It's been a long time coming, but the wait is almost over

College Football Week 19 – Miles, Hoke main candidates for Michigan

It’s been a long time coming,
but the wait is almost over

After Auburn beat South Carolina and Oregon beat Oregon State we knew that the Tigers and the Ducks would meet for the national championship. But that was back on December 4 when those two victories occurred. That was eons ago. Cam Newton and LaMichael James may have gray hair by now.

Thirty-four bowls and 37 days later, we’re about to find out who the national champion is going to be. It’s been a long time waiting, but the big day is finally here. It all comes to a climax tonight in Glendale, Arizona.

Meantime, while we have been waiting, the coaching carousel and other bowl games have kept us entertained. The latest opening in the coaching carousel popped up late last week when Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh accepted an offer from the San Francisco 49ers.

Harbaugh, who had just coached Stanford to a 40-12 Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech, and who learned his star quarterback Andrew Luck would be returning for the 2011 season, had offers from the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos as well. But he chose to remain in the San Francisco area by going with the 49ers.

Harbaugh had another option too – Michigan. The Wolverines dumped their coach – Rich Rodriguez – last week, following Michigan’s 52-14 thrashing from Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl. But obviously, Harbaugh prefers the west coast to the rust belt.

Harbaugh caused a bit of a stir in Ann Arbor a couple years back when he commented on a statement made by Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. Reacting to the SEC’s success over the Big Ten in big games, Delany insinuated that SEC schools had players who couldn’t get into Big Ten schools. To Delany’s comment, Harbaugh, a former Michigan quarterback, said that if Michigan wanted a player bad enough, the Wolverine athletic department always managed to get the player enrolled regardless of his qualifications.

Meanwhile, Rich Rodriguez says he is not interested in coaching at this time. He wants to spend 2011 with his family, with intentions of getting back into coaching in 2012. Stay tuned!

So, along with Stanford and Michigan, two more Division I-A schools are looking for a new coach. Connecticut and Pitt are the other two. Look for all four schools to have a new coach named by Friday. With recruiting so dear and national signing day so near, the schools can’t afford to take any longer.

We read that Stanford is interested in Boise State’s Chris Petersen and will interview the Bronco coach. Petersen is a native of Yuba City, California. Mike Bellotti, former Oregon coach, also has been mentioned as a Stanford candidate. And, we read that Michigan is interested in LSU coach Les Miles and will talk to the Tigers’ coach. Miles is a former Wolverine player. San Diego State coach Brady Hoke also is apparently on Michigan’s radar.

Meanwhile, Connecticut has hired a consulting firm – to the tune of $50,000 – to help it find a new coach. I always thought that was the job of the athletic director. One applicant for the UConn job is former Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni – often referred to by some Syracuse fans as Paul Passthebaloney, especially during his final couple of seasons with the Orange.

Of course, the Connecticut job became open when Randy Edsall left to become the coach at Maryland, replacing Ralph Friedgen. Assuming Connecticut, Pitt, Michigan, and Stanford or another NFL team doesn’t create more openings, there will be 19 new head coaches in Davison I-A college football next season. But look for another opening or two to be created.

Pitt, as we know, had a new coach, but Mike Haywood only lasted 16 days. Now the Panthers are on the prowl again, looking for a coach. And to make matters worse, Pitt alumni and fans want the school’s chancellor Mark Nordenberg to fire athletic director Steve Pederson. Just ask Nebraska fans what they think of Pederson. You won’t hear anything good.

So far, the five candidates most often mentioned for the Pitt job are Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst, Tulsa coach Todd Graham, Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster and Florida International coach Mario Cristobal.

Texas coach Mack Brown finally filled his defensive and offensive coordinator openings. Mississippi State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz is the new DC at Texas. Diaz is one of those young, up-and-comers who was a good defensive coordinator for Dan Mullen in Starkville. Bryan Harsin, the offensive coordinator at Boise State, is the new OC at Texas.

Don’t look for Mike Leach to get a head coaching job anytime soon. The NCAA has placed Texas Tech on two year’s probation for violations that occurred while Leach was coach of the Red Raiders. Texas Tech will have recruiting restrictions and scholarship reductions for the two-year period. Leach also is currently engaged in lawsuits against Texas Tech and ESPN.

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini must think a lot of himself. He put out a report that he wasn’t interested in the Michigan job. Of course Michigan never gave any indication that it was interested in him in the first place. Pelini pulled a similar stunt with the Miami (Florida) opening when all along the Hurricanes were never interested in him to begin with. Pelini is off to a good start at Nebraska but he hasn’t set the world on fire yet. Wonder of Pelini looks at himself in the mirror a lot?

