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Florida's last two wins over rival Florida State have been the most lopsided in the series in nearly four decades. Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden tipped his cap and admitted last year the Gators simply had better players at many positions.

Bowden cites his team's youth this year and believes FSU has closed the gap on UF.

"We're getting closer," Bowden said Sunday. "Next year, we should be neck-and-neck."


Thirty-five of 44 players listed on the Seminoles' two-deep depth chart (not including specialists) are underclassmen, highlighted by 27 freshmen and sophomores. Three freshmen played key roles in the final two minutes of FSU's 29-26 come-from-behind victory over Maryland on Saturday.

The Seminoles became bowl eligible for the 28th consecutive year with the win.

Florida, by comparison, lists 62 players on its depth chart. Forty-nine are underclassmen, 25 of whom are freshmen or sophomores. The Gators also have at least seven juniors who are NFL-quality players, according to analysts.

Another reason why Bowden thinks FSU will be able to compete next year is that UF quarterback Tim Tebow graduates. Bowden chuckled and says he will be glad to see Tebow go.

"Yeah, I really am, because he is so good," Bowden said.

"The question is, what will they do without him? What would Texas do without [Colt] McCoy? You see what Oklahoma did without their guy (injured Sam Bradford). One great player can make a lot of difference."

Top-ranked UF certainly has more at stake than its in-state neighbor.

The Gators need to beat FSU in Saturday's nationally-televised showdown at The Swamp and Alabama in the SEC championship game to secure a spot in the BCS national title game in January.

The FSU game expects to be emotional for another good reason -- it will also be Senior Day for Tebow, linebacker Brandon Spikes and several other key players who are hoping to win a second consecutive national title and third in the past four years.

Like UF, there was a time when FSU was consistently favored to win each time it stepped on the field. From 1987 to 1996, the Seminoles beat the Gators eight of 11 times.

UF has turned the tables, winning the past five games in the series. Three of the four victories under coach Urban Meyer haven't even been close, with UF winning by scores of 34-7, 21-14, 45-12 and 45-15.

The last two games (90-27) have been the most lopsided in the series since the Gators won by a combined score of 91-13 in 1972-73.

"It's one of those things you know it can't go forever," Bowden said.

"That's the thing I try to bring out for our people. The great teams of the past -- Southern Cal, Alabama, Notre Dame, Texas. Yeah, they are on top today. But 10 years ago people were stomping them.

"Ten years ago, Southern Cal didn't go to a bowl, I don't think. Texas had their down years. It goes like that. You simply can't stay there forever. We've been there and we'll get back. Someone will get us back."

Of course, Bowden, whose future remains in doubt, hopes he gets that opportunity next season. If FSU (6-5) falters against UF and in its bowl game, it will mark the Seminoles' first losing season since 1976 (5-6) -- Bowden's first in Tallahassee.

The UF-FSU rivalry used to be one of the best in the country, with bragging rights, recruiting battles and national championship hopes on the line almost every year.

While Bowden admits his team still might not match the Gators' talent across the board, he likes his team's talent despite its struggles. FSU has won four of its last five to salvage its season.

"You know, that's the thing people don't understand," Bowden said.

"When you have a great year and you've got a good team, maybe it's one guy that ties that team together. Now here's another team over here that's not having a good [year], it don't mean all their players are bad. It's just that one guy that can do it.

"When we play Florida, do we have some guys as good as theirs? Yeah, I'm not going to break it down position by position. But yes, we've got some good players too. We've just been making more mistakes defensively than they have."

Bowden started an Internet uproar on UF-FSU-related message boards late last summer when he indicated he didn't believe Tebow was better that former FSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward.

Bowden hasn't changed his thinking, though he stresses Tebow certainly belongs in the discussion of college football's greatest players ever.

"He'll always be in the argument," Bowden said.

"To be honest with you, I don't know if he's better than Charlie Ward. What if Charlie started four years? We had two pretty good ones ahead of him. National championships, I don't know. [Chris] Leak helped there on one of them. Didn't he (Leak) help on one?"

UF, of course, has plenty of streaks on the line.

The Gators have won a school-record 21 straight games, also the nation's longest current streak. They've won 15 in a row against SEC teams, 10 consecutive at home and eight straight against non-conference foes.

UF also has owned the Seminoles.

"Two years they've ripped us," Bowden said.

"I imagine they ripped everybody else the same way. We're about like anybody else. We just have to play the best we can do. That's all we can do.

"Not anybody is going to beat them with an imperfect ball game. They're too good. We're going to have to play the best we can play and they're going to have to turn the ball over. Upsets are caused by turnovers. When a superior team, No. 1, is playing somebody not ranked, then the only thing that neutralizes it is turnovers."

Top-Ranked Gators Look to Continue Dominance Over FSU originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:07:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Bobby BowdenCharlie WardTim TebowUrban MeyerJim HenrySun, 22 Nov 2009 20:07:00 EST Starting 11: Archie Manning, Sire MVPhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/17/starting-11-archie-manning-sire-mvp/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/17/starting-11-archie-manning-sire-mvp/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/17/starting-11-archie-manning-sire-mvp/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Archie ManningMidway through the Ole Miss-Tennessee game on Saturday, a highlight package of Archie Manning's playing days at Ole Miss came on the jumbotron. Ole Miss fans, up to that point cheering their biggest win of the season, went quiet. The man behind me muttered softy to himself, "Them were the days."

As Archie ran around on the field making play after play, it occurred to me, not for the first time, how amazing it is that he sired not one, but two, Super Bowl winning quarterbacks. By the time the cameras found his youngest son, Eli, in a suite, I was still attempting to contemplate how amazing the fact was. By Sunday, after Peyton Manning led his Colts to 21 points in the final 12 minutes of a victory over the Patriots, there could be no doubt: Archie Manning's sperm is one of the greatest national treasures in our country.

Right up there with Abraham Lincoln, the flag outside Fort McHenry that inspired Francis Scott Key to jot down "The Star Spangled Banner" and Dorothy's ruby red slippers. That's why I'm making a humble suggestion to the Smithsonian Museum of American History, Archie's sperm should be an exhibit. (Lets see you do that, exhibit on late 19th century wheat threshers.) Otherwise, the museum is worth nothing.

On to the Starting 11.

1. Is TCU's Gary Patterson the next Urban Meyer?

Granted, the comparison doesn't fit squarely since Patterson has been at TCU for eight years and Meyer was only at Bowling Green for two years and then Utah for two years before he arrived at Florida. But if you look at their last four seasons as a head coach, Patterson is presently 40-9 while Meyer went 39-8.

My point, someone is stealing Patterson away at the end of the season, the only question is who?

And here's where it gets interesting, I played coaching dominoes on the phone driving back from Oxford. I had each of the people I talked with assume that Charlie Weis is gone. Then I assumed that either Brian Kelly or Urban Meyer would take over at Notre Dame.

Kelly leaving Cincinnati really doesn't cause the entire coaching universe to scramble since it isn't an amazingly desirable job, but what would Florida do if Meyer left?

I formulated a couple of working hypotheses, A.) Given the Ron Zook failure, there is no way Florida takes someone who isn't already a head coach and B.) What head coaches are the most attractive out there regardless of conference affiliation?

Isn't the answer Gary Patterson? And if Meyer left, wouldn't there be a really good shot that Jeremy Foley would head back to the Mountain West conference and poach another rising coaching star?

I think so.

Anyway, coaching dominoes is great fun. I highly recommend it when you're on long drives by yourself.


2. Do you also feel cheated as a college football fan that teams like Stanford, Cincinnati -- even though I dogged them above -- Boise State and Georgia Tech don't get to throw their hats in the ring and compete for a championship at the end of the season.

First, how hot is Stanford on offense?

Jim Harbaugh going for two against Pete Carroll when he already had 48 points was one of the best things I've seen this season.

Can you imagine how sweet that was for Stanford fans? To kick the dirt in USC's face for a change.

So I miss seeing Stanford in a playoff, assuming they find a way to win the Pac-10, but I really miss Georgia Tech.

Can you imagine a team trying to gameplan against Tech in an eight or 16-team tournament. When you don't even know you are going to play them until less than a week before? How do you get ready for them without any previous preparation?

Also, how many points would it take to win, say, if Cincinnati and Georgia Tech played? Seriously, is there a more exciting game out there? Maybe Boise State against Stanford.

I'm drooling now.
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3. Would Cincinnati's defense hold up against Florida, Texas or Alabama?

They gave up 202 yards rushing to West Virginia. Granted that was on 46 carries, but still, the defense has shown some ominous cracks that don't befit a national title contender. At least not when you compare their defense with Texas, Alabama, Florida, or TCU.

Put it this way, does anyone think that Cincinnati would be less than a double-digit underdog on any neutral site game against Texas, Alabama or Florida?

Would Cincinnati even be favored in a neutral game against LSU or Ole Miss? (The oddsmakers love Ole Miss. Perhaps they've been bribed with excess BenJarvus Green-Ellis jerseys).

I don't think so.

And if we don't think that, and the market wouldn't think that in Las Vegas, isn't it ridiculous when we don't even allow the market to dictate the best match-up between the two best teams? Instead we rely on polls and a computer.

In other words, we're not even using the best market to determine the match-up, we're allowing a flawed and limited perception of teams to govern our selection.

4. Did anyone else see the kid celebrating Mississippi State's apparent kick return touchdown that came back?


I'm not sure why this clip is so addictive to me, but I watched it four times on DVR replay, and then voluntarily leapt up from my seat when my editor found it again on Youtube.

There's something about the curious arm pumping with the pom pom, the slightly askew cap, the chubby cheeks, and the head movement that all lends itself to greatness.

Of course, now I feel like there's a 90 percent chance that kid is going to grow up and start a blog called claytravissucks.com.


5. Michigan is still awful in year two.

Assuming he survives, which is a big assumption, is Rich Rodriguez going to fire defensive coordinator Greg Robinson? You'll recall that last offseason Robinson replaced Scott Shafer, who was hired by Syracuse. Last year Shafer's Michigan defense finished ranked 67th in the country.

Now Robinson has, wait for it, the 89th-ranked defense in the country.

Last year, Shafer's Michigan defense allowed 347 points, the most in school history. This year the Michigan defense has given up 309 points through 11 games. With Ohio State coming to town and Michigan's defensive woes against Big Ten schools, don't be surprised to see that record fall for the second year in a row.

Meanwhile in the ultimate irony, Shafer's Syracuse defense has been better than Michigan's.

Leaving us with this question, can we just acknowledge that nothing is going right at Michigan?

6. Kellen Moore rewarded my faith in his Heisman campaign.

Kellen WinslowMoore passed for five touchdowns and 299 yards. Through 10 games he leads the nation in passing efficiency, has the second lowest interception percentage of the nation's top 100 most efficient quarterbacks, and now has 32 touchdowns against just three interceptions.

When are people going to take notice of this performance in a year when the other top candidates keep dropping like flies.

You know what doesn't help?

The fact that Boise State's Heisman campaign is not ready for primetime. I e-mailed the powers-that-be at Boise State and asked him to send along whatever facts and figures they'd put together to buttress Moore's Heisman case and make sure I had those facts lined up in my endorsement.

Boise State didn't respond to me.

Seriously, what are they doing out there?

7. Let's talk some more about Archie's sperm.

How many men have successfully become fathers in America between the years 1969 and 1988 -- the age range of current starting quarterbacks in the NFL. Conservatively, 40 million. (Currently 4.3 million children are born every year).

How many quarterbacks have started a game in the NFL during this generation?

Maybe 500?

How many quarterbacks born during this generation have won a Super Bowl?

11!

And Archie Manning has fathered two of them!

Seriously, just think about the odds on this.

I'm going to do a full column on this at some point, but it's unfathomable that the same man has sired two of the greatest quarterbacks in football history.

We're talking about the toughest position in all of sports.

I want to actually run the odds on this happening. Put it this way, each of these kids, including me, had a .00000003 chance of winning a Super Bowl.

And Archie pulled it off twice.

What football fan out there woudln't want their smiling son or daughter posing alongside Archie's sperm?

8. If Boise State doesn't get a BCS bid and either Iowa, Penn State or Wisconsin does, which seems likely, aside from dooming the Big Ten schools to another lackluster season by requiring them all to play up in their bowl games, what does this signify?

That the BCS doesn't even play fair when they aren't excluding half of the teams from competing for a championship.

I've linked this before, but read the BCS selection procedures again just to demonstrate how lawyered up this thing is.

I've read easier legislative histories.

Honest question, after reviewing this, what percentage of college football fans could accurately apply the rules and get all five game match-ups set in an adequate manner according to the rules if you gave them the final BCS standings and an hour to complete the assignment.

Maybe 10 percent.

This would be a great test.

9. How many Georgia fans cringed when Todd Blackledge said it was up to Willie Martinez's defense to win the game for Georgia?

But, credit to Martinez, his team won, stopping a driving Auburn team to win the game.

In the process, every SEC fan should breathe a sigh of relief. Because as long as Martinez is at Georgia, their defense is going to be average at best.

I'm rooting for Martinez to survive the season, but I'm convinced that the epic beating that Georgia Tech is going to lay on Georgia in the final game of the season is going to seal his fate.

That is, assuming Georgia can beat Kentucky this weekend.

10. Unless it's an NFL contract, all bets are off when it comes to coaching openings.

One of the things that drives me the craziest is when a coach signs an extension and people trumpet that as clear evidence that he's not going anywhere else. Granted I'm playing coaching dominoes in my spare time, but the only contracts worth anything in football are NFL contracts.

Everything else, college head coaching, analyst contracts, assistant coaches, you name it and those contracts can be broken at will. Now there might be a buyout, but I'm sick of people trotting out the contract argument as if it's the gold standard of unbeatable arguments. If you're playing coaching dominoes and anyone mentions a recently signed contract extension, cite my expert legal opinion and tell them to find a new rationale.



11. And, last of all, I need to vent some more about Hotty Toddy Man at Ole Miss. He's giving me nightmares.

There has to be a Youtube of this clip somewhere, but I couldn't find it.

Can someone help me out?

I want to share this travesty of football excess with the rest of the country.

I will not rest until Hotty Toddy Man is put out to pasture and whoever approved that video being filmed publicly apologizes to all of us.

All of the e-mails that I've gotten since writing about Hotty Toddy Man have agreed with my position. That's Ole Miss fans, Tennessee fans, and other fans who have been unfortunate enough to see him. That leaves me wondering this, who is the part of the fan base that is in favor of him?

The video puts me in mind of one of my wife's best descriptions of a Southern man who was overly friendly. "He's either really religious or gay, I get confused sometimes about that down here."

Starting 11: Archie Manning, Sire MVP originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Clay TravisTue, 17 Nov 2009 06:00:00 EST Blanket Coverage: Create November Saturday to Rememberhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/16/blanket-coverage-create-november-saturday-to-remember/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/16/blanket-coverage-create-november-saturday-to-remember/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/16/blanket-coverage-create-november-saturday-to-remember/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , ,

BCS logoA playoff? No, thank you.

That said, please do not think for a second that I ravenously slurp the Kool-Aid that the BCS is attempting to serve. I don't want to see a playoff because I love the idea that you have to show up every Saturday, that each week the stakes get higher and the opponent, no matter what their record, gets tougher for an undefeated team. And I hate the idea of neutral-site playoff games in NFL cities in December and January (there's a reason that the SEC and Big 12 title games never have any juice).

It would not be a panacea, but the most effective step toward improving the current system would be to compel teams who are seriously interested in playing for the national championship to play 12 meaningful games. Which brings us to Saturday's slate.

