This Coach Has Guts

I like University of Louisiana-Monroe’s Todd Berry and I have never met the coach. The guy has spunk and guts.

Berry and his Warhawk football team have received much love from the college football world since ULM knocked off then No. 8 Arkansas in its season opener. College fans paid more attention to the Warhawks when they lost the next week to Auburn in overtime and then fell short last week in a nationally televised Friday night game against Baylor.

Berry’s team features a wide-open spread offense. The coach is not afraid to take major risks on fourth down plays. In the old days, the term “Riverboat Gambler” would apply to such a coach.

But maybe Berry’s greatest risk came last season when he strolled through the tailgate crowd before a home game.

For my international readers and some United States’ ones, you must realize LSU (Louisiana State) is the kingpin of state universities in Louisiana. LSU has a huge fan base and the remaining schools basically pick up the crumbs. It isn’t unusual to see a vehicle on another Louisiana campus proclaiming love for LSU.

Berry understands this. Every coach and athletic department in Louisiana not associated with LSU understands it.

But last year, Berry challenged this big brother-little brother mentality. According to an article from SB Nation, Berry confronted several fans who were showing their allegiance to LSU while at an ULM tailgate. Berry told one fan, which featured a purple-and-gold LSU tailgating tent, “LSU’s playing four hours south.” I say, you tell them, coach.

Berry said in the article that he believed this LSU allegiance showed disrespect to his ULM players. And I agree.

I think LSU Coach Les Miles should challenge Berry to a dual on the football field. And big brother should even travel to Monroe and ULM for the game.

What do you think? Should a fan attend a game at one school while proclaiming obvious love for another school?

Friday Night College Football

Normally, I am not a big fan of the Friday night ESPN college football game.

I always figured Friday night was for high school football. Plus, the Friday night college matchup is usually two teams desperate for national TV exposure.

Well, this week is different and I hope to tune into the action.

The game features early season media darling, University of Louisiana-Monroe (ULM), and Big 12 conference Baylor—a media darling last season because of Robert Griffin III (RG3).

ULM shocked the college football world in week No. 2 with an overtime win over then No. 8 ranked Arkansas. The Warhawks played overtime again last week but Auburn won on a field goal.

Baylor has entered the post-RG3-era with two straight victories. The Bears will be leery of an ULM team that battled two Southeastern Conference squads (SEC) toe-to-toe.

One interesting aspect of the game is the location. Baylor will come to Monroe to play the Warhawks. It’s rare for a Bowl Champion Series (BCS) team to go on the road to oppose a non-BCS school. It’s the biggest named opponent ULM has hosted since Minnesota several years ago.

Will the ULM fans fill the stadium (30,427) for the game? They should. This is a big game and their team is off to an interesting start. ULM fans have been criticized in the past for not showing up, but this week they have little excuse unless they are going to a high school game.

This game should be fun whether you’re in the stands or watching it on your television. Both teams can score points. The question is what defense will play winning football and limit the other team?

Missouri Tiger's New Look

Missouri unveiled its new football uniforms over the weekend. The Tigers are headed to the Southeastern Conference and wanted to celebrate the new beginning with a new look.

The new look is contemporary styling of course. Gone is the block “M” on the helmets. A large, mean-looking Tiger is now the showcase of the helmets. The Nike uniforms feature uniforms shirts in gold, white and black. I don’t see a huge difference in the old uniform tops just the more modern look. The pants are pretty standard looking.

Missouri said that recruits are interested in uniform styles. I guess they want to think they are “styling” as the youth say. Does dressing for success include the style of college football uniforms? I hope college kids are smarter to select a school based on more than who has the coolest uniforms.

But in the grand scheme of things, Missouri has more challenges moving to the SEC than looking good in its uniforms. I can think of three easily: Alabama, Auburn and LSU. I don’t care how the Tigers look if they cannot become competitive with a talented SEC.

Missouri wants to keep people from saying it looked good in defeat. That will be a tall order in the SEC.

This Pains Me

The Alabama-Auburn game, known as the Iron Bowl, usually doesn’t garner much of my attention. But this year, I have a little more interest because of a negative reason.

