By Paul Casey Gotham
Nevada in the top 25
One week after a convincing 52-13 beat down of Cal the Nevada Wolfpack did their BTO impersonation and “took care of business” knocking off BYU, 27-13. The win and a 4-0 record earned the Wolfpack a top 25 spot in both the AP and Coaches’ poll for the first time since 1948. Nevada’s emergence along with Boise St. makes two WAC teams in the top 25 and four ranked teams (TCU and Utah) from non-BCS schools. Nevada and Boise meet on Novemeber 26th in what should be a dandy of a game.
Another close call for the Sooners
On the surface, Bob Stoops’s Sooners are cruising along at 4-0. One problem might be Oklahoma’s margin of victory. The Sooners held on to defeat Cincinnati yesterday, 31-29. The Bearcats scored 17 in the fourth. After trailing 24-9, Cincy answered with 13 to make it 24-22 with just under 10:00 remaining.
The win was Oklahoma’s third single-digit victory of the season with wins over Utah State (31-24) and Air Force (27-24). Oklahoma’s only convincing win of the season came against Florida State 47-17. Ironically, Stoops’s brother, Mark, is FSU’s defensive coordinator. Who says sibling rivalry can’t provide a little motivation?
Introducing Al Golden
It might be time to get familiar with the head coach of the Temple Owls. In his fifth year at the helm, Al Golden continues building momentum with the Owls. Last year, Temple recorded its first winning season (9-4) since 1991 and the school’s first bowl appearance in 30 years. Temple is off to a 3-1 start this year including a 30-16 beat down of last year’s Big East champion, UConn, 30-16. Yesterday, Temple held the Penn State Nittany Lions without a touchdown for 55 minutes before losing their first tilt of the season, 22-13.
QB controversy in Ann Arbor?
Denard Robinson left the game during Michigan’s third drive, and Tate Frocier entered the game. Forcier, last year’s starter, promptly completed his next 12 passes. Yes, it was against Bowling Green. Nonetheless, Forcier was ready when called upon. Hmmmm…a little competition never hurt anyone. The Wolverine medical staff cleared Robinson. Forcier also went down late in the game. He did not need medical attention. Snaps at practice this week could get interesting.
Stanley Cup gets a football doubleheader
Notre Dame fans had little to cheer about as the Stanford Cardinal took the fight out of the Fightin’ Irish, 37-14. Lord Stanley’s Cup warmed the Irish faithful. ND alum and Chicago Black Hawk GM, Stan Bowman, paid a visit to his alma mater and brought with him the hardware from the Hawks first championship since 1961. Earlier in the day, Bowman took the trophy to Northwestern.
Like a rolling stone
Arkansas is 3-1. The Razorbacks nearly toppled the Crimson Tide yesterday. If it weren’t for a late interception, the Tide would have dropped from the top of the heap.
Can’t help but thinking – how long will it be before Bobby Petrino gets an itch to move. Bobby “used to laugh about everybody that was hanging out.” He’s been in Arkansas a while. At least two years. He’s gotta have his eye on a move.
Conference Challenge?
Since CFB won’t follow the lead of CBB and give the fans a well-deserved playoff, maybe the ADs could throw us some crumbs and give the fans a few conference challenges. You know. Like the ACC-Big Ten hoops challenge. There is also the Big 12 – Pac 10 hardwood series, and the Big East and SEC have their own soiree. Imagine if yesterday was all Big 10 versus Pac 10 games.
Score one for Toledo and Northern Illinois
Lane Kiffin and his folly thought they had a nice win when they downed Minnesota. Beating a Big Ten team by 11 looks nice on the resume. Except when that team loses to a MAC school by 11 the next week. Ouch. Couple that with Toledo downing Purdue by11 and it’s not a bad weekend for the MAC. That is if you can ignore the 40-point loss by Bowling Green. And the 38-point loss by Miami, Ohio. And the 45-point loss by Ball State. Ah, all right already.
