How to Cash In on the Tar Heel Opening

FanBlogs has an update on the coaching opening at North Carolina and sums up its feelings on West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez reportedly being a Tar Heel candidate with one word: Flabbergasting. We'll add this: Unlikely. What Rodriguez is doing is gaining leverage in an attempt to renegotiate his contract with West Virginia at the expense of North Carolina. Check out the message boards at 850 the Buzz. Tar Heels fans are onto Rodriguez. Also joining us in this line of thinking is Football Scoop. Now if Rodriguez were to leave, it likely would be to replace Bobby Bowden at Florida State, or perhaps Larry Coker at Miami. At the moment, there are no openings at Florida State and Miami, leaving North Carolina as the only card that Rodriguez can play this week, the biggest week in the Mountaineers' season. It's all about timing and nobody realizes this better than Rodriguez.

It's Not TV, It's 'GameDay'

Ratings for HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumble" must be taking a tumble. How else can you explain the decision to examine the pandemonium that ensues each week when ESPN's College "GameDay" arrives on a campus? To HBO's credit, it does come up with some nuggets. Example: Co-host Lee Corso, 71, is a grandfather of six who also is the director of business development for pencil-maker Dixon Ticonderoga. Sharpen your No. 2s on that one. Corso also travels with two deputies for protection. "They never forget what you've said," Corso said. "Auburn's a perfect example. About 10 years ago, I picked Fresno State to upset Auburn in the opener. Auburn beat them 62 to nothing. And to this day, they'll walk up to me and say, 'Yo, sweetheart! How's Fresno State doing?' " In another move to protect Corso, ESPN is now taking away signs attacking the former coach. The segment premieres Tuesday night.

Tennessee Gets Help From the 12th Man

Tennessee assistant strength coach Roderick Moore is caught on video flattening Georgia safety Tra Battle during the Volunteers' 51-33 victory over the Bulldogs on Oct. 7 at Sanford Stadium. After the play is whistled dead, Battle continues to race up the sideline and Moore, a 6-5, 330-pound former lineman at Morehouse College, sends Battle, 5-11, 176 pounds, flying to the turf. "I was just walking down the sideline," Moore told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. ... OK, it might be a bit of a WWE move, but Battle doesn't seem to mind. He gets up and runs back to join his teammates. Georgia's Mark Richt also didn't have any complaints about the incident.

A Lasting Huddle for Cal Poly

The night of Oct. 29, 1960, will never be forgotten at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The Mustangs had played Toledo earlier in the day and lost, 50-6. But sportsmanship was in play, and because Cal Poly's charter flight wasn't scheduled to leave until around midnight, several Rocket players extended invitations to the Mustangs to attend Halloween parties at Toledo sororities. "So we went for a while, met some girls. That was fun," said Mustang Bill Dauphin. Fog rolled in as the team gathered and boarded a bus for the ride to the airport. The fog was so dense that taxi service had been suspended for the night in Toledo. Dauphin remembers the team arriving at the airport and walking toward the plane. "When we walked outside the door, I remember one of the guys saying 'Where's the plane?' ... That's how foggy it was." Ted Tollner, top right, who would go on to a successful coaching career, was a player on the team. He and assistant Walt Williamson were seated near the front of the plane, but gave up their seats to receiver Curtis Hill and running back Marshall Kulju. As the plane lifted off the ground, one of the engines quit. The craft tumbled back onto the runway, burning and breaking in two. Dauphin, Williamson and Tollner survived. Hill, Kulju and 20 others died. "I was the cutoff for who lived and died," Tollner said. "Everyone in front of me died. Everyone behind me survived." Hall of Fame coach John Madden, middle right, who has long had a fear of flying, had been a member of the team two years earlier. He knew many of the coaches and players injured or killed in the crash. ... Forty-six years later, members of the Cal Poly team honor those who came before them. Linebacker Jason Relyea, bottom right, said: "The program had to suffer for many years after that and now we fight each game to bring it back together. We use that as our motivation before each game to honor those that came before us."

Crewcut Charlie: Big Man on Campus

CBS' "60 Minutes" aired a segment Sunday night on Notre Dame coach Crewcut Charlie Weis. If you missed it, you can check out part of the video and a transcript by clicking here. Correspondent Steve Kroft asked Crewcut: "One of the things that people have told me is that you have a pretty high opinion of yourself." Crewcut: "Who told you that?" Kroft: "You're not denying it." Crewcut: "In coaching, if you don't think you are good then you have no chance." Kroft: "Is there anyone in college football you think that can out-coach you?" Crewcut: "I would not give that up. I would not want to think that somebody's gonna out-coach me."

The Losses Continue to Pile Up

Bottom line: We've lost over 16 plays and trimmed approximately 14 minutes from the average game in 2006 compared to 2005. Scoring is also down over five points a game. This is the impact of rule 3-2-5-e. Thanks once again to Marty of the great cfbstats for providing this information, along with the shortest and longest games of Week 9. And a reminder to sign the resolution protesting 3-2-5-e at We Hate the New Clock Rules. Over 17,500 fans have already signed the resolution.

Overall...G........Plays......Plays/G....Min.......Min/G......Time/G
2005......488.....82324.....168.70.....97698*....200.61.....3:20:37
2006......531.....80996.....152.53.....99069.....186.57.....3:06.34
* missing game duration of Toledo-Ball State 10/15/2005

Year......G........Points.....Pts/G
2005......488.....25494.....52.24
2006......531.....25069.....47.21

Year.......G.....1H Pts....1H Pts/G...2H Pts....2H Pts/G...OT
2005......488...12842.....26.32......12315.....25.23.......337
2006......531...12985.....24.45......11755.....22.14.......329

Here are the shortest games from Week 9:
Buffalo-Boston College: 2:25
Arkansas State-Florida Atlantic: 2:26
Wyoming-Texas Christian: 2:39
Minnesota-Ohio State: 2:50
Auburn-Mississippi: 2:50

Here are the longest games from Week 9:
Ohio-Kent State: 3:41
Texas-Texas Tech: 3:35
Washington State-UCLA: 3:34
Florida-Georgia: 3:33
Michigan State-Indiana: 3:32

In Kazakhstan, We Like Football Too

Reader Jim fired some exceptional shots to us from Saturday's Washington State-UCLA game at the Rose Bowl. From the top on down: It's Hollywood, and as you can see, Borat (or a Halloween look-alike) was in attendance. ... Cougar quarterback Alex Brink signals to his receivers. ... At least there's always something to keep you entertained at a Bruin game. ... UCLA offensive lineman Micah Kia stands clear of the sideline misting system. ... What is a game without the blimp? ... The Cougs and their fans celebrate the 37-15 victory. Underrated Washington State is 6-3, having lost on the road to Auburn and at home to USC and California. Not bad. ... How about sharing? If you have photos from a game you attended, please send them to dawizofodds (at) aol.com. We'd be happy to plug your site in return.

Reporters' Notebooks

John Henderson, Denver Post: A former minister-turned-stress-management-counselor, an astrophysics professor and an infectious disease scientist. And don't forget the MBA, the political scientist at the Air Force Academy and the math prof. These are the people who help determine which teams play in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune: For the second time in two weeks, an idle team jumped Notre Dame in the polls.

Manny Navarro, Miami Herald: Miami's Larry Coker: "What do [we] have left to play for? [We] have pride to play for." (registration).

Tim May, Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State will re-sod the Horseshoe for the second time in just over a month.

Thayer Evans, New York Times: Sorting out the mess that is often referred to as the BCS. Plus, a look at the top eight teams with a shot at the title game and the week ahead.

Chris Dufresne, L.A. Times: How crazy of a weekend was it? Temple now has a longer winning streak than USC.

Scott Wolf, L.A. Daily News: USC's chances of getting back in the BCS title game rest somewhere between slim and none.

Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle: California in the Rose Bowl? A few second thoughts for Golden Bear fans ready to book that trip to Pasadena.

Tom Dienhart, Sporting News: He's handing out the Week 9 hardware.

Doug Segrest, Birmingham News: Snapshots from the weekend that was, starting with a look at the Heisman contenders.

Jim Mandelaro, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: A funny story about muddy shoes costing Bo Schembechler a recruit. Thanks to Kevin!

Week 10

It's a week of tricks and treats, and we get a real treat on Thursday. West Virginia and Louisville go toe to toe in the game of the year in the Big East. This one has all kinds of Bowl Championship Series implications and the winner will have an inside track to the national championship game. As a warmup, we have Alabama Birmingham at Southern Methodist on Tuesday and Fresno State at Boise State on Wednesday. On Friday, Air Force is at Army. Among the highlighted games on Saturday: Boston College at Wake Forest; Oklahoma at Texas A&M; Louisiana State at Tennessee; Arkansas at South Carolina; Missouri at Nebraska; Oklahoma State at Texas; Penn State at Wisconsin and ... Central Michigan at Temple. The Chippewas are the only team to cover the spread in every game this season and they are heavy favorites against the Owls, who are still partying after ending their 20-game losing streak with a victory over Bowling Green. We also have a Sunday night game, with Southern Mississippi playing Memphis. You can get all the numbers by visiting Doc's Sports, one of our sponsors. Doc's gave you another winner last week with Kansas over Colorado, more proof that it pays to visit the Doc.

Reporters' Notebooks

Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News: USC's loss could be bad news for California because it seals off one of the two paths the Golden Bears had to the Rose Bowl.

Scott Wolf, L.A. Daily News: One (loss) and done? USC still believes it can waltz right back into the Bowl Championship Series title game.

Kevin Tatum, Philadelphia Inquirer: Bowling Green, a team that had scored 70 on Temple the past two meetings, became the first to lose to the Owls in 21 games (registration).

Mark Rosner, Austin American-Statesman: Texas Tech coach Mike Leach implied that his Red Raiders lost to Texas because of the officiating (registration).

Mike Sullivan, North County Times: Chuck Long's rebuilding project at San Diego State took a big hit. The Aztecs lost to I-AA Cal Poly, 16-14, arguably the worst defeat in San Diego State history.

Brett Vito, Denton Record-Chronicle: North Texas' Darrell Dickey coached his first game since suffering a heart attack Oct. 13, but the Mean Green lost to Troy, 14-6.

Stephen Tsai, Honolulu Advertiser: Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan continues to fly under the Heisman radar. He guided the Warriors to a 68-10 rout of Idaho.

Matt James, Fresno Bee: Where did it all go wrong? Fresno State's 1-6 record defies explanation but hey, it could be worse.

Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: Drew Who? Iowa appears to have an up-and-coming quarterback in Jake Christensen, who replaced the injured Drew Tate.

Brandon Mellor, Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State and Bobby Bowden are in unfamiliar territory with the worst start for a Seminole team since 1976.

Columnists' Corner

Lee Barfknecht, Omaha World-Herald: We were told this was the "New Mizzou." But after watching Oklahoma dismantle Missouri, 26-10, its clear we were misled, badly.

Jerry Brewer, Seattle Times: A month ago, Washington was 4-1 and the toast of Seattle. Today, the Huskies are 4-5 and headed for another forgettable season.

Todd Schulz, Lansing State Journal: From historic comeback to another collapse for Michigan State. If John L. Smith fails to win out, he should be replaced as coach.

Richard Croome, Bryan-College State Eagle: The best-kept secret in the Big 12 is Texas A&M, which is 8-1 after winning its third consecutive conference road game.

Berry Tramel, Oklahoman: The Mike Gundy era at Oklahoma State takes on a whole new look after a stirring comeback that dropped Nebraska, 41-29 (registration).

Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star: Kansas may have salvaged a season, but the cost was high, with coach Mark Mangino pulling the redshirt off freshman quarterback Todd Reesing (registration).

Dave Joseph, Orlando Sentinel: Four turnovers, six sacks, eight penalties. Larry Coker's Miami Hurricanes continue to amaze.

Paul Finebaum, Mobile Press-Register: It's time for Florida State coach Bobby Bowden to retire.

Geoff Calkins, Commercial Appeal: Mississippi Madman Ed Orgeron might get the last laugh.

Gordon Monson, Salt Lake Tribune: Brigham Young is a couple of plays from an undefeated season. "It kills me," said linebacker Bryan Kehl, "because we'd be headed to a BCS bowl game."

How USC's Loss Shakes Up the BCS

USC's stunning defeat to Oregon State has left the Bowl Championship Series standings in a state of confusion. Now instead of waiting until Fox decides it is good and ready to announce the standings on Sunday, you can pay a visit to the BCS Guru and get the standings right now — commercial-free we might add. According to the Guru, here are the top 10 teams, in order: 1. Ohio State; 2. Michigan; 3. West Virginia; 4. Auburn; 5. Florida; 6. Texas; 7. Louisville; 8. USC; 9. Tennessee; 10. Notre Dame. Obviously, Thursday night's West Virginia-Louisville game has taken on added importance because of USC's loss. The Mountaineer-Cardinal winner will have an inside track to the BCS title game because Michigan and Ohio State have yet to play. The Wolverine-Buckeye matchup is shaping up as an elimination game. But we leave all things BCS to the Guru, because after all, he is the Guru. He will be updating his site throughout the day on Sunday and we urge you to check it out.
Update: Link to the complete standings.

'That's Kinda Gay'

We're told this is Brian Kinchen, announcing the Northern Illinois-Iowa game. He talks about "caressing the ball." Then says "that's kinda gay." After that comes the dead silence. ... That's kinda funny. Thanks to Jacob for this!
Update: Video removed because of copyright restrictions. Try this link (thanks to the anonymous reader who posted the new link!), or simply click on the window below and the video magically appears! Also Kinchen has been taken off the air this week by ESPN officials, the Des Moines Register reported (thanks to Big Lead and Deadspin). And remember to check out the rest of our fine blog!

