College Football - Football Betting

2005-10-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

Michigan Wolverines

Oct. 29---College Football---
Michigan 33 ... Northwestern 17---College Football---
Michigan started off the scoring on a one-yard Kevin Grady touchdown run, but it was CB Leon Hall who changed the game forcing and returning a Tyrell Sutton fumble 83 yard for a touchdown. Northwestern came back with a 62-yard touchdown pass to Mark Philmore, but the Wolverines kept on rolling with two Garrett Rivas field goals and a ten-yard touchdown pass to Mike Massey. Philmore caught a 34-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds to play, but that would be the Cats' final points. Rivas added two field goals in the fourth quarter.
Player of the game: Michigan CB Leon Hall made six tackles, forced a fumble and returned it 83 yards for a game-changing touchdown. Northwestern LB Tim McGarigle made 21 tackles with an interception.---College Football---
Stat Leaders: Northwestern - Passing: Brett Basanez, 26-49, 326 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Tyrell Sutton, 10-50. Receiving: Mark Philmore, 9-139, 2 TD---College Football---
Michigan - Passing: Chad Henne, 17-30, 174 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT---College Football---
Rushing: Jerome Jackson, 24-105. Receiving: Jason Avant, 5-67---College Football---
What to take away from this game: Michigan is playing with confidence and efficiency with the defense coming up with its best game of the year keeping the Northwestern offense under wraps. The Big Ten title is still a possibility by winning out and getting another loss from Wisconsin and Penn State (the two play next week). Chad Henne didn't have his best game, but the ground game made up for it with the offensive line beating up the Wildcat D line. Considering Mike Hart couldn't go, Jerome Jackson and Kevin Grady picked up the slack big time.---College Football---

