Week 3 Post-Amble: Big Game Bob Is Back

Oklahoma’s defeat of Florida State was a gutsy, hard-fought road win and highlight of Week 3. But it wasn’t necessarily the highlight. That honor belongs to Clemson’s Dabo Swinney.

Swinney’s electric post-game interview was reminiscent of a wrestling promo, but more importantly seemed to exemplify the exorcism of demons that have plagued this Clemson program. And the visual of those orange-clad fans swarming the head coach will certainly land on every highlight package of the 2011 season to come. We’ll get further in depth into the Tigers later, but onto OU-FSU.

Bob Stoops has carried a stigma the last half-decade. His “Big Game Bob” moniker took hit after hit: the 2007 and 2008 Fiesta Bowl, the 2009 BCS Championship, and four of the last six Red River Rivalries. The mounting toll of such defeats perhaps unfairly rubbed the gleam off his armor, despite his many Big 12 championships and top 10 finishes.

OU’s use of a hard-nosed, defensive approach showed a side to this Sooner team that will prove vital to the championship race. Everyone knows Landry Jones is capable of gunning the ball all around the field in the spread offense, but OU buckled down and overcame the offense’s containment before a hostile crowd. There is no doubt now that OU is a legitimate championship contender, if not THE contender.

As for Florida State, the Seminole defense showed resolve that had been lacking the last few years. While FSU was unable to solve the Sooners’ defense, the four quarter fight the ‘Noles provided showed that this program is indeed back to upper tier status. FSU coming to fight in a well-contested nightcap was much appreciated and lived up to its billing. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for its competition from the boxing world. Consensus No. 1OU didn’t need a cheap shot to KO the Seminoles like undefeated Floyd Mayweather used to down Victor Ortiz. A main event in which the post-fight interview has more intrigue than the fight itself isn’t going to give the Sweet Science the rejuvenation its so desperately needs.

Imagine a football championship in which an undefeated champion was able to duck a clear cut, worthy competitor to the crown. Uh… actually, don’t imagine that.

As for FSU, the ACC should be its to win, if it can survive a trip to Death Valley next week.

Clemson’s defeat of Auburn not only snapped the Tigers’ unbeaten streak at 17 games, it showed an instantaneous maturation of a very young, but very talented corps. Swinney was on the hot seat headed into this season — perhaps sitting on a seat only Rick Neuheisel and Mark Richt could rival for toastiness. The Tigers haven’t made it easy. Slow starts characterized all three of their victories against Troy, Wofford and AU.

Clemson must learn to start as strongly as it finishes, a characteristic that showed come sooner than later. That this team does finish strong is a testament to the youngsters’ resolve. Quarterback Tajh Boyd is becoming a star and genuine leader before our eyes, and freshman Sammy Watkins is electric. We can only hope in-state rival South Carolina can keep Marcus Lattimore around for the duration of his eligibility, because Watkins-Lattimore could become the hottest running back rivalry in ages.

Rally Report

Where does Clemson’s 31-3 outpouring to overcome a 21-7 deficit and topple Auburn rank in a week filled with big bounce backs? There was no shortage of significant rallies this weekend. Houston rattled off 28 fourth quarter points to bridge a 34-7 gap and beat Louisiana Tech.

Case Keenum has shown a propensity for big quarters in the past; Iowa’s James Vandenberg, not so much. But that changed in the Hawkeyes’ 31-27 defeat of Pitt, in which Vandenberg scored all three of his touchdowns in a staggering 7:02 stretch. The win kept Kirk Ferentz from his worst start ever.

Elsewhere, the Iowa State team that handed Iowa its first lost got the rally ball rolling Friday. Now, a 10-0 first quarter deficit isn’t necessarily the most daunting to overcome, but ISU overcame play that was Lil’ Giants levels of atrocious.

The Steele Jantz who led the Cyclones on their second consecutive final score victory was much different from the quarterback giving away three turnovers in the first quarter.

Surprising Starts

ISU’s victory elevated it to 3-0. The Cyclones join other surprising unbeatens Wyoming, FIU and Vanderbilt. Wyoming had to hold off a rally of its own, using a blocked extra point to avoid overtime at Bowling Green. UW quarterback Brett Smith is playing with resolve beyond his true freshman status, but must continue to show such steeliness with the Cowboys headed toward a nasty stretch that begins with Nebraska.