Alabama sits at No. 2 in the BCS. If the Tide wins today, they will capture a national champion game spot. It’s their last regular season game. Then if LSU beats Georgia in next week’s SEC title game, we will have an all-SEC national championship game. This I do not want.

But this requires me to cheer for Auburn and coach Gene Chizik. Ever since Chizik left Iowa State in a controversial move, it has been hard to cheer for the guy. I guess human nature and hurt feelings have something to do with it. This might be a good day to bury the feelings and turn the page.

Auburn, the defending national championship, is ranked No. 24 and is today’s host. The Tigers aren’t chopped liver but not as potent as last season’s squad. Hopefully, the rivalry and the opportunity to play spoiler will inspire Auburn.

If Auburn cannot provide the upset, I might have to rearrange my sock drawer the night of the national championship game.

Auburn Tigers Won't Repeat

As the saying goes, you can take this to the bank: Auburn will not win another national championship this season.

It’s an easy pick. The Tigers must replace 16 starters from their national championship team including stars in quarterback Cam Newton and defensive tackle Nick Farley. Auburn might not even be too competitive in the always tough Southeastern Conference (SEC).

The Tigers will feature mostly inexperienced, but highly talented players. One of the ‘veterans’ returning is sophomore running back Michael Dyer. Dyer rushed for 1,093 yards last season and figures to receive plenty of carries this year.

Can coach Gene Chizik keep this team focused after last season’s success? Every opponent will treat Auburn different this year. It’s a ‘circle’ game for Auburn’s foes.
The Tigers are a marked team. If they don’t respond well, Auburn could take some real lumps.

The SEC has won the last five national championships, but Auburn will not make it six. Its bitter rival down the road, Alabama, has a much better chance to keep the title in the state.

Alabama Could Make Noise Again in 2011

Most college football teams would love a 10-3 overall record. But most college football teams aren’t like the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Tide “slipped” to a 10-3 mark last season after winning the national championship in 2009. Coach Nick Sabin’s team had to watch bitter rival Auburn take the 2010 crown.

But Alabama could contend for another championship this season.

And if the Tide contends it will ride the defense. Alabama returns nine starters including linebacker Dont’a Hightower. Other top players include another linebacker Courtney Upshaw and safety Mark Barron.

The most unsettled position on the team is the quarterback. Former starter Greg McElroy is gone and A. J. McCarron and Philip Sims will battle for the top spot. The winner will find comfort handing the ball off to running back Trent Richardson. Richardson rushed for 1,451 yards in a reserved role last season.

Sabin will again be a motivating force. The guy can coach. The people at Alabama think so too. Sabin’s bust now graces the outside grounds of Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Football is like a religion in Alabama. A banner season might ease some of the pain suffered from the damaging tornado last April in Tuscaloosa where the university is located.

Wisconsin Lands Russell Wilson

Christmas came to Badgerland yesterday and fans were plain ‘ole giddy. Former North Carolina State quarterback Russell Wilson announced that he would play for Wisconsin this fall.

It’s rare for a college team to have a former all-conference player in another league land in its lap. Wisconsin beat out Auburn for Wilson’s services.

Badger fans believe Wilson could the missing piece of a well-stock puzzle in 2011. They weren’t happy with the other prospects at quarterback so now fans could look forward to a special season.

I have mentioned frequently in this space about Wilson’s talents. I watched the guy closely at NC State. As I have often said, he is a special player. Wilson is simply a talented athlete. He can make plays with his feet and also throw a good ball when necessary. He often willed NC State to a victory.

The rub with the NC State football program was basically his desire to play two sports. Then he signed a professional contract with the Colorado Rockies baseball team. Finally, NC State coach Tom O’Brien told him to choose baseball or football. But Wilson continued with the Rockies this summer.

Wilson apparently has had second thoughts about a baseball career. Struggling with a .200 average will do that to a guy.

It will be interesting to see how Wisconsin uses Wilson. Normally, the Badgers run a conservative offense with a large portion of running plays. If they only have Wilson generally hand the ball off his talents will go wasted. The guy needs plenty of freedom to make plays.

I predict Wilson will star at Wisconsin. He will just be performing for a different red-and-white team (school colors).

