Thoughts, observations and helpful suggestions as the college football season hurtles toward the BCS apocalypse ...
Following Oregon's decisive 47-20 win over USC last weekend, I heard a lot of people say, "I can't see the Ducks losing again." Those people apparently hadn't been following the Pac-10 very closely this season.
Instead of docking them games, perhaps we could put Oregon's LeGarrette Blount, Florida's Brandon Spikes and Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant in stocks on the set of this week's College Football GameDay. Would that make everyone feel better, satisfy everyone's craving for justice? It's a remedy that makes as much sense as any of the actual punishments handed down to the aforementioned players.
The 10 storylines to watch this Saturday:
The NFL is cautiously optimistic a deal is within reach in the coming days between it and the eight major college football conferences that have so far refused to release digitized versions of their 2009 game tapes for scouting and evaluation purposes, league sources told SI.com Friday.
About 20 players gathered behind Mickey Andrews as he faced the media on Tuesday night. A few hours earlier, a simple press release had gone out informing the college football world of what everyone had long suspected: This will be the final season for Florida State's longtime defensive coordinator.
The dirty little secret of the much-reviled BCS -- the part its keepers always boast but its haters refuse to accept -- is that it's helped make the sport's regular season more compelling.
Football Insiders: Check out Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback.
Joe Cahn calls tailgates the last great American neighborhoods.
EUGENE, Ore. -- In the stands above the Oregon end zone, a lone Ducks fan held up a yellow posterboard sign that perfectly summed up what took place here Saturday night. "Welcome," it said, "To the Fall of Troy."
Thoughts, observations and helpful suggestions as the college football season hurtles toward the BCS apocalypse ...
Following Oregon's decisive 47-20 win over USC last weekend, I heard a lot of people say, "I can't see the Ducks losing again." Those people apparently hadn't been following the Pac-10 very closely this season.
Instead of docking them games, perhaps we could put Oregon's LeGarrette Blount, Florida's Brandon Spikes and Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant in stocks on the set of this week's College Football GameDay. Would that make everyone feel better, satisfy everyone's craving for justice? It's a remedy that makes as much sense as any of the actual punishments handed down to the aforementioned players.
The 10 storylines to watch this Saturday:
The NFL is cautiously optimistic a deal is within reach in the coming days between it and the eight major college football conferences that have so far refused to release digitized versions of their 2009 game tapes for scouting and evaluation purposes, league sources told SI.com Friday.
About 20 players gathered behind Mickey Andrews as he faced the media on Tuesday night. A few hours earlier, a simple press release had gone out informing the college football world of what everyone had long suspected: This will be the final season for Florida State's longtime defensive coordinator.
The dirty little secret of the much-reviled BCS -- the part its keepers always boast but its haters refuse to accept -- is that it's helped make the sport's regular season more compelling.
Football Insiders: Check out Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback.
Joe Cahn calls tailgates the last great American neighborhoods.
EUGENE, Ore. -- In the stands above the Oregon end zone, a lone Ducks fan held up a yellow posterboard sign that perfectly summed up what took place here Saturday night. "Welcome," it said, "To the Fall of Troy."
The 10 storylines to watch this Saturday:
Was it really only a year ago the college football world centered around the Big 12 Conference?
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Linda Lewis steps inside her dining room, opens a drawer and shuffles through six DVD cases. It's shortly after 7 p.m. on a recent weeknight and she offers one disclaimer before slipping a shiny disc labeled The Nightmare: Part II into the player. "My husband and I usually only play it to entertain visitors during halftime," she said. "I'm not a fan of some of the songs' words."
Cassius Marsh, one of the top defensive tackles in the nation, committed to LSU today.
The play of the weekend -- and perhaps the play of the year, so far -- was undoubtedly the game-saving blocked field goal by Alabama's 6-foot-5, 365-pound Terrence "Mount" Cody. The block, one of two he had on the day, preserved a 12-10 Tide victory and, predictably, raised the question of whether he should be a Heisman contender.
Maybe when giants roamed the north central Indiana landscape, when Knute Rockne or Ara Parseghian coached at Notre Dame, a four-point victory over Boston College would not have occasioned much celebrating on the Irish campus.
Football Insiders: Check out Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback.