After we got through the first 28 bowls by January 1, six more bowls kept us entertained from January 3-9. Stanford’s sideline at the Orange Bowl looked like a “who’s who” of celebrities – Jim Plunkett, John Elway and Condoleezza Rice, among others. And did you catch the drum major of the Stanford band? He was dressed as a Pilgrim. Get it?

The next night, Arkansas embarrassed the SEC, becoming the first conference team to lose to Ohio State in a bowl game. The Buckeyes beat the Razorbacks, 31-26. Oh well, we don’t really consider Arkansas a pure bred SEC team anyway. They’re half Big 12.

The following day, Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett said he was not coming back for his senior year. Mallet is entering the NFL draft. Heck, I don’t blame Mallett. If my receivers at Arkansas couldn’t catch the ball any better than they did, I wouldn’t bother to come back either. Just think, if Rich Rodriguez had never been hired at Michigan, Mallett could have just finished up his senior season in Ann Arbor.

And what was Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino doing wearing that hoodie during the Sugar Bowl? The game was being played indoors. Everyone else was in shirt-sleeves. Petrino looked like a stuffed pig in that hoodie.

Two nights later, we had to suffer through the Go Daddy Bowl. The only reason people watched was because they thought Danica Patrick was going to do a strip tease on the 50-yard line at halftime. What’s that, you say? You mean she did? And I missed it. Actually, it wasn’t a bad game. Miami (Ohio) beat Middle Tennessee, 35-21. But, I understand next year the Go Daddy Bowl will change its name to the Yo Mama Bowl.

Friday night, LSU beat Texas A&M, 41-24, before 84,000 fans at the Cotton Bowl in Cowboys Stadium. Do you think that was Les Miles final game, coaching the Tigers?

I missed the first half of the Cotton Bowl. Swamp Mama, Bootsie, Rockledge Gator and I were drinking Guinness and Harp Lager at Nolan’s Irish Pub in Cocoa Beach. We were listening to and singing along with Irish singer Michael Funge.

I used the occasion to tell Bootsie that I really do know the difference between an Oreo and an Oriole. I just must have been in a Baltimore frame of mind. Returning home, I caught the second half of LSU-Texas A&M.

The next day, Pitt, playing under an interim coach, beat Kentucky, playing under a Joker. The Panthers out-purred the Wildcats, 27-10. And finally last night, neither team could really get its offense going in the Fight Hunger Bowl. But Nevada got its offense going more than Boston College did, as the Wolf Pack beat the Eagles, 20-13. With one game to go, I’m 21-13 on my bowl picks.

You may have noticed during the bowl games that ESPN showed video of the players participating in events and activities sponsored by the bowl. Well, you could tell the bad bowl cities – Detroit, Memphis, Birmingham, Shreveport, etc. These were the ones where the featured activity and highlight of the week for the players was going bowling.

That brings us to tonight’s big game between Auburn and Oregon. I’m still sticking with my pick – Auburn 34, Oregon 32. By the way, Alabama coach Nick Saban and former Florida coach Urban Meyer will be providing commentary and analysis – pre-game, halftime and post-game. Anything’s better than Lou Holtz.

Touchdown Tom
January 10, 2011


Bowl Game Review (all but one)

Ty-died (in the Orange Bowl) – Stanford 40, Virginia Tech 12 (Touchdown Tom said: Stanford 23, Virginia Tech 20). This game was good for about two quarters. In fact, it was downright exciting. Stanford led 13-12. After that, it was all Stanford. The Cardinal came out in the second half and picked the Hokies to pieces – passing and running. VT was no match for the Cardinal. Tyrod was no A-Rod and Bud Foster could have used a Bud – several of them. Andrew Luck lived up to his billing, passing for 287 yards, completing 78 percent of his passes. A crowd of 65,453 attended the game in Miami Gardens.

Pryor huffed and puffed and blew the little Piggy’s house down (in the Sugar Bowl) – Ohio State 31, Arkansas 26 (Touchdown Tom said: Arkansas 33, Ohio State 31). Obviously, Arkansas felt the pressure and not Ohio State. The Hogs came out tight, nervous and jittery; while the Buckeyes were calm, cool and collected. Arkansas receivers dropped more passes than John Boehner has tear drops. Ryan Mallett had to be frustrated. Ohio State led at halftime, 28-10. But the Hogs seemed to pull it together in the second half, outscoring the Buckeyes, 16-3. Arkansas had three good chances to win the game in the closing minutes. The first chance was blown on another dropped pass. The second chance was blown when the blocked punt was not picked up and run into the end zone. The third chance ended on a Mallett interception. Mallett is no Andrew Luck. Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor was responsible for 336 yards – 221 passing and 115 running. A crowd of 73,879 attended the game in New Orleans.

