College Football Week 18 – Five bowls down, 33 plus 1 to go
Nibbling on a few hors d’oeuvres
before Santa Claus arrives

This time of the year is always an interesting time for college football. It’s a more relaxed time, but interesting all the same.

The regular season has ended. Christmas Day and the major bowl games are approaching. It’s a time when rumors are flying, trends are developing, coaches are fired, coaches are hired and coaches leave one school for another.

Talk about coaches leaving one school for another, we almost had a perfect exchange of coaches, involving four schools. It began when Mike Riley left Oregon State to take the opening at Nebraska. Then Gary Andersen left Wisconsin to take Riley’s spot at Oregon State. Then Paul Chryst left Pitt to take Andersen’s spot at Wisconsin.

All that was needed to complete the perfect loop was for Bo Pelini to take Chryst’s spot at Pitt. But the problem was Pelini. Unlike Riley, Andersen and Chryst, Pelini was fired. And, unlike Riley, Anderson and Chryst, Pelini had a lot of baggage. He had so much baggage that Pitt wasn’t going to touch Pelini with a 30-foot pole – maybe not even a 40-foot pole.

Ultimately, Pelini surfaced at Youngstown State, a FCS school. That in itself is an interesting story. The president of Youngstown State is none other than Jim Tressel – the same Jim Tressel who carries as much baggage, if not more baggage than Pelini, for his transgressions at Ohio State – lying, cheating, you name it. Pelini is in good company at Youngstown State. Or is it the other way around?

It’s probably safe to say that Pelini will never again coach a FBS school. Of course, I probably thought the same thing about Bobby Petrino. And look where he is. But not only will Pelini never again coach a FBS school, he may never again coach at a FBS school.

There were a slew of defensive coordinator openings at the end of the season – Texas A&M, Auburn, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and South Florida, among others – some are still open. Pelini was a former defensive coordinator at Nebraska, Oklahoma and LSU. A defensive coordinator at an FBS school is better than a head coach at a FCS school. But apparently none of those schools wanted to touch Pelini with a 30-foot pole either – maybe not even a 40-foot pole.

Nebraska did the right thing, dumping Pelini. Yeah, he had winning seasons – never lost more than four games in a season. But Pelini’s teams typically beat the easy opponents on the schedule and lost to the tough ones. They never got out of that rut. They never improved. And I’m not sure Nebraska ever would have under Pelini.

Yeah it sure wasn’t the year to be a defensive coordinator. What was it with all those schools – Texas A&M, Auburn, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, South Florida, etc., dumping their DCs? It’s tough for DCs these days with the offenses becoming so sophisticated.

Then there was Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason. He dumped everybody – offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and a few assistants. Then there was South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier. He didn’t dump anybody. Specifically, he didn’t dump his defensive coordinator – Lorenzo Ward.

The Gamecocks were 91st in total defense and 93rd in scoring defense, giving up 31.2 points a game. Everybody thought Spurrier would can Ward and hire Will Muschamp. Apparently, South Carolina couldn’t afford to fire Ward. The Gamecocks have no money. Muschamp went to Auburn for $1.6 million.

Not only does South Carolina not have any money, but also the Gamecocks won’t have any fans at the Independence Bowl. At last word, only about 800 tickets have been sold. Can’t say I blame the fans. The way the Gamecocks played this year who would want to follow them to a bowl game. And even if they had played well, who would want to go to Shreveport, Louisiana.

The Independence Bowl has long been a joke in the SEC, among the media, players and coaches. No SEC team ever wants to go the Independence Bowl. It’s like being banished to Siberia. It’s so bad that while talking to the press last week, Spurrier said South Carolina was going to the Liberty Bowl. No one wants to even mention the Independence Bowl by name. Or maybe that was a sign of the times with Spurrier. He can’t remember which bowl his team is playing in. I hope he didn’t book the team's flight.

And not only will South Carolina not have any fans at the Independence Bowl, but also the Gamecocks may not have any recruits next year. Spurrier, who normally says he’ll be around for another four or five years, recently said he thought he’d coach for two or three more years.

Since then, South Carolina has been losing commitments like crazy. They have been dropping like flies. As a result, Spurrier reneged on his two or three more years and went back to his old standby – four or five years. But now there is a rumor Spurrier will retire after the bowl game. Isn’t it fun? Stay tuned.

Speaking of retiring after a bowl game, some think that Nick Saban will retire if Alabama wins the national championship. That would be his fifth – one at LSU and four at Alabama. What more can he do?

