ESPN.com - College Football Nation Blog

Pitt thinking 'Brawl' this week, not BCS

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:26:56 EDT

Pittsburgh has a mulligan left.

The No. 9 Panthers don't need to win Friday night at West Virginia in order to bring home a Big East title or BCS bid. All they have to do for that is beat Cincinnati on Dec. 5.

Of course, there's a big difference between need and want. The Backyard Brawl may not have much bearing on Pitt's ultimate goals, but you better believe this is a fight the team does not want to lose.

"We're not looking at it at all like we can still lose this game and beat Cincinnati for the Big East," center Robb Houser said. "We're not even looking at Cincinnati right now because [West Virginia] is a good team and it's a big rivalry. We're focusing on getting these last two games, not what we need for the Big East. We're focusing on winning out."

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said earlier this week that his biggest fear wasn't that his players would look past West Virginia. It was that they would look past all the work in practice to get to Friday's game.

"There’s always a fine line when playing West Virginia," Wannstedt said. "It’s a very exciting game for our players. It’s a very emotional game for our players. You also have to be able to understand that the quickest way to be defeated is to be distracted. So you have to go down there and play with a lot of emotion and energy, but at the same time you have to really be focused on the job at hand."

The Panthers have excelled at that the past two years. Arguably the biggest win in the Wannstedt era came in Morgantown two years ago, when Pitt upset West Virginia, 13-9. Wannstedt's team had only four wins going into that game, while the Mountaineers were making plans for the BCS title game. Since that game, Pitt has won 18 of its last 23 contests.

"I think that win, when you look back on it, it gave us life," Wannstedt said. "By that, I mean we had so many recruits that were right on the bubble. It gave us an opportunity to get one more shot at these guys and to say that it will happen and to believe in us.

"You know if you lose that game and come off of a four-win season and go into your offseason program, that’s a challenge, from a coaching standpoint and from a player standpoint. Winning that game, I can remember the first day of the offseason program in January. We had as much enthusiasm from a team standpoint to get started and to try to build on that for the next year as any."

Wannstedt said he remembers seeing recruits lined up on the sideline during pregame warm-ups for that 2007 game. Many of the players were being courted by both schools.

"Within 10 to 14 days [after the win], we got eight commitments," he said. "Two or three of those kids were right there [in Morgantown]."

No doubt that win got Pitt's program jump-started in a lot of ways. Now it's really revved up, with a top-10 ranking, a shot at the Big East title and, of course, a two-game Backyard Brawl winning streak. The Panthers don't want to give any of that back.

"We ruined their chances of a national championship last time we were there, so they're going to be ready for us," tight end Dorin Dickerson said. "This rivalry means a lot and has been good for a lot of years. We want to have the upper hand every year."

Hope: Rose Bowl will come down to QBs

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:00:25 EDT

If Oregon and Ohio State meet in the Rose Bowl, as many are projecting, no one can break down the matchup better than Purdue head coach Danny Hope.

Purdue is the only team to have faced both the Ducks and the Buckeyes this season, and the Boilers more than held their own in both games. They shocked Ohio State on Oct. 17 in West Lafayette and should have beaten Oregon on Sept. 12 in Eugene but got killed by three turnovers, two of which the Ducks returned for touchdowns in a 38-36 escape.

Oregon can clinch the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth by beating rival Oregon State on Dec. 3. If the Ducks prevail, Hope forecasts a competitive Rose Bowl that should be decided by the two quarterbacks, Oregon's Jeremiah Masoli and Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor.

"They both have real quick defenses, outstanding defenses," Hope told ESPN.com this week. "Each [team has] had their high points throughout the course of the season on both sides of the ball. They both have very athletic quarterbacks. The quarterback who plays the best in that game would have the edge because they're both really good teams."

Masoli completed only 11 of 21 passes for 163 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions against Purdue, but he led Oregon with 84 rush yards and a touchdown. Pryor endured his worst collegiate performance against the Boilers, committing four turnovers (two interceptions, two fumbles) in the 26-18 loss.

Harbaugh focused on Irish, not coaching gossip

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:47:47 EDT

Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh was greeted this week with questions about his coaching philosophy, the architectural plan he used to reconstruct the Cardinal football program and a couple of Rorschach ink blots intended to evoke the deep Harbaughian essence.

"That's one of those deep, probing questions," he responded to an inquiry about his coaching influences. "I'm just a coach trying to win a game."

