College Football Winners and Losers for 9/27/2003

This was a fairly slow week in college football. There aren't any top ten matchups or bitter rivals. However, like I said before, upsets are always in-stock, and that's exactly what we have for this week. There are also several teams that are ignored in the preseason who are putting together good seasons: all could be this year's Iowa Hawkeyes.

WINNERS

1) Northern Illinois (def Iowa State 24-16) - Yet another BCS conference team falls under the paws of the Huskies of Northern Illinois. In a game that was eerily similar to the NIU vs. Maryland game, Northern Illinois once again came up with a "W" after falling behind early. Iowa State had more passing yards, more rushing yards, longer time of possession, and better punting, yet was unable to score touchdowns in the red zone. Freshman quarterback Austin Flynn of Iowa State had two costly interceptions as NIU took advantage of both and turned them into 14 points.

Although a victory is a victory, Northern Illinois should be worried about their special teams. NIU only averaged 30 yards per punt while having one blocked.

Northern Illinois will begin its conference play next week against Ohio. The victory concluded NIU's four-game non-conference schedule in which they beat an ACC team, an SEC team, and a Big XII team. If the Huskies can beat Bowling Green and Toledo on the road, they could have themselves a perfect season. And what if they are the only undefeated team by season's end? Will they go to the Sugar Bowl, or any BCS Bowl for that matter? Just implement the 12-team playoff system already!

2) Kansas (def Missouri 35-14) - The Mark Mangino era has officially begun at Lawrence, Kansas. Is this going to be a long-term commitment to their football team on a basketball campus, or is it going to be another short stint like the one in the mid 90s? Looking at coach Mangino, who came from Oklahoma as a coordinator for Bob Stoops, it seems to be the real deal this time. After already dismantling electrifying Brad Smith and the Missouri Tigers, Kansas is sitting comfortably at 4-1, 1-0 in Big XII, and is riding a 4-game winning streak. Bill Whittemore has proved in this game that he is a fearless leader who can burn the opponent in the air and on the ground. I look for the Jayhawks to once again tear down the goal post on November 8 against Nebraska at home. However, Kansas will have to try to survive on the road against Colorado, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M.

3) Michigan State (def Iowa 20-10) - John L. Smith's inaugural season started on shaky grounds as starting quarterback Jeff Smoker was suspended for substance abuse, followed by a defeat at the hands of Louisiana Tech at home. If the bounce-back win against Notre Dame last week solidified some of that ground, then this week's victory against #9 Iowa gave Smith and the Spartans a concrete base. Jeff Smoker not only broke three school career passing records, he also showed everyone he's back in control of the Spartan offense. Smoker's two touchdown passes in the first eight minutes of the game gave the Spartans a 14-0 lead that Iowa would not be able to catch up. Michigan State also took care of the ball by not committing a turnover through out the game.

4) Arkansas (def Alabama 34-31(OT)) - They did it again. The Hogs marched into a traditional program's backyard and ran wild. Arkansas proved to be no fluke as they beat Alabama in overtime with a strong running game. Cedric Cobbs and Matt Jones combined for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns on Saturday. Arkansas has been dominating in terms of 3rd down conversions (8-17) and time of possession (51:44 compared to 23:16 of Alabama) in big games against Texas and Alabama.

Trailing by 21 points in the 3rd quarter, Arkansas tied the game with 27 seconds left. In the 1st overtime, the Tides seem to have wrapped things up when Jones was picked off in the end zone on 4th and 25, but a celebration penalty pushed the Crimson Tide back to the 40 yard line which resulted in a missed 38 yard field goal by Brian Bostick. Arkansas then took control on the very first play of the 2nd overtime, intercepting Brodie Croyles' pass. Chris Balseiro sealed the victory with a 20-yarder after the Hogs ran the ball to the 2-yard line.

Through 4 games, Cedric Cobbs might have the inside lane for this year's Heisman Trophy.

OPP		ATT 	YDS 	AVG 	TD


Tulsa		12 	145 	12.1 	1 


Texas		20 	115 	5.8 	1 


North Texas	20 	104 	5.2 	2


Alabama(OT)	36 	198 	5.5 	1


-----------------------------------------------


Total		88	562	6.4	5

5) Pittsburgh (def Texas A&M 37-26) - Pittsburgh gets back on track one week after losing to Toledo by defeating A&M in the tough environment of Kyle Field. It seems like the Wrecking Crew had Pitt's numbers when Pitt's offense was held to 9 points, but quarterback Rod Rutherford and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald would explode in the second half. Overall, the two teams combined for 1022 total offensive yards. It was surprising that A&M actually out ran and out passed Pittsburgh, but their three fumbles compared to none by Pittsburgh was the difference. Pittsburgh's Rutherford and Fitzgerald has been turning in Heisman-esque performances through four games.

Rod Rutherford (through 4 games)

CMP 	ATT 	YDS 	CMP%	YPA 	TD 	INT 	RAT


74 	120 	1171 	61.7 	9.8 	16 	3 	182.6

Larry Fitzgerald (through 4 games)

REC	YDS	AVG	TD


32 	583 	18.2 	9

LOSERS

1) Oregon (lost to Washington State 16-55) - Washington State shocked the nation after going into Autzen Stadium and giving the Ducks a whooping. But if you think about it, in the world of college football, "the only thing upsetting, is not having an upset"(You can quote me on that one.) Instead of thinking of this game as an upset, just think of it as the college football season taking its normal path to the Sugar Bowl. It also follows another trend of PAC 10 teams beating up on each other just like previous seasons, without a dominant team that stands out head and shoulders from the rest of the group.

Washington State won the game as much as Oregon lost it. Although the Cougars had dominated the scoreboard, the rest of the stats were sub par compared to the Ducks. Then, you look at the turnovers: Washington State - 2, Oregon - 9. Enough said.

2) USC (lost to California 31-34(OT)) - After an afternoon in Santa Monica, I came home to see USC struggling with Cal in Berkeley. This seemed to be the surest victory of the weekend, as many people picked USC to win by double-digits, including myself. USC never led in the contest as their vaulted defense was picked apart by Cal head coach Jeff Tedford. USC's first team defense, who gave up only one touchdown in the previous three games, coughed up three in the first half. Cal was able to run and pass on the day to combine for 470 yards of total offense. Even two block field goals by USC's special team couldn't dig them out of this one.

After looking good in the 61 point effort two weeks ago, USC is still trying to find the right pieces at QB and RB. Maybe it's time for true freshmen John David Booty and Reggie Bush. Starting quarterback Matt Leinart was picked off three times and seems to be scared to go deep. Sophomore running back Hershel Dennis hasn't shown any signs of life throughout the season and had a crucial fumble inside the five yard line during the 1st overtime.

3) Kentucky (lost to Florida 21-24) - Two consecutive losses and Ron Zook still wasn't getting as much heat from the media as he should? Well, a third straight loss would surely get Florida's scouts out looking for a new head coach right? We will never know due to Kentucky's annual 4th quarter meltdown.

Kentucky head coach Rich Brook's problems with finishing off games reach a pinnacle point on Saturday when they blew an 18-point lead in the final quarter. The comeback set a record for Florida as the biggest comeback on the road. If you could remember, Kentucky was on the verge of upsetting LSU at home when an 80-yard Hail Mary broke Brook's and the Blue Grass hearts all over Kentucky. The Wildcats also blew a 10-3 lead over South Carolina last year to lose by the final score of 16-12.