Hot Seats in the Heartland

The heat is on Iowa State's Dan McCarney and Kansas' Mark Mangino. Their bosses made that much clear this week. McCarney, the dean of Big 12 coaches, has a new boss in Jamie Pollard, and the athletic director has already fired basketball coach Wayne Morgan and bumped wrestling coach Bobby Douglas for Olympian Cale Sanderson. It's clear Pollard means business, and he is upset with the Cyclones' 3-5 record. Lew Perkins, Mangino's boss, declined say whether the big man's job is in jeopardy after a 3-5 start. "We're all disappointed in where we are right now," Perkins told the Kansas City Star. "But you don't overreact in the middle of the year. That would be foolish." Would firing McCarney or Mangino really help? Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News says Pollard and Perkins would be smart to consider their surroundings. Simply, Ames and Lawrence are not the easiest places to win. McCarney has guided the Cyclones to bowl games five of the past six seasons. Mangino's Jayhawks won the Fort Worth Bowl last season.

Snyder Ready to Coach Again?

Former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder might not be a former coach much longer. Snyder, 67, sounds like a man who has the itch to get back in the game. He told the Kansas City Star that he has been contacted by a couple of teams gauging his interest in making a comeback in 2007. "I've had a call or two," he said, declining to name the teams that contacted him. "I'm going to wait till the season's over and see how I feel about it. At this point, I'm comfortable. I have no anxiety attacks." Snyder also wrote an open letter telling Wildcat fans to get behind coach Ron Prince. Kansas State fans are restless because the team has lost four of five. "Ron and his staff are doing marvelous," Snyder said, "and they're on the right track." Snyder said the letter was his idea and Prince knew nothing about it, but not everybody thinks it was such a grand idea (some registration).

Game of the Week

His name is Mark Mathis. Television broadcast talent, public speaker, actor, former Baylor scout team quarterback, YouTube cult figure and — most important — the Wiz's pigskin prophet (video). It took weeks of negotiations to secure his talents for our humble little site, and we must say, it has been well worth it. His record is a sparkling 7-1, and it's even more impressive when you consider that we've given him the toughest of games. No gimmes in this neighborhood! Now Mark has promised to shake things up around here, and being a Texan, you could see the gleam in his eyes when we told him the game of the week was Oklahoma at Missouri. You know how those Texans feel about Oklahoma. So let's see what he has to say about this Big 12 matchup:

"Poor Oklahoma ... first Barry Switzer now Bob Stoops! Stoops makes Switzer look like Joe Paterno. I mean if Oklahoma had an NFL team, the Sooners would be the second-best pro team in the state! You know the reason Sherman, Texas is so windy? Because Oklahoma sucks!

"What does an Oklahoma graduate and a tornado have in common? A. They both will end up in a trailer park.

"What do you call the sweat on two Sooners having sex? Relative humidity.

"How do you get an Okie cheerleader into your room? Grease her hips and throw in a twinkie.

"You know you're from Oklahoma if: You've ever climbed a water tower with a bucket of paint to defend your sister's honor.

"OK, I hate to admit this, but Oklahoma will win, 28-24. Mostly sunny with a kickoff temperature of 50 and northwest wind at 15. As for the forecast, I am 8-0."

Dave Matter, Columbia Tribune: Missouri's run defense has slipped badly in recent weeks, and now the Tigers will be without career sacks leader Brian Smith.

Mike DeArmond, Kansas City Star: Missouri has to overcome some traditional obstacles, including Oklahoma, which has not lost to the Tigers since 1998 (registration).

Jim Ross, O.U. Insider: The WWE commentator and Sooner honk cuts to the Chase. Oklahoma has to stop Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel.

John Helsley, Oklahoman: Super story here. Sooner defensive tackle Carl Pendleton will skip his senior season to care for his 10-year-old brother Kierstan (registration).

Crystal Ball

Double D, Boston Herald: There's money to be made laying the points and taking Alabama against Florida International, which is taking only 56 players to Tuscaloosa and starting seven freshmen.

Betting Fool, San Francisco Chronicle: He'll put down a rather large wager of 70 simoleons, take Notre Dame and give the points to Navy.

Dan Hinxman, Reno Gazette-Journal: Reno's best have a 7-1 record the past two weeks. As for this week, it's USC. The Trojans, with two weeks to prepare, are taking the Beavers out behind the woodshed.

Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News: He stands 21-21-3 and this is a big week if he hopes to finish over .500. His selections: Louisiana Tech, Ohio State, Rutgers, Oklahoma and USC.

Fan IQ: A look at who the experts like this week. Plus the IQ crew sent along word that Jack Nicklaus will dot the "i" in script Ohio. A YouTube look at the tradition.

Tim Griffin, San Antonio Express-News: The Wiz will toast anybody who still calls the Georgia-Florida game the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." He also picks the winner.

Jordan Adams and Drew Mangione, Doc's Sports: A rather entertaining point/counterpoint on this week's games.

Jody Demling, Louisville Courier-Journal: The 'Book. Tell the West Virginia media that the 'Book will talk to them any time. He's 43-29-2 against the number.

Tom Luicci, Newark Star-Ledger: Notre Dame should have no trouble brushing aside Navy.

For the latest lines, check with Doc's Sports. They're fresh off hitting their Big Ten game of the year. And thanks to Hester Graphics for all the help with the site. If you need to spiffy up your site, or want to add some Flash, check him out.

Time to Get Dialed In

We know the feeling. It's sometimes difficult to sleep the night before a big game. The blood is pumping and the anticipation becomes so powerful that you end up tossing and turning most of the night. If you find yourself in this predicament, or if you simply are a nighthawk or driving overnight to a game, there is a place to take off the edge. It's called "Sports Overnight America" on Sports Byline USA. The fun starts around 2:30 a.m. (Eastern) on Saturday. Lonnie White, UCLA beat writer for the L.A. Times, is scheduled to join our conversation at 3 a.m. You can listen over the Internet, American Forces Network or better yet, on Sirius 122. And here are the listings for this week's games to be broadcast by Sirius and XM.
Update: Also joining us tonight on "Sports Overnight America" will be Sam of the site BCS Guru. He is scheduled to be a guest at 2:15 a.m.

Reporters' Notebooks

Angelique S. Chengelis, Detroit News: Scalpers are already asking $4,270 for a lower-level club seat to the Nov. 18 Michigan-Ohio State game at Columbus.

Doug Lesmeries, Plain Dealer: Ohio State has replaced the turf at Ohio Stadium, but Buckeye receiver Ted Ginn says the new sod is worse than the surface it replaced.

Wendell Barnhouse, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: The must-read conference calls. A league-by-league collection of information and observations on this week's games (registration).

Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Big 12 Insider. Why Texas Tech could be in a good spot to pull an upset against Texas. (registration).

Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times: Former Miami linebacker Willie Williams has restarted his career at West Los Angeles College and is drawing interest from UCLA.

C.L. Brown, Louisville Courier-Journal: Louisville's "Nate Harris Rule" — making player interviews off-limits to reporters who cover opposing teams — has riled up West Virginia reporters.

Mark Craig, Star Tribune: Former Minnesota running back Laurence Maroney says Golden Gopher coach Glen Mason can utilize his talent better.

Iliana Limon, Albuquerque Tribune: If New Mexico wants to play in the hometown New Mexico Bowl, it will have to win three of its final four games.

Blogger Blues

Our apology for the sporadic postings the past few days, but once again, Blogger is giving us (and everybody else on the network) fits. And Blogger is scheduled to once again be taken down Thursday afternoon. This latest round of Blogger trouble has reaffirmed our plans to take the site off the network in the offseason. We will give everybody plenty of notice before we flip the switch on this move. Thanks again for your patience.

Cranking Up the Coaching Carousel

He's rested, he's ready and he's available. Butch Davis wants back into coaching, and hiring the former Cleveland Brown and Miami Hurricane coach should be a snap. There is no athletic director to approach for interview approval. No bowl game or playoff game to end. No buyout clause to sort through. All of these factors put North Carolina in a unique position. The school has already announced it will part ways with John Bunting at season's end, so right now the Tar Heels can make a move before other jobs become available. If North Carolina waits, then the negotiating power likely would shift to Davis, who should be a contender for any vacancy. As for other potential coaching moves, the site Football Scoop lays out some possibilities. If Larry Coker and Miami part ways, Georgia's Mark Richt and Auburn's Tommy Tuberville would be on the wish list. If Michigan were to win it all and Lloyd Carr decided to step down, look for San Diego's Jim Harbaugh to be the No. 1 candidate. And it's getting ugly at Florida State, where boosters are taking sides in the Bobby Bowden debate. Who might replace Bowden? Try Louisville's Bob Petrino (some registration).

Taxi Cab Confessions

We can only hope the HBO cameras were rolling early Sunday in Seattle. Reserve Washington running back Michael Houston, a transfer from Texas, was arrested on suspicion of auto theft. Specifically, a cab. According to police, Houston, two other men and a woman were picked up by an Orange Cab at a Deja Vu strip club. As the cabbie drove them to a McDonald's, the woman allegedly spit on a window. When the cabbie stopped the vehicle, got out and called 911 on his cell phone, it is alleged that Houston jumped from the back seat to the front and drove away. A short time later, police spotted Houston exiting the parked cab from the driver-side door. He was arrested and has a bail hearing Wednesday morning. Houston, who said he had difficulty getting his release from Texas because he had to pay off parking tickets and some loans he "probably shouldn't have taken out," has been suspended indefinitely from the team.

Fire Karl Dorrell? Sorry, It's Taken

You can see by the top photo why somebody could fall in love with the Notre Dame campus. It was sent to us by reader Jack, whose work appears at Beat S.C. And what a Saturday afternoon it was for UCLA — for 59 minutes. UCLA quarterback Patrick Cowen, making his second start, was sharp (middle images) and connected with Marcus Everett on a 54-yard touchdown pass (bottom image), the Bruins' longest scoring play of the season. Then the world came crashing down on UCLA, with Notre Dame's Brady Quinn engineering a three-play, 80-yard drive that drove a stake in the heart of the Bruins. Notre Dame 20, UCLA 17. The fall guy in all of this has been Bruin coach Karl Dorrell. He was ripped (as were Notre Dame and its "genius" coach Crewcut Charlie Weis) by L.A. Times columnist T.J. Simers. The good folks over at Bruins Nation have been on a rant all week, and angry fans have been flooding the forum at the Bruin Zone. All this got the Wiz thinking: Who owns the domain, Fire Karl Dorrell? We found out, but have agreed to keep his identity a secret. But what we can tell you is this: He claims to be a graduate of USC and would like to pass the following message to UCLA fans: "I am the registered owner of firekarldorrell.com. At this time, I do not wish to reveal my plan for the site. I would like to see UCLA keeps its current head football coach for many more years. Mr. Karl Dorrell has always been a calm gentleman whether his team loses by three points or six touchdowns."

Partying Down at Chestnut Hill

Football has a way of bringing everybody together, and Todd Heustess of Outsports found that to be the case during his tailgate stop at Boston College for the Eagles' Oct. 12 game against Virginia Tech. For generations, a climate of homophobia has existed at Chestnut Hill. The Princeton Review ranked Boston College as the No. 3 most homophobic university in the country. Although the atmosphere on campus is far from perfect, a movement has improved the climate for all students, Heustess said. As for the party scene, Heustess writes: "The mix ... after the game was pretty much the same, equal parts guys and girls, the 15-20 [gay and lesbian] students mixing easily with all their straight counterparts. None of the non-GLS students I talked to seemed to care that I was writing a story for a gay sports site. They just thought it was cool that a freelance writer from L.A. was there to write about the game and the tailgate scene."

Reporters' Notebooks

Robbie Neiswanger, Clarion Ledger: Mississippi Madman Ed Orgeron won't say why he dismissed one player and suspended four others. Only 15 players from the 20-member 2005 signing class remain on campus.

Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio State's Jim Tressel to the Cleveland Browns? The coach says no ... well, maybe.

Tim May, Columbus Dispatch: Could the Michigan-Ohio State game on Nov. 18 be a warmup to a BCS title game between the teams?

Art Aisner, Ann Arbor News: Michigan receiver Adrian Arrington was arraigned on a count of misdemeanor domestic violence.

Terry Hutchens, Indianapolis Star: Indiana hasn't drawn more than 33,000 this season for a home game, but coach Terry Hoeppner wants 50,000 for Saturday's homecoming against Michigan State.

Andy Hamilton and Pat Harty, Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa's Kirk Ferentz is expressing displeasure with a columnist and instant replay.

Eric Petersen, Ames Tribune: Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard says the next four games will determine the fate of coach Dan McCarney.

C.L. Brown, Louisville Courier-Journal: Louisville is considering a 21,000-seat expansion of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times: Ben Malcolmson, the Daily Trojan-sportswriter-turned-receiver, is ready to rejoin the USC team after shoulder surgery.

Ryan Finley, Arizona Daily Star: Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood says coach Mike Stoops will stay, but something needs to be done about the Wildcats' struggling offense.

Columnists' Corner

Kevin Scarbinsky, Birmingham News: Two words of warning for anyone and everyone who wants to fire Mike Shula and fire Watson Brown and retire Bobby Bowden: Ed Orgeron.

Rick Bozich, Louisville Courier-Journal: Man Law No. 1: Kentucky coach Rich Brooks needs to beat either Georgia or Tennessee to keep his job.

Bob Lutz, Wichita Eagle: You give Kansas coach Mark Mangino a 150% raise and this is what happens.