It's not surprising reporters tried to tap into the Mind of Harbaugh this week. His Cardinal are playing host to Notre Dame on Saturday, and you may have heard that lots of intrigue surround the Fighting Irish and coach Charlie Weis at present.

As in: Most believe Notre Dame will be shortly looking for a new coach.

Some feel that Harbaugh might be a candidate, though Harbaugh has pooh-poohed such talk as only he can, telling the San Jose Mercury News this week, "I love Stanford, I'm only talking Stanford, and I will be at Stanford. God willing."

It's also not the best moment for Harbaugh during this mostly charmed season. A week ago, Stanford was the nation's hottest team after dispatching Oregon and USC on consecutive weekends. Then it lost the Big Game to resurgent California, taking a thorough statistical beating even though it only lost 34-28.

That dispiriting loss, which knocked the Cardinal out of the national polls and down a notch in the Pac-10 standings, did allow Harbaugh to share with reporters a behind-the-scenes look at his life.

He told of getting into his car with his family after the defeat and his son turning to his young daughter and saying, "Grace, you're only as good as your last game."

Ah, the life of a college football coach. They love you one week. Not so much the next.

But Harbaugh and his Cardinal can bounce back Saturday against the sagging Irish, who are riding a three-game losing streak that likely cut the thin rope tethering Weis to employment in South Bend.

Stanford (7-4, 6-3) is done with Pac-10 play. It will end up either second or third in the conference standings -- most likely in a tie for either spot. It already has qualified for its first bowl game since 2001. A win would just make it more appealing to bowl selectors as well as a national audience.

This one should feature some offense. Notre Dame has quarterback Jimmy Clausen and receiver Golden Tate, who may feast on a Cardinal secondary that ranks eighth in the Pac-10 in pass efficiency defense.

Stanford counters with Heisman Trophy candidate Toby Gerhart, who should secure at least an invitation to New York with an impressive performance. Gerhart leads the nation with 23 rushing touchdowns and is third in rushing with 139.18 yards per game.

Notre Dame ranks 80th in the nation against the run.

While Weis' goose is likely cooked, Harbaugh knows what he needs to do to restore the momentum of his rebuilding project.

"We know we've got to rise again, rise from that adversity," Harbaugh said. "This team has risen from adversity before."

Links: Fans should watch TCU make history

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:45:00 EDT

Star-Telegram columnist Gil Lebreton encourages fans to come to Amon G. Carter Stadium to watch TCU make school history.

Troy has been dominant on the football field, but that hasn’t translated into better attendance.

Nevada players don’t think about the quadruple overtime loss to Boise State the last time they visited the blue turf.

Western Michigan quarterback Tim Hiller should have left Waldo Stadium with a win.

The Temple football team is not satisfied despite notching nine wins this season.

The Rice football team thinks it can exploit Houston’s porous defense.

needs to fire Mark Snyder

has grown on and off the field

Hawaii Bowl eyeing SMU

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:59:28 EDT

The Honolulu Advertiser is reporting that the Hawaii Bowl could extend an invitation to SMU after this week’s regular-season finale against Tulane in Dallas.

According to the paper, Hawaii Bowl executive director David Matlin is expected to be in Dallas this weekend.

The Mustangs (6-5) will remain eligible for a Conference USA bowl tie-in regardless of whether they win or lose. Hawaii is attractive both to SMU and the bowl executives because of coach June Jones and his ties to the islands.

Jones acknowledged earlier in the year that he told his team that if it won six games that it would most likely play in Hawaii. That plan strayed a little last week when the Mustangs found themselves in first place and looking at possible trip to the Liberty Bowl, the traditional destination for the C-USA champion. That’s still a possibility should SMU win and Houston lose to Rice this weekend. SMU would have to defeat either Southern Miss or East Carolina to win the title.

The ideal matchup for the Hawaii Bowl would be to have SMU against Hawaii, but the Warriors have to win their next two games against Navy and Wisconsin to be bowl eligible.

Underdog Aggies like their odds against UT

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:23:53 EDT

Mike Sherman likes boxing analogies.

The Texas A&M coach who showed his team video of the George Foreman-Muhammad Ali fight earlier this season to spark an upset victory over Texas Tech is looking to another pugilistic reference to describe his underdog team’s chances against Texas on Thursday night.

