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Can Tech Topple Texas?
posted: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 | Feedback
A few huge matchups lead the way in this week's top story lines:
1. Can Tech take the next step?
For years, Texas Tech has been in something of a college football netherworld. The Red Raiders have been a winning program, but never one that has really been considered a legit heavyweight. Their wins almost aren't taken seriously by the media and the pollsters because they just haven't officially broken through. People just believe Tech is more about stats than substance. It is just perception of course, but in a sport in which pollsters and media spin does count, perception is reality.
Tech is hardly alone in this realm. The Big Ten has a handful of schools with this plight, the ACC is chock-full of an underclass, and aside from USC, the entire Pac-10 is probably living in this world. In truth, it can be tough to escape.
Miami did it more than 20 years ago when the 'Canes knocked off the mighty Nebraska team. Virginia Tech did it some 15 years later. Iowa, under Kirk Ferentz, showed its teeth three years ago, when the Hawkeyes went into Ann Arbor and pounded Michigan into its worst home loss in decades. That's why this weekend is monumental for Texas Tech.
Since Mike Leach took over, the Red Raiders have been a curiosity. They have the most prolific offense in the country. Tech QBs come and go each year and seemingly tend to do better than their predecessors. Leach appears to have another record-setter in Cody Hodges who, like other Tech passers, is deadly accurate and very tough. This one's also pretty unflappable, Leach says. Coolest one he's had.
Leach will be a big part of this story, just like last weekend centered around Charlie Weis. In newspaper talk, he makes great copy. (I have gone into great detail about Leach's ways in this space and in ESPN the Magazine before, so I won't now.)
To me, it comes down to this: Leach has this quirky genius aura about him that some love and others shake their heads at. Blistering a top-five team in Cal last year was huge for his program, but still most didn't really even see that game. For the most part, Texas Tech is like college football's answer to Anna Nicole Smith, meaning the Red Raiders sure can turn your head, maybe like no other, but sometimes they make you snicker. You might even look down your nose at 'em. And when they're ugly, boy, everyone loves to make jokes about 'em. And it doesn't help that Leach is just 1-9 against Texas and Oklahoma, and his team is averaging 20.6 points in those games. The lone win was in 2002 when the unranked Red Raiders upset then-No. 4 Texas in Lubbock, 42-38.
On Monday, Leach gave his feelings on the perception of his program via the Big 12 media conference call, the same Q&A set-up, by the way, in which you sometimes hear in the background him ordering lunch at whatever drive-through he's visiting while giving answers like: "I don't worry about maps. Or whether we're on them."
2. Shakeout Saturday
The SEC West race is pretty muddled right now, but things should become much clearer after No. 16 Auburn plays at No. 7 LSU, and No. 16 Tennessee (from the East) plays at No. 5 Alabama.
The team most in the crosshairs is 'Bama. The Tide has dropped nine of the last 10 games to the Vols. Plus, 'Bama's 13-10 squeaker over Mississippi has created a whole new wave of doubters, thinking that (a) The Tide offense just lost too much when game-breaker Tyrone Prothro was lost for the season; (b) The romp over Florida might not mean quite as much if UF is indeed a mediocre team.
3. The Ol' Bawl Coach
Urban Meyer's postgame crying is going to get quite a bit of play from many different corners. The Tennessean suspects those tears might be rooted in something more than just his emotional bond with his new team. David Climer wonders if "this show of emotion was due in some part to the realization that Meyer's offense is not all it was cracked up to be."
4. The Big Least: Can this be?
The Big East is actually worse than everybody anticipated? Louisville and Pittsburgh, the supposed two burgeoning powers of the league, have flopped. The core of this story from the Washington Times says, "The Big East is in jeopardy of falling behind the non-BCS Mountain West Conference as the sixth-highest rated league. The Big East owns a 4-8 record against BCS teams, with the biggest win being West Virginia over Maryland." Yikes. It's pretty awful, although I still think it's a bit better than the MWC, but it shouldn't be close. And my God, it is:
In conference order I'd take West Virginia (BE) over TCU; Rutgers pick 'em CSU; Wyoming (MW) over Pitt; New Mexico (MW) over UConn; USF pick 'em BYU; SD State (MW) over Cincy; L'ville (BE) over Utah and Syracuse (BE) over UNLV.
5. Matt Moore against his old school
Oregon State's QB faces the program he once started for, but left late in the 2003 season after it became clear to him that Bruins coach Karl Dorrell favored Drew Olson, who is now a hero at UCLA after directing the No. 8 Bruins to three consecutive, come-from-behind wins.
"It's going to be crazy," Moore told the Oregonian, after OSU's 23-20 upset of then-No. 18 California. "People are going to make a big deal out of it, but really, it's just another football game."
UCLA took the high road and downplayed any of the drama. I'm sure Moore will say all the right things this week, but would relish nothing more than upsetting his former team.
6. D stands for Dismissal
It's hard to imagine a more peculiar time to fire a position coach than in midseason, but that's what Miami coach Larry Coker has done, dumping D-line coach Greg Mark. Publicly, the school isn't saying much, and as you can tell by looking at the national rankings, the Canes' defense hasn't exactly been playing poorly. They're rivaling V-Tech in many categories. The Canes' D-line itself is ridiculously stocked, especially at defensive end, the position Mark starred at back when he played for UM. Word is this stems from some off-field issues.