Pete DiPrimio, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel: Don't count Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn out of the Heisman race.

Jay Heater, Contra Costa Times: It took a crazy cart ride around Memorial Stadium to get California tailback Marshawn Lynch some national publicity.

Joe Rexrode, Lansing State Journal: What a difference a victory makes. Can Michigan State win out and earn a bid to a Florida bowl?

The Lost Season

Marty of the terrific cfbstats has the latest numbers regarding how rule 3-2-5-e has impacted the time of games and reduced the number of plays. Of course, fewer plays mean less football and less scoring. And less football is not a good thing. We do want to thank everybody for trying to help us out regarding the time of the Toledo-Ball State game. Unfortunately, it appears no "official" time was logged on the game. So to keep the purity of the data, the time of that game has been left out. Here are the numbers:

Overall...G........Plays......Plays/G....Min.......Min/G......Time/G
2005......442.....74505.....168.56.....88468*....200.61.....3:20:37
2006......478.....72889.....152.49.....89066.....186.33.....3:06.20
* missing game duration of Toledo-Ball State 10/15/2005

Year......G........Points.....Pts/G
2005......442.....23174.....52.43
2006......478.....22585.....47.17

Year.......G......1H Pts...1H Pts/G...2H Pts....2H Pts/G...OT
2005......442...11694.....26.46......11179.....25.27.......310
2006......478...11746.....24.57......10522.....22.01.......317

Here are the shortest games from Week 8:
Air Force-San Diego State: 2:39
Tulsa-Memphis: 2:39
Buffalo-Ohio: 2:39
Oregon State-Arizona: 2:46
Stanford-Arizona State: 2:50
Tulane-Auburn: 2:50

Here are the longest games from Week 8:
Colorado State-Wyoming: 4:05
UCLA-Notre Dame: 3:35
Boise State-New Mexico State: 3:32
Alabama-Tennessee: 3:30
Hawaii-New Mexico State: 3:26

Reporters' Notebooks

Tony Barnhart, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: CBS and ESPN have agreed to drop references to the Florida-Georgia game as the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party." (registration).

Tom D'Angelo, Palm Beach Post: Bobby Bowden, answering his critics, says his tenure at Florida State will have a happy ending.

Andy Hamilton, Iowa City Press-Citizen: It appears an injury to his left thumb will sideline Iowa quarterback Drew Tate.

Randy Peterson, Des Moines Register: Iowa State's Dan McCarney, the dean of Big 12 coaches, said he's not worried about losing his job.

Shannon Shelton, Detroit Free Press: Michigan State and bowl game? Hard to believe, but the Spartans need only two more victories.

Curt McKeever, Lincoln Journal Star: Big 12 stock report. Who's hot and who's not.

Jeff Caplan and Mike Jones, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Big 12 notebook. Texas A&M is flying high, but Baylor is gearing up to pull an upset.

Columnists' Corner

Angelique S. Chengelis, Detroit News: Mike Hart, the heart and soul of unbeaten Michigan, deserves serious consideration for the Heisman.

Bob Kravitz, Indianapolis Star: Has Joe Tiller grown resigned to Purdue's mediocrity?

Mike Huguenin, Orlando Sentinel: If Notre Dame earns a bid to a BCS bowl, it can thank UCLA coach Karl Dorrell.

Ned Barnett, Raleigh News & Observer: Now that North Carolina has fired John Bunting, it must decide the importance of football (registration).

Guy Junker, Tribune-Review: Penn State and Pittsburgh could be headed for 8-4 seasons, but really, each team has gotten fat playing losers.

Dave Hickman, Charleston Gazette: The question seems a bit silly, but what is wrong with Louisville's offense?

Steve Politi, Newark Star-Ledger: Rutgers is not only the best story in college football, the Scarlet Knights are very, very good.

Marshawn Lynch's Wild Ride

California running back Marshawn Lynch takes the injury cart for a spin after the Golden Bears defeated Washington, 31-24, in overtime. Thankfully, he didn't hit anybody, and we will give Lynch the award for originality. But risky it was because we haven't seen this many people on the field since "The Play," when the Stanford band flooded the turf. Of course, around Palo Alto "The Play" is simply called the "Screw of '82."

Turns Out, a Good Weekend for the Dogs

Tennessee mascot Smokey looks harmless enough, but try telling that to Alabama freshman receiver Mike McCoy. Smokey bit a hole in McCoy's uniform during pregame warmups for Saturday's game at Knoxville. "He drew blood," Crimson Tide coach Mike Shula said. Dipal Chaudhari, Smokey's handler, told the Birmingham News that Smokey was at least six yards off the field having pictures taken when McCoy chased after an overthrown ball. He stepped on Smokey, who snapped at McCoy. Thanks to Rolling Tider!

Week 9

Ohio State might be the No. 1 team in the country in the eyes of most people, but our knowledgeable readers know that's simply not the case. Central Michigan is No. 1 where it really counts — Las Vegas. That is where the "official" record is kept, as in who is covering the spread and who isn't. The Chippewas are 8-0 against the number and the last team with an unblemished record. The mighty Buckeyes? A mere 7-1. Good luck catching Central Michigan. The Chippewas don't play this week, so they will retain their top spot until the Nov. 4 round of games. Now just because our No. 1 Chips are not in action, that is no reason to fret. We still have some exceptional games, with the action starting Thursday when Clemson travels to Virginia Tech. Friday brings Texas El Paso at Tulsa (another good cover team), then we jump into the meat of the schedule. Here's a sample of Saturday's games: Texas at Texas Tech; Tennessee at South Carolina; Georgia and Florida (at Jacksonville ... think cocktails); Miami at Georgia Tech; Oklahoma at Missouri and Nebraska at Oklahoma State. Get all the updated numbers from trustworthy Doc's Sports, one of our sponsors.

New Uniforms, Same Result

Here's a look at the all-black uniforms Florida State broke out for Saturday's game against Boston College. Note the word "Unconquered" on the pant leg, a tribute to the Seminole Tribe, which has never had a treaty with the United States. At game's end, Florida State's hopes for an Atlantic Coast Conference title had faded to black. The Eagles beat the Seminoles, 24-19, dropping Florida State into last place in the Atlantic Division (registration). Thanks to Kevin!

Where the Hell Is Joe Lee Dunn?

We have watched this about five times already and can't stop laughing. Chris Vernon of 730 ESPN in Memphis posted this music video titled "Cowbells Ain't Ringing Anymore." Be advised if you're a Mississippi State fan: Don't go there. Vernon earlier posted a similar video titled "Colonel Reb Is Crying," which pokes fun at Mississippi Madman Ed Orgeron.

This Was a Real 'Shocker'

We understand that Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was upset with the officiating in the Hawkeyes' 20-6 loss to Michigan on Saturday (third item), and we can see why. The referee is clearly caught here doing the Shocker on the ABC telecast. Naughty, naughty! Now just because the Wolverines won doesn't mean the team is without trouble. Receiver Adrian Arrington has some sort of legal issue, with a police report having been filed, but as of yet, no charges have come down. This didn't stop Judge Lloyd Carr from rendering a verdict, however, which allowed Arrington to play. Said Carr: "There's an issue, and I'm not going to discuss it except to say that I take any allegation of this type very seriously, but I do not think the allegation is supported by the facts." Translation: We were playing the last serious challenger on our schedule before Ohio State and we needed Arrington in the lineup, especially with receiver Mario Manningham still on crutches."

Game of the Week

Now there's plenty to see outside of Texas, but if your a freshman on the Longhorn football team, you wouldn't know that. Texas has built a 6-1 record and has yet to leave the state. The Longhorns have played five games in Austin, one in Houston and another in Dallas. But the home cooking is over Saturday because Texas travels to Lincoln and takes on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. It's freshman quarterback Colt McCoy's first serious road game and if the season plays out the way we expect it will, the teams will meet again in the Big 12 title game. It's our game of the week, and we bring on Mark Mathis, who knows a little something about Big 12 football having been a scout team quarterback at Baylor. Mathis suffered his first loss of the season last week when the referees conspired to ruin his pick of Florida over Auburn. But champions bounce back in a big way, so let's hear what he has to say about Texas' chances at Lincoln:

"Come on! This is the about as close to a Division I-A and Division I-AA matchup we have had. Watch me blow this one as well! But as I sit here in an airport waiting to catch a flight, I can only think that the Horns don't let the Huskers sneak up on them. It's a blowout at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Look for the Horns to take this one, 38-14! By the way, what's the deal with air travel these days? They sure don't make it fun....

Weather in Lincoln: Look for some scattered showers and cold. The weather will most likely favor the Horns. They are bigger and stronger and will run all game long. I predicted the score before I checked the upper air flow charts so might have to drop the Horns score just a bit, but they still will win. Cold, with a kickoff temperature of 40, some rain and a north wind at 15. Hook 'Em!!!

Big Red Network: All things Nebraska. Where else on the Internet can you print out a pocket guide to the game?

Tim Griffin, San Antonio Express-News: This nugget from his Big 12 Insider: The Longhorns and Cornhuskers have each won nine of their last 10 games.

Texas Trifecta: We don't want to shortchange any of our blogging friends from Texas, so here's links to Bevo Sports, Burnt Orange Nation and Mean Horn.

Corn Nation: Now how can you not like a site with a name like that? Besides, they provided the picture of the Cornhusker cheerleaders.

The Best Things in Life Are Free

It offers a breathtaking panorama of the Bay Area, from gleaming San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge to sparkling Marin County to the north. From this perch, which also overlooks the bowl of Memorial Stadium, California fans can catch a glimpse of the Golden Bears. The price for this precious seat is nothing, and for that reason it's called Tightwad Hill. Generations of Bear fans have made the trek up the hill for games, and even some out-of-town spectators have been known to occupy Tightwad. A few years ago before a game against Utah, two people wearing red — the Utes' color — were spotted watching the Bears practice. Bud "Dog" Turner, who is in charge of security at the stadium, sent and assistant to check on what the men were doing. "He came back and said, 'All they're doing is smoking pot,' " Turner said. "It's very Berkeley up there, believe me. We send some student managers up there, and maybe they see some sights they shouldn't see."

Reporters' Notebooks

Wendell Barnhouse, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: A collection of information and observations on this week's games (registration).

David Davis, Los Angeles Times: Thirty-six years after USC played an unintegrated Alabama team, authors are still trying to gauge what kind of effect the game had on race relations in the South.

Brent Schrotenboer, San Diego Union-Tribune: Jim Harbaugh and Chuck Long together again? Almost. The former Big Ten quarterbacks are coaching in the same city. Thanks to Mary!

Joe Henderson, Tampa Tribune: Do you know the way to Poplarville, Miss? College coaches do. It's one of the nation's leading football factories.

Michael DiRocco, Florida Times-Union: Florida's Urban Meyer is upset because the Gators were limited to only 45 plays in the loss to Auburn (registration).

Carter Strickland, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia is out of the top 25 for the first time in five years. Here is why the Bulldogs have slipped (registration).

Mike Kern, Philadelphia Daily News: The first Bowl Championship Series standings set up several scenarios that could once again bring shame to the system.

Mark Snyder, Detroit Free Press: Michigan has unveiled its plans to renovate the Big House.

Jack Bogaczyk, Charleston Daily Mail: West Virginia can set a team record of 14 consecutive victories if it wins Friday night at Connecticut.

Kevin Gorman, Tribune-Review: The Big East got rid of two headaches when bad boys Miami and Virginia Tech moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

David Woods, Indianapolis Star: Ball State and other Mid-American teams are doing all they can to draw fans to games.

Scott Cacciola, Commercial Appeal: Mississippi's Ed Orgeron is gambling with his playcalling in an attempt to get the Rebels out of their funk (registration).

Peter Hockaday, Casper Star-Tribune: Mountain West notebook. Parity means Texas Christian can climb back in the conference race.

Anthony Gimino, Tucson Citizen: Romance helped keep Arizona quarterback Kris Heavner on the team.

Crystal Ball

Dan Hinxman, Reno Gazette-Journal: San Jose State has won four in a row, but the streak will end in a blowout loss at Nevada.

Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News: West Virginia, which is trying to claw its way up the BCS standings, will win big at Connecticut.

Tim Griffin, San Antonio Express-News: A Nebraska victory over Texas would put Bill Callahan's team back in the national spotlight. Don't look for it to happen.

Fan IQ: Georgia Tech has a tough game at Clemson, but the Yellow Jackets have the best player in Calvin Johnson. Plus a look at how the experts fared last week.

Double D, Boston Herald: Another opinion on the Georgia Tech-Clemson game. The underdog has covered the past 11 games between the teams.

Jody Demling, Louisville Courier-Journal: This is shaping up as a big weekend for the favorites.

For the latest lines, check with Doc's Sports. And thanks to Hester Graphics for all the help with the site.

'What a [Expletive]'

Perhaps nobody embodied the spirit of the renegade Miami Hurricanes of the 1990s quite like Lamar Thomas. From the swagger to the trash talk, Miami became the most hated team in the land, backing it up by winning and winning big. So when the former Hurricane receiver turned broadcaster was fired this week because of his comments during the brawl between Miami and Florida International, many people took interest, including Heath Bray, a former safety whose Arizona Wildcats played and lost to Thomas and Hurricanes, 36-9, in 1991 at Tucson. Early in that game, quarterback Gino Torretta caught Arizona in a blitz and found the speedy Thomas in one-on-one coverage. Torretta lofted a pass to Thomas, who beat his defender and raced down the sideline. But as he reached the goal line, Thomas stopped completely, put his toe over the goal line and placed the ball in the end zone. "I had blitzed from the right side and hit Gino in the mouth as he was throwing the ball," Bray told the Tucson Citizen. "We're both on the ground on our backs ... and we see him running down the field and just place the ball in the end zone. Gino turns to me and says something to the effect of, 'What a [expletive].' " ... Bray and Torretta maintain a friendship today, but the former Arizona player still burns over Thomas' antics. "That play colored the way I have thought about Miami for 15 years," Bray said. "It will take something monumental to change it." The photo of Thomas' 1991 touchdown against Arizona was taken by Xavier Gallegos of the Tucson Citizen.