Billy versus Barry

September 24th, the Houston Astros trail the Chicago Cubs by a game in the race for the NL Central title. The Astros are facing the San Francisco Giants, who have already clinched the NL West title. In the top of the 9th, the Astros are hanging on to a slim 2-1 lead as a showdown is about to be unveiled...

Billy Wagner, 5-11, 195, comes into the game as Houston's closer. He has 43 saves on the season and has a devastating fastball, consistently clocked at around 100 MPH.

Barry Bonds, 6-2, 228, comes into the game to pinch hit for pitcher Felix Rodriguez. Bonds, for the past three years, has been the most feared hitter in baseball, hitting for both average and power, not to mention having the eyes of a surgeon.

The Astros' fans are up on their feet, anticipating the power vs. power, lefty vs. lefty matchup. Billy is just finishing his warm-up tosses on the mound, as Barry walks with his trademark slow swagger up to the plate. Billy, as usual, wearing his cap low, to intimidate the batter, looks for the call by the catcher. Barry, as usual, armed with his elbow guard, flicking his bat like it weighed no more than a straw, stands into the box.

Pitch one explodes out of Billy's fingers, hitting the upper inside corner of the strike zone before I can even blink my eye. Barry flinches, but does not buckle and takes it for ball one. Pitch speed: 99 MPH.

Pitch two rockets off the mound and ascends in a straight line to the upper outside corner. Barry swings with little effort, but once contact is made, the ball is fouled back a mile into the sky. The count is now 1-1. Pitch speed: 99 MPH.

Pitch three shot out of Billy's left side like a bullet out of a gun. The inside pitch lands almost at the exact spot as the first pitch. Barry held back, but the ball is called for strike two! Barry can be seen clearly unhappy with the umpire. Pitch speed: 99 MPH.

Pitch four comes toward home plate as a flash. The ball sailed by Barry, it goes over the catcher, whizzes by the umpire's head, and was finally stopped by the safety nets behind home plate. Fans directly on the other side of the net jumped out of the ball's would-be path. A round of OOOOH's can be heard around the park. The count is now 2-2. Pitch speed: 101 MPH.

Pitch five had enough gas on it to burn a hole through the catcher's mitt, if Barry does not foul it back to stay alive. Pitch speed: 99MPH.

Pitch six is launched into a ray of light as Billy's left leg swings high into the air to give it more thrust. It is a high and away pitch that Barry just cannot lay off. He swings at it and came up empty! The way Barry is twisted around after missing on strike three is truly a rare site these days. Pitch speed: 100MPH.

STRIKE THREE, YRRRRR OUT!

The fans upraise into a deafening frenzy. Although there were two more outs to go, the game is virtually over. This time, Billy came up on top.

(The Astros ended up winning 2-1 to cut the Cubs' lead to ½ games with four games left. Billy Wagner retire the next two hitters as he recorded his 44th save on the season.)

College Football Winners and Losers for 9/20/2003

Ain’t school a bitch! I haven’t had time until today to post this week’s “Winners and Losers”. I didn’t want to post a half-hearted attempt at an article, so I delayed my posting. Well here it is! Only two more days until Saturday!

WINNERS

1) Tennessee (def Florida 24-10) – If you didn’t think this was a big game, then read “Tennessee vs. Florida – More Than Just a Game For Me” further down the page. I woke up at 9am to catch this game in its entirety. As I predicted, Tennessee’s ground game pounded their way to victory. Jabari Davis’ tough 9-yard run late in the 4th quarter exemplified Tennessee’s powerful running game.

As I predicted, Ron Zook did over-coach. Instead of continuing Florida’s high-flying ways, Zook tried his running game and ended up losing an important SEC East game at home.

For Tennessee, this is a huge win for several reasons. First, this early-season win sets the tone for their entire season. Sure, they still have games against Georgia, Miami, Auburn, and Alabama, but they shouldn’t be much tougher than the hostile environment of The Swamp. Second, this is an SEC East victory which immediately catapults the Vols to be the favorite to win the division. Third, it seems like luck is on Tennessee’s side after the miraculous Hail Mary. As they say, you can’t win it all without being both good and lucky.

2) LSU (def Georgia 17-10) – This could be the potential preview of the SEC Championship game. LSU edged out Georgia in a top-ten match-up despite giving up 314 yards in the air. LSU’s offense struggled. Its high-powered passing game was held to 180 yards. Nevertheless, not only did LSU garner an SEC win, it will also likely help them in the BCS standings, since beating a BCS top-fifteen team will earn the Tigers extra points, and Georgia is sure to be in the BCS top-fifteen. An interesting note on the game is that all three touchdowns scored in the game were scores of 20 yards or longer.

3) Oregon (def Michigan 31-27) – This is definitely the biggest shocker for me this week. After having one foot in the Michigan championship bandwagon and the Chris Perry Heisman bandwagon, I was dumbfounded to see Michigan being quacked in Eugene, Oregon. I knew Oregon had an offense that averaged 483 yards in the three games prior, but I though after shutting out Notre Dame, Michigan’s D should be able to handle the Ducks, especially after a 6-0 lead. However, it was the Oregon defense that rose to the occasion by shutting down Chris Perry who only had 26 yards on 11 carries and -3 yards receiving. And this is coming from a group that gave up nearly 300 yards of total offense per game in three previous games against weak opponents. Although this is a big win for Oregon, it doesn’t count for anything in the PAC 10 Standings, but like LSU, this win could win Oregon some BCS points.

4) Iowa (def Arizona State 21-2) – Although I’m still not sold on Iowa’s football team, this win against the upcoming program of Arizona State proved that Iowa is more than just a one-year-wonder. What’s impressive is that Iowa’s defense shutdown the Arizona State offense, allowing 0 points.

5) Marshall (def Kansas State 27-20) – This victory for Marshall is very deserving. After almost upsetting Tennessee and losing to Toledo at home, Marshall beat #6 Kansas State on their own turf. This victory should help first year quarterback Stan Hill for the rest of the year.

I especially enjoyed this loss by KState, although it would be sweeter for Texas to hand them their first loss. The reason I enjoyed KState’s debacle isn’t because I hate KState, but it’s because, once again, it proved ESPN’s Trev Alberts doesn’t know shit about college football! A week prior, Alberts and Mark May were arguing over weak early-season schedules. I agree with May that having a hard early-season has it’s benefits over mostly I-AA matchups, however, being the idiot Alberts is, he praised Bill Snyder in scheduling teams like McNeese St. and UMass. Well, seems like Trev is wrong once again.

6) Florida State (def Colorado 47-7) – A week after narrowly escaping Georgia Tech 14-13 at home, the Seminoles defeated a good Big XII team by 40 points. Although the Seminoles’ running game never got started, Chris Rix just might have had his coming out party going 30-39, 394 yards and 2 touchdowns passing. After that performance, he deserved a good parking spot!