Looking ahead
Next weekend’s slate will give the remote a workout. The Red River shootout is on tap. Texas swallowed some humble pie thanks to UCLA. No better way to get back on track than by beating the Sooners. Florida plays ‘Bama. Stanford travels to Eugene for a tilt with the Ducks. Would it be an upset if East Carolina knocked off North Carolina?
Heisman Heat
Denard Robinson
Kellen Moore
Terrelle Pryor
Andrew Luck
Nevada is the real deal this year, folks. Kyle Kapernick, their QB, is every bit the dual threat that Denard Robinson is for Michigan and quite experienced to boot. Nevada has matured under Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault and is ready for prime time. As Casey points out, there should be a lot on the line in late November when Boise State goes to Reno … for both teams.
I’m still shocked about UCLA’s dismantling of Texas in Austin. Stanford beat the crap out of UCLA a couple weeks ago … so this begs some questions: Is Stanford THAT GOOD?? Or is Texas THAT BAD???? Now, since Oklahoma also appears to be a paper lion, we should probably expect a close tussle with Texas at the Red River Shootout.
One team I’m quite curious about is Texas A&M … 3-0 but haven’t played anyone yet. They go to Stillwater for their conference opener vs 3-0 Oklahoma State on Thursday night. Better bring your A game, Aggies!
Kellen Moore, Boise State’s junior QB, is heading up the Heismann race (per Wally). He’s thrown for nearly 900 yards in 3 games, completing 65% with 8 TDs and only 1 INT … a QB rating of 168 !!! After 4 games, Andrew Luck of Tree U is right there with him … about 900 yards, 11 TDs and 2 picks. If Stanford beats Oregon in Eugene, which I think will happen, Luck and The Tree will suddenly be in the nation’s spotlight front and center.
Is Rich Rodriguez safe now?? Or will it come down to how they perform the rest of the way in the Big Ten, more specifically their matchup with Ohio St.? Has Denard Robinson saved him? Or will their success be fleeting?
Boise State needs to hope and pray that Nevada stays undefeated up until their showdown. That would give them 3 victories over top 25 teams….However, it will probably need to be noted at the time that all 3 of those teams (Va. Tech, Oregon St., and Nevada) will no longer be Top 25 at the end of the year. Do they have a chance at the big game….And if Nevada beats Boise, does that mean Nevada should now be in the discussion if they are the best team from the WAC??
Which of the 3 Top NFL ready QB’s has looked the best so far? In other words, which QB should the Bills take with the #1 overall pick next year…Luck, Mallet, Locker?
Will Brian Kelly make it? What was his record his first year with Cincinatti? I know the paycheck makes it incredibly hard to, but in the long run, will Kelly regret his decision to leave??
Dan–
RichRod is not safe … yet. We’ll first have to see how the Skunkbears fare in conference play. But I don’t think he has to beat Ohio State this year … the overall conference mark will determine his fate. But let’s face it … he could lose 4 conference games, be 8-4 for the year (marked improvement vs last year) and handily keep his job at least for another year. I think this 4-0 start gives him some cushion, but I think we all suspect UM’s 4-0 is “soft”. Their defense is a huge ?????.
Objectively, yes, Nevada SHOULD “approach” where Boise is if they knock them off in November. However, realistically, that will never happen … cuz Nevada simply doesn’t have the pedigree and respect built up that Boise has earned over the past 10 years. And remember that Nevada will not quite have played the same non-conference schedule BSU has played this year. Nevada may only climb up to #15 or so before the BSU game, so rising to the Top 5 with a win over BSU at end November will be impossible. In this beauty pageant system we have, it totally matters where you start … and where you start is mostly dependent on what you did last season. I do think Nevada might have an outside shot at a BCS bowl though if they beat Boise State. They could crack the Top 8 if enough big conference teams lose.
The Bills should take Stanford’s Luck … he’s got all the tools for the pro game. Better passer than Locker, more mobile than Mallet and probably a better passer than him, too. Locker is more like Tim Tebow, now 3rd string for Denver.
To that last question … I can only respond … “I really hope so”.