Putting Your Teams on the Map

There's not much to cheer for if you live west of Lincoln, Norman or Austin. This map, provided by Map Game Day, shows locations of the teams in the first Bowl Championship Series standings. The next time somebody talks to you about a bias toward West Coast teams, explain to them that there is no bias. The reality is that power base in college football currently resides in the Eastern half of the country. Map Game Day also offers an AP map, a Sagarin map and a BlogPoll map. Or once one of the maps is loaded, you can flip through the other selections by selecting the check boxes on the left.

Reporters' Notebooks

Mike Knobler, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Here's one thing that can cover Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson. It's called insurance (registration).

Bob Thomas, Florida Times-Union: Atlantic Coast Conference teams can do more than brawl. They have some of the best kickers in the land (registration).

Mobile Press-Register: The Southeastern Conference sent a written warning to Auburn for blaring music between plays during the game against Florida.

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald: It's looking more and more like Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan's injured left foot and ankle could keep him on the sidelines against Florida State.

Paul Strelow, Columbia State: The story of Clemson cornerback Ray Ray McElrathbey and his 11-year-old brother is headed for — you guessed it — "Oprah."

Robbi Pickeral, Raleigh News & Observer: North Carolina, which plays at Virginia on Thursday night, has options regarding the future of coach John Bunting. And if it fires Bunting, who might be in line to get the job? (registration).

Ted Miller, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Pac-10 notebook. UCLA's Patrick Cowan is the latest conference quarterback to be silenced.

Scott Wolf, L.A. Daily News: Another USC player is in trouble. Linebacker Rey Maualuga was disciplined after becoming aggressive at a fraternity party.

Blacksburg, Site of the Next Blowup

While everybody is picking over the remains from "The Backyard Brawl" between Florida International and Miami, we turn our attention to another Atlantic Coast Conference powder keg. Yes, we're talking about Blacksburg, home of the Virginia Tech Hokies. It has been another busy season for Frank Beamer's team. Arrests, personal fouls, attitude on the field and sidelines. ... Our money is riding on something ugly happening soon at Blacksburg, and judging by letters to the Roanoke Times, others are too, including ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit, who was (kind of) defending his Hokie rant from last week. Now Beamer promises an end to the shenanigans and says this time he means business. As for the ACC, things are ugly enough. What does it say about the league when a struggling Miami can lose 13 players to suspension and still be a 17.5-point road favorite over Duke?

Where's Fox News When You Need It?

Is Minnesota's Glen Mason taking responsibility for his team's 2-5 start and 0-4 record in the Big Ten? What about that graduation rate for his players, which is last in the Big Ten? The mundane weekly press conference received an unexpected dash of spice when Mason was asked by an out-of-town reporter about the growing criticism of him and his program. Mason, in the first year of a five-year contract extension that pays him a base salary of $1.65 million this season, made it clear he took offense to fans booing the Gophers in a loss to Penn State on Oct. 7 at the Metrodome. A section of students chanted "Fire Mason" and then booed his team as it left the field at halftime. Mason brushed off the criticism, saying that alcohol might have contributed to the negative reaction from fans. "I'll probably get criticized for saying this, but a lot of drinking goes on in there," he said. "We serve alcohol in that stadium. Not many college stadiums do that. I was at one game, looking up there, I thought, 'Where's Fox News? There's a lot of underage drinking out there because I know that guy ain't 21.' Right?" (registration).

The Evolution of Football

The Public Radio International show "Open Source With Christopher Lydon" aired a discussion Monday on football's transformation from a running sport to a passing sport. The featured guests were author Michael Lewis, whose latest book "The Blind Side" talks about the development of the game, and Aaron Schatz, president and editor in chief of Football Outsiders and an NFL analyst for Fox Sports. You can listen to the show by clicking here and it's also available as a podcast. To get the podcast, you'll need to download and install iTunes. Thanks to Chelsea!

Reporters' Notebooks

Fred Girard, Detroit News: Two Michigan State players were arraigned on assault charges and another is to be charged after a weekend fight. Coach John L. Smith received reassurances from above that he is under no pressure — for the moment.

Norm Frauenheim, Arizona Republic: USC might be No. 2 in the BCS standings, but Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter says the Trojans are only the third-best team in the Pacific 10.

Bob Clark, Eugene Register-Guard: Pac-10 notebook. More bashing of the Trojans. Washington State defensive end Mkristo Bruce says California is a superior team to USC.

Shannon Shelton, Detroit Free Press: Big Ten notebook. Indiana to play in a bowl game? Yes, the once unthinkable is now possible for the Hoosiers.

Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Big Ten notebook. With the addition of a 12th game, conference coaches say something must be done to lengthen the season and add a bye week.

Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: The Hlist. Wisconsin is on quite the roll, having outscored its last three Big Ten opponents, 141-38 (subscription, so story is in comments).

Russ Brown, Lexington Herald-Leader: For an undefeated team, Louisville has its share of problems.

Susan Miller Degnan, Miami Herald: Miami president Donna Shalala says she will not sacrifice what's right for her student-athletes to appease the masses (registration).

Tim Doherty, Clarion Ledger: Southern Mississippi defensive tackle Ryan Watson, a transfer from USC, became the third Golden Eagle player to be arrested in a week.

Columnists' Corner

Ray Melick, Birmingham News: It's time somebody else give this football thing a try at Alabama Birmingham It's time somebody other than Watson Brown coach the team.

Mike Szvetitz, Opelika-Auburn News: How screwed up is the BCS? Just wait until Ohio State and Michigan have a rematch in the title game.

Paul Finebaum, Mobile Press-Register: Unfortunately for Alabama fans, they will be stuck with Mike Shula for a while.

Eric Hansen, South Bend Tribune: Crewcut Charlie Weis is upset that gawkers are stopping to take pictures of his new house. What he really wants is for poll voters to get the right picture about his team.

Ted Miller, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Who gets the credit for Washington's turnaround? It's time the Huskies thank Slick Rick Neuheisel.

Bud Shaw, Plain Dealer: It's over. The season-ending injury to Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson has sealed the Heisman deal for Ohio State's Troy Smith.

Todd Schulz, Lansing State Journal: For $70 a ticket, Michigan State fans have a right to boo.

Kevin Modesti, L.A. Daily News: UCLA's Karl Dorrell must show he can do something bold, beginning with Saturday's game at Notre Dame.

Can Anybody Out There Give Us a Hand?

We need the public's help. Does anybody know the duration of the Toledo-Ball State game played on 10/15/2005 at Muncie, Ind? It's the one piece of information Marty of cfbstats is missing from his database. Now the man has searched high and low for this, including contacting officials from both schools. No luck. The Wiz even joined in. He contacted the Toledo Blade and asked them if they knew the time. He was told 7 p.m. So much for our efforts. ... Because this information is missing, the total minutes of games from the 2005 season is minus Toledo-Ball State. The following averages of minutes/game and time/game are also minus the one game. We'd also like to point out that this shows how diligent Marty is at getting things just right. His information is gold and you can never have enough gold. Here are the numbers for this week:

Overall...G........Plays......Plays/G....Min.......Min/G......Time/G
2005......388.....65317.....168.34.....77803*....201.04.....3:21:02
2006......421.....64239.....152.59.....78390.....186.20.....3:06.12
* missing game duration of Toledo-Ball State 10/15/2005

Year......G........Points.....Pts/G
2005......388.....20343.....52.43
2006......421.....19888.....47.24

Year.......G......1H Pts...1H Pts/G...2H Pts...2H Pts/G...OT
2005......388...10226.....26.36.......9835.....25.35.......282
2006......421...10426.....24.76.......9165.....21.77.......297

Here are the shortest games from Week 7:
Utah State-San Jose State: 2:25
Arizona-Stanford: 2:30
Minnesota-Wisconsin: 2:39
Toledo-Kent State: 2:44
Army-Connecticut: 2:44
Idaho-Louisiana Tech: 2:44

Here are the longest games from Week 7:
Florida State-Duke: 3:35
Alabama Birmingham-Rice: 3:34
Louisiana Monroe-Troy: 3:32
Cincinnati-Louisville: 3:27
Iowa-Indiana: 3:27

Steers and Queers

Outsports columnist Todd Heustess is a busy man. The latest stop on his tailgate tour was Dallas for the Red River Shootout between Oklahoma and Texas. OK, the Cotton Bowl might be old and dumpy, but Heustess said event had a certain charm because the Texas State Fair was in full force. As for the tailgating, he appears to have enjoyed himself. Heustess writes about meeting two "undercover" lesbians. "I asked them what brought them to the game and if they enjoyed sports. They dramatically turned up their noses and said that they were not sports fans but since they live in Dallas they 'always!' go to the Texas-OU games because of the 'hot chicks, big beers, and even bigger boobs.' "

Reporters' Notebooks

Jorge Milian, Palm Beach Post: Former Miami receiver Lamar Thomas was fired from his job as an analyst of a cable sports outlet because of his on-air comments during the Hurricanes' brawl with Florida International.

Charlie Nobles, New York Times: Miami president Donna Shalala said coach Larry Coker's job is secure through the end of the season (registration)

Paul Strelow, Columbia State: The Miami-Florida International brawl brought back memories of a 2004 fight between Clemson and South Carolina.

Donnie Webb, Syracuse Post-Standard: Syracuse quarterback Perry Patterson apologized for making an obscene gesture toward West Virginia fans.

Molly Yanity, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Washington quarterback Isaiah Stanback's college career is over after an injury to his right foot.

Dan Zeiger, East Valley Tribune: Arizona State's Dirk Koetter said his decision to punt with less than two minutes remaining against USC "probably was a mistake on my part."

Norm Wood, Daily Press: Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer is trying to restore order. He started by dismissing defensive end William Wall from the team.

Curt McKeever, Lincoln Journal Star: Big 12 stock report. What's wrong with Kansas? A defense that struggles to stop the pass, for starters.

Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star: Big 12 notebook. Texas A&M's Jorvorskie Lane broke 18 tackles in rushing for 127 yards against Missouri.

Tim MacMahon, Dallas Morning News: Texas Tech coach Mike Leach's offense is shooting nothing but blanks (registration).

Steve Wozniak, South Bend Tribune: Don't believe all the hype about UCLA's defense. Why? Look at who the Bruins have played.

Doug Segrest, Birmingham News: A look at the week that was, starting with Heisman frontrunner Troy Smith.

Pat Dooley, Gainesville Sun: The Southeastern Conference has ruled that the fumble call on Florida quarterback Chris Leak in the loss to Auburn was correct.

Scott Ferrell, Shreveport Times: Is the Southeastern Conference too strong for its own good?

Columnists' Corner

Jake Curtis, San Francisco Chronicle: Those Bowl Championship Series computers just love USC. But why?

Jim Moore, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Despite his best efforts to pin down Washington's Tyrone Willingham, the coach is always successful in flicking away the flea.

Mike Lucas, Capital Times: After Ohio State and Michigan, Wisconsin might be the best of the rest in the Big Ten.

Tommy Hicks, Mobile Press-Register: Sports Illustrated got it right. The Southeastern Conference is the toughest in the country.

Jim Mashek, Biloxi Sun Herald: Those Miami Hurricanes are still keepin' it real.

California JUCOs a Drain or Gain?

Frank Gifford, Warren Moon, John Madden and O.J. Simpson. What do these four men have in common? They all got their start in California community colleges. Many players end up at a community college because they didn't get noticed or didn't meet academic eligibility requirements to enroll at a four-year college. And California is a gold mine for talent. Each year, there are about 1,400 sophomore players in the California system, and between 100-150 sign with a Division I-A team. Oregon State has 13 California JUCOs on its roster, Nebraska has 10. "I don't know if it sounds a little too businesslike, but it's almost like in the NFL, when a team goes after a free agent," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. "You're going after a free agent who can come in and start for you, and the place to go for that is junior college football in California." The state has 72 teams, more than the rest of the nation combined. The reason? Public subsidies. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the cost to the state each year is in excess of $5 million. But the system is under attack. Only about 61% of community college faculty is full time. Critics say the state is balancing the budget on the backs of part-time faculty, who get paid less and are classified as temporary. "These are people who are screwing the part-time faculty so they could have a nice football team," said David Milroy, who heads a part-time faculty association. ... Plus a detailed look at the cost of fielding a team. Thanks to the Midwest Correspondent.

Reporters' Notebooks

Adam Kilgore, Washington Post: Not so fast. Virginia's athletic director says Al Groh will return as coach next season.

Brian Costa and Pete Pelegrin, Miami Herald: Thirteen Miami players and 18 Florida International players have been suspended for their involvement in "The Backyard Brawl." Video.

Jorge Milian, Palm Beach Post: Don't worry. Miami coach Larry Coker says he has control of the program.

Chris Low, Tennessean: Coach Fulmer, your Tennessee team whipped California, yet the Golden Bears are ranked ahead of the Volunteers in the BCS standings.

Andrew Logue, Des Moines Register: Coach Ferentz, your Iowa team just lost to Indiana. One question: Why?

Brett Vito, Denton Record-Chronicle: North Texas coach Darrell Dickey is recovering from a heart attack he suffered last week.

