Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: An over-the-shoulder look at the past weekend, with a little help from Renee Zellweger's marriage counselor (subscription, so story is in comments tab).
Blair Kerkhoof, Kansas City Star: How the mighty have fallen. For the first time since Nov. 3, 1969, the Associated Press rankings do not include Nebraska or Oklahoma (registration required).
Dave Dye, Detroit News: Win a big game, lose the next one. Michigan State seems to have this drill down.
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The Hlist
Mike Hlas
Cedar Rapids Gazette
First downs
1. Big Ten Commandment: Who’s that Midwest conference with a 27-5 record against nonconference foes?
Forget that the Big Ten is 1-5 against teams presently in the Top 25. Michigan State held up the league’s honor Saturday with its 44-41 overtime win over Notre Dame.
Several Spartan players planted an MSU flag at midfield of Notre Dame Stadium after the game. It was, after all, Michigan State’s fifth straight win in South Bend.
Said ex-Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, now a blabbering studio analyst on ESPN: ‘‘The next flag they put there will be a white one.’’
Holtz knows about quitting. He bolted Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina shortly before their football programs were put on NCAA probation for violations during his tenures there.
2. Drews cruise: The best Big Ten quarterback so far this season is named Drew.
That’s Michigan State’s Drew Stanton, the league’s Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for 375 yards of offense against Notre Dame.
‘‘We’re going to have something to say in the Big Ten,’’ Stanton said.
Oh, Iowa’s Drew Tate was also sharp in completing 15 of 18 passes for 245 yards and two scores against Northern Iowa. Stanton still has winning to do to supplant Tate as the first-team All-Big Ten QB.
Then there’s UCLA’s Drew Olson, who passed for 314 yards and three TDs in a 41-24 win over Oklahoma. Oh, UCLA running back Maurice Drew added 69 rushing yards and a TD on 15 carries.
3. Same old Sanders: This sounds exactly like the Bob Sanders we knew at Iowa.
The third-year Indianapolis Colts safety was listed as questionable last week for the Colts’ game at Jacksonville because he suffered a concussion the previous game at Baltimore. Then he injured his leg at practice Friday while trying to make an interception and spent the rest of the session on the sideline.
‘‘I’m cool, man,’’ Sanders said after the practice.
That, he was. He made a team-high 11 tackles against the Jaguars and broke up a pass to Jimmy Smith in the end zone on the Jaguars’ final play, with the Colts up 10-3.
4. Real warrior: He hasn’t made a tackle this season and may not Friday night against Iowa State. But Army freshman walk-on cornerback Heritier Diakabana is as tough as they come in college football though he stands just 5-foot-6 and weighs 171 pounds.
Sixteen months ago, Diakabana was a private with an Army Cavalry Division in Iraq. His platoon was under a Baghdad bridge when a rocket-powered grenade was fired at it. Diakabana’s shoulder and tricep were ripped open by flying shrapnel. A week later, he was given a Purple Heart. ‘‘Having it is a reminder to make the most of your days,’’ Diakabana said. ‘‘It’s a reminder that the world can end in an instant.’’ Today he is a plebe at West Point. He wants to play football, wants to play in the Army-Navy game. Here’s hoping he does.
Fumbles
1. What the . . .?: Stanford squandered a 17-0 lead and lost, 20-17, to UC-Davis, a program transitioning from Division II to I-AA. UC-Davis has 35 scholarship players. It began this season with losses to Portland State and New Hampshire. But it beat a Pac-10 team that lost by just 31-28 to USC last year. ‘‘It was embarrassing,’’ Stanford Coach Walt Harris said. The Hlist’s reply: ‘‘Duh.’’
2. Grounded Hogs: Last week, Arkansas cornerback Michael Coe was irked that No. 1 USC was a 30-point favorite over his Razorbacks. ‘‘I guess it’s kind of disrespectful when you think about it, that somebody thinks that low of you,’’ Coe said. ‘‘That’s a pretty good slap in the face.’’ The real slap came on the field at the L.A. Coliseum. USC averaged a ridiculous 30.8 yards per play in the first quarter, had 21 points in the first six minutes, and amassed 736 yards in its 70-17 butchering of the Hogs. ‘‘We will play teams a lot better than Arkansas,’’ USC offensive lineman Winston Justice said. Like who, Stanford?
3. Eighty isn’t enough: With a 56-7 lead over I-AA Sam Houston State midway through the third quarter, Texas Tech kicked a 20-yard field goal. With a 59-7 lead, Tech missed a 45-yarder. No worries. Mike Leach’s Red Raiders ripped off three more touchdowns for an 80-21 win. ‘‘I think if we play well and we capitalize on every drive, we can score 100 points,’’ Tech quarterback Cody Hodges said. ‘‘If we can do it, we need to do it next week.’’ The Red Raiders play I-AA Indiana State Saturday. The Sycamores are 0-3, including a 42-10 loss to NAIA school St. Francis (Ind.) Sept. 10. Good luck to Tech. Running up a hundy is a noble goal.
4. Voter fraud: The USA Today coaches’ poll is always good for a laugh.
It has Michigan 13th, Notre Dame 18th, Michigan State 22nd. Notre Dame won at Michigan. Michigan State won at Notre Dame.
It has Iowa 21st and Iowa State unranked. The Cyclones beat the Hawkeyes, 23-3.
That poll counts toward determining the two teams in the BCS’ title game. No one knows why.
From the papers
‘‘Certainly, somewhere in the world of Division I-A BCS-level football, there is room for a game with Ball State. But not at Auburn. Not after a 13-0 run last season.’’ — Doug Segrest of the Birmingham News on the Tigers’ 63-3 win over Ball State Saturday.
The Tigers scored on all nine of their possessions against the team that lost 56-0 at Iowa two weeks earlier.
Final word
‘‘You may think I’m crazy for saying this, but he is a pleasure to coach,’’ — Philadelphia Eagles Coach Andy Reid on Terrell Owens, who blew up the San Francisco 49ers for 143 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the Eagles’ 42-3 rout.
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