Mark, a UM lifer, has had a lot of turbulence in his life in the past few years. In November 2001, he and his wife, Georgina, had a daughter. Less than a year later, Georgina died from cancer. Sources say Randy Shannon, Miami's D-coordinator, will help oversee some of Mark's responsibilities. There has been talk of some very prominent former Cane stars such as Russell Maryland or Cortez Kennedy possibly taking over. Although I'd be surprised if that happens.
posted: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 | Feedback
A few huge matchups lead the way in this week's top story lines:
1. Can Tech take the next step?
For years, Texas Tech has been in something of a college football netherworld. The Red Raiders have been a winning program, but never one that has really been considered a legit heavyweight. Their wins almost aren't taken seriously by the media and the pollsters because they just haven't officially broken through. People just believe Tech is more about stats than substance. It is just perception of course, but in a sport in which pollsters and media spin does count, perception is reality.
Tech is hardly alone in this realm. The Big Ten has a handful of schools with this plight, the ACC is chock-full of an underclass, and aside from USC, the entire Pac-10 is probably living in this world. In truth, it can be tough to escape.
Miami did it more than 20 years ago when the 'Canes knocked off the mighty Nebraska team. Virginia Tech did it some 15 years later. Iowa, under Kirk Ferentz, showed its teeth three years ago, when the Hawkeyes went into Ann Arbor and pounded Michigan into its worst home loss in decades. That's why this weekend is monumental for Texas Tech.
Since Mike Leach took over, the Red Raiders have been a curiosity. They have the most prolific offense in the country. Tech QBs come and go each year and seemingly tend to do better than their predecessors. Leach appears to have another record-setter in Cody Hodges who, like other Tech passers, is deadly accurate and very tough. This one's also pretty unflappable, Leach says. Coolest one he's had.
Leach will be a big part of this story, just like last weekend centered around Charlie Weis. In newspaper talk, he makes great copy. (I have gone into great detail about Leach's ways in this space and in ESPN the Magazine before, so I won't now.)
To me, it comes down to this: Leach has this quirky genius aura about him that some love and others shake their heads at. Blistering a top-five team in Cal last year was huge for his program, but still most didn't really even see that game. For the most part, Texas Tech is like college football's answer to Anna Nicole Smith, meaning the Red Raiders sure can turn your head, maybe like no other, but sometimes they make you snicker. You might even look down your nose at 'em. And when they're ugly, boy, everyone loves to make jokes about 'em. And it doesn't help that Leach is just 1-9 against Texas and Oklahoma, and his team is averaging 20.6 points in those games. The lone win was in 2002 when the unranked Red Raiders upset then-No. 4 Texas in Lubbock, 42-38.
On Monday, Leach gave his feelings on the perception of his program via the Big 12 media conference call, the same Q&A set-up, by the way, in which you sometimes hear in the background him ordering lunch at whatever drive-through he's visiting while giving answers like: "I don't worry about maps. Or whether we're on them."
2. Shakeout Saturday
The SEC West race is pretty muddled right now, but things should become much clearer after No. 16 Auburn plays at No. 7 LSU, and No. 16 Tennessee (from the East) plays at No. 5 Alabama.
The team most in the crosshairs is 'Bama. The Tide has dropped nine of the last 10 games to the Vols. Plus, 'Bama's 13-10 squeaker over Mississippi has created a whole new wave of doubters, thinking that (a) The Tide offense just lost too much when game-breaker Tyrone Prothro was lost for the season; (b) The romp over Florida might not mean quite as much if UF is indeed a mediocre team.
3. The Ol' Bawl Coach
Urban Meyer's postgame crying is going to get quite a bit of play from many different corners. The Tennessean suspects those tears might be rooted in something more than just his emotional bond with his new team. David Climer wonders if "this show of emotion was due in some part to the realization that Meyer's offense is not all it was cracked up to be."
4. The Big Least: Can this be?
The Big East is actually worse than everybody anticipated? Louisville and Pittsburgh, the supposed two burgeoning powers of the league, have flopped. The core of this story from the Washington Times says, "The Big East is in jeopardy of falling behind the non-BCS Mountain West Conference as the sixth-highest rated league. The Big East owns a 4-8 record against BCS teams, with the biggest win being West Virginia over Maryland." Yikes. It's pretty awful, although I still think it's a bit better than the MWC, but it shouldn't be close. And my God, it is:
In conference order I'd take West Virginia (BE) over TCU; Rutgers pick 'em CSU; Wyoming (MW) over Pitt; New Mexico (MW) over UConn; USF pick 'em BYU; SD State (MW) over Cincy; L'ville (BE) over Utah and Syracuse (BE) over UNLV.
5. Matt Moore against his old school
Oregon State's QB faces the program he once started for, but left late in the 2003 season after it became clear to him that Bruins coach Karl Dorrell favored Drew Olson, who is now a hero at UCLA after directing the No. 8 Bruins to three consecutive, come-from-behind wins.
"It's going to be crazy," Moore told the Oregonian, after OSU's 23-20 upset of then-No. 18 California. "People are going to make a big deal out of it, but really, it's just another football game."
UCLA took the high road and downplayed any of the drama. I'm sure Moore will say all the right things this week, but would relish nothing more than upsetting his former team.
6. D stands for Dismissal
It's hard to imagine a more peculiar time to fire a position coach than in midseason, but that's what Miami coach Larry Coker has done, dumping D-line coach Greg Mark. Publicly, the school isn't saying much, and as you can tell by looking at the national rankings, the Canes' defense hasn't exactly been playing poorly. They're rivaling V-Tech in many categories. The Canes' D-line itself is ridiculously stocked, especially at defensive end, the position Mark starred at back when he played for UM. Word is this stems from some off-field issues.
Mark, a UM lifer, has had a lot of turbulence in his life in the past few years. In November 2001, he and his wife, Georgina, had a daughter. Less than a year later, Georgina died from cancer. Sources say Randy Shannon, Miami's D-coordinator, will help oversee some of Mark's responsibilities. There has been talk of some very prominent former Cane stars such as Russell Maryland or Cortez Kennedy possibly taking over. Although I'd be surprised if that happens.