LOSERS

1) Michigan (lost to Oregon 27-31) – I was so sold that Michigan might be this year’s team of destiny. When I first looked at Michigan’s schedule, this was the game that stood out to me. Oregon’s Autzen Stadium, one of the nation’s most feared stadiums, and Coach Mike Bellotti, one of the best coaches, ambushed Michigan one week after a shutout of Notre Dame by the Wolverines. Michigan never got their running game started, therefore, unable to control the ball. After the first 40 minutes of the game, Michigan’s only points came from a blocked field goal that was returned for a touchdown. Although quarterback John Navarre made an impressive attempt at a comeback, the Ducks were not to be denied.

2) Kansas State (lost to Marshall 20-27) – Everyone keeps on talking about KState’s soft schedule. On Saturday, they paid the price. It’s not that Marshall is a cupcake, but playing sub-par opponents in the three previous games gave the Wildcats a false security about their strengths. Many would argue that starting quarterback Ell Roberson didn’t play. Well, seems like their other offensive star, Darren Sproles, didn’t play either. He only carried the ball 14 times (twice in the 4th quarter) while being considered to be one of the best running backs in the nation! What were they thinking?

3) Florida (lost to Tennessee 10-24) – Early season losses to an in-state rival and a conference rival never fails to land a team on the “Losers” list. Coach Zook might be looking at a 6-6 season. Zook finally decided on a starting quarterback in true freshman Chris Leak over Ingle Martin.

4) Arizona State (lost to Iowa 2-21) – Maybe it was just a bad week, or maybe ASU is the most overrated team in the land. Everyone is saying ASU could challenge USC for the PAC 10 title this year, but after the performance against Iowa, ASU has their work cut out for them.

5) Pittsburg (lost to Toledo 31-35) – Another team with a lot of hype coming into the season, Pittsburg became the latest victim of the MAC attack. Quarterback Rod Rutherford (24-36, 315 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs) was out-dueled by Toledo’s Bruce Gradkowski (49-62, 461 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) while wide receivers Lance Moore and Steve Odom (combined for 26 RECs, 197 yards, 2 TDs) of the Rockets kept pace with pre-season All-American Larry Fitzgerald (12 RECs, 201 yards, 1 TD). Pittsburg could be looking at a potential three-game losing streak as they head to College Station, TX to face the Texas A&M Aggies this week and host Notre Dame after a bye on October 11.

DID YOU SEE THAT?!

1) James Banks – WR, Tennessee – The Tennessee-Florida game was stuck in a defensive stymie throughout the first half. The Volunteers were trailing 0-3. Both teams combined for only 228 yards. Then came ole’ Hail Mary when Clausen’s pass was tipped around in the endzone and snatched by sophomore wide receiver James Banks for a 48 yard touchdown that shifted the momentum to UT going into halftime. The Volunteers would never look back as they beat arch-enemies, Florida, for a second straight time in the Swamp.

2) Rashaun Woods – WR, Oklahoma State – Now, the stats Woods put up is just pure insane! He scored a touchdown, squared! Seven touchdowns! Overall, the Heisman hopeful had 13 catches for 233 yards and 7 touchdowns as the Cowboys rolled over the Mustangs of SMU. I wouldn’t mind if he scored seven times in a close game, but the final score was 52-6. If he were a baseball player, he would have been knocked into a coma with a fastball to the head!

3) Antonio Perkins – PR, Oklahoma – Perkins set two NCAA records by having 279 punt return yards and 3 punt return touchdowns. After scoring on returns of 74 and 84 yards in the 2nd quarter, Perkins needed just five yards to break the record of 219 yards set by BYU’s Golden Richards. He ran it back 65 yards for another score. It’s a great feat for Perkins, but what bothered me was that in a game that OU led 52-24 with three minutes left in the 4th quarter, Bob Stoops actually schemed and strategized for the record breaking return. Ok, there’s a saying that you always play until the clock showed zero, but that doesn’t mean running up the scores just for the sake of some individual records! Stoops should have gotten the fastball here.

4) Neil Parry – ST, San Jose State – Neil Parry is a role model. Athletes shouldn’t be role models, but this athlete, who doesn’t have the stats, who doesn’t have the shoe contract, who doesn’t make the multi-million dollar salary, is a role model.

In 2000, Parry suffered a compound fracture in his right leg in a game against UTEP. Who knew that the incident would require the amputation of his lower right leg? After 25 surgeries and 15 prosthetic limbs, Parry made a tremendous comeback on September 20, 2003. He was on the punt return team on Saturday against Nevada. Although he never made physical contact in the game, the fact that he was on the gridiron should be an inspiration to us all.

Greg Maddux, "The Iron Prize Horse"

In a career marked with records, milestones, and awards, Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves broke the ultimate record for consistency by a pitcher on September 21, 2003. Maddux surpassed Cy Young by having 16 straight seasons with at least 15 wins.

When longevity is considered in the sport of baseball, 100% of the fans will think of Cal Ripken Jr. and Lou Gehrig. While both are great players, their records only indicate persistence, but not performance. On the other hand, by winning at least 15 games for 16 straight years (that can be two careers long for most ball players), Maddux has proved that he is the model of consistency. If Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played earned him the nickname of “The Iron Horse”, then Maddux’s record should land him the name “The Iron Prize Horse”.

Although Maddux never won more than 20 games in a season due to his well-known bad luck with run support, he managed to win at least 15 in 16 of his 17 full Major League seasons. The streak was almost broken in the mid-90s when the strike-shortened season of 1994 and the abbreviated season of 1995 saw Maddux only making 25 and 28 starts in those respective years; however, Maddux converted them into 16 and 19 wins.

Looking at Maddux’s physical appearance, with his droopy eyes, glasses on days he doesn’t pitch, un-intimidating facial features, narrow shoulders, and what you could call “woman-hips”, you wouldn’t know why the Braves broadcasters always calls him an excellent athlete. Maybe it’s those qualities that deceive Maddux’s opponents as well as the change-of-speed on his pitches. Maddux has never been a flame thrower. His best fastball at the prime of his career barely broke 90 MPH, but his pinpoint accuracy and off-speed pitches are what make hitters look ugly. Maddux is as efficient as he is good, averaging a meager 95 pitches per game throughout his career. I can remember on several occations, Maddux only needed under 70 pitches for a complete game shutout. Every time I see Maddux pitch, it amazes me how much his fast ball moves as if it had a life of its own. That is something I have never seen from another pitcher (well, Kerry Wood had great movement in his fastball in his 20 strikeout game, but other than that, no one). One thing you can always count on is for Maddux to start the game with a strike. Getting in front of hitters and making them hit into groundouts have been perfected by Maddux in his 18 seasons as a big-leaguer. Knowing himself, Maddux doesn’t try to overpower or strikeout his opponents, but rather have them hit the ball off the end of the bat and away from the sweet spot. Having won 13 consecutive Gold Gloves at pitcher from 1990-2002, Maddux proves that he is a great athlete with good reflexes.

Maddux started his big league career with the Chicago Cubs in 1987. He struggled with a 6-14 record and a 5.52 ERA in that season. That will be the only season in which he will have a sub 500 record and an ERA over 3.57, and as they say it, “…and the rest is history.”

From 1992-1995, Maddux has enjoyed, arguably, the greatest 4-year stretch for a pitcher in history. In those four years combined, he had a win-loss record of 75-29 (72%), had an 1.98 ERA, had a strikeout-walk ratio of 733-176 (4.16:1), had a WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) of 0.953, and in 946.2 innings pitched, only gave up 726 hits and 33 homeruns (Curt Schilling gave up 37 homeruns in 256.2 innings pitched in 2001 alone, while going 22-6 and finishing 2nd in the Cy Young voting, Maddux finished 3rd). Not to mention, Maddux won the Cy Young award in all four years.

