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 Monday, November 5, 2001
Only six contenders remain
By Terry Bowden
Special to ABC Sports Online
Bowden's Weekly Chat Show
After another good weekend of college football, we didn't see any of the country's top teams get beat like we did before. But we did see a few one-loss teams take it on the chin.
In our future discussions about the Rose Bowl presented by AT&T, it is fair to say that we can stop mentioning Michigan, Stanford, UCLA and Virginia Tech. In fact, if you look at any of the teams ranked below No. 6 Tennessee, you are talking about long shots to make it to Pasadena. It's hard to imagine a one-loss team that's ranked seven or eight jumping over a one-loss team that is ranked in the top 6 if both teams win out. Such is the importance of the two voting polls.
However, with conference championships serving as the determining factor as to who gets in a BCS bowl, every participant is still up in the air.
Let's take a look at the major games this past weekend.
Michigan State 26, Michigan 24
|  | | Michigan's Marlin Jackson can only watch T.J. Duckett catch the game-winning score. |
When Michigan lost to Michigan State, it was not a major upset, but it ended the hopes that at least one team would carry the Big Ten banner high into postseason play. When was the last time no Big Ten team finished in the top 10?
The one thing I expected to stand out for Michigan was its ability to stop the run. Going into the game, the Wolverines led the nation in rush defense, but T.J. Duckett made them look like little boys as he rambled for 211 yards. With the number of sacks they have been getting all year, including the incredible 12 they had on Saturday, I am wondering if their defensive statistics weren't a bit skewed in the rushing department. Although they are still basically at the top of the Big Ten, when you don't play good defense, there is no guarantee that you will win out.
Michigan State now looks like it has a balanced offense with Jeff Smoker throwing the ball to Charles Rogers and handing it off to Duckett. And if the Wolverines drop one down the road, the Spartans will be in the hunt for the conference title.
Washington State 20, UCLA 14
Last week it was the defense and now it's the offense that has UCLA them down. You can't turn the ball over and win football games. So when you give it away seven times, it's pretty obvious why you lose. UCLA's offense has been just average for most of the year, but now that the defense has come down to Earth, they look like just another team in the Pac-10.
On the other hand, the Cougars look to have more talent than they've had since their 1997 Rose Bowl team. Their battle with Washington in the Apple Cup on Nov. 17 could be for the conference crown.
Washington 42, Stanford 28
I thought the Cardinal would win this game because they had so many more veterans on their team. However, when they couldn't put the game away in the third quarter, you knew the game would start tilting in Washington's favor. And then, when it was tied up in the fourth quarter, you just knew it would become another game where Rick Neuheisel's boys would find another way to win. Nobody gets his players ready to play for a full 60 minutes better than Neuheisel.
Although the Cardinal may have played themselves out of the Pac-10 race, they will be favored in their final four games that should place them in a nice bowl.
Pittsburgh 38, Virginia Tech 7
I hate to say this, but I think the Hokies had us fooled. They were playing such great defense and specialty teams and running the ball so well that we just assumed that this was the same ol' Virginia Tech. But after an embarrassing loss to Pittsburgh, following last week's loss to Syracuse, it's clear how weak their schedule really was the first six weeks.
Virginia Tech will likely add a few more victories this year, but I see absolutely no way that this team can pull it together enough to stand up to Miami on Dec. 1.
Arkansas 58, Mississippi 56 (7 OT)
Every now and then, you see an event that you instantly know will go down in history as one of the greatest in sports. For the fans of Arkansas and Mississippi, Saturday night's seven overtime victory by the Razorbacks was just that. With the score tied 17-17 at the end of regulation, it was almost as if you witnessed two different ballgames as each team swapped touchdown for touchdown en route to a 58-56 final.
In 1996, I lost a four-overtime game to Georgia. That seemed like it went on forever. I can't imagine how exhausted those players were when they finally went off the field. This is the kind of game that nobody deserved to lose. Overtime losses are tough because so much effort is put in to try to get the win. But history shows that just like last-second losses in regulation play, good teams will overcome it and move on.
The nice thing for both teams is that the way that the SEC West is going, both of them are still in the race to get into the championship game.
Bowden Bowl III
Although I watched a lot of games on Saturday, I never let my eyes get too far away from Bowden Bowl III, which Florida State won over Clemson, 41-27.
I said before the game that if Florida State did not turn the ball over that its athletic ability would be too great for the Clemson Tigers. By halftime, you could see that was true. The biggest mismatch on the field was Florida State's wide receivers against Clemson's secondary, and Chris Rix took advantage of this to burn the Tigers for 4 TDs.
The Bowden Bowl will never be just a fun, old family feud like a backyard barbeque. There are serious stakes at risk. And just as the winner goes on to possibly another ACC title, the loser must face his disappointed fans, knowing that at 47 years old, Tommy has not taken the Clemson program yet where they want it to go or make his mark on the coaching profession.
Coaching changes
Three coaches have already been fired in Division I football. After four or five losing seasons, I have no problem when a school calls its coach in with two or three games left to let him know that they will be moving in a different direction at the end of the season. This allows a school to do some preliminary searching and also prepares the coach for what will come.
However, I don't understand why a school would remove a coach immediately from his duties. A coach should be given an opportunity to coach his players throughout the final games of his tenure.
Terry Bowden was the head coach at Salem College, Samford University and Auburn University. He is ABC's college football studio analyst and contributes regularly for ABC Sports Online.
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 Jeff Smoker finds T.J. Duckett for the game-winning TD with no time left on the clock (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
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The Wolverines get called for pass interference in the end zone and T.J. Duckett makes them pay (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
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Charles Rogers hauls in the 18-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Smoker (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
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Backup QB Jermaine Gonzales checks into the game and catches a 20-yard TD from John Navarre (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
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Marquise Walker scores on touchdown passes of 15 and 18 yards (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
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Arkansas hangs on to beat Ole Miss 58-56 in seven OTs.
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Jermaine Petty keeps Thomas Gee out of the end zone and the Razorbacks win in the seventh OT.
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Pittsburgh's David Priestley connects with Antonio Bryant for the 24-yard TD.
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The Panthers' R.J. English outjumps his defender for the touchdown..
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The Hokies' Ronyell Whitaker takes the blocked punt 71 yards into the end zone.
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Chris Rix connects with Talman Gardner for a 29-yard TD on the play-action pass (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
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Chris Rix suffers a big hit, but delivers the touchdown pass to Javon Walker (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
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Greg Jones takes the handoff and sprints 52 yards down the sideline for the score (Courtesy: ABC Sports).
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Woody Dantzler scrambles for the first down, then punches it in for six on the next play (Courtesy:ABC Sports).
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