Paying College Athletes

There has been plenty of discussion in recent weeks about paying college athletes. I think the mess with Ohio State and the situation with Cam Newton at Auburn helped fuel the talk.

The Big Ten Conference mentioned the subject. The ‘ole ball coach, Steve Spurrier, also gave his two cents. Some think if players are paid however, the power conferences will have a huge advantage because of their major resources.

In a sense, college players are already paid. They receive scholarships in the form of room and broad. We also know some players garner extra benefits from those who (boosters) want to buck the system.

Would paying players stop this under the table stuff? I doubt it. You would have to offer some kids plenty of legal money to stop that practice. And frankly, that will not happen.

I’m a sports traditionalist so I haven’t ever been too keen on paying players. But maybe a small monthly stipend all universities/colleges could afford would be okay.

This to pay or not to pay debate will linger for a long, long time. Maybe the NCAA powers should focus on cleaning up the infractions in college sports and then this pay issue might take care of itself.

Do you think college athletes should be paid?

More Russell Wilson

Yesterday I wrote about the divorce between quarterback Russell Wilson and North Carolina State. The Pack has officially released Wilson from his scholarship.

But this isn’t the end of the story.

Wilson wants to play more football and other schools are obviously interested. He can perform at a school right away because he has graduated from NC State. He can attend graduation school and play for one more season.

Wilson’s release does prohibit him from playing for another ACC school or teams on the 2011 NC State schedule.

Media reports state that SEC schools are interested. Apparently, Auburn and South Carolina are looking for quarterbacks. Can you imagine Wilson is this top-notch conference?

Wilson is the real deal. The guy can simply make plays. With Wilson at the controls, a team always has a chance. Not only is he an outstanding football player, but Wilson will represent a university well off the field too.

It will look really strange next season when he probably wears No. 16 at another school and not lead the Pack anymore.

Change is constant in life, but this one shouldn’t happen

Does the NCAA Promote a Double Standard?

This has not been a good week for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)—the organization that administers college athletics.

People have a serious bad taste in their mouths about the NCAA and the organization seemed to shoot itself in the foot again.

Ohio State placed sanctions on its football coach Jim Tressel over withholding information. This case relates to the Ohio State tattoo mess last fall. The NCAA declared several players ineligible to play in opening games in 2011, but allowed the players to participate in the 2010 season bowl game. People cried foul and said the NCAA favors its banner schools like Ohio State.

The NCAA must rule on this latest Tressel finding and that will be interesting.

And then this week, the NCAA ruled Baylor freshman Perry Jones illegible for the remaining basketball season. He missed the Bear’s Big 12 conference tournament game. The NCAA didn’t like Jones mother receiving money from his AAU coach. Again people cried foul. They said how different is this from Auburn’s Cam Newton and the problems with his father allegedly talking money for his son’s football services. Newton or Auburn received no penalties. Again, is Auburn one of the NCAA favorite schools?

The NCAA did release a statement that it believed the Jones and Newton cases were separate incidents. My editorial comment: nice try NCAA.

The NCAA has a serious image and marketing problem. People are watching and they want answers. Unfortunately, the NCAA is dancing around the problems hoping they will subside.

Good luck with that.

Iowa Men's Basketball Coach Fran McCaffery

I must admit I haven’t paid too much attention to the Iowa basketball program this year. I imagine it has something to do with me considering Iowa the ‘other’ school in our state. You folks involved with Alabama-Auburn, Southern Cal-UCLA or Purdue-Indiana understand.

I did catch Iowa basketball coach Fran McCaffery’s call-in show last night however. McCaffery is in his first season at Iowa. The Hawks defeated No. 6 Purdue last Saturday for their signature win of the season. That’s the good news. The bad news is Iowa finished 10th in the Big Ten at 11-19.

This McCaffery provides an interesting call-in show. Coaches shows are basically marketing tools. The coach sells some hope, strokes the fans etc. True, McCaffery does that too, but he offers more. It was refreshing.

He talked about his senior player Jared Cole and how unlike many players Cole stuck it out at Iowa after three coaching changes. McCaffery said that Cole committed himself to Iowa and adjusted to the changing circumstances. McCaffery said that many players will run away when they encounter a coaching change. He said Cole’s decision will prepare him for life.