Florida, the No. 1 team in the nation, hosts Florida International (3-7), which boasts the nation's 118th-rated total defense. No. 2 Alabama hosts Chattanooga, an FCS school. I agree that the SEC is the nation's toughest conference. I realize that Florida plays Florida State out-of-conference in two weeks. And I am aware that the Gators and Tide are not the only schools to schedule guaranteed victories in order to garner another home date and the booty that it entails (see, Washington State versus Notre Dame).

Think, however, how much more interesting the season might be if the NCAA were to designate either the second or third Saturday in November as a play-in weekend. Imagine if the FBS agreed that on that date the top eight schools would be required to play one another. On that weekend no intra-conference games would be scheduled (you could move up the beginning of conference play one week earlier in the season). The eight teams that would be dropped (e.g., FIU by Florida) would fall into a pool and play one another.

Home field among the top eight would be determined by higher ranking. Paul Johnson, the coach at No. 7 Georgia Tech, might not relish the idea of traveling to Tuscaloosa but he'd probably prefer that to not having a shot at the national title at all.

Sure, there are wrinkles that would need to be solved. What if the two schools had already met that season (switch the matchups)? Would the picture be any clearer after such a weekend, for instance, would an unbeaten No. 5 Cincinnati, having toppled No. 4 TCU, be any closer to a shot at the national championship game?

Ludicrous? In college football, something can never be done (e.g., games after New Year's Day, African-Americans on SEC rosters, instant replay) until someone decides that it can.

A mid-November winnowing of the contenders? I'd be thankful for that.

Hanging 50 on Troy ... that Was His Deal

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, when USC's Pete Carroll and Stanford's Jim Harbaugh met for the post-game handshake following the Cardinal's 55-21 de-pantsing of the Trojans, the conversation went thusly:

Carroll: "What's your deal? What's your deal?
Harbaugh: "What's your deal?"

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I'll take a wild guess and assume that this was not an impromptu dialogue between the two to compare contracts. What I cannot understand is why anyone who has seen Harbaugh operate the past few seasons is the least bit surprised that he went for the two-point conversion up 48-21.

The Cardinal had just scored and only 6:47 remained in the game. Harbaugh was likely figuring, When's the last time anyone hung 50 points on princely Pete (answer: never)? So he went for the deuce. Guarantee if the score were 47-21 at the time he would not have.

Stanford and USC compete for the same players in the same fertile Golden State breeding grounds. How much farther can Harbaugh puff out his pecs when he struts into a recruit's living room having not only beaten USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum but embarrassed them?

No punking of USC by Stanford could be complete, though, without a cruel and clever halftime performance by the Stanford band. They did not disappoint, performing a tribute to USC alum -- "Girls Gone Wild" creator-tax evader Joe Francis. I can only imagine what they are devising for Charlie Weis when the Irish visit Palo Alto in two weeks.


Records Are Made to Be Broken ... or Digitized and Sold on iTunes

A few weeks ago, when Florida's Tim Tebow was on the verge of breaking the SEC rushing touchdowns record of 49 set by Herschel Walker, fellow FanHouse scribe Clay Travis argued that the standards were unfair. Because the NCAA now includes bowl game statistics in overall stats, something that it did not do in Walker's era, Travis argued that the scales were unbalanced.

Either give Walker (the greatest college football player many of us ever saw) the five touchdowns that he scored in bowl games, making the record 54, or subtract from Tebow's total the two he has scored in January contests. Seems reasonable, which of course is why Clay's proposal was ignored by the SEC.

Now along comes a new stats controversy involving Tebow. Two years ago when he won the Heisman (which, by the way, he will not do this season), the Gator QB rushed for a single-season NCAA-record 23 touchdowns. On Saturday, Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs pulled to within one score of Tebow's mark when he ran it in five times against Delaware in the Mids' 35-18 win against Delaware.

Never mind that Dobbs' five touchdown runs went for a total of 10 yards. That's irrelevant. However, Delaware is an FCS school. If victories against FCS programs do not count toward a team's minimum number of wins required for bowl eligibility, should the statistics accrued in those contests count?

Dobbs is a terrific player, but five of his 22 rushing touchdowns -- nearly 25 percent -- came in what amounts to a glorified scrimmage. When he unseats Tebow, perhaps as early as Navy's next game at Hawaii on November 28, how will the Gainesville groupies react?

Distant Replay

Earlier this season a prominent college football writer on the web (that is no longer an oxymoron) told me that he'd be happy if every play were reviewed in the booth because he was all for getting the call right.

If only it were that simple.

After Pittsburgh beat Notre Dame Saturday night, assisted by an overturned call late in the fourth quarter, Irish coach Charlie Weis said, "It seems like the replay officials recently, every game you watch, they are the stars."

In their brief history, instant replay officials have become the most despised men in a glass booth since the "Deal or No Deal" banker. It need not be that way. A few suggested changes:

1. Unless these men can demonstrate that they understand the concept of "indisputable evidence" before overturning a call, then instant replay itself should cease to exist.

2. Instant replay officials need to get younger and fast. The majority of them are retired or near-retirement officials. We're not looking for Wal-Mart greeters here. We're looking for people who are at the peak of their powers in terms of scrutinizing a play.

3. I've noted this before, but there is absolutely no reason a replay official needs to be in a glass booth watching a second-rate television. When every Hooters' waitress has a better view of the play than you do, something's not right.

That play, by the way, did not doom the Irish. Their feckless first-half performance, a chronic shortcoming all season, did.

From First-Round to Fifth-String

Oregon head coach Chip Kelly reinstated tailback LeGarrette Blount for the Ducks' game with Arizona State. He just failed to play him.

"We didn't get to our fifth running back," Kelly said, referring to Blount with a complete lack of chalant. "Andre (Crenshaw, the third-string tailback) had one or two carries, Remene (Alston, the fourth-stringer) got in for one or two carries."



The Ducks' best player heading into the season, Blount was considered a first-round caliber draft pick before he decked Boise State's Byron Hout following Oregon's 19-8 loss in the season opener. While Kelly has shown compassion and mercy by rescinding the year-long suspension imposed on Blount in the immediate aftermath of the Hout punch, every so often he jerks the leash, as he did on Saturday, as if to test Blount's resolve and contrition.

This is terrific theater out of Eugene. Watching the drama between Kelly and Blount unfold is a little like watching the bathroom scene in Jerry Maguire. It's as if Kelly is Rod Tidwell, and he's telling Blount, "You are hanging on by a very thin thread and I dig that about you!"

All-Name Team

From the same people who introduced you to Central Michigan's Tommy Mama and Marshall's Darius Marshall, meet center T-Bob Hebert. With a name like that, it should take no more than one guess as to the state in which he plays and no more than two guesses (for the benefit of a few Ragin' Cajun reading this) as to the school.

And, yes, the former NFL quarterback is his daddy.

You can call me Al ... Golden ... Tate ... Forcier

Speaking of names, this is my favorite moniker chain of the season. From the up-and-coming thirtysomething head coach at the school located in the town where "Thirtysomething" was set, to the lone player at Notre Dame who each week reinforces the vestigial notion that the Irish really do have Fight, to the freshman quarterback at Michigan, which last beat an FBS opponent in September.

Overheard...

Matt Millen, while doing the broadcast of the Iowa-Ohio State contest, stressed that he "could not underemphasize enough" the importance of Ohio State's dominant defensive linemen. Everyone makes errors on live television (we even do in dead print), but for the future Millen should remember that it's "overemphasize."

The best way to not underemphasize enough a point is to remain silent.

Flighting Irish

In the biggest aviation story related to Notre Dame football since Knute Rockne's plane landed about 1,400 miles short of the runway, the school has found a way to block the university plane's registration number (N42ND) from appearing on the flight-tracking web site flightaware.com.

Shrewd tactic by the Irish. It will compel the legion of scribes covering the program to go Anton Chigurh on athletic director Jack Swarbrick and, like Chigurh, they will track him down. It's the nature of the business.

Alive ... and Kicking

If it feels as if once a year you come across the story of some grizzled Rudy type finding his way onto a Division III roster, that's because you do. This fall's middle-aged Walter Mitty is Austin College kicker Tom Thompson, age 61, who successfully converted the point after in the Kangaroos' 44-10 loss to Trinity (yes, that Trinity). It was Thompson's first kick of his college career.

Thompson is just 35 years older than Ohio State kicker Devin Barclay, 26, the retired pro soccer player whose overtime boot versus Iowa sent the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl.

Blanket Coverage: Create November Saturday to Remember originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>John WaltersMon, 16 Nov 2009 16:30:00 EST Memo to BCS Bashers: Stop Whininghttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/16/memo-to-bcs-bashers-stop-whining/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/16/memo-to-bcs-bashers-stop-whining/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/16/memo-to-bcs-bashers-stop-whining/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , ,

Jordan Shipley, Jeffrey Demps, Julio Jones
It's that silly time of year again. There are so many significant teams among the big boys of college football, but there are just two slots on Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif., for that title game of the Bowl Championship Series. So the voice of the older Jim Mora is screaming in my subconscious.

Playoffs, playoffs?

We don't need playoffs in this situation.

We need everybody to take a deep breath, count slowly to 10 and stop their knee-jerk talk of a playoff system. The decade-old way of deciding a national champion through the BCS rankings is mostly just fine.

Take this week, for instance. Where's the problem? There isn't one, because the combination of the human polls and the cold computers has it right. The defensive monsters from Florida and Alabama clearly are No. 1 and No. 2, followed by a Texas bunch with a defense that also clobbers people.

That trio is from power conferences, and with apologies to the prolific whiners from the Mountain West and Western Athletic conferences, teams from power conferences deserve a nudge over the rest.

Anyway, Florida and Alabama will meet in the SEC championship game, which means one of them will drop in the rankings behind Texas .

That is, if Texas wins the Big 12 championship game. If Texas doesn't, then one of those other undefeated teams (Texas Christian, Cincinnati and Boise State) will slide into the title picture. Or it could open the way for a one-loss team such as Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh or even the loser of the SEC championship game.


Whatever happens, the system is there. The system is working. The system is controversial, but the system provides less drama than what would occur with a playoff system, which will never happen anyway.

There are just too many questions involved with a playoff system, but its supporters either ignore those questions or shrug them away.

For instance: How many teams will be in this playoff system? The answer is, nobody knows. Many want a "plus one" thing, where two of the four BCS games (Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta) would host semifinal games, and then the winners would play in another BCS game. Others want 16 teams in a playoff. Some want 32.

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach wants 64.

As for those other questions, pull up a chair and rest a while. If you can provide more than a surface answer to three or more of the following, then you should immediately leave Planet Earth to design the next solar system.

Where would these playoff games take place, and would they be at the same locations every year, and who would decide the locations?

What entity would choose the playoff teams, and how will such a system be less subjective than what we have now?

With colleges everywhere crying broke, where would they find the extra cash they would need for travel, lodging, food, equipment, utilities -- along with all of those other expenses that nobody wants to discuss that would surface?

Where are those colleges going to find the extra cash to pay for those bonuses that their already heavily compensated coaches would surely command for reaching and winning playoff games?

Oh, and with all that extra cash going to football programs for these playoffs, and with all that revenue created through television rights and jacked-up ticket prices, how would schools satisfy their Title IX obligations since women sports surely would seek a mighty part of the pie?

What would this do to the bowl system, especially since (1) the overwhelming number of the 34 bowls won't have a shot at hosting a playoff game and (2) advertisers (as in TV) won't be as interested in those other bowls?

How many fans could afford to travel with their team across the country at the spur of the moment, which would be the case more often than not?

How many fans could keep traveling if their team keeps winning?

How many folks would the NCAA need to hire to investigate all of the cheating scandals that would surface involving those pressured to do shady things to reach the playoffs to keep from getting whacked?

What kind of toll would all of these extra practices and meetings (see, it's not just one little, old playoff game that its supporters keep suggesting) take on your average student-athlete physically, mentally and academically?

Why not just leave the BCS alone?

Why not, indeed? After all, this eternal grumbling over who really is No. 1 has been so detrimental to college football at its highest level that, entering this season, attendance rose every season for the previous 14 years.

Consider, too, that along the facade of the club level at Folsom Stadium, where the Colorado Buffaloes play their home games, you'll find these words: 1990 National Champions. That's funny, because around Georgia Tech, spanning from Bobby Dodd Stadium to a billboard that is visible for those traveling through Atlanta down I-75, you see claims that the Yellow Jackets won it all that season. And they did. Georgia Tech was named the United Press International champion, and Colorado was declared the nation's best by the Associated Press.

Since nobody can prove otherwise, you have two different fan bases in college football who can claim for eternity that their team was the king of 1990.

There also is that endless griping around Auburn over its undefeated 2004 team that won the SEC but didn't make the BCS championship game. Never mind that Auburn disqualified itself from serious consideration by playing the likes of Louisiana-Monroe, The Citadel and Louisiana Tech.

Auburn fans still think their Tigers would have won it all that season over Oklahoma or USC. They still think they were robbed.

The same goes for Penn State fans who remember 1969, when a giddy Richard Nixon attended Texas' victory over Arkansas during the regular season and crowned the Longhorns national champions in their locker room. Texas later won its bowl game to finish undefeated, but so did Penn State. It's just that Penn State wasn't anointed by the president.

The point is, a playoff system would have exposed those Auburn, Penn State and other such teams as frauds, but now we'll never know.

Which is a good thing. Which is why everybody has another reason to keep breathing deeply regarding the BCS.

Terence Moore is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse. He is a frequent panelist on "Rome Is Burning," an ESPN show hosted by Jim Rome, that is seen Monday through Friday at 4:30 PM ET. Moore spent more than three decades working for major newspapers, including 26 years as an award-winning sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He resides in Atlanta.

Memo to BCS Bashers: Stop Whining originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Terence MooreMon, 16 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST At Boise, Kellen Is Moore of a Heisman Candidate Than Tebow, McCoyhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/13/at-boise-kellen-is-moore-of-a-heisman-candidate-than-tebow-mcc/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/13/at-boise-kellen-is-moore-of-a-heisman-candidate-than-tebow-mcc/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/13/at-boise-kellen-is-moore-of-a-heisman-candidate-than-tebow-mcc/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Kellen MooreI've heard your Tebow talk and your McCoy blather, I've even read your outlandish suggestions that Alabama running back Mark Ingram should win the award. Please, Ingram isn't even as good as Temple's Bernard Pierce and Stanford's Toby Gerhart statistically, and I haven't heard a single one of you mention him. Already, we've made Case's case, and I don't agree with that either.

There is still one player is lurking out there without much national recognition despite the fact that he has the best profile of any Heisman contender.

Why is he being ignored? Because he plays for Boise State and because, you might have noticed, Boise State is off the national radar despite being undefeated. That means most of us have missed what Kellen Moore has managed so far this fall. Thus far,Moore has completed over 67 percent of his passes with many more touchdowns than interceptions. Along the way he's led his team to a 9-0 record, kicked a huge dent in the BCS superiority, and burnished his Heisman credentials. Don't believe me, please step inside for a discussion.
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Can you pick out Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow's statistics from the list of quarterbacks below?

A. 1,948 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, one rushing touchdown

B. 1,531 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, four interceptions, nine rushing touchdowns

C. 2,259 passing yards, 27 touchdowns, three interceptions, one rushing touchdown

D. 2,447 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, nine interceptions, one rushing touchdown

E. 2,189 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, five interceptions, 13 rushing touchdowns

Go ahead and take your guess.

Ready for the revelation?

A.. Jonathan Crompton, Tennessee'

B. Tebow, Florida

C. Moore, Boise State

D. Colt McCoy, Texas

E. Dan LeFevour, Central Michigan

As if that weren't enough, tossing the two leading contenders into a bunch and showing how pedestrian their stats truly are in relation to other quarterbacks having good seasons, Tebow and McCoy are both having worse statistical seasons than they had last year. You know, last year, when neither man won the Heisman Trophy. Don't get me wrong, last year I thought Tebow deserved the Heisman, I would have voted for him. But this year, I think he's been average at best, a mortal man.
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Put it this way, if Tim Tebow was a first-year starting quarterback and no one had ever heard of him before, would he be a legitimate Heisman contender this year?

