College Football Week 17 – 5-star recruit Spence commits to Ohio State
A few hot toddies while waiting for Santa Potential changes in the BCS, the never-ending coaching carousel, talk of quarterback transfers and more bad news out of Penn State. Even though the regular season is over, the college football scene never fails to hold our interest and keep us intoxicated. It never suffers from a dull moment. And, oh yes, the first three bowl games are history.
While we are waiting for the national championship game between LSU and Alabama, changes to the BCS could be coming down the pike. In fact, not only could be, but most likely, will be. But you will have to wait until 2014.
The current BCS setup is contracted for two more seasons – 2012 and 2013. Nothing, other than a possible minor tweaking or two, should change the BCS format for the next two years. But after the 2013 season, the whole BCS concept is open for change – major changes.
Here’s what’s being discussed among athletic directors and conference commissioners. For starters, in 2014, the national championship game may become the only BCS bowl. And it may be played in Dallas, Atlanta, Tampa, etc. The Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar Bowls would cease to be BCS bowls. They would revert back to their selection process prior to the BCS days.
Basically, they would invite whoever they want to invite. But most likely the Rose would be tied to the Big Ten and Pac-12, the Sugar to the SEC and so on. The BCS championship bowl would still take the two teams finishing first and second in the final BCS poll. But the Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar would not be tied to the BCS poll or BCS conferences. There no longer would be BCS conferences. No such thing as automatic qualifiers. This concept has strong support from many, if not most, athletic directors and conference commissioners. Stay tuned!
Here’s what else is being discussed – a seeded playoff among four teams – the Top 4 teams. This is a concept known as the “Plus One” or “Seeded Plus One.” It would match the No. 1 team in the final BCS poll against the No. 4 team, and the No. 2 team against the No. 3 team. These two games would be played on January 1 in two of the traditional bowl games – Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, etc.
The winners of the two games would meet about seven or so days later in the national championship game. If the “Plus One” concept had been in place this season, LSU would play Stanford and Alabama would play Oklahoma State in bowl games on January 1. The winners of those two games would meet about a week later in the BCS national championship game.
Although not as popular, the “Plus One” scenario is gaining support. The boost in support was precipitated recently by the controversy over the LSU-Alabama rematch in the BCS national championship game.
The feeling being by some that Oklahoma State and not Alabama should be playing LSU. Don’t be surprised to see this format in place in 2014. Stay tuned!
The coaching carousel continued to be active last week. Several schools named their new coaches, while several new coaches began filling their staffs. Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain was hired at Colorado State as the Rams new head coach. Likewise, Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was hired at Arkansas State as the Red Wolves new coach.
The Malzahn news came as a bit of a surprise. Malzahn is taking a pay cut, moving from the staff position at Auburn to the head coach position at Arkansas State. And just days before the Arkansas State announcement, Malzahn was vying for the head coach positions at higher profile schools – North Carolina, Ole Miss and Kansas. He failed to get the job at those schools.
Malzahn’s departure from Auburn is a double whammy for Tiger coach Gene Chizik. Earlier, Chizik lost his defensive coordinator Ted Roof. Roof left to become the defensive coordinator at UCF. Some claim that Chizik’s program is imploding.
While folks are still scratching their heads over the hiring of Charlie Weis at Kansas, Weis named former Notre Dame quarterback Ron Powlus as his quarterbacks coach. Weis is also in the running to get Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist.
Crist, who lost his starting job this season to Tommy Rees, graduated from Notre Dame this month. He announced that he is transferring to Delaware, Kansas or Wisconsin. Crist has a year of eligibility left and since he has graduated, he can play next season without having to sit out a year.
If Crist chooses Wisconsin, it would be the second year in a row that the Badgers have landed a transfer quarterback who could play immediately. Wisconsin’s quarterback this season, Russell Wilson, was a transfer from N.C. State. Like Crist, Wilson had graduated and still had a year of eligibility left.
BYU quarterback Jake Heaps, who lost his starting job to Riley Nelson during the season, is also transferring. Like Crist, Heaps is strongly considering Kansas. Unlike Crist, Heaps would have to sit out next season. But that would seem to fit his plans perfectly, knowing that Crist would only be there for one year. That is if Crist chooses Kansas over Delaware or Wisconsin.