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said he plans to investigate a spitting incident involving offensive lineman Brandon Carter, who showered a Colorado fan after the Red Raiders' loss to the Buffaloes.

Brendan Loy: The Irish Trojan's blog states the case for Oct. 15, 2005 being the greatest day in the history of the college game.

Week 8

Now that you've built a nice bankroll thanks to an assist from Doc's Sports, it's time to pound them into oblivion. That 42-foot yacht you've been eyeing? You're just a few weeks, a few winners away. The action starts Wednesday, with the Rajin' Cajuns of Louisiana Lafayette traveling to Fort Lauderdale to take on Howard Schnellenberger's Florida Atlantic Owls. Thursday brings three games, and on Friday we get another look at West Virginia, which takes on Connecticut. Saturday's lineup includes Rutgers at Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech at Clemson, UCLA at Notre Dame, Texas at Nebraska, Texas A&M at Oklahoma State and Boston College at Florida State. Doc's has all the numbers. All you need to do is click here.

Columnists' Corner

Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times: Could Miami coach Larry Coker and athletic director Paul Dee end up losing their jobs because of Saturday's brawl?

Caulton Tudor, Raleigh News & Observer: Chances are, John Bunting lost any chance he had of saving his job when his North Carolina Tar Heels lost to South Florida.

Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune: So what did we learn from the first batch of BCS standings?

Todd Schulz, Lansing State Journal: Empty seats tell the story of the Michigan State program these days.

Steven M. Sipple, Lincoln Journal Star: Don't count out Nebraska's chances to beat Texas.

The Backyard Brawl

Imagine that. They had a brawl Saturday night at the Orange Bowl and a football game broke out. Florida International and Miami — teams separated by less than 10 miles — played for the first time, and to nobody's surprise, the Hurricanes smacked the Golden Panthers, 35-0. It was a forgettable game except for the chaos that erupted in the third quarter, when the benches emptied and the players went at it for nearly five minutes. Under World Wrestling Entertainment rules, this would have been a hardcore match, with players from both teams swinging helmets and one injured Florida International player limping onto the field swinging crutches at a Miami player. Some fighting was reported between fans, and when the dust cleared, 13 players were ejected. Predictably, everybody is saying what a blemish this was to the game. Then again, so is a team like Miami playing an outclassed opponent like Florida International. As for the rematch, it is scheduled for next year. ... Thanks to Kevin (some registration).

Trojans Have a Devil of a Time

If we are overdoing it with shots of USC Song Girls, please let us know. But how can we resist? Image of Sport provides us with another look at the Trojans' finest, along with two other shots from USC's 28-21 victory over Arizona State on Saturday at the L.A. Coliseum. USC caught a break early when the Sun Devils' Terry Richardson fumble a punt that led to a Trojan touchdown. Arizona State fought back behind quarterback Rudy Carpenter, who passed for 124 yards and ran for 49. Sun Devil coach Dirk Koetter made a blunder late by punting, much to the delight of Traveler, the USC mascot. Image of Sport, a premium photo service for daily newspapers, editorial publications and websites, has this game covered. You can see all the images by clicking here.

Preemptive Strike

Georgia fans can't be happy that coach Mark Richt let one off the hook Saturday. The Bulldogs lost their homecoming game to Vanderbilt, 24-22. But if this setback gave anybody the idea to start Fire Mark Richt, forget it. The domain was snatched long ago by William Neilson when he was a student at Georgia. Neilson, who now attends law school at Loyola University in New Orleans, said he got the idea after a night on the town. "I did it while I was drunk," he said. "I was out having a good time downtown [in Athens] and went home and did it." The site's message: "Fire Richt? Why? He is the best thing to happen to this program since Herschel Walker." Neilson's motivation was to prevent somebody from launching a cyber attack on Richt much like the one that damaged Ron Zook when he was at Florida. "When somebody did that to Ron Zook, it got me thinking. I don't like Zook ... So when that happened to him a few years ago, I didn't feel so bad, but I knew I didn't want it to happen to coach Richt."

Good Times on The Plains

The ESPN "GameDay" crew arrived Saturday in Auburn, and this brought out the usual assortment of circus characters. The hometown Tigers responded with a 27-17 victory over No. 2 Florida that likely ended any hopes the Gators entertained of playing in the BCS title game. What a difference a week makes. Seven days ago, Auburn faithful were licking their wounds after the Tigers were humbled by Arkansas, 27-10. But all is well in Tiger Nation and we have the evidence, thanks to loyal reader Greg. Right out of a Sergio Leone spaghetti western comes a sign-carrying Tiger fan spelling out "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." Then we have the beast, dressed up in his game jersey, and a beauty. Representatives of USC and Michigan also were on hand. Of course, the California guy is on the cell phone. Let's hope he didn't take the Trojans and give the points to Arizona State. Another sign summed up the feelings of Tiger fans toward Urban Meyer, and another fan holds up an alligator skin behind the "GameDay" set. If you have shots from Saturday's games you would like to share, send them to dawizofodds (at) aol.com.

No Shortage of Volunteers in Tennessee

Tennessee faithful are not about to back off. The Fanhouse (with video link) recently reported that Volunteer supporter Victoria Caldwell received a call from the athletic department saying that other fans had complained about her and asked that she tone it down during games. But it appears the problem extends far beyond Caldwell. The Big Orange Army is taking a military approach to backing the Volunteers, and Caldwell has been recognized by the group for her support (at 3:31 of the above video). Thanks to Mike!

Get Tomorrow's BCS Rankings Today

Granted, there's a lot of football to be played, but if the Bowl Championship Series rankings were to come out before Saturday's games, where would your team stand? Thanks to the promising new site BCS Guru, we have such information. The Guru cracked the BCS code and has posted the top 30 teams in the rankings. Again, be advised this list is without Saturday's results, so an upset here or there will cause some jostling. But if Saturday's results go as planned, you'll have a good idea what to expect on Sunday when the first official BCS rankings are released. According to the Guru, Ohio State enters Saturday's games at No. 1, followed by USC, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, Louisville, Texas, Tennessee, West Virginia and Auburn. The Guru has a lot of other gizmos of interest, including a breakdown of where the contenders stand and a weekly column, so check it out.

Game of the Week

We're a day late with our game of the week, but there is a method to our madness. The Wiz has the hottest handicapper this side of Las Vegas in Mark Mathis, and being the superstitious fools we are, publishing his weekly winner on Friday the 13th would risk blemishing his 6-0 record. And let it be known that we haven't been lobbing softballs at Mathis. We pick the toughest games, so going 6-0 is quite the feat. This week's game is another biggie: Florida at Auburn. So let's see what the man has to say:

"There I was, gloating over my 6-0 start. Getting cocky about my predictions. That dude from 'Two For The Money' had nothing on me! I'm good and I get it right every week. Then the Wizard hit me with Florida at Auburn. You sure don't get to enjoy a victory around here very long.

"Henry Ford once said, 'Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.' If only you did not have to begin again against Florida. Auburn took it on the chin last week, but I never thought they were that good. I still don't.

"Auburn has not lost two games in a row in a long time. Well, they will this week. Look for Florida to tear them up there in Auburn. I am going with Florida to win, 28-10.

"Clear skies on Saturday night in Alabama. Temperature at kickoff will be 68 with a south wind."

Pat Dooley, Gainesville Sun: Think Auburn and it brings back bad memories for Florida fans. Like the 2001 game, when the No. 1 Gators were upset by the Tigers.

Irish Round Table: Yes, it's true. The Notre Dame blog has the official ABC/ESPN video promo for the game.

Evan Woodbery, Mobile Press-Register: Auburn out of the SEC title picture? Think again. But a loss Saturday would dash the Tigers' hopes.

Kevin Scarbinsky: Birmingham News: Leak-Tebow, or Le-Bo for short, gives Florida two ways to win.

Crystal Ball

Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News: The hot streak came to an end last week and it's time to start a new one.

Double D, Boston Herald: Maryland and Virginia lack sex appeal, but the Terrapins should handle the Cavaliers with ease.

Jody Demling, Louisville Courier-Journal: Even though it's Friday the 13th, you can put faith in these selections.

Fan IQ: A look at who the experts like this week and how they fared last week.

Tim Griffin, San Antonio Express-News: Can Florida's two-quarterback system continue to work to perfection at Auburn?

For the latest lines, check with Doc's Sports. And thanks to Hester Graphics for all the help with the site.

Reporters' Notebooks

Tony Barnhart and Chip Towers, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia president Michael Adams has apologized for comments he made about poor graduation rates for Bulldog athletes (registration).

Ryan Wood, Lawrence Journal-World: Kansas coach Mark Mangino was absolved of wrongdoing in an NCAA probe of the athletic department.

Kansas City Star: A breakdown of the penalties handed down to Kansas teams by the NCAA (registration).

Knoxville News-Sentinel: A link to the audio interview by Dave Hooker that resulted in the reporter having his media privileges suspended by Tennessee officials.

Ryan Wood, Daily Press: Atlantic Coast Conference coaches continue to press for a fifth year of eligibility for players.

Neil Milbert, Chicago Tribune: A group of Illinois faculty members is sending a letter to prospective athletic recruits suggesting that they think twice because of the university's use of mascot Chief Illiniwek.

Dirk Chatelian, Omaha World-Herald: Nebraska is pumping up the crowd noise to prepare for Kansas State, which is planning a "Harley Day" Saturday at Manhattan.

Wendell Barnhouse, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: The season has had its controversies and surprises, and more are sure to come.

John Henderson, Denver Post: The biggest surprise? It has to be Arkansas. The biggest disappointment? Colorado.

Tim Bisel, Topeka Capital-Journal: Sixteen Kansas State players showed for the weekly news conference. A week earlier, only three participated.

George Schroeder, Oklahoman: Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe, who has turned around the program, says he is not ready to "jump ship." (registration).

Doug Smock, Charleston Gazette: Conference USA notebook. East Carolina, after knocking off Virginia, is taking aim at Tulsa.

Tom Luicci, Newark Star-Ledger: Rutgers' Ray Rice is not ruling out rushing for 2,000 yards.

Huntsville Times: The Southwestern Athletic Conference has benched an official for the season after an error in the Grambling-Mississippi Valley State game.

Columnists' Corner

David Climer, Tennessean: Why would the governor of Georgia complain about a headline? Could it be that the election is less than a month away?

Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader: It has been four seasons since Louisiana State's miracle play beat Kentucky, but Wildcat fans remember it like it was yesterday.

Geoff Calkins, Commercial Appeal: Tennessee is out of bounds for banning a reporter.

Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News: It's time to pick the best and the worst from the first half of the season (registration).

Jorge Milian, Palm Beach Post: Maybe this new and improved Atlantic Coast Conference wasn't such a good idea.

Coming to a TV Near You

Here it is in all it's glory. The Big Ten Conference and Fox Cable Network have announced their official name and logo for the league's new network, set to begin operation in August. Note the 11 stars below the logo to designate the league's members. Looks like there's room for another. Any takers? Missouri? Notre Dame? ... The conference also announced its first affiliate, DirecTV, which will deliver the Big Ten Network to subscribers through its Total Choice Package. The league said content will also be available through alternative media platforms such as the Internet, iPods and cell phones. To help promote the network, the league will launch a mobile tour of campuses, beginning with appearances Saturday at the Michigan-Penn State and Minnesota-Wisconsin games. Thanks to the Midwest Correspondent.

'You're Part of America Now'

Without question, this is one of the best pieces of work ever posted on ESPN and we recommend that you check it out. Wayne Drehs and a crew from Roadside Entertainment went to Barrow, Alaska to chronicle the start of the Barrow High football program. We told you about this last July and the the L.A. Times followed with a piece in August. This effort by Drehs is outstanding and is in two parts. Part one is linked here and part two is linked here. We also found a link to Barrow's KBRW AM-FM, which broadcast the Whalers' games. And here's an idea for all our friends in Barrow: Why not cash in on your sudden popularity with the sale of team merchandise? After all, it is the American Way.

Troy Smith, Rock Star and Chicken Lover

What's it like to be the quarterback of the No. 1 team and frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy? This was the scene in the Ohio State hotel two weeks ago for Troy Smith after the Buckeyes' game against Iowa. Now we're pretty sure all the hangers-on weren't interested in the three-piece meal from KFC that Smith is carrying. He's clearly being hounded by Buckeye and Hawkeye fans for photos, autographs and about anything else outside of food. But in a few short months, he probably will have that endorsement deal from KFC. Thanks to Cory for this, who directed us to his fine site and also sent along the image below, which he says shows "just how we do it at tOSU."

Reporters' Notebooks

Wendell Barnhouse, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: A conference-by-conference collection of information and observations on this week's games.

Dan Hinxman, Reno Gazette-Journal: Nevada athletic director Cary Groth is upset with what she called "offensive" fan behavior, "language, excessive drinking and fighting" during the Wolf Pack's 31-3 victory over rival Nevada Las Vegas on Sept. 30 in Las Vegas.

Shannon Shelton, Detroit Free Press: It's called piling on at Michigan State. East Lansing police are investigating an altercation reportedly involving four members of the Spartan team.

Fred Girard, Detroit News: A 23-year-old Ann Arbor man was arrested for sending "threatening, harrassing and obscene" emails to Michigan's Lloyd Carr.

Steve Ahillen, Knoxville News-Sentinel: Tennessee suspended media privileges for News-Sentinel reporter Dave Hooker because an interview with an injured cornerback violated policy.

Shawn Courchesne, Hartford Courant: One of the Connecticut players dismissed from the team said he left his room to make a phone call and had nothing to do with the purchase of alcohol. The other players who were dismissed back up his claim.

