Wow. Oregon comes back to beat Arizona in double overtime after Arizona fans got out of their seats and prepared to rush the field too soon.
And then there were two. Oregon vs Oregon State will decide the Pac 10.
Where the hell did OSU come from? It sure looked like it was going to be Oregon or Arizona, with Stanford having a long shot. Now all of a sudden it’s the Civil War for all the marbles. Crazy, crazy season in the pac-10.
And, btw, GO BEARS! WE GOT THE AXE! WHOOOOOOOOOO!!! Epic Big Game.
Aside from the fact that I’m always rooting against Notre Dame, it was good to see Connecticut win a tight game after losing so many heartbreakers this year. I did feel a little bad for the Notre Dame seniors. My problem, mostly, isn’t with them, or with Charlie Weis, who is doing his best even though he clearly is not good enough - it’s with their school and it’s entitled attitude, and with the absolutely moronic second contract they gave Weis. They just flat-out begged for this to happen: they doubled his salary and gave him a ten-year extension after seven games? That was crazy, and I can’t help thinking race played a big role in it. Whether or not Willingham got the boot sooner than he should, I think the big shots at Notre Dame viewed hiring a black coach as an experiment, one that they were never comfortable with, and one that ultimately didn’t work out.
So when they hired Weis and the team was doing pretty well at first, they couldn’t hide a sense of gratitude that things were back to normal and all was as it should be. In return they gave him a ridiculous reward for a pretty decent beginning, and he essentially never lived up to it. That’s what they get for this bullshit.
There is no evidence whatsoever to support this. You can call out ND administration for a lot of ridiculous contracts and decisions, but the race card is bullshit, plain and simple. Tyrone Willingham has proven himself to be an absolutely terrible coach and recruiter - possibly the worst in recent D-I history.
Yup - I think that’s a pretty fair assessment. Things definitely looked to be right on track. Of course, what few will admit is the fact that everyone on that coaching staff knew there was going to be a huge hangover from Willingham’s tenure coming in a few years - his total and complete lack of recruiting his final two years was about to rear its ugly head. You can’t recruit a total of 2 offensive linemen over a 3.5 year period and not suffer a complete meltdown at some point. Sam Young was a great talent coming in, but when your best OL is a freshman, something terrible is going to happen.
No argument here.
Congrats to Cal for winning The Big Game, but would someone please explain what that stare down thing was all about? I only turned on the last few minutes so I didn’t hear an explanation on the air.
Damn Penn State. We beat them about half the time in East Lansing, and exactly never in Happy Valley. Maybe in 2011.
Not sure what you’re referring to. I was at the game and didn’t see the broadcast, and there was nothing like this on any highlights I saw.
Absolutely true. I don’t think Willingham got fired for being black. He’s not a good coach. But I do think Charlie Weis got rewarded for being the white coach who saved the day. Except of course he hadn’t saved the day at all and there was no logical reason to assume he’d done so after seven games.
OSU has been quietly winning in the background, and they had a better shot than Stanford all along, who they beat head to head. Every year the Beavers get picked to finish in the middle of the Pac and every year they start off slow, seemingly justifying those predictions. Then they finish strong. Last year, OSU was also a Civil War win away from the Rose Bowl, but Oregon ruined it.
It’d be awesome to see a OSU vs. OSU matchup in the Rose Bowl!
I suspect UO will be favored to win the “Civil War” match-up next weekend, but that game is always so intense (and now nothing less than the Rose Bowl is at stake for both teams) that you never now.
Were’t Weis’ best seasons the ones where he played with Willingham’s players? Which would imply that Willingham could recruit.
And Willingham’s best seasons were the ones where he had Bob Davies’ players. Which implies…um…something weird happens in South Bend.
Poor, poor Chattanooga. Star Jackson sure isn’t playing like the amazing 5-star recruit we’ve been hearing about. The first second he gets some pressure, he drops out of the pocket for a big sack. We know the man’s got some legs on him, but they need to run forwards, not backwards. Next year’s gonna be tough, but I don’t think that after Star’s mediocre performance today, anyone will argue that A.J. McCarron deserves to start.
I like Les Miles because he has some giant balls, and I love coaches who run trick plays to get their players and crowd fired up, but that was possibly the single worst two minutes of coaching I have ever seen. Pathetic all the way around.
The Notre Dame boards are very active this morning with many rumors. Someone has said the job has been offered to Urban Meyer. If Meyer doesn’t accept, is in Notre Dames back pocket and will be the coach if Meyer stays in Florida.
Personally, I think Meyer would be an idiot to leave Gainesville.
A distracted Stoops would explain the disastrous week that Oklahoma had this past week.
I saw on one of the boards (from a Weis supporter) that Weis had a hard time to getting up to the podium for a press conference. They claim it was emotion. LMAO. I am sure the 400 lbs was not a factor.
So, who’s going to get fired? Weiss? Rodriguez? Mangino? Richt?
Why the word “white” in there? At that point, Weis had salvaged Willingham’s final recruiting season, and bagged a number of 4/5 star recruits. He was also clearly on his way to a BCS game. He had quickly turned things around. Not that that really explains the logic - because it really was an illogical contract extension.
I don’t think you can imply that. There is a dramatic difference between what Willingham was doing with the players versus what Charlie was doing. Quinn was going to Notre Dame if Santa Claus was the coach - he’d been recruiting himself for the Irish since he was 10. Besides - you cannot argue that recruiting 2 offensive linemen in 3.5 years means you can recruit. He left the cupboards completely bare.
IMO, the only one on that list that is safe is Rodriguez. The honeymoon is not quite over, he has one more year.
Maybe someone can start a multi-answer poll?
Meh. Jackson hasn’t been on the field in a bunch of games. We saw him perform extremely well earlier in the season. He’s a kid. He’ll be fine.
If the NCAA comes down on Michigan for Rich Rods practicing violations, he may have trouble holding on. They are about to have a new A.D. so that is another unknown. There are a lot of alumni who want him out. They have recruited a very highly sought after QB. But he is a pocket type not a Rod system QB. But I doubt a new A.D. will be in on that knowledge. I would be surprised if he were canned but I would understand it. No bowl game 2 years in a row is costly.It is about money in the end.
Forcier was the next coming early in the year when they went 4-0. But he wound up turning the ball over 5 times against OSU when they were beatable. It is turning into a big mess.
Possible high profile coaches (or programs) who will not be coaching (either by getting fired, retiring or getting poached by a more attractive offer) their current team next season:
Mangino, Kansas
Weis, Notre Dame
Rodriguez, Michigan
Richt, UGA
Bowden, FSU
Meyer, UF
Stoop, Oklahoma
Brian Kelly, Cincinnati
Paul Johnson, Ga Tech
Butch Davis, UNC
Joe Paterno, PSU
Dan Hawkins, Colorado
There has got to be some others.
All indications are one more year.
Don’t we hear this every year?
Bolding mine. Not a chance. And this is from a pissed-off, die-hard Georgia Bulldawg. Yes, we have sucked this year. Yes, heads are going to roll. But Mark Richt has as much security in his job this year as any head coach in the country. There is just no way in hell, given the job he has done at Georgia so far, that they would even entertain the notion of cutting him loose. His coordinators? Not sleeping quite as soundly…