The answer is no, right?

What about McCoy?

It's possible he's going to have his worst statistics in four years as a starter at Texas. And if it's not his worst year, then at least it's his second-worst year. Definitely two other seasons, and potentially three other years, he's had better results on the field and the Heisman hasn't been his. Why does he deserve it in the midst of the worst year of his career? And it's not as though he's barely missing last year's numbers with a downgraded receivers corp, the disparity from last year is immense. Were he not a solid candidate last year, McCoy would hardly be a frontrunner this year.

Especially when Kellen Moore is currently, wait for it, the nation's passing efficiency leader. Tebow ranks eighth in the country while McCoy is 13th. That's the second most important stat for quarterbacks. What's the most important?

Wins and losses.

Where, guess what, Moore, Tebow, and McCoy are all tied in wins thanks to leading their teams to an undefeated season.

In fact, what if you replaced Tebow and McCoy from their respective squads. Do you really think there would be much of a drop-off? Would Florida have lost a game starting Brantley this season?

Maybe.

Would Florida have lost several games?

No.

Both of these teams would still be top-ten caliber.

Where would Boise be without Moore? I don't think they'd be in the top ten.

And I don't want to hear that Tebow and McCoy both have intangible leadership qualities that make them deserve to win.

Big deal.

You don't think Kellen Moore has intangible leadership qualities as well?

Ultimately, if we seriously consider Tebow and McCoy for the Heisman, aren't we tacitly rewarding them for simply being the favorites coming into the season? In fact, aren't we doing exactly what many fans decry that the polls do, rewarding teams based more on where they begin than what they accomplish?

Why yes, I think that's exactly what we're doing. Because if you consider the players based entirely on the merits of their play this season, you can only come to one actual conclusion, Kellen Moore should win the Heisman Trophy.

At Boise, Kellen Is Moore of a Heisman Candidate Than Tebow, McCoy originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Clay TravisFri, 13 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST SEC Notebook: South's Oldest Rivalryhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/13/sec-notebook-souths-oldest-rivalry/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/13/sec-notebook-souths-oldest-rivalry/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/13/sec-notebook-souths-oldest-rivalry/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Georgia vs. Auburn.

It doesn't get any better, or older, than this for these two schools. Known as the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, the series began in 1892 and is the seventh-most played in the country. The mutual disdain has been passed down through the generations, and the 113th meeting Saturday isn't expected to be any different.

"Everybody has their team," Georgia coach Mark Richt said.

"When I go to the Bulldog Clubs, they will say, 'Coach no matter what happens, you have to get this one.' You would think it's just one or two teams, but it's about five of them that they all feel like you've just got to have. It is a big deal and I think our fans will get jacked up for it."

Georgia (5-4) better be jacked up as well, or it may get Uga-ly in Athens, Ga.

The Tigers (7-3) rank 10th in the nation in rushing offense (230 yards per game) and are tied for 11th in scoring offense (35 points per game). Auburn is on pace to set a school record for total offense. The Tigers have had 24 scoring drives this season that have taken less than two minutes, and 21 of those ended with touchdowns.

"You have to get a good, strong plan and get the guys as many reps as you can because they are into creating chaos for you," Richt said. "That's what they want to do; they want to create confusion and bloody your nose in the meantime."

Recent history is on the Bulldogs' side.

Georgia has won three straight in the series for the first time since 1982. The last time the Bulldogs won four in a row was in 1948.Georgia is hoping to exploit the Tigers' defense, which ranks last in the SEC in scoring defense (26.6 points per game).


The Bulldogs gained some needed confidence in their 38-0 win over Tennessee Tech last Saturday. They limited Tech to just 55 yards of offense and posted their first shutout since 2006.

Senior Joe Cox connected on his first 10 passes and finished with 140 yards passing with two touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver A.J. Green leads the SEC in receptions per game (5.5) and receiving yards per game (91.5).

"He will be a huge challenge for our secondary, which should be fun for them," Auburn coach Gene Chizik said. "He is not the only one, but he is one of those receivers that are going to make you go to work all night."

BIG PLAY ALERT

It might be nit-picky, but top-ranked Florida continues to search for big plays.

In seven SEC games this season, the Gators have produced only two plays of 50 yards or longer -- a 77-yard touchdown pass from Tim Tebow to receiver Deonte Thompson against Arkansas, and a 64-yard pass from Tebow to tight end Aaron Hernandez late in the game against Vanderbilt. UF's three other 50-plus yard plays came against out-manned Charleston Southern.

Last season, the Gators had 10 plays of 50 yards or longer, five coming against SEC opponents.

UF offensive coordinator Steve Addazio defended his unit following practice earlier this week.

"We define big plays as 20 or more yards," he said.

"There are a lot of big plays happening. The same number at this point in time, we're about right where we were, there is really negligible difference, but you're feeling is like we're not having as many big plays.

"Here's what we're doing a good job of, this is what it is: We're moving the ball much more consistently than we ever did. The appearance was we had more big-play strikes a year ago. A big play is defined as 20 yards or more, that's considered explosive, we have the same amount of explosives as we did a year ago at this point in time."

Running to Daylight

Saturday's Alabama-Mississippi State game features the SEC's two most productive running backs.

Alabama's Mark Ingram, right, considered by many as the leading contender for the Heisman Trophy, leads the league in rushing at 127.6 yards per game; Mississippi State's Anthony Dixon is second at 125.1 ypg.

It might be the one chance for Dixon and the Bulldogs to grab the attention away from Ingram and the Crimson Tide (9-0, 6-0), winners of the SEC West.

"It's going to be fun," Dixon said.

"I guess this is what we dreamed about when we were kids. He's in the Heisman race and all props to him. I'm pretty sure he's been over there working hard. I've been over here working hard. Both of us are making the dream come true, and it's just going to be a showcase Saturday. We'll show again what we can do. I'm just excited, pumped up and ready to go."

Mississippi State has won two of the last three against Alabama, which is coming off an emotional home victory over LSU.

Ever-philosophical Tide coach Nick Saban isn't worried about a letdown from his players.

"I think what I talk about all the time is what you try and emphasize to the players," Saban said.

"Take care of your business and your business will take care of you. Focus on what you do and it's about what you do and prepare yourself in practice and the way you need to be the best player that you can be. Do your job for your team and that's going to give us the best chance to be successful."

Spurrier in Charge

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is moving back into the lead role again of calling plays. Just in time for top-ranked Florida, where the Ol' Ball Coach crafted his reputation as the best play caller in the business.

Business needs to get better in a hurry for the Gamecocks.

The only scoring from South Carolina (6-4) against an Arkansas defense last week that was allowing 27 points per game came on a 23-yard field goal on the first drive of the game, and a Stephen Garcia 1-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarterback and an 80-yard scoring pass from Garcia to receiver Alshon Jeffery to start the third quarter.

UF's defense, directed by former Gamecock defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, is ranked first in scoring defense at 10.1 points per game and second nationally behind Texas in total defense at 232.4 yards per game.

"I call most of the plays and I may be the principle play caller now with suggestions from the other coaches," said Spurrier, who also indicated earlier this week he intends to return to South Carolina next season.

"That's about how we've been doing it."

SEC Notebook: South's Oldest Rivalry originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>a.j. greenanthony dixonjoe coxmark ingramtim tebowJim HenryFri, 13 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST Blanket Coverage: Gerhart at Epicenterhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/09/blanket-coverage-gehart-at-epicenter/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/09/blanket-coverage-gehart-at-epicenter/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/09/blanket-coverage-gehart-at-epicenter/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,


He will likely not win the Heisman Trophy (though it would not be blasphemous).

He may not even be tendered an invite to the ceremony in mid-December (though he should).

But no one player will have a greater impact on the remainder of the college football season than Stanford senior tailback Toby Gerhart.

The workhorse, who is averaging 135.2 yards per game (second nationally), will lead the Cardinal into games at USC and, two weeks later, versus Notre Dame. In a region of the country that is quite familiar with the concept of seismic shifts and aftershocks, Gerhart's potential as a disruptive force is likely sending tremors out to University Park and South Bend.

Gerhart really is a workhorse. Not only does he lead the nation in rushing attempts (233) by more than 10 percent over the next most prolific rusher (Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt, who has carried 209 times), he also starts in the outfield for the Cardinal baseball team. Stanford should award his family a second scholarship with no expiration date.

This Saturday, the Cardinal return to the Los Angeles Coliseum for the first time since their monumental upset of USC in 2007 (they were 41-point underdogs, you'll recall). Stanford, which finds itself ranked for the first time since 2001, has an opportunity to knock off a top 10 team for the second time in two weeks. If it can just get past its head coach's over-the-top comments.

"Who would not like to watch this team play?" third-year coach Jim Harbaugh said after the Cardinal rocked Oregon's world, 51-42. "Is there a better show around?"
Toby Gerhart
And of freshman quarterback Andrew Luck, Harbaugh groused, "I don't know how you can play better. How can you play better as a quarterback? What can you say he should have done better? Who could have done better?"

When did Gob Bluth become the head coach at The Farm?

Back to Gerhart. Stanford will need more than Luck -- and luck -- to defeat the Trojans who, by the way, are 28-0 in November under Pete Carroll. They'll need their finest workhorse, Gerhart. If Stanford somehow pulls off this minor upset, imagine the reverberations in towns such as Boise and ... Boise. A three-loss USC team is, even with its reputation, not going to a BCS bowl this season.

Ten teams play in the BCS bowls. Assume that Florida, Alabama and Texas have three spots locked up. Barring an upset -- a big if, yes -- assume also that conference champions Georgia Tech (ACC), Cincinnati (Big East), Ohio State (Big Ten) and a Pac-10 school with at least two losses (Oregon? Arizona? The Cardinal?) receive BCS bowl bids. That's seven bids. TCU is fo' sure if it beats beat Utah on Saturday.

That's eight bids.

Who's left? A gaggle of two-loss BCS conference schools such as Iowa, Penn State, Pitt and Miami. Are they all really going to cut an unbeaten Boise State in line? Some, like LSU and one of the Big Ten teams won't, as conferences can't have more than two representatives in the BCS bowls.The rest? I hope not. One of them, maybe (Iowans, especially, travel well to the Valley of the Sun in January). But two? Only if that second school is USC ... which it will not be if Gerhart can help inflict a third defeat on Troy.

Next up, after a date with Cal, is Charlie Weis and the Irish. Gerhart, who rushed for 223 yards versus Oregon, is already salivating at the prospect of facing an Irish defense that just allowed 11.3 yards per carry to the legendary Vince Murray (a backup fullback for Navy). Maybe Weis' job is already lost by that point. But if for some reason it hangs in the balance -- and before you assume you know the future, recall that just a few weeks ago the same people who said Charlie was out when it was 34-14 when the fourth quarter began versus USC are the ones who said Charlie deserved another season after 15 more minutes of play -- Gerhart is the last player Weis wants to wager his future against: a fast, punishing back who will chew up both yardage and clock.

The stage is all yours, Toby Gerhart. No one will have a greater mark on the college football landscape this month.
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Isaac Newton and Open-Field Tackling

The potential play of the year waits for us next Saturday in the Los Angeles Coliseum. Gerhart breaks into the USC secondary untouched, which sets up a full-speed appointment with one Taylor Mays. Physics professors, take note, this is an excellent opportunity to teach Newton's third law of motion.

The Collaros Conundrum

Zach Collaros has only been the starting quarterback at Cincinnati for 3.5 games, and only because then-Heisman sleeper candidate Tony Pike reinjured his left (non-throwing) arm. Still, in the sophomore's three full games, he has completed 66 of 82 passes (80.5 percent) for 1,028 yards with eight touchdown passes and zero interceptions.

Granted, it's a limited audition, but Collaros' efficiency rating after 14 quarters is 210.24. The nation's leader in that stat, Kellen Moore of similarly undefeated Boise State, has a 169.35 rating. That's a Secretariat margin.

Cincy, extraordinarily, had not lost one fumble in the six games Pike started. Under Collaros, they still have yet to lose one. That is to say, the Bearcats have committed no turnovers in Collaros' three starts.

Coach Brian Kelly's "problem?" Pike is healthy as West Virginia comes to visit Nippert Stadium on Friday night. Originally, Kelly said the job was Pike's as soon as he was cleared to play. Now he says, "I think I have to reconsider my decision."

From an outsider's perspective, it's a no-brainer. You go with the guy who gives you the best chance to win. What more does Collaros, who went 30-0 his final two years of high school, need to do to demonstrate that he is that guy?

That's when Bill Belichick was heard to say, "Well, almost."

After No. 1 Florida dispatched of Vanderbilt in desultory fashion, 27-3, Gator coach Urban Meyer was asked if the team's 19th straight victory was "ho-hum". "Have you ever gone 19-0?" Meyer replied. "It's not ho-hum, I can assure you that."

Yet another reason to love Chip Kelly

Here's what Oregon's first-year head coach said after the No. 7 Ducks lost at unranked Stanford: "If you say we got caught looking behind or looking ahead, it takes away from Stanford."

Speaking of Coach of the Year Candidates

Georgia Tech was 0-for-4 on fourth-down attempts against Wake Forest when quarterback Josh Nesbitt persuaded coach Paul Johnson to go for it on fourth-and-one-foot with the Yellow Jackets trailing the Demon Deacons 27-24 in overtime. Nesbitt converted the play and scored the game-winner one play after that.

"I play to win," Johnson said. "If we can't make an inch there, we don't deserve to win the game."
Concussion Section

Jahvid Best's scary fall was just the latest in what seems to be an epidemic of concussions suffered this autumn. Whether the rise in head injuries is actual or anecdotal, or whether Tim Tebow's concussion just brought more attention to the issue, it feels as if each week concussions are part of the roundup.

Best had actually sustained a slight concussion the previous week at Arizona State and missed two days of practice last week. It would seem prudent for Cal to shut him down for at least the rest of the regular season if not longer.

The Golden Bears' terrific tailback has, sadly, plenty of company. Wisconsin tailback John Clay rushed for a game-high 134 yards in the first half at Indiana before leaving the game with a concussion. UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince, who earlier this season broke his jaw on a helmet-to-helmet hit at Tennessee, had to leave the Bruins' 24-23 win against Washington after sustaining another blow to the head. Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen was, in Charlie Weis' words, "knocked silly" in a goal-line tackle by Navy's Kevin Edwards, but Clausen returned the next series without missing a play.

Don't expect the concussion section to decrease in number any time soon. As long as players keep getting bigger and faster, collisions will continue to pack more force.


Stats Incredible

-- Following Cal's 31-14 home loss to Oregon State, the Golden Bears are 0-7 at Memorial Stadium versus the Beavers and USC of late, but 32-0 against everyone else in their last 39 games.

-- Baylor and Missouri combined for 49 rushing attempts and just 40 net rushing yards in the Bears' surprising 40-32 win at Faurot Field. Both quarterbacks, though, surpassed 400 yards in passing yardage. Bear QB Nick Florence threw for a school-record 427 yards while his counterpart, Blaine Gabbert, chucked for a game-high 468.

-- With Kansas State's 17-10 defeat of Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown, Wildcat coach Bill Snyder is now 5-0 in Bill Snyder Stadium.

-- Houston freshman Matt Hogan, who kicked a 51-yard field goal as time expired to culminate the Cougars' outrageous 46-45 victory against Tulsa, had a previous career-long of 34 yards. That's a 50 percent improvement on his former best.

-- Fresno State quarterback Ryan Colburn was 14-of-14 passing in the Bulldogs' 31-21 win at Idaho.