In 1993, Maddux made headline news as he joined the pitching staff of the Atlanta Braves, which already featured Cy Young-winner Tom Glavine, future-Cy Young-Winner John Smoltz, and Steve Avery. Putting Maddux together with the amazing pitching coach Leo Mazzone, and you get a 1st ballot future Hall of Famer. Together with John Smoltz and Tom Glavine, Maddux would lead the Braves to eight division champions, three NL pennants, and a World Series Championship.

After the Braves’ bullpen blew a 4-1 lead for Maddux in his previous start, Maddux went five innings on September 21, 2003 to notch his 15th win of the season. Although the Braves have already won the NL East title, the Braves fought hard for Maddux. Both Rafael Furcal and Andruw Jones made spectacular defensive plays while long-time teammate Chipper Jones homered in the 8-0 Braves’ victory. After the game, Maddux commented on the record by giving his teammates the credit, “Probably the most special thing was seeing the other 24 guys on the team really busting it for me. To see your teammates go out of the way, that's pretty special."

The Career of Greg Maddux:

Season   	TM   	G   	GS   	CG  	SHO   	IP    	H	R   	ER   	HR   	BB   	SO    	W    	L	ERA 



1986 	ChC 	6 	5 	1 	0 	31.0 	44 	20 	19 	3 	11 	20 	2 	4	5.52 


1987 	ChC 	30 	27 	1 	0 	155.2 	181 	111 	97 	17 	74 	101 	6 	14	5.61 


1988 	ChC 	34 	34 	9 	3 	249.0 	230 	97 	88 	13 	81 	140 	18 	8	3.18 


1989 	ChC 	35 	35 	7 	1 	238.1 	222 	90 	78 	13 	82 	135 	19 	12	2.95 


1990 	ChC 	35 	35 	8 	2 	237.0 	242 	116 	91 	11 	71 	144 	15 	15	3.46 


1991 	ChC 	37 	37 	7 	2 	263.0 	232 	113 	98 	18 	66 	198 	15 	11	3.35 


1992 	ChC 	35 	35 	9 	4 	268.0 	201 	68 	65 	7 	70 	199 	20 	11	2.18 


1993 	Atl 	36 	36 	8 	1 	267.0 	228 	85 	70 	14 	52 	197 	20 	10	2.36 


1994 	Atl 	25 	25 	10 	3 	202.0 	150 	44 	35 	4 	31 	156 	16 	6	1.56 


1995 	Atl 	28 	28 	10 	3 	209.2 	147 	39 	38 	8 	23 	181 	19 	2	1.63 


1996 	Atl 	35 	35 	5 	1 	245.0 	225 	85 	74 	11 	28 	172 	15 	11	2.72 


1997 	Atl 	33 	33 	5 	2 	232.2 	200 	58 	57 	9 	20 	177 	19 	4	2.21 


1998 	Atl 	34 	34 	9 	5 	251.0 	201 	75 	62 	13 	45 	204 	18 	9	2.22 


1999 	Atl 	33 	33 	4 	0 	219.1 	258 	103 	87 	16 	37 	136 	19 	9	3.57 


2000 	Atl 	35 	35 	6 	3 	249.1 	225 	91 	83 	19 	42 	190 	19 	9	3.00 


2001 	Atl 	34 	34 	3 	3 	233.0 	220 	86 	79 	20 	27 	173 	17 	11	3.05 


2002 	Atl 	34 	34 	0 	0 	199.1 	194 	67 	58 	14 	45 	118 	16 	6	2.62 


2003 	Atl 	35 	35 	1 	0 	213.1 	221 	110 	94 	24 	33 	122 	15 	11	4.01 

Tennessee vs. Florida – More Than Just a Game For Me

As a young Chinese lad coming to America, I settled down at the foot of the rolling hills of the Great Smoky Mountains in Knoxville, Tennessee. It’s a mid-sized town with beautiful scenic neighborhoods and down-to-earth people. Oh yeah, and an obsession with the TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS!

I think football was the first thing introduced to me when I first arrived in Knoxville, not English. I remember looking at the oddly-sized ball without knowing what to make of it. Then slowly, with my Chinese-speaking buddies, I learned my first English words, “touchdown”, “first down”, “fuck”, “boobs”, “Mississippi”(not the state, but the count, in touch football”, “volunteers”… School was a breeze when you were in elementary school, so everyday after school, I would play football. We played with the $5 balls you buy at Big Lots. Sometimes, we upgraded to a Nerf football. There wasn’t a level grass field, so we played on the concrete parking lot. Soon, we would figure something out: “concrete = no good for football”, so we had to duct tape the ends of the ball. By the time our ball looked like a huge wad of duct tape and has the shape of Tim Duncan’s head, we had no choice but to get a new ball.

We were composed of elementary and middle schoolers. I remember having to pick certain people so we don’t have a middle school/elementary school miss match. Since we all lived in the same 14-story building, one of us will run door-to-door to collect the troops for football. We played two-hand-touch. Sometimes we played designated-quarterback, but mostly, we played rush on five Mississippi’s. Our field was no more than 20 yards long so we would have four downs each possession, with kickoffs (more like throw-offs). We played everyday, literally. Sometimes we play five or six hours. By the end of the day, most of us would have scored enough touchdowns to break Jerry Rice’s career touchdown record. Most of the time, we only stopped when it got dark enough where we can’t see two feet in front of us. We would play on, but we had a few incidents of guys running into brick walls at full speed.

Our off days were whenever the Tennessee Volunteers had a home game. Although half of us rooted for the Buffalo Bills and half for the San Francisco 49ers, we were all die-hard Volunteer fans. Since all of our fathers were PhD students, we would get free student tickets to the game. I remember always going to the most crowded gate so they would let me in without seeing a student ID. As quick and nimble as I was from playing football, I always managed to slip in, even that one time when a friend and I had only one ticket. Since Neyland Stadium was the first stadium I’ve been to, I didn’t learn to appreciate its tremendous capacity until much later. During my time, the stadium had one open end in the upper levels without seets, which was later built-in in the late 90s. Out of the twenty or thirty games I’ve gone to, I’ve only seen one losing game at Neyland, and that was to Florida.

When I first watched Tennessee football, I didn’t care about the opponents, just as long as we score enough touchdowns. Then later, this one team wearing the orange helmets keep on beating us down in Florida. I remember Florida was hated so much that even Chinese restaurants served gator meat on Fridays before the big game (for those who doesn’t know, Chinese people don’t eat gator meat, we eat dogs, remember?)

The people of Knoxville hated the Gators like the Brits hated the French. Even though the schools are separated by 550 miles, the hatred runs year long. When the Gators football team comes to Neyland, they would have to cover their heads making their way out of the tunnel to avoid flying objects. In the basketball season, bigger-than-usual crowds rush to Thompson Bowling Arena to boo the Gators and cheer the Vols, in that order. People have puppet gators in nooses, “Gator Hater” shirts, and anyone wearing the tiniest bit of blue will be harassed by guys wearing orange. In the early 90s, the home team always wins in the Vols-Gators rivalry, but later, when both programs reached top five status in the poles, the Gators dominated the series, only to make the Volunteer nation angrier than ever. In those Gator victories was the 31-0 shutout of the Vols in Knoxville in 1996. Tennessee hasn’t been shutout in a couple of hundred games prior to that.

