Week Six

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME … under the “What were they thinking?” banner we can put the football programs at Nebraska, Texas A&M, Utah and Colorado … those four have been headliners in the rush to leave a long-established conference for supposedly greener pastures … Utah, which thought it could immediately move into contention in the Pac-12, finds itself 0-2 and a non-factor in the conference race after getting smacked at home, 31-14, by a so-so Washington team … and they may have to go with a Division II transfer at quarterback this Saturday after starter Jordan Wynn banged up his shoulder against the Huskies … things don’t get an easier for the Utes, with Arizona State coming to Salt Lake City on Saturday … Colorado, the other school that caused the old Pac-10 to change its name, blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead at home in a 31-27 loss to perennial cellar-dweller Washington State and looks to have the South Division basement all to itself … next loss for the Bumbling Buffs? … on the road at No. 7 Stanford, which enters the game as a 27-point favorite and should cover that spread by halftime … Nebraska, meanwhile, which for years has been a dominant force in the Big 12 and the various corn-fed configurations that preceded that 12-team alignment, somehow decided it was a “better fit” in the Big 10 … well, how does 48-17 fit? … that’s the number Wisconsin laid on the Huskers in their Big 10 debut, making folks in Lincoln long for the days of Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Baylor … which brings us to Texas A&M, which announced just last week that it was leaving its comfortable home in the Big 12 for the toughest league in the land, the Southeastern Conference … even the best of A&M teams are now doomed to mediocrity in a conference dominated by the likes of Alabama, LSU, Florida and a pack of others nipping at their heels … ironically, A&M was given a preview taste of what’s in store when it hosted SEC also-ran Arkansas and blew an 18-point halftime lead in a 42-38 loss … they say you can never go home again, but Nebraska, Texas A&M, Utah and Colorado are sure wishing they could right about now …

CROWDED AT THE TOP … as we near the midpoint of the season, there are 13 unbeatens in major college football, but only two will be selected for the national championship game Jan. 9 in New Orleans … although it’s not certain, this looks as if it might be another one of those years when three or more teams will finish the regular season unbeaten and someone – or some ones – will be left out in the cold … not that being unbeaten is a requirement to make it into the championship game … at the top are Alabama and LSU, but one will take care of the other when the two meet in Tuscaloosa Nov. 5 … Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are both unbeaten, but that situation will be rectified the first weekend in December when they butt heads in Stillwater … Oklahoma and Oklahoma State also both play another unbeaten in Texas … in fact, UO takes on the Longhorns Saturday at the Texas State Fair in Big D … the Big 10 has three unbeatens – Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois – but only the Badgers seem capable of running the table, especially since they’ve already eliminated their four toughest opponents in UNLV, Oregon State, Northern Illinois and South Dakota … Wisconsin faces Illinois in Champaign on Nov. 19, but does not play Michigan … Michigan faces Illinois Nov. 12 in Champaign … Illinois, by the way, opened the season with five straight games at home … but wait, there’s more … Kansas State is unbeaten in Bill Snyder’s second coming, but still faces Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas … Georgia Tech and Clemson are both unbeaten, but meet October 29 in Atlanta … Stanford is unbeaten with speed bumps at USC Oct. 29 and Nov. 12 at home against Oregon … and Boise State is unbeaten, but certain to be favored the rest of the way against Fresno State, Colorado State, Air Force, UNLV, TCU, San Diego State, Wyoming and New Mexico … and hey, once-beaten Oregon (40-27 loss to LSU in the season opener) still thinks it might have a say in the national championship debate if it beats Stanford and wins out … stay tuned … things are about to get very interesting …

AIR WAR OVER CORVALLIS … given that Oregon State is 0-4 with a loss to I-AA Sacramento State, and Univ. of Arizona is 1-4 and riding a four-game losing streak, Saturday’s showdown in Corvallis qualifies as either the Crummy Game of the Week or the Disappointment Bowl, take your pick … but for folks who like a pass-happy, high-scoring shootout, this may be just the game for you … last week in a 35-20 loss at Arizona State, Beaver freshman quarterback Sean Mannion put the ball in the air 66 times, completing 40 – both school records, by the way - for 341 yards … actually, he completed 44 passes, but four of those went to the guys in the wrong-colored jerseys … meanwhile, on the floor of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Arizona quarterback Nick Foles was doing his level best to play catch-up with mighty USC, completing 41 of 53 passes for 425 yards and four touchdowns … all to no avail, alas … USC won, 48-41 … the Wildcats, in fact, have given up 104 points in their last two games and 178 altogether in those four consecutive losses … coach Mike Stoops is scouring the intramural fields on the Tucson campus for anyone who can play defense … both Arizona and Oregon State see this as a “must-win” game … and they’re right … as the rules of college football are currently constituted, one team indeed “must” win …

GOTTA LOVE THOSE LUMBERING LUMBERJACKS … I don’t know about you, but I’m thrilled to see the Aggies playing a “throwback” game against the green-and-gold Lumberjacks from Humboldt State, the most misspelled school in the CSUS system (many folks forget the ‘d’) … and never mind that the Aggie Band-uh sometimes calls them the Limberjocks, there is a proud and defiant “us against the world” mentality on the Arcata campus that carries over to the football field … long ago, back in the days of the Far Western Conference and later the Northern California Athletic Conference, this was a spirited rivalry … in fact, before Jim Sochor took over at UC Davis in 1970 and produced 11 straight wins over the Jacks, there was no telling who might win when these two tangled … Humboldt, Sac State, Nevada and UCD are the last teams standing from the old FWC after Cal State Hayward, San Francisco State, Sonoma State and Chico State all dropped the sport … those who look at the win-loss record since the Aggies moved up to I-AA and lament the fact the school no longer plays at the Division II level, need look only at Humboldt State to see how difficult it is for a Division II school in California to put together a competitive schedule … the Jacks play the likes of Dixie State (Utah), Simon Fraser (British Columbia), Western Oregon, Central Washington and Mesa State (Colorado) … the kicker is – with the exception of Mesa State – they play each of those schools twice … and nothing kills fan interest quicker than to bring in a team you played just three weeks ago … the reason there are no California schools on the schedule other than UCD is that there are no other Division II football teams anywhere in in the state …