Saturday's slate of games showed us yet again that no one seems bent on running away with the national championship. A week after Florida and Texas pulled out three-point squeakers, Alabama needed a last-second field goal block to survive Tennessee. While the 'Horns rebounded with a rousing blowout of Missouri, the Gators got pushed around at times by Mississippi State before pulling away.
• Will BYU spoil TCU's bowl bid? There are a few things you should know about TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes: He used to be a great running back, he's since blossomed into the nation's best collegiate defensive end, and he tends to hunt BYU QB Max Hall like a man possessed. Last season, TCU spoiled BYU's BCS bid, and Hughes' four sacks and persistent disruption were a big reason why. This year, the roles have reversed. The Frogs head to Provo ranked eighth in the BCS standings, and the Cougars hope to spoil those bowl dreams. TCU needs this win to remain neck-and-neck with Boise State in the BCS conversation, and deploying Hughes and the rest of a speedy, athletic defensive front is the best way to set up Hall for a repeat of his seven-sack, two-pick performance from 2008.
The NFL's college advisory committee may find it next to impossible to render informed opinions on the readiness of juniors who are potential 2010 draft prospects because the league has been locked in a multi-million dollar standoff with a Boston-area company that produces and disseminates digitized content of NCAA games for eight major conferences, league sources told SI.com.
The marriage between Ohio State and Terrelle Pryor began with such promise. The nation's most gifted high school quarterback joining forces with the reigning powerhouse of the Big Ten? What could possibly go wrong?
I'll admit it. Given the choice, I much prefer to watch a back-and-forth shootout (think Texas-Oklahoma last year) than a defensive stalemate (think Texas-Oklahoma this year). So it's been somewhat unsatisfying that the four games I've covered in person this season have been decided by scores of 19-8 (Boise State-Oregon), 18-15 (USC-Ohio State), 13-3 (Florida-LSU) and 16-13 (Texas-Oklahoma).
This is the fourth straight year that The Watch has named a Halfway Heisman Trophy winner midway through the season. The first two recipients, Ohio State's Troy Smith and Florida's Tim Tebow, went on to win the real Trophy in December. Last year's Halfway Heisman winner, Colt McCoy, got our vote at the end of the season, but not the nation's.
Football Insiders: Check out Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback.
The fans stormed the field, engulfing Josh Nesbitt and Georgia Tech. The ACC's best shot at the BCS title? Likely finished. The Coastal Division race? Chaotic.
Sure enough, Notre Dame was the lead story Saturday. Just not for either of the reasons we assumed.
TAMPA, Fla. -- Zach Collaros greeted the man who recruited him Thursday. Joe Tresey, the assistant who helped convince Collaros to play at Cincinnati, smiled and said hello.
• Will Oklahoma thwart Texas once again? This year's Red River Rivalry won't carry the significance we thought it would when Texas and Oklahoma began the season ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. But it's still got plenty of sizzle, especially for a Texas team that likely can't afford a loss. The Longhorns have done little to impress so far this season and face this bleak reality: If they don't beat Oklahoma, they won't get another chance to prove themselves against a marquee opponent. Last year, the 'Horns left their fate to the system, and we all know how that ended. But, already, things are very different now than in 2008. Injuries and subpar play have pushed the Bradford-McCoy subplot to the back burner. This game's no longer about Heisman campaigns (though if McCoy stands a chance, he needs to start dazzling, and soon) and unlikely friendships; it's about survival, which means defense will be key. So while this one could easily come down to a Jordan Shipley shake-and-shimmy,
Most football fans want the so-called Bowl Championship Series detonated because, by employing only polls and computers to determine its title game opponents, an awful lot of fun is denied us. Hey, we want something like March Madness to determine a genuine national football champion.
There was a cool moment last summer when Texas teammates -- and roommates, and best friends -- Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley went fishing with a professional angler. As part of the made-for-TV moment, producers challenged the quarterback to connect with the wide receiver, like he has so often over the last few years.
Thursday night brings the return of an old tradition that has spent the past couple seasons on the backburner: a must-see Big East game.
Deep in preparation for a Big East mega-game Thursday at No. 21 South Florida, Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly took a day off to visit ESPN's corporate monolith last Friday. It was a match made in media heaven, Kelly being a Worldwide Co-Leader in the ways of corporate and self-promotion.