Paul Strelow, Columbia State: Clemson plays Temple on Thursday night in Charlotte, but the game is not doing well at the gate, with fewer than 30,000 tickets sold.

Ron Higgins, Commercial Appeal: Southeastern Conference notebooks for the Eastern and Western Divisions (registration).

Norm Wood, Daily Press: Virginia Tech will be without Josh Hyman for Thursday's game at Boston College after the receiver was allegedly arrested for DUI.

Jake Schaller, Colorado Springs Gazette: Air Force's game against Colorado State on Thursday night could well be the defining moment in the Falcons' season.

Ferd Lewis, Honolulu Advertiser: How desperate is Fresno State's Pat Hill? The coach is imploring Bulldog fans to skip the Fresno County Fair Saturday and show up for Fresno State's game against Hawaii.

Iliana Limon, Albuquerque Journal: New Mexico coach Rocky Long, whose team is 2-4, says he is not worried about job security.

Bob Condotta, Seattle Times: The natives are restless in Corvallis, where Oregon State has stumbled to a 2-3 start.

Ted Miller, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Pac-10 notebook. With the first BCS rankings due Sunday, expect some elbows to start to fly in the direction of the Left Coast.

Don Walker, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Former Wisconsin running back Booker Stanley, who would have been a fifth-year senior, now watches the Badgers from a jail cell. He is facing up to 57 years in prison.

Mike Kaszuba, Star Tribune: Minnesota is finding itself at odds with some of the state's most influential corporate citizens over plans for its on-campus stadium.

John Heuser, Ann Arbor News: So what if Michigan had hired Joe Paterno instead of Bo Schembechler? (thanks to Kevin).

Joe Rexrode, Lansing State Journal: Another reason recruiting rankings are a joke. Michigan State's 2004 class of 30 players, judged among the nation's top 20, is in tatters, with only 11 players left on the team.

Cedric Golden, Austin American-Statesman: Trash-talking Baylor cornerback C.J. Wilson says Texas better be ready for "The I-35 Surprise." (registration).

Al Jones, Sun Herald: Southern Mississippi cornerback C.J. Bailey was dismissed from the team after he was arrested for aggravated assault involving an air-powered BB gun being fired from a vehicle.

Lou Grieco, Dayton Daily News: An Ohio State fan has painted "Ohio" into his lawn since 2002 to show his dedication to the Buckeyes (thanks to RJYH).

Howard Stutz, Las Vegas Gaming Wire: Nevada casinos continue to rake it in, with winnings of more than $1.06 billion in August.

Reporters' Notebooks

Ron Morris, Columbia State: South Carolina's Steve Spurrier says "it probably was wrong" to put assistant Ron Cooper on the spot after the victory at Kentucky.

Patrick Finley, Arizona Daily Star: Pacific 10 athletic directors will meet Wednesday to discuss their policy of having conference referees officiate nonconference games.

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald: Boston College has a new kicker. Steve Aponavicius will make his debut on national TV against Virginia Tech — the first football game he ever participates in.

Carter Strickland, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia governor Sonny Perdue continued his campaign against the AJC's headline "Dogs get put in their place" by going on Atlanta's 680 The Fan (registration).

Emily Badger, Orlando Sentinel: Is support waning for Florida State's Bobby Bowden?

Gary Smits, Florida Times-Union: A terrific piece on college fight songs and how they have stood the test of time. Plus, one man's top 10 fight songs and an Internet vote to select the top song (registration).

Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: The Hlist. Indiana's kicker is a Super Starr after beating Illinois (subscription, so story is in comments).

Ed Miller, Virginian-Pilot: There's no more fun in games as the losses pile up for Virginia's Al Groh.

Jake Curtis, San Francisco Chronicle: Eleven months ago, Fresno State was on the verge of upsetting USC. Now the Bulldogs have hit rock bottom.

Bob Clark, Eugene Register-Guard: Pac-10 notebook: More on the clock issue at the end of the Washington-USC game and the plays that knocked out the starting quarterbacks in the Arizona-UCLA game.

Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News: It's clear that California is the best team in the Pac-10 at the moment.

Bill Finley, New York Times: Penn State is getting ready to face Michigan and a painful memory (registration).

Granny Holtz

Ever wonder what Lou Holtz did before coaching football or being an analyst on ESPN? Thanks to Deep South Sports and War Damn Tailgate, we now have the answer.

Tennessee Fan Talks About Her Rocky Tops

We're not sure what to make of this outside of the description given on You Tube. It's Tennessee junior Brittney talking about her love of the Volunteers. We found this thanks to M Zone, and the videos are the production of Vol Junkie TV. This is the third video in the Brittney's collection, and here are the links to her first and second efforts.

Sign Language

ESPN's Lee Corso remains a popular target for alcohol-fueled fans at "GameDay" as evidenced by this latest sign that made it onto national TV screens. The horror! Thanks to EDSBS for digging up this gem.

Can I Get Your Number?

This was the scene Saturday at Jordan Hare Stadium when Auburn entertained Arkansas. As you can see from the top photo, Tiger games draw a fair share of cellphone-carrying talent. In the middle image, according to Greg, who sent us the photos, are three members of the Auburn baseball team, the only member identified being Jay Osborne on the right. If it's not you, Jay, we apologize. We've never been to Jordan Hare, but it looks like the Tigers make quite the entrance. All this didn't help, as Arkansas thumped Auburn, 27-10. Next up for the Tigers: No. 2 Florida at Jordan Hare. ... If you have an image you want to share from a game, please send it to us. We will even plug your website. The address: dawizofodds (at) aol.com.

More on the 'Cheap Shot' to Olson

Bruins Nation has been doing a terrific job with this, and if you didn't click over to their fine site, you should. But here is the video of the play that results in the knee injury to UCLA quarterback Ben Olson. This certainly appears to be a questionable hit. Of course, Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama also was knocked out of this game on a helmet-to-helmet hit by UCLA's Bruce Davis. Tit for tat?

Was Olson Victim of a Cheap Shot?

UCLA has lost Ben Olson because of a torn ligament in his left knee. In a series of photos posted by Bruins Nation (credited to Adak Bruin), you can see how Olson was hurt. Arizona's Jason Parker crashes into Olson's knee after the quarterback releases the ball. Cheap shot? You decide.

Reporters' Notebooks

Shawn Courchese, Hartford Courant: Five Connecticut players, caught with beer Friday night before the game at South Florida, three played against the Bulls and then all five were kicked off the team on Monday.

Jim Tharpe, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A headline in the paper after Georgia's loss to Tennessee has caught the attention of the state's governor and coach Mark Richt (registration).

Joseph Person, Columbia State: Ron Cooper, the assistant who was interrogated by coach Steve Spurrier, is no stranger to criticism.

Wendell Barnhouse, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: September was a slow month for the underdog.

David Dye, Detroit News: Michigan State's John L. Smith said he may have only six games left as coach.

Angelique S. Chengelis, Detroit News: Michigan receiver Mario Manningham will miss several games after suffering a partial tear of a ligament in a knee.

Randy King, Roanoke Times: Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer is pushing for added eligibility for athletes.

Mike Huguenin, Orlando Sentinel: Halfway through the season, a nice breakdown of league races.

More Good Stuff From CFB Stats

Marty of cfbstats has provided the latest update regarding how rule 3-2-5-e has impacted the time of games and reduced the number of plays. The only dramatic change is the average time of a game, which has increased 72 seconds the past two weeks. As we learned last week, scoring also is down, and Marty has provided updated numbers for that as well. Here are the numbers:

Overall...G........Plays......Plays/G....Min.......Min/G......Time/G
2005......334.....56050.....167.81.....66973.....200.52.....3:20:31
2006......367.....56004.....152.60.....68451.....186.51.....3:06.31

Year......G........Points.....Pts/G
2005......334.....17452.....52.25
2006......367.....17275.....47.07

Year.......G......1H Pts...1H Pts/G...2H Pts...2H Pts/G...OT
2005......334....8760.....26.23.......8464.....25.34.......228
2006......367....9027.....24.60.......7963.....21.70.......285

Here are the shortest games from Week 6:
Northwestern-Wisconsin: 2:42
Oklahoma State-Kansas State: 2:45
Wyoming-New Mexico: 2:50
Bowling Green-Ohio State: 2:51
Navy-Air Force: 2:54

Here are the longest games from Week 6:
Florida International-North Texas: 4:25
Central Michigan-Toledo: 3:33
Nevada-Hawaii: 3:30
Florida State-North Carolina State: 3:30
Baylor-Colorado: 3:28

Spurrier Throws Assistant Under the Bus

Imagine, for a few seconds, having a boss like Steve Spurrier. Frankly, what the South Carolina coach did to Ron Cooper, his secondary coach, was unprofessional and unnecessary. Spurrier put the blame for the Gamecocks' struggles in a 24-17 victory at Kentucky squarely on Cooper. He even brought in the assistant to the postgame press conference to answer questions from — you guessed it — Spurrier himself. "Bring [Cooper] in," Spurrier said to South Carolina spokesman Steve Fink. "I want to know what happened, too." A surprised Cooper eventually entered the room, and Spurrier started firing away with questions, according to the Columbia State.
"Coach Cooper, they want to know what coverage we were in on that 62-yarder. Three deep?" asked Spurrier.
Cooper responded: "Three deep. Had the bust by the left corner and the left nickel."
Spurrier: "And the middle guy wasn't real deep, either, was he?"
Cooper, his voice trembling at times, replied: "Had a bust. Yes, sir. They played good except for that one play. And that one play gave us a bad day."
Spurrier: "How about the 22-second play? What, we just didn't prevent, right?"
Cooper, pausing to loosen his tie: "Just didn't prevent. Yep. We were in three deep."
Obviously, these were a tense few moments. You can see some of Spurrier's postgame remarks — minus the Cooper interrogation — at WIS-TV, located under video central. If anybody can locate video of the Spurrier-Cooper exchange, we'd love to post it.

Song Girls and More Heat on Pac-10 Refs

We are a sucker for shots of USC Song Girls, and the good folks over at Image of Sport have once helped satisfy our desires. They really know how to play us. Image of Sport is a premium photo service for daily newspapers, editorial publications and websites and they have been kind enough to share some of their images with us from time to time. Here is a link to some of their offerings from the Washington-USC game, which include a spectacular view of the 90,282 in attendance at the L.A. Coliseum. Now this was quite the game, with the Trojans winning, 26-20, and Husky fans (and some players) screaming afterward that they were robbed by the Pacific 10 officiating crew. Two plays upset the Washington side. The first was a ruling on a fake field goal by USC that involved a bit of sideline trickery. The Trojans scored a touchdown on the play. The second was the crew deciding not to put more than two seconds on the clock before a failed attempt by Washington to snap the ball deep in USC territory for a final play. But Verle Sorgen, the coordinator of football officiating for the Pac-10, told the Seattle Times that both plays were called correctly. Just because USC won, not all is right in Hollywood. The clock-management skills of the Trojan coaching staff is getting a workout from fans.

Week 7

We start the second-half of the season and the games keep getting bigger for several teams. Highlighting the week's schedule is the new No. 2 team, Florida, at the old No. 2 team, Auburn. Three Thursday games start the week, including Virginia Tech at Boston College. Friday has Pittsburgh at Central Florida. Other games of note on Saturday include Minnesota at Wisconsin (for Paul Bunyan's Axe), Wake Forest at North Carolina State, undefeated Missouri at Texas A&M, UCLA at Oregon and undefeated Michigan at Penn State. The Wolverines handed the Nittany Lions their only loss last season. You can find all the lines at Doc's Sports, one of our sponsors. And if you are looking for the NFL numbers, Doc's will give you what you need. Pay a visit to Doc's Sports.

Trickery Amid the Turnaround at Arkansas

You have to love the trick play Arkansas pulled off against Auburn in its stunning 27-10 upset. It's being called the "Fish Bucket" play and the second trick play Arkansas has successfully engineered in three weeks. If you'll recall, the Razorbacks used a bit of trickery in its Sept. 23 victory against Alabama. We love this stuff and the Razorbacks and new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn are to be commended. Arkansas has turned around its season since suffering a 50-14 loss to USC on Sept. 2 at Fayetteville and should be 7-1 entering a Nov. 4 game at South Carolina. The proprietors of Houston Dale Nutt Sucks appear to be taking a lot of flack from Razorback fans who are now soundly behind their coach. Thanks to Pig Kahuna for finding the video.

Columnists' Corner

Mark Tupper, Decatur Herald & Review: Illinois coach Ron Zook had trouble explaining how his team lost a 25-7 halftime lead in a 34-32 loss to Indiana, but let's point the finger at conservative play-calling.

Terry Foster, Detroit News: This is not a "Fire John L. Smith" column, but Michigan State fans deserve better.

Jerry Brewer, Seattle Times: Washington players — for good reason — were ticked off after time runs out in a loss at USC.

John Canzano, Oregonian: They beat Oklahoma with help from officials. They beat Fresno State on a fake field goal. Now the Oregon Ducks' season is at a fragile stage.

Sean Keeler, Des Moines Register: If Iowa State fans want to blame officials for the Cyclones' loss to Nebraska, go ahead. It simply wasn't the case.

Greg Hansen, Arizona Daily Star: It appears Arizona's season is on the critical list with quarterback Willie Tuitama suffering another concussion.

Mike Jensen, Philadelphia Inquirer: Temple keeps losing, but Al Golden's plan might pay off. "We're playing 45 guys who are going to be with us through the 2008 season right now," the coach says.

Dave Hickman, Gazette-Mail: Eleven penalties for 132 yards in a 42-14 victory over Mississippi State left West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez "disgusted" with his team's play.

