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| Friday, October 6 Classic rivalries highlight banner day of games By Chris Fowler Special to ESPN.com | ||||||||
| College football fans have a problem. This Saturday's slate of games is too good. There are too many games worth watching crowded into one afternoon. Sensory overload. You'll need about four satellite dishes and as many TV sets to keep up.
FSU-Miami. . .Texas-Oklahoma. . .Ohio State-Wisconsin. . .Michigan-Purdue. . .Auburn-Mississippi State. Even Oregon State-Washington.
This is the weekend we've been pointing to since August, and the wildest September on record only makes it more intriguing. Conference races in the SEC and the Big 10 are so scrambled that almost everybody's in the mix. Teams with an early loss usually have to wait until at least late October to feel good about their chances of muscling back into the national title race. Not this season.
The number of unbeaten teams (13) may be the lowest total after a season's opening month in a long time. I would love to say this with certainty, but it's sort of a tough stat to verify and, besides, I've been busy this week doing my taxes and cleaning out closets. Anyway, let's just say that only 13 unblemished teams entering October SEEMS like a real low total. If you don't believe me, ask Beano's chat.
The incredible Shrinking Unbeatens phenomenon should continue Saturday. My prediction: there'll be only eight left Sunday morning.
It's fitting in this young but wacky year that the two "Showdowns" of unbeatens involve Iowa State and N.C. State. No one yet believes in either team, although it is a sign of the times that the Cyclones are ONLY about a two touchdown underdog against Nebraska. Seven straight years in the '90s, Iowa State was at least a five-TD underdog in this matchup. N.C. State's three thrilling comeback wins could indicate that they're living on borrowed time and that it's about to come due at Clemson.
Pursuing perfection Here are capsules on some of Saturday's games involving unbeatens. All capsules are not created equal, as all matchups are not. For hardcore coverage of TCU versus Hawaii, click to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. No. 2 Florida State at No. 8 Miami Can't wait to walk through the tunnel into the Orange Bowl at 12:01 p.m. Saturday and feel the heat of Florida State-Miami. It'll be loud in there. . .the air thick and sticky. . .the Seminoles will bring their bravado, well-earned by five straight wins over Miami. . .the Canes will try to summon sufficient self-belief to end that skid. . .fans on both sides will be in full voice, singing the Seminole War Chant. . .the ones wearing Miami colors will be using their own signature lyrics, specially created to express their feelings for their Panhandle rivals. It used to be a true privilege to witness an FSU-Miami game: two sides loaded with future NFL talent, all selling out every play. The game's tempo was as high as its stakes. You could feel the ferocity -- like being ringside for a great heavyweight bout, for those of you old enough to remember what that used to feel like. Their was true star power on both sides, charismatic college kids who understand that running your mouth is a big risk -- you could look foolish on a very big stage -- but whose true confidence overrode fear of failure. Oh, I better stop. . .I'm starting to wax. Anyway, you get the idea. The question is, has Miami got the goods to bring this game back to where it was? They think so, although getting anyone to come out and shout it is difficult. These Canes lack leaders who have been part of big wins. That's a casualty of the probation and short down turn. When it's a battle deep into the fourth quarter, what do the team leaders have to draw on? Florida State's Butkus candidate Brian Allen put it well, recalling that the "Miami's back" talk has been heard for a few years running now. Brian begs to differ. "They are not the Miami of old," he said, noting that there was too much "cockiness down there." That's the closest thing to public noise being talked, but it certainly reflects how most Seminoles feel. It reminds me of one of my favorite stories about this series. I was visiting the Canes practice facility in the highly charged days of this rivalry, the early 90s. A carload of Canes pulled up and told me to get in. I was young and naive, so I got in. I was taken to an apartment in a downtown luxury highrise shared by a couple players (hey, it was the old glory days -- they lived in luxury high rises). As I was being introduced to a few songs from Tupac and Luther Campbell that I was less than familiar with, the Canes players were shouting excitedly over the stereo. I had had the audacity to say that FSU was in a good position to dethrone Miami and end the years of recent dominance. They disagreed. Strongly. What I failed to understand, they informed me, was that FSU was their -- well, I can't use the word -- but it's a synonym of a female dog. OK, they'd been listening to too much of Luke's lyrics, but the point was, they intimidated FSU. No matter who had better talent, Miami held an insurmountable psychological edge. That was crap. Had a couple field goals flown a few feet to the left, FSU would have won back to back showdowns and probably an additional national title or two. But the point is, they believed it. FSU's guys believe the reverse is true now. The onus is on Miami to prove otherwise. Last year in Tally, it was tied at half. The Noles won by 10. This year, Miami's defensive leader, Dan Morgan says the Canes' "maturity" will be the difference. The Canes did not look mature at Washington. The did not look tough. They got a little timid after being belted upside the head, if you believe the private postgame assessment of some Husky coaches. Ken Dorsey has faced the fire and won a big road game at West Virginia, but he's still a green sophomore. I asked Dorsey whom the offense looked to for leadership -- and he said it was kind of by committee, but that a good bit of it fell to him as the QB. Hmmm. No disrespect to Dorsey. He may be an excellent talent, but against a nasty Noles bunch, I want more than a couple of career starts from my team leaders.