Saban is one of two coaches among the four in the playoffs who was born and raised in West Virginia. The other is Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher. Not only are they from West Virginia, but Saban and Fisher grew up in communities that are separated by only a few miles.

Saban was born in Fairmont (1951), and grew up in Monongah. Fisher was born (1965) and raised in Clarksburg, about 20 miles south of Monongah. A third coach, Arizona’s Rich Rodriguez, the Pac-12 Coach of the Year, was born (1963) and raised in Grant Town, West Virginia, about 12 miles north of Monongah. The three communities are in north-central West Virginia.

The fourth successful coach from West Virginia is Marshall’s Doc Holliday. Holliday was born (1957) and grew up in Hurricane located in southwestern West Virginia. Combined, the four coaches had a 47-5 record this year. Not bad.

Unless there are more changes coming, 14 FBS schools will have new coaches next year. Ten of the 14 schools fired their coaches. The other four schools lost their coaches in self-initiated moves to another school.

In the latest hirings, Tulsa hired Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery. Houston hired Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman, and UNLV hired Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) High School coach Tony Sanchez. In six seasons at Bishop Gorman, Sanchez had an 85-5 record and won six-straight Nevada High School championships.

North Texas was the last FBS school to hire a head coach from the high school ranks. That was several years ago and it didn’t work out well for the Mean Green. And how well we remember when Notre Dame hired Gerry Faust, the Holy Roller from Moeller – Cincinnati’s Moeller High School. That didn’t work out well either.

Colorado State, Michigan and Pitt are the only three schools still looking for a coach. Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo has interviewed for the Colorado State job. Michigan is doing everything it possibly can to secure San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh. Supposedly, Harbaugh is torn 50/50 between taking the Michigan post and staying in the NFL, but at another team.

A couple athletic directors have been in the news. Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson was fired. Nebraska fans will be happy to hear that. Pederson is a former AD at Nebraska – 2002-2007. He’s the one who fired Frank Solich and brought in Bill Callahan. What a smart move that was. I’m being facetious.

Callahan and Pederson were run out of Lincoln in 2007. They were lucky they made it out alive. Pitt was dumb enough to take Pederson back as AD. He held that position at Pitt before he went to Nebraska.

Meanwhile, West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck is leaving his post at WVU to become the Vice President of the NCAA. Luck will be the No. 2 man at the NCAA, reporting to President Mark Emmert. Most believe Luck will replace Emmert in the not too distant future. Luck also will give up his seat on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, where he served as the Big 12’s representative.

Speaking of the Playoff Selection Committee, here’s some interesting trivia on the Committee’s final Top 25 rankings at the end of the season. The SEC had the most teams in the poll at seven – three of those in the Top 10. The Pac-12 was next with six teams in the rankings, followed by the ACC and Big Ten with four teams each. The Big 12 had three teams among the Top 25.

The Big 12, Big 10 and Pac-12 each had two teams in the Top 10. Florida State was the only ACC team in the Top 10. Outside the Power 5 conferences, Boise State of the MWC was the only ranked team from the Group of Five conferences.

It’s no surprise that five of the seven-ranked SEC teams were from the SEC’s West Division. The SEC West was the strongest conference in the country this year. All seven teams from that Division are playing in bowl games. In the SEC championship game, the West Division champion – Alabama – beat the East Division champion – Missouri – 42-13.

The Divisions are unbalanced in strength in the SEC. But these things run in cycles. I remember a few years ago when the East was much stronger than the West in the SEC.

The Pac-12 had a similar problem. The conference’s South Division was much stronger than the North. Five of the six-ranked Pac-12 teams in the Playoff Rankings (Arizona, UCLA, Arizona State, USC and Utah) were from the Pac-12’s South Division. But unlike the SEC, the Pac-12’s strongest team – Oregon – was from the North Division.

In the Big Ten, its West Division was bad like the SEC’s East Division. In the Big Ten’s championship game, Ohio State (from the East Division) beat Wisconsin (from the West), 59-0. That’s not healthy. Ohio State and Michigan State – both from the East – were the only legitimate teams in the Big Ten this year.

The Atlantic Division in the ACC was much stronger than its counterpart – the Coastal Division. Florida State, Clemson and Louisville are in the Atlantic Division. Likewise, the Mountain Division in the MWC (Boise State, Colorado State, Utah State, Air Force) was stronger than the MWC’s Pacific.

And in the MAC, the West (Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Toledo) was the best – better than East. Four of the MAC’s five bowl teams are from its West Division.

