29 October 2008 Morning Headlines

Florida State is a year ahead of schedule: When I went to visit Florida State this summer, the conventional wisdom in Tallahassee was that 2008 was the setup year for making a serious run at the ACC championship in 2009. But Florida State has finally found its identity with a tough, physical running game and another good defense built by Mickey Andrews. Georgia Tech will have its hands full with the Seminoles on Saturday. If Florida State wins the ACC championship and Penn State slips into the BCS title game, do Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno walk out the door together? Not a chance. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Vanderbilt’s hot start on the football field generated a lot of buzz among members of its upcoming recruiting class, and a recent three-game slide doesn’t appear to be shaking the players’ commitments. Eleven high school seniors have verbally committed to join Vanderbilt in 2009 — most before the team’s five-game season-opening win streak. Regardless of the final standings, at least some of the commitments said they look at Vanderbilt’s early performance as an indication of the Commodores’ potential. – Tennessean

Say it with me: Georgia-Florida IS ABSOLUTELY a BCS elimination game: I’ve had some people take issue with my statement that Saturday’s showdown between No. 6 Georgia and No. 8 Florida is a BCS elimination game. “But Tony,” they plead, “Look what happened to LSU last year!” Yes, LSU did get into the national championship game with two losses (11-2) last season. But understand that the stars had to be perfectly aligned for LSU. No. 1 and No. 2 both had to lose on Championship Saturday and LSU had to jump from No. 7 to No. 2. When you have five undefeated teams in the BCS Top 10 and three SEC teams in the top eight with one or no losses on Nov. 1, the odds are against the SEC champion having two losses and getting into the game. I know the loser of this game wants to hold out hope. But the fact is that the winner in Jacksonville stays in the BCS hunt and the loser starts making plans for the Outback Bowl. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With Alabama seeming to have the ability to control its own destiny at the No. 2 spot now, head coach Nick Saban still lobbies for a plus-1 BCS system, a preference he has had for more than 10 years. “I’ve been an advocate of the plus-1 system since 1997 when Michigan and Nebraska had a situation where they couldn’t decide the national championship,” he said. “I feel that only having two teams sort of takes a lot of teams out of it.” Ever since that split championship, arguments frequently come up around the country about when the system will change to some type of playoff format. “In most situations where you’ve had issues, they would have been resolved (with a plus-1),” Saban said. “It usually involves three teams, maybe four, and I think that would have resolved it.” – Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

The same scenario exists for the football program: Joe Tiller will retire after this season, his 12th, and current offensive line coach Danny Hope will step in. But Tiller doesn’t think being what Keady called a “lame duck” coach has hurt his ability to motivate players. Keady told the Lafayette Journal & Courier players “know they don’t have to listen to you the next year. It’s tough.” Tiller said it’s common for underclassmen to think about their future with a program. But he’s still the one making decisions, overseeing practices and gathering the team to talk each week. He thinks his message is being received. The Boilers are 2-6 overall, 0-4 Big Ten. “If it’s overt and I see it’s disruptive, then it concerns me,” Tiller said. “But I haven’t seen that in our team to date.” – Journal-Gazette

The statistics show LSU has slid in defense this season, and Coach Les Miles does not want his coordinators talking about it. Miles would not allow co-defensive coordinators Doug Mallory and Bradley Dale Peveto to speak with reporters this week about the team’s defense, which is no longer the toughest in the state, according to NCAA statistics that put the Tigers behind Tulane in total defense. Mallory and Peveto have become flash points for criticism this season as No. 15 LSU (5-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) has slipped to ninth in the league in total defense and allowed more than 50 points twice in a season for the first time in school history. Web sites devoted to LSU football are brimming with solutions to the problem and suggesting candidates for Mallory’s and Peveto’s replacements. Miles promoted the two to co-coordinator positions after Bo Pelini took the head coaching job at Nebraska after last season, and each retained his previous job as a position coach — Peveto with linebackers and Mallory with the secondary. Mallory has been with Miles since 2001, when he joined the staff at Oklahoma State, while Peveto came to LSU from Middle Tennessee for the 2005 season. – Times-Picayune

Florida State turned down a proposed game against the University of South Florida to be played in Jacksonville next season, NoleInsider.com reported. USF’s 2009 schedule already is completed, but the Bulls could have moved a non-conference game to make room for FSU. Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett told The Tampa Tribune this summer that he wants USF for a future neutral-site game in Jacksonville. That remains a possibility, but it won’t be next season against the Seminoles. FSU coach Bobby Bowden told NoleInsider.com that FSU officials spoke with USF and Florida Atlantic about a game next season. FSU wasn’t interested in playing USF, and FAU had a scheduling conflict. – Tampa Tribune