Then came the sweet revenge in 1998, when the Gators were finally taken down at Neyland in an intense overtime game. I was living in Nacognowhere, TX, also known as Nacogdoches, TX at the time. Watching the crowd rush the field on TV was one of my top five all-time “moments while watching TV” moments. I remember all those people going crazy, Tee Martin, Peerless Price, Phil Fulmer, some bald guy with his hot girlfriend wearing a bright orange tank-top (yeah, if you taped that game like I did, go to the end of the game, and you can’t miss the bald guy and the hot chic!) I was jumping up and down, cheering for at least five minutes straight. When I finally stopped, it hit me; now that we’ve beaten Florida, the rest of the season are just going to be a bunch of lame games compared to this one. I guess I was wrong as the Volunteers went on to win the first BCS Championship. Hopefully, it will be another 1998 for the Vols this year.

Knoxville and the Tennessee Volunteers opened a new dimension, football, in my life. I can’t even imagine how people who don’t watch football live. Their autumns would then be just like the other three seasons of the year. Their weekends will then be just like the rest of the week, a complete waste. The Tennessee-Florida games taught me the most important aspect of football, and that is rivalry. It makes you care more. It makes you part of the family with the other fans that has one common enemy – the rival team. And most of all, it brings you a rare feeling of accomplishment by seeing your team kick their rival’s ass. That is why the Tennessee-Florida game is more than just a game to me.

This Year’s Game:

Tennessee was raped last year by injury. This year’s squad already played two solid opponents and basically ran the ball up and down the field in both contests. Florida also had great performances out of their players in their first three games. Of course, we all know what happened in the game against Miami. Through the years, the team that has been able to run the ball always winded up winning the game in the Tennessee-Florida rivalry. This year will be the same. I think Tennessee holds an edge in that department, since they can go with both speed and power in the ground game with a backfield that’s four deep. Due to the Miami game, I predict Ron Zook will try to over-coach in this one and end up screwing up again and land his ass on the hot seat.

Prediction: Tennessee 43, Florida 37 (3OT)

Jamaal Brimmer, the Next Ronnie Lott?

"Ronnie Lott had those same kind of instincts," said Brimmer's coach John Robinson, who also coached the NFL Hall of Famer, Ronnie Lott.

Jamaal Brimmer, 6-1 210, junior strong safety of the UNLV Running Rebels, had to be the best defensive player in college football on September 13, 2003. I missed him for my "Did You See That?!" section, but Brimmer's stats and his contribution toward UNLV's upset of Wisconsin is just too great to miss. So here I am, dedicating a post just for him.

Brimmer is coming off a terrific sophomore season in which he became the Mountain West Conference MVP. This year, Brimmer is a pre-season All-American in many major sports publications such as Lindy's, The Sporting News, Phil Steele's, Athlon, Street and Smith's, and College Football News. He is on the watch list of the Bronko Nagurski Award for the nation's best defensive player and the Jim Thorpe Award for the nation's best defensive back.

UNLV only had 187 yards on the day, but scored three touchdowns, all had to do with Brimmer. In the 1st quarter, Brimmer returned a fumble 55 yards for the first touchdown of the game.

Later, in the second quarter, Brimmer intercepted an over-thrown ball 37 yards to the 14 yard line, setting up a 6 yard touchdown pass by Kurt Nantkes.

In Wisconsin's first possession in the the 2nd half, Sorgi again over-threw, and was picked off by Brimmer, returning it 4 yards shy of the red zone. This led to an 8 yard touchtown pass from Nantkes to Earvin Johnson.

On the day Jamaal Brimmer had 11 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 sacks, 1 fumble recover, and 1 touchdown. Surprisingly, Brimmer's two picks on Saturday were the first two of his college career.

College Football Winners and Losers for 9/13/2003

Every week, the sport of college football is like a round in the playoff for the National Championship (but I can’t figure out if it is single elimination, double elimination, or neither.) There will always be a handful of good games on every weekend, and you can always count on a few upsets and unbelievable plays. No other sports have the rivalries, the traditions, the fans, and the spirit of college football. Each Saturday is like a roller coaster ride regardless if your team is facing a top team, beating up on an I-AA school, or having a bye. That’s why college football is by far, my favorite sport.

I will try to post a list of Winners and Losers for every week of the college football season. Maybe, I’ll even include a list of “Did You See That?!”, in which I’ll include the best plays and stats of the week. Here’s the debut:

WINNERS

1) Michigan (def Notre Dame 38-0) – In what most people expected to be a defensive, low-scoring matchup, the Wolverines made the Irish look silly in a blowout. More than embarrassing a traditional powerhouse, Michigan showed the country its swagger and potential. Chris Perry (see below) also claimed his spot as the early favorite for the Heisman Trophy. We already know Michigan’s offense is one of the best in the nation, but the questionable defense proved a point by putting up a goose egg. However, as much as the dominance by the defense, Notre Dame’s offense isn’t anything special. Nevertheless, this game served as the coming-out party for the Michigan Wolverines for 2003.

2) Arkansas (def Texas 38-28) – Who would expect the unranked Hogs to go into Austin and put up 38 points before the game? This was the biggest shocker of the weekend, as the Longhorns snap a 20-game home winning streak. The Razorbacks simply ran the ball up and down the field all day and turned Longhorn turnovers into their own fortune. The defensive line did a mighty job by completely shutting down the Longhorn running game. Late in the game, I was hoping for Arkansas quarterback Matt Jones to pull a Clint Stoerner by fumble the ball without being touched, but Jones avoided the deja vu.

3) USC (def Hawaii 61-32) – Two previous victories by the Trojans were mostly credited to their stifling defense (Wild Bunch II! I can’t say that enough!) In this contest, the offense was finally clicking on all cylinders. Matt Leinart (see below) made some impressive throws and a sick block. Although he’s still inconsistent at times (missed a wide open Keary Colbert in the second quarter), he proved that he is the starter, and he won’t lose the game for the team. The running game also impressed with the speed of Hershel Dennis and Reggie Bush and the power of LenDale White (who reminds me of another White who played RB at USC). Both freshman, Bush and White, rushed for two touchdowns each. The defense, once again, shut down a high-octane offense by allowing only 6 points by the first team (Hawaii managed to score 26 more on USC’s second and third team). On the defensive side of the ball, this game proved to me that USC is the real deal. They’ve managed to shutout a powerful running team (Auburn) and hold in check two powerful passing teams (BYU and Hawaii). Welcome to the big leagues Heisman Chang!

4) Ohio State (def NC State 44-38) – Although Ohio State managed to barely keep it’s winning streak alive in a game they should have lost, a win is a win. The defensive line dominated the entire game, while the secondary dominated for three and a half quarters. Jim Tressel must have set a new Guinness Record by having the longest stretch of good fortune.