Kevin Scarbinsky, Birmingham News: Maybe Auburn's multi-tasking Tommy Tuberville should focus on coaching.

Ray Melick, Birmingham News: After stumbling through a 30-14 victory over Duke, it's clear that Alabama is not getting better.

Paul Finebaum, Mobile Press-Register: A year ago, Gus Malzahn was coaching a prep team. Saturday, he put Auburn in its place.

Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader: Woulda', coulda', shoulda' doesn't get Kentucky anywhere.

Kurt Kragthorpe, Salt Lake Tribune: It's a good thing Tom Craft didn't win many games last season as San Diego State coach, because new coach Chuck Long is off to an 0-6 start.

Neill Woelk, Boulder Daily Camera: Colorado coach Dan Hawkins didn't want to call it a step backward. We'll do it for him (registration).

Dave Matter, Columbia Tribune: The Missouri Tigers sent a message to the rest of the Big 12: We're for real.

Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman: Oklahoma had the best player, but Texas had the best team (registration).

Reporters' Notebooks

Scott Rabalais, Baton Rouge Advocate: Not only did Louisiana State and JaMarcus Russell lose to Florida, the quarterback needed a ride home after the game because his 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe had been stolen from the airport parking lot.

Brett Vito, Denton Record-Chronicle: In case you missed it, North Texas held off Florida International, 25-22, in seven overtimes.

Ray Glier, New York Times: Auburn suddenly looks like a team with a lot of warts after a stunning loss to Arkansas (registration).

Chris Dufrense, Los Angeles Times: USC has won 26 consecutive Pac-10 games, but it appears California, after a 45-28 slapping of Oregon, is the team to beat.

Ferd Lewis, Honolulu Advertister: Hawaii, known for offense, needed a big lift from the defense to get past Nevada.

Bryant-Jon Anteola, Fresno Bee: Fresno State has hit rock bottom after losing to previously winless Utah State.

Paul Suellentrop, Wichita Eagle: A small but determined group is continuing to lobby to bring back football to Wichita State (thanks to John for this!).

Tim Doherty, Clarion Ledger: Southern Mississippi's defense is under fire after giving up 453 yards to Tulsa in a loss.

The Man Who Should Win the Heisman

His name is Garrett Wolfe and he's a tailback at Northern Illinois. Yes, that little Mid-American Conference team from DeKalb, Illinois. He has 1,181 rushing yards, the highest five-game total in NCAA history. Inferior competition? Look at what he did in the opener against No. 1 Ohio State: 171 rushing yards and 285 all-purpose yards. Flat out, this kid can play. You can watch him Sunday night against Miami (Ohio) on ESPN. Now the Wiz doesn't have a vote in the Heisman poll, but he does vote in the weekly CSTV Blogger's poll. For the past two weeks, the Wiz has put Wolfe at the top of his list, and he has been on our ballot since Week 1. Until something happens to indicate otherwise, he'll remain at the top of our list.

The Commissioner of Tailgating

There are tailgaters, then there's Joe Cahn. The 58-year-old former resident of New Orleans sold his cooking school 10 years ago, purchased a recreational vehicle and hit the road. He's living a guy's dream: Freedom to go where he wants when he wants as the self-appointed Commissioner of Tailgating. Cahn has turned his pleasure into a business of sorts, with a website, corporate sponsors, talk of a book and nibbles from producers about a television show. Home? That would be wherever the R.V.'s are. A link to his 2006 tour.

Reporters' Notebooks

Jeff Metcalfe, Arizona Republic: It's an off week for slumping Arizona State, but the big question won't go away: Is quarterback Rudy Carpenter, who has a nation-leading nine interceptions, playing hurt?

Jerry Crowe, Los Angeles Times: Helped by a soft September schedule, Wake Forest is 5-0 for only the third time. On Saturday, the Demon Deacons get their first real test when they play Clemson.

Wendell Barnhouse, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Playing the Oklahoma-Texas game in the Cotton Bowl is a tradition. Unfortunately, the facility is a relic. Barnhouse also has a piece on some coaching decisions that are not that complicated (registration).

Tim Griffin, San Antonio Express-News: With each team entering with a loss, the Oklahoma-Texas game is lacking that added spark.

Jim Moore, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Oregon might have competition for the worst uniforms in the land. Washington State fans did not react kindly to the Cougars' throwback uniforms worn against USC.

Paul Buker, Oregonian: A quarterback controversy has split Oregon State fans, but not the team.

Ted Miller, Seattle Post-Intelligencer: How does Pete Carroll convince Emmanuel Moody, a Parade All-American tailback, to join three other Parade All-American tailbacks in the Trojans' 2006 recruiting class?

Radio Waves

Having been a satellite radio subscriber for the past two years, the Wiz can tell you this: It's a terrific way to ease that cruise down the highway to see your team play. Satellite radio covers the field, and as we did last season, here are links to games to be broadcast this weekend by Sirius and XM. And for the nighthawks out there, don't forget to catch "Sports Overnight America, Saturday Edition" on Sirius 122, or over the Internet at Sports Byline USA, beginning at 1 a.m. (Eastern). And another reminder that if you plan to attend a game, send along any photos of the action inside or outside the stadium.

Crystal Ball

Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News: The man is on a hot streak, having gone 7-3-1 against the spread the past two weeks.

Double D, Boston Herald: Alabama, coming off consecutive heartbreaking road losses, is going to put a hurtin' on Duke.

Tim Griffin, San Antonio Express-News: It's Texas versus Oklahoma with the winner having the inside track to the Big 12 South Division title.

Fan IQ: A look at who the experts like this week and how they fared last week.

Jody Demling, Louisville Courier-Journal: Louisville gets a prime-time game against Middle Tennessee State, but will the Cardinals cover the spread?

For the latest lines, check with Doc's Sports. And thanks to Hester Graphics for all the help with the site.

Game of the Week

The Wiz, filling in last week for pigskin prophet Mark Mathis, correctly predicted an easy victory for Ohio State over Iowa. Then late Saturday, Mathis' email arrives on our doorstep. The Fearless Forecaster also had the Buckeyes in a romp. Unfortunately, the news came too late to meet our stringent deadlines. But trust us, the former scout team quarterback for Baylor is a picture of perfection and his record stands 5-0. This is pressure folks, and one week in that cooker was enough for the Wiz. Thankfully the man is back this week. (By the way, check out Mathis' latest video by clicking here). Now there are several games of note this week, but with USC suddenly looking vulnerable, Oregon at California has taken on added importance. The winner will be in position to end the Trojans' run of Pac-10 titles. It's our game of the week, so without further delay, let's hear from the man:

"OK, for the record: My 'column' got lost last week somewhere in cyberspace. Maybe the Grand Wizard can fill you in on the details. Let's just say that I not only gushed at how great each and every one of the beat writers and columnists in the audience are, but I also belittled myself. The reason for my gushing was my apparent lack of really knowing the teams while you guys are in the trenches each and every week, talking to coaches, going to practices and visiting with the players. Plus, I was starting to get it in the neck. I was getting nervous with my 4-0 record. But, if the Grand Wizard would like to tell you, I did predict an Ohio State victory.

"So, I will take my 5-0 record into this week's Pac-10 matchup. Pac-10!? Give me the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC. I am great with those teams. But, the Pac-10! Come on. Real men don't eat quiche and real football is not played in the Pac-freakin-10! So, let me see, should I pick the soft team or the softer? I will go with the soft team. But, back to my singleness of purpose — weather. Game time temperature will be 67 degrees. Look for sunny conditions in Berkeley with a west wind.

"California will win because they got the dog poop kicked out of them by Tennessee — a real football team in a real football conference. California 28-17. Peace out!"

Anthony Gimino, Tucson Citizen: Cal can't shake that hangover from the loss to Tennessee. Pac-10 notebook.

Jake Curtis, San Francisco Chronicle: Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon has never gotten over losing his mom to breast cancer in 2004.

Aaron Fentress, Oregonian: Oregon's defense is coming off its best game, a 48-13 victory over Arizona State, but how much of that was because of the Sun Devils' inept offense?

Ron Bellamy, Eugene Register-Guard: Oregon, which doesn't cut corner on facilities, is at it again. An $8 million project to expand and update the treatment center for athletes could begin in mid-November.

A Big Drop in Scoring This Season

Scoring is down this season 10.8% compared to 2005. This statistical goodie comes to us from Marty at cfbstats. In 2005, before rule 3-2-5-e, the average game through Week 5 totaled 52.61 points. In 2006, 46.93 points are being scored. The number of plays have been reduced by 15.97, which is a drop of 9.6%. In the first half, scoring has decreased 8.28%, and second-half scoring has dropped 14%. We are at a loss to explain the second-half figure. Overtime scoring has not been factored in because the clock is not involved in overtime sessions and the numbers are included only for reference. Again, if you use any of this information, please credit cfbstats. Here is the breakdown:

Year......G........Points.....Pts/G
2005......280.....14732.....52.61
2006......312.....14642.....46.93

Year.......G......1H Pts...1H Pts/G...2H Pts...2H Pts/G...OT
2005......280....7504.....26.80.......7043.....25.15.......185
2006......312....7669.....24.58.......6747.....21.63.......226

Reporters' Notebooks

Dave Dye, Detroit News: Illinois and Michigan State were fined $10,000 by the Big Ten for a postgame incident that involved Fighting Illini players trying to plant a school flag at midfield at Spartan Stadium.

Ferd Lewis, Honolulu Advertiser: Michigan State has notified Hawaii that it wants out of a 2007 game at Honolulu.

Mark Alesia, Indianapolis Star: A congressional committee is asking the NCAA to explain why college sports deserve educational tax exemption.

Oregonian: Oklahoma fans are still fuming over the blown calls that cost the Sooners a victory at Oregon and are flooding the email boxes of writers.

Steve Ellis, Tallahassee Democrat: Does former Florida State assistant Chuck Amato still know the code? Maybe that explains why North Carolina State has been successful against the Seminoles.

Wendell Barnhouse, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Impressive work here. A conference-by-conference look at what is happening (registration).

Charles Goldberg, Birmingham News: Auburn's Tommy Tuberville made another plea for a playoff system.

Ron Higgins, Commercial Appeal: SEC notebooks for the Western Division and the Eastern Division.

Brian Murphy, Idaho Statesman: MPC Computers Bowl officials are concerned that if Boise State were to be selected for a BCS bowl, it could impact ticket sales for Idaho's postseason game.

Kyle Tucker, Virginian-Pilot: A look at the good, the bad and the really bad in the ACC:

Chip Towers, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia president Michael Adams said the university will continue to accept some student-athletes who do not meet the school's admission requirements (registration).

Donnie Webb, Syracuse Post-Standard: Syracuse's three-game winning streak has helped boost ticket sales for its game against Pittsburgh in the Carrier Dome.

Columnists' Corner

Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times: The best conference? If you crunch the numbers, it's the Pacific 10.

Frank Dascenzo, Durham Herald-Sun: Why is Duke, a private school with high academic standards, the ugly duckling of ACC football?

Caulton Tudor, Raleigh News & Observer: Duke, which could care less about football, should drop its program to Division I-AA (registraton).

Sean Keeler, Des Moines Register: Nebraska defensive players get defensive when asked to explain how Kansas rolled up 574 yards in a loss to the Cornhuskers.

Dick Weiss, New York Daily News: Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson will have center stage when the Sooners battle Texas in the Red River Shootout.

Jeff Haney, Las Vegas Sun: How will the new anti-gambling legislation impact poker tournaments? We get the word from Las Vegas.

The Flag Is Up in East Lansing

Nothing like winning with class. We told you earlier about Illinois' attempt to plant the flag at Spartan Stadium after upsetting Michigan State. Now check out this hilarious video. We are amazed how quickly this develops after the kickoff. Frankly, the Wiz hasn't seen speed like that from an Illinois team since the Mike White era. And we have bonus coverage, thanks to Deadspin. The fine site found the CSTV video of the Fighting Illini celebration in the locker room. You can view that video by clicking here.

Surprises in the Desert

Todd Heustess' tailgate tour continued with a visit to Tucson for the USC-Arizona game on Sept. 23. The Outsports writer had nothing but good things to say about his trip: "Was it the dedicated group of gay fans who have a 3-year-old strong tailgate? Was it finding an active gay fraternity whose members like to tailgate like any other fraternity? Was it all the hot shirtless guys running around in red and blue body paint? Whatever it was, I'm glad I made the trip because tailgating in Tucson was as good as it gets."

Reporters' Notebooks

Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: The Hlist was kind enough to give the Wiz a plug and gets top billing (nudge, nudge, hint, hint to all you freeloading sportswriters ... the Wiz gives you credit. Now how about some love for the Wiz!) Hlas' story is subscription protected, but the Wiz has cracked the code and posted it in comments for the world to see.

Brian Davis, Dallas Morning News: In a letter sent to the NCAA, former Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar says he didn't use proper judgment when he took money from a booster (registration).

Tim Griffin, San Antonio Express-News: A category-by-category look at how Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops lost his groove.

Tim Bisel, Topeka Capital-Journal: Only three of the 28 requested Kansas State players for Tuesday's media gathering showed up for the conference.

Doug Segrest, Birmingham News: Washington State's Bill Doba, whose team has played Auburn and USC, won't say which team he ranked ahead of the other in the coaches' poll.

Mike Baldwin, Oklahoman: If Oklahoma State is counting on having a successful season, it must beat Kansas State (registration).

Aaron Fentress, Oregonian: Oregon, with a rush defense that ranks 94th out of 119 Division I-A teams, would appear to be in trouble against California.