Oct. 22---College Football---
Michigan 23 ... Iowa 20 OT---College Football---
Michigan's Jerome Jackson ran one yard for a score in overtime to break Iowa's 22-game home winning streak. The Hawkeyes forced overtime on a 32-yard field goal from Kyle Schlicher, and then took the lead on a 28-yard field goal. Chad Henne threw two touchdown passes with a brilliant catch and run from Steve Breaston for a 52-yard score for a 17-14 lead early in the fourth quarter. Iowa got two touchdown passes from Drew Tate in the first half. Iowa LBs Abdul Hodge and Chad Greenway combined for 36 tackles.
Player of the game: Michigan WR Jason Avant caught seven passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.---College Football---
Stat Leaders: Iowa - Passing: Drew Tate, 27-39, 288 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT---College Football---
Rushing: Albert Young, 30-153. Receiving: Scott Chandler, 8-90---College Football---
Michigan - Passing: Chad Henne, 14-21, 207 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT---College Football---
Rushing: Kevin Grady, 18-62. Receiving: Jason Avant, 7-105, 1 TD---College Football---
What to take away from this game: Just when it looked like Michigan was dead and buried in the Big Ten race, it got right back in it with two tough wins. With another Wisconsin and Penn State loss, Michigan's Big Ten title and BCS hopes are in its hands. The team could've let down after losing Mike Hart to an ankle injury and after the Hawkeyes were able to put the game in overtime, but QB Chad Henne played it cool late highlighted by a great pass to set up the touchdowns. The touchdown play from Steve Breaston might have been the breakout moment he has needed. ---College Football---
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Oct. 15
Michigan 27 ... Penn State 25---College Football---
Mario Manningham caught a ten-yard touchdown pass on a strike from Chad Henne with no time left on the clock to close out a wild fourth quarter. Down 10-3, Penn State came back with a four-yard Michael Robinson touchdown run, and then Alan Zemaitis scored on a 35-yard touchdown after ripping away the ball from Henne. The Nittany Lions got the two point conversion after a botched snap, but Manningham answered with a 33-yard touchdown catch followed up by a Mike Hart two-point conversion to tie it at 18. Michigan took the lead on a 47-yard Garrett Rivas field goal, but Penn State went on a 13-play, 81-yard touchdown drive finishing with a three-yard run from Robinson with :53 to play. A big kickoff return from Steve Breaston got the ball to the Michigan 47, and Henne was able to lead take the team 53 yards in eight plays for the win.---College Football---
Player of the game: Michigan QB Mario Manningham caught three passes for 49 yards and two touchdowns. ---College Football---
Stat Leaders: Penn State - Passing: Michael Robinson, 19-34, 239 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Tony Hunt, 14-102. Receiving: Derrick Williams, 6-59---College Football---
Michigan - Passing: Chad Henne, 21-36, 212 yds, 2 TD---College Football---
Rushing: Mike Hart, 23-108, 1 TD. Receiving: Jason Avant, 8-75---College Football---
What to take away from this game: Yeah, Chad Henne threw a perfect pass on a perfect play call to beat Penn State, but can you imagine the screaming if Michigan didn't win the game? Where were all the throws to the end zone before the final play? Oh well, a big win is a big win, and Mario Manningham is starting to look awfully Braylon Edwards-like in the way the team goes to him in the clutch and his ability to produce. On defense, Michigan showed, once again, that it can't handle running quarterbacks allowing 67 yards to Michael Robinson.
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Oct. 8
Minnesota 23 ... Michigan 20---College Football---
Minnesota won the Little Brown Jug for the first time since 1986 when Jason Giannini hit a 30-yard field goal with one second to go capitalizing on a Gary Russell 61-yard run to get into position. Michigan only gained 249 yards of total offense, but got a kickoff return for a touchdown from Steve Breaston and a one-yard touchdown run from Mike Hart for a 20-13 lead. But Laurence Maroney capped off a 13-play drive with a one yard score, and the Gophers were able to finish the upset with a 75-yard drive in eight plays.
Player of the game: Minnesota RBs Laurence Maroney and Gary Russell combined for 257 yards and a touchdown on 52 carries.---College Football---
Stat Leaders: Minnesota - Passing: Bryan Cupito, 11-23, 139 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Laurence Maroney, 36-129, 1 TD. Receiving: Ernie Wheelwright, 3-44, 1 TD
Michigan - Passing: Chad Henne, 14-29, 155 yds---College Football---
Rushing: Mike Hart, 28-109, 1 TD. Receiving: Jason Avant, 6-73---College Football---
What to take away from this game: Any positive momentum and good feelings head coach Lloyd Carr might have built up after beating Michigan State is gone after the loss to Minnesota. The Gophers can run on just about anyone, but the Wolverine fans aren't going to be happy with the play-calling and an offense that should've been able to generate more than 139 yards through the air. It's hard to beat a good team when you go three of 14 on third downs. ---College Football---
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Oct. 1---College Football---
Michigan 34 ... Michigan State 31 OT---College Football---
Michigan PK Garrett Rivas made up for a missed field goal near the end of regulation, that likely would've won the game, but hitting a 35-yard shot in overtime after Michigan State failed to score on its possession with a John Goss missed kick. Michigan welcomed the return of Mike Hart as he ran for 218 yards with a one-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but State came back on a 74-yard fumble return for a touchdown from Domata Peko, complete with a dive at the end. Chad Henne started off the scoring with two touchdown passes including a 43-yard strike to Mario Manningham, and threw a third scoring pass early in the second. Drew Stanton helped spark the comeback with four-yard touchdown run and a short pass to Kerry Reed, who took it 61 yards for a score.
Player of the game: Michigan RB Mike Hart ran 36 times for 218 yards and a touchdown.
Stat Leaders: Michigan - Passing: Chad Henne, 26-35, 256 yds, 3 TD---College Football---
Rushing: Mike Hart, 36-218, 1 TD. Receiving: Jason Avant, 10-96, 1 TD---College Football---
Michigan State - Passing: Drew Stanton, 20-30, 282 yds, 1 TD, 1 IN---College Football---T
Rushing: Jason Teague, 8-72. Receiving: Kyle Brown, 4-53---College Football---
What to take away from this game: Hmmmm, do you think missing Mike Hart might had have something to do with the lack of offensive consistency over the last few weeks. His presence makes the entire offense calm down, as evidenced by Chad Henne's excellent game. Give credit for the Wolverines for not getting down and not hanging their heads when Michigan State came up with several backbreaking plays that appeared to change the game. Does this mean Michigan is back in the hunt for the Big Ten title? Oh yeah. ---College Football---
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Sept. 24---College Football---
Wisconsin 23 ... Michigan 20---College Football---
John Stocco kept it for a four-yard touchdown run with :24 to play to cap off an 11-play drive to give Wisconsin the lead, and then the defense held as a penalty and a Chad Henne slip sealed the win. Michigan answered a six-yard Brian Calhoun touchdown run to take the lead with nine minutes to play on a flea-flicker resulting in a Mario Manningham 49-yard touchdown catch. Henne also threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Jason Avant, but Wisconsin stayed alive on three Taylor Mehlhaff field goals---College Football---.
Player of the game: Wisconsin RB Brian Calhoun ran 35 times for 155 yards and a touchdown and led the Badgers in receiving with seven catches for 59 yards.
Stat Leaders: Michigan - Passing: Chad Henne, 16-34, 258 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Max Martin, 16-91. Receiving: Jason Avant, 7-108, 1 TD
Wisconsin - Passing: John Stocco, 15-32, 147 yds, 1 INT---College Football---
Rushing: Brian Calhoun, 35-155, 1 TD, Receiving: Brian Calhoun, 7-59---College Football---
What to take away from this game: It might be easy to blame the team's problems on the absence of Mike Hart, but the Wolverine outgained Wisconsin on the ground 143 yards to 140. Who would've thought Wisconsin would have a chance if it didn't run the ball well? The problem is that Chad Henne isn't stepping up his play with too many misreads and not enough good throws when he has time. Steve Breaston is having a horrible season continuing to have problems making plays; he only caught one pass for -1 yard. LB David Harris played a whale of a game making plays all over the field.
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Sept. 17---College Football---
Michigan 55 ... Eastern Michigan 0---College Football---
Michigan took its frustrations out on Eastern Michigan with 38 points in the first half helped by two Max Martin touchdown runs and two touchdown passes from Chad Henne to Jason Avant. The Wolverine offense took its foot off the gas in the second half, but the defense didn't keeping the Eagles off the scoreboard while only allowing 163 yards of total offense.
Player of the game: Michigan RB Max Martin ran 26 times for 117 yards and two touchdowns. ---College Football---
Stat Leaders: Michigan - Passing: Chad Henne, 13-19, 147 yds, 3 TD---College Football---
Rushing: Max Martin, 26-117, 2 TD. Receiving: Jason Avant, 8-93, 2 TD---College Football---
EMU - Passing: Matt Bohnet, 13-25, 118 yds, 1 INT---College Football---
Rushing: Nelson Drew, 2-19. Receiving: A.J. Bennett, 5-42---College Football---
What to take away from this game: It'll be easy to dismiss the win over Eastern Michigan, but this was a very necessary performance for the Wolverines coming off two shaky performances. The team, particularly QB Chad Henne, needed a good game to get a little bit of confidence back before dealing with the Big Ten schedule. The defense was rock solid not allowing the Eagles room to breathe. Is Max Martin the running game with Mike Hart hurting? At the very least, he's a solid back the offense can count on.---College Football---
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Sept. 10---College Football---
Notre Dame 17 ... Michigan 10---College Football---
Notre Dame's offense only gained 247 yards, but it made the plays it needed to in the first half as Brady Quinn threw two, five-yard touchdown passes connecting with Rhema McKnight in the first quarter and Jeff Samardzija in the third. Michigan moved the ball, but came away without any points on three red zone trips hurt most by a late Chad Henne fumble on the one-yard line and a first half interception by Tom Zbikowski. The Wolverines finally made a game of it late in the fourth on a 25-yard touchdown pass to Mario Manningham, but couldn't make anything out of its final drive giving it back to the Irish on downs. Michigan star RB Mike Hart left the game in the first half with a hamstring problem. ---College Football---
Player of the game: Notre Dame S Tom Zbikowski made nine tackles, broke up one pass and made an interception on the goal line. ---College Football---
Stat Leaders: Notre Dame - Passing: Brady Quinn. 19-30, 140 yds, 2 TD---College Football---
Rushing: Darius Walker, 26-104. Receiving: Darius Walker, 5-22---College Football---
Michigan - Passing: Chad Henne, 19-44, 223 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT---College Football---
Rushing: Kevin Grady, 18-79. Receiving: Tyler Ecker, 7-74---College Football---
What to take away from this game: Where are the receivers? Jason Avant came up with one big play, but Steve Breaston is nowhere to be found. Yes, Chad Henne struggled against Notre Dame and made a few too made mistakes in key situations, but the entire offense needed to step up its play with the loss of Mike Hart early on. Michigan fans angry with the coaching staff like to make defensive coordinator Jim Hermann and his defense the scapegoat, but the Wolverines adjusted well and shut down the hot Irish attack. ---College Football---
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Sept. 3
Michigan 33 ... Northern Illinois 17---College Football---
Mike Hart scored two touchdowns and Jason Avant caught a four-yard scoring pass as Michigan took a 27-10 first half lead, but struggled in the second half only managing two Garrett Rivas field goals. Northern Illinois was its own worst enemy with four turnovers and allowing a blocked field goal, but made it interesting in the first half on a 77-yard Garrett Wolfe touchdown run. The NIU offense ran for 200 yards and passed for 209.
Player of the game: Michigan RB Mike Hart ran 27 times for 117 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 49 yards and a touchdown---College Football---
Stat Leaders: Northern Illinois - Passing: Phil Horvath, 17-25, 200 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Garrett Wolfe, 17-145, 1 TD. Receiving: Shatone Powers, 4-60---College Football---
Michigan - Passing: Chad Henne, 20-31, 227 yds, 2 TD---College Football---
Rushing: Mike Hart, 27-117, 1 TD. Receiving: Jason Avant, 9-127, 1 TD---College Football---
What to take away from this game: Michigan came up with the easy win over Northern Illinois thanks to a balanced offense and forced turnovers, but there are still things to work on. Had NIU not shot itself in the foot, the game would've been extremely interesting for at least three quarters. There's still a question about the run defense and WR Steve Breaston still hasn't shown enough as a receiver, but the play of Jason Avant and the continued excellence from RB Mike Hart shows how Michigan once again appears loaded for another huge season. This was an efficient, if not spectacular, win.
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2005 Schedule ---College Football---
Sept. 3 – Northern Illinois (8-3, 7-1 in MAC) – Offense: Once again, NIU will have one of the nation's top rushing attacks with Garrett Wolfe and A.J. Harris running behind a tremendous offensive line. Doug Free, Brian Van Acker and Ben Lueck are all first-team All-MAC caliber linemen who should dominate. The concern is over a steady passing game needing experienced backup Phil Horvath to turn into a playmaking quarterback, and for Sam Hurd and Shatone Powers to become dependable one and two targets.---College Football---
Defense: The defense wasn't anything special last season with nothing to hang its hat on. This year, the strength will be in the pass rusher with Quince Holman and Ken West on the ends. The problem early on could be against the run breaking in two new starting linebackers to join weakside star Javan Lee. The secondary will be better if a good free safety can emerge and some of the freshmen live up to the hype.---College Football---
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Sept. 10 - Notre Dame (predicted finish: 5-6) – Offense: Ten starters return with the one non-starter, RB Darius Walker, one of the team's best players. Charlie Weis threw everything but the kitchen sink at QB Brady Quinn and the rest of the offense this spring with everyone handling the new attack better than expected. Quinn has the talent, the receivers, and the coaching to put up some huge numbers. Senior receivers Rhema McKnight and Maurice Stovall have to finally live up to their hype and the veteran offensive line has to be better in every phase.---College Football---
Defense: Only three starters return to a defense that was statistically great against the run, but horrible against the pass finishing second-to-last in the nation in pass defense. Speed and athleticism was a problem that's not going to be much better right away unless some of the fast backup defensive backs (like Terrail Lambert) get on the field. Despite the lack of returning starters, there's enough overall experience that this won't be a lousy D, but it won't be a killer.---College Football---
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Sept. 17 - Eastern Michigan (3-8, 2-6 in MAC) – Offense: There might not be a better unknown quarterback-running back-receiver combination in America than Matt Bohnet, Anthony Sherrell and Eric Deslauriers. Sherrell is back after flirting with transferring this off-season, and the coaching staff thinks he can regain his 1,000-yard form even in the wide-open passing offense. Deslauriers is simply too big and too good for most MAC cornerbacks, while Bohnet should light up most secondaries like a Christmas tree. Expect 35 points per game, but struggles against the top teams on the slate.---College Football---
Defense; Even with changes and a renewed emphasis on becoming physical, the Eagles still had one of the nation's worst defenses unable to stop anyone's passing game and not doing much against the run. For good or bad, there's major turnover with the loss of six starters needing newcomers throughout the linebacking corps and at tackle. ---College Football---
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Sept. 24 – at Wisconsin (7-5, 3-5 in Big Ten) – Offense: Paul Chryst comes over from Oregon State to take on the co-offensive coordinator job along with Brian White, and he should do more for the passing game. John Stocco showed flashes of being a reliable quarterback last year, but he didn't do it often enough. The running game needs the backs to stay healthy, and the receiving corps has to make more big plays. While the line loses some key parts, it'll still be a strong group with a few big-time dominators.---College Football---
Defense: Bret Bielema's defense was one of the big stories of the 2004 Big Ten season finishing ninth in the nation and sixth in scoring defense. Now the entire front four needs to be replaced as does most of the secondary with several All-Big Ten talents graduating. However, there's hope with great looking young defensive linemen ready to take over and a good linebacking corps to steady things early on. There's no way to reproduce the same numbers as last year, but don't look for the roof to cave in like many will predict.---College Football---
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Oct. 1 – at Michigan State (8-3, 5-3 in Big Ten) – Offense: Last year's attack finished tenth in the nation, and first in the Big Ten, exploding on top defenses like Wisconsin's and Michigan's. Consistency was an issue, and it will be again unless talented quarterback Drew Stanton can stay on the field. With no reliable backup quarterback to count on, the oft-injured Stanton's health is the difference between a good and a great offense. While there aren't the name players like other Big Ten teams boast, this has the potential to be the league's best offense if a home run hitter can be found at running back and the newcomers to the right side of the line come through as expected.---College Football---
Defense: Some work needs to be done after losing several top players from just about everywhere. This wasn't a solid defense, but it had its moments and will be athletic this year, if nothing else. There isn't a steady pass rush putting more pressure than needed on the average corners. The linebackers can move and should be the D's strength as the season goes on. Being tougher against the run would be a big plus.---College Football---
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Oct. 8 - Minnesota (7-4, 4-4 in Big Ten) – Offense: If all the parts stay healthy and QB Bryan Cupito improves on his consistency and accuracy, the offense will be one of the top ten in America. The left side of the line, along with center Greg Eslinger, will dominate. The receiving corps looks like an NBA backcourt with size, speed and athleticism. Of course, the star of the show will be junior Laurence Maroney who should by a lock for at least 1,500 yards.---College Football---
Defense: Head coach Glen Mason will work with the defense most of the time this off-season to try to improve things after a few lousy seasons. The pass defense was horrible and won't get much help right away from the pass rush. The linebacking corps will be fine in time, but the secondary will need plenty of work. The strength is in the middle of the line with All-Big Ten tackle candidates Anthony Montgomery and Mark Losli.---College Football---
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Oct. 15 - Penn State 6-5, 3-5 in Big Ten) – Offense: A ton of experience returns to one of the worst Penn State offenses ever averaging 17.73 points per game with five games scoring seven points or fewer. The line has all five starters returning (if C E.Z. Smith and G Tyler Reed are back from spring suspension) and it has to be much, much better. The receiving corps got a major boost this recruiting season with lightning-fast Derrick Williams and Justin King adding some desperately needed pop. There has to be more from the quarterbacks with the underwhelming Michael Robinson getting the nod since star prospect Anthony Morelli hasn't progressed enough yet. There's talent in the backfield; now it has to do more.
Defense: The nation's tenth best defense and fifth best scoring D should be even better with almost all the parts returning and FS Chris Harrell coming back after missing all of last year with a neck injury. The defense didn't allow more than 21 points per game coming up with a shockingly good season. The corners will be among the best in the nation as will the starting linebackers. Overall depth and a lights-out pass rusher are the slight weaknesses, but that's nitpicking.---College Football---
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Oct. 22 – at Iowa (9-2, 6-2 in Big Ten) – Offense: Iowa had a big mess on its hands last year with one of the nation's worst running games brought on by injuries to the backfield and inconsistency on the offensive line. Both areas should be much better with the healthy return of lightning fast runner Marques Simmons and an experienced line ready to be one of the Big Ten's best. The passing attack should be tremendous led by All-America candidate Drew Tate at quarterback and an experienced, productive, and very fast receiving corps.---College Football---
Defense: The back seven will be among the best in America as long as there aren't any major injuries. The linebacking duo of Chad Greenway and Abdul Hodge and the corner tandem of Jovon Johnson and Antwan Allen are good enough to make up for the potential problems on the defensive line. There's absolutely no experience to count on up front losing Matt Roth and Jonathan Babineaux, and there's even less depth. If there's no pass rush, the secondary will have a hard time being as good as it was last year.---College Football---
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Oct. 29 – at Northwestern – (4-7, 2-6 in Big Ten) Offense: Consistency was a problem last year and there weren't enough points scored against most of the good defenses, but it was still the nation's 29th ranked offense and it should crack the top 25 this year. The passing game will be one of the Big Ten's best with veteran quarterback Brett Basanez working with an experienced and deep receiving corps. Terrell Jordan and Brandon Robinson will combine to keep the running game rolling behind Zach Strief and a good line. The guards are a bit of a question mark, but that's nitpicking.---College Football---
Defense: The potential is there for a good year after struggling away from Evanston. The return of end Loren Howard, corner Marquice Cole and linebacker Adam Kadela from the injury problems of last year will be a big help. The line should be a rock against the run with excellent size, while the linebacking corps has two All-Big Ten talents in Tim McGarigle and Nick Roach to build around. There's not a sure-thing pass rusher on the line meaning the fast corners will have to be better in coverage to improve a shaky pass defense.---College Football---
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Nov. 12 - Indiana (3-8, 0-8 in Big Ten) – Offense: The offense actually wasn't that horrible over the first part of last season. Consistency was the biggest problem and the defense didn't exactly help the cause. Even with the loss of three big starters (QB Matt LoVecchio, RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis and WR Courtney Roby) the potential is there to do much more with an experienced line that gets two of its top players (OT Isaac Sowells and C Chris Mangiero) back from injury The running game will be serviceable with Chris Taylor and Yamar Washington until the young recruits come around and the receiving corps has plenty of speedy prospects. None of the promise will come true if Blake Powers, or one of the other quarterback candidates, doesn't start playing at a D-I level.---College Football---
Defense: The D returns nine starters with the hopes of being stronger in all phases. There's a better chance of the pass defense improving than the run defense with a good pass rush taking the heat off the speedy young corners. Being a wall against the run will be a problem needing to convert John Pannozzo from fullback to middle linebacker and Greg Brown from the offensive line to tackle. Outside of Brown, there's little Big Ten-size inside.---College Football---
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Nov. 19 - Ohio State (10-1, 7-1 in Big Ten) – Offense: The offense was average to flat-out bad struggling with its consistency, and then came the Michigan game as QB Troy Smith had his breakout game giving hope for a more explosive 2005. The plan is for experience to turn into production with two good quarterbacks, some decent looking, but unproven runners, and a devastating receiving corps with Santonio Holmes and Heisman candidate Ted Ginn Jr. The line returns four starters and should be better. Finishing 98th in the nation in total offense and 71st in scoring offense again will be absolutely unacceptable.---College Football---
Defense: Nine starters return to a defense that was its typical bend-but-rarely-break self for most of the year, but it has to deal with defensive coordinator Mark Snyder moving on to take the Marshall head coaching gig. The nation's best linebacking corps leads the way with A.J. Hawk, Bobby Carpenter, Anthony Schlegel and Mike D'Andrea all sure to be making a ton of dough next year at this time. The secondary will be solid if it can find a second corner across from Ashton Youboty, and the line will be good if it can find a killer pass rusher.---College Football---