5) Iowa (def Iowa State 40-21) – I thought Iowa was going to win, but not by completely destroy their in-state rivals, at least on the scoreboard. In a game where Iowa State had the advantage in almost every category, Iowa’s running game prove to be enough for the Hawkeyes. Surprisingly, Iowa only converted 2-13 on 3rd downs, had the ball for only 25 minutes, and had only ten first downs. I can see Ohio State saying “Well come to the Joy LUCKY Club” to Iowa. Now they have beaten the only team to have beaten them last regular season, maybe they can go 12-0? Nah, I don’t think so.

6) Washington State (def Colorado 47-26) – Colorado looked like a contender after beating Colorado State and UCLA, only to be brought back down to earth by the Cougars. Washington State managed to bounce back strong after a heart-breaking loss last weekend to Notre Dame. They took out their frustration on the Buffalo Defense, amassing 153 yards rushing and 310 yards passing. The special team was impressive as Sammy Moore broke the game open with a 97-yard kickoff return to open the 2nd half. Punter Kyle Basler boomed 7 punts for an average of 53.9 yards per punt.

7) Purdue (def Wake Forest 16-10) – Just like Washington State, Purdue came off a loss but managed to beat an up-and-coming program in Jim Grobe’s Demon Decons. Quarterback Kyle Orton was an efficient 26 for 36, 227 yards, and a score. Purdue managed to not shoot themselves in the foot by recovering 4 of their 5 fumbles on the day.

8) Texas (lost to Arkansas 28-38) – Even though Texas lost to an unranked team at home, it’s not the end of the world. Conversely, I think this is exactly what the Longhorns needed to finally beat Oklahoma. By losing, Texas will have no pressure when it comes to the Red River Shootout. Maybe this time, Mack Brown and his staff will finally find solutions to the offensive line, defensive line, and running game prior to the big game.

The loss wouldn’t hurt UT much since it’s against a non-conference foe, and we all know that it’s better to lose early in the season than late. Just look at USC last year: they lost two games and were ranked #3 by year’s end. In five BCS Championship games, 3 teams made it with one loss.

LOSERS

1) Wisconsin (lost to UNLV 5-23) – Many thought Wisconsin will challenge for the Big Ten title this year. Then came a bunch of Rebels ruining everything. Not only did Wisconsin lose by double digits, to ad injury to insult, their starting running back, All-Big Ten, Anthony Davis and quarterback Jim Sorgi were injured during the game. Both players are listed day-to-day, but this could be disastrous for the Badgers’ 2003 campaign.

2) NC State (lost to Ohio State 38-44) – Some people would say that losing in double overtime at a hostile environment to the #3 ranked defending champions shouldn’t be too devastating to a football team, but in North Carolina State’s case, it is. The fact that they didn’t lose on the field, but in the huddle should torment head coach Chuck Amato for the rest of his life! Despite being chased around by the Ohio State defense for most of the game like Princess Diana being chased by the paparazzi, NC State quarterback Philip Rivers dealt a few blows of his own in the 4th quarter and overtime. Trailing 7-24, Rivers caught on fire as he evened the score by the end of regulation. After Ohio State failed to convert the mandatory two-point conversion during the 3rd OT, Rivers brought the Wolfpack to the five yard line. This is when offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone and Amato decided to run a QB sneak up the middle, TWICE!! This resulted in 4th and goal. T. A. McLendon got the pitch and was just short of the goal to end the game. Why run the ball when passing is what got your team back into it?! Why was the star running back not in the final series until the last down?! I will stop the criticizing on the NC State coaching staff since I’m sure they’ll get a lot of it by other prestigious sports writers and journalists.

3) SMU (lost to Baylor 7-10) – They lost to Baylor for crying out loud!!!

DID YOU SEE THAT?!

1) West Keliikipi – FB, Hawaii – The 6-1, 260lb walk-on fullback totally destroyed USC safety, Andre Woodert with a semi-stiff arm. Woodert came at Keliikipi at full speed, but after the contact, Woodert was sent flying in the opposite direction and landed on the back of his helmet! This was the highlight of Keliikipi’s game which featured other runs where he broke several tackles and dragged defenders.

2) Matt Leinart – QB, USC, Reggie Bush – RB, USC – The 6-5, 220-pounder threw a de-cleatter block on a Hawaii defender on Reggie Bush’s unbelievable cut back run on a screen pass in which he received the ball in midfield, ran right and cut back to the left side for a big gain. You can’t beat two great plays for the price of one.

3) Chris Perry – RB, Michigan – Can you say Heisman after his performance against the notable Tyrone Willingham defense? Perry had 4 touchdowns on Saturday. Here are his numbers for the first 3 weeks:

			Rushing				Receiving


			ATT	YDS	AVE	TD	REC	YDS	AVE	TD


vs. Central Michigan 	22	232	10.5	2	1	17	0.0	0


vs. Houston		27	184	6.8	2	5	23	4.6	0


vs. Notre Dame		31	134	4.3	3	4	42	10.5	1

I remember 2 weeks ago, hearing a commentator talking about the possibility of Michigan’s John Navarre beating out Eli Manning for the Heisman Trophy just like ex-Wolverine Charles Woodson beat out another Manning, Peyton Manning for the award. Maybe he meant Perry instead of Navarre, but please, say it ain’t so!!!!!!!!!

4) Matt Jones – QB, Arkansas – I get shocked every time seeing “Mr. Human Molasses” burn defenses like he was running through air while the defenders are running through oil. Not that he is slow, but he looks slow when he’s running, which might be his intent to deceive the defense. One broadcaster stated it the best, saying Matt Jones looks slow because “he covers a lot of ground…he’s 6-6, and he’s got legs that go up to his armpits!”

His performance on Saturday (8-16, 139, 1-0 passing, 12-102-1 rushing, and numerous 3rd down conversions) reminded me of that 7-overtime game against Mississippi in 2001 and the 6-overtime game against Tennessee in 2002.

5) Matt Mauck – QB, LSU, Michael Clayton – WR, LSU – Is LSU taking over as the aerial monster of the SEC? After completing 10 of 11 passes last week in the blowout of Arizona, Mauck struck for 305 yards passing and 4 TDs. His favorite WR, Michael Clayton, who is a preseason first team All-SEC athlete caught 11 passes for 162 yards and a score. Although Western Illinois is the opponent, the transformation of Mauck from a quarterback known for his scramble ability into a pocket passer should be scary news for the SEC.

6) Illinois at UCLA – Did you see that game? No? Ok, good.

College Football Preview

What a great time of the year. College football is in full swing. Trying to predict a national champion out of 117 teams at the beginning is a hard task. Just look at the improbable seasons Ohio State had in 2002, Tennessee in 1998, and Oklahoma in 2000.

Lets look at this years top ten teams according to the Associated Press and the ESPN/Coaches poll and break down their chances of winning the Sugar Bowl.

10) Florida State – The dismal season Bobby Bowden had in 2002 brought about a change in his attitude. Instead of being the warm-hearted Bobby we all know quite well, Bowden became more of an army general in the 2003 season. After impressive wins over ACC foes North Carolina and Maryland, Florida State seems to be back to old forms with a talented backfield in Greg Jones (check out that hit he dealt out in the UNC game, GODDAMN!), blue-chipper freshman Lorenzo Booker, and Chris Rix. Wide receiver Craphonso Thorpe is also one to keep an eye on. However, the Seminole schedule seems just a bit too much for them, facing 6 top 25 teams including Miami, NC State, Colorado, and Wake Forest at home, and Notre Dame and Florida on the road, not to mention talented Georgia Tech and Virginia.

