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| Monday, October 9 FSU's loss shouldn't have come down to Wide Right By Gene Wojciechowski ESPN The Magazine | ||||||||
| 20 -- A soapbox moment July 2000. Someone asks Florida State's Bobby Bowden about his No. 1 concern for the upcoming season. Bowden doesn't hesitate. "Replacing Janikowski," he says. That's Sebastian Janikowski, who could party and kick better than anyone in college football. Bowden is still looking for a replacement. FSU is a dismal 3 of 8 on field goal tries, including a shank and missed 49-yarder against Miami. But Seminole fans can't blame all this on kicker Matt Munyon. On four different occasions inside the 26-yard line, FSU failed to score, thanks to two interceptions, one incompletion and that 22-yard shank. Maybe. . . probably Bowden goes for the field goals if he still has Janikowski. But he didn't, which means the Seminoles are playing the what-if game right now. So Munyon catches the e-mail and stalk show heat, but the truth is that Bowden made some questionable decisions, that Chris Weinke threw some costly interceptions, that FSU's defense gave up a last-minute touchdown drive to Miami, and that a game-tying 49-yarder, even for Janikowski, would have been no sure thing. 19 -- Bowl Championship Series update Just to make sure all its Internet sites are updated and in working order, that the Excel program is all set, that everyone is getting their e-mails, the BCS will do a trial run of its poll this week and next. The first official BCS poll results will be released Oct. 23. Just guessing, but if this Monday's practice poll was released, figure that Nebraska and, oh, maybe Virginia Tech, are 1-2. 18 -- BCS nightmare Can you say, TCU vs. Kansas State in the Orange Bowl? Tens of hundreds would tune in. 17 -- With much regret. . . This marks the last week of the obligatory cheap shot at Kansas State and its ridiculously easy early season schedule. The Wildcats at last face teams with winning records (an upcoming stretch which includes Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Iowa State and Nebraska). So that's it for the Wildcat jokes. I will absolutely not mention that K-State's six victories is only one less than the total win count of Wildcat opponents Kansas, Colorado, North Texas, Ball State, Louisiana Tech and Iowa. 16 -- Coach of the week Oklahoma's Bob Stoops. Hmmm. Think a 63-14 win against Texas will help with recruiting in the Southwest? Honorable mention: Mississippi State's Jackie Sherrill, with an assist from defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn. 15 -- Irish eye 9-2
"Both sides are really, really happy with their coach when they win, and really, really angry with their coach when they lose." -- Texas coach Mack Brown before the Longhorns' 63-14 loss to rival Oklahoma. Just think how Texas fans feel now about ol' Mack. So bad was the defeat, that Texas Gov. George W. Bush has applied for federal disaster funds. Why? Because that's what governors do. 13 -- Quote of the day "We're just not as good as we thought." -- Texas quarterback Chris Simms after woodshed visit. Duh. 12 -- Weird compliment Tennessee players have just about had it with running for their lives after road losses. Goober Georgia fans swarmed the field and tore down the goal posts at Sanford Stadium (a first) after the Bulldogs beat the Vols for the first time in nine years. Two Saturday's ago, the Vols watched as LSU's fans stormed the field and pulled down the posts after a Tigers overtime upset. LSU, that you could understand. Tiger followers haven't had much to cheer about since someone spiked the gumbo. But for Georgia's fans to pull the posts after a win against a 2-3 Tennessee team. . . 11 -- Burnt orange The program that gave college football Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams rushed for minus-7 yards against Oklahoma. Afterward, Texas coach Mack Brown apologized to Longhorn fans, players, assistant coaches and Bevo. 10 -- Sooner nation Oklahoma City's KOCO-TV didn't make many friends with OU types when technical problems deprived hundreds of thousands of viewers the first 18 minutes of the Texas-Oklahoma telecast. Instead, they got the Michigan-Purdue game, which was like replacing the Super Bowl with a rerun of the Antiques Roadshow. Sooner fans think Purdue processes chicken, and they don't give a damn what anybody in Michigan does. Anyway, the 18-minute nightmare meant they missed Oklahoma's first touchdown, but not the other 116 Sooner scores. And contrary to rumors, Texas' Brown did not contact Austin's ABC affiliate and ask that there be "technical difficulties" during the second half telecast. 