Leading Florida International to a 3-0 is one of my coaching crushes, Mario Cristobal. His Panthers sent a resounding message by besting UCF at what the reigning Conference USA champion does better than most in the nation: defend. The Golden Panthers’ remaining non-conference games are a trip to hapless Akron and at home vs. Duke. FIU should be favored in both. As for the Sun Belt slate, FIU hosts 2010 league champion Troy and has looked head-and-shoulders above the rest of the conference. It might not be too early to start pondering an undefeated season for this team, and ask what to do with FIU should it go 12-0.

Vanderbilt’s thrashing of Ole Miss puts the Commodores in a tie atop the SEC East, no matter how briefly, with Florida and South Carolina. James Franklin’s surprising ‘Dores draw Army and Kentucky at home, two games that could be marked as wins — even though West Point knocked off VU the last time the programs met. But Vandy will need at least one upset road win to return to the postseason for just the second time in 30 years.

Cracked Nutt

The beating Vandy handed Ole Miss leaves lingering and loud questions about Houston Nutt. The Rebels won just four games last season, and things aren’t looking promising for a postseason return this year with Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia, LSU and Mississippi State all still remaining on the docket. The team’s two losses are to a VU team perpetually picked at the SEC East’s cellar, and a 1-2 BYU team coming off a nearly five-touchdown rout in its home opener.

The Rebels’ inability to move the football is their most critical flaw, but the defense certainly didn’t look spectacular in surrendering 387 yards to the Commodores. Another ugly loss next week with Georgia coming to The Grove might change the question from “will Nutt return next season?” to “will Nutt return by Week 5?”

The 700 Club

Three teams racked up 700-plus yards Saturday: Georgia Tech (768 vs. ), Missouri (744 vs. Western Illinois) and USF (745 vs. Florida A&M). Of note is GT was the only to do so against not only an FBS opponent, but a BCS opponent. The Yellow Jackets set the tone when Orwin Smith went 95 yards on the first play from scrimmage.

The team’s 604 rushing yards were the program’s most in modern times, and most historically since the legendary 222-0 beatdown of Cumberland College in 1916.

Oregon nearly made it a fourth, registering 687 yards against Missouri State.

The Heisman Hunt

Leaders and laggers emerge routinely through the first six weeks of any season. Most become laggers by Halloween. Maintaining a leaders’ pace throughout this marathon is difficult, but nearly a quarter of the way into the campaign 2010 finalists Kellen Moore and Andrew Luck are doing it. Both had exemplary Week 3 performances, particularly in the second half. Moore threw for 455 yards and five touchdowns at Toledo and led the Broncos on a 20-6 final 30 minutes. Andrew Luck had 325 yards passing and scored both of his touchdowns in the second half as Stanford rattled off 21 unanswered to stamp out Arizona’s upset aspirations.

But the two renowned quarterbacks have serious competition from Marcus Lattimore. The South Carolina running back’s stock continues to soar after a 246-yard, three touchdown showing in the Gamecocks holding off of a stiff Navy challenge. Lattimore is leading college football with 178 yards per game on the ground, but he has good company in San Diego State’s Ronnie Hillman. Hillman has to be on the Heisman radar as the nation’s No. 2 overall rusher, and top rushing scorer with eight touchdowns.

Robert Griffin III remains a strong candidate, needing only three quarters to tee off on Stephen F. Austin to the tune of 82 yards rushing, 20-for-22 passing, 265 yards through the air and three touchdowns. The Bear offense is averaging 49 points per game with Griffin as its engine.

Griffin is the leader among Big 12 quarterbacks as far as I’m concerned, with Landry Jones a close second. Brandon Weeden’s certainly racking up yards for Oklahoma State, but did throw two interceptions against Tulsa. Weeden now has six picks through three games, on pace for 24 this year. That’s just too many for genuine Heisman candidacy, barring a roughly 100 TD campaign.