2005-10-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

Keys to the Big GamesWeek Eight, Oct. 22Texas Tech vs. TexasBy John Harris
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a. Hot isn’t the word – Quite honestly, no receiver in the country is as hot as Texas Tech WR Joel Filani. Now, that might not be the most surprising statement in the world, considering how well and how often the Red Raiders throw the ball, but look a little closer.
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He caught 10 for 255 and one TD against Kansas State and then at Nebraska, he caught 11 for 163 and three TDs, including the game winner. This is a tremendous bunch of receivers and the junior is stepping to the forefront as the best of the group, even as the best WR in the Big XII. HBC Mike Leach loves what Filani can do, and Texas will have its hands full trying to stop him. But, that’s the rub in this whole thing – if you double him, how do you cover Hicks, Johnson, Amendola and Olomula effectively enough to keep points off of the board? Do you take Cedric Griffin and put him on Filani as they did against Ohio State and Santonio Holmes and live with the consequences, like Kansas State had to do? ---college football---
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Do you play zone throughout the game and let Filani and company catch it short and run long? That’s not a great option either, but it might be the best option. He might be too strong for Griffin, especially on balls down the field, as the Red Raider WR is probably stronger than most receivers, at 6’3” and 225. Consequently, Griffin is the best option to cover him one-on-one, but he’s probably going to need some help from safety Michael Huff. ---college football---
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However, Leach is too smart to not take advantage of a defense that rolls its zone to one side or the other. He’ll take Filani and put him on one side by himself and then put Jarrett Hicks on the other with another two receivers. So, what does Texas do now? If they roll to Filani, they’re leaving themselves terribly exposed on the strong side of the formation. If they roll to the receiver strength, he’ll have QB Cody Hodges go to Filani all day long. Now, that he’s arrived as a receiver, this Tech offense is that much more difficult to stop.---college football---

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b. The Missile – One play and one player might epitomize why this is a different and more complete Texas Tech team this year. Against Kansas State, QB Allan Evridge took a shotgun snap and ran the option. He saw a hole just outside of his tackle and took off up the field for what looked to be a huge gain. Then, the missile dropped the hammer, and it was nasty (If you haven’t seen it, please get to a TiVo machine near you). Safety Dwayne Slay nearly took Evridge’s head off with perhaps the college hit of the year. And, you could just see that hit being both a headache for Evridge and a message to the Longhorns and Vince Young. If he tries to turn it up, he’s going to get a headache as well. ---college football---
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That’s what this defense has been missing for a long while now – a guy like Slay that gets the attention of the opposing ball carriers. The senior leads the team in tackles with 47, but what should have the Longhorns offensive coaching staff’s attention is the 6 fumbles he’s forced. As a safety, that’s phenomenal. ---college football---
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The reason he has such a huge impact on this game is that he’ll be asked by DC Lyle Setencich to fill in the alley, the same way he did against K State and keep VY and company from turning shotgun read runs into 35 yard touchdowns.---college football---
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c. Stop this! – Going into last year’s Rose Bowl game, here’s what one astute writer said about Heisman candidate Vince Young. What people miss on VY is that even though he may seem completely non-traditional in his throwing motion, he can change his arm slot and make throws that other QBs can only dream of making. He can almost drop side arm like Kent Tekulve and make a throw to David Thomas on a crossing routes to avoid getting a pass knocked down. The other major advantage that VY will have in this game is the perception, more like misperception, that he can’t throw. ---college football---
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Wonder if people have caught on after what Young has done to Ohio State, Oklahoma and Colorado. You think that they’ve changed their perspective on what Young can do throwing the football? Granted, he looks like a different QB than the one that even played in the Rose Bowl, for the confidence with which he’s throwing the ball, makes you wish you could watch him throw more than scramble and run. ---college football---
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Okay, so maybe, he’s still fun to watch running with the ball downfield, but his combination of skills is making this Texas offense ultra-difficult to stop. It does help that Billy Pittman, Brian Carter, David Thomas and Limas Sweed are as productive as the BJ Johnson/Sloan Thomas/Roy Williams trio from a few years ago. Regardless, it’s one thing to try to corral Young running, but now throwing, too? Man, that isn’t fair at all.