“This is Rocky Balboa versus Apollo Creed,” Sherman said. “It’s one of those types of deals, where we have a chance to play against a top-notch team that certainly has not stumbled one time this year. They've played very well in every ballgame. It's going to be quite a challenge for us, but it's one we're looking forward to."

The Aggies have proved to be difficult for the Longhorns over the years -- particularly at Kyle Field.

A&M has won eight of the last 12 games over the Longhorns there, including the most recent meeting in 2007.

In that game, Dennis Franchione’s team rediscovered the forward pass too late to save his job, but not before beating the Longhorns, 38-30.

The year before that in Austin, the Aggies physically punished the Longhorns in another striking upset, claiming a 12-7 triumph in a game in which they knocked the Longhorns out of the Big 12 South title chase and Colt McCoy out of the game.

Those memories and others through the years have A&M players excited about playing the South Division championships, despite the fact that most prognosticators don’t give them much hope.

“One of our motivations every year is beating Texas along with every other team,” Texas A&M quarterback Jerrod Johnson said. “But for me to say this game doesn’t have a little bit more meaning than the rest, I’d be lying to you. Whatever they do after us, I wish them the best. But when they play us, we definitely like our chances and we’re going to go out there with all we have.”

The 6-5 Aggies qualified for their first bowl game since 2007 with a victory over Baylor last week. But their season has been marked with remarkable inconsistency. They have won games by 35, 37, 22, 25 and 35 points. And they’ve lost games by margins of 28, 48 and 55 points.

But despite that wild variation in performances from game to game, the Aggies are convinced they will be ready for the 11-0 Longhorns.

“Texas is a really good, solid team, but every year when we play them, we feel like it’s even,” Texas A&M defensive end/linebacker Von Miller said. “This year, it’s no different. We’ve got some young guys, but they don’t act like young guys. It’s Texas week, everybody is up for the game and it’s the biggest game of the year for us.”

The Aggies are the only Big 12 team to have a winning record against McCoy during his career with the Longhorns. Those two earlier losses have marked him with determination to even his mark against the Aggies in Thursday’s game.

“We've got a lot of goals ahead of us and we haven't taken care of business like we wanted to in the past in this game,” McCoy said. “We don't really talk about '06 and '07. We don't like to think about that. We talk about being the best we can be and finishing what we started. That's enough motivation for us. We've got a lot at stake.”

Since 2000, the Aggies are only 56-52 and have fallen far behind the Longhorns and Oklahoma in the Big 12 South’s pecking order. In recent years, even Oklahoma State and Texas Tech have lapped them.

But Sherman is making progress in his second season. He’s already played 19 freshmen and six redshirt freshmen this season, including prime playmakers like running back Christine Michael and wide receiver Uzoma Nwachukwu. Johnson has developed into one of the most statistically proficient quarterbacks in the nation.

“To their credit, these guys have responded to the challenge,” Sherman said. “That speaks volumes. I wish we didn’t have to deal with all of the ups and downs this season has presented to us. But I think they’ve done a great job of handling the adversity they’ve faced in the context of the season.”

Texas coach Mack Brown relishes playing in what he calls one of the most historic rivalries in college football.

“It's great," Brown said. "It's loud. It's a rivalry. They've got great fans and I'm sure it's going to be a great environment."

Other Texas teams have tripped up in that environment, even as heavy favorites.

But senior defensive end Sergio Kindle said this Longhorns team is excited about the challenge of staring down the Aggies in their own backyard.

“Playing at Kyle Field, that 12th Man is serious. And when they get going, A&M starts feeding off of it,” Kindle said. “But we’re ready. We’re looking at that game as the only thing that’s in front of us now.”

Nevada is running full speed ahead

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:55:13 EDT

At the beginning of the season, Nevada touted its backfield as having three 1,000-yard rushers.

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick and running back Vai Taua had each rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season, and running back Luke Lippincott, who missed last year with a knee injury, had rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 2007.

But Nevada would have never imagined that it would be claiming that same statistic about all three players in the same backfield in the same year.

After last week’s game against New Mexico State, Nevada became the first school in NCAA history to have three 1,000-yard rushers in the same year. Heading into Friday’s game against Boise State, Taua has rushed for 1,185 yards, Kaepernick for 1,129 and Lippincott for 1,028. The Nevada running game ranks first in the country with 373.18 yards per game and it constitutes 70 percent of Nevada’s total offense.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in the country that would think that in particular in one season,” Nevada coach Chris Ault said about having three 1,000-yard rushers this season.

