Spring Football Roundup: Bret Bielema On Nick Saban, Swoopes Stars In The Texas Spring Game
By Kyle Kensing
Nov 10, 2012; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback David Ash (14) throws a pass against the Iowa State Cyclones in the third quarter at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas defeated Iowa State 33-7. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Texas Longhorns
Off-season football wrapped up in Austin with the Texas spring game on Saturday. Presumptive first string quarterback David Ash threw a pair of touchdowns, but was intercepted twice, the Associated Press reports.
Ash’s performance is an afterthought, though. Youngster Tyrone Swoopes was already generating with his play in spring workouts, as detailed in The Dallas Morning News.
Burnt Orange Nation says Swoopes was a star on Saturday, comparing the class of 2013 recruit Swoopes to Collin Klein.
Arkansas Razorbacks
Dec 5, 2012; Fayetteville, AR, USA; Newly named Arkansas Razorbacks football coach Bret Bielema speaks during a press conference to announce his hiring at the University of Arkansas. Mandatory Credit: Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports
Bret Bielema has yet to coach a game in the SEC, but the new Arkansas head coach may already have a powerful enemy in the league. Hootens.com says Bielema addressed Razorback fans at a rally this week he “came to the SEC…win an SEC championship.”
OK, so that’s the goal of every one of the league’s 14 head coaches. But the words he may rue come Oct. 19:
"“You can take Saban’s record when he was at Michigan State and when he was a coach in the Big Ten and put it against mine, and he can’t compare.”"
Saban went 34-24-1 in his five seasons as head coach of the Michigan State Spartans. Saban’s Spartan teams went winless in bowl games.
Bielema coached the Wisconsin Badgers to three consecutive Big Ten Conference championships and Rose Bowl appearances. Like Saban, Bielema’s Wisconsin teams drew a dubious goose egg and lost each of those Rose Bowls — although the third was coached by Wisconsin athletic director and former Badger sideline general Barry Alvarez.
Saban’s college record since departing East Lansing for gigs with LSU and Alabama is 116-29. His Crimson Tide teams have lost all of five games since the 2009 season — one fewer than Wisconsin lost in the 2012 season.