Hey, we had a decent guy win the Heisman Trophy this year – Oregon’s Marcus Mariota. It was refreshing to hear a humble acceptance speech, especially after last year’s self-centered, self-absorbed acceptance. With the likes of Cam Newton, Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston winning in recent years, the Heisman Trophy was becoming the Sleazeman Trophy.

The first five of the 38 bowl games were played Saturday. Four of the five games were not close. Only the Camellia Bowl was exciting. Bowling Green beat South Alabama, 33-28, on a 78-yard touchdown pass with 1:04 left in the game.

Let’s hope Jim McElwain’s offense and defense at Florida is better than his former team displayed in the Las Vegas Bowl. Colorado State lost to Utah, 45-10.

Speaking of McElwain’s defense at Florida, the new Gator coach named Mississippi State defensive coordinator Geoff Collins as Florida’s new DC. It’s not a surprise that Collins wanted to leave Starkville. Following Miss State’s season-ending loss to Ole Miss, Bulldogs’ coach Dan Mullen threw Collins under the bus in his post-game press conference. Mullen blamed the loss on the defensive coach.

Ironically, Florida’s current defensive coordinator – D.J. Durkin – is the Gators interim coach for the Birmingham Bowl. Talk about a lame duck.

Did you see where Florida quarterback Treon Harris was charged with driving without a license? The way he played against Florida State I think he was quarterbacking without a license.

Oh, and by the way, Happy Winter! It began yesterday.

Season’s Greetings….…Happy Hanukkah….…Merry Christmas….…Happy Holidays

Touchdown Tom
December 22, 2014
www.collegefootballweek.blogspot.com


Review of the Bowls (so far)

B-O-R-I-N-G (in the New Orleans Bowl) – Louisiana-Lafayette 16, Nevada 3 (Touchdown Tom said: Louisiana-Lafayette 31, Nevada 29). This game was about as exciting as watching grass grow. One thing is for sure – you don’t want to play the Rajin’ Cajuns in the New Orleans Bowl. It was ULL’s fourth-straight win in the Crescent City bowl. There wasn’t much offense in the game, especially not from Nevada. But ULL quarterback Terrance Broadway did complete 84 percent of his passes – 26 of 31. The score was 10-3 at the half. The only scoring in the second half were two field goals by ULL – both in the fourth quarter. Attendance in New Orleans: 34,014

Enchanting (in the New Mexico Bowl) – Utah State 21, UTEP 6 (Touchdown Tom said: Utah State 28, UTEP 17). UTEP grabbed the early lead at 3-0 in the first quarter. But it was all Utah State after that. The Aggies went up 7-3 later in the quarter and never trailed again. Utah State wasn’t much for passing – only 68 yards. But the Aggies made up for it on the ground – rushing for 279 yards. Attendance in Albuquerque: 28,725

359 to 12 (in the Las Vegas Bowl) – Utah 45, Colorado State 10 (Touchdown Tom said: Utah 38, Colorado State 35). That was the rushing yards stats in the game. Utah had 359 yards rushing to Colorado State’s 12 yards. Utah also had 29 first downs to 13 for CSU. The Utes’ Devontae Booker rushed for 162 yards. The other amazing stat in the game was the height of Utah quarterback Travis Wilson – 6-foot, 7 inches. Obviously, Wilson had no trouble seeing over the heads of the defenders. Attendance in Las Vegas: 33,067

Scalloped (in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl) – Air Force 38, Western Michigan 24 (Touchdown Tom said: Air Force 31, Western Michigan 30). This was actually a good game until midway through the fourth quarter. Leading by just six points – 23-17 – Air Force scored two unanswered touchdowns to go up 38-17. The second of the two touchdowns came with 5:04 remaining in the fourth. Otherwise, the teams were pretty evenly matched. Western Michigan was the passing team – 297 yards, and Air Force was the running team – 284 yards. WMU quarterback Zach Terrell passed for 297 yards and rushed for 61 yards. Attendance in Boise: 18,223

Fragrant (in the Camellia Bowl) – Bowling Green 33, South Alabama 28 (Touchdown Tom said: South Alabama 26, Bowling Green 18). Bowling Green led throughout the game until 1:20 remaining in the fourth quarter when South Alabama went up 28-27. Not to be outdone, the Falcons scored on the first play of the ensuring series on a 78-yard pass from James Knapke to Roger Lewis. Knapke had 368 yards passing. The teams were pretty evenly matched in the stats, except for turnovers. South Alabama had four miscues to BG’s 1. Attendance in Montgomery: 20,256

Last Week’s Bowl Game Picks: 4 Correct, 1 Wrong (80 percent)
Running Total Bowl Game Picks: 4 Correct, 1 Wrong (80 percent)


Superlatives

Impressive Passers:

Bowling Green’s James Knapke – 25-39-0-368, and Western Michigan’s Zach Terrell – 19-38-0-297.