Bold Prediction: Florida State will not play in a BCS Bowl game.

National Championship odds: 50:1

9) Virginia Tech – After a running back controversy between Lee Suggs and Kevin Jones in 2002, VT follows it up with a brewing quarterback controversy between Marcus Vick and Bryan Randall. So far, Randall has excelled, beating cupcake Central Florida and James Madison by a combined score of 92-28. They have a fairly easy schedule being in the Big East. Personally, I’d love to see them kick the shit out of the Texas A&M Aggies on September 18 which should also be their first challenge. The Aggies are well known for their defense and quarterback Reggie McNeil should challenge the Hokies. Although they have big games against Miami and Pittsburg half way through the season, their Kansas State-esque early season schedules tell me the chances are, they aren’t going to make it.

Bold Prediction: Marcus Vick will come into a game for mop-up duty and breaks his leg just like Mike, I wanna be just like Mike, just like Mike….

National Championship odds: 35:1

8) Georgia – I hate them damn Dawgs!!(Yeah, you know it Dana and Jeff, I’m surprised that for you two who grew up in Texas, you would like those peach farmers who think just because they are located in Athens, they can produce Olympic-caliber athletes and Platonian scholars!) I can’t believe the Bulldogs are still considering D.J. Shockley for the quarterback position, all David Greene did was beat Tennessee twice, beat instate rival Georgia Tech twice, win the SEC Championship, and win the Sugar Bowl.

The offensive line and running back unit for Georgia is mediocre at best. These two components are crucial in ball controlling late in games especially versus pass-happy Florida and LSU. Unless Coach Richt plans on turning into a passing offense, I don’t see the Bulldogs making it to a BCS bowl game. However, with Greene and wide receiver Fred Gipson, The Bulldogs might just put on an aerial attack. The defense is led by All-American candidate David Pollack and Kentrell Curry.

Bold Prediction: Georgia will lose 3 games in the SEC

National Championship odds: 45:1

7) Kansas State – Like always, we can’t tell if KState is for real until a good 5 weeks into the season. Troy State, McNeese St., and Massachusetts? They might as well play 22 random Koreans in pads! (I’m assuming Koreans don’t know their American football.) The only thing that might save the season for them is the tune-up game against a quality team in Marshall, because two weeks after that, they head for the Land-of-All-Nightmares(for visiting teams, that is), Austin, Texas, Darrell Royal Memorial Stadium. The game at Stillwater, OK isn’t going to be much easier the following week. Just in case they go 12-1 during the regular season, I don’t want to hear any complaining why the Wildcats can’t even get a BCS bid, because likely, their strength of schedule is going to be in the 70s, again.

Ell Roberson is injured? True or false? If it’s true, then the Wildcats are in trouble. If it’s false, do they really need to “pretend” he’s injured just to trick those Minutemen from Mass?

Bold Prediction: Kansas State will score over 500 points this season, yet not score more than 27 against Texas, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska.

National Championship odds: 55:1

6) Michigan – Big Blue is lead by John Navarre, Braylon Edwards, and Chris Perry on offense. Many believe Navarre is a Heisman candidate in the pre-season. After two games, Chris Perry looks like he should be in New York at the end of the year. Michigan has two All-American-type offensive linemen in Tony Pape and David Baas. The question comes from the defensive side of the ball. Through 2 games against Central Michigan and Houston, the defense gave up nearly 300 yards rushing. The kicking game is iffy just like last year. Although Michigan has a favorable schedule(Notre Dame, Purdue, and Ohio State at home), their main challenges come from trips to Iowa and of course, East Lansing, where Michigan State fans will surely give the Wolverines an earful.

Bold Prediction: Michigan will lose to Purdue’s high octane passing offense.

National Championship odds: 30:1

5) Texas – Hook’em Horns! Breaking in a new quarterback is never easy, but Tee Martin proved me wrong 5 years ago. The Longhorns share a degree of similarity to the 1998 Vols. Chance Mock is taking over for Chris Simms just as Tee Martin was taking over for high-profile Peyton Manning. Texas has 2 able running backs in Cedric Benson and Selvin Young just as Tennessee had Jamal Lewis and Travis Henry. Texas has The Legend in Roy Williams just as Tennessee had game-breaker Peerless Price. His name is Derrick Johnson, his name is Derrick Johnson, his name is Derrick Johnson; Tennessee had defensive captain Al Wilson. Now, all that need to happen for Texas to go all the way is for the Arkansas quarterback to miraculously fumble the football in the 4th quarter in a close game and Oklahoma to lose in overtime on a missed field goal.

Although it seems like the stars are all aligned for Texas to finally win their first National Championship under Mack Brown, their schedule looks like a really fucked up Minesweeper layout(sometimes they can be very frustrating, trust me, I would know about Minesweeper.) Only when Texas reaches the Big XII Championship game would I consider them going all the way.

Bold Prediction: Both Selvin Young and Vincent Young will start at least 1 game during the season.

National Championship odds: 45:1

4) USC – Whenever you hear USC, you hear their trademark Trojan fight song. Today, I was running on the track while the USC marching band was practicing. I over heard the band leader saying that they would play the fight song every time we score a touchdown, complete a pass, make a tackle, touch the football, breathe… In that term, the fight song is somewhat like the Oklahoma fight song, except it’s not annoying and that it’s actually intimidating.

Why will USC go all the way? They already had a huge opening win versus a top ten opponent, they have an easy schedule ahead, and they don’t have to play a conference championship game. Oh, by the way, they have a lot of talent on the field too. Starting with offense, their receiving corp of Mike Williams, Keary Colbert, and Steve Smith has to be the second best in the nation. The offensive line is headed by 2 All-Conference players in Jacob Rogers and Winston Justice. The defense has the best D-line in the nation in Kenechi Udeze, Mike Patterson, Shaun Cody, and Omar Nazel, aka The Wild Bunch II. Linebacker Matt Grootegoed can fly and freshman sensation Darnell Bing has speed and can hit with the best of them.

Worries for USC come at 2 crucial positions in quarterback and running back. So far, Matt Leinart doesn’t look like he could carry the team. Running back Hershel Dennis also had problems mustering yardage. But the bottom line is, if the Trojans can score at least 3 touchdowns per game, the defense should take care of the rest. And don’t be surprised to see Matt Cassel, Brandon Hance, and John David Booty all take snaps during the season, and I’m not talking about mop-up duty.

Bold Prediction: I will cram 5 people in my Toyota Celica if I have to for Dana, Jason, Jeff, and Paul to come to the UCLA vs. USC game.

National Championship odds: 25:1

3) Ohio State – The Maurice Clarett suspension/distraction should prove too much for the team to repeat in 2003. The offense returns 10 starters and what do they do? They score a meager 9 points agains San Diego State(the lone touchdown came off a 100 yard interception return). However, their defense does look impressive by shutting down Washington’s Cody Pickett and Reggie Williams. The bottom line is: Ohio State’s offense can’t score even if it were the only man on earth surrounded by 4 million horny chics.

Bold Prediction: Chris Gamble will score more touchdowns on defense than on offense.