RedHawks play Middle like a fiddle (in the Go Daddy Bowl) – Miami (Ohio) 35, Middle Tennessee 21 (Touchdown Tom said: Miami 28, Middle Tennessee 20). This was a good game until the fourth quarter when a combination of Miami’s superiority and Middle Tennessee’s mistakes began to make the difference. The RedHawks were playing under an interim coach and a freshman quarterback – Austin Boucher – who was filling in for the injured starting quarterback. Boucher passed for 289 yards. Miami went from 1-11 last season to 10-4 this season. A crowd of 38,168 attended the game in Mobile.

Aggies can’t see for Miles (in the Cotton Bowl) – LSU 41, Texas A&M 24 (Touchdown Tom said: LSU 23, Texas A&M 21). Texas A&M jumped out to a 10-0 lead and led 17-14 midway through the second quarter. But it was all LSU after that. By the end of the third quarter, the Tigers led 35-17. Aggie quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who turned around Texas A&M during the season, threw three interceptions. LSU completed its fourth-consecutive season with at least 11 wins. A crowd of 83,514 attended the game in Arlington.

Wildcats take a hit from Pitt (in the Compass Bowl) – Pitt 27, Kentucky 10 (Touchdown Tom said: Kentucky 25, Pitt 24). Pitt didn’t have to pass much – only 94 yards. The Panthers ran all over and through the Wildcats – 261 yards rushing. A crowd of 41,207 attended the game in Birmingham.

The Pack stack the Eagles (in the Fight Hunger Bowl) – Nevada 20, Boston College 13 (Touchdown Tom said: Nevada 29, Boston College 18). Surprisingly, this game ended up being a defensive battle. BC did a reasonable job containing the highly-touted Wolf Pack offense. Nevada, not known for good defense, contained BC. But then again, the Eagles never had an offense all season. Nevada held BC to 64 yards rushing. Nevada finishes its season at 13-1. A crowd of 41,063 attended the game in San Francisco.


Superlatives

Impressive Passers: Miami of Ohio’s Austin Boucher – 22-35-2 for 289; Stanford’s Andrew Luck – 18-23-1 for 287, and Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett – 24-47-1 for 277.


Impressive Rushers: Arkansas’ Knile Davis – 139 yards.


Weekend Review

Eastern Washington 20, Delaware 19 (Division I-AA Championship). A crowd of 13,027 attended the game in Frisco, Texas.


Quotes of Last Week

“Andrew Luck is the straw that stirs the drink around here,” Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, on his quarterback after the Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech.

“Here’s all you need know about Charlie Weis: He turned Brady Quinn into a first-round draft pick. Good grief, if he can do that, he can turn John Brantley into John Unitas, Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi.

“Charlie Weis succeeding Steve Addazio? Are you kidding me? This is like William Faulkner succeeding Dr. Seuss. The Gator playbook just went from ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ to ‘The Sound and the Fury,’ Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi.

“Oh yeah, we’ve seen he’s got a lot of dirty plays, throwing people around after the play and things like that.” Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas, on Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley, prior to the BCS championship game.

“The way the Big Ten has been pounded in bowl games this season makes it even more laughable that conference officials wanted to name the expanded league’s new divisions ‘Legends’ and ‘Leaders.’ I’m thinking ‘Losers’ and ‘Loafers’ would be more appropriate,” Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi.

“It’s a wonderful place. I love it here,” LSU coach Les Miles, when asked after the Cotton Bowl if he would be back at LSU for the 2011 season.

“Football coach Randy Edsall leaves Connecticut to take his ‘dream job’ at Maryland. Dream job – really? Seriously? Maryland is your dream job? Isn’t that sort of like an up-and-coming actress saying her dream gig is to play Frenchy in the Yeehaw Junction Dinner Theater production of ‘Grease?,’ ” Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi.


In the Huddle

Elsewhere around college football . . . Tennessee’s non-conference schedule in 2011 consists of Montana, Cincinnati, Buffalo and Middle Tennessee…. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney hired Tulsa offensive coordinator Chad Morris as the new OC for the Tigers.


Extra Points

On the Internet – College Football Week now has a Website and can be read at www.collegefootballweek.blogspot.com.