Impressive Rushers:

Utah’s Devontae Booker – 162 yards.


Weekend Recap

FCS Semifinals

North Dakota State 35, Sam Houston State 3
Illinois State 21, New Hampshire 18


Division II Championship

CSU-Pueblo 13, Minnesota State 0


Division III Championship:

Wisconsin-Whitewater 43, Mount Union 34


Quotes of the Week

“I’d like to play in the NFL. Does New York have any professional teams?,” Oregon’s Marcus Mariota on the ‘David Letterman Show.’

“We all know people like that. They just don’t know how to keep their mouth shut. I wish him well at Youngstown State because there’s no other place he can go,” Paul Finebaum on Bo Pelini.

“If there is any genuine outrage, it should be directed at Bo Pelini’s current employer. Youngstown State’s president is Jim Tressel. The same Jim Tressel who covered up NCAA violations at Ohio State. The same Jim Tressel who obfuscated during the investigation,” CBSSports.com writer Dennis Dodd.

“It would be unfair to say that Jim Tressel and Bo Pelini deserve each other. Their ‘sins’ are completely unrelated. At least Bo can look himself in the mirror. That’s more than can be said for Tressel,” CBSSports.com writer Dennis Dodd.

“We’re just going to have fun and beat up on these guys and just enjoy our time out there,” Florida running back Kelvin Taylor, on the upcoming Birmingham Bowl game against East Carolina.

“I think he is the future of the NFL,” Michael Vick on Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston.

“Jameis loves college football, but I think he’s going to be one of the top two players drafted. He’s got to make a choice. He’s got to see what he wants to do. But it would not shock me either way. We’ll have the discussion here pretty soon,” Florida State coach Jeremy Fisher, on whether Jameis Winston will return for another season or go to the NFL.


In the Huddle

Elsewhere around college football . . . Villanova quarterback John Robertson won the Walter Payton Award given to the best player in the FBS…. The Walter Camp Football Foundation named TCU coach Gary Patterson the national Coach of the Year…. Ole Miss linebackers and special teams coach Tom Allen was named the new defensive coordinator at South Florida…. Former Purdue coach Danny Hope is the new co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at South Florida.

Touchdown Tom
www.collegefootballweek.blogspot.com


P.S.

Not directly college football related, but sadly there were three passings of note last week – Fuzzy Thurston, Richard Hottelet and Virna Lisi.

Fuzzy Thurston, a guard for Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers, died last week in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He was 80. Lombardi coached the Packers for nine seasons and Thurston was there for every one of them. Thurston was an excellent pass blocker for Bart Starr. He also was a crucial cog in the sweep, the play that was the foundation of the offense. Frederick Charles Thurston was born in Altoona, Wisconsin, near Eau Claire, on December 29, 1933. After graduating from Altoona High School, where there was no football, he went to Valparaiso University on a basketball scholarship. He did not play football until his junior year of college.

Richard Hottelet, who covered the D-Day invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge for CBS and who was the last survivor of the newsmen known as the “Murrow Boys” who worked under Edward R. Murrow, died last week at his home in Wilton, Connecticut. He was 97. As a CBS correspondent, Hottelet covered the major campaigns of the war in Europe, including the huge Allied airborne offensive across the Rhine known as Operation Varsity, during which he was forced to parachute from a flaming bomber. After the war, he reported from Moscow, West Germany and the United Nations. Richard Curt Hottelet was born in New York City on September 22, 1917. He graduated from Brooklyn College in 1937. Hottelet retired from CBS in 1985.

Virna Lisi, who first captivated Italian moviegoers before sweeping into Hollywood in the 1960s to star opposite such leading men as Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis, died last week. She was 78. In her first Hollywood role in 1965, she played opposite Jack Lemmon in “How to Murder Your Wife.” After that movie was released, Life Magazine featured her in a multi-page spread. Lisi went on to star alongside Tony Curtis in “Not With My Wife” and Frank Sinatra in “Assault on a Queen.” Virna Lisi was born in Ancona, Italy, on November 8, 1936. She turned down the part ultimately played by Jane Fonda in Roger Vadim’s “Barbarella” in 1968.