College Football 2010--week 14--texas Tiger's Takes
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College Football 2010--Week 14--Texas Tiger's Takes
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Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving and that all is well with you and yours as you prepare for Christmas in less than 4 weeks! Wow! It’s that time already, and before long we’ll be in 2011 and thinking about spring football practice!!! 
But……… ….until then, we’ll have to just live off memories and enjoy the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s seasons, as well as booku bowls. I guess the first thing to do is to find out who has been naughty and nice. I’ll have to put myself on the naughty side of the ledger for continuing to geaux with the flow and choose Boise State each and every week. Well, I guess that’s okay if you’re hedging your bets. This last week, however, was the week to geaux against the flow and pick upset minded Nevada. What a game! Can you believe the Boise kicker missed one in regulation and one in overtime that ended Boise’s run to an undefeated season and utter chaos in the BCS? Wow! And that kicker was a senior. I understand the poor kid has been getting some death threats for those misses. Looks like the south doesn’t have a monopoly on irate, hot-tempered fans, does it? By the way, the guy who kicked the winning field goal for Nevada? He is a freshman….seaux much for going with the upperclassmen and the pressure theories! Here’s some more on the Boise kicker: http://boisestate.scout.com/2/1027269.html I was also naughty enough to buy the “fool’s gold” of Okie light, aka Oklahoma State in their annual battle with the mighty Oklahoma Sooners. Big Game Bob (Stoops, OK trail boss) really did have his big game britches on as he herded the Sooners to the win over their in-state rivals. As their reward, Oklahoma will meet the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the Big 12 title this coming weekend. This will be the last Big 12 event as we know it because Nebraska heads off to the Big 10 and Colorado rides into the sunset with a new coach as they join the PAC 10. Wonder who the new coach will be??? We’ll touch on some coaching rumors a little later, but the smoldering embers of Les Miles to Colorado has seemed to dissipate over the past two weeks. Nebraska looked much more in sync against poor ole Colorado and put up a ton of points on the board against the hapless Buffaloes. I think I actually saw Bo Pelini smiling on the sideline, completely (??) cured of his temper tantrums of a week ago in the Nebraska---Texas A&M game. Taylor Martinez, Nebraska signal caller, was rested and he should be good to geaux against Oklahoma---if Bo chooses to use him. On the other side, Landry Jones looked great in the Sooners victory over Oklahoma State. Oregon kept rolling with a 48—29 victory over Arizona. Many thought this was the upset that would drown the Ducks’ season. Not seaux. Now, the Ducks take their act across state to take on 5—6 Oregon State. Ok, ok…I know all about in-state rivalries, but I don’t see an upset in this one. Take the Ducks as they tune up for their national championship game with Auburn. Here’s a good read on the Oregon---Oregon State matchup: http://oregonstate.scout.com/2/1027260.html Here in the Lone Star State, the Texas A&M Aggies rolled into Austin and sent the Longhorns to a season ending 24---17 defeat. The Horns finished 5—7 and, one season after playing in the national championship game against Alabama, are not officially bowl eligible. They could be home for the holidays although some minor bowl could still pick them because not enough teams won six games to fill all the bowl slots. Texas fans typically travel very well and this could influence a bowl selection committee to take them---if the players vote to geaux. I look for them to accept any invitation to play another game because of the extra month (nearly) of practice it gives the team and man, oh man, do they need the practice---not just the players but the coaches, too. The offense really fell apart this year. The Aggies, on the other hand, after a sluggish start, will play in the Cotton Bowl. This will really help their already stout recruiting efforts. The Big 10 finished up as expected as all three top teams---Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Ohio State---captured wins Saturday. Wisconsin put up 70 points for the 3rd time this season. Man, would love to have their offensive coordinator at LSU. Since the Big 10 doesn’t have a conference championship game, all three of these teams now get ready for bowl games…probably the Rose, Sugar and Capital One. Bowl invites come out Sunday night, I believe. Iowa, a team many had in the Top 10 part of the year, fell to 7---5 with a loss against Minnesota. Just weeks ago, I was reading that Iowa coach Ferentz was a genius and should be a contender for coach of the year. At 7—5, you can forget that. Unbeaten TCU was challenged by 1---11 New Mexico for a half before getting their act together and finishing the game 66---17. Coach Patterson of the Horned Frogs KNEW he needed some style points to move up in the polls. Well, you did both, Gary…but here’s a scoop for you: your team is not national championship material against Oregon, Auburn, or, in my humble opinion, Stanford