The feat is especially impressive considering Lippincott started the season as the team’s X receiver and didn’t start playing running back full time until the fourth game. Through the first three games of the season, the Wolf Pack had amassed 540 yards on the ground. When they committed to moving Lippincott back into the backfield, the Wolf Pack had 559 rushing yards against UNLV, their first win of the season.

The Wolf Pack have won eight consecutive games since the switch.

“They wanted to spread our offense a little bit more, and for a couple weeks before the Notre Dame game I started working out at receiver,” Lippincott said. “I was doing pretty good at receiver. But then, we went 0-3 the first couple games and they decided to put me back [in the backfield]. We’ve just been running with a full head of steam ever since.”

Ault said he moved Lippincott to receiver because of his athleticism, but it was also because the Wolf Pack were trying to become more balanced on offense. In the spring and throughout the summer, Kaepernick devoted almost all of his time toward refining the passing game. Through his first two seasons as starter, he’d shown that he had some zip in his arm, but he had a hard time controlling where he put the ball. So he worked on his touch and his rapport with his receivers. The goal coming into the year was to allow him to show off that part of his game.

But in doing so, the Wolf Pack got away from the one area that has made them successful the past few years. Only 47 times in NCAA history has a team had two 1,000-yard rushers in the backfield and Nevada has done it twice, including last year with Taua and Kaepernick.

The Wolf Pack quickly realized that while being balanced was important, playing toward the team’s strengths was going to win games.

“The holes that our offensive line started opening up were ridiculous, and three backs over 1,000 yards proves it,” Taua said. “Because of that, it’s not just one guy who can do it, all three of us can. ... And when you look over to the side and there’s a guy that can do just as good if not better than you waiting, it makes you feel a lot better and helps the team out a lot.”

Since Nevada started committing to its running game after the third game of the season, the Wolf Pack haven’t rushed for fewer than 312 yards. They have rushed for at least 400 yards five times this season and more than 500 yards three times. In the past three games, Nevada has rushed for a combined 1,552 yards, which is almost as many yards as several FBS teams have rushed for in an entire season.

However, the Wolf Pack will face their biggest challenge this week against Boise State in a game that will determine the Western Athletic Conference title. Boise State has the best rushing defense the Wolf Pack have faced this season, but Nevada is confident that if it keeps running as hard as it has the past eight games, that it might be able to beat Boise State for the first time since 1998.

“I definitely think this is the best overall team that we’ve had in the past couple years, even better than the team we had when we won the WAC championship a few years ago,” Lippincott said.

Added Taua: “I think this is the best chance we have.”

Alabama intent on defending its turf

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:36:24 EDT

The landscape was already changing in the eternal Alabama-Auburn tug of war even before last season’s game.

That’s assuming you want to call it a game.

Either way, we were reminded just how much it had changed last November when Alabama pummeled Auburn 36-0 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in the most lopsided Iron Bowl in 46 years.

The Crimson Tide snapped a six-game losing streak to the Tigers and capped their first unbeaten regular season since 1994.

It was a statement heard in every corner of the state -- from Fairhope, to Fort Payne, to Phenix City.

Alabama was serious about defending its turf.

And just in case anybody forgot during the offseason, Nick Saban offered a subtle reminder when he and the Alabama players accepted the Iron Bowl trophy at halftime of a basketball game last March.

Saban took the microphone, thanked his team, thanked the fans and said very matter of factly, “This is an honor for the University of Alabama and everybody associated with the university that we have this trophy in our possession for this year and many years to come.”

The Alabama fans roared, and they’ve been roaring ever since.

The Crimson Tide (11-0, 7-0) are working on a second straight unbeaten regular season -- something that hasn’t been done in the SEC since Bear Bryant led Alabama to unbeaten seasons in 1973 and 1974.

The road to 12-0 for a second straight year goes through Auburn on Friday, yet another chance for Alabama to remind everybody who’s boss in this state when it comes to football.

Really, it was one of the first orders of business for Saban when he took this job, to re-establish Alabama as the preeminent football program in the state.

On the field and on the recruiting trail.

When you look at the Crimson Tide’s recruiting the last couple of years, it’s safe to say they’ve done that. Their last two classes have been ranked in the top two in the country.

And on the field, keeping that Iron Bowl trophy at the Capstone for “many years to come” is the first thing any coach at Alabama needs to do.

Holding onto the No. 2 spot this week in the BCS standings, Alabama obviously has bigger goals in mind than merely holding onto state bragging rights.

