ESPN.com - College Football Nation Blog ESPN.com presents College Football Nation http://espn.go.comnull 60 en-us Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:16:22 webmaster@espn.go.com http://assets.espn.go.com/i/espn/teamlogos/lrg/trans/espn_dotcom_black.gif 110 110 <![CDATA[BYU's Jorgensen, Lamb reprimanded]]>
Lamb, BYU’s linebackers coach, who has played Air Force 17 times, said "The only thing about the Air Force game is they cut so much. They block low on your ankles and knees. It's not legal."

Jorgensen called the Falcons’ cut blocks, “legal, but dirty”

Outgoing UNLV coach Mike Sanford made similar comments about Air Force a couple weeks ago that drew the ire of Air Force coach Troy Calhoun. Sanford, who was fired the day after the game, was not reprimanded.

The comments from BYU’s Lamb and Jorgensen violate the league’s sportsmanship policy.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/13973/byus-jorgensen-lamb-reprimanded Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:25:14 EDT 13973 <![CDATA[Weis says he will work next year]]> one-on-one with Charlie Weis on Sunday morning and got the Notre Dame coach to open up on some interesting topics.

Weis said he doesn't mind people criticizing his coaching, but that the personal attacks have damaged his family.
"The damage to Maura and Charlie Jr. is irreparable," says Weis, referring to the personal nature of the attacks he has been subject to for years now. "It's watching me get hammered. I'll never forgive the people who character-assassinated me without even knowing me. Those people did irreparable damage to my wife and son, and I'll never forgive them."

On Saturday, Maura Weis, for the first time since her husband was hired, opted not to attend a Notre Dame home game.

"They have the right to criticize the coach for being 6-5," says Weis. "They have that right. It's all the other stuff. You think I don't know that I'm fat? Duh!"

Weis was asked where his son would go to college if he is not the coach at Notre Dame next season. Weis said, "I know where he won't be going to college."

The story paints Weis as a workaholic who's in the office by 4:30 a.m. and often doesn't leave until 10 p.m. Should Notre Dame fire him, he'll likely be snatched up by an NFL team to be an offensive coordinator, which is what he did for the New England Patriots before coming to South Bend.
"I'm more respected there," Weis says [of the NFL]. "I'm more well-liked there."

And no matter what, he said he'll be coaching somewhere next year.
"I need to work," he says. "For me."

The whole thing is a good read, and I suggest you check it out.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/13969/weis-says-he-will-work-next-year Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:10:29 EDT 13969 <![CDATA[Video: What's wrong with Notre Dame?]]>
ESPN’s Jesse Palmer discusses the struggles at Notre Dame and potential replacements for Charlie Weis.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/13967/video-whats-wrong-with-notre-dame Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:48:17 EDT 13967 <![CDATA[Three non-AQs are finalist for national awards]]> Case Keenum, Bowling Green’s Freddie Barnes and BYU’s Dennis Pitta have been named finalists for national awards.

Keenum has been named a finalist for the Davey O’Brien Award, which is awarded annually to the nation’s best quarterback. Texas’ Colt McCoy and Florida’s Tim Tebow are also finalists.

Keenum leads the nation with 428.27 yards of total offense per game, 35.18 completions per game, 418.09 passing yards per game and 4,599 total passing yards. Houston is 9-2 and a win away from playing for the Conference USA title.

Barnes leads the nation with 1,482 receiving yards and 134.73 yards per game. He also leads the country with 11.73 receptions per game. He has eight 100-yard receiving games this season and six in a row, including a 278-yard performance against Kent State. He’s had eight games this season with 10 or more receptions.

Pitta is the nation’s top pass-catching tight end with 55 catches for 753 yards and seven touchdowns. He leads all tight ends with 68.45 yards per game and is tied for the most catches per game with five.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/13962/three-non-aqs-are-finalist-for-national-awards Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:48:27 EDT 13962 <![CDATA[How quickly can it turn? Ask Georgia]]>
Consider this: Not quite two years ago, Georgia lambasted Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, soaring to second in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll for 2007 and whetting the appetite for what would come next in Bulldog Land.

Sure enough, the Bulldogs started that next season No. 1 in the polls with a roster full of NFL talent.

This was an already elite program in the SEC on the move.

Nobody could have ever guessed in which direction.

Since that Sugar Bowl win, Georgia is just 16-8 and is coming off its first home loss to Kentucky in 32 years.

