin will definitely play against LSU. Probably. . . . How can Kentucky's offense get out of the gates faster? Screens! . . . Looks like Mark Sanchez is starting against Arizona State, after all, but Mitch Mustain is feeling more comfortable at USC. Joe McKnight, meanwhile has been demoted, and Allen Bradford will redshirt. . . . Arizona State's Rudy Carpenter is probably a game-time decision in the Coliseum. . . . Colorado is rethinking the complexity of its offense after being shut down by Texas. Maybe rethink recruiting strategies to get Texas' players? . . . And Ernie Davis' statue is finally off to the metallurgist or wherever to be de-Nike'd.
 
its texas ML or nothing right?

is there any reason to take the points in a matchup between two teams in which the margin of victory was 7+ in every meeting since 98?
 
Personally, I made the line 7 so I think it's right on and I don't see much value there.

I see greater value getting +270 on your money or whatever the line is. I mean, you lay $30 to make $100? Sounds like better value to me.

I'm off the game either way. I'll be hoarse yelling at the TV during that time.
 
Red River Rout?

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
Filed under: Oklahoma, Texas
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It's hard to imagine how a college football game could get more attention than Saturday's Red River Rivalry. Maybe Army vs. Navy, if they met as armed forces instead of football teams (which, coincidentally, is what we imagine a Tank Johnson family reunion might be like). Maybe Southern Cal vs. Notre Dame ... if Charlie Weis wore a song girls outfit. Or Maybe Michigan vs. Ohio State ... if Jim Tressel eschewed what's in his underwear drawer for what's in Marv Albert's.

But only maybe.

On the eve of Saturday's showdown at the State Fair, No. 5 Texas and No. 1 Oklahoma couldn't have more of the nation's attention if they were announcing a solution to the financial crisis on the finale of American Idol.

And for good reason. Saturday's game should not only sort out the Big 12 South, but the BCS picture as well. That it will likely add another chapter to a rivalry that predates Oklahoma's statehood, determine a Heisman front-runner and be the best television of football season not involving the Lingerie Football League is just mustard on the Fletcher's corn dog or icing on the Fried Twinkie.

(And thankfully, this game of the week is at noon instead the usual night matinee that leaves us ready for a nap somewhere in the third quarter, which is a little too Joe Paterno for our tastes.)

But Saturday's rivalry State Fair showdown could be more coronation than rivalry.

Because if you think the stock market crash hit hard and fast, you haven't seen the Oklahoma offense.The Sooners took an offense that averaged 42 points a year and gave it the BALCO treatment, turning the dials to 11. They strike early and often, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter in each of their games thus far, and use timeouts exactly as much as Bobby Bowden uses e-mail.

And like a Ricky Williams drug screening, the results have all been positive.


Through five games, the Sooners are undefeated, including wins over Cincinnati and TCU, two teams that have yet to lose to otherwise, and are burning through yards, plays and touchdowns like a Hummer through a tank of gas.

All of which might mean trouble for Will Muschamp's rebuilding defense, despite the party line and more than a statistic or two to the contrary. Certainly, the Longhorns have improved under the first-year coordinator, but improving on last year's 109th-ranked pass defense (or the 99th-ranked unit that included Jim Thorpe winner Aaron Ross) is a low enough bar that John Daly could easily clear.

Texas has upgraded its overall talent in the secondary as well. The Longhorns have more blue-chippers than Warren Buffett's portfolio, but with an all-freshman depth chart up the middle in the secondary, the Longhorns might get carded trying to get into an R-rated movie (This could be important if Sam Bradford turns this game into a horror show.)

Texas will likely hope to disrupt the Oklahoma offense behind its pass rush, but while the Longhorns are second in the nation in sacks, seven of the 19 came against Arkansas, a team that's held a lead for less than the length of a Beatles single all season (They've led for exactly 3:11). Six came against Rice and four came against Colorado. Rice was 74th in the nation in sacks allowed before playing Texas, Colorado was 78th and Arkansas was already No. 118 after getting run over by Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe. (If you're looking for for those two on the sack lists, be sure to bring a compass and a packed lunch. Louisiana-Monroe is 93rd. Western Illinois is even harder to find - they're an FCS school.)