-- Notre Dame never punted in Saturday's 23-21 loss to Navy. The last time the Irish went an entire game without punting? Their 46-44 triple overtime loss to Navy in 2007.

And finally...Happy belated birthday to Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who turned 80 on Sunday, dadgummit.

Blanket Coverage: Gerhart at Epicenter originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:06:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>andrew luckjim harbaughjosh nesbittpaul johnsontoby gerhartJohn WaltersMon, 09 Nov 2009 12:06:00 EST Urban Meyer Fined $30,000 for Criticizing SEC Officiatinghttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/06/urban-meyer-fined-30-000-for-criticizing-sec-officiating/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/06/urban-meyer-fined-30-000-for-criticizing-sec-officiating/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/06/urban-meyer-fined-30-000-for-criticizing-sec-officiating/#commentsFiled under: ,

Urban MeyerOn Friday, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive fined Urban Meyer $30,000 for criticizing the officials in the wake of the Georgia-Florida game. When questioned by the media about a non-call on a late hit against Tim Tebow, Meyer responded, "That should have been a penalty, in my opinion. Obviously, it should have been. You've got to protect quarterbacks. That's the whole purpose. It's right in front of the referee."

In announcing the penalty, Commissioner Slive stated as follows: "Coach Meyer has violated the Southeastern Conference code of ethics. SEC bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that the coaches, players and support personnel shall refrain from public criticism of officials. The league's athletics directors and presidents and chancellors have made it clear that negative public comments on officiating are not acceptable."

Urban Meyer issued his own response: "As I stated last week, I have great respect for Commissioner Mike Slive and the Southeastern Conference and I respect this decision. There was no intent to criticize an official after being asked about a situation that occurred last Saturday and I apologize for my remarks."

Meyer's fine will be used to fund SEC postgraduate scholarships.

The fine comes in the wake of a recent change to SEC bylaws that ended all reprimand letters--Arkansas's Bobby Petrino, Tennessee's Lane Kiffin, and Mississippi State's Dan Mullen all received them for criticizing officials in the past few weeks -- and instituted a new policy of fines and suspensions.

While the fines are designed to represent a new, more stringent policy when it comes to commenting on officiating, they also raise their own questions. First among them, are fines, a penalty used by the NFL for decades, likely to curb coaching criticism of officiating? Particularly when SEC coaches make so much money as it is?

While $30,000 is a substantial sum to your average American, does it really put a dint in Meyer's wallet? Particularly when the donation is also tax deductible? In fact, this fine, even without the tax deduction, represents less than 1 percent of Meyer's overall salary this season. For an average American making, say $40,000, a year, that would be a hit of $300.

Isn't that a small price to pay for a coach being able to speak his mind?

Regardless, Slive had to act in the wake of announcing the new penalties. Slive's fine represents a new front in the SEC's attempt to reign in coaching commentary in the wake of several highly publicized officiating scandals. Whether it will be any more effective than the previous policy remains to be seen.

So long as the SEC office continues to suspend and berate officials while limiting the coaches' ability to do the same, consider this one vote for -- not likely.

Urban Meyer Fined $30,000 for Criticizing SEC Officiating originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:24:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>urban meyerUrbanMeyerClay TravisFri, 06 Nov 2009 13:24:00 EST Slive & Gold: The Root of SEC's Troubleshttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/05/slive-and-gold-the-root-of-secs-troubles/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/05/slive-and-gold-the-root-of-secs-troubles/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/05/slive-and-gold-the-root-of-secs-troubles/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Mike SliveLast week Mike Slive, the Montgomery Burns of the SEC, threatened Lane Kiffin with a suspension and rewrote the SEC policy when it comes to commenting on officiating. All season, Slive has been besieged by officiating errors, coaches sniping at one another, and the continuing onslaught of media coverage having a brand new television contract and two top-ranked teams has brought.

Now, Slive (pictured right) is backed into a corner. Just a few days after Slive announced his new policy on officiating, Urban Meyer teed off on officiating once more, taking a shot at the non-call on a late hit that Georgia delivered to Florida quarterback Tim Tebow.

"That should have been a penalty, in my opinion," Meyer said, "Obviously, it should have been. You've got to protect quarterbacks. That's the whole purpose. It's right in front of the referee."

And then, not to be outdone, Lane Kiffin took a swipe at Meyer's comments on officiating. "Urban Meyer? Criticized the officials, wow, that will be interesting," Kiffin said, "We'll see." Not content with a sarcastic aside, Kiffin also commented on the Brandon Spikes situation: "Yeah, I saw it on replay, it was pretty bad ... Obviously he'll discipline his team. Or not."

In 2009, the SEC has been the new king of controversy and virtually every action Commissioner Slive has undertaken has, instead of quelling the uproar, actually increased the feeding frenzy. Of course the ultimate irony of all of the attention being focused on the SEC is this, much of it is self-inflicted, brought on by the increased prominence of SEC football on both ESPN and CBS.

Once those companies ponied up billions to televise the athletic events, minor conflicts suddenly turned into nuclear war, the Bay of Pigs meets SEC football.

The SEC is behind the curve on responding to and preventing stories from spinning out of their control. Why? Because they've got a product with national appeal that is still run like a mom-and-pop store.
 Don't believe me? I've been writing for over a year about how the increase in television fees was going to lead to stories that would have otherwise been regional in nature, becoming national. And we've already seen that happen this year, it's the primary reason Kiffin became such a lightning rod, because ESPN needed him to sell their product. And it's worked, SEC football ratings are up across the board, highlighted by a 60 percent spike in UT-Florida ratings after the Kiffin-Meyer tiff.

Controversy increases interest. Conflict, even manufactured conflict, sells. In fact, I'd even argue that controversies over bad officiating probably, paradoxically, lead to more viewers for games. Why? People want to see for themselves just how bad the officiating really is. And once the impression that the officiating is bad exists, it becomes the default assumption the next time a questionable judgment is made.

But this increased media attention has also caught the league and Slive flatfooted. I think the SEC, where regional writers still spend the majority of the time covering individual teams, has been surprised by how quickly statements by coaches have become national news. Same with the officiating controversies. In fact, anyone who has been a fan of SEC football for a decade or more, knows that this season's comments and controversies are no more extraordinary than any in the past 20 or 30 years.

Maybe even less so.

There have always been bad calls that have cost teams games, there have always been coaches looking to gig opponents -- it's what made Steve Spurrier a media darling -- and there have always have been extremely competitive games that magnify the importance of officiating calls. What there hasn't been is a national onslaught of attention surrounding these controversies. It used to be that if Spurrier said something bad about Tennessee or Georgia, it led the local paper, maybe the local news, in the offended jurisdiction and after a day it blew over.

News could only trickle down from the top back then, and if it did trickle down it came to an end quickly on a regional basis. Now? Now, news comes from both directions. It can boil up via fan outrage on blogs, message boards and YouTube, where eventually the national media pick up on the controversies and turn them into stories. Meanwhile, the national media can now take a single sentence and turn it into a blizzard of publicity. Those words have always been there, but in the past the money didn't justify the attention.

In the latter days of the 19th century, the term yellow journalism took flight. Ultimately, it led to William Randolph Hearst helping to start the Spanish-American War, "You furnish the pictures, and I'll furnish the war," he's supposed to have remarked.

Urban Meyer

Now SportsCenter furnishes the sports war.

That's a seismic change in the attention being paid to the league. And one the SEC still hasn't caught up to.

I knew we'd reached the tipping point in breathless SEC coverage when ESPN led a telecast with a story about Kiffin firing the strength coach at Tennessee. Really, the strength coach? A man many hardcore Vol fans couldn't even name is being covered by national news?

And the SEC hasn't helped themselves in surfing the onslaught; Slive's every move has added fuel to the fire rather than quelling the blaze.

Don't believe me, let's take a look at some of the hamhanded decisions made by the league just this year.

First, Slive made a big show of reading coaches the riot act after offseason controversies. The idea was that this public haranguing would kill all negative commentary. You can all see how well that worked. Instead of actually changing anything, the story of the fiery talk led newscasts and reinforced the previous statements made by coaches.

Next, the league attempted to restrict media coverage of athletic events with a new media policy that provoked outrage. The idea behind controlling rights was financial, seizing control of video, images, and content would, the league reasoned, make those products more valuable while also allowing them to control more of the stories that ensued. That's why the league also sought to restrict blogger access, as if any of the bloggers driving news coverage actually needed to be present at events to influence public perception. Nevertheless, the league buckled and rescinded many of the restrictions after complaints from long-time media partners.

Finally, once the season commenced, Slive and crew overreacted to bad officiating on judgment calls by throwing part-time officiating crews under the bus and suspending them. This decision opened the floodgates for coaches to comment on officiating mistakes, something that had previously been swept under the league rug. In rapid succession, Bobby Petrino, Lane Kiffin, and Dan Mullen were reprimanded by letter for publicly ripping officiating. Then, not to be outdone, Slive revised the existing rules for coaches to comment on officiating mid-season and threatened coaches with suspensions or, be still my trembling heart, fines should they fail to follow the newly prescribed rules.

What do all of these issues show? The SEC is behind the curve on responding to and preventing stories from spinning out of their control. Why? Because they've got a product with national appeal that is still run like a mom-and-pop store. After all the time they spent courting television partners, they failed to realize how those partners would cover the product they paid so dearly for. A league where everyone loves one another isn't great television. A league where everyone hates one another?

That's compelling television.

Slive, to his credit, is smart, and has done a great deal to clean up the league's image, but what he hasn't done is anticipate new and old media's ability to create national stories out of sentences that would have been, at best, regional dust-ups just 10 years ago. Partly, that's the result of the explosion of the Internet as a news cycle driver, but, mostly, it's a reflection of a hard and fast rule in today's media: if you pay a lot of money to cover a product, all of a sudden that product becomes more newsworthy than it ever has before.

Enter ESPN.

Enter the controversies.

Enter the belated responses.

And now, after a season of futile and belated responses, Slive doesn't have any options left. Will he become the first commissioner in league history to suspend a coach for commenting on, wait for the outrage, a football game? Can he? Does he have the political power to make that move and be backed by everyone? Especially if the coaches are making comments that most SEC fans agree with?

I don't know.

What I do know is that such a move would be unprecedented and draw more negative attention than anything that it helped to solve. But if Slive doesn't act, hasn't he rendered himself impotent, turned himself into the teacher who threatens real punishment but can never deliver that punishment? The SEC Commissioner with no clothes? Paging Montgomery Burns.

Sooner or later making false threats leads to less power than making no threats at all. But, Slive probably knows that. The question is, do the coaches?

And the bigger and more ominous question for Slive and the league he leads is this: in signing that multi-billion dollar television contract did the SEC ultimately bequeath the power of their product to corporations that have different interests than the league? If they did, and I think that's entirely likely, ultimately no matter what Slive does to penalize coaches, he's never going to regain control of the league narrative again.

That's already been sold.
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Slive & Gold: The Root of SEC's Troubles originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:10:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>mike sliveClay TravisThu, 05 Nov 2009 15:10:00 EST Meyer Ups Spikes' Suspension to Gamehttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/meyer-ups-spikes-suspension-to-game/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/meyer-ups-spikes-suspension-to-game/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/meyer-ups-spikes-suspension-to-game/#commentsFiled under:

Brandon SpikesGAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes has had his suspension for apparently trying to gouge the eyes of a Georgia running back increased to a full game.

Coach Urban Meyer says it was in the best interest of the team for Spikes to serve a full-game suspension when the top-ranked Gators play Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Meyer had faced some criticism for only suspending his All-American linebacker for only the first half the Vandy game. The Southeastern Conference accepted the original punishment.

Spikes stuck his hand into the facemask of Georgia's Washaun Ealey during Florida 41-17 victory against the Bulldogs last week. There was no penalty called at the time, but Meyer went back and looked at the play of tape and decided to punish Spikes.

Meyer Ups Spikes' Suspension to Game originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:17:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>brandon spikesurban meyerFanHouse NewswireWed, 04 Nov 2009 19:17:00 EST Florida Fans Strike Back on YouTube, Say Georgia Started Cheap Shotshttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/florida-fans-strike-back-on-youtube-say-georgia-started-cheap-s/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/florida-fans-strike-back-on-youtube-say-georgia-started-cheap-s/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/04/florida-fans-strike-back-on-youtube-say-georgia-started-cheap-s/#commentsFiled under: ,



Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes committed one of the dirtiest plays of the year on Saturday when he tried to gouge the eyes of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey, and after video of eye poke was seen by hundreds of thousands of people on YouTube, Spikes was suspended for the first half of Florida's next game. But now Florida fans have struck back with a YouTube of their own that they say shows it was Georgia that made the game dirty.

The video, which has become one of the most viewed on YouTube over the last 24 hours, shows Georgia linebacker Nick Williams drilling Florida quarterback Tim Tebow away from the play after Tebow had handed off. According to some Florida fans, that play was the one that set Florida players off and set the tone for a game featuring cheap shots on both sides.

For his part, Tebow says he doesn't want to make an issue of it:
"That's something that you don't need to talk about," said. "People, they want to do whatever they can to get an edge and that's happened a lot in college football and it happens more than people think. "It's just something you deal with, and something I've dealt with for four years. It's not something that I feel like I need to talk about or converse about because it's not ... I love playing college football."
I think Williams should have been flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play, but I also think what Spikes did is an order of magnitude worse than what Williams did. If Florida fans want to say there were dirty plays on both sides, that's fine. but no one should equate lowering a shoulder into an opponent with gouging an opponent's eyes.

Florida Fans Strike Back on YouTube, Say Georgia Started Cheap Shots originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Michael David SmithWed, 04 Nov 2009 09:45:00 EST Starting 11: Every Game Counts, Except Some Count More Than Othershttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/03/starting-11-every-game-counts-except-some-count-more-than-othe/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/03/starting-11-every-game-counts-except-some-count-more-than-othe/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/03/starting-11-every-game-counts-except-some-count-more-than-othe/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

One of the most frustrating cliches trotted out by college football's BCS defenders is this banal line: Every game counts. I hate this three-word cliche with the fury of a thousand blazing suns. I hate the smugness with which it's delivered, I hate the fact that no one points out the obvious -- name a sport where the games don't actually count-- but I hate the fact that it isn't even true the most.

In fact, this phrase is positively Orwellian because it leaves off the final part of the sentence. Every game counts ... except some games count more than others. How else to explain the fact that everyone can brush off Boise State's win over Oregon because it happened the first game of the season?

I understand we're dealing with a broken system, but right now Boise State is continuing to plummet as they win. I wrote about the glass ceiling that Boise had reached a couple of weeks ago, but has it really reached the point where we just ignore the first week of the season?

And if we do ignore the first week of the season, what's the point of having a broken system to determine who the champion is? Because pretty soon, if they keep winning, Oregon is going to pass undefeated Boise in the BCS rankings. Already Iowa, Cincinnati, one-loss USC, and TCU have all passed Boise since the first BCS standings were released three weeks ago. What's Boise done since that first week's release when they stood at No. 4 in the country?

Beaten two teams by a combined score of 99-16.

I'm not arguing that individual results should always govern the rankings between two teams. But I am arguing this, if the regular season means anything at all, you have to rank an undefeated team above any team that they've beaten.

Absolutely, positively, have to do that.

On to the Starting 11.

1. The fact that Tennessee was going to wear black jerseys on Halloween was one of the worst kept secrets in the history of the Internets.

Eric BerryFor months, fans, media, and everyone else who cares about what color jerseys a team wears (count myself outside of this group) have gone crazy with speculation. Tennessee's athletic director, head coach, and everyone else associated with the program shot down the possibility that the Vols would wear black for months.

Then they did.

Raising this question, is it really worth lying about the color of a jersey? Why not just say: "We don't comment on jersey colors," months ago and leave it at that?