Had to drop the Huskers from #1 after a home struggle with a Mizzou bunch that was devastated at Clemson. In truth, I really should not be voting them second, ahead of Kansas State. Dropping them two slots in one week seemed rash, though. Nebraska's defense is not real good. Frank Solich is getting impatient. Without a big improvement, they could struggle here, and at Texas Tech next week. Remember Marv Seiler? No? He was maybe the slowest QB in captivity, but he ran the option all over a stunned Husker team in the '92 meeting, leading Iowa State to one of the decade's biggest upsets. He was so mechanical running the option (both hands on the ball, held up near his chin strap, swinging it side to side as he lumbered down the line of scrimmage) and yet so effective that day. No real point in mentioning it, except that I promised our researcher, Chris Fallica I would get Mr. Seiler in the column. Temple at No. 3 Virginia Tech The Owls have athletes. This may be a news flash to some of you. But they don't have any Mike Vick's. He's so amazing, that unleashing his skills on some poor defense is almost unsportsmanlike. It's not fair. On one of his six dozen highlight reel runs so far, I swear I saw Vick veer away from a clear path to the BC endzone Saturday -- and run toward the center of the field, apparently so that he could juke one last, hapless Eagle defender. The safety was spun around, as Vick semi-high-stepped past him to paydirt. Tech's defense is not championship level. . .yet. But that's what they said about the St. Louis Rams last year. Can anybody outscore them before the big visit to Miami? I think not. No. 7 Ohio State at No. 22 Wisconsin Buckeyes' fans are already talking about the Michigan game. This is not a surprise. But it is a mistake. Saturday is by far the biggest test for Cooper's crew. They have used the bye week to work on a spread offense, to get three receivers on the field and create mismatches with Wisconsin linebackers, safeties, and corner Mike Echols, who is no Jamar Fletcher. Intriguing. One problem: wide outs Ken-Yon Rambo (shoulder) and Chad Cacchio (ankle) are not fully healthy. Another: Steve Bellisari must prove he can deliver in this system. Spreading the field and making the Badger defense play in space is obviously the best way to attack it (see Cincy and Northwestern game plans). Michigan was far too conservative (wow, a shock) until falling behind Saturday. But then, a third straight Badger opponent marched the field in the closing minutes for tying or winning points. Wisconsin shouldn't panic: they've been awful near the red zone (six visits inside UM's 35 produced a TD and a FG and that's it) and turnover and penalty-prone, yet still have lost two by a field goal apiece. No. 10 Texas vs. No. 12 Oklahoma College football is better when this rivalry is hot. It has heated up again with both teams in the top 15 at kickoff for the first time since the 1 vs 2 battle in '84 (when Mack Brown was calling the plays for Oklahoma -- option right, option left, option right, pop the fullback trap, option left. . .well, you get the idea). Kickoff's at 11 am, State Fair time, a concern since Texas is a team that takes while to get going: seven straight first quarters without an offensive TD. Mack is considering scheduling a scrimmage 30 minutes before kickoff in the parking lot or at least another cup of coffee to get the Horns jump started. This could be Saturday's most exciting game -- both rank highly in passing and scoring. By the way, Bob Stoops has one of America's most interesting coaching staffs. Besides his brother Mike, the defensive coordinator, Steve Spurrier, Jr. coaches receivers, ex-Iowa star Chuck Long is QB coach, ex-Sooner QB Cale Gundy coaches the backs, Jackie Shipp coaches the D-line, and longtime Longhorn recruiting ace Bobby Jack Wright is in charge of the ends. A good bit of Wright's duties are focused on reopening the pipeline to Texas talent. Only six OU starters Saturday come from Texas, far less than in the glory days, and that's not good enough. Mack Brown has done much to close the borders, but what this rivalry really needs to get it back to the good ol' days is for more Sooners to hail from the Lone Star state. Wild and wacky SEC For the first time since '88, the mighty SEC has no teams ranked in the top ten. Auburn is the lone unbeaten. By the way, the last time the top ten lacked an SEC team was the week after Auburn lost at LSU, in the famous "Earthquake" game. After being held scoreless the whole game, LSU drove for a game-winning fourth down TD pass, and the Tiger Stadium eruption that followed literally shook the earth to such a degree that seismic equipment across campus recorded it. Auburn dropped from 4th to 12th on the basis of a 7-6 loss, proving that the polls made no more sense then than they do now. The SEC has already witnessed more demolished goalposts in September than any conference ought to. They've come down at South Carolina (twice), Mississippi State, and LSU. Maybe the wildest footnote: one of Peyton Manning's outstanding Tennessee records was actually equaled Saturday by the immortal A.J. Suggs, who completed 37 passes in the OT loss to LSU. Keep an eye on. . . This week, I can't wait to see these storylines unfold:
| ALSO SEE Weinke's biggest victory came long before title Tirico: No one is immune from upsets College Football ... On Campus with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit AUDIO/VIDEO   Chris Weinke airs it out 58 yards to Robert Morgan for the TD.avi: 804 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Major Applewhite hits an open Artie Ellis for a 21-yard TD.avi: 1491 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Woody Dantzler finds Jackie Robinson 30 yards down field for a TD.avi: 1110 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Eric Crouch looks again to Tracey Wistrom on the 10-yard TD pass.avi: 1179 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||||
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