Notre Dame junior Jimmy Clausen is off to a fast start this season and many feel he will be an early pick in round one should he enter the draft. Clausen has most certainly improved most facets of his game in '09, including his decision-making.
It is time for Extreme Makeover: Heisman Watch Edition. For five weeks this list has stuck by the usual suspects despite the fact that many of them underperformed due to injury, inaccuracy or indifference. Well, now that we have a much larger sample of games, it is time to blow up The Watch, take a look at all the evidence and start from scratch. Half of these players weren't on the list last week, including two of the top three. This Heisman season has been so crazy that next week's Halfway Heisman Trophy could go to anyone on this list -- and maybe even to someone not on it.
Football Insiders: Check out Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback.
Just for a moment, try to forget the 24-hour will-he-or-won't-he-play drama surrounding Tim Tebow. We'll get back to the Florida quarterback soon enough. With or without Tebow, top-ranked Florida (4-0, 2-0 SEC) will face its toughest test this season as it heads to Death Valley on Saturday night to battle No. 4 LSU (5-0, 3-0 SEC).
The 10 storylines to watch this Saturday:
Game of the weekend: New England at Denver. Intriguing player of the weekend: Elvis Dumervil.
There are three things I can count on with near-weekly consistency every time I open my in-box on Monday mornings: 1) fans complaining about where their team is ranked, 2) fluffy school press releases, like "Vols Staying Positive Ahead of Key Matchup with Georgia," and 3) fans complaining about the refs.
Let's imagine a handyman builds a house with his own two hands. He pours the foundation. He builds the frame. He lays the tile. He brushes on every drop of paint. He lives in the house, but doesn't hold the deed. Without the handyman, the revolving cast of landlords would have a trailer instead of a mansion. For his skill, the handyman has been paid handsomely, and until recently he was allowed to choose his own apprentices. The current landlord tells the handyman he can leave whenever he chooses, provided that day comes sometime in the next two years. The landlord also introduces the man to the new tenant, whom the landlord has put in charge of selecting all the new fixtures and furniture.
Football Insiders: Check out Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback.
The Hayward earthquake fault line runs directly under Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. But there was no seismic shift there on Saturday evening.
The 10 storylines to watch this Saturday:
From his home in Austin, Texas, Chad Morris watches every Auburn game, just as he did for Tulsa the past two seasons and Arkansas the year before that.
The reason so many programs are high on Hialeah (Fla.) defensive end Corey Lemonier is because of his ability to gain leverage against blockers.
Loyal Mailbag readers know well I'm not one for speculating about end-of-season BCS scenarios until late October. This season, however, there's one particular possibility that's simply too fascinating to ignore. It practically jumps off the page when looking at the current polls.
The fourth week of college football saw a highly ranked SEC program go down to defeat, while upstart Houston once again tamed a Big XII team. It was also a week that saw a number of receivers turn in top performances and a few well-known names disappoint NFL scouts.
Football Insiders: Check out Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback.
We interrupt your regularly scheduled upsets to bring you a report on the most efficient team in America. In case you slept through it, Alabama steamrolled another opponent Saturday. This time it was Arkansas, an alleged budding offensive juggernaut led by a mad genius coach and cannon-armed quarterback.
A solid hour after the last of his 34 carries last Saturday, Ryan Williams sat on a folding chair, talking about how much gas he had left in the tank. "I could've gone for another 20," said the Hokies redshirt freshman tailback, who finished with 150 yards in Virginia Tech's rain-soaked beatdown (RECAP | BOX) of No. 9 Miami. Flecks of Lane Stadium turf were still stuck in his dreadlocks, on his cheek, in his beard. Welts and abrasions covered his arms. "I was bleeding all over the place," he went on, "but I didn't realize it. People had to tell me. I was having fun out there."
There are few certainties left in this young college football season -- four more top-10 teams fell this weekend, making it nine on the season -- but there is one thing you can take to the bank: Iowa's defense.
I ran into the SI Cover Jinx on Thursday at a little meat-and-three on Broad River Road. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Shouldn't you be chasing the Detroit Tigers? I'm surprised you weren't in Cleveland [Thursday] placing a banana peel on the pitching rubber, so Justin Verlander would slip and tear his ACL."
Football Insiders: Check out Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback.