I know that UT claims the decision wasn't made until the week of the game, and while that might be true in a legal sense, it had been under contemplation for months judging by all the smoke surrounding the issue. I truly don't care what jerseys my team wears, but was the "surprise" really worth it?

I don't think so.

2. By the way, if Oregon hadn't played Boise State in the first game of the season, where are they ranked right now?

Probably fourth, right?

One of the really sad things about the current system is that Boise can't get teams to play them home-and-home for this exact reason, play a patsy at your place and you get a guaranteed win and don't deal with any long-term injury to your reputation. Play a tough team on the road and you sabotage your season if you lose.

Boise gets ripped because they haven't scheduled well enough. Well, isn't a tremendous part of that because they need to play enough home games to make some revenue for their school and because most teams are afraid to play them in Boise?

They're already playing six road games this season. That leaves them with just six home games. Most other major college teams in America are playing 7 homes games, often 8.

This is the system we've created, good teams from major conferences won't play other good teams because they don't need to and then when they won't play a smaller school we criticize the team they won't play for not having a tough enough schedule.

Awesome.

Doesn't anyone see that logical flaw?

3. Isn't it time we penalize college football players for malicious intent rather than malicious success?

Brandon Spikes tried to eye gouge Georgia's Washaun Ealey on Saturday. Urban Meyer, who doles out good ole boy justice with the best of them despite not actually being Southern, suspended Spikes for a half.

Against Vanderbilt.

Florida could probably start me at middle linebacker for a half and still beat Vanderbilt.

That's not even a joke, I really think they could.

But one of the most interesting things about this entire situation is that we're suspending Spikes because he was unsuccessful at what he attempted to do. In other words, Spikes's own incompetence as an eye-gouger actually saved him from a more severe penalty. Shouldn't we penalize a player based on intent rather than the actual result? Especially in sports since part of the reason for the punishment is to dissuade others who see the punishment.
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4. Case Keenum, who may win the Heisman by default, threw for 559 yards against Southern Miss on Saturday.

On 54 pass attempts. He wasn't sacked.

Not once.

What's more, Keenum has attempted 398 passes so far this season and has only been sacked 10 times. Counting the sacks Keenum has dropped back to pass 408 times, probably more since he's scrambled for yardage several times, but only 10 times have defenses managed to sack him.

That means almost 98 percent of the time when he drops back to pass, the ball is leaving his hand before a defender gets to him. Can you imagine how debilitating that is to a defensive line? To know that, on average, if you rush the quarterback on 50 consecutive plays you're going to get to him once?

How mentally tiring must that be?

I've read quite a bit of praise for Keenum so far this season, but I haven't read anything about Houston's offensive line and the job they've done allowing Keenum to attempt so many passes. Kudos to them.

5. Iowa's magical season continues and soon they'll be in the clubhouse at 12-0 with two weeks of football remaining.

I haven't seen anyone write about what a tremendous advantage it is for Big Ten schools that they don't play games the final two weeks of the regular season. Iowa is now 9-0. They have two home games against Northwestern and Minnesota sandwiched around a road game at Ohio State. Assuming they win all three, the Hawkeyes get to sit and watch undefeated Texas, Alabama, Cincinnati and Florida deal with the mounting pressures of the season.

For half a month, they do nothing and can only be helped by the games that take place around them.

I know the long layoff has been mentioned before in terms of a Big Ten team's performance in bowl games, and the lack of a championship game is often trotted out as evidence of a hugely uneven playing field, but I haven't seen anything written about the tremendous advantage that comes from sitting out the final two weeks of the season.

It's worth thinking about as the pressure mounts to see who will be playing in the title game.

6. Random observation from the Jacksonville Airport: They have an entrance for a seeing eye dog at the security screening area with a sign above indicating such. It's next to the wheelchair entrance.

Multiple questions: A.) Whom is this sign for? Presumably the blind person can't see it, right? I'm no expert on canines, but I don't think they can recognize the sign either. B.) How many blind people with seeing eye dogs are traveling such that they need their own line? For instance, have you ever seen a blind person with a seeing eye dog at the airport before? C.) Wouldn't anyone with a brain naturally assume that the blind person with a dog doesn't have to walk through the regular line? In other words, who is doubting that they go through the handicapped line? D.) Where do the seeing eye dogs go on flights? Do you check them at the gate like a stroller? Are you automatically in the A boarding group at Southwest? If the dog is on the plane, where does he sit?

Anyway, this is the most unnecessary sign I've sign since the White House prohibited weapons' list featured guns, knives and nunchucks. Because, you know, who hasn't planned a trip to the White House and brought along a set of nunchucks in case of a ninja attack.

7. Why did Wake Forest let their kicker attempt a 60-yard field goal to end the game against Miami?

Setting the scene: Wake is down 28-27, there are four seconds remaining, and the Demon Deacons are at the Hurricanes' 43.

Your kicker, Jimmy Newman, has a career long field goal of 42 yards. (Sam Swank, Wake Forest's longtime strong-legged kicker, graduated after last season.)

What do you do?

Not kick, right?

Seeing as how this is 18 yards further than the kicker's career long.

Well, Wake kicks.

Predictably the kick was is wide right and short by about 15 yards. It lands in the front of the end zone. Does this really make sense? It's kind of embarrassing, actually. Wouldn't you have better odds of a Hail Mary here?

Granted, Wake Forest was playing with its backup quarterback at the time, Ryan McManus, instead of usual starter Riley Skinner, who left the game after taking a knee to his un-helmeted head on a fourth-quarter run. McManus, a senior, had two strikes against him entering the game. 1) He had more tackles in his career (two, on punt coverage in 2007) entering the game than pass completions (one). 2) The highlights of his online bio including calling a "key timeout" against Baylor and that he "loves to play." What exactly gets cut so that these factoids might make the biography? He enjoys both inhaling, exhaling and wearing socks?

At any rate, even with McManus why wouldn't you at least take a chance your quarterback could throw it 43 yards or at least try some sort of hook-and-ladder or series of laterals?

Instead you humiliate your kicker.



8. At least you aren't a Marshall fan.

In case you missed it on Sunday night, which you definitely did, Marshall had a 20-14 lead with under 30 seconds to play.

Understandably, the team took a timeout to set their defense. Then, they didn't cover the wide receiver.

At all.

Out of a timeout.

Touchdown Central Florida, game over 21-20. Here's the video if you don't believe me.

Or don't watch. Since this is what keeps fans up at night. Can you imagine being a Marshall fan and thinking to yourself, "Surely, we're not leaving that guy ... F--- me, why do I root for this team?"

I guarantee you that was the exact thought pattern of 95 percent of Marshall fans watching this game.

9. Michigan, poor Michigan.

Remember all that optimism after Michigan started 4-0?

It's gone.

Illinois, a then-1-6 team, physically dominated the mighty Wolverines on Saturday. How so? With 377 rushing yards. Michigan has now lost four of five and the only win came against Delaware State. 6-6 is looking likely. Assuming, that is, Purdue doesn't roll into Ann Arbor and knock that possibility away.

At least basketball season is 'nigh.

10. Mississippi State's Anthony Dixon ran for 252 yards on 33 carries against Kentucky.

That's the second most yards rushing by a player in an SEC game in a decade.

I was at Sneaker's sports bar in Jacksonville while the game was going on. They put it on a small television over my left shoulder. I was watching Tennessee-South Carolina on one of the huge projection screens on the wall. But as the Kentucky-Mississippi State game progressed, my friend and Kentucky alumnus Tardio just got angrier and angrier. First he cursed. Then he started to slam his hands on the table after big runs.

Eventually he just put his hands over his eyes and sighed.

Is there anything worse than watching your team get run on consistently? It's so emasculating, you can actually feel the testosterone running out of your body with each gallop into the open field. This was made all the worse for Kentucky fans because Dan Mullen wore huge puffy gloves that made it appear he was coaching somewhere in the Arctic. I don't mind coats, but do you really need to coach in gloves? Lane Kiffin did the same thing on Saturday. It's the SEC in late October, at worst, it's around 45 degrees if there's a night game. I think your fingers will survive.

Anyway, getting run on is even worse when it's someone like Anthony Dixon who isn't shifty or particularly fast. He runs standing up, like a horse out for a trot in the Bluegrass. Watching his run is the insult equivalent of a middle-finger being slowly extended in your direction while someone does that goofy cranking motion to make the finger rise.

11. What if there was an eight team playoff based on the BCS standings?

Right now, we'd have an awesome set of teams. You'd have traditional powers like Alabama, Florida and Texas. But then you'd have upstart teams like Iowa, Cincinnati, Boise State, Oregon and TCU. Can you imagine how excited those five fanbases would be?

Can you imagine how excited we'd all be?

I'll tell you exactly what you'd feel like -- a quarterback lining up with less than 30 seconds to play in a game when you suddenly realized no one had covered your receiver.

Starting 11: Every Game Counts, Except Some Count More Than Others originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Clay TravisTue, 03 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST Blanket Coverage: For Pete's Sakehttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/03/blanket-coverage-for-petes-sake/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/03/blanket-coverage-for-petes-sake/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/03/blanket-coverage-for-petes-sake/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,

Pete CarrollHalloween in Eugene began with Oregon coach Chip Kelly disguised as the Duck mascot and ended with USC masquerading as Cal. Pete Carroll's Trojans are not exactly immune from defeat in the Beaver State (0-4 since 2006) but they never lose to a fellow highly ranked Pac-10 foe and they most certainly never get waxed.

That's Jeff Tedford's domain.

Hands continue to wring in the Southland -- the Orange County Register declared that "USC's complete dominance of the league, a dominance unmatched in conference history, is over" -- but I believe that Pete Carroll, much like Michael Myers, will haunt the Pac-10 for many Halloweens to come.

Also, I'd like to suggest a more salient reason for Troy's desultory play of late, one that has nothing to do with the freshman QB, the eight defensive starters lost, or the two new coordinators: jet lag (and that's not a Mark Sanchez reference).

This Saturday, the Trojans will fly to Phoenix to face Arizona State in neighboring Tempe, which will mark their sixth flight of the season. No school among the top dozen in the BCS rankings (USC is No. 12) will play six of its first nine games away from home. And only Boise State, primarily because the Broncos visited Hawaii on October 24, has accrued more frequent-flier mileage.

The Trojans are lax because of LAX. They've covered more miles than Les Miles. They've made two across-three-time-zones treks already (Ohio State and Notre Dame), which equals the total of the other 11 top-12 schools combined (Cincinnati at Oregon State and Boise State at Ohio State).

Below is a table ranking the top 12 in terms of mileage covered, with their actual BCS rankings in parentheses. Distances were rounded off to the nearest hundred miles:

1) Boise State (7)......................................13,400 miles

2) USC (12).............................................11,700

3) Cincinnati (5).........................................9,200

4) TCU (6)................................................8,200

5) LSU (5)................................................5,600

6) Texas (2)..............................................4,900

7) Florida (1).............................................3,800

8 (Tie) Iowa..............................................2,800

Georgia Tech....................................2,800

10) Oregon...............................................2,700

11) Alabama............................................1,800

12) Penn State.........................................1,300

Granted, it's not as if the Trojans were traveling by sleeper car back to South Bend. On the other hand, I'm beginning to wonder if safety Taylor Mays begins pep talks with, "This is your captain speaking."

Maybe Carroll's greatest nemesis may not be the swiftly surging Ducks. Maybe it's his athletic director.

THE ZACH ATTACK
He has only been the starter for 2½ games, but Cincinnati quarterback Zach Collaros has been outstanding in leading the No. 5 Bearcats to victories against South Florida, Louisville and Syracuse. Since taking over for injured starter Tony Pike, Collaros has completed 75 percent of his passes (47-of-63) for 749 yards and nine touchdown passes versus just one interception. That's the same TD-to-INT ratio that Jimmy Clausen of Notre Dame, second in the nation in passing efficiency, has.

Asked when Pike, who himself is currently seventh in the nation in passing efficiency, would play again on Monday, Bearcat coach Brian Kelly offered, "It's hard to say."

STEIN SHINES
Louisville, led by 5-8 walk-on quarterback Will Stein, beat Arkansas State, 21-13. Stein had last seen game action at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium as a local high school senior when he led Trinity to a defeat of St. Xavier in front of 37, 550 fans. Saturday's attendance at the same venue was 21,497.


TRUE BROMANCE
I cannot decide whether Riley Cooper is the Jordan Shipley of the SEC or whether Shipley is the Cooper of the Big 12. Cooper is the Gator wideout with the Head & Shoulders mane who is not only Tim Tebow's primary target, he's also his roommate.

Shipley is the childhood best friend and roommate of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy. He is also the Longhorn quarterback's favorite target. All four are straight out of "Friday Night Lights" (it's Jason Street and Tim Riggins come to life). Should Florida and Texas meet in Pasadena for the BCS championship, it'll be a question of whether Brent Musberger utters the term "bromance" during the broadcast or if he'll just refer to them as "pardners."

HMMMMMMM
Ohio State beat New Mexico State 45-0. The spread in Vegas was 44. If only everyone worked as diligently as oddsmakers.

TEMPLE IN NEED OF WORSHIPPERS?
Congrats to Temple for beating Navy. In earning their sixth straight victory, the Owls also became bowl-eligible for the first time since 1979. And so it would seem that their next home game would be an ideally opportune time for the fans in Philadelphia, and not just the Cos, to show their pride.

There's just one small problem. Temple's next home game, versus Miami of Ohio at Lincoln Financial Field, is Thursday night. That also happens to be the scheduled date for Game 7 of the World Series between the Phillies and the New York Yankees ... if necessary.

Blanket Coverage: For Pete's Sake originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:33:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>John WaltersTue, 03 Nov 2009 12:33:00 EST Outside, the Life of the 'Cocktail Party'http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/outside-the-life-of-the-cocktail-party/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/outside-the-life-of-the-cocktail-party/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/outside-the-life-of-the-cocktail-party/#commentsFiled under: , ,

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- By the end of the first quarter Saturday, outside the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, a drunken mass of humanity sprawls in baking parking lots and beneath cool shade trees, the largest collection of people in America who cannot walk in straight lines. By now, the ratio of men to women has shifted, perhaps for the only time all day, to something approaching equal numbers. Women wearing bikini tops and tight dresses warble on flip flops or bare feet, men, Florida fans mostly, have discarded their shirts and stand bare-chested in the bright sunshine propositioning women as they pass.

"We still got beer left," a group of shirtless Florida fans, Cocktail party Romeos, call to a group of bedraggled Georgia girls, Capulets in red heels.

"We're looking for liquor," says one of the girls, moving past.

A scalper stands off to the right of the passing couples, four tickets held tightly in his right hand, jaw clenched.

"Game's going to be close boys, don't you want to go inside?" he asks, squinting his dark brown eyes to avoid the sun's rays. It's Halloween in Jacksonville, and all the world outside the Cocktail Party is a stage.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of football fans descend on Jacksonville for the Georgia-Florida football game. Some of them, a small minority, actually see a football game. The remainder, a teeming mass of humanity, remains outside the stadium and occasionally squints up at the looming structure as the crowd roars inside. Idly they may wonder whether Georgia or Florida has the better end of the game. Most likely, they don't react at all to what happens in the game.

Because they're too drunk.

This is their story.

















Getting There

Since 1915, Georgia and Florida have played a football game. For virtually every year since 1933, the teams have played this game at a neutral site, Jacksonville, Fla. This is the most popular social event in Jacksonville. There is no second most popular social event in Jacksonville.

The term World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party was coined in the 1950s after a sportswriter witnessed a fan offering a drink to a uniformed officer. In 2006, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive wrote a letter to CBS requesting that they no longer use the phrase World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

"We would appreciate any initiatives you might take to avoid using the cocktail party reference. This is a great college football game, which highlights a traditional rivalry full of the passion of football in the Southeast. Our hope is to keep the focus on the game."