Badgering the Big Ten

Russell Wilson is a clear Heisman frontrunner currently. He has as many touchdowns as Weeden (eight) with five fewer interceptions. The Wisconsin quarterback is the top player in the Big Ten thus far this season — except maybe teammate Montee Ball. UW whipped Northern Illinois 49-7 on Soldier Field to continue its dominant start. The Badgers’ co-conference champions of 2010, Michigan State and Ohio State, both lost Saturday at Notre Dame and Miami.

Neither appeared in league with their competition, MSU digging an immediate hole against a far more spirited Irish bunch and Ohio State showing offensive anemia at The U. The Buckeyes forced Jacory Harris into mistakes early, but failed to capitalize. Joe Bauserman struggled mightily, the No. 1 chief concern for OSU once Terrelle Pryor left Columbus.

Michigan State’s loss was reminiscent of its two defeats last year, to Alabama in the Capital One Bowl and at Iowa. In all three defeats, the Spartans have been offensively hamstrung and were blown off the field. Getting to the Spartans early is critical to beating them, and for Ohio State limiting the plays its defense can make renders the Buckeyes very beatable.

RIP BEC?

Super-conference realignment was destined to destroy a conference or two. The WAC is almost certainly a goner, and since the introduction of the Longhorn Network it has felt like the Big 12’s fate was sealed. The latter is still likely, but the Big East raced ahead toward football oblivion to join such football leagues as the Metro, Big West and Southwest Conferences.

The losses of Pitt and Syracuse came seemingly from nowhere. There was no buzz percolating that either was seeking an exit. There was really no chatter about any Big East member, save for baseless speculation on West Virginia being a good fit to balance the SEC on the eastern side. These departures exhibit the immediacy with which these shifts can occur.

The Big East might survive as a basketball league, and with members like Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova and St. John’s should still thrive. However, the aforementioned Big West proved losing football members can compromise a league’s basketball status. As the conference bled members away through the 1990s, it dwindled from what was once the marquee mid-major league to the low-major it is today. National championship contender UNLV was routinely involved in exciting match-ups with UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach and New Mexico State on the old Big Monday late night finale. UCSB’s upset of the Runnin’ Rebels in 1990 remains one of my earliest sports memory.

UCSB and LBSU remain in the Big West, but both lost their football programs in the early 1990s to help accelerate the Big West’s shake-up in membership and not-so-coincidentally, each program’s decline in basketball.

The other collegiate sports undoubtedly feed off football in the vast majority of cases where applicable, which makes the Big East’s future so tenuous. And for those programs with FBS level football, their hands are forced.

Rutgers and Connecticut are names that have (again, baselessly) been mentioned in association with the Big Ten, and West Virginia with the SEC. But what becomes of the other three football-playing members of the conference, Louisville, USF and Cincinnati? All three were Conference USA members not long ago, and surely don’t want to fall back to non-BCS affiliation. But left on an even more remote island is TCU.

The Horned Frogs were slated to join next season and finally achieve automatic qualifier’s status. Now, TCU is stranded with a full moving truck midway between its old home and its new. Fellow Mountain West divorcee BYU is in a similarly unenviable position, its independence looking less and less worthwhile as talk of realignment intensifies. Should Texas, a cornerstone of BYU’s independent schedule, make the move to an expanded ACC or Pac-16, the Cougars’ docket looks pretty grim. BYU and TCU might both be searching for an affiliate, and surely both will need AQ status as a caveat.

A hypothetical extinction of two AQ leagues would leave a void for another conference to fill. The Mountain West could be primed to sneak into such designation, adding insult to the Frogs’ and Cougars’ misfortune. The various programs that appear likely to become refugees could band together, perhaps even save the Big East or Big 12 (at least in name). A league consisting of USF, BYU, Baylor, Iowa State, the Kansas schools, and TCU would have to have some attractiveness to television providers.

It’s just unfortunate this has become such a hot topic in season. Focus is been stolen from the action on field for both fans, and more importantly players. Now, Dabo Swinney may have accurately conveyed players and coaches’ sentiments when he said Clemson would play whomever it was paired against without reservation or complaint.

Surely this has to weigh on the mind of athletes from teams in uncertain predicaments though, athletes who committed to a university under one set of circumstances and could face something entirely different.