And last year's pass rush proficiency didn't help Texas' secondary all that much. The Longhorns averaged three sacks per game a year earlier and still gave up 263 yards through the air.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, is allowing just one sack a game, even though the Sooners let four Horned Frogs get up close and personal with Bradford. Led by Duke Robinson and Phil Loadholt, the 6-foot-8, 337-pound city block of a tackle, the Sooners are all but certainly the nation's best offensive line. In 19 career starts, Sam Bradford has only been sacked 15 times. Even though TCU managed four sacks against the Sooners, it barely put a dent in the Oklahoma passing game; Sam Bradford threw for a career-best 411 yards.

Which means an awful lot of man-to-man coverage for Texas' young secondary, and a lot of freshmen and sophomores that might feel lonelier than the Ron Paul presidential electors.

But the Longhorns' secondary may not be their biggest problem. Finding someone to carry the football might be. Texas' tailback by committee has turned into a Colt McCoy appreciation society. McCoy has developed from a freshman who was so skinny his belts came with just one notch into a dual-threat quarterback that easily leads his team in rushing, but against the Sooners' athletic defense, McCoy might have as much trouble find space as if he was splitting a cab with his offensive line. Since 2000, only Vince Young in 2003 and Jamaal Charles in 2005 have managed to crack the 100-yard barrier against the Sooners. And while the secondary remains the weak link in the Sooners' defense, Oklahoma should be able to focus all its attention on stopping McCoy.

And unfortunately for McCoy, the best play-making receivers wear crimson this year.

If nothing else, Texas doesn't have history on its side.

Only once since 1993 has the lower ranked team won in the Cotton Bowl. The last upset came in 1996, when an unranked Oklahoma team beat No. 25 Texas. And even that required a field goal in overtime. With the exception of the Vince Young era in Austin, since Bob Stoops' hiring, Oklahoma has been the brand name of the Big 12. Since Stoops' second year in 2000, the Sooners have won six out of eight Red River games.

Will it change Saturday? Maybe. Bradford might get knocked out of the game as in the team's lost to Tech last year. Or Oklahoma's awful punting game and generally special ed special teams might catch up to the Sooners. Or it could just be sixty minutes of rivalry that turns all conventional wisdom on its ear.

The numbers may not be on Texas side, but the only thing that's certain is that the whole world will be watching.
 
Tommy Bowden Benches Cullen Harper

from Roll 'Bama Roll by outsidethesidelines
Tommy Bowden Benches Cullen Harper

After watching the film from Thursday night's debacle at Wake Forest, Tommy Bowden has named Willie Korn as the starting quarterback. Bowden said that he needed to do something to provide the Clemson offense more of a spark, and pointed to Korn's superior mobility.
So, I guess Cullen Harper won't be making a run at the Heisman Trophy this year after all, eh?
To me, though, the real question is just how long it is until Clemson benches Bowden. Something tells me that could be coming in the near future.
 
At last, Northwestern football has inspired a ridiculous rap video

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
Northwestern is 5-0 for the first time since Brent Musburger was an undergrad, and success has Wildcat partisans feeling very un-Northwestern-y. Traditionally, you associate Northwestern with the kind of people who belong in robes (Supreme Court justices Arthur Goldberg and John Paul Stevens), boozy intellectual hovels (Saul Bellow), the podcast files of every grad student in America (Ira Glass) and crippling financial scandals (Arthur Andersen). Most especially, you expect Northwesterners to excel as performers -- this is, after all, the school that's produced, for starters, Warren Beatty, Charlton Heston, Edgar Bergen, Ann Margaret, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Cindy Crawford (attended, never graduated), Andrew Bird, Jeri Ryan, Cloris Leachman, Laura Linney, Shelley Long, Garry Marshall, Tony Randall, David Schwimmer, Zach Braff, Stephen Colbert and most of the Second City-trained cast of Saturday Night Live for the past 25 years. Now, finally, into the fine creative tradition forged by Paul Lynde (B.S. 1948), Ed Wood and Jerry Springer (J.D. 1968) emerges the long-awaited mainstream debut of Northwestern-themed hip hop, which was just waiting for the inspiration of an undefeated team to break that Purple big tyme. You have been warned -- this is not ironic:
​
As far as the seemingly endless flood of sports-related hip hop goes, this is ... well, it compares favorably to the last football rap out of Chicago. Let's leave it at that.
But on a national scale, it doesn't hold a candle to the reigning paragons of campus and football-themed rap, which reside in two of the most unlikely places: the irony-laden archways of Vanderbilt on one hand and the intensely serious soul of Kentucky's Marcus McClinton and krewe on the other:
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Even in cheesy hip hop, the Big Ten is lapped by ES-EEEE-SEEE speeeeeeeed. It's an embarrassment, really. Does George McGovern (PhD, 1948) really have to be associated with this?
 