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Conclusion – In most years, the improvement that Tech has made would bode very well for them against Texas. But, this is as talented a team as Mack Brown has ever coached. He’s let Young be Young and the other offensive talents have shown brightly. Texas DC Gene Chizik will be on the spot against the Tech passing game, and the game plan he uses to slow down this attack will draw major attention. But, he should be able to bring enough to the party to keep them under 40. Texas – 43 vs. Texas Tech – 35---college football------college football---

2005-10-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

Instant AnalysisFlorida State vs. Virginia, Oct. 15By Matthew Zemek
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Marques Hagans has never played a better, more effective game in his entire life.That’s exactly what Virginia needed to derail the Seminoles’ national title hopes on a night when history loomed large.In the very same Scott Stadium where coach George Welsh and the rest of the 1995 Cavaliers dealt Bobby Bowden his first-ever ACC loss ten years earlier—meriting a halftime ceremony before an appreciative Scott Stadium crowd—the 2005 Hoos, led by the swashbuckling Hagans, got off the deck to stun the fourth-ranked team in America, 26-21.The first and last story of this game is Hagans, an eternally inconsistent quarterback throughout his career in the shadows of Monticello whose gifts and lapses have coexisted in a maddeningly unpredictable package. Al Groh has received many a gray hair over the past few seasons by watching his ultra-talented quarterback make spectacular plays and equally spectacular blunders in relatively equal measure.
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The inability of Hagans to supplement his athleticism with composure has had more than a little to do with the Cavs’ struggles as a program in recent years.On Saturday night, however, the brilliant Hagans wasn’t overshadowed by the mistake-prone Hagans. Virginia’s quarterback managed to be both spectacular and steady, running and creating but staying airtight at the same time. Hagans completed a number of passes on the run, but rarely if ever made poor decisions while under duress... and on the one occasion when he threw a pick in the second half, a Seminole defense dogged by key flags roughed Hagans to keep a Virginia drive alive. From the beginning of the game to the end, Hagans’ ball security—in contrast to Drew Weatherford’s three interceptions at the hands of a Cavalier defense that summoned up more than a little pride—represented a defining dimension of the ACC’s biggest upset of the year to date.----collegefootball----
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And even though the Cavs only scored two touchdowns, Hagans moved the ball consistently enough to set up Connor Hughes’ clutch field goal kicking, which enabled the home team to accumulate a 16-point advantage that Weatherford—an improved but still inexperienced quarterback—wasn’t good enough to overcome. The Seminoles made a big-league charge down the stretch, but a devastating pass-interference penalty on Tony Carter enabled the Hoos to drain FSU’s timeouts and run the clock down to one minute. Under the gun in the game’s final seconds, a pressing Weatherford threw his third interception of the night, and the Cavs had turned the clock back ten deliciously sweet years. Tiki Barber, meet Marques Hagans. George Welsh, meet Al Groh. 1995, meet 2005. Virginia has upended a Florida State team that entered Charlottesville with freight-train momentum... and left with a stunning loss.----collegefootball----

2005-10-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

College bowl season to kick off in Lafayette

Dan McDonald

College football's holiday bowl season will kick off in ... Lafayette.

The postseason's first Division I-A bowl game, the Wyndham New Orleans Bowl, will be played Tuesday, Dec. 20, at the University of Louisiana's Cajun Field. - College Football -

The game, normally played at the now-hurricane-ravaged Louisiana Superdome, will shift the matchup of the Sun Belt Conference champion and a Conference USA upper-division finisher two hours west at least for this year. - College Football -

"We're very confident that we're going to have a great game there," New Orleans Bowl executive director Billy Ferrante said Monday.

The move will be officially announced today at a press conference at the UL Alumni Boardroom.

"We're ecstatic about having such a prestigious event here," said Karen Primeaux, convention marketing director for the Lafayette Parish Convention and Visitors Commission. "Just to be considered is quite an honor, and we think it's going to be a great thing for Lafayette."

Ferrante and Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation President and CEO Jay Cicero have met twice in Lafayette with local and university officials, and UL interim athletic director David Walker said another is set prior to today's announcement.

"Some things that we really needed to happen came through," Walker said. "They (bowl officials) wanted to come here all along, but we had to make sure we had some things finalized.''

One thing that needed finalizing was hotel room availability. Ferrante said after a Sept. 20 meeting in Lafayette that a minimum of 3,500 rooms would be needed - not an automatic, since local rooms are near capacity withKatrina and Rita evacuees. - College Football -

"We're anticipating that hotels will clear soon enough to accommodate groups by mid-November," Primeaux said. "The hotels are ecstatic about having the bowl game here."

The 7 p.m. ESPN-televised game is the first of 28 NCAA-sanctioned bowls during the holiday period, even though the date has moved back one week this year. The contest has drawn over 22,000 in each of its four years of existence, including a high of 27,253 last year.

The Nokia Sugar Bowl, also played in the Superdome announced last week it would relocate to Atlanta this year. - College Football -

"It's important to us to keep our game in Louisiana," Cicero said earlier. "We're going to try to make the event a fundraiser for disaster relief, because that effort will be going on for a long time."

The Sun Belt hosted the bowl game in its first two years before handing it over to the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation two years ago. - College Football -

"We're very pleased that the game's going to be there," Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters said. "The people involved in New Orleans can drive over and be a part of it, and Christmas time in Acadiana is a special time. You can put on a fine bowl game there and make it a unique experience." - College Football -

2005-10-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

Football player tackles Hodgkin's

By PATRICK SCHMIEDT

LANDER -- Brody Knell is invincible. For an 18-year-old with a girlfriend on his hip, a starting position on the football team locked down and college recruiters waiting around the corner, his attitude is not surprising. But that aura is only bolstered by the fact that he beat cancer.

Not only that, he beat Stage IV Hodgkin's. By the time Brody was 12, the cancer had already spread from his lymph nodes into his lungs and abdomen. - College Football -

Maybe it's because Brody's cancer has been in remission for five years, and he's come out healthy on the other side. Maybe it's because Brody is so used to telling the story. Maybe it's because Brody is having a tremendous senior season for Lander's football team.

His reasons are his own. But one thing is clear: Satisfied just to be alive doesn't describe Brody Knell. - College Football -

For him -- and seemingly for his friends and family -- the cancer was an inconvenience more than it was a threat. Hodgkin's meant less time for snowmobiling, less time for basketball. It meant more time on the road between Lander and Denver, more time stuck in a hospital when he could be at home.

Hodgkin's wasn't a threat to Brody's mortality. It wasn't a disease that might take away his life.

Turns out he was right. - College Football -

But he still thinks about it.

"Just about every day. They say it's a slim to none chance (for relapse) after five years. ... But still, it scares you," he said.

He has learned how to live without his thyroid, which was more or less killed by the radiation treatment. He has adapted to his tendency to cramp up, and he has figured out how to keep his fingertips and toetips warm in the winter when they chill, an after-affect of his cancer treatment.

Brody's desire is for his story to touch others. He wants kids who are going through a similar situation at a similar age to be able to look up to him for inspiration. - College Football -

He is proud of how he fought off a cancer that was close to taking his life. So is his dad.

If the poster on the wall of Bailey Tire in Lander doesn't make it clearly obvious, Bruce Knell is one proud papa. The poster shows a strong young man, standing 6-foot even and a chiseled 190 pounds, posed in the black-and-green jersey his team wears. - College Football -

The father-son bond was strong from the get-go. Brody's mother left when Brody was still in diapers. The bond only strengthened in the year Brody went from healthy boy playing football to emergency-room trips to the hospital, and back again to football.

The cancer came without warning. One day, while taking off Brody's shoulder pads after football practice, Bruce Knell noticed some lumps on the side of his son's neck.

"They actually got snagged. When I tried to pull his shoulder pads off of him, they hit these lumps," he recalled. - College Football -

At first, doctors thought it was an infection and tried to treat it with antibiotics. But an oncologist in Riverton gave a different opinion.

