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Friday, November 16, 2007
Tony’s top Saturday storylines
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The AJC’s viewer’s guide to the day in college football
Vols aim at East
For the second consecutive week Tennessee (7-3, 4-2) faces an elimination game in the SEC East. This time it’s against Vanderbilt (5-5, 2-5), and the stakes are clear. If Tennessee loses Saturday at home, where it’s 6-0 this season, and Georgia beats Kentucky, the Bulldogs go to the SEC championship game. If Tennessee beats the Commodores, it would go to Atlanta with a win on Nov. 24 at Kentucky.
Coach Phillip Fulmer said he was unusually blunt with his players this week.
“I told them you can be smart or you can be stupid; you can be mature or you can be immature,” Fulmer said. “They have been a pretty good listening football team for most of the year.”
Croom happy but not satisfied
With wins over Auburn, Kentucky and Alabama this season, you might think that Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom is satisfied with his team (6-4, 3-3). You can think that, but you’d be wrong.
In his fourth season, Croom has turned a corner in Starkville. His team is knocking on the door to respectability. Now they want to kick the sucker down by beating Arkansas Saturday and Ole Miss on Friday in Starkville to finish 8-4.
“Nobody is going to give us anything. We have to work for it,” Croom said.
LSU aims to stay on top vs. Ole Miss
Once upon a time, the LSU-Ole Miss rivalry was one of the best in Southern college football. Billy Cannon’s 89-yard punt return against Ole Miss in 1959 is one of a handful of moments that define the sport.
There will be no such moment Saturday.
LSU (9-1, 5-1) is back at No. 1 in the BCS standings and has already locked up a spot in the SEC championship game. What’s at stake today against Ole Miss (3-7, 0-6) and Friday against Arkansas is the opportunity to play for the BCS national championship.
“We understand that we will get their best shot, and we look forward to that,” LSU coach Les Miles said.
Auburn looms for Crimson Tide
It’s been a tough two weeks for Alabama (6-4, 4-3). On Nov. 3, the Crimson Tide was playing for first place in the SEC West but lost a heartbreaker to No. 1 LSU (41-34). Last week, Alabama made too many mistakes and lost in an upset at Mississippi State (17-12). Saturday is Senior Day in Tuscaloosa as Alabama faces Louisiana-Monroe. But don’t kid yourself. Today’s game is merely the tuneup for the biggest game of the year next Saturday at Auburn.
“As a team, we need to look forward. We don’t need to look in the rearview mirror,” coach Nick Saban said. “We have a two-game season coming up with Louisiana-Monroe and our next game.”
Tebow back in Heisman hunt?
The only question about Saturday’s game between Florida (7-3, 5-3) and Florida Atlantic is this: At the end of the day, what will Tim Tebow’s numbers be?
The sophomore quarterback put himself right back into the Heisman Trophy race last week with seven touchdowns (five running, two passing) and 524 yards of offense in a 51-31 win over South Carolina.
Coach Urban Meyer said that he wouldn’t leave Tebow in the game to pad his stats and increase his Heisman chances.
Bowden back in familiar place
This summer Clemson coach Tommy Bowden joked about his perennial occupancy on college football’s hot seat.
“Been here nine years. On the hot seat about seven. That seems about right,” Bowden said.
Bowden was back on that hot seat when Clemson lost to Georgia Tech (13-3) and Virginia Tech (41-23) and were 2-2 in the ACC in mid-October.
But if Clemson (8-2, 5-2) can beat Boston College (8-2, 4-2) Saturday night at Death Valley, the Tigers will go to the ACC championship game.
“We’ve seen how quickly a season can change in your favor,” Bowden said. “It can turn back the other way just as quickly.”
Va. Tech says Miami is still Miami
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer knows that his team (8-2, 5-1) is in a weird place Saturday against Miami (5-5, 2-4) in Blacksburg. Miami is coming off one of the worst performances in school history — a 48-0 loss to Virginia. Even if Virginia Tech loses, it will still go to the ACC championship game if it beats Virginia (9-2, 6-1) next week.
Beamer said that despite last week’s game, Miami is still Miami.
“They are just a scary, talented football team,” Beamer said.
ND ghosts worry Duke’s coach
When you’re 1-9, you’ll take anything to salvage a season. That is what Duke (1-9, 0-7) is facing Saturday when it goes to Notre Dame (1-9).
Duke coach Ted Roof entered this season on a 20-game losing streak, so his future in Durham is anything but secure. But he would certainly like this group of players to have at least one good memory of the 2007 season.
“We certainly have a lot of respect for their program, but I don’t want their past history to make any tackles or score any touchdowns,” Roof said. “I want our guys to focus on their assignments, not their great tradition.”
Terps, recruiting Bowden’s focus
Just when it appeared Florida State (6-4, 3-4) was getting things turned around, the Seminoles got spanked by Virginia Tech (40-21) on Saturday. But coach Bobby Bowden says his team has a lot of play for Saturday when it hosts Maryland (5-5, 2-4) on Senior Day at Doak Campbell Stadium.
“We need to win the ballgame and finish the season up strong and go out and recruit and get some more players,” Bowden said.
Maryland has won two of its past three games with Florida State.
The Big One a battle for Rose
Needless to say, last Saturday’s losses by Ohio State and Michigan have taken the bloom off Saturday’s game in Ann Arbor.
But it’s still Ohio State-Michigan, and a Big Ten championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl are on the line. And for Michigan (8-3, 6-1 Big Ten), which started the season with a loss to Appalachian State, a trip to the Rose Bowl would be sweet.
“I’m very proud of the way this team has fought and competed,” Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. “They have put themselves into a position where they are not only playing for the greatest rivalry in sport, they’re playing for a championship. They’re playing for the Rose Bowl.”