The Bulldogs (6-5, 4-4 SEC) are in danger of having their first non-winning regular season since 1996, Jim Donnan’s first season in Athens.

In games against their biggest rivals and historically elite teams in this league (Alabama, Florida, Georgia Tech, LSU and Tennessee), they’re just 2-6 the past two seasons.

That record will slip to 2-7 unless they knock off No. 7 Georgia Tech on Saturday in Atlanta.

And in 10 of their last 20 games dating to last season, the Bulldogs have allowed 30 or more points.

“I think all programs go through some cycles, and we’ve been on a pretty good upswing for quite some time,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt, who’s won 10 or more games in six of his eight seasons in Athens. “This year has certainly been a downturn when it comes to record. It is what it is.

“Will we get it back on track and get back to the winning ways we’re used to? I think so. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it.”

Richt has been too good of a coach to think that he can’t get the Bulldogs out of this funk.

But clearly there will have to be changes. Georgia is continuing to recruit at a high level, which is all the more maddening for Bulldogs fans.

The only thing more maddening is how penalty-prone Georgia has been the past two years and how many crippling mistakes the Bulldogs have made to cost them games. They turned the ball over four times in the second half against Kentucky.

The first thing Richt has to do is take a long look at himself to make sure his approach is working. The penalties and turnovers would suggest that something’s just not getting through.

The next move is looking at his staff, and there will almost certainly be some staff changes. Defensive coordinator Willie Martinez has been a target of the fans for the past few years. He and Richt are extremely close, too.

But given Georgia’s struggles on defense, Richt’s going to be hard-pressed to keep Martinez as his defensive coordinator.

The best move Richt could make is figuring out a way to knock off the Yellow Jackets, who rushed for 409 yards in a 45-42 win over the Bulldogs last season.

One win wouldn’t make a season, and it probably wouldn’t be enough to keep Richt’s staff intact.

But it sure would go a long way toward easing some of the pain and helping to fight off some of the negativity heading into the bowl season and the rest of the recruiting period.

As we've seen, it can turn quickly in this league.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/13961/how-quickly-can-it-turn-ask-georgia Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:47:06 EDT 13961 <![CDATA[Houston's only focus is the Bayou Bucket]]>
He had friends over at his house, watching football, and one of his guests kept checking the score of the SMU-Marshall game on the home computer.

“At one point I said I didn’t want to know until it was over,” Sumlin said.

Earlier in the day, Houston had defeated Memphis 55-14 and the Cougars needed an SMU loss to move back into first place after losing the top spot a week earlier.

Sumlin and his team got their wish when Marshall held on to a 34-31 win after recovering an SMU onside kick with 40 seconds remaining in the game.

But now that Houston is back in first place, Sumlin said the focus is to stay there. The Cougars have one game against Rice remaining. Win and they play in the Conference USA title game. Lose, and all SMU needs to do is win to be the West representative.

“How we approach things hasn’t changed from last week,” Sumlin said. “The situation’s changed, but we still need to win. There’s a lot more at stake here this week just because it’s a rivalry game, we’re playing for the bucket trophy and Rice has the bucket.”

Playing Rice, a team with just two wins this season, shouldn’t be that daunting, but the fact that the Cougars have lost to weaker teams already this season is somewhat worrisome. Houston’s loss to UTEP would be the perfect example. The Cougars jumped out to an early lead, relaxed, and UTEP pull out one of the biggest wins in their program’s history and broke the Cougars perfect season. The Miners have won just three games all season.

Rice has won its last two games -- Tulane and UTEP -- but before that stretch, the Owls had lost by an average of 27.5 points per game.

Last season, Rice defeated Houston 56-42 last season to deny Houston a shot at the conference championship. However, that game featured four touchdowns by tight end James Casey, who is now in the NFL, and five touchdown passes by quarterback Chase Clement, who graduated.

Sumlin said he’s put an emphasis on the rivalry game, not winning the divisional title. He said if they win the game, the rest will take care of itself.