The cancer itself was rare for a 12-year-old host. American Cancer Society statistics say there are about 8,000 new Hodgkin's cases every year in America, usually in people 15-25 or older than 55. Only about 10-15 percent of the cases affect those under 16.

Brody remembers his dad stopping by South Elementary to tell him the news.

"I could see my dad on the far end of the playground come out of the building, and I seen his face," Brody said. "I just came up running to him, I was like, 'Dad what's going on? I have it, don't I?'" - College Football -

He went through chemotherapy for eight months and went through another six weeks of radiation therapy. The family lost count of how many times Brody was life-flighted out of Lander. It might have been four times, or six. Maybe more.

"We almost lost him a couple times, and somehow, it wasn't his time," Bruce said. "And he got better."

The treatment took its toll on Brody's young body. Aside from the hair loss and the almost complete loss of energy, the most obvious physical change was in his size. When he started his treatment, Brody weighed 105 pounds. Eight months later the scale said he lost one pound.

"An entire year, when they're supposed to be gaining all the weight, not only did he not gain weight but he lost a pound over the year," Bruce said. - College Football -

But less than a year after his diagnosis, Brody was playing football on his seventh-grade team in Lander. He started lifting weights and developing the athleticism that would turn him into one of Class 4A's most versatile players.

He has played a variety of positions for Lander. On offense, he was a quarterback as a sophomore, earned all-state honors as a tight end last season and now holds the slotback position. On defense, he has played cornerback, safety and linebacker. Heading into tonight's game against Star Valley, Brody is second in Class 4A in receiving yards and eighth in rushing yards. - College Football -

"I feel comfortable putting him on the field in just about any position and knowing he'll do a good job for us," said Steve Simpson, Lander's head coach.

Even though he has bounced around at several positions for the Tigers, Knell's dream is to play quarterback in the NFL. He said he's drawing interest from scouts not for his legs but for his arm.

"My main goal is to be a quarterback," he said. "It's always been my dream. I can throw the ball 78 yards with a regular football." - College Football -

Simpson said it hasn't always been easy, but, much like during the cancer treatment, Brody has always responded to the situations he's put in.

"He's always held his chin up high and always done what we asked him to do," he said.

Copyright © 1995–2005 Lee Enterprises

2005-09-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

College football: SNC looking up at first place in MWC standings

By Kevin Naze
Press-Gazette correspondent

DE PERE — With its first win at Minahan Stadium and third victory in 20 tries against St. Norbert College, Monmouth made a bold statement that it’s the team to end the Green Knights’ six-year reign atop the Midwest Conference. - College Football -

Fighting Scots quarterback Mitch Tanney threw two touchdowns in a span of just over three minutes spanning the third and fourth quarters, then scored his second rushing touchdown of the game with 5:59 remaining, as Monmouth scored the final 21 points and rallied for a 28-20 win.

Tanney completed 32 of 41 passes for 301 yards. Junior wideout Evan Haffner caught 16 passes for 190 yards, including a momentum-shifting, 72-yard touchdown — about 40 of it sprinting untouched — over a leaping Tony Mendina with 1:23 left in the third quarter.

“That one came from the sideline, but I can’t take credit for it,” said Monmouth coach Steve Bell. “The receivers and quarterback wanted to go long, and I thought that was a very valid suggestion at that point.” - College Football -

Little more than three minutes later, Tanney threw a 9-yard pass to running back Jason Myers that put Monmouth in front for good after the extra point. Completions of 18 and 11 yards to Haffner highlighted the drive.

“(Tanney) is a solid guy, and (Haffner) is a good player who they utilize a lot of ways,” said SNC coach Jim Purtill. “But we didn’t do a good job protecting our guy.”

That guy — sophomore quarterback Cody Craig — was sacked six times for losses totaling 45 yards. Two of the sacks, both by Monmouth senior line-backer Justin Zigler, forced a punt right after the Scots had taken the lead. - College Football -

Anthony Goranson, a freshman, sacked Craig three times.

“You could tell (Craig) wasn’t comfortable in there when we got pressure,” said Bell. “I thought our line did a tremendous job. Not having to blitz the whole time was key.”

Craig completed 11 of 22 throws for 158 yards. His 17-yard scramble on a third-and-17 play with 3:46 left put the ball on Monmouth’s 45-yard line.

But three plays later, on fourth-and-11, his final pass attempt fell incomplete.“Our No. 1 focus at halftime was putting ’em right away in the second half,” Craig said. “But we just didn’t get the job done as a team.” - College Football -
St. Norbert (1-2 overall, 1-1) dropped out of first place in the conference for the first time since the last week of the 1997 season. Monmouth is 3-0, 2-0.“We had some poor field position (in the second half),” Purtill said.

“But give (Monmouth) credit. They made more plays.”Monmouth outgained SNC 413-308 and had 24 first downs to SNC’s 17.A 33-yard gain by Mendina on a fake punt was a key play in St. Norbert’s first score, a 2-yard pass to Kyle Thayse. After falling behind 7-6, the Knights got a pair of touchdowns in the final 3:33 of the first half, a 5-yard TD run by Casey Meehan and a 1-yarder by Josh Harnowski. A 50-yard, tackle-breaking catch and run by Don McConville set up the first score. - College Football -

2005-09-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

Ties that bind

But what makes college football so appealing?

Todd Heustess, a free-lance writer based in Miami, travels the country writing stories from various sports venues.

This season, he plans to write about the college football pageantry at Colorado, Texas, Florida and Washington.

"What I have found is college football games are like giant family reunions," Heustess said. "The tailgates and meeting other people is almost as important as the game. You have a connection with all the other alumni around the country that is shared and manifests itself infootball more than anything else."

Mike Cray, who moved to Canton from Cleveland two years ago, won't let go of his love for Ohio State.

"College football has a stranglehold on this country," Cray said. "There is just something about football. The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is so strong in football it makes it more important."

So important that Nitz's wife, Tracy, and 17-month-old son, Gunnar, leave him alone every Saturday during the fall -- all for the love of his team.

Nitz spends all day in the basement on his "comfy couch" in front of his big-screen television. The day begins with a visit to the past, thanks to "ESPN Classic," and ends with a Pac-10 game that goes into the wee hours of Sunday morning.

"I never talk to (my wife) about it," Nitz said. "It is nonnegotiable."

2005-08-31T08:29:00.000-07:00

A season of change for college football

FROM WIRE REPORTS
The biggest changes in college football's off-season will be reflected on the sideline, after the quick trigger fingers of athletic directors, university presidents and boosters resulted in another year of coaching tumult.

The most significant change came at Notre Dame, which fired Tyrone Willingham after three seasons and hired Charlie Weis, who was the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator. Weis is one of 23 new coaches in NCAA Division I-A this season, up from 14 last year. Willingham landed at Washington.

The itch to win is everywhere, no matter a team's tradition. East Carolina is on its third coach in four seasons, and Mississippi fired David Cutcliffe after he went 44-29 over six seasons. With the reliance onfootball revenue growing every year, do not expect this trend to be reversed.

n After further review: The Big Ten adopted instant replay last season as an experiment, and now similar systems will be used across the country this year.

Every conference except the Western Athletic Conference and the Sun Belt Conference will have some sort of replay. In the Mountain West, coaches will be allowed to throw one challenge flag each half, a nod to the NFL's system. A challenge that is not reversed will cost a team a timeout. If a team is out of timeouts, the coach cannot throw the flag.

Every conference except Conference USA will have decisions made in a replay booth. Conference USA will have officials on the field view the replay and make a ruling.

n Stop the music: The NCAA has prohibited 13 types of dances, shimmies and dives. Among them are bows to the crowd, airborne dives into the end zone with no one around, excessive pounding of one's chest and choreographed routines, like teammates posing for a mock group photograph. Those will result in 15-yard penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct.

''We saw some conferences calling it different than others,'' Ty Halpin, the NCAA's associate director for playing rules, said. ''This is a better parameter for officials.''

The NCAA also adjusted some language in the rules against spearing, which is delivering a hit with the helmet. Calls on that type of hit had been left to an official's judgment. Now all incidents of spearing will draw a 15-yard penalty.

n Another BCS formula: For the seventh time in the past eight seasons, the Bowl Championship Series has altered its formula to determine the teams in the national title game.

This year, the two major changes involve polls: the Harris Interactive Poll replaces the Associated Press poll, and coaches in the USA Today poll will reveal their ballots at the end of the season.

The Harris poll will consist of 114 voters, made up of former players, former coaches, former administrators and some members of the news media.

n Conferences come calling: Once again, fans will need some help from Rand McNally to figure out the conference landscape.

The most significant change is in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which added Boston College from the Big East to form a 12-team league. The ACC will also add a conference title game, worth about $10 million a year to the league.

The Big East welcomed South Florida, Cincinnati and Louisville from Conference USA to form an eight-team league.

That left Conference USA scrambling. It added Central Florida, Marshall, Rice, Southern Methodist, Tulsa and Texas-El Paso. Army has left the conference and will play as an independent.