Todd Graham resigned his head coaching job at Pitt to take the same position at Arizona State. That seemed to come as a shock and surprise to Pitt officials and fans. Graham just finished his first year with the Panthers. Toledo promoted its offensive coordinator Matt Campbell to the head coach position. At 32, Campbell is the youngest coach in FBS football.
And Fresno State hired Texas A&M defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter as its new coach.
New Ohio State coach Urban Meyer is building his staff. Meyer named Luke Fickell and Everett Withers as his co-defensive coordinators. Both Fickell and Withers were interim coaches this season – Fickell at Ohio State and Withers at North Carolina. Fickell has since been named a candidate for the opening at Pitt. The other two candidates for the Pitt job are Florida International coach Mario Cristobal and Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst.
Speaking of offensive coordinators, Florida coach Will Muschamp has interviewed former Florida quarterback Kerwin Bell for the OC position. Bell is currently the coach at Jacksonville University. It also has been reported that Muschamp has his eye on former Alabama coach and quarterback Mike Shula. Shula is currently the quarterbacks coach for the Carolina Panthers in the NFL.
The bad news continues at Penn State. Following a practice session on Saturday, Nittany Lions quarterback Matt McGloin and receiver Curtis Drake got into a fight. During the scuffle, Drake knocked-out McGloin. McGloin suffered seizures and was hospitalized for a brief period.
The Mountain West Conference has asked the BCS for an automatic bid for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Currently, the MWC is a non-BCS conference. The MWC loses TCU after this season and Boise State after the 2012 season. It gains Fresno State and Nevada next year and Hawaii in 2013.
Of course, if the BCS should do away with BCS conferences after the 2013 season, as mentioned above, then a lot of these conference changes are really a moot point. It may come back to haunt some of these teams.
Next season, West Virginia is scheduled to play Florida State in Tallahassee on September 14. There is strong speculation out of Tallahassee that Bobby Bowden will make that occasion his first appearance back at a Florida State game since he was forced out after the 2009 season. Bowden also is a former coach of West Virginia.
And speaking of West Virginia, the judge who is hearing WVU’s plea to have the Big East’s suit against the school dismissed is expected to announce his decision this week. The Big East is suing West Virginia to keep the school from pulling out of the conference this summer. WVU has requested the suit be dismissed.
And speaking of announcements this week, the SEC is expected to announce its 2012 conference football schedules this week. The East and West Divisions will each have seven teams next year with the additions of Texas A&M in the West and Missouri in the East. Each SEC team will play the other six teams in its division and two teams from the other division.
ESPN college football analyst Craig James announced last week he is going to enter the primary race to run for the U.S. Senate from Texas. James, a Republican, will be seeking the seat of Kaye Bailey Hutchinson, who is stepping down.
Six schools are still looking for their new head coach – Penn State, Akron, Hawaii, Southern Miss, Houston and Pitt. All five should be close to naming a coach. As it stands right now, 25 schools will have new head coaches in 2012. That could change if any of the above five schools choose an existing FBS head coach.
Five-star recruit Noah Spence has committed to Ohio State. He is a defensive end from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Spence is ranked as the No. 4 overall football player nationally.
The first three bowl games were played Saturday and if we learned anything it is that football teams from the East are better than those from the West. Of course we knew that already. Temple beat Wyoming, Ohio beat Utah State and Louisiana-Lafayette beat San Diego State.
We also learned that the Mid-American Conference is off to a 2-0 start in bowl games and could finish 4-0 if Western Michigan beats Purdue and Northern Illinois beats Arkansas State. Stay tuned! We also learned, with the losses by Wyoming and San Diego State, that the Mountain West Conference wasn’t very good this year. And that tells me that Boise State was overrated in 2011.
Watching Temple beat Wyoming 37-15, I couldn’t help but think why wasn’t Steve Addazio that good at play calling when he was at Florida? Then I got to thinking maybe the problem in 2010 was Urban Meyer and not Addazio. Addazio was about as popular as Charlie Weiss at Florida.
Bootsie and Rockledge Gator will be visiting children and grandchildren in Alabama and Georgia during the holidays, as will be Swamp Mama and I visiting with children and grandchildren in the Panhandle – North Florida.