Big 12 teams get help from Arizona
There’s no doubt Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops called his brother, Mike, late Thursday to say two things: Congratulations and thanks, Bro.
Arizona’s 34-24 upset of No. 2 Oregon marked the fifth No. 2 team in seven weeks to go down. It also opened the door for the Big 12 champion to reach the BCS championship game.
No. 3 Kansas (10-0) and No. 5 Missouri (9-1) will meet next Saturday in Kansas City. If No. 4 Oklahoma (9-1) wins at Texas Tech Saturday and clinches the South Division, the Sooners will play the Kansas-Missouri winner for the Big 12 championship on Dec. 1.
If LSU beats Ole Miss Saturday, those three Big 12 teams will be ranked 2-3-4 in the new BCS standings. The winner of their two-week round robin will likely be no worse than No. 2 when the BCS title game is set on Dec. 2.
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The Fearless Friday Forecast
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Man, am I hurtin’ today.
It was just a brutal week for your humble correspondent, who was 4-6.
I didn’t believe in the power of Georgia’s black jerseys.
I didn’t believe that Tennessee could stop Arkansas. I heard from a lot of you on that one. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong.
I told everybody that Alabama-Mississippi State would be close, but I didn’t believe it enough to pick the Bulldogs.
I believed Florida State had turned a corner as they went to Virginia Tech. Wrong.
I believed Kansas was due to get beat when they went to Okie State. Double wrong.
And finally, I knew Ohio State-Illinois would be close but I couldn’t make myself pull the trigger for the Zooker. Could have looked real smart if I only had a little guts.
Oh well. We’ll try to do better this time as we present, with as much humility as possible, our Fearless Friday Forecast.
1. Kentucky at Georgia: Given my sterling track record last week, a lot of you have asked me to pick Kentucky, thereby guaranteeing a Georgia victory. Nice try. I will say this. Kentucky has never brought an offense to Sanford Stadium as good as this one. QB Andre Woodson is big time but it also looks like RB Rafael Little won’t be able to go. The problems for UK are on defense where Knowshon Moreno and Matt Stafford should be able to make some plays. Georgia beats UK and pulls like crazy for Vanderbilt against Tennessee. Georgia 35, Kentucky 24.
2. Vanderbilt at Tennessee: You guys are going to beat me up on this one because early in the week I said publicly liked Vanderbilt to pull off the upset. But after some research and a few phone calls, I’ve had a change of heart. Tennessee is 6-0 at home this season and the Vols know they must win or be eliminated from the SEC East race. Vanderbilt will play Tennessee tough because they almost always do under Bobby Johnson. But the Vols have gotten a little second wind and will make enough plays to pull away in the fourth quarter. Tennessee 24, Vanderbilt 17.
3. North Carolina at Georgia Tech: It’s important for the Yellow Jackets to finish 4-4 and not 3-5 in the ACC. I’ve said it all year and I’ll say it again. When No. 22 (Tashard Choice) is on the field, I like Georgia Tech against just about everybody they play. Will that be the case against Georgia? Come back next week and find out. Georgia Tech 24, North Carolina 14.
4. Mississippi State at Arkansas: This is a game that Houston Nutt really needs. A loss puts the Hogs at 2-5 in the SEC heading to LSU the day after Thanksgiving. The Hogs win at home, but I still think it is not going to end well for Nutt at Arkansas. Arkansas 17, Miss. State 14.
5. Boston College at Clemson: When the Tigers lost back-to-back games to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech a lot of people wrote Clemson-and coach Tommy Bowden-off. Now the Tigers need a victory in prime time to go to the ACC championship game. Thanks to Alpharetta QB Cullen Harper, Clemson will get it. Clemson 31, Boston College 20.
6. Miami at Virginia Tech: How many different ways can you say “embarrassing?” If Miami is going to lose 48-0 at home to Virginia, what in the world will happen when the Hurricanes got to Blacksburg, where the Hokies are in the race for the ACC Coastal title? This one has the potential to get really ugly. Virginia Tech 34, Miami 14.
7. Maryland at Florida State: Florida State QB Drew Weatherford got his bell rung last week in a loss to Virginia Tech. He is expected to be back for the Terps (5-5), who are coming off a 42-35 win over Boston College. Florida State (6-4, 3-4) needs this one to finish .500 in the ACC. Florida State 34, Maryland 24.
8. West Virginia at Cincinnati: West Virginia (8-1) is still in the BCS race (at No. 6) but the Mountaineers will not have an easy time against the Bearcats, who lead the nation in forcing turnovers (35) and have beaten South Florida and Connecticut in consecutive weeks. West Virginia has the edge with QB Pat White and RB Steve Slaton, but this will not be an easy game. West Virginia 24, Cincinnati 21.
9. Ohio State at Michigan: A funny thing happened during Ohio State’s march to the BCS championship game. The Buckeyes (10-1) lost to Illinois and so today they go to Ann Arbor needing a win to get to the Rose Bowl. Michigan (8-3), which lost to Wisconsin last week, has a chance to make history. If the Wolverines win, they will become the first team in history to go to the Rose Bowl after losing to Appalachian State. Michigan 17, Ohio State 16.
10. Oklahoma at Texas Tech: Oregon’s loss to Arizona Thursday night has thrown the door to the BCS wide open for the eventually Big 12 champion—Oklahoma, Missouri, or Kansas. The Sooners (9-1) now have a real shot of getting to New Orleans if they can win out. Getting to Lubbock and playing Texas Tech is never easy, especially when QB Graham Harrell (4,878 yards passing, 43 TD) is playing well, as he is right now. Oklahoma wins a scary game. Oklahoma 42, Texas Tech 35.
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