You are USC, and this is how you let another national championship slip through your fingers. You're coming off a huge, emotional victory on the road in prime time. Up next: a road trip to a hostile stadium in the Pacific Northwest, against a team that went 0-12 in 2008. You have more talent on your scout team than the Washington Huskies have on their starting units.
As Steve Sarkisian and Pete Carroll stood on the field at Husky Stadium before the game Saturday, laughing and joking with one another, Carroll said during a pregame interview, "I like the guy and I'd like to beat the heck out of him. It's a sign of respect."
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - At least two gentlemen showed up to LandShark Stadium on Thursday with the University of Miami logo shaved into their chest hair. By Saturday, the waxing menu at every spa on South Beach will look like this:
That first Friday at Grove City High was so quiet. Any other school year, the school's nationally acclaimed band would have ended the day by marching through the halls blasting the fight song. Any other school year, more than 11,000 would have gathered later that evening at the stadium behind the school to watch the Greyhounds -- better known as the Dawgs -- open their season. Any other school year, Friday would have meant something.
Football Insiders: Check out Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- We've seen USC win no shortage of big games during Pete Carroll's tenure, but it's been four years since we saw them do it quite so dramatically.
When did the Heisman Trophy race become lengthier and costlier than a presidential campaign?
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Dan Hawkins walked dazed from his locker room early Saturday morning and looked around. "Where's the media room?" the fourth-year Colorado coach asked.
The Ohio State Buckeyes say this time is different more than John Daly and Liz Taylor combined.
NFL broadcasters are, by and large, a conservative lot. Studio analysts often stay in the same gig for a number of years. Same goes with the top broadcast teams outside of the occasional roster tweak or two for a just-retired player or a recently unemployed big-name coach.
The college season started with a bang this weekend and already one major contender for the national title has gone down to defeat. NFL scouts were closely monitoring games around the nation in preparation for the 2010 draft. Several prospects from the defensive front seven along with a number of receivers really stood out. Here's Edition No. 1 of the NFL prospects watching their draft stock rise this season -- and those moving in the other direction.
In a second that felt like an hour late Monday night, Christian Ponder knelt on the sideline. He didn't know whether to celebrate or mourn. A Florida State teammate raced over, anxious to be the first to dogpile the victorious quarterback. Across the field, Miami players leaned forward and didn't make a sound.
Football Insiders: Click here to read Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback.
For the first time Greg McElroy can remember, the seeds of doubt were there.
Last January, four standout Oklahoma Sooners -- quarterback Sam Bradford, tight end Jermaine Gresham, left tackle Trent Williams and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy -- announced they were putting off the NFL to return for another shot at a national championship.
BOISE, Idaho -- It was supposed to be an exciting prime-time shootout that would get college football fans' blood pumping for the start of the season. It devolved into an ugly slopfest with an even uglier aftermath.
The college season kicks off this week and with it another year of scouting NFL prospects begins. Offensive tackle and wide receiver are the deepest positions on the scoring side of the ball. There's also talent at quarterback and running back. Here are the top NFL prospects at each position on offense as we head into the 2009 season. Top defensive prospects will be on SI.com on Thursday. (*Denotes underclassmen)
You know the drill by now. It's time to recap some winners and losers from Week 3 of the preseason. While the games don't count, the perceptions sure do.....
Well football fans, the season is officially upon us.
The Heisman turns 75 this year, and what a birthday present it's about to get. For the first time in history, two players -- Tim Tebow (2007 winner) and Sam Bradford (2008) -- stand a chance to win a second Heisman. And, for the first time since 1946, the top three vote getters from the previous season -- Bradford, Tebow and 2008 runner-up Colt McCoy -- return. Still, it would be false to assume one of that trio will surely win the 2009 trophy. Here are the top 10 contenders prior to Week 1. Check in each Monday for an updated look at the race.
This article appears in the Sports Illustrated Presents 75th Anniversary of the Heisman Trophy issue.
This article appears in the Sports Illustrated Presents 75th Anniversary of the Heisman Trophy issue.
This article appears in the Sports Illustrated Presents 75th Anniversary of the Heisman Trophy issue.
This article appears in the Sports Illustrated Presents 75th Anniversary of the Heisman Trophy issue.
This article appears in the Sports Illustrated Presents 75th Anniversary of the Heisman Trophy issue
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