Karlene Tuttle delivered her bourbon balls last week. I’ve got my fix for the holidays. Thank you Karlene!
Enjoy your hot toddies!
Happy Holidays!....Merry Christmas!....Season's Greetings!....Happy Hanukkah!
Touchdown Tom
December 19, 2011
Cowboys come to a Screeching halt (in the New Mexico Bowl) – Temple 37, Wyoming 15 (Touchdown Tom said: Wyoming 32, Temple 28). Temple was all over Wyoming in this game, leading 28-7 at the half and 37-7 in the closing seconds of the game. The Cowboys second score came with 0:03 on the clock in the final quarter. The way Temple played you have to wonder how the Owls ever lost four games in MAC play during the season. Steve Addazio is off to a good start with the Owls finishing 8-5. If he keeps this up, he won’t be there long. A crowd of 25,762 attended the game in Albuquerque.
Bobcats mash the Aggies (in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl) – Ohio 24, Utah State 23 (Touchdown Tom said: Utah State 30, Ohio 19). The outcome was predictable. Ohio scored with 0:13 remaining to win the game. Utah State had a habit this season of losing games, it should have won, in the closing minutes, sometimes seconds, of the contest. Aggies coach Gary Andersen may want to look for a new defensive coordinator. The Aggies had two backs each rush for more than 100 yards – Michael Smith (159) and Robert Turbin (101). Ohio won its first bowl game in six tries. The Bobcats finished the season at 10-4. A crowd of 28,076 attended the game in Boise.
Aztecs get their heads sucked and their tails pinched (in the New Orleans Bowl) – Louisiana-Lafayette 32, San Diego State 30 (Touchdown Tom said: Louisiana-Lafayette 31, San Diego State 28). In a thriller, the Cajuns’ Brett Baer kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired to give ULL the win. Baer’s kick came only 35 seconds after the Aztecs had scored a touchdown to take a 30-29 lead – a lead that appeared to be safe for San Diego State. Both teams rushed for less than 80 yards each, but they passed for a combined 905 yards. It was the Cajuns’ first bowl game as a FBS team. ULL finished its season at 9-4. A crowd of 42,841 attended the game in New Orleans.
Comment: Off to a precarious start with my bowl picks: 1-2.
Impressive Passers: Louisiana-Lafayette’s Blaine Gautier – 24-40-1 for 470 yards and San Diego State’s Ryan Lindley – 28-49-0-413.
Impressive Rushers: Utah State’s Michael Smith – 159 yards.
Division I-AA Semifinals
Sam Houston State 31, Montana 28
North Dakota State 35, Georgia Southern 7Pittsburg State 35, Wayne State 21
UW-Whitewater 13, Mount Union 10
“Defense wins championships. Alabama and LSU this year are kind of a different breed. Their defenses are devastating,” former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden.
“He knows where I live. He knows my phone number,” former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, on not having heard from current FSU coach Jimbo Fisher, since Bowden stepped down.
“I don’t want to say he’s a great player, but he makes the guys around him better. Everybody plays better that plays with him,” former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, on Tim Tebow.
“Clearly, the last piece of the Tebow puzzle is to get him to play the first three quarters the way he plays in the finale. Maybe the Broncos need to get him warming up in the bullpen. And I will never have any issue with his religious zeal, unless of course it inspires a reprise of the worst sports-related song ever, Drop Kick Me Jesus Through the Goalposts of Life,” USA Today writer Tom Weir.
“I’ve been on the Tebow bandwagon for so long, I get priority boarding. But Tebow didn’t kick two 50-yarders Sunday or strip the ball in overtime. Tebow is special, but can we stop the nonsense that he’s getting a divine boost? God doesn’t root for an NFL team. I know because I’ve bargained with him to intervene when I’ve been in Vegas,” USA Today writer Reid Cherner.
“It was kind of a no-brainer,” former Florida coach Urban Meyer, on accepting the Ohio State job.
“I’ve retired from football, but not life. I don’t want to do nothing,” former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden.