or Wisconsin, either. But TCU’s braintrust may have figured a way go get a BCS bowl berth in future seasons. See, they are joining the Big East conference, which gets an automatic bid to a BCS bowl. This means that once in that conference, they’ll get a chance to play in the “big” (and more lucrative) bowls. Of course, there is a little catch. They’ll have to win the conference. That wouldn’t have been hard this year as the Big East is, perhaps, the weakest conference in college football. How many people do you think will tune in to see Connecticut play in a bowl game? Yeah, me, too….won’t be many beyond parents of players, alumni, and current students, faculty, and staff. The “Sports Illustrated” summaries and box scores of last week’s games can be found at: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/scoreboards/2010/top25/regularseason/13/ This week’s abbreviated tv schedule is at: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/scoreboards/2010/top25/regularseason/13/ As far as I’m concerned, the headliner games this weekend are: *Oregon at Oregon State, 2:30 pm, ABC *Auburn vs. South Carolina, 3:00 pm, CBS, SEC Championship Game in Atlanta *Nebraska vs. Oklahoma, 7:00 pm, ABC, Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington, TX (Dallas Cowboys’ stadium) (ALL TIMES CENTRAL) Other sites for schedule and tv listings include: *http://espn.go.com/college-football/schedule *http://cfn.scout.com/2/557860.html After this weekend, college football (FBS classification) goes on hiatus until bowl season starts. Again, bowl selections should be known Sunday night, 5 December 2010. As of right now, here is the bowl schedule: December 18, 2010 R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, 9:00 pm ESPN December 21, 2010 Beef O’Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl, 8:00 pm ESPN December 22, 2010 MAACO Las Vegas Bowl, 8:00 pm ESPN December 23, 2010 Poinsettia Bowl, 8:00 pm ESPN December 24, 2010 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, 8:00 pm ESPN December 29, 2010 EagleBank Bowl, 2:30 pm ESPN Texas Bowl, 6:00 pm ESPN Valero Alamo Bowl, 9:00 pm ESPN December 30, 2010 Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl, 7:00 pm ESPN Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl, 12:00 pm ESPN Meineke Car Care Bowl, 12:00 pm ESPN Liberty Bowl, 3:30 pm ESPN Chick-fil-A Bowl, 7:30 pm ESPN December 31, 2010 Sun Bowl, 2:00 pm CBS January 1, 2011 Outback Bowl, 11:00 am ESPN Capital One Bowl, 1:00 pm ABC Gator Bowl, 1:00 pm CBS Dallas Football Classic, TBA Rose Bowl, 4:30 pm ABC Fiesta Bowl, 8:00 pm ABC January 2, 2011 AT&T Cotton Bowl, 2:00 pm FOX January 3, 2011 Orange Bowl, 8:00 pm ABC January 4, 2011 Sugar Bowl, 8:00 pm ABC January 6, 2011 GMAC Bowl, 8:00 pm ESPN January 8, 2011 PapaJohns.com Bowl, 12:00 pm ESPN January 9, 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, 9:00 pm ESPN January 10, 2011 BCS Championship, 8:00 pm ABC I’ll post my final regular season top 10 standings next week in what will be the last extended “Takes” until the “major” bowl season starts, probably the Thursday before Christmas. In some other football news: *Last week, I published an extensive article on quarterback Zach Mettenberger who is playing in the National Junior College National Championship this coming Sunday (sorry, no national tv at this time). Metterbenger, as you will recall, is the 5 star quarterback who was dismissed from the University of Georgia and then enrolled in a Kansas juco (Butler) where he is the player of the year in junior college ball. He is wanted by many because he is a pro-style, drop back passer with a rocket, accurate arm, much in the mold of Arkansas star Ryan Mallett, who will be in the NFL next year (yes, I think Mallett will forego his senior season with the Razorbacks). Mettenberger is allegedly a strong lean to LSU but also plans on visiting Arkansas and now is supposed to visit Ole Miss on 10 December. He could step right in at either place (although Arkansas’ backup quarterback Wilson is set to replace Mallett; Masoli is leaving Ole Miss). My question----if he is such a strong lean to LSU, why hasn’t he committed? Once his championship game is over Sunday, he is eligible to enroll in a 4 year school and participate in any bowl practices, even though he would not be eligible to play in a bowl. I believe he is a prize and will end up at LSU, but the Ole Miss news (just released yesterday) is troubling. Yes, Zach has made a visit to LSU and loved it (he attended the LSU—Ole Miss game). *Cam Newton, Auburn quarterback and leading contender for the Heisman Trophy, has been cleared of any wrong doing in his recruitment by the War Eagles, although Newton’s father, Reverend Cecil Newton, has not yet been totally cleared of taking money to ensure Cam’s signing with Auburn. Here is more on this story: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/andy_staples/12/01/cam-newton-ncaa-eligible/index.html?eref=sihp *As Newton led Auburn back against Alabama in the Iron Bowl (more on that in the SEC section), he all but wrapped up that Heisman Trophy. Here’s “Sports Illustrated’s” take on that: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/cory_mccartney/11/29/cam-newton-heisman/index.html?eref=sihp *Head coaching vacancies continued to expand with the firing of Randy Shannon at Miami (FL). Lots of rumors circulating that Jon Gruden, ESPN pro football analyst on Monday Night Football and former head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is the leading candidate. My “sources” tell me there is no way this would happen and that Gruden would not “step down” to college football. The name more likely to surface is Dan Mullen, head coach at Mississippi State and former offensive coordinator at the University of Florida. Also, there are or will be vacancies at Arkansas State, Minnesota, Louisiana Lafayette, Vanderbilt, Ball State, Colorado, Indiana, Kent State, and North Texas. There will be more and, of course, coaching changes are like dominoes….when one falls, others fall to replace that one, and seaux on. Personally, I’m hoping for one in Baton Rouge, but that is very unlikely. And, to make matters worse, a report in the Alexandria, LA, paper yesterday stated that LSU Offensive Coordinator Gary Crowton was staying despite the Tigers being in the bottom of college football in just about everything having to do with an offense. Absolutely incredible if true. Here’s the “Sporting News’” take on the Miami coaching search: http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/feed/2010-11/randy-shannon *Nebraska heads off to the Big 10 after this season. Oklahoma stays in the Big 12. This has historically been a super rivalry for national bragging rights and national championship hopes but after the Saturday Big 12 Championship Game, there are no more head to head meetings scheduled between the Cornhuskers and Sooners, and we football fans will suffer because of this. Now, there is hope for a future home-and-home series between the two giants. According to “ESPN Insider”, “Oklahoma and Nebraska are considering playing a home-and-home series in 2020-21. *Texas A&M has accepted a bid to play in the Cotton Bowl in the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium on Friday, January 7, 2011 against a SEC opponent, likely LSU or Alabama. We’ll know Sunday night. *Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy has been named Coach of the Year in the Big 12. Congrats, Coach Gundy. You have had a superb season and flirted with the top 10 most of the season, at least until the Texas A&M Aggies derailed you. *Guess who is advising “The U” (University of Miami (FL) ) on filling their coaching vacancy? Former HHS Secretary Shalala and also Donald Trump, who advises the Hurricanes hierarchy to “Hire Mike Leach (formerly of Texas Tech) and don’t look back.” Who’s next to offer advice, President Obama? 
*Here’s how ESPN ranks the recruiting efforts: 1. Texas 2. Alabama 3. Florida State 4. Florida 5. Oklahoma 6. Ohio State 7. LSU 8. Georgia 9. Clemson 10. Nebraska A few things to remember about recruiting:
Let’s take a look at some predictions: 
NON SEC Arizona, at home, closes a super season with a win over Arizona State (THURSDAY) Illinois over Fresno State (FRIDAY) Northern Illinois all over Miami (OHIO) (FRIDAY) Cincinnati to nip Pitt…is this Wannstedt’s last game at Pitt? West Virginia huge over Rutgers South Florida over UConn Boise State big over Utah State Nevada over Louisiana Tech Southern Cal over UCLA Washington beats Washington State Idaho tops San Jose State Hawaii creams UNLV Troy by a touchdown over Florida Atlantic Florida International tops MTSU Central Florida to beat SMU Florida State over Virginia Tech (UPSET SPECIAL) Nebraska beats Oklahoma in a battle of schoolboy friends (Both NU’s Pelini and OU’s Stoops grew up together in Youngstown, OH) SEC Yeah, I’m a SEC “homer…and I make no apologies for that…but you knew that when you came to the blog, right? Well, let me give you two facts about the SEC:
Perhaps the biggest disappointment this season resides in Gainesville, FL, where the perennial national championship contenders, the Florida Gators, finished the “regular” season with a naughty 31---7 shellacking (thanks again, President Obama, for this word) at the hands of arch in-state rival, the Florida State Seminoles. The Gators have a ton of talent and will be back soon. In the meantime, Florida State is competing for the ACC championship this weekend. With Tennessee’s 24—14 victory over “mountain” rival Kentucky, the Volunteers became bowl eligible with a 6—6 record, the same record the Kentucky Wildcats posted despite starting the season like house on fire. Both will geaux to “minor” bowls. Mississippi State also finished the season with a big win by defeating in-state opponent Ole Miss (8—4) in the annual “Egg Bowl.” Ole Miss quarterback Jeremiah Masoli (the transfer from Oregon) had his best game the previous week at LSU, but the magic wasn’t there this past turkey day weekend as the Bulldogs ensured the Rebels (or Black Bears) would, once again, be home for bowl season, 31—23. State and Coach Mullen finished with a very respectable 8—4 record with close losses to top SEC opposition. State should get a good bowl out of this. He was quoted as saying (in the lockerroom postgame, “We will never lose to this team (Ole Miss) again”). However, he did NOT comment on the rumors about his possibly going to take the job at Miami . South Carolina tuned up for its’ SEC Championship Game matchup with number one Auburn with a surprisingly easy 29—7 victory over archrival (and tough recruiting opponent) Clemson. SC quarterback Garcia