In so hoping, Slive has failed.

For 16 of the past 19 seasons, Florida has emerged victorious. Prior to this, Georgia won. At least according to the record books. No one really knows because those victories seem so far in the past now, grainy, archival footage of Bulldog greats dominating games that Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy checked the score of. Now, well, Florida wins.

That doesn't mean Georgia fans fail to travel to the game. They still come, tens of thousands of them, wearing their bright red and black Georgia polos and barking haphazardly into their fraternity brothers as they wait to board flights. Like the one I'm on, leaving from Nashville en route to Jacksonville. My flight is equal parts Georgia and Florida fans, middle-aged white middle managers in their uniform of choice, coaches' polo, tightly tucked into jeans or khaki pants, BlackBerry carrying case buckled on the belt loop. Accompanied by well-coiffed middle-aged women with astoundingly pert breasts and hair that, also amazingly, has not faded one bit.

As soon as we board our Southwest flight -- my friend Tardio has accompanied me -- these men spring into action to aid an attractive damsel in distress. It seems a woman can't fit her bag into the overhead compartment. Fifteen men attempt to aid her. Including a male Southwest flight attendant.

It is clear to all that the bag does not fit into the compartment.

But no one is willing to acknowledge failure.

After a five-minute struggle, the flight attendant places his hand on the young woman's bare shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll find a place for your bag," he says.

"Just once, I want to know what it's like to be a hot chick," Tardio says.

My friend Tardio has come to chronicle the Cocktail Party with me. And by "chronicle the Cocktail Party," I mean, drink. But that's in the future. Currently, Tardio, a medical malpractice defense attorney in the city of Nashville, is convinced his carry-on bag contains the greatest Halloween costume on Earth.

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He has purchased a pair of blue doctor's scrubs. All his costume requires is a name-tag, which we will have to purchase in Jacksonville because the two of us arrived at the airport 38 minutes before our flight was scheduled to depart.

As we arrived at our gate 23 minutes prior to boarding, Tardio looked down at his phone. "We still had 10 minutes," he says.

He plans to write just one word on the name-tag that he will wear on right lapel of his scrubs: William.

On Thursday night, he conveyed his plan to me. "Get it?" he asked.

"No," I said.

"I'm Health Care Bill," he says.

Health Care Bill is currently reading the latest US Weekly magazine, purchased as we waited to board. "Sienna Miller is looking old," he says, scrutinizing her photo.

"No, she isn't," I say, "she's like 26."

"Really?" the man who will be Health Care Bill asks. "She looks older."

Welcome to Jacksonville

On Friday night, the cabs of Jacksonville descend on the city. And by city, I mean 400-mile radius of north Florida. Because, you see, no one is ever where they want to be in the city of Jacksonville. Also, it's nearly impossible, given that Jacksonville is the largest metropolitan city in America in terms of geographic size, to leave the city of Jacksonville no matter how far you drive. Or, for that matter, to actually leave Jacksonville's airport.

Jacksonville's airport, a monument to the color gray, eschews several archaic design traits such as functionality and economy of space. There are approximately 14 departing gates, all roughly a mile apart. Occasionally, as we make our way out of the facility, we see people, lost highwaymen en route to the holy city of Mecca perhaps, splayed out on the gray floors taking a nap or eating a meal. When you exit the airport you pass a row of offices. As if, in designing the airport, someone thought, you know what will make people love our city more? If they see the hard-working bureaucrats of the airport instead of reaching the baggage claim in less than four miles.

Moving on Up

Health Care Bill and I snag a cab. In Health Care Bill's bag he's actually carrying two pairs of scrubs, one blue and the other navy. That's because on Thursday night, he convinced me to participate in his costume plan.

"You can be Health Care Reform," he says, "but we'll make you a name-tag that says R.E. Form."

Our cab ride to the Courtyard by Marriott off Butler Boulevard in South Jacksonville costs $60. At this hotel, we are 5.8 miles from the stadium. Amazingly, Tardio and I stayed at the hotel next door to this one, the Red Roof Inn, for the 2007 Cocktail Party. The only thing I remember about that hotel is that they sold condoms from the vending machine.

Tardio surveys the half-acre of parking lot between the two motels. "You've really moved up in the world in the last two years," he says.

Checked into the the hotel, Tardio insists that we call a cab to take us to Walgreen's so he can buy some name tags and I can buy my costume necessities.

In lieu of Health Care Reform, I put out a suggestion for costumes in Friday's column. Immediately, I received an email from Blake P. who wrote, "Clay - you definitely can't go wrong with Alan (and baby Carlos) from The Hangover. Easy with some aviators, a cheap baby holder and baby doll from a dollar store with aviators. Plus, you didn't have to shave your beard, so you got that going for you."

In the 10 minutes before we left for the airport, I walked two blocks to the Family Dollar store in my neighborhood in north Nashville in search of said baby. I pushed open the dollar store door, covered in white metal bars, and scoured the dirty aisles, my foot occasionally pushing trash up under the product stands, for five minutes. There were many babies for sale, but given that I live in a majority black neighborhood, the baby dolls were all black.

Every single one.

I found myself faced with an unexpected ethical dilemma.

Could I really walk to the ladies, older black women, working the cash register and ask if they had any white babies in the back? Perhaps placed up on a shelf somewhere in storage? Maybe mis-delivered when the white baby dolls were destined for the suburbs?

Essentially, was it racist to ask for a white baby in a dollar store filled with black baby dolls?

Could I preface my request by remarking that I voted for Obama, liked Angelina Jolie? Anything?

The baby is white in the movie, that's what makes the name Carlos funny. What were the odds that elderly black women had seen and enjoyed The Hangover. Could I really capture the requisite level of verisimilitude with a black baby?

What's more, how does Family Dollar, a national chain, ensure that only babies of only one race are delivered to their inner city stores? Do they have a key-code for truck delivery that ensures only black baby dolls are delivered to my store? Am I, a white man, actually being discriminated against? Shouldn't the babies be diverse everywhere, a rainbow of smiling, plastic dolls?

I call an audible and flee, sans baby, without asking a question.

Decisions, Decisions

On our cab ride to Walgreen's we debate whether we should wear our costumes on Friday, tonight, or Saturday. It's a difficult decision because Saturday is Halloween, but we'll have to wear them to the game. "I'm sure that lots of people will be in costumes tonight," I say. "I don't think many people will dress up for the game."

Tardio has the opposite opinion, but if I argue my side long enough, I know that eventually he will agree.

Draft Tebow T-shirt
After procuring a white baby, a Draft Tebow shirt in Jacksonville Jaguars colors -- more on this later -- name-tags, a case of Coors Light, and aviator sunglasses for a baby doll, Tardio insists we go to the liquor store so he can buy a bottle of Maker's Mark for the game.

We return to the hotel, prepare our costumes, and walk to the only restaurant nearby, Applebee's. The Applebee's is selling jello shots on the patio, and inside the restaurant is packed with revelers rooting for Georgia or Florida.

"Let's sit at the bar?" Tardio asks.

"I'm not sitting at the Applebee's bar," I say. "And besides, it's packed."

It's true, there are no seats at the Applebee's bar.

It is 7:45 on Friday evening.

We drink beers out of yard glasses and eat spinach and artichoke dip.

"Can you imagine getting a DUI leaving Applebee's?" I ask.

"Can you imagine leaving Applebee's sober?" asks Tardio.

Beach-Bound

Back at the hotel, we get dressed. I've brought my family's brown Baby Bjorn under strict instructions from my wife not to lose it. I buckle the baby carrier, insert my white baby, affix the aviator glasses onto the baby, while Tardio dons his scrubs.

"Do you think I should write William on my nametag or Bill? asks Tardio.

"I don't think people are going to get either," I say.

Tardio scrunches his face. "F---," he says, "you've got me worried now. Is my costume going to bomb?"

"Yes," I say, "I think so."

"F--- me," says Tardio.

We compromise on "Bill." The quotation marks, we surmise, add the requisite symbolism necessary to make it apparent that Tardio's name is not actually Bill, rather, the name is a part of the costume.

Health Care Bill has no pockets in the scrubs so he has me carry his credit card, cash, two Titans vs. Jags tickets, and his license. Later, after I drop them on the floor, Tardio admits that he didn't mean to give me the tickets to carry as well.

Once more we hop into a cab, only this time it's actually a shuttle service driven by a man named Meza. This time we're destined for the Jacksonville beaches. After another $40 fare, we arrive at Brix, which is a bar made of bricks and pronounced like bricks except spelled with an X.

We stand outside, awkwardly peering into the bar.

"I knew it, no one is in a costume," says Health Care Bill.

Tardio is correct. We decide to go for a walk, fake white baby in sunglasses swaying in front of me, and find the bar with the people with costumes inside.

Thirty minutes later, having traversed the entirely of Jacksonville Beach, we have not seen a single costume.

"It's almost like," Tardio says, "the city forbids them."

The only costumes we see is for a group of happy costumed people who are climbing the stairs to what appears to be a loft party. We contemplate following them. Instead we get in line for Brix, I show Tardio's license for him, "Bill's not my real name," he says to no reaction from the bouncer, walk outside to the patio, and sit in the darkness.

We begin to drink.

Health Care Bill regularly surveys the crowd looking for someone, anyone in a costume. "I was worried about looking like unfun losers if we didn't have costumes," he says, "now we just look like losers."

We begin to argue over who has to go get the next beers from the bar, and reveal our costumes in the light of day.

I have to.

The bartender, a youngish woman with dark hair and mean expression stares at me. "I don't get it," she says.

"Did you see the movie Hangover?" I ask. "I'm....

"I get it," she says, unsmiling.

Someone dressed as David Robinson from Navy shows up. He fist pounds me, ignoring Health Care Bill in the process. Then other costumes, mercifully, begin to arrive.

We make our way inside. By midnight the costumed people are beginning to take over. We're moving into the mainstream. At least those of us who are in costumes.

Most people believe that Health Care Bill is, in fact, a doctor who has not had time to change after work. We test his costume on others, tell them it's three words long and that Bill is the last word.

No one guesses it.

What's more, "Doctor Blue Bill," is the best guess. Primarily because, "Doctor Bill," the primary guess, has only two words.

Three bars later and enough beers and shots to sink two less shameless men, we end up in the street looking for a cab. I call Meza, the man who drove us in his shuttle service earlier.

He's too busy to get us.

Mercifully, we find another cab. As we climb in, I call my wife, at two in the morning back home in Nashville, and leave a long message for her that consists of Health Care Bill jokes. She has no idea what is going on.

A few minutes into the cab ride, I begin to get text messages with things like this written, "Hey, good night, U are cute, lol."

It's from a Jacksonville area code. Health Care Bill swears he didn't give my number to anyone.

At 3 a.m., as the most recent text arrives, it suddenly hits me, our car service man, Meza, has me confused with someone else and is sending flirtatious e-mails to me on accident.

"I think it's on purpose," says Health Care Bill angrily ripping off his nametag.

"At least you didn't go with William," I say.

For a while I stand fiddling with the Baby Bjorn, attempting to undo it. But I can't seem to get the strap undone. So I climb into bed still wearing the baby carrying device. I take out Carlos, now absent sunglasses because they were stolen by a Florida sorority girl, and toss him across the room.

He bounces softly off the wall. Health Care Bill is already snoring.

It's gameday in Jacksonville.

The Hangover

At 11 in the morning, Spencer Hall, from the Web site EDSBS.com, calls. I tell him I"m still in bed wearing a baby carrier.

"Get up, bitch," he says, "I went to bed at four and got up at seven. And I slept outside."

Spencer is like this.

I could have called him and said, "I feel awful, I just had 14 quaaludes, a roofie, and a bottle of Jack, and Spencer would say, "I just had 28 quaaludes, four roofies, and two bottles of Jack."

He is already tailgating.

I put on my gameday attire, a Draft Tebow 2010 shirt, purchased last night. I do this for three reasons: A.) I believe this is the only way Jacksonville will keep a pro football franchise. B.) I'm interested in how people will react to the shirt and C.) I've never actually worn an NCAA violation that could be purchased for $12.99 at a local Walgreen's.

We procure another cab. Because we're gentlemen, we pick up two other people, Florida fans, to share our cab ride. Also, because it's cheaper. We explain that they will have to wait on us in the Applebee's parking lot because Tardio left his credit card there last night.

"'I just had a girl from Georgia in the cab,' he says. "She was wasted. I offered her a bottle of water and she said, 'Water? Why would I fill up my f---ing stomach with water?'"
"I know there is going to be $4,000 in Oreo shooters charged on this thing," he says.

This cab driver is better than last night's. Primarily because he is not sending me flirtatious texts.

"I just had a girl from Georgia in the cab," he says. "She was wasted. I offered her a bottle of water and she said, 'Water? Why would I fill up my f---ing stomach with water?'"

The girlfriend of the Florida fan is an Oregon student. She has blonde hair, fair skin and is concerned that the Oregon-USC game may not be on local television here. Her boyfriend has other concerns. "We need to get you some sunscreen because I want to touch you later and I don't want you sunburned," he says.

Our cab driver drops us off on Bay Boulevard and we commence to take in the tailgate sites. Immediately, my t-shirt draws compliments from Florida fans.

Georgia fans? Not so much.

"He's a f------ fullback," screams one man in my direction. This will be repeated approximately 14 times. In all, virtually every Florida fan approves of the shirt.

In every direction around the stadium, people are tailgating in the bright sunshine. It's a perfect day, cloudless, blue sky with bright sunshine bouncing off of the St. John's River, music blaring in every direction. Cornhole bean bags bounce along the well-worn grass, flip cup and beer pong spills drip off old tables. Everywhere you look, alcohol flows like the river that divides Jacksonville.

Fans are clad in Georgia and Florida gear but they're also dressed in the colors of other, non-playing teams. As we walk, I see every SEC school represented. Many people at the Cocktail Party have come with no indication of actually going inside the stadium, or, it would appear, with any real care for the fact that a football game is taking place at all.

As kickoff nears, a portion of the tailgating crew peels off and heads for the stadium.

But only a portion.

Many more, tens of thousands, stay behind. We make our way to a family zone tailgate alongside the stadium. Above us, towering in the sky, the Georgia and Florida sections of the stadium meet in the end zone. A few fans, wearing their team colors, stand up on the back row of last row of the stadium. We can watch these men cheer and divine what is taking place on the field. The Florida fans are cheering. Back down on the ground, a large tent housing the Heisman Trophy provides a modicum of shade and here fallen tailgating soldiers of both sexes lay passed out in the shade.

A man, bedraggled and shirtless approaches us, "Are they not serving beer in here?" he asks.

"I don't know," I say.

"F----------k," he says, turning the u into a long, drawn out wail. "Why do they even have the game if they don't have beer?"

Now joined by my friend Chad, a Georgia fan, we stand amid a huge surging crowd, relatively young in age, much younger than the actual crowd in the stadium, baking in front of a projection screen showing the game. Another shirtless man stumbles past. Earlier his back was painted with a number 2 and Demps written above it, but now, in the heat, he's sweated away the paint so that all that remains is a trace outline of the body paint.

Florida has already scored by the time we arrive, a Tebow touchdown pass to Riley Cooper. Not to be outdone, we see a second Tebow-to-Coooper touchdown pass, and Verne Lundquist shares his favorite SEC anecdote. Did you know the two men are roommates?

Georgia, wearing their black helmets and black pants, has failed to provide an early challenge to the Gators.
Tardio pulls his bottle of Maker's Mark out and mixes it with a bottle of Pepsi. Five minutes later, we're surrounded by police officers, "You get two choices," say the officers, "dump it or leave."

Tardio dumps it.

With Georgia trailing 14-3, we leave en route to a rumored party thrown by a Florida Coastal Law Professor. The pass word is, "We're not with the party."