Elsewhere around college football . . . Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly won the Bronco Nagurski Award given to college football’s top defensive player…. UCF sophomore quarterback Jeff Godfrey has decided to transfer to another school…. Notre Dame and Stanford are thinking about playing their 2013 game in China.
Florida’s non-conference slate in 2012 consists of Bowling Green, Louisiana-Lafayette, Jacksonville State and Florida State…. Former Kansas coach Turner Gill is the new head coach at Liberty…. The Football Writers Association of America named Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy the national coach of the year, presenting him with the Eddie Robinson Award.
Connecticut quarterbacks coach Joe Moorhead is the new head coach at Fordham…. Mars Hill College running back Jonas Randolph was named the Division II player of the year…. Mississippi State has added Middle Tennessee to its 2012 schedule. The game will be played in Starkville.
On the Internet – College Football Week now has a Website and can be found at www.collegefootballweek.blogspot.com.
Touchdown Tom will be off next week, celebrating the holidays. The next CFW will appear on the morning of January 3 (the day after the New Year’s Day bowl games, which are on January 2).
Touchdown Tom
Not directly college football related, but during the pre-Christmas days of December as college football fans were drinking eggnog and eating fruitcake with visions of what ifs, bowl games and Santa Claus dancing in their heads, the number one song in the country…
…75 years ago this week in 1936 was “In the Chapel in the Moonlight” by Shep Fields
…70 years ago this week in 1941 was “Elmer’s Tune” by Glenn Miller
…65 years ago this week in 1946 was “Ole Buttermilk Sky” by Kay Keyser
…60 years ago this week in 1951 was “Sin (It’s No Sin)” by Eddy Howard
…55 years ago this week in 1956 was “Singing the Blues” by Guy Mitchell
…50 years ago this week in 1961 was “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens
…45 years ago this week in 1966 was “Winchester Cathedral” by The New Vaudeville Band
…40 years ago this week in 1971 was “Brand New Key” by Melanie
…35 years ago this week in 1976 was “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)” by Rod Stewart
…30 years ago this week in 1981 was “Physical” by Olivia Newton-John
…25 years ago this week in 1986 was “Walk Like an Egyptian” by The Bangles
…20 years ago this week in 1991 was “Black or White” by Michael Jackson
Joe Restic, Harvard’s longest-serving football coach, died last week in Boston. He was 85. Restic lived in Milford, Massachusetts. Restic won 117 games and five Ivy League titles as Harvard’s coach from 1971 to 1993. Prior to Harvard, Restic was coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League. Joseph Restic was born on July 21, 1926, in Emeigh Run, Pennsylvania. A Villanova graduate, he played end for the Philadelphia Eagles for one season in 1952. He was an assistant coach at Brown and Colgate before coaching in Canada. Restic’s son Joe was a punter and safety for Notre Dame in the 1970s.
Christopher Hitchens, a slashing polemicist in the tradition of Thomas Paine and George Orwell and a best-selling author, died last week. He was 62. Hitchens lived in Washington, DC, and was a writer and contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. One of his best-selling books was “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.” Hitchens was known for his quick wit with a keen appetite for verbal combat. Christopher Eric Hitchens was born on April 13, 1949, in Portsmouth, England. His father was a career officer in the Royal Navy. Hitchens graduated from Oxford in 1970 and began his career as a journalist and writer. He moved to the United States in 1988 and later became a U.S. citizen.
Billie Jo Spears, a country music singer, died last week at her home in Vidor, Texas. She was 73. The cause was cancer. Spears was best-known for her 1975 hit “Blanket on the Ground.” The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Country Music chart. Spears rose to prominence in the late 1960s. “Mr. Walker, It’s All Over” was her first Top 10 single. Spears placed 26 singles in the country Top 40, including five in the Top 10, from 1968 to 1984. Billie Jean Spears was born on January 14, 1938, in Beaumont, Texas. She moved to Nashville in 1964.
Vaclav Havel, the Czech writer and dissident whose dissections of Communist rule helped to destroy it in revolutions that brought down the Berlin Wall and swept Havel into power, died Sunday. He was 75. Havel served 14 years as Czech president. He came to personify the soul of the Czech nation. Havel was born on October 5, 1936.
Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s mercurial and enigmatic leader, died Saturday. He was 69.
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