got a little dinged up but says he’s “fine” for the game against the War Eagles Saturday. Well, when Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide raced to a 24—0 lead, I was pretty smug and almost broke my arm patting myself on the back for picking Alabama over Auburn. My crystal ball must have had turkey gravy on it because I certainly didn’t see an Auburn comeback to take a 28—27 victory over Bama in the Iron Bowl. This may geaux down as the biggest choke job in Alabama history…or as Cam Newton’s greatest effort in an Auburn uniform. The War Eagles never quit and just outplayed Alabama all over the field (AFTER the Bama rush to the lead), especially in the lines and in quarterback play. Auburn deserves the SEC title and I think they get it with a victory this weekend against SEC East champion South Carolina in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. South Carolina has a good quarterback (not as good as Auburn), a top running back (better than Auburn) and a great receiver. But the Gamecocks are nicked up a little bit and Garcia may not be at his best. Nick Fairley, defensive lineman for Auburn, will have a big day. I like Auburn in this one by two touchdowns. Prior to the game, an Alabama staffer played some very selective music alluding to the allegations of cheating by Auburn and Cam Newton during the recruiting process. One of the songs, “Take the Money and Run” alluded to Newton or his father demanding about $200,000 to play for Auburn. The other song also targeted the father-son duo and was entitled “Son of a Preacher Man”. Also alleged was that several potential Alabama recruits and their family members got angry at this and even got up to leave the stadium, requiring a personal visit from Nick Saban to keep them there. I don’t know what’s truth and what’s fiction with this story, but the staffer who selected and played the music was fired by Alabama. You can read more on this debacle at: http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2010-12-01/report-bama-staffer-did-not-act-alone-on-music The Georgia Bulldogs ended the season much better than they started it by topping Georgia Tech, 42—34, in a semi barn burner. When the Bulldogs were at 5 losses, no one in their right mind would have given a plugged nickel for their chances for any bowl. Yet, here they are at 6—6 and looking at a bowl payday. Good job by Richt and company after they finally got all world wide receiver AJ Green back into the lineup after a 4 game suspension to begin the year. Watch for AJ to star on Sundays in 2011. Remember week 1 of the “Takes” when I projected that Vandy would start strong, be competitive, and fade fast and deep? Well, some predictions DO come true. The Commodores finished 2—10 with a 34—13 loss to Wake Forest. Coach Caldwell, in his first stint as a head coach, has resigned. Vanderbilt is the typical “coaches graveyard.” In the big game in Little Rock, the red hot Arkansas Razorbacks defeated my beloved LSU Tigers 31—23 and Ryan Mallett surely lived up to his hype. The Tigers didn’t help themselves with defensive back play as perhaps the slowest---and lowest rated---defensive back on the squad (safety Karnell Hatcher) was on the field and let two Razorback touchdowns get by him. The one at the end of the first half was a backbreaker. Hatcher was in because of an injury (in a previous game) to Brandon Taylor, but there were other safeties (e.g., the “Assassin” Craig Loston) who were available to play and ALL are faster than Hatcher). I cannot understand why the Tigers were not in the prevent defense with a safety on their 20 at the end of the half. Mallett has pinpoint accuracy and he put the ball on the target, the Razorbacks scored, and the Tigers trooped off to halftime down in the dumps and down on the scoreboard. Don’t get me wrong; Arkansas deserved the victory and earned it. But I still don’t understand how TWO punts hit the guidewire (holding the sideline camera) and were not called by the officials. Are those balls in play? Both punts led to LSU disasters including one that hit the back of a leg of a Tiger resulting in a fumble recovered by Arkansas. 
The LSU offense never got on track this season, except in the second half of the Alabama game in Tiger Stadium. It finished beyond 90th of all teams in all offensive categories. Coming weeks will tell what Miles plans to do to fix this problem. As for as Arkansas, I expect Mallett to geaux pro. But don’t feel bad for the Razorbacks; they have a fine backup/replacement in a kid named Wilson who actually had better and superb statistics against Auburn than did Ryan Mallett, who was injured in that game. And don’t forget----highly touted prospect Zach Mettenberger is making a visit to Arkansas. Petrino has this program headed in the right direction. Both the Razorbacks and Tigers now await bowl bids. By virtue of their victory in this game, I expect Arkansas to geaux to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. LSU is headed to either the Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M or possibly the Capital One Bowl (again), this time against Michigan State. The players would rather geaux to Dallas because the Cap One just was not a really good host (to either team) last season. We’ll know soon. Keep watching the blog. 
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