When Julio Jones arrived on the University of Alabama campus this summer, people knew, more or less, what to expect. They just didn’t know how much. Now, eight games into the season, it’s probably a fair time to assess Jones — and he measures up very well indeed. His numbers so far are very good — not off-the-charts good, but more than respectable. He leads the team, and ranks in the Top 10 in the SEC, in receptions (28) and receiving yards (444). On a team that earns its living by running the football, those are very good numbers. It could even be argued that Jones, like defensive newcomer Terrence Cody, has an impact that transcends his numbers. By forcing the defense to devote resources in the effort to stop him, Jones in fact facilitates the running attack that has been so successful for the Crimson Tide. It’s a vintage year for freshman wide receivers nationally, but Jones merits a place alongside DeAndre Brown at Southern Miss, A,J, Green at Georgia and Michael Floyd at Notre Dame. – Tuscaloosa News

Ole Miss football players are excited about the opportunity in the palms of their hands while new coach Houston Nutt points them toward what he hopes will be a “November to remember.” It’s an unusual situation these days, looking at the SEC standings and seeing Ole Miss in a third-place tie in the West. To an outsider the excitement over a 4-4 record, 2-3 in the league, might appear to be a celebration of mediocrity. Folks around these zip codes remember four consecutive “agonizing autumns” and know it’s something different. It’s a celebration of growth and opportunity. Sometimes special seasons come about when the improving team is matched against the transitioning team. When Mississippi State won the West in 1998, neither Alabama, LSU nor Auburn had a winning record in conference play. The Rebels face a similar situation with their remaining schedule. Auburn and LSU aren’t having their typical elite seasons. Ole Miss starts November with Auburn Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The Tigers are having trouble finding the end zone, and their run defense is average by Auburn standards. “Don’t tell me they’re struggling, I don’t want to hear that,” Nutt said. “I’ve seen them go. I’ve seen them have breakout games.” – Daily Journal

It’s a given that Florida players are trying to use last year’s famous/infamous Georgia celebration as a source of extra energy and motivation for Saturday’s showdown in Jacksonville. “Yeah, they probably are,” Georgia tailback Knowshon Moreno said Tuesday. “But, you know, it’s not going to help them win the game.” Winning the game, he said, will come down to execution. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution

As of today, we have little evidence that Weis is a better college football coach than Willingham. Notre Dame fans are repeating the same mistake they made in 2005 when the school overpaid for Weis. They’re turning conceited based on a glossy record compiled against weak competition. San Diego State, Michigan, Purdue, Stanford and Washington — ND’s victims — have a combined record of 9-32. Only Stanford, 4-4, has more than two victories. I’m not saying that the Irish haven’t made progress. Hell, a year ago the Great Weis Hope finished 3-9 and lost back-to-back games to Navy and Air Force. Although, if you listen to Notre Dame fans, those losses, like all ND losses under Weis, were a byproduct of Weis having to play with Willingham’s pathetic recruits. You know, Navy and Air Force routinely pluck four- and five-star recruits from across the country. A great coaching mind like Weis’ couldn’t be expected to overcome ND’s obvious talent deficiency against the service academies. – Fox Sports

CBS College Sports Network will formally announce today that, having gotten a one-time waiver of the NCAA rule banning coaches from wearing news media mikes, it will listen in on naval operations Saturday by miking Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo (nee-uh-mah-tuh-lo’-luh) in the team’s home game with Temple. The first-year Navy coach, and first Samoan head coach in college football, says he “didn’t know what to think” when he first heard the idea: “We’re in unchartered waters. From a recruiting standpoint, you always want exposure. And once my adrenaline gets going, I don’t know if I’ll think about it.” – USA Today

USC tailback C.J. Gable is not going to cry about it. The sophomore from Sylmar said so repeatedly Tuesday while expressing frustration about the Trojans’ tailback rotation. After rushing for 109 yards and three touchdowns in 16 carries against Washington State, Gable got only five carries in USC’s victory over Arizona last week. “I’m angry and I don’t understand, but I’m not going to cry about it,” Gable said. – Los Angeles Times