Only Willy Korn can save Tommy Bowden now

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
ept_sports_ncaaf_experts-962465477-1223672536.jpg
Proof that the Doc's Thursday night live blog has powers: Clemson is ditching Cullen Harper as its starting quarterback in favor of live blog favorite Willy Korn. Only after an offensive meltdown in a 12-7 clunker does Tommy Bowden see the light:
We need to find a spark offensively. We have some injuries and need to reevaluate our plan of attack. A more mobile quarterback gives you more options. He runs better. Protection breaks down with some injuries, then you have a chance to make a positive play.
​
For the record, certain people in this space (ahem) were saying this in the second quarter of last night's season-killing, likely job-losing loss to Wake Forest, about the time Clemson got around to actually gaining a first down. But Korn didn't take a snap in the second half, the Tigers scored once, Harper threw an awful interception that led to a Wake field goal and the Clemson circles spent most of the day floating rumors of Bowden's demise. Not yet, but offensive coordinator Rob Spence is feeling the heat -- as Bowden himself points out, Clemson has one touchdown in six quarters since scoring twice in the first half in the loss to Maryland two weeks ago -- and everyone assumes it's coming soon enough.
I wrote on more than one occasion this summer that the heavy handed, "underachiever" tag wasn't a fair criticism of Bowden's tenure at Clemson, as this was the first season his team came into the year as a true favorite with real ambition. But sitting at 3-3, with an awful home loss to Maryland and a non-competitive, humiliating, physical whipping at the hands of Alabama, there's no other description for this start. The "explosive" offense, stocked with future first-day draft picks at every skill position, was MIA for the third time this year, and has only looked respectable in the wins over The Citadel, N.C. State and South Carolina State. Bowden had a very bleary-eyed, Gil Gunderson vibe about him last night, and if the move to Korn has been a fairly long time coming, it still has a whiff of resigned desperation about it, a definite feeling that "he can't be worse, can he"? Maybe not, but Bowden and Spence and the entire offense need a lot more right now than the status quo.
 
A&M's Bennett out for Kansas State game for violation of team rules

3:50 PM Fri, Oct 10, 2008 | Permalink | <script src="http://d.yimg.com/ds/badge.js"></script>Yahoo! Buzz
Kate Hairopoulos <!-- Bio --> E-mail News tips
Texas A&M defensive end Michael Bennett will not play Saturday against Kansas State because of a violation of team rules, Texas A&M announced today.
That's a blow for a team that really didn't need another one. Bennett had been having a standout senior season, made even more notable by apparently overcoming the academic issues that hindered him last season.
Bennett has 24 tackles this season, including 4.5 for a loss and a sack. He also has two fumble recoveries.
 
Whittaker 'probable' for Oklahoma game with knee injury

from Bevo Beat
Running back Fozzy Whittaker, who has been healthy for just one game so far, is listed as probable for the Oklahoma game with a right knee injury. That’s better than a week ago, when he was declared “out” for the Colorado game on the Longhorns’ official injury report.
Tight end Ian Harris (neck) is also listed as probable, while backup center Buck Burnette (left hamstring) is out.
 
:smiley_abcs:

congrats on your boys big win, like you said they needed to play the perfect game, and they did

was shocked that they ended up winning the war in the trenches, and especially in the 2nd half. thought it was going to be the other way around.... especially going up against the best DL in the country.

if they continue to play this well every week, clicking on all cylinders and playing with confidence, no one will beat them.
:cheers:
 
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