On the Radio – Listen live to Touchdown Tom every Friday morning from 8:05 to 8:40 ET on the Bill Mick Live show, talking college football with Bill Mick on NEWS TALK 1240 and 1350 WMMB AM. The show streams on www.wmmbam.com. To listen, go to the Web site and click on “Listen Live.”


The last College Football Week of the 2010 season will be posted this Friday, January 14.

Touchdown Tom


P.S.

Not directly college football related, but on a sad note, there were five passings of mention last week – Anne Francis, Pete Postlethwaite, Gerry Rafferty, Jill Haworth and Ryne Duren.

Anne Francis, who was best known for her roles in the 1950s science-fiction film “Forbidden Planet” and the 1960s television series “Honey West,” died last week in Santa Barbara, California. She was 80. Honey West lasted only one season, 1965-66, on ABC. But the character she played, a private detective who was sexy, stylish and as good with martial arts as she was with a gun (and who had a pet ocelot), made an impression. She was nominated for an Emmy and won a Golden Globe for the role. Anne Francis was born Ann Marvak on September 16, 1930, in Ossining, New York. In addition to “Forbidden Planet” she appeared in several other movies. In “Blackboard Jungle” (1955), she played the pregnant wife of an idealistic teacher (Glenn Ford). She was also in “Bad Day at Black Rock” (1955) with Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan, “A Lion Is in the Streets” (1953) with James Cagney, and “Hook, Line and Sinker” (1969) with Jerry Lewis. She appeared in dozens of television shows, including “Mission: Impossible,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Charlie’s Angels” and “The Golden Girls.”

Pete Postlethwaite, a lanky, craggy-faced character actor whose range stretched from sweet sentimentality to acid menace and who was nominated for an Academy Award in 1994 for his role as the father of a man unjustly accused of terrorism in “In the Name of the Father,” died last week in Shrewsbury (Shropshire), England. He was 64 and lived on a farm near Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire. Postlethwaite was widely known in England as a stage and television actor before beginning a busy film career in the 1980s – his first significant role was in “A Private Function,” with Michael Palin and Maggie Smith, in 1984 – and in the 1990s he became familiar to American audiences in, among other films, “Alien 3,” “Waterland,” “The Last of the Mohicans” and “The Usual Suspects.” Peter William Postlethwaite was born on February 7, 1946, into a working-class family in Warrington, England, near Liverpool, where as a teenager he once booked the Beatles to appear at a village hall.

Gerry Rafferty, a Scottish singer and songwriter who combined a gift for melody, a distinctive voice and a fatalistic worldview to produce 1970s hits like “Stuck in the Middle With You” and “Baker Street,” died last week in Dorset, England. He was 63.  Rafferty’s 1978 album, “City to City,” reached No. 1 in the United States. One track, “Baker Street” made the Top 10 in both Britain and the United States. So did “Stuck in the Middle with You,” a song Rafferty and Joe Egan recorded with their group Stealers Wheel in 1972. In all, Rafferty sold more than 10 million albums over three decades. Rafferty was born in Paisley, Scotland, on April 16, 1947.

Jill Haworth, a British-born film ingénue in the 1960s who made her only Broadway appearance as the original Sally Bowles in “Cabaret,” died last week at her home in New York City. She was 65. A petite, strikingly pretty blonde (she wore a dark wig on Broadway), Haworth was just 14 when she was signed to appear, along with Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint and Sal Mineo, as a displaced Jew in “Exodus” (1960), Otto Preminger’s grandiose adaptation of the Leon Uris novel about the birth of the state of Israel. She made two other films with Preminger, “The Cardinal” and “In Harm’s Way.” Valerie Jill Haworth was born in Sussex, England, on August 15, 1945.

Ryne Duren, the star relief pitcher for two New York Yankees World Series teams who stared down batters through thick-lensed eyeglasses and then delivered fastballs that might go just about anywhere, died last week at his home in Lake Wales, Florida. He was 81. Pitching for the Yankees from 1958 to 1961, the right-handed Duren would sometimes deliver at least one warm-up pitch high against the screen, presumably to intimidate the batter soon to face him. Duren led the American League in saves with 20 in 1958 and was named an All-Star three times. He pitched for the Yankees in the 1958 World Series against the Milwaukee Braves, striking out 14 batters in nine and a third innings, and in the 1960 Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Rinold George Duren Jr. was born in Cazenovia, Wisconsin, on February 22, 1929. He made his major league debut with the Baltimore Orioles in 1954 and also pitched for the Kansas City Athletics before being traded to the Yankees. He had a career record of 27-44 with 57 saves.