The Mountain West also added a Conference USA team, Texas Christian, in a significant upgrade.

The Mid-American Conference added Temple, which was kicked out of the Big East because it was not meeting the minimum requirements for membership.

The WAC added Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State to compensate for the loss of Rice, SMU, Tulsa and UTEP. It will now have to guard against the poaching of Boise State.

The Sun Belt added Florida Atlantic and Florida International after losing Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State.

AINGE TO START FOR VOLS: Sophomore Erik Ainge will start at quarterback in Tennessee's opener, beating out senior Rick Clausen in a close competition.

But coach Phillip Fulmer said yesterday both quarterbacks will play Sept. 3 at home against UAB. Fulmer added Ainge won't automatically start for the third-ranked Volunteers in their second game of the season at Florida.

''Erik is our quarterback right now, but we have two quarterbacks,'' Fulmer said.

Ainge and Brent Schaeffer got the nod last season ahead of Clausen and C.J. Leak. Schaeffer ended up starting the opener, but Ainge took over at midseason, leading the Volunteers to victories at Georgia and Alabama before separating his shoulder in November.

Clausen started the final four games of the season. He was named the offensive MVP of the Cotton Bowl, a 38-7 victory over Texas A&M. Schaeffer has transferred.

NO COVERUPS: Embedded in the granite floor of Ralph Engelstad Arena is a 10-foot sketch of an Indian head. It's an image the NCAA wants to change.

Building officials estimate there are at least 3,000 University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux logos in the $104 million hockey palace. Jody Hodgson, who became the arena manager in May, is just beginning to discover some of them.

''Many of those are very subtle,'' he said.

The NCAA considers the logo and nickname ''hostile and abusive,'' and has ordered the school to cover up all Fighting Sioux references for the NCAA playoffs. The arena, which operates separately from the school, is holding the West Regional hockey tournament in March.

Hodgson said there are no plans to alter any logos, which can be found on floors, walls, seats and railings. Eliminating them would be too expensive, he said.

The school is appealing the decision that originally affected 18 colleges with Indian nicknames.

''We don't believe, at the end of the day, we'll have to cover anything up,'' Hodgson said.

Some Indian leaders on the campus are insulted by the number of Sioux monikers.

''The whole arena is plastered with logos,'' said Sebastian Braun, assistant professor of Indian studies. ''It's kind of an in-your-face approach.''

The arena was financed by the late Ralph Engelstad, a former North Dakota goalie who became wealthy as a Las Vegas casino and racetrack owner and real estate developer. The project's lead architect was Bill Schoen.

''To be honest with you, it just kind of happened,'' Schoen said, referring to the myriad logos.

''It wasn't some grand scheme that Ralph Engelstad had. We felt that the logo was very attractive and it was always intended to honor the Sioux.''

2005-08-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

Columnist Ron Kantowski: New college football poll has same old problem

I see where Louisville got one No. 1 vote in the Associated Press preseason college football poll, which should make Tom Jackson, Mark Clayton and the late John Unitas proud. However, it does little for the credibility of preseason college football polls. Nothing against Louisville, a heretofore consistently good mid-major program that should do even better, now that it is stepping down from Conference USA into the Big Least -- I mean, East. But how anybody could rank the Cardinals ahead of two-time defending national champion Southern Cal based on what is known so far is perhaps the best argument yet against using polls to decide national football championships. - College Football -
Fortunately, the AP has decided to withdraw from its partnership with the Bowl Championship Series. The AP popularity contest -- er, poll -- and the one sponsored by/named for ESPN won't be considered for this year's BCS standings. It was their choice, as the AP and even ESPN, for once, took a look in the mirror and determined that their polls and the roles they play in who wins the championship -- and who takes home the most money in the process -- could be construed as a conflict of interest. So at least the AP was not compelled to defend itself when one of its esteemed panelists -- er, sports writers -- had a brain cramp at the polling place. Although, to its credit, the news agency did ask Jim Giglio of the News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., if he had suffered any blows to the head on the way to the picture show in Mount Pilot. Opinions, I suppose, are like obnoxious alumni -- everybody has a few. So while I don't begrudge guys like Giglio their opinion, I do begrudge, or at least question, the logic he used in forming it. Giglio told the AP he voted Louisville No. 1 based on its schedule. - College Football -
"Louisville was the only one that I came up with as going undefeated," he said. And here I thought the idea behind the poll was to honor the best team, not the one with the easiest schedule. Actually, the idea behind the poll when it was created by then AP sports editor Alan J. Gould in 1935 was simply to create interest in college football between games. Gould's so-called poll was nothing more than an informal list of what he believed were the nation's top 10 teams, based on his knowledge of them and the feedback he received from co-workers and friends. Which made Gould's research far more extensive than that of most college coaches who vote in the ESPN poll. The only thing crazier than ranking college football teams, which annually have more turnover in personnel than the nearest McDonald's, before they even play a game is that it also sets the table for the rest of the season. It's difficult for a team ranked outside of the top 10 or 15 in August to position itself for a shot at the national championship in January. So at least I thought the new Harris Interactive College Football Poll, which will replace the AP one in determining which school gets its logo on a commemorative hard-bound issue of Sports Illustrated at season's end, was a step in the right direction. Its first poll won't be released until the teams have played four games. - College Football -
But then on Monday I saw the list of voters who will comprise its panel. Hopefully, one can only hope that guys like Pete Dawkins and Don Maynard and Craig Morton have kept abreast of the college game since the time they left it oh, some 45 or 50 years ago. And that others such as Gene Bartow, the former UAB and UCLA basketball coach, won't feel inclined to vote for Duke or DePaul. But about all I'm going to say about Terry Bradshaw, who also will vote in the Harris poll, is that somebody had better introduce him to Jim Giglio before it's too late.

Ron Kantowski
Las Vegas Sun

2005-08-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

Higher college tuition quietly taxes parents
The average expense at four-year institutions rose 38 percent in 10 years, College Board says

The fall semester on most of the nation's college campuses is quickly approaching, a time for ivy-covered walls, football Saturdays, sleeping through classes -- and tuition hikes that would bust the Rockefellers.
Tuition rates have been increasing at an alarming rate over the past 20 years, raising concerns that some middle- and lower-class enrollees will be either priced out of the market or accumulate huge debt to achieve a college education.
"We all dream about the day when we will send our children off to college," said Elaine Weiss, president of the Illinois CPA Society. "But figuring out how to pay for college can be the stuff of nightmares." - College Football -
The problem isn't new, just growing more critical.
According to the College Board -- which administers the SAT test -- tuition and fees in the 1980s increased at triple the rate of growth in median family incomes. Over 10 years concluding with the 2002-03 academic year, average tuition and fees at public and private four-year colleges and universities rose by an inflation-adjusted 38 percent. - College Football -
Although the increases are slowing, they remain problematic. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities estimated that costs rose 10.5 percent for the 2003-2004 academic year and another 13 percent in 2004-2005. The average tuition at a four-year public college or university last year was $5,132. - College Football -
This year, according to the association, an improving national economy will lessen the impact. Even so, tuition is expected to jump another 8 percent -- well above the rate of inflation.
"The situation is improving, but there's still a real concern about college affordability out there," said Travis Reindl, director of state policy analysis for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. "We're still seeing campuses trying to play catch-up from the time their funding was way down. Lots of states have rising enrollments that are putting a squeeze on classrooms and dorms. In some places, faculty and staff haven't gotten raises in two or three years." - College Football -
Most of the problem stems from state financial support -- or lack thereof. During down times, state colleges and universities have proven to be easy budget-cutting targets. As state financial commitment declined, schools were forced to increase tuition to balance budgets -- sort of a quiet tax increase on workers sending their kids to school.
In Michigan, for instance, state universities wrestled with three straight years of cuts in state aid totaling $212 million. Since 1982, state funding for Michigan's colleges and universities has dropped from 62 percent of the schools' total budgets to 40 percent.
That trend is evident elsewhere. Over the past 20 years, Reindl said, "We have definitely seen a persistent decline in the percentage of total funding the state kicks in -- down to about one-third and still falling." - College Football -
The problem lies in the limited pool of available dollars. Harry Moberly, a Kentucky legislator who chairs the state House Appropriations and Revenue Committee, acknowledges that "there's not enough public support at this point" for colleges and universities, but states find themselves hogtied.
States are pouring more and more resources into health care, Moberly said, particularly Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides medical services to the poor. Over the past five years, Medicaid costs to states have risen 63 percent. Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat and chairman of the National Governors Association, said Medicaid represents about 22 percent of the average state budget and is a larger percentage than all elementary and secondary education. - College Football -
"If you look in most states, when you get beyond Medicaid and look in other areas of the budget, and you're trying to protect elementary and secondary education, the only other big pot of money in the budget is higher education," said Moberly, who also is director of the Office of Student Judicial Affairs at Eastern Kentucky University.

Bill Straub / Scripps Howard News Service

2005-08-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

Div. I-A football takes up mascot issue

College football's Bowl Championship Series will weigh in next month on whether to adopt new
NCAA restrictions on schools' use of American Indian mascots and imagery.