FOOTBALL IS A CONTACT SPORT … Illinois starting linebacker and defensive superstar Jonathan Brown has been suspended by head coach Ron Zook after he was flagged for kneeing Northwestern offensive lineman Patrick Ward in the – you’d better sit down – groin … you can watch it online if you’d like … those of us who saw it would like to suggest that a one-game suspension is woefully inadequate for such an intentional act to injure … said Zook of Brown: “He is a good person, a spiritual person and no one feels worse about it than him.” … not sure Patrick Ward’s groin would agree with the “no one feels worse” part of that statement … also not clear is which “spiritual” persuasion allows kneeing one’s opponent where it hurts, but I guess just about all spiritual folks believe in forgiveness … not to mention wearing a cup in combat …

TOP OF THE HEAP … 1) Alabama, 2) Wisconsin, 3) LSU, 4) Oklahoma, 5) Stanford, 6) Oklahoma State, 7) Clemson, 8) Oregon, 9) Georgia Tech 10) Arkansas, 11) Michigan, 12) Texas, 13) West Virginia, 14) Auburn, 15) Illinois, 16) South Carolina, 17) Kansas State, 18) Baylor, 19) Virginia Tech, 20) Florida, 21) Nebraska, 22) Washington, 23) Arizona State, 24) Michigan State, 25) Houston

BOTTOM OF THE BARREL … 120) New Mexico, 119) Western Kentucky, 118) Alabama-Birmingham (not Tuscaloosa), 117) Miami, Ohio (not Florida), 116) Florida Atlantic, 115) Oregon State, 114) Arizona, 113) Colorado

 This week’s picks are as follows:

OREGON over CAL (Thursday night) … things are just Ducky in Eugene, where Oregon’s offense is in high gear (69, 56, 56 in the last three games) and may just be unstoppable.

STANFORD over COLORADO … the Buffs will be petitioning for emergency re-entry into the old Big 12 after Andrew Luck and his Cardinal teammates get done with them. Stanford by 40.

NEBRASKA over OHIO STATE … the Cornhuskers, too, are looking for the safety and security of their warm and fuzzy home in the Big 12 after Wisconsin threw them a rude house-warming party last Saturday in Madison. Nebraska by 10.

ARIZONA STATE over UTAH … the Utes, at 0-2 in the Pac-12, are also looking to return to the softer pastures of their old conference. Arizona State by 6.

WASHINGTON STATE over UCLA … not only is Paul Wulff’s coaching seat not hot anymore, they’re talking contract extension in Pullman after last week’s dramatic comeback in Boulder. Cougs by 12.

BYU over SAN JOSE STATE … after last weekend’s last-second “Miracle Pass” against Utah State, the Boys from the Y think God is on their side. BYU by 21.

NOTRE DAME over AIR FORCE … Notre Dame is petitioning the NCAA for a do-over of the first two games of the season. Now that the schedule is easing up a bit, the Irish are eyeing a BCS bowl. Irish by 10.

OKLAHOMA over TEXAS … the horses in Norman are faster than the horses in Austin. Sooners by 21.

BOISE STATE over FRESNO STATE … in previous years this would be a major battle. Now the Broncos don’t even blink. Unfortunately, with so many unbeatens crowding the top tier of the rankings, the chance the Broncos will get a shot at that elusive national title game appears slim indeed. Boise by 20.

UPSET OF THE WEEK: Oregon State over Arizona … and old-fashioned shootout in Corvallis results in the first Beaver victory of what looks like a very long season. There will be over 100 passes thrown before this one is over. Trust me on this. Beavers by 3. (Upset record: 0-5).

ROUT OF THE WEEK: Illinois over Indiana … the Illini don’t make much noise about themselves, but they do keep winning the close ones. Illini by 17. (Rout record: 5-0).

DON’T BET ON IT, BUT: LSU over Florida … after last week’s rout at the hands of Alabama, the Gators are planning to sue the schedule-maker. Tigers by 11. (Don’t bet record: 1-4).

FIVE EASY PICKS: This week’s sure winners are Alabama (over Vanderbilt), West Virginia (over Connecticut), Oklahoma State (over Kansas), Clemson (over Boston College) and UC Davis (over Humboldt State). (FEP record: 25-0).

AGGIES over HUMBOLDT STATE … a throwback game from Division II days. After a week off to recover from all that a 56-14 loss will do to one’s confidence, UC Davis puts it all together against its former rival from the Far Western Conference. Takes the Ags by 31.

OTHER GAMES: Georgia Tech over Maryland, Mississippi State over UAB, North Carolina over Louisville, Purdue over Minnesota, South Carolina over Kentucky, Florida State over Wake Forest, Rice over Memphis, Army over Miami (Ohio), Florida International over Akron, Toledo over Eastern Michigan, Missouri over Kansas State, Virginia Tech over Miami (Fla.), Pittsburgh over Rutgers, Iowa over Penn State, Arkansas over Auburn, Michigan over Northwestern, Texas A&M over Texas Tech, Baylor over Iowa State, Houston over East Carolina, Georgia over Tennessee, Utah State over Wyoming, Syracuse over Tulane, and Nevada over UNLV.

Last week: 24-11, season: 192-46, percentage: .807.