Other SC, Clemson on the rise
Carter Strickland The Spokesman-ReviewDown in the Palmetto State, where the Confederate flag still flaps in the wind and in the face of all conventional wisdom, they still hold onto the notion that the South will rise again. Well, it finally has.
Entering the fifth week of the college football season, South Carolina has two teams - Clemson and South Carolina - in the Top 25. But Strom Thurmond's boys aren't the only ones making a mockery of the preseason predictions.
The Pac-10 has two teams - Washington and USC - ranked ahead of anybody in the Big Ten.
Not enough for you? Chew on this: At least one top 10 team has been upset in each of the season's first four weeks.
"A lot of crazy things, at least crazy to the outside people, are happening," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz told the Chicago Tribune. "That's the great thing about college football."
Great for the fans. Great for the ratings. Great for the underdogs. Great for just about everybody but coaches like Texas' Mack Brown, Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez and Alabama's Mike DuBose and the poor saps who are forced to pick the games each week and print the results in the newspaper.
"This year has been a funny year," said Texas Tech coach Mike Leach. "Anybody can beat anybody."
"You'd better play with some emotion every week or you're going to get beat," added Brown.
Just look at what Mack's brother, Watson, did last week. The Alabama-Birmingham coach took his team into Tiger Stadium, where the crowd was so loud it once registered on the LSU geology department Richter scale, and won 13-10.
And you can bet your class ring the upsets aren't over. This week No. 3 Florida is at Mississippi State, No. 4 Virginia Tech is at Boston College, No. 5 Kansas State is at Colorado, and No. 6 Washington is at No. 20 Oregon.
Let's go to the videotape
With officials these days issuing more apologies than the Idaho Vandals, the question of instant replay has surfaced in college football.
Certainly the 100,000 or so Tennessee fans on hand for Florida's game-winning touchdown/drop are in favor of it. As are all the Illinois fans who watched the officials blow two fumble calls late in the game. Even some Washington State fans who remember the Arizona Hail Mary of a year ago might get on the bandwagon.
But while the supporters are many, including coaches such as Penn State's Joe Paterno and Illinois' Ron Turner, the replay system will probably never make into the college game.
"I don't think you'll see it happen," Ohio State coach John Cooper said. "It wouldn't bother me, but financially I don't see that happening. Maybe the Big Ten, or the SEC, Big 12 or Pac-10 could afford it, but there are a lot of schools struggling just to have a football program."
According to the Associated Press, when the NFL brought back replay in 1999, the startup cost was $7.7 million, plus $2.2 million per year. That was just to outfit 30 modern stadiums. Division I has 115 teams and not all of them play in modern stadiums.
"Could we afford it in the SEC? Yes," said Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill. "But you could not afford it throughout the country."
By the numbers
44,204 - average attendance at Oregon's Autzen Stadium in three games this year. 41,698 - listed capacity of Autzen Stadium. Oregon is expecting more than 45,000 for today's game against Washington.
114 - points Indiana has scored in three games this season. The Hoosiers need seven more to surpass their 1997 season total.
75 - percent of respondents in favor of firing Alabama's Mike DuBose in a poll conducted by the Birmingham News.
15 - Tennessee losses in Phillip Fulmer's seven years at Tennessee.
7 - Times Fulmer has lost to Florida (46 percent).
5 - passing touchdowns by Nebraska in its win against Iowa Saturday. It was the first time since 1998 the Huskers have won without a rushing touchdown.
Notes
When Marshall lost at North Carolina it was the first time in five years the Thundering Herd had lost back-to-back games. . . . Colorado's three losses have come by a combined margin of 10 points. Two of those losses were to Top 10 teams Washington and USC. . . . No ACC player has passed for 2,000 yards and rushed for 1,000 in one season. In Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler's last 11 games - seven last year and four this year - he has passed for 2,095 yards and rushed for 1,039. . . . So far, retiring BYU coach LaVell Edwards has raked in two tickets to Hawaii (UNLV's John Robinson), a rocking chair (Virginia's George Welsh) and a golf club (Air Force's Fisher DeBerry). Bet he'd trade 'em all for some wins. . . . Bobby Williams is the first Michigan State coach to win his first three regular season games since George Gauthier in 1918. . . . Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke moved up another peg in the record books with his 25th consecutive victory as a starter when the Seminoles blasted Maryland 59-7 Thursday night, tying Jimmy Harris of Oklahoma, who turned the trick from 1954-56. . . . South Carolina has allowed only two touchdowns in its four games this season.
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