Big 12 Conference Commissioner and BCS coordinator Kevin Weiberg said the commissioners of all 11 major football-playing conferences and Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White would "review" the issue during BCS meetings Sept. 19-20 in Chicago. - College Football -
"It seems to me this is a question for all of the bowl games, not just those that are part of the BCS," Weiberg told USA TODAY via e-mail during the weekend. - College Football -
The NCAA forced the issue Friday, culminating four years of its own debate. The association's top-level Executive Committee barred schools from using Indian nicknames, mascots or logos deemed "hostile and abusive" at any of its championships. That covers all but Division I-A football, where the 28-bowl postseason - including a BCS-staged, No. 1-vs.-2 game for the national title - is largely run by the commissioners. - College Football -
While acknowledging the BCS' jurisdiction, NCAA President Myles Brand said he hoped it would adopt the same get-tough policy.
"The NCAA's action may at least suggest that we discuss the NCAA decision," Penn State President Graham Spanier, a member of the BCS' presidential oversight committee, said via e-mail. But he said speculation on how the BCS might proceed "would be very premature."
The NCAA cited 18 schools still using Indian nicknames and imagery as subject to its new restrictions. Six play I-A football - Florida State (the Seminoles), Illinois (Fighting Illini), Utah (Utes), Central Michigan (Chippewas), Arkansas State (Indians) and Louisiana-Monroe (Indians). They and two others, Bradley and Alcorn State (both the Braves), compete in Division I in basketball and other sports, and North Dakota (the Fighting Sioux) is a seven-time Division I national champion in hockey. - College Football -
Effective Feb. 1, those schools' teams will be barred from wearing uniforms with Indian references or imagery at NCAA championships or they must cover up the offending areas. Schools already selected as hosts of upcoming NCAA championships similarly "must take reasonable steps to cover up those references" at the site, and the association won't award the 18 schools any future championships. - College Football -
The policy gets an immediate test in men's basketball. Utah and Arkansas State are scheduled to host first- and second-round Division I men's tournament games in March. North Dakota will host an NCAA hockey regional a week later. - College Football -
Reaction to the new NCAA stance has been mixed. FSU's use of "Seminoles" and mascot Chief Osceola has been endorsed by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. School President T.K. Wetherell threatened legal action to keep them.
But legal expects generally found the NCAA's position defensible. "I think, in the end, schools that push back get caught up in the legal quagmire of being a voluntary member of an association where the members determine the rules," said Kenneth Shropshire, a professor at Pennsylvania University's Wharton Sports Business Initiative and president of the Reston, Va.-based Sports Lawyers Association. "Limiting (the guidelines) to championships is probably helpful to the NCAA's case, too. Cases are generally better when the least restrictive route for accomplishing a regulatory goal is taken." - College Football -
Paul Haagen of Duke's Center for Sports Law and Policy advised more caution for the BCS, which revolves around 64 schools in football's six most powerful conferences, plus Notre Dame.
"They clearly are more vulnerable" than the NCAA, he said. "There's a much narrower political base." - College Football -

Steve Wieberg, USA TODAY

2005-07-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

Heinz Field welcomes Edison, Wheeling Park for high school football game

ELM GROVE - Sports may be a passion in the Ohio Valley, but for some football is a religion, to paraphrase Heinz Field administrator and Scholastic Sports Marketing official Tom Rooney. So for many of the players and fans from Edison and Wheeling Park High Schools Heinz Field has to be considered the region's cathedral. Edison's "home" game for the second week of the season will be played at 6 p.m. Sept. 1 on the home turf of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The time and day, a Thursday, is an odd combination for the Wildcats and Patriots to contend with. However, no one's complaining. - College Football -
"We're giving up a home game but this is a once in a lifetime type opportunity," said Edison Athletics Director Lynn Meyer during Thursday's press conference at the McDonald's restaurant in Elm Grove. "Edison is very happy to be involved with this. It's going to be fun for players, parents and students." - College Football -
The game is part of a doubleheader that begins the new McDonald's Tri-State Kickoff. The second game will be between Western Pennsylvania teams Bugler and Hempfield. In the future, Organizers are hoping to make the annual competition an Ohio Valley Athletic Conference team vs. a Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League squad. The words bragging rights were mentioned. - College Football -
"We've always recognized that the Pittsburgh Steelers cross state lines and are a regional asset. They appeal to football fans all over the valley," Rooney said. "We wanted to find a way to bring high school football into Heinz Field and develop a closer connection with the fan base.
"A head-to-head matchup between the OVAC and WPIAL was not possible in the inaugural year because the Pitt-Notre Dame game was moved to the Saturday of that week due to television interest. It made scheduling a nightmare." - College Football -
The Heinz Field management and Scholastic Sports Marketing are assisting with sponsorship sales, with McDonald's being the title sponsor and Aeropostale being the presenting sponsor. The Yamaha Corp. and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center are also corporate partners. Part of the proceeds will be donated back to the OVAC in the form of a college scholarship. Delayed broadcasts will likely be made available via Comcast Cable's on Demand service.
Tickets are good for both games, and they will go on sale Aug. 1. The locations at which they can be purchased are: Wheeling and Wintersville Kroger stores, Spic-N-Span on National Road in Wheeling, Wheeling Office Supply, Ohio County middle schools, Knoxville Carryout, Valley Market, Abdalla Tavern, Don's Chevron Station, Carryout Express, Richmond Country Market, Pytash Country Market, Spring Hills Golf Course, Twine's, M&M Hardware, Kwick King in Toronto, and all Ticketmaster locations. Tickets will cost $10. - College Football -
"It's very important that we get people to buy tickets ahead of time. Edison gets $5 of the $10 on pre-sale tickets, but the school doesn't get anything from tickets bought at the gate," Meyer said, "so everyone needs to buy their tickets ahead of time." - College Football -

The Herald-Star

2005-07-19T07:50:00.000-07:00

He won't cry uncle at BC
Billy Flutie is first to carry the family's second-generation torch

The kid catches my eye because he's hauling in some pretty tough throws. Wait, hold on a minute. Now he's passing the football. But that's before he lines up with the defensive backs and tries to pick off a spiral in mid-flight. At noontime, the others attending Boston College's summer football camp break for lunch, but this kid isn't done yet. He jogs over to the 43-yard line and boots the football through the uprights, with a chunk of real estate to spare.
You do the math. It's a 60-yard kick. I watch him do it twice, and I am just dying to know: who is this kid?
The answer shouldn't have surprised me: he's a Flutie.
The first of the next generation of Natick's most famous football family is Billy Flutie, son of Bill Flutie, who played football at Brown but spent a considerable amount of his spare time at Boston College, where younger brothers Doug and Darren literally reinvented Eagles football.
It isn't easy wearing Flutie on your back -- especially when you are born and raised in Natick, the same town where your father and your uncles prospered. Billy is a three-sport star, just like them. He is hassled about his pedigree on the football field, in the basketball gym, and on the baseball diamond.
''The other teams are gunning for me," Billy Flutie said. ''They're always saying things to me. The name comes with a lot of pressure. But I don't care. I block it all out."
Sometimes, they go too far. Chanting his name while he shoots free throws is one thing, but one basketball heckler became so worked up spewing venom Billy's way, he had to be removed from the building.
Then there was the football game when fans walked around with signs that read: ''Kill Flutie." When Billy lined up to kick an extra point, his opponents went straight for his head. Flutie landed in the hospital with a concussion.
The Flutie family prefers not to discuss which towns engaged in such practices. They have accepted the fact that their son, their nephew, their grandson, their cousin must learn to cope with both the good and the bad of perpetuating a family legacy. They have taught him to be polite and poised. The attention, they remind him, is a sign of respect.
''Billy handles it pretty well," his father said. ''We told him he'd have to get used to it. It started all the way back when he was 11 years old and he was competing in the punt, pass, and kick competition in Foxborough. It was at halftime of the Patriots-Bills game, and Doug was the quarterback for Buffalo. Every kid is wearing a Bledsoe jersey except Billy. He's wearing a Flutie jersey. So all these people start throwing booze at him."