Bob Clark, Eugene Register-Guard: Pac-10 notebook. The last team to beat USC at the Coliseum? It was Stanford in 2001, coached by Tyrone Willingham, who brings Washington to L.A. on Saturday.

Jorge Milian, Palm Beach Post: Miami, which has ranked first or second nationally in pass defense in four of the past five seasons, has plummeted to 71st this season.

Joseph Person, Columbia State: South Carolina reserve defensive end Kerry Bonds has been dismissed from the team for allegedly choking a female student.

Randy King, Roanoke Times: Virginia Tech players say the loss to Georgia Tech could be the turning point in their season.

Emily Badger, Orlando Sentinel: Florida State has been favored over North Carolina State in each of the six seasons Chuck Amato has been Wolfpack coach, but the Seminoles have won only three of the games.

Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Big Ten notebook. More on the troubles at Michigan State.

Brian Bennett, Courier-Journal: Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm had the cast removed from his left thumb and could begin throwing next week.

Kate Hairopoulos, Dallas Morning News: Texas El Paso coach Mike Price is using a photo on the cover of the Southern Methodist media guide to fire up his team (registration).

Natalie Meisler, Denver Post: Mountain West notebook. San Diego State is 0-4, has lost two quarterbacks because of injury and will start a freshman, who happens to be the former coach's son, at the position.

Bryant-Jon Anteola, Fresno Bee: Somehow after four games, Fresno State has managed to get worse.

Chadd Cripe, Idaho Statesman: Wait a minute! Boise State could go undefeated and not make a BCS bowl, according to an analyst.

Columbus Dispatch: Which announcer/analyst irrates you the most? Currently, Brent Musburger leads the voting.

Michael A. Hiltzik, L.A. Times: We warned you. A bill to ban online gambling has passed and is expected to be signed by President Bush.

Columnists' Corner

Bob Lutz, Wichita Eagle: The way Ron Prince handled Saturday's postgame media session makes you wonder whether he has what it takes to be the head coach of a Division I-A team.

Gordon Monson, Salt Lake Tribune: Fans who watched Utah's worst home loss in 17 years can determine their distress with a simple test.

Richard Stevens, Albuquerque Tribune: One has to wonder why New Mexico, trailing 24-7 to Air Force with 9:04 remaining, threw in the towel and decided to punt.

Bud Withers, Seattle Times: There's not much sizzle between Northwest teams Washington State and Oregon State, so why not move the game to Seattle's Qwest Field?

Ron Morris, Columbia State: That Clemson's game against Wake Forest has championship implications tells you everything you need to know about the state of ACC football.

Patrick Walters, Lansing State Journal: Fire John L. Smith? You have got to be kidding. Don't expect such a move until season's end. Besides, the Spartans can still turn it around.

Fifteen Minutes and 16 Plays

Marty of cfbstats has the latest update regarding how rule 3-2-5-e has impacted the time of games and reduced the number of plays. About 15 minutes have been trimmed from the average game this season compared to 2005, and there are about 16 less plays a game. Here are the numbers:

Overall...G........Plays......Plays/G....Min.......Min/G......Time/G
2005......280.....47089.....168.18.....56267.....200.95.....3:20:57
2006......312.....47491.....152.21.....57976.....185.82.....3:05.49

Here are the shortest games from Week 5:
Bowling Green-Ohio: 2:37
San Houston State-Texas: 2:38
Troy-Alabama Birmingham: 2:39
Miami (Ohio)-Cincinnati: 2:48
Middle Tennessee State-North Texas: 2:50
San Diego State-San Jose State: 2:50
Florida Atlantic-Louisiana Monroe: 2:50
Nevada-Nevada Las Vegas: 2:50

Here are the longest games from Week 5:
Northern Illinois-Ball State: 4:00
Kansas-Nebraska: 3:52
Mississippi State-Louisiana State: 3:42
Wyoming-Syracuse: 3:39
Alabama-Florida: 3:33

Reporters' Notebooks

Jay Weiner, Star Tribune: Minnesota is looking into whether members of coach Glen Mason's staff violated NCAA rules by aiding former running back Gary Russell after he flunked out of school earlier this year.

Jake Curtis, San Francisco Chronicle: With USC suddenly looking vulnerable, Saturday's Oregon-California game takes on added importance.

Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Penn State-Minnesota game will be played as scheduled Saturday because the Minnesota Twins won the American League Central Division.

Ray Parrillo, Philadelphia Inquirer: Among the biggest winners of week 5: Rutgers, which is 5-0 for the first time since 1976 (registration).

Brent Johnson, Star-Ledger: The Pittsburgh-Syracuse game will answer a lot of questions about each team.

Andrew Logue, Des Moines Register: Now that the media hype surrounding Iowa is gone, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the team.

Kyle Ringo, Boulder Daily Camera: Former Colorado coach Gary Barnett, with the blessing of current coach Dan Hawkins, paid a visit to the Buffaloes' hotel in Columbia Friday night.

John Helsley, Oklahoman: There is a way for Oklahoma to land a BCS bowl, and it all starts with Saturday's game against Texas (registration).

Doug Segrest, Birmingham News: A look at the week that was and a look at the week that will be.

Chris Dempsey, Denver Post: Big 12 notebook: When it comes to running the ball, Baylor walks.

Paul Strelow, Columbia State: Almost $50,000 has been raised in two weeks to help Clemson cornerback Ray Ray McElrathbey raise his 11-year-old brother, Fahmarr.

Columnists' Corner

Pete DiPrimio, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel: With Purdue out of the way, Notre Dame's schedule now serves up six likely wins.

Jeff Haney, Las Vegas Sun: It's always important to know who to bet and who to avoid at the betting window.

Dave Dye, Detroit News: With fan rage off the charts at Michigan State, coach John L. Smith is feeling the heat.

Curt McKeever, Lincoln Star Journal: Saturday's games may go a long way in shaking out the Big 12 race.

Tommy Hicks, Mobile Press-Register: It's the biggest week of the season in the SEC, but no game is bigger than Louisiana State-Florida.

Ray McNulty, Treasure Coast Palm: Can Miami find a better coach than Larry Coker? Probably. But it's far from a sure thing.

Now John L. Smith Is Slapping Himself

OK now. Michigan State is stunned at East Lansing by Illinois, and Spartan coach John L. Smith slaps himself during the postgame press conference after talking about the Fighting Illini trying to plant the flag in Spartan Stadium. Speculation is that "Coach Slappy" did this as a jab at Notre Dame counterpart Crewcut Charlie Weis, who said he was slapped by a Spartan player during the Fighting Irish's 40-37 victory over Sparty on Sept. 23. Frankly, we're not sure what the heck is going on with Smith or his team outside of a total collapse. We can only wait until Mike Valenti of the Sports Inferno puts this in terms we can understand later on Monday. Thanks to AOL's NCAA Fanhouse for this find.

Let's Hope There's No Chance of Sprinkles

Florida State's band, the Marching Chiefs, won't be able to attend Thursday night's game at North Carolina State. Some problem about missing class. Now the football team, well, it really has no class. But this does create a bit of a dilemma: How will the Seminoles function without those War Chants started by the Marching Chiefs? Turns out Florida State officials have invited the North Carolina Central Marching Sound Machine to serve as the stadium band for the Seminoles. We're sure they'll do a fine job, but we want to warn members about those sprinkles from Wolfpack students. Thanks to Fan Blogs for this!

Reporters' Notebooks

Thayer Evans, New York Times: Is the Atlantic Coast Conference really that bad? Five of the league's teams are ranked in the top 25. Plus a look at the week ahead (registration).

Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times: Is it a crime for Southern Mississippi to be playing consecutive Tuesday games on the road? How about all that missed class time?

John Henderson, Denver Post: That stumble by Texas Christian against Brigham Young could have cost the Mountain West a $14 million payday.

Mark Blaudschun, Boston Globe: Is there any doubt that Ohio State is the team to beat? No ranked teams are on the Buckeyes' schedule until the Nov. 18 game against Michigan in Columbus.

Christa Turner, Ledger-Enquirer: Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said South Carolina was not involved in the theft of a laptop last week that contained the Tigers' offensive gameplan for the matchup against the Gamecocks.

Displaced Trojan: There is plenty of East Coast bias when it comes to USC, but how about that bias out of Berkeley?

Time to Update the Ed Orgeron Project

We periodically check in on developments in Oxford, where Mississippi Madman Ed Orgeron was brought in to straighten out a program that was falling on hard times under David Cutcliffe. Mississippi officials decided to fire Cutcliffe in 2004 despite a 44-29 record and four bowl appearances in six seasons. Enter the Madman, who arrived after a successful stint as an assistant at USC. So things certainly have gotten better now, haven't they? Despite the Rebels putting up a fight Saturday against Georgia in a 14-9 loss, the Madman has yet to come up with a winning formula. His team is 1-4 and he has a 4-12 record overall, including 1-9 in Southeastern Conference games. Maybe it comes as no surprise that Ole Miss fans — at least some of them — wish Cutcliffe had remained the coach (registration).

Week 6

As Commander Cody once said, "I've never met a winner who didn't bet." So what are we trying to tell you? Simple. There's still time to get Doc's Sports Journal, a 120-page schedule booklet that will guide you through the twists and turns of the season. You can get a copy by clicking here. Now Doc's sponsors our weekly annoucement of the lines, and we have some terrific games this week. The action begins Tuesday with Southern Mississippi at Tulsa. On Wednesday, Central Florida travels to Marshall. Thursday brings Florida State at North Carolina State and Texas Christian at Utah. On Friday, Louisville plays Middle Tennessee State. Try these games for Saturday: Louisiana State at Florida; Arkansas at Auburn; Washington at USC; Nebraska at Iowa State; Missouri at Texas Tech; Tennessee at Georgia; Oregon at California and, of course, Oklahoma and Texas. Get all the lines by clicking here. Doc's is full of information, so give them a visit.

Anchors Aweigh

Impressive shots of Navy-Marine Corps Stadium sent to us by Trent. The shots were taken during the Tulsa-Navy game, won by the Golden Hurricane, 24-23, in overtime on Sept. 23. Check out all the Midshipmen bunched together in the top photo. Difficult to believe, but Navy has only two home games remaining. Three of its final seven games are at neutral sites, including the Oct. 28 game against Notre Dame, which will be played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. On Saturday, Navy begins defense of the Commander in Chief's trophy with a game at Air Force.

Child's Play for UCLA

Some exceptional shots from UCLA's 31-0 victory over Stanford from reader Pam. They certainly have some cute kids running around the Rose Bowl. And given the fact this game was a snoozer, especially after Bruins turned a 7-0 score at halftime and made it a rout, we can see why one's attention might shift from the field and to the stands. ... And while we are at it, if you have any shots you want to share, fire them to us. The address: dawizofodds (at) aol.com.

Seven Years of College Down the Drain ...

If those plans for the world party tour ever come to fruition, the Wiz would like to roll Toomer's Corner. The locals in Auburn had at it Thursday night after the Tigers went on the road and took care of business with a 24-17 victory over South Carolina. There definitely looks like potential for trouble here, and we wouldn't have it any other way! Thanks to Greg for coming through with the shots! ... Now some Tiger fans are worried the close game will haunt them in the polls, but it's too early for concern.

For Sale: Property in East Lansing

It took 60 minutes, but Michigan State finally showed some fight Saturday against Illinois. Unfortunately for the Spartans, the game was over and Illinois had won, 23-20. The Fighting Illini, in a practice that has been banned by the Big Ten, tried to claim Spartan Stadium as their own by planting the Illinois flag at the 50. Of course, a fracas erupted and now expect a reprimand and possible suspension of players. In a comment we find interesting, Michigan State linebacker David Herron said: "They tried to plant their flag in the middle of the field. We're not going to take that. You won. Just take it." How soon they forget. Michigan State started this practice last year. After an overtime win at Notre Dame, Spartan players planted their flag at midfield. Minnesota players did the same three weeks later after winning at Michigan. Then conference commissioner Jim Delany banned the action. ... Although Illinois players certainly should act like they've been there before, the reality is they haven't. The Illini last won a Big Ten game in 2004, so a majority of the roster had never experienced a conference victory. As for Michigan State, the freefall has started and coach John L. Smith could become a casualty. Have Smith and his staff have already lost the team? "We can't get them to go," he said. ... More bad news: Next up for Sparty is Michigan at the Big House. The following week, No. 1 Ohio State comes to Spartan Stadium. Realtors in East Lansing get ready. There could be some property to move.

Columnists' Corner

Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune: Iowa never had a chance. No. 1 Ohio State scored early and scored often to rout the Hawkeyes.

Patrick Reusse, Star Tribune: "I took 41 bets from Twin Citians," a local entrepreneur said. "And I didn't get one dime on the Gophers. Please. I need another consolation touchdown."

Greg Hansen, Arizona Daily Star: Arizona, which has rushed for minus-23 yards the past two games, might as well call it a season and begin preparing for 2007.

John Canzano, Oregonian: After being routed by California and Oregon the past two weeks, Arizona State defensive lineman David Smith says the Bears are the superior team. "Oregon is so much about trickery and misdirection. Cal is just plain physical. It's not even close."

Brian Murphy, Idaho Statesman: After a 36-3 dismembering of Utah, Boise State is firmly in the BCS discussion.

Rick Bozich, Louisville Courier-Journal: His team can't block and it can't tackle, so why did Indiana coach Terry Hoeppner race back for this?

Scott Rabalais, Baton Rouge Advocate: One thing is clear for Louisiana State: The Tigers need to work on their running game.

Joe Biddle, Tennessean: Vanderbilt routed Temple, but who doesn't rout Temple? It was an unimpressive effort for the Commodores.