As we walk across the parking lot, we pass a man in a white Chevy Tahoe SUV, he's slumped in the front seat of the car blasting, "Forever Young" as loud as his radio will allow.

Now, in the parking lot, the smell of alcohol, dirt, and filth, sweat, and sunshine baking on asphalt melds together into a potent and pungent smell. Like a flood after the waters have receded. Everywhere are beer cans, discarded bottles, shattered glass, and now, the tailgating zombies are out, stumbling from one place to another, the wasteland of football Saturdays.

A girl, sitting on a curb, shoeless, dress haphazardly gathered around her mid-thigh stares up at us, shielding her face with her hand, "Do you have beer?" she asks.

"We're going for some," we say.

"Okay," she says, standing and falling into line behind us like she has just arrived on a deserted island and heard we knew where water is. Soon, two of her friends have also joined up, a collective search and rescue party with a blood alcohol level that would allow surgery without anesthesia.

I stop near a single port-o-potty marked, "Private."

"Did you bring your own port-o-potty?" I ask some tailgaters.

"Yes," they say, "we do it right."

They've also brought a chef, a man named Robert. Robert tells me that he brought 60 pounds of chicken, 50 pounds of filet steaks, 20 pounds of crawdads, 10 pounds of andouille sausage, 50 pounds of potatoes, and 30 pounds of corn-on-the-cob for the tailgate.

Inside the stadium roars, Bulldog side, as tight end Aron White snags a Joe Cox touchdown pass to slice the lead to 14-10. Later, White will give my favorite quote of the game, "We came inside and saw those uniforms, and we were pretty excited by them," White said. "But as they say, the uniforms, they don't score the points."

I'm so sick of all the people who give the uniforms credit for scoring.

"With more beers, we make our way to Church Street. ... It's like a third-world country here. ... If I wanted to buy a rooster and a 34-year-old woman from Romania, I'm confident I could buy both at the same hat stand."
With more beers, we make our way to Church Street, on the west side of the stadium. It's like a third world country here, dirtier even than the other areas we've been thus far. Old brick factories crumble, every building with more than one story seems to be falling into itself, a sports bar with a dirt floor leads into a dark room where I expect to see goats munching trash underfoot. The road is dusty, everything seems to be for sale. If I wanted to buy a rooster and a 34-year-old woman from Romania, I'm confident I could buy both at the same hat stand.

I don't see any guns, but I believe that every person within 10 feet of me has three concealed weapons. The heat is making my head swim. Stumbling people are everywhere, a few men lay passed out in the dry grass, open-mouthed, staring at the sky above them, shirts slightly raised above their bellies like bloated Civil War soldiers. Suddenly from nowhere, a dirt alley, a tin-roofed shack, a dirty-haired scalper with deep sunburns materializes trying to sell us tickets.

"Georgia is making a game of it this year, don't you boys want to see the second half?"

"How much?" I ask, because I want to know how much he wants for the tickets and also because I'm scared not to reply to him.

"Twenty bucks," he says.

I wave my hand in his direction. "Nah," I say.

"How much will you give me?" he asks.

Inside the bar, Herschel Walker is on the television screen, a Zaxby's commercial. A couple of Bulldog fans cheer, remembering better days. Their voices carry out into the hot street, my beer tastes like water. Water, with helium inside.

My lips are dry.

I spit into the street.

Someone is throwing up in a trash can. No one gives him a second glance.

"How about it?" asks the scalper.

A girl walks past then, she's wearing a bikini top and tight shorts 16, maybe, but already looks 42. ""The game?" she snorts, rolling her dark eyes, "you can't drink at the game."

Health Care Bill is beside me now. "Where's the game?" he asks, meaning, I think where can we watch the game.

It's Halloween in Jacksonville, a carnival of excess, a game within a game within a game. This makes sense to me when I write it down in my notebook.

Now?

I'm not so sure.

"Everywhere," I say. "Or nowhere."

Health Care Bill nods. "God," he says, "my costume was awful."

Outside, the Life of the 'Cocktail Party' originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Clay TravisMon, 02 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST Brandon Spikes Suspended for a Half for Attempted Eye Gougehttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/brandon-spikes-suspended-for-a-half-for-attempted-eye-gouge/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/brandon-spikes-suspended-for-a-half-for-attempted-eye-gouge/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/brandon-spikes-suspended-for-a-half-for-attempted-eye-gouge/#commentsFiled under: ,

Florida has suspended linebacker Brandon Spikes for the first half of Saturday's game against Vanderbilt for attempting to gouge the eyes of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey in this weekend's game.

The punishment is surprisingly light, considering the nature of the offense: It doesn't get much dirtier than poking an opponent in the eye, and it's surprising that Florida coach Urban Meyer didn't give Spikes at least a full game suspension. Meyer claimed, however, that Spikes was retaliating for a Georgia player cheap-shotting him earlier in the game, and he said he thinks his punishment was appropriate:

"I don't condone that and I understand what goes on on the football [field], but there's no place for that,'' Meyer said. "We're going to suspend Brandon for the first half of the Vanderbilt game. I spoke with him. That's not who he is. That's not who we are. He got caught up in emotion. I love Brandon Spikes. Our team does. We're going to move on. He has our full support."

Video has circulated of Spikes sticking his fingers into Ealey's face mask while Easley was at the bottom of a pile, and that video has infuriated Georgia fans, who have been calling for the SEC to deal harshly with Spikes. It's still possible that the SEC could come down harder on Spikes than Florida did, but for now, Spikes will just have to sit out a half, and then take the field in the third quarter against Vanderbilt.

Brandon Spikes Suspended for a Half for Attempted Eye Gouge originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Brandon SpikesBrandonSpikesUrban MeyerUrbanMeyerWashaun EaleyWashaunEaleyMichael David SmithMon, 02 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST Urban Meyer to Address Fightin' Gatorshttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/meyer-to-address-fightin-gators/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/meyer-to-address-fightin-gators/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/01/meyer-to-address-fightin-gators/#commentsFiled under: , ,

All is good with top-ranked Florida. Scout's honor, according to head coach Urban Meyer.

Meyer denied on Sunday that his Fightin' Gators -- specifically seniors Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes -- were involved in a "skirmish" following UF's (pardon the pun) hard-fought victory at Mississippi State two weeks ago. Spikes admitted to the media following the Gators' 41-17 win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday that the "skirmish" was more like two brothers venting at each other.

Meyer, however, did stress that he planned to talk with Spikes after news that a video surfaced on YouTube late Saturday night that showed Spikes appearing to gouge at the eyes of Georgia's Washaun Ealy after making a tackle.

"I'll talk with him today," Meyer said during his Sunday teleconference with the media. "He's a very emotional player. If that's the case, I'll have a very serious talk with him."

UF, which clinched the SEC East title with the win over the Bulldogs in Jacksonville, Fla., and secured a spot in the conference championship game when Tennessee beat South Carolina later Saturday night, is at home Saturday against Vanderbilt.

Spikes, who has been slowed by a groin injury the past few weeks but returned an interception for a touchdown against Georgia, told FanHouse and other media members following the game that he had not been playing to his potential.

"I had a lot of people saying I haven't been producing -- I haven't been doing this, haven't been doing that," Spikes said.

"Everything I take as a motivation. I did start off kind of slow but we are coming down towards the end of the season and this is where good teams step up. I just feel like I have to do something to help the team out and be productive."

Tebow also admitted that it was a difficult time for the Gators, saying there "was a lot of turmoil this past week." As far as a "skirmish" between Tebow and Spikes following the Mississippi State game, Meyer said no way.

"It wasn't Tim," Meyer said.

"Skirmish? I'm not sure. Did someone say that? There was no skirmish. There were some words said. It was much more than Tim. It was more, 'I can play better.' Mike Pouncey, with the offensive line, stood up and said, 'That one was on me.' It was all positive. It was all good stuff. We have to be careful that we don't put words in players' mouths.

"I'm going to have our people really watch that this week. That was absolutely incorrect. It was a bunch of guys taking fault for not playing well. A head coach came up and said he shouldn't have called that play from the 4-yard line. It was all positive."

Meyer also questioned media reports that he says twisted how the Gators are handling their business inside the locker room. UF, which has extended the nation's longest winning streak to 18 games, found itself in a struggle in the fourth quarter in consecutive victories over Arkansas and Mississippi State.

Even Meyer admitted to frustration, impatience and pressing to be perfect after the Mississippi State game. The Bulldogs are coached by former UF offensive coordinator Dan Mullen. Meyer said he wanted to make sure his players rallied around each other and ignored outside distractions.

Meyer explained that he addressed that situation following the game but it hasn't been described accurately.

"There was no altercation or finger-pointing speech," said Meyer, whose team made easy work of Georgia and won for the 17th time in the past 20 meetings in the series.

"I'm not sure where you're gathering your information. There was no finger-pointing speech whatsoever. There was a very positive speech about staying focused and facing a great team. There was no finger-pointing speech after the Mississippi State game. That was a very passionate locker room about how we can play better. I'm not sure where you're gathering your information, but those are two very incorrect statements."
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Meyer simply relied on his oft-repeated theme, saying the Gators needed to remain focused if they wanted to achieve their goals. UF is looking for its first undefeated season in school history and a second consecutive national championship.

"At some point during February, you do reflect upon points during the season. Not now," Meyer said.

"Once again, our focus is on Vanderbilt. One thing you admire about this team if you look across the country. ... I don't know Texas. I know their coach very well. They're doing a good job of just focusing and playing.

"Cincinnati, I don't know them, but I get home and I flip (the television) on. There are teams that have the ability to stay focused. There's a reason that our kickoff unit, our punt unit is the best it's ever been at Florida. That's because of the attention to great detail and great focus on what we had to win that game. If we maintain that, we have a chance to win the next game. If we don't, we won't."

Urban Meyer to Address Fightin' Gators originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>brandon spikesgatorsgeorgia bulldogsMike Pounceytim tebowUrban MeyerJim HenrySun, 01 Nov 2009 19:50:00 EST Florida Gives Georgia 'Tail Whippinghttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/31/florida-runs-georgia-tucks-tail/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/31/florida-runs-georgia-tucks-tail/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/31/florida-runs-georgia-tucks-tail/#commentsFiled under: , ,



JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Two weeks, two months, two years.

The Georgia Bulldogs could have used all the time they wanted to prepare for the top-ranked Florida Gators and it probably wouldn't have made a difference in Saturday's Halloween showdown here on the banks of the St. Johns River. In fact, the Bulldogs haven't done much over the past two decades against their rivals.

UF beat the Bulldogs 41-17 for its 17th win in the last 20 meetings between the Southeastern Conference adversaries. More importantly, the Gators clinched the SEC East title and secured a spot in the conference championship game when good friend Tennessee, wearing new black jersey tops, beat South Carolina later Saturday night.


Call it the politically-correct "Battle At the Border" or the politically-incorrect "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," but make sure to call it a disaster for the puppies. Not even new black helmets and black pants -- let's not forget about last Saturday's bye week which gave the Bulldogs extra time to prep -- could change Georgia's luck.

Many of its fans decided to quietly escape the sunny, 86-degree temperatures at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium and head to their tailgates early in the fourth quarter following quarterback Joe Cox's second interception, ending any hopes of a rally.

The Gators (8-0, 6-0), who also hold the top spot in the BCS poll, extended the nation's longest winning streak to 18 games while the Bulldogs (4-4, 3-3) lost for the third time in four games.

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Georgia defensive end Demarcus Dobbs, sitting on a stool and in full uniform, tried to make sense of his team's tailspin. The pressure is mounting on a program that is not only losing juice in the SEC but has had to watch neighbor Georgia Tech make national noise.

The Bulldogs also saw UF quarterback Tim Tebow break former Georgia great Hershel Walker's SEC record for rushing touchdowns.

"We have to keep [pressure] inside, we have to fight for each other and not get down," Dobbs said.

"There's pressure on us because this isn't the way the Georgia Bulldogs play. We need to do what we need to do to get better and win out. This is a disappointing loss. We faced some adversity in the first half and I thought we bounced back. We knew coming into the game that if we made mistakes they would capitalize."

Bingo. That's exactly what the Gators did -- and wanted to establish after coming off less-than-impressive victories over Arkansas and Mississippi State. UF's top-ranked defense nationally recorded a season-high four interceptions, converting them into 17 points.

The Gators apparently survived some family bickering this week, too. There was also word circulating that Tebow and linebacker Brandon Spikes squabbled, though Spikes downplayed the incident and said all was hunky-dory between the pair.




"There was a lot of turmoil this past week," said Tebow, who also tossed a pair of touchdown passes to roommate Riley Cooper.

"A lot of people were talking about stuff and it was frustrating. We wanted to come out here, play well, compete in good form and get a win. That's what we did and it was very special."

Spikes, who had slowed by a groin injury, returned an interception for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring. It marked the third interception return for a touchdown in his career and his fifth career interception. It also put an exclamation mark on the Gators' effort and helps set the tone for the remainder of the year.

"I had a lot of people saying I haven't been producing -- I haven't been doing this, haven't been doing that," Spikes said.

"Everything I take as a motivation. I did start off kind of slow but we are coming down towards the end of the season and this is where good teams step up. I just feel like I have to do something to help the team out and be productive."

Any suspense against the Bulldogs ended on the opening play of the third quarter.

Trailing 24-10 and still within striking distance at the half, the Bulldogs turned over the ball on their opening possession of the second half, the third time in four years they have done that in this series.

Linebacker A.J. Jones deflected Cox's pass at the line of scrimmage, then made a diving catch for an interception at the Georgia 19.

The Gators, who had scored just two touchdowns in 15 previous trips within the red zone, made the most of this opportunity. With Tebow lined up behind center for three consecutive downs, he scored on an option play from five yards out on the last one.

Georgia coach Mark Richt promised his team would continue to search for answers. The Bulldogs were once again slowed by penalties (9-87 yards) and converted just 4-of-12 third-down conversions.

"We'll keep challenging our guys," Richt said.

"We have men of integrity who will do the right things regardless of the record. I don't think we'll have anyone who will give in. I think everyone will fight. I will do everything in my power to get us back on the winning track. I thought there was some good fight, but you can't turn it over like we did in the second half and mount a comeback."

Naturally, UF's success centered on Tebow.

On his record-breaking run, he slipped up the middle and ran mostly untouched for a 23-yard score with 1:32 remaining in the first half. The 50th rushing touchdown of his career gave the top-ranked Gators a 24-10 lead. Tebow actually dropped the football behind him, not realizing what he had just accomplished.

"I didn't immediately think about the record until the guys were reminding me," said Tebow, who finished with game-high 85 rushing yards on 18 carries, absorbed a few bull's-eye licks and played like a Heisman Trophy contender."Then I said, 'Oh yeah. Can I get the ball?' The most important thing has been the guys I've shared it all with.

"Breaking Herschel's record means a lot. Just to be mentioned in the same breath as Herschel Walker, it's extremely humbling and a little bit breathtaking because it's Herschel Walker. How am I going to be in the same league as Herschel Walker? I still can't understand it. It's pretty cool and it's really special."

Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez, who has been under fire for the Bulldogs' porous numbers -- Georgia ranks last in the SEC and 84th nationally in scoring defense (27.7 ppg) -- couldn't slow Tebow but he found the words to praise him.

"He's just a special player," Martinez said.

"I don't know him personally but studying him and some of the things he does instinctively. His intangibles have to be off the charts. He's a great leader and on top of that he's talented to still run and throw the football."



Cox, meanwhile, was 11-of-20 for165 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

It was a familiar ending and feeling for the Bulldogs.

"I lost the game with three picks," Cox said.