9 -- Rarified Air In the long, storied history of Big East conference football (started play in 1991), this is the first time the league has had two teams ranked in the top five of the Associated Press poll. Virginia Tech is No.3, Miami No. 4. 8 -- Northwestern Talked to TCU athletic director Eric Hyman, who just happened to be the AD at Miami of Ohio when Randy Walker coached there. Hyman still can't believe it took so long for someone to steal Walker away. Walker is Gary Barnett without the ego. One more win and the Wildcats are bowl eligible. Survive the next four weeks -- home against Purdue Saturday, at Minnesota Oct. 28, home against Michigan Nov. 4 -- and Walker's team might be Rose Bowl eligible. One other thing: Big Ten scheduling rotation has Northwestern missing Ohio State this season. 7 -- Purple power -- part II No program is rooting harder for Northwestern than Hyman's TCU team. With the exception of the Wildcats, San Jose State and maybe Fresno State, the TCU schedule reeks. The more Northwestern wins, the more impressive is TCU's 41-14 against the Wildcats. TCU needs every bit of help it can get if it hopes to somehow worm its way into the Bowl Championship Series top six. 6 -- Heisman Trophy race
Keep name on DAC Palm Pilot: Wisconsin's Michael Bennett, Nebraska's Eric Crouch, Purdue's Drew Brees. Can tell the kids he was a fringe Heisman candidate: Mississippi's Deuce McAllister, Michigan's Anthony Thomas, Washington's Marques Tuiasosopo. Thanks for stopping by the booth: Auburn's Rudi Johnson. Conditional nominee: Kansas State's Jonathan Beasley (official candidacy begins Saturday against unbeaten Oklahoma, which has two less wins than all of K-State's opponents combined). 5 -- Stat of the week Mississippi State's defense held Auburn's Rudi Johnson, the SEC's leading rusher, to 26 yards on 18 carries. Johnson gained exactly zero yards in the fourth quarter. "Rudi tried to dance a couple of times and he got smacked in the mouth," said Bulldogs cornerback Fred Smoot. Smoot, who has his own website devoted almost entirely to talking smack, actually complimented Johnson after the game. "I don't got no bad things to say about Rudi," he said. "It's just that I've got the best [defensive] front in college football." Best defensive front, but most annoying musical interlude -- "Who let the Dogs out?" chant, which is played almost as often as USC plays its little ditty. One other memo for Mississippi State fans: Elsie from Borden's called; she needs her cowbells back. 4 -- Flop of Troy After a 3-0 start, Southern California has lost two consecutive conference games, prompting not only a Paul Hackett Job Watch, but also one for athletic director Mike Garrett. Worse yet, the Trojans' schedule still includes games against Oregon, at Stanford, at Arizona State, at UCLA and Notre Dame. So crummy was the Trojans' effort against resurgent Arizona, that the always supportive Coliseum crowd booed USC as Hackett's team missed two field goals, had two extra points blocked, gained only 10 yards rushing, gave up five sacks and turned the ball over five times. 3 -- Whatever happened to. . . Marshall. Could 2-3 Thundering Herd be headed to first losing season since 1983? 2 -- Off Wisconsin Wisconsin, the team that gave you Shoegate, can't get a break when it comes to athletic shoes. Ohio State's Derek Combs scored on a long touchdown run while wearing only a left cleat. One hack's weekly elite Nebraska (5-0) -- Huskers have struggled through Corn Belt Row (Notre Dame, Iowa, Missouri and Iowa State). Clemson (6-0) -- Go figure: Tommy the only unbeaten Bowden. Virginia Tech (5-0) -- Circle Nov. 4 on calendar: Hokies at Miami. Oregon (4-1) -- Next three games will determine if Ducks sink or quack (at USC, Arizona, at Arizona State). Ohio State (5-0) -- Buckeye fans crazy about Coop (until first loss). UCLA (4-1) -- Oregon and Bruins pick right week to take off. Miami (4-1) -- Hurricanes want do-over on trip to Washington. Mississippi State (4-1) -- Beat Florida and Auburn on consecutive Saturdays. Florida State (5-1) -- Seminoles getting tired of Strom Thurmond-like kicking game (for the politically impaired: wide right). Northwestern (5-1) -- Part of the Purple Power threesome (TCU, K-State, Northwestern). Waiting list: Kansas State (6-0), Oklahoma (5-0), Southern Mississippi (4-1), Washington (4-1), TCU (5-0). Honorary Elite: Iowa (1-5) Gene Wojciechowski's Movers and Shakers appears every Monday. | ALSO SEE Harig: Are the Hurricanes back? What you might have missed Heisman watch: Saturday's numbers | |||||||
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