Jackie MacMullan

2005-07-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

Players hope to get noticed at summer football camps

Let’s go camping.To hear those words, most men, young and old, think of summer camps with the Boys Scouts or roughing it with the family — complete with mosquitoes, ticks, sunburns, latrines and ultimately a good time.Yet for a growing number of young men, summer camp has come to mean one thing — football camp! For the majority of gridiron camp participants, there's more to the camp experience than a week of fun scrimmages and practice drills. For many campers, there's an alternative agenda — showcasing their talent in the hopes of receiving a college football scholarship.Brigham Young University has offered a summer football camp since the 1970's. This year, BYU's two camps were held in the latter part of June. Scholarship hunting at summer camps can be expensive, with many of these young men attending more than one camp in hopes of catching a coach's eye. Many programs won’t make a scholarship offer until they see the prospect at their camps due to NCAA restrictions on the amount of contact with high school athletes.Some athletes attend only one or two days of a camp, just long enough to get that important exposure to the coaches who will be making those scholarship decisions. One afternoon, on the last day of the first week of BYU's football camp, I ventured out to see how one of these camps actually performed. The only individuals that were available to talk with me were some injured players and some parents of some of the athletes. These individuals walked the sidelines while the other athletes received football instruction — some in pass-catching instruction. I spoke with one parent who was there with his son, his son’s two high school teammates and his nephew. His name was Setaleki Pohahau and he had traveled to BYU with these four young men from the Tennison school system in Heywood, California. Pohahau is a father of eight children — four boys, four girls. His son, Setaleki Pohahau Jr, is a 5-foot-9, 165-pound sophomore who will play varsity football this fall as a running back. According to his father, Junior ran a 4.7 40 and had a 29-inch vertical in camp testing. Of all his children, Setaleki said that this son was the most interested in sports and was very dedicated to his class studies (he has a 3.5 GPA). Junior told his father that after hearing former BYU and Philadelphia Eagles player Chad Lewis speak on the topic of "excellence in all things," his son said he wants to work harder in the classroom and bring his GPA up to a 4.0. According to his father, his son would love to play one day for BYU, and he's been working hard this week in camp to earn a chance. This was not their first camp. They had also attended the Cal Berkley camp and the Polynesian Camp held in Salt Lake City earlier in June. The Cal camp was a huge affair with about 800 athletes attending. The Polynesian Camp was similar in size to BYU’s. The difference of the BYU camp to these other two camps was that the other two camps were full contact. The BYU camp was structured after the regular preseason training and was without pads. Several of the ailing young men on the sidelines pointed out that they had sustained their injuries prior to coming to BYU’s camp after participating in these full-contact camps. Setaleki Sr. said he liked the BYU camp better than the other two because it was more based on instruction and training in proper techniques. He was very interested in learning effective ways to personally train his son and his nephew, Aisea Ramirez, who will be a freshman lineman this fall and who is already 6-foot and 240 pounds. Setaleki said the doctors have told his nephew that he’s on track to grow to be about 6-6. According to Setaleki Sr, coach Bronco Mendenhall spent most of his time observing the players. Mendenhall's staff though was working with each young man and on some of the catching drills that I observed, as many as two coaches would converge on a player after he had run his route or defended a pass and explain what they had done right or wrong. There was a lot of direct coaching and teaching going on. Both Setaleki Jr and Aisea are LDS. The two friends they brought from their Tennison High School were not LDS, but were really enjoying the camp experience. One was a sophomore wide receiver, Martin Marquez, and the other a freshman defensive back, Chase Martinez, Jr. Football practice back at Tennison High School had already commenced for the four players, but they all had been given coach's permission to attend this camp. I met a few other individuals on the sidelines. One injured young man — the injury was sustained from the Poly Camp he had attended the week before — had a last name familiar to BYU football fans: Mahe. John Mahe is a 6-1, 205-pound linebacker/tight end from Salt Lake City who will be a senior this season. He told me he had already attended the Poly Camp, as well as camps at Weber State, Utah State and the University of Utah. I asked him how he could afford so many camps. He said his uncle, Reno Mahe, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles last season, was helping him with the costs. John said he met another relative of a great BYU player from the past, a nephew of the famed Lakei Hemuli and pointed him out to me as he was out on the field participating in the pass catching and defending drills. For many of the hundreds of youth that spent their week at this camp or others, the dreams of playing for such great Division-1 programs will remain just a dream as the competition is fierce, with many vying for few scholarship offers.Maybe someday, all Cougar fans will know the names of Setaleki Pahahau Jr. or John Mahe as they don the Cougar blue and realize their dreams of playing for a fabled football program. But for this week, they were just one of many hoping to be noticed.

Jim Vallen
COUGARBLUE

2005-07-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

Getting a grip on the changes

The winds of change will be blowing heavily this fall all across the college athletic landscape.Nine of the major conferences will see several new faces, including the Big East and Conference USA, while seven others receive some minor tweaking. - College Football -
Although the fall semester is several weeks away, the conference changes officially took effect today.In what has been a much-anticipated move for more than a year, the University of Louisville joins the Big East to form a mega-powerhouse in men's basketball.Because of an upward swing in sports under the direction of athletics director Tom Jurich, the Cardinals can now boast of being a member of one of the top conferences in men's basketball.The switch in conferences will present a new and unprecedented challenge for Louisville, which advanced to the Final Four for the first time in the Rick Pitino era last spring.Joining the Cardinals as the newest members of the Big East from C-USA are Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette and South Florida.All five teams bring a dose of tradition to the league in men's basketball. - College Football -
The five former C-USA members have made 100 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, played in 19 Final Fours and have captured five national titles.In addition, the old Big East has won three of the last seven national titles, which should make for some exciting action on the hardwood.In women's basketball, Louisville will have to get traditional power Connecticut to have any kind of success in the league. - College Football -
Since Boston College is no longer the king of the conference in football, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Louisville likely will battle it out for the top spot.Boston College is the newest member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, giving it another strong football program.Former C-USA teams Charlotte and Saint Louis moved to the Atlantic 10 Conference, giving the league 14 teams.While the Big East will feature a new look, C-USA rolls out the red carpet for six new teams to replace the seven squads that left the league.Marshall, Central Florida, Rice, Southern Methodist, Texas El-Paso and Tulsa joins a league that figures to a wide-open goose chase in every sport.The move is good for Marshall, which has boosted its stock on the gridiron since moving up to the I-A ranks more than a decade ago. - College Football -
The Western Athletic Conference will see three new teams in Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State to form a nine-team conference.The Atlantic Sun welcomes East Tennessee State, along with Kennesaw State and North Florida, both making the jump from NCAA Division II.Florida Atlantic and Troy State are now associated with the Sun Belt Conference.Got all of that?

Winchester Sun

2005-06-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

In college sports, it's quite a year

Hampden-Sydney's baseball team is just back from Grand Chute, Wis. (known far and wide as Tree City USA). The Virginia Union men's hoopsters are just back from the White House. James Madison's football kingpins have become a very warm ticket. The baseball squads from VCU and Virginia spent last weekend at NCAA regionals.
And have I mentioned Virginia Tech yet?
From gyms to white-lined playing fields, from fall of 2004 through spring of 2005, it's been a pretty nifty sports year for colleges in our fair dominion. We've spawned national championships for teams and individuals. We've sent our emissaries to Norfolk, N'awlins and Nawth Dakota in search of wins and trophies (forgive me if I've missed your faves) -- and brought back a fair share of each. We've fueled a cottage industry of commemorative T-shirts and ball caps.
JMU got things rolling in December by claiming Division I-AA's football championship and has since exceeded its previous best for season-ticket sales. Three months later, the VUU men's basketball squad journeyed to Grand Forks, N.D., and snared the program's third Division II title.
Dave Robbins and the guys shared space with President Bush on Monday. No word on whether Luqman Jaaber got a job offer from the defense department.
Also on the basketball front, the Randolph-Macon women's team had a bell-ringing campaign -- winning 30 games, reaching the Final Four in Norfolk and advancing to the championship game before falling for only the second time all year.
Fellow ODAC members Bridgewater (football) and Hampden-Sydney (baseball) had teams to brag on as well. The Eagles were undefeated against league rivals for the fourth straight year. The Tigers won a school-record 27 games and became the first ODAC squad ever to advance to the Division III championships.

And have I mentioned Virginia Tech yet?
Closer to home, VCU and Richmond had some noteworthies. The Rams claimed CAA championships in baseball and women's soccer and sent their men's basketball squad to the NIT and men's soccer team to the NCAA quarterfinals. As for the Spiders, the field hockey team encountered no A-10 losses for the third year in a row, and women's basketball got an at-large bid to the NCAAs.
Up the road in Charlottesville, there was a flood of ACC championships for U.Va. in men's and women's soccer, men's tennis, men's swimming and diving and women's rowing. Women's lacrosse made it to the NCAA final, men's lacrosse to the Final Four. And baseball scaled the 40-win barrier for the second straight year .
Now, about those Hokies . . .
Everybody figured ACC membership would be bery, bery good for Tech, but no one reckoned it'd deliver a mini-bonanza. In the first 11 years of the Directors' Cup, a survey that measures all-sports success (Stanford routinely wins), Tech never finished higher than 63rd. In its ACC maiden voyage, the Blacksburg contingent is currently 49th and might rise (Virginia, for those keeping score, is 20th).
The Hokies excelled in the marquee sports of football (ACC champs, Sugar Bowl bid, player-of-year honors for Bryan Randall, coach-of-year award for Frank Beamer) and men's basketball (picked 10th and finished fourth, NIT second round, coach-of-year award for Seth Greenberg) -- but the positive vibes didn't end there.
In the fall, women's soccer made the NCAAs for the first time, and the wrestlers followed suit in the winter by finishing second at the ACC tournament and producing two individual champions. Women's basketball made the NCAA field. So did softball.
Best of all, Spyridon Jullien, a junior from Greece with Atlas-like muscles, earned Tech's first national championship -- individual or team -- in the 35-pound weight throw at the NCAA indoor games last March 11. He's ranked No. 1 nationally in the hammer throw heading into this week's NCAA outdoor meet. So his/our haul might not be complete.

BOB LIPPER

College Football Combine

2005-06-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

College Football Combine