“It’s a rivalry game,” Sumlin said. “It enough for us to be worried about what goes on week-to-week beyond worrying about what everybody’s trying to tell us where we are and what could happen. All we’re worried about is the bucket. All we’re trying to do is get the bucket back.”]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/13955/houstons-only-focus-is-the-bayou-bucket Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:14:20 EDT 13955 <![CDATA[Right hire can bring Notre Dame back to prominence]]>
US PresswireCincinnati's Brian Kelly, Stanford's Jim Harbaugh, TCU's Gary Patterson: Are any of these up and comers right for Notre Dame?The most enlightening part of Charlie Weis's Sunday news conference -- where he mostly sidestepped a barrage of questions about his overall job performance -- came when the Notre Dame coach was reminded of a quote from his very first media gathering five years ago.

At the time, Weis relayed he told the team that 6-5 wasn't good enough. And of course, the Irish are 6-5 right now with Weis's career dangling off a cliff. Weis said Sunday that he'd have "a tough time" arguing that he shouldn't be fired if and when Notre Dame decided to make a change.

"Because 6-5 isn't good enough," he said.

And yet, more often than not, mediocrity has been the standard in South Bend since the end of the Lou Holtz era in 1996. This will be the eighth time in the last 13 seasons that the Irish finish with seven wins or fewer. Add up the records under Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis, and the average finish in those 13 years is almost exactly 7-5. Notre Dame did make three BCS bowls in that time period, but it was blown out in all three.

Those facts have led some to wonder whether this is less about the coach and more about the institution. Critics will say Notre Dame is just destined to be a pedestrian program that every now then rises up to have a nine- or 10-win season and that it is living on ancient history.

Hogwash. If that were true, explain the success of TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State, currently ranked No.s 4-5-6 in the country. Notre Dame has vastly more resources, exposure, access to recruits and fans than probably all three of those programs put together.

In college football, it always comes down to leadership and the right coach. And the Fighting Irish have not hired the right coach the last three times they've tried.

Think about it: Davie was an excellent defensive coordinator who deserved a shot to succeed Holtz, but he had no prior head coaching experience. Willingham was brought in after the George O'Leary résumé fiasco, and though he had done nice things at Stanford, his record there was 44-36-1. Weis, who'd never been a head coach and owned very little college coaching experience, was a reach after Notre Dame got turned down by Urban Meyer.

It's up to athletic director Jack Swarbrick, who arrived in his current position last year, not to strike out this time around. He needs to find a proven winner at the college level, whether he can somehow convince Meyer or Bob Stoops to leave their cushy situations or lure an up-and-comer like Cincinnati's Brian Kelly, Stanford's Jim Harbaugh or TCU's Gary Patterson. Unless something unexpected develops on the coaching carousel, Swarbrick shouldn't have much competition. Notre Dame will be the most attractive college job available.

Attracting talent and getting players into school is not a major issue in South Bend, as Weis proved. His last four recruiting classes were ranked 14th, ninth, eighth and fifth nationally, according to ESPN's Scouts Inc. Sure, some of those players were probably overrated, as the shine of the Golden Dome tends to blind recruiting analysts. But Weis beat out USC for the nation's top-rated defensive player, Manti Te'o, this winter, among many other victorious recruiting battles against top schools.

Guys like Kelly and Patterson have been winning big with far less heralded players than that.

The schedule isn't as difficult as it used to be, either. Though the Irish aren't watering down their slates with FCS schools, only one of this year's opponents -- No. 20 USC -- is currently ranked. Next year's schedule includes games against Western Michigan, Tulsa and two service academies.

Weis honorably took the blame for his program's failures on Sunday.

"I'm the head football coach," he said. "Who else is responsible? Now, I could sit there and try to blame everybody else, but ultimately, it falls on my shoulders. That's the way it is."

Mediocrity doesn't have to be the way it is at Notre Dame. The Irish just need to find the right coach.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/13939/right-hire-can-bring-notre-dame-back-to-prominence Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:25:54 EDT 13939 <![CDATA[Video: Meyer not interested in Notre Dame]]>

Urban Meyer says he will stay at Florida as long as they will have him.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/13940/meyer-not-interested-in-notre-dame-job Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:07:31 EDT 13940 <![CDATA[Temple RB Pierce will miss Ohio game]]> Bernard Pierce will miss Saturday’s pivotal Mid-American Conference East game against Ohio.

Pierce, the Owls leading rusher, suffered a left shoulder injury during the first possession of last week’s 47-13 win over Kent State. Temple coach Al Golden said Pierce landed awkwardly on the shoulder, and though he tried to play two more downs, he was in too much pain to continue.

“It’s fate, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Golden said. “Certainly, he means a lot to our team and we’ll miss him. Obviously, we’re a different team without him, but he hung in there for two more plays and then he couldn’t do it.”

