NCAA Football new mexico state Aggies

Halloween 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).

It's come to this.

Due to the recession and a subsequent budget crunch, New Mexico State's football team is requesting that fans donate snacks to the team. That's not a joke, not a point of satire meant to illustrate the difference between playing at a Big Six conference and being a member of the WAC. Nope, that's the unvarnished truth.

According to the AP, "New Mexico State's budget-conscious football staff distributed an e-mail this week asking fans to donate after-practice or late-night snacks for hungry players." Why are they doing this? To help close a $1.5 million budget gap. That's an awful lot of snacks.

Every Monday during college football's endless offseason, The FanHouse Walk will put last week's stories to bed and deliver the essentials to bridge that agonizing space between now and September.

You Can't Be Bad All of the Time -- First-year Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin has built up a tremendous amount of antagonism this offseason. There's nobody to blame but himself, of course, but sometimes you have to give the Devil his due. For all his transgressions, try not to read too much into the story that Tennessee has been witness to 11 player departures. Wherever possible in college athletics, you want to look out for the best interest of the athletes but healthy, successful coaching transitions at big-time football programs almost require a good dose of roster turnover. Whether he's handled it right is up for debate but the raw numbers themselves should not be an indictment of Kiffin.

After last year's oversigning kerfuffle it's gotten to the point where people are emailing me the various malfeasances of coaches in search of hot young things with the expectation head will asplode to the entertainment of all.

Doctor Saturday might end up a little disappointed with this post, then, as he forwards along this shockingly frank admission from new New Mexico State coach DeWayne Walker:

New Mexico State has hired UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker to run its football program, making him the seventh black head coach in college football's top division. Walker's hiring was a few years in the making. The journeyman coordinator arrived nationally after stopping the USC offense cold in a 13-9 UCLA victory that prevented a certain USC appearance in the 2006 BCS Championship Game.

His impact was immediate, flipping one of the nation's worst defenses into a fast and aggressive unit that played tough and could stop the run. Subsequent seasons weren't as successful, but he added chops as a recruiter, bringing in a handful of players who will likely have NFL futures like defensive tackle Brian Price and cornerback Alterraun Verner.

Walker took his time, visiting Las Cruces for a while before accepting the Aggies' offer. His departure was expected, however, and his name has popped up as a central player in this week's man drama kerfuffle between USC and UCLA.

Unusual find in my Google Alerts inbox today -- Saturday's LSU game against Troy will be broadcast in Navajo. It will be the first SEC football game every broadcast in the Navajo language. (No word yet on whether if the remaining several hundred imperial Japanese listening will be as stumped translating as they were during World War II.)

Cuyler Frank of Albuquerque, N.M., will provide play-by-play description in the Navajo language of the LSU-Troy football game on the radio and on LSUsports.net Saturday night from Tiger Stadium.

Mr. Frank provides play-by-play in Navajo of New Mexico State University football games, and it was there that he met current LSU Chancellor Dr. Michael Martin. When Chancellor Martin came to LSU, Mr. Frank expressed interest in broadcasting an LSU game in Navajo.

Nice gesture by Dr. Martin. It's doubtful this is much of a moneymaking enterprise, especially in tough economic times, but LSU has found a way to utilize its connection to an unusual resource and expanded college football's influence on yet another segment of American culture.

One can't help but embrace hearing "Jarrett Lee throws another pick-six" in more than one language. Plus, there's a decent chance it'll be more understandable to non-native tongues than the assistant coach in The Waterboy.