By Paul Casey Gotham
Make mine a bloody mary
Coming off their big win over Notre Dame, Michigan showed early the signs of a hangover. The Wolverines squared off with the 1AA Massachussetts Minutemen. Heisman candidate, Denard Robinson, rolled up plenty of yards, but so did the Minutemen. A pair of Jonathan Hernandez second quarter touchdowns reminded the Wolverine faithful of a recent trip along the Appalachian Trail. Robinson, Darryl Stonum and UMass helped Michigan rebound late in the half. Robinson and Stonum connected with a minute remaining. Two plays from scrimmage later, a Minutemen fumble gave the Wolverines field position, and the opportunity for a quick strike. Michigan took a 42-24 lead early in the fourth, but UMass fought back with a pair touchdowns. The Minutemen came within an on-sides kick of getting a chance for a win. Robinson finished with 241 yards in the air and a pair of touchdowns. The freshman rushed for 104 and another touchdown.
Speaking of Appalachian State’s upset from a couple of years ago – I should know the exact numbers, but what is the difference between the number of scholarships an FCS and an FBS team? FCS or D1-AA teams, don’t they get 45 scholarships and BS teams somewhere in the range of 60.
With that in mind, how truly significant are the sanctions levied upon USC?
While on the subject of USC and sanctions, make sure you read Steve Sarkisian’s critcism of Reggie Bush. Sarkisian has since retracted his comments. Not all is happy in SoCal.
No hangover here
Those looking for TCU and Boise State to stumble will have to wait another week. The Broncos rolled up over 600 yards of offense in trouncing Wyoming, 51-6. The Horned Frogs took care of Baylor, 45-10. Last time I checked, the Baylor Bears belong to one of those big boy conferences. Hmmmm…45-10? That qualifies as a blowout, right?
In honor of President Warren G. Harding
The Ohio State Buckeyes did their part in exhuming the name of the late President this weekend. OSU’s 43-7 drubbing of intra-state opponent Ohio University continued a long-running streak: the Buckeyes have not lost to a team from Ohio since 1921 – when Harding occupied the Oval Office. Of course, the state of Ohio does not exactly offer many challenges.
Pac 10 shows a pulse
The Pac 10 scored a 6-4 record over the weekend with a trio of notable wins. Arizona put to rest Iowa’s BCS dreams with 34-27 trimming of the Hawkeyes. UCLA tok advantage of an injured Case Keenum to down #23 Houston, 31-13. Stanford put a whooping on Wake Forest, 68-24. USC continues their successful transition to COLLEGE football. After a decade running a semi-pro program the Trojans are off to 3-0 with 32-21 defeat of Minnesota. Oregon ran for a school record 528 yards beating Portland St while Oregon State outlasted Louisville, 35-28. Arizona State barely fell at Wisconsin, 20-19.
In case you didn’t notice
Air Force piled up 351 rushing yards in Norman. The Sooners held on for dear life to beat the Falcons 27-24. AF scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to draw close with three and a half minutes remaining. The Sooners managed to run out the clock for the win.
Heisman List
Denard Robinson Michigan
Kellen Moore Boise State
Terrelle Pryor Ohio State
Ryan Mallett Arkansas
Got any college football splinters? Share them here.
Speaking of Boise State and TCU … did anyone else hear the ramblings of Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, et al on last Saturday’s Game Day talking about how the Coaches have essentially set a glass ceiling for BSU and TCU at #3 in the poll???? Apparently, several of the Coaches have commented that there is no way they will ever vote those teams (or Utah) higher than #3 … feeling that they “don’t play a schedule worthy of letting them have a shot at the BCS national championship game”, irrespective of their record and how they look doing it. Wow!!!
Isn’t that simply infuriating?!?!? (There I go again … ready to blow another gasket). It’s hard to believe we actually heard those words, let alone on a station like ESPN. I just cannot believe the coaches would do that. Anyway, Chris Fowler seemed disturbed by this proclamation, and Desmond Howard was somewhat annoyed … but Herbie and Corso appeared to be supportive of that type of stance. (Corso is a %#$^#@! moron anyway). But how could the coaches, with any good conscience, essentially block non-BCS teams from playing in the title game?? I suppose they could actually do it, too, just by not voting BSU or TCU any higher than 3 … assuming they’re both undefeated at year end. A huge outrage will ensue when one of them is undefeated but both teams playing in the BCS title game are 1 or 2-loss teams from the BCS conferences. “Katie … bar the door! “(as Harry Carey used to say). There will be all kinds of lawsuits, anti-trust allegations, etc. Hey … it could be the mess we need to finally force a true playoff system. 😉
Anyone else catch this last week on ESPN???
I did not hear this until now, but it is easy to believe. Hopefully, that was Herbstreit and Corso’s way of getting this mindset out in the open. We have been saying all along the Major conferences are nothing more than an old boys’ club bent on making sure they take care of themselves first and the sport second.