With a win, Georgia can and SHOULD jump over Southern Cal: I know the human pollsters just love Southern Cal, which is ranked No. 5 in the BCS Standings. But if No. 6 Georgia can beat No. 8 Florida on Saturday, the Bulldogs have a real chance to jump over the Trojans into the No. 5 spot. By beating LSU and Florida in consecutive weeks, the Bulldogs should pick up some votes from the humans. The computers will certainly smile on Georgia if it beats Florida while frowning on Southern Cal, which has Washington (0-7) this week. Washington is a 43-point underdog whose coach just announced that he’s stepping down. No matter how badly the Trojans beat the Huskies, it won’t, and shouldn’t, help. If Florida beats Georgia and No. 7 Texas Tech loses to No. 1 Texas, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Gators jump over Southern Cal into the No. 5 spot. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Not only is the Gophers’ Tim Brewster the current favorite for Big Ten Conference coach of the year honors, he has to be considered, at this juncture, as a national coach of the year candidate. Brewster’s Minnesota team finished 1-11 in his first season last year but has rebounded to 7-1 this year and is favored against Northwestern in Saturday’s homecoming game in the Metrodome. There is a College Football Hall of Fame voting Web site (www.coachoftheyear.com) on which fans will have 20 percent input, media 25 percent and hall of fame voters 55 percent. – Pioneer Press

A year ago Missouri WR Jeremy Maclin caught 80 passes for 1,055 yards in 14 games. This season Maclin has — in eight games — caught 58 passes for 800 yards. If he maintains his current all-purpose average, Maclin will again top 2,700 yards if MU plays in the Big 12 championship game and a bowl game. His average may be about to jump. Of Missouri’s final four opponents — Baylor, Kansas State, Iowa State and Kansas — in the regular season, Baylor is the highest ranked in total defense at No. 7 in the Big 12. – Kansas City Star

With Alabama seeming to have the ability to control its own destiny at the No. 2 spot now, head coach Nick Saban still lobbies for a plus-1 BCS system, a preference he has had for more than 10 years. “I’ve been an advocate of the plus-1 system since 1997 when Michigan and Nebraska had a situation where they couldn’t decide the national championship,” he said. “I feel that only having two teams sort of takes a lot of teams out of it.” – Ledger-Enquirer

When Mike Teel arrived at his apartment late Saturday night after Rutgers returned from Pittsburgh, he was able to do something he hasn’t done for too many weeks: Tune in to the college football highlights on ESPN. For one of the few times this season, he actually wanted the TV on for the reminders of what it would bring. “It’s definitely easier to watch football on Saturday night, to watch the highlights, when you know there will be some highlights on and they will be good ones,” Teel said. “For the first six weeks of the season, I’d kind of just go home and leave my TV off and just hang out. This time I was able to turn on the TV and I wanted to watch what they said about us.” – Newark Star-Ledger

In the aftermath of Marshall’s 23-21 road loss to Alabama-Birmingham, a rock-bottom result against a cellar-dwelling cupcake, Coach Mark Snyder played the role of mother hen to his football players the past 10 days. He gathered them under his wings and shielded them from a tsunami of negativity in which fans and media members alike questioned their ability and demanded his firing. He knew they had to weather the storm and remain positive throughout it. Otherwise, losing the rest of their games could have become a possibility. Perhaps more important than any other instruction he gave, he told them not to read the newspapers or visit the message boards. In other words, “don’t listen to none of that nonsense,” senior tailback Chubb Small said. Small and his teammates returned the favor Tuesday night, when Marshall rolled to a 37-23 home win over Houston that protected Snyder from another week of constant criticism. Both Conference USA teams walked off the field with 4-4 overall records and 3-1 league marks. The victory simultaneously snapped the Thundering Herd’s three-game losing streak and the Cougars’ three-game winning streak. – Daily Mail

A long, dismal football season at Washington State received a needed jolt of energy and enthusiasm Tuesday when coach Paul Wulff announced that Pullman native J.T. Levenseller will make his college debut Saturday at Stanford. Levenseller, the son of WSU receivers coach (and former Cougars standout) Mike Levenseller, practically grew up at Martin Stadium. The Cougars have firmly established themselves as one of the worst teams in Pac-10 history, but you’d never know it from looking at the ear-to-ear grin the younger Levenseller was sporting after practice Tuesday. “It’s always what I wanted to do (play for WSU),” Levenseller said. “It’s finally here. It’s kind of surreal right now.” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Florida State WR Bert Reed stayed home to watch the first half of his team’s victory against Virginia Tech and then Reed watched the second half from a skybox at Doak Campbell Stadium. The redshirt freshman had been suspended one game for missing too many classes but he will return for the Seminoles’ game on Saturday at Georgia Tech. Reed said on Tuesday that his suspension was a “big-time wakeup call.” – Orlando Sentinel

At 2-6 and in last place in the Big Ten as the conference’s lone winless team, the Boilermakers are staring squarely at the prospect of their second losing season under Tiller, their second without playing in a bowl game. In a noteworthy juxtaposition, this week they play fellow 2-6 Michigan, in grave danger of seeing a streak of 33 straight bowl appearances come to a screeching halt. For each team, a solitary loss means official elimination from postseason consideration. Even at 6-6, the outlook isn’t rosy, with a distinct possibility each team’s fate already has been decided. – Times-Tribune