Matt Brown, a 5-foot-5, 167-pound freshman, rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries in Pierce’s stead. Golden said Brown, a former receiver who has only been playing tailback for the past month, would start against Ohio. Golden also said Lamar McPherson, Joey Jones and Jason Harper would be in the mix for backup time, and that that would be decided later this week.

“He did a great job versus Akron,” Golden said of Brown. “He’s been playing tailback for about a month now, so he’s really matured nicely. He’s a competitor, he’s tough, he did a good job of protecting the football and he really just plays with a lot of energy. We’ve got a big, physical offensive line and tight end grouping and he gets in there behind them, makes it tough for defenses to see and the he can dart out. He did a great job for us.”

This Friday’s game against Ohio will determine the MAC East division title and send the winner to face Central Michigan in the MAC title game in Detroit. Temple (9-2, 7-0) has led the East all conference season and has won nine consecutive games after losing its first two of the year.

Ohio (8-3, 6-1) has a conference loss to Kent State, but a win over Temple would give both teams a loss and Ohio the edge with the head-to-head tiebreaker.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/13935/temple-rb-pierce-will-miss-ohio-game Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:16:15 EDT 13935 <![CDATA[A year later, Auburn looks to strike back]]>
After so many highs under Tuberville, the Tigers experienced the lowest of lows in a humiliating 36-0 loss at Alabama -- the most lopsided Iron Bowl in 46 years -- to cap the first losing season on the Plains since Tuberville’s first season in 1999.

Just like that, the Tigers’ six-game winning streak in this bitter rivalry was gone.

And four days later, so was Tuberville.

Where has Auburn’s program gone since that turbulent end to the Tuberville era and an even more turbulent coach search that ultimately produced Gene Chizik?

We should find out a few answers on Friday afternoon when the Tigers get a chance to turn the Crimson Tide’s world upside-down at what’s sure to be an emotional Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Alabama is playing to stay in the national championship race. Auburn is playing to regain a little pride.

The Tigers (7-4, 3-4) have had a week off to get ready for this game. They needed it, too, after playing 11 straight weeks and enduring through a thin roster and a processional of injuries that started back in the offseason.

When you consider the lack of depth on this team and how strapped the Tigers were in certain areas, it’s obvious that Chizik has done a nice job of maximizing what he has.

It’s not surprising that Auburn has lost four of its last five SEC games. That’s what happens when you play so many games in a row in this league and do so shorthanded.

There’s also the issue of defense, which hasn’t been particularly good this season on the Plains, and at times, has been pretty awful.

Auburn heads into the Alabama game last in the SEC in scoring defense and 10th in total defense. The Tigers have given up 36 touchdowns on defense, which is the most in the league.

If Chizik is going to make it and get Auburn back to elite status in the SEC (the two go hand-in-hand), it’s going to begin and end on defense. He knows that as well as anyone. He’s a defensive guy and saw firsthand what a swarming, fast defense can do in this league when he was heading up Auburn’s stellar defensive unit on the 2004 SEC championship team.

Simply, the Tigers don’t have the talent or the depth on defense to be a championship contender in this league, which is where the coaching staff Chizik hired comes in.

This is an excellent recruiting staff, and the Tigers are already seeing some of the benefits. Several of their commitments will be on campus Friday, including highly rated running back Michael Dyer of Little Rock, Ark. Dyer is the country’s No. 7-rated prospect by ESPN’s Scouts Inc.

Locking up those kind of prospects on the defensive side will be crucial as the Tigers finish up their 2010 class and start working on their 2011 class.

All in all, seven wins isn’t a bad way to start the Chizik era. Eight would be a lot better, especially if the Tigers could knock off the Crimson Tide.

Either way, it’s been a solid debut season for Chizik, who was anything but a popular hire when Jay Jacobs introduced him last December.

His players bought in early to his approach. He’s surrounded himself with a quality staff, and the offense seems to be well on its way under coordinator Gus Malzahn.

But they measure you in the state of Alabama on how you do in the Iron Bowl, a game that divides families and is played 365 days a year … somewhere.

Chizik knows the stakes well and also knows that he needs to be winning his share against the Crimson Tide -- on the field and on the recruiting trail -- sooner rather than later.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/13932/a-year-later-auburn-looks-to-strike-back Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:47:30 EDT 13932