But nothing would undo the momentum this program has generated under Saban any quicker than stumbling now to Auburn, especially with so much at stake for the Crimson Tide.

Throw in this being Gene Chizik’s first season at Auburn, and a loss by Alabama is magnified that much more.

It gives Auburn validity. It gives Chizik validity. It gives all those recruits in the state who hadn’t really given much consideration to the Tigers a reason to reconsider.

The only thing Alabama is interested in is giving that Iron Bowl trophy a home … for good.

Temple delivers Thanksgiving meals to needy

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:49:26 EDT

Under head coach Al Golden, Temple has become one of the more philanthropic football programs in the country, and on Tuesday the team took a break from its preparations for Friday’s game against Ohio to deliver boxes and bags of collected canned food items to one of the 12 residencies and shelters in the Bethesda Project in Philadelphia.

Head coach Al Golden, his wife, Kelly, and several players, including defensive end Trent Gray, defensive backs Dominique Harris and Jaiquawn Jarrett, tight end Steve Maneri, kicker Brandon McManus, center John Palumbo, and punter Jeff Wathne all participated in the deliveries.

Players, coaches and staff had spent the past two weeks collecting canned food items trough their third annual Thanksgiving food drive.

After delivering the food, the group stopped at St John’s Hospice where they delivered 60 full turkey dinners that serve six to eight people each, including a 12-pound turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, gravy and pumpkin pie. The dinners were made possible through monetary donations. All players on the team donated their per diem to the cause.

“We are proud of our Owl Outreach Initiative and the impact that our student-athletes are having in the community,” Golden said. “Furthermore, we are hopeful that the collective efforts of our football program will bring both nourishment and joy to more than 400 people this Thanksgiving season here in the City of Philadelphia.”

Miami game another step for South Florida

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:36:53 EDT

South Florida may not have officially knocked down the entry gate into the Big Three of Florida, but now it has a rivalry game befitting of that status.

Miami comes to Tampa this weekend for the first of a planned five-year series between the two schools. The Hurricanes and Bulls will meet during Thanksgiving week just like Florida and Florida State do every year. On Saturday, the two games will even kick off at the same time (3:30 p.m. ET) and both will have network broadcasts -- ABC will show the USF-Miami game to about 40 percent of the country. Bulls coach Jim Leavitt hopes this becomes a second traditional rivalry game in the state.

"For us, we've never been a part of that Miami-Florida State, Florida-Florida State game," Leavitt said. "I really thought that if there was a way we could play one of those schools and build a game, it would really help our program."

This isn't the first meeting between the two schools; South Florida lost at Miami, 27-7, in 2005. But the Bulls feel like their program has come a long way since then, and that they can now begin to compete with the state's superpowers. They proved that by beating Florida State 17-7 in Tallahassee back in September.

"That gave us a lot of confidence to move on to another big team," South Florida quarterback B.J. Daniels said.

This will be the first time the Bulls have a home game against one of the Big Three. Raymond James Stadium is officially listed as a sellout for Saturday.

"That's a real big deal for us," defensive end George Selvie said. "They're coming to our stadium on Thanksgiving weekend. It will be one of the biggest games ever played in the Ray Jay."

South Florida (7-3, 3-3 Big East) has, in some ways, disappointed this year, faltering in conference play after another hot start. But to beat Florida State and Miami in the same season would make this one of the most memorable campaigns in school history.

"I think the biggest aspect for our program is recruiting," linebacker Kion Wilson said. "Hopefully this will help us land some better recruits and actually launch the program even more than it even is, if we have the ability to beat both Florida State and Miami."

The Bulls beat out the Hurricanes for a few recruits this past offseason, most notably defensive back Kayvon Webster and linebacker Sam Barrington, both of whom have played a lot this season. They're always going to be butting heads with Miami, Florida State and Florida on the intense Sunshine State recruiting trail.

Leavitt said the difference in those programs and his own right now is that they can stockpile top-shelf recruits and create lots of depth on the roster. He doesn't think the Bulls are quite there yet, which may be one reason the team has slipped in midseason the past few years.

But South Florida -- which gets its first crack at the Gators next year in The Swamp -- is getting closer to the other state superpowers. Saturday brings another chance to knock down the entry gate.

"I felt like beating [Florida State] was the first step," Daniels said. "Playing Miami is another step. I won't ever say we're in the Big Four until we beat all of them."