"That score does not reflect how we played, how we moved the ball. I mean, it's the truth. Any time you turn the ball over that many times and give people chances to score, a good team is going to score and they did and that's why we got beat."

Florida Gives Georgia 'Tail Whipping originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:06:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Tim TebowTimTebowJim HenrySat, 31 Oct 2009 20:06:00 EST SEC Notebook: Auburn Ignoring Criticshttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/sec-notebook-auburn-ignoring-critics/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/sec-notebook-auburn-ignoring-critics/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/sec-notebook-auburn-ignoring-critics/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Auburn's offensive struggles in October have been discussed and dissected.

The Tigers have dropped three of their last four games this month, including last Saturday's 31-10 stinker against LSU. Auburn gained a season-low 193 yards on a season-low 61 plays in that game, igniting a wave of criticism from fans who are still smarting from last season's collapse that saw the Tigers open 4-1 before losing six of their last seven.

Auburn (5-3 overall, 2-3 SEC) is determined to snap out of its funk Saturday against visiting Mississippi (5-2, 2-2), which marches into Jordan-Hare Stadium on a two-game win streak and winners of three of its last four.

A strong start has helped Auburn maintain its lofty national rankings on offense -- the Tigers are seventh in rushing offense (230.3 yards), 19th in total offense (430.9) and tied for 26th in scoring offense (31.8) -- but recent struggles are hard to ignore.

Chizik points to mistakes across the board and says he's not ready to push the panic button.

"I don't think that there is one thing that you can pinpoint," Chizik said.

"Nine guys can be doing everything right and two get beat. It's a little everywhere, a breakdown here or there that causes certain things to be exposed. And when you play teams like we're playing - the LSU's of the world - seemingly little things turn into big things. We're not panicking by any stretch of the imagination."

Quarterback Chris Todd has been the target of the fans' displeasure.

Todd threw for only 47 yards at LSU before giving way to backup Neil Caudle, who directed the Tigers to a late touchdown. Caudle completed 3-of-5 passes for 34 yards and hit tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen for a score. Todd, meanwhile, completed 8-of-14 passes with an interception. He was also sacked four times.

Chizik re-affirmed his commitment to the embattled Todd early in the week, saying his quarterback can handle the heat.

"Really and truly I just think that a quarterback has to be a tough-minded person," Chizik said.

"It all comes with the territory and they all mentally have to be prepared for it. If you're not mentally tough enough to get through those things then more than likely you shouldn't be a quarterback in this league. That's just the way it is. I mean it's no different than coaching, right? You get the good and you get the bad and it all comes with the deal."

Todd stressed -- no, he's not stressed out -- that he remains focus and confident.

"Anytime things happen, as a quarterback, you have to take that on your shoulders and take some blame when things are going bad," Todd told the Montgomery Advertiser.

"When things are good you get some credit for some stuff and when things are bad, you take that, too. I'm definitely working myself and trying to improve things that will help us move on and win some ballgames."

Chizik also doesn't believe outside criticism will affect his team.

"We can't control any of that, so it's what you choose to hear and what you choose to listen to and what you choose to watch," Chizik said.

"I hope they weren't listening to it when we were 5-0. I really do. Now we've dropped three. If they choose to listen to it, that's something I can't control, but I highly advise them to keep doing the things, keep working to win."

Welcome Home Billy

On a muggy Halloween night in 1959, LSU's Billy Cannon caught a punt and, shaking off a seemingly endless array of Ole Miss tacklers, raced 89 yards to a touchdown and into Louisiana folklore.

That run, the definitive play of the halfback's illustrious career, is the reason Cannon will make a are appearance Saturday at Tiger Stadium as LSU meets Tulane on Halloween.

Behind Cannon's run and two goal-line stands, the top-ranked Tigers won that game 7-3 against the third-ranked Rebels. LSU went on to win the national title and the play helped Cannon clinch the Heisman Trophy -- he remains the only LSU Tiger to win it.

"It's been a fun thing to live with, " Cannon, 72, told The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune. "But did I know that night it would be 50 years later and we'd be here talking about it, no I didn't."

Protection Is Key

Kentucky's experienced offensive line has picked up where it left off last year in protecting its quarterback.

The Wildcats are tied for 14th nationally and second in the SEC in the sack-allowed category. In seven games, UK has allowed just seven sacks.

Last year, the offensive line gave up only 13 quarterback sacks and ranked fourth in the nation in fewest sacks allowed per game. The UK line also helped the team rank eighth nationally in fewest tackles for loss allowed per game.

The Wildcats play Mississippi State in their Homecoming Saturday, one that will help determine Kentucky's postseason fate. Last week, UK defeated the ULM 36-13 to record its 17th consecutive non-conference victory, matching the school-record streak previously set from 1954-60.

"This is one of the biggest games of the season, if not the biggest," offensive guard Christian Johnson said. "If we win this it could put us ahead where we need to be and help us accomplish our goal of going to the best bowl game that we can."

Lighter in the Britches

If Florida and Georgia appear a tad faster in Saturday's showdown in Jacksonville, Fla, it might be because they were both able to shed nearly a pound from their uniforms.

Last season, UF athletic trainers approached McDavid Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of protective athletic apparel, about redesigning the pads players wear under their uniforms. They wanted the least amount of restriction without sacrificing protection.

The next day, McDavid presented them with the HexPro Performance Mesh Supporter with HexPad, affectionately referred to as the "Elephant Jock."

McDavid's HexPad technology protects the hips and tailbone without excess weight or fabric, while it's material holds a cup in place to protect the groin. At 3.5 ounces, the "Elephant Jock" is nearly a pound lighter than the pads many players wore last year.

Other collegiate teams that have purchased the undergarment include LSU, Arkansas, Indiana, Cincinnati, Texas, Virginia and Oklahoma.

SEC Notebook: Auburn Ignoring Critics originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Jim HenryFri, 30 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST Tebow's Touchdown Mark, Trick or Treat?http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/on-cocktail-halloween-will-touchdown-record-be-trick-or-treat/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/on-cocktail-halloween-will-touchdown-record-be-trick-or-treat/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/on-cocktail-halloween-will-touchdown-record-be-trick-or-treat/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

There is no more beloved Georgia Bulldog football player than Herschel Walker and no more beloved Florida football player than Tim Tebow.

Disagree if you like, but I feel pretty confident in both statements. Sadly, these gridiron warriors are separated by a generation and never will get the chance to play one another in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. By the time Tebow arrived at Florida, Walker was only in the news alongside Tebow for acknowledging his multiple personality disorder.

Until now. Saturday, Tebow, who trails the Georgia running back by one rushing touchdown for his career, is likely to break Walker's all-time rushing touchdown total in the SEC.

Or is he?

It seems there's a bit of an accounting error in the record books. See, the SEC didn't start counting bowl game touchdowns in the end of season totals until recently. So Herschel Walker actually scored five more touchdowns for the Bulldogs that don't appear in his official stats. That means Walker's 49 career rushing touchdowns should actually be 54 career rushing touchdowns. Now, right now, you might be thinking to yourself, that doesn't really matter very much. But if you know Georgia and Florida fans, you know the exact opposite is true, it matters an awful lot, particularly for Georgia fans who continue to worship at the altar of St. Herschel even as we approach 30 years since he last scorched across the Sanford Stadium grass.

Tebow's ascension to the top of the career rushing record in the SEC begs the question, how hard would it really be to put five interns in charge of reviewing the stats from every bowl game, add the touchdowns up with proper attribution, and then include them in the season totals? I mean, when you consider the amount of money that SEC schools waste on, say, travel, how can not having accurate records from bowl games really be an issue?

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Especially when it comes to a basic stat like touchdowns?

I'm not saying they need to be able to recreate sacks or punt yardage from ancient bowl games, but touchdowns? Come on, let's get on this. It wouldn't even cost a dime. But if the SEC wanted it to cost a dime so they could be a bit more certain about past histories, they could bring in an accounting firm, provide them with all the bowl records featuring every team, and let them crunch the data for a single weekend. By the end of that weekend all the stats would be accurate forever.

In fact, this idea makes so much sense, how has it not happened? I might turn this into a personal crusade until someone in the SEC offices explains why this is impossible. From doing research on my last book, I know the sports information departments keep all of the old clips from games that they can. Certainly, they keep all the old records from bowl games.

I'll keep y'all updated on this quest.

In the meantime, you can imagine why Georgia fans are so incensed at the idea of Tebow breaking Walker's record. It's one of the few things they have to hold onto in this series. In fact, in the 27 years since Herschel Walker last played for the Bulldogs, Georgia has won just eight Cocktail Parties. It's even worse since 1990. In the last 19 seasons, Georgia is 3-16 against the Gators.

Is there a more lopsided bitter rivalry game in the country?

As if that weren't enough, Georgia is coming off its worst loss in the series since 1996. And, of course, there's that tiny little fact about Urban Meyer taking two timeouts inside the final minute so Georgia fans could stew over their 49-10 defeat. Now, on top of all that, Tim Tebow is going to take Herschel's record? Right in front of Bulldog fans? Taking the record against Georgia is so diabolical, it almost seems planned.

Yep, these are the times that try a Bulldog fan's soul. And not just because Willie Martinez is still prowling the sideline, and he and Mark Richt spent the bye week convincing all recruits that Martinez wasn't going anywhere. With a bye week to prepare, a team that is over a two-touchdown underdog, facing a number one team on the other sideline that hasn't lost in 17 consecutive games, Georgia fans are doing their best to string together a plausible argument about why this year will be different than all the others that have come before.

And I'll give you this prediction: It's going to be a single-digit game.

Come Saturday, I'll be there to find out exactly how much both teams care when I attend the Cocktail Party. And by "attend the Cocktail Party," I mean don't actually enter the stadium. My goal this weekend is to capture the Cocktail Party atmosphere without managing to see a single live snap. So from Friday when I touch down in Jacksonville until Sunday when I take off, I want to see it all. This makes even more sense when you consider the obvious -- it's Halloween.

The always insane Cocktail Party will likely be ratcheted up to an entirely new level of insanity. And the costumes, my God, the costumes, will blow your mind away. That's why I'm soliciting costume suggestions. Although, to be fair, I'm really not sure how many people will be wearing costumes to the game. And is there anything worse than being the only tool in a costume when everyone else is dressed normally? The only ground rules for costume suggestions are that it can't be so hot to make me pass out (alcohol causing me to pass out is, of course, a natural hazard of the game) and I'm not dressing up as a girl.

Not again this year, anyway.



It's also going to be, wait for it, 89 degrees. The atmosphere around the stadium -- the only game that fills the Jacksonville Jaguar stadium up all year -- is going to be so laden with alcohol fumes that if someone struck a large match the entire place would explode.

On Cocktail Party weekend Jacksonville is like Sodom and Gomorrah and Tebow's the only person who wouldn't turn to salt. And I can't wait for the experience. I want to hear from y'all about what I have to do, see, and experience. So shoot me a line at clay.travis@gmail.com. Then check back on Sunday for the story of the game. Or, more accurately, the story of what went on around the game.

Tebow's Touchdown Mark, Trick or Treat? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Clay TravisFri, 30 Oct 2009 08:05:00 EST Georgia Blends Rest, Preparation for Upset 'Cocktail'http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/georgia-blends-rest-preparation-for-upset-cocktail/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/georgia-blends-rest-preparation-for-upset-cocktail/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/georgia-blends-rest-preparation-for-upset-cocktail/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Mark RichtLSU was fresh from its off week and waxed Auburn Saturday night. Tennessee was rested from its break and nearly upset Alabama earlier Saturday. Florida, of course, had the opportunity to rest injured quarterback Tim Tebow during its off week earlier this month before traveling to LSU and beating the Tigers with Tebow behind center.

Now it's Georgia's turn to see how it fares following a breather last Saturday.

While the Bulldogs enter Saturday's SEC showdown against top-ranked Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., as a double-digit underdog, they at least have a little history on their side. Georgia is 11-3 under head coach Mark Richt following an open date, including 1-0 (42-30 two seasons ago) when it comes before playing UF.

Naturally, Richt welcomed an extra week of preparation for Florida (7-0), which found itself in a struggle in the fourth quarter for the second consecutive week last Saturday at Mississippi State. But Richt is more interested in his team playing a complete game, something the Bulldogs (4-3) have only come close to doing once all year.

"It's always nice and you hope you can turn that into a positive for your football team but there's just no guarantee," Richt said when asked of the benefits of an off week.

"I think there's probably too much made of it. I don't know if that has been the biggest factor other than who was better that day."

Of course, all the chit-chat leading up to last year's game was Georgia's touchdown celebration from 2007 and what kind of revenge would UF coach Urban Myer and the Gators have in mind. A 49-10 victory, punctuated by a couple of timeouts in the final minute, was worth a thousand words to Gators everywhere.

"That stuff [from last year] hasn't even entered my mind," Richt said. "I'm just trying to prepare for this game - period. All that stuff from last year doesn't mean much."

What does mean much for the Bulldogs, who are 1-2 against the nation's top-ranked team -- their last victory was 24-3 over the Gators in 1985 -- is to finally play to their potential, from start to finish.

Senior quarterback Joe Cox helped snap Georgia's two-game losing streak two Saturdays ago by directing a 34-10 win at Vanderbilt. Cox completed 16-of-31 passes to 10 different receivers and also had a career-long 65-yard touchdown pass to receiver A.J. Green. The offense had scored just two touchdowns in the previous 11 quarters.

Georgia's defense, which entered the Vandy game ranked 100th nationally in scoring defense, registered three sacks and an interception that set up the Bulldogs' first score.

"The season has been up and down; there's no doubt about that," Richt said.

"We've just not played consistently well, in really any game this year. I guess the closes we came was against Vanderbilt where we did well offensively, defensively and special teams. We were pretty good overall, but we know we'll have to be much better (Saturday)."

Georgia has used four different starting combinations on its offensive line this season, and the fifth could be on the way against the Gators. That being said, Richt stressed pivotal keys will be the Bulldogs' ability to protect Cox and display offensive balance against one of the nation's best defenses.

UF has allowed only four touchdowns this season -- two rushing, two passing. (The other two touchdowns scored against the Gators were on interception returns.) They are No. 1 in the nation in total defense, No. 2 in scoring defense, No. 2 in pass defense.

"They are very, very talented and difficult to deal with," Richt said.

"They've got guys just about at every spot better than your average bear, you know, and they are going to be a great challenge for us no doubt.

"The biggest concern anybody would have is to get into a situation where they know you are going to throw and they know you have to throw it to succeed. That's when things get very difficult to protect and very difficult to move the ball when there's no threat of a run or a play-action pass."

Despite Florida's issues, specifically on offense -- the Gators have scored just seven touchdowns in 25 trips in the red zone in SEC play -- Richt expects UF's best effort. The Gators scored five touchdowns in five tries in the red zone last year against Georgia.

UF quarterback Tim Tebow promised the Gators are working hard this week to fix their struggles inside an opponent's 20-yard line.

"We moved the ball on every possession (last weekend), just drove it right down the field and then we'd get in the red zone or do something kind of stupid and it cost us a drive," Tebow said during his Monday morning press conference with the media. (He also apologized for ducking the media after Saturday's game).

"We have to fix those little mistakes, they're very costly. There are things we need to work on and get right and that game could have been out of hand quickly. We're not excited the last few games how we've played in the red zone but we're going to get better."



The Bulldogs should also be healthier than they've been in several weeks -- linebackers Marcus Dowtin and Akeem Dent are expected to return.

"We've got to prepare for this game thinking that Florida is going to be at its best, which I'm sure they will be," Richt said.

"We have no reason to think that's not we're going to get. We've always gotten Florida's best shot before so that's we've got to be expecting."

Georgia Blends Rest, Preparation for Upset 'Cocktail' originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>mark richtTim TebowTimTebowJim HenryTue, 27 Oct 2009 06:00:00 EST