At Georgia Tech this week, Paul Johnson is hoping his offense will stay out of third-and-long situations. At Florida State, defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews is wondering how he can get the Jackets into third-and-long. Therein may lie the fate of Saturday’s game between Tech and Florida State. The Seminole defense’s third-down conversion percentage is an astonishing 17.4 percent, best in Division I-A. By comparison, Tech’s defense allows 39.5 percent. “I don’t remember anybody being that good,” Johnson said Tuesday. “That statistic jumps off the page at you.” – Atlanta-Journal-Constitution

Florida coach Urban Meyer walked past junior linebacker Brandon Spikes toward the locker room Tuesday evening, and muttered words of caution to his star middle linebacker as Spikes spoke with reporters. “Be careful,” Meyer said. “Be careful.” Spikes isn’t talking much in public these days, after he got in a little hot water last month when he said Tennessee “quit playing” in a game a year ago. When asked Tuesday about stopping Georgia tailback Knowshon Moreno in this weekend’s showdown in Jacksonville, he replied, “No comment.” He also says “No comment” about the touchdown celebration, his motivation for this weekend, and pretty much any topic concerning the Bulldogs. “He’s got a lot on his mind,” Meyer said Tuesday to reporters. “And talking to you guys ain’t one of them, all due respect.” Meyer issued the gag order on Spikes because he doesn’t want any sort of bulletin board material for this week’s game, in which the winner will likely earn a spot in December’s SEC Championship Game. – Palm Beach Post

Qualifying for a bowl game was the least of Auburn’s worries before the season started. Unexpected losses to Vanderbilt and Arkansas, however have sent shockwaves, as well as a reality check, through The Plains. With two top-10 teams remaining on the schedule, the Ole Miss game has taken on extra significance, whether Auburn personnel want to refer to them as “must-win” or not. “It’s definitely important because everybody wants to go to a bowl,” quarterback Kodi Burns said. “The seniors definitely want to go to a bowl. I don’t know when the last time Auburn hasn’t been to a bowl game, so we definitely want to go to a bowl game, and this game is very important.” Defensive end Antonio Coleman said the defense is seeking the swagger it had when the season started. He thinks this game is critical in Auburn’s stretch run. “I think this is the key to us finishing strong,” he said. “It’s a real important game looking towards any kind of bowl berth, anything having to do with that.” – Times-Daily

Iowa has beaten Illinois five straight times, but Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz doesn’t see revenge as the Illini’s motivation when the teams meet Saturday: “It falls in the category of pep talks. They might be a factor for the first two minutes of the game, but you have to play 60.” – Chicago Tribune

Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio came to the defense of backup quarterback Kirk Cousins and at least one other Spartan who he said were wrongly implicated by two news agencies in connection with an on-going criminal investigation. At his regular weekly press conference held at Spartan Stadium Dantonio made an unusual, but strongly worded, public rebuttal to a television report made by Detroit News columnist Rob Parker. Dantonio took issue with a remark Parker made over the weekend on WDIV-Detroit linking the former Holland Christian High School quarterback to an off-campus fight that broke out, allegedly between MSU football players and hockey players, in the early hours of Oct. 19, not long after the Spartans had lost on the football field to Ohio State. Michigan State sophomore defensesman A.J. Sturges was hospitalized for two days while being treated for head injuries that resulted from the alleged the altercation. The Ingham County prosecutor’s office is waiting for the results of the East Lansing police investigation. — MLive.com

Texas has impressed me: The Longhorns and Colt McCoy still haven’t faced a really good defense. In fact, the best defense in the Big 12 belongs to Texas, and it’s ranked No 43. But you have to be impressed after watching Texas beat No. 1 (at the time) Oklahoma, No. 11 Missouri, and No. 7 Oklahoma State on consecutive weeks. Now Texas has to go on the road to face No. 8 Texas Tech (8-0). If Texas wins that will be four victories over four teams ranked in the Top 11 on four consecutive Saturdays. Three of the four will have been undefeated at the time that Texas won. I don’t think they keep records on this but it must be one of the best four-week performances ever by a team. – Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Former state Rep. John Widowfiel was fined $2,000 yesterday after pleading guilty to t o charges related to his scalping of Ohio State Universit football tickets purchased with campaign money. Widowfield did not speak during the brief hearing except to enter guilty pleas to charges of failing to tell the public about income from the ticket sales on his financial-disclosure forms, and to converting campaign funds to personal use. –Columbus Dispatch