National Championship odds: 100:1

2) Miami – You know their recruiting class has been the cream of the crop for the last 3 or 4 years. You know their coaches are a few of the best in college football. You know their players are still pissed after being robbed of the National Championship last year. And now, they erased the only question mark during the Florida game when first year quarterback Brock Berlin led the Hurricanes back from 23 points down in the final 20 minutes to win possibly the greatest game of the year. Now the only question is in their schedule. Will trips to Tallahassee, Blacksburg, and Pittsburg be too much for the Canes?

Bold Prediction: The Hurricanes will once again narrowly escape the talons of the BC Eagles.

National Championship odds: 10:1

1) Oklahoma – What else do I need to say? They are Oklahoma.

Bold Prediction: Oklahoma will lose 1 non-conference game this year.

National Championship odds: 500:1

Most Agonizing Injuries

Remember when those sports shows say, “You might want to look away for the next minute or two because our next footage might make you gag…” You figure it’s just a clever way of exploiting the viewers’ curiosity, but after watching these ten moments, you regret not listening to the warning.

I know we’ve all seen countless events of brutal injuries watching “You Gotta See This” on Fox, but the entries in this article were all seen on national or cable TV the moment they happened.

10) Duk Koo Kim – On November 13, 1982, the world’s #1 challenger for the lightweight title, Kuk Koo Kim of South Korea fought lightweight champion Ray Mancini for the title. Kim was knocked down in the 14th round. After the fight, Kim fell into a coma and needed emergency brain surgery. Efforts in trying to save him were unsuccessful as he died 5 days after the fight.

After the tragic event, both the referee for the fight and Kim’s mother would commit suicide. The event also brought major reform in the sport of boxing to ensure the safety of boxers including reducing championship bouts from 15 to 12 rounds and checkups before the fight such as electrocardiograms, brain tests, lung tests, blood pressure checks, and other examinations.

9) Bryant Young – November 30, 1998, teammate Ken Norton Jr.’s helmet struck Young’s leg, almost ending his professional football career. The injury broke both the tibia and fibula of Young’s right leg.

8) Clint Malarchuk – March 22, 1989, in a game against the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres goaltender Clint Malarchuk almost died of a freak accident. In a tangled up play in front of the goal, Steve Tuttle’s skate accidentally severed Malarchuk’s jugular vein on the ice. The jugular vein is a major vein in the neck which could be lethal if ruptured. After losing almost 2 quarts of blood, Malarchuk was able to keep his life as he needed 200 stitches to stop the bleeding.

7) Robert Edwards – The star running back out of Georgia just finished a stellar rookie season with the New England Patriots, rushing for 1115 yards and 9 TDs in 1998. It’s the day before the Pro Bowl. Edwards and some other NFL stars are playing in a flag football game, in sand. I wonder who thought of the dumb idea. If you ever ran in the sand, you would know not to do any kind of sudden change in directions, something done quite often in the game of football. Edwards was seriously injured during the game. He tore his ACL in the game. The injury severed an artery in Edwards’ leg which led to possible amputation. In the end, Edwards was able to save his leg and even made a miraculous comeback in 2002.

6) Tony Saunders – Saunders came up as a Florida Marlin in 1997. Later he was taken by the Devil Rays in the Expansion draft. Saunders was a promising finesse pitcher who had a sharp curve ball. Yes, he had potential, I even had him on my fantasy team until the unimaginable event on May 26, 1999. On that day, the lefty broke his left ulna while throwing a pitch. However, that wasn’t the worst part. After months of rehab, Saunders broke his arm at the exact same place during a rehab game. I remember seeing the footage on SportsCenter. I could clearly see his arm dangling around the point of the break, ouuuuuch!

5) Willis McGahee – I remember this as if it happened yesterday. A high profile athlete involved in a high profile game. The game was still up for grabs in the 4th quarter when McGahee and a Buckeye defensive back collided at full speed. At the time, McGahee’s body blocked the view on his knee. ABC tastefully didn’t show any replays from the other angles. However, it was evident that McGahee was hurt, bad. It wasn’t until later on SportsCenter did I see the knee actually bent backwards by about 30 degrees!! The injury tore 3 ligaments in McGahee’s knee and severely dropped his draft status, however, his amazing rehabilitation made him a late first round draft pick just 4 months later.

4) Jason Kendall – It was a simple play involving a young energetic player trying to beat out a bunt. The result was disastrous for the 4th year prospect. The Pittsburg Pirates were being no-hit by the Brewers in the 5th inning. Kendall laid down a bunt and hustled to first base. He stepped on the edge of the bag and completely broke his right ankle. His right foot looked like it completely fell off and was attached by the skin on his foot.
"I'm still nauseous. It looked like he had a wooden leg. The bone was sticking out and it was perfectly rounded. I've never seen anything like that…His foot was pointing one way and the bone was the other way. It went through his sock and everything," said Mark Loretta, who was playing first base for the Brewers.

3) Napoleon McCallum – During the 1st Monday Night Football in 1994, the San Francisco 49ers were blowing out the Los Angeles Raiders. McCallum came into the game in the 3rd quarter and made the headlines, with a gut wrenching injury. I still remember watching McCallum’s knee being bent backwards. His foot almost touched his stomach!! That was the first time I saw something like that, and I thought there’s no way he could ever walk again. Again, Ken Norton Jr. was in on the play as he tacked McCallum. The result is a dislocated knee, ruptured artery, and 3 torn ligaments that left McCallum’s lower left leg dangling like a soap on a roap. McCallum would never play another down in the NFL.

2) Joe Theismann – In a crucial division game against the hated Giants midway through the 1985 season, Theismann was nailed by hard-hitting linebacker, Lawrence Taylor. The Monday Night Football camera caught the scene in which Theisman’s tibia and fibula snapped as Taylor wrapped Theismann’s body around his and wrestled him to the ground. The broken bone cut through the skin to cause a compound fracture. Theismann’s career ended with the play. Theismann still have nightmares about the injury. Even tough-guy Lawrence Taylor says he still couldn’t watch the replay.

1) Rudy Tomjanovich – This incident was later written into a book called The Punch and ESPN even did a story on it for it’s 25th year anniversary. It happened on December 9, 1977. The Houston Rockets were visiting the Los Angeles Lakers. Tomjanovich’s teammate Kevin Kunnert was getting into a tussle with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Both benches cleared as the players rushed to break up the fight, including Rudy Tomjanovich. As he approached near mid court, he was unexpectedly socked in the face with a powerful right hook by Laker Kermit Washington. The punch gave Tomjanovich a concussion and left him in a puddle of blood. The punch dislocated Rudy T’s scull, fluid from his brain was leaking into his mouth. The injury nearly killed Tomjanovich in the hospital that night. Tomjanovich managed to play 2 more seasons and coached the Houston Rockets to two championships.

Although Washington was the one who dealt the punch, he doesn’t deserve to be recognized as the villain. As he said himself, he saw an object coming at him fast, and he just swung as a reaction. “The Punch” changed professional sports in terms of the way they deal with fights on the playing field. Rules are more strictly enforced after this.

Honorable Mention - Joshua Schmidt - After tearing his ACL while playing intramural indoor soccer, Joshua managed to play catcher for the Olsen Twins in intramural softball. What a gamer! Eventually, the torn ACL will forever brand the nickname "ACL" on Joshua's ass.