McCaffery said that many players want deals about playing time. He said that he offers no deals. Player must earn their playing time.

A caller suggested the coach communication through Twitter. McCaffery then told the story about a negative experience with the social networking site. Somebody was pretending to be the coach.

I hope McCaffery will continue his insight on the call-in show. This Iowa State Cyclone backer may want to tune in again simply for interesting conversation.

Wisconsin-TCU: An Interesting Match-Up

All the bowl pairings are set and let the discussion begin. Discussion is the only thing we have these days as the first bowl game is Dec. 18.

Yes, I was disappointed that someone didn’t defeat Oregon or Auburn so that another team such as TCU could have appeared in the national championship game. But the saying, “It is what it is” applies.

But of all the actual bowl pairings, I like the Wisconsin-TCU game the best. It should be a competitive contest.

Frankly, I haven’t watched much of the Horned Frogs. The Mountain West Conference doesn’t receive great exposure, so that is part of it. But being a non-BCS school brings a natural curiosity to this game. TCU will bring the offense, but will it be able to stop the Badger offense.

Wisconsin has been a scoring machine this season. The Badgers put up basketball numbers. And yet the Wisconsin plays old fashioned Big Ten football with emphasis on the run. It throws the ball too, but if the Horned Frogs don’t stop the run (or control it at least), forget about the victory.

I was in Madison (home of Wisconsin) last week. There is a real buzz about the Badgers Rose Bowl trip. People are making travel plans. Now Wisconsin actually has an opponent.

And I think a very good opponent. This promises to be a punch-in-the-gut game. You would think Wisconsin will provide the most punches. Will TCU respond and deliver a few of its own?

Stay tuned for the outcome on January 1.

Boise State: Thanks for the Ride

Boise State faced a realty check last night. The Broncos did lose a football game and with it their BCS hopes.

They dodged opponents and BCS haters for a long while this season. Boise was 10-0 but then Mr. L called.

But there is no shame in losing. Outstanding teams do loss. Boise didn’t lose to a cupcake in Nevada. The Pack is a mighty fine club.

America thanks you for the ride. It was fun cheering for you. You will be back. Excellent teams find a way for a return trip. You are an excellent team.

Our favorite underdog is reduced to TCU. The Horned Frogs carry the football for the non-BCS schools’ hopes now. It would be great if they could slide someway, somehow into that No. 2 BCS slot.

Right now, it looks like Oregon-Auburn for the title. But I think a final with TCU would add a little ice cream to the cake.

Alabama in a Spoiler Role

Alabama’s defense of its national championship is over.

The Tide’s loss to LSU last Saturday dropped them to 7-2. And with the defeat, all those national experts still in love with Alabama’s chances are suddenly silence.

The Tide is now officially yesterday’s champion.

What happened? That’s the old question begging answers but lacking. Was Alabama championship material this season? Did Nick Sabin’s boys pat themselves on the back too many times? Did they crumble being the hunted team? Is the SEC just too tough?

Alabama should still qualify for a nice bowl. But its biggest game now is the last one against the old rival Auburn. Alabama is square in the path of Auburn’s run to the national championship game. Alabama enjoys beating Auburn every year. But under the Tide’s circumstances, a victory this year would be sweeter than an Alabama peach.

Alabama’s pressure is over. Auburn’s pressure builds every game. If the Tigers remain undefeated going into the Alabama game, as broadcaster Keith Jackson used to say, “Oh Nellie.”

Alabama: Still in Title Talk?

The college football TV people still thinks Alabama has a shot at the national championship.

Really? Wow.

The Tide is ranked sixth in the BCS. TCU, Boise State, Utah and Auburn are all ahead of them for the second spot. TCU plays Utah this week, so one team will drop out. And Alabama has its annual showdown with Auburn at the regular season end, so it can make up ground there.

But Alabama still has the TCU/Utah winner and Boise State to leap frog. And this assumes the Tide remain undefeated in their remaining games. That won’t be easy.

Alabama travels to Baton Rouge this week to take on the 7-1 LSU Tigers. LSU has surprised some folks this season and it isn’t out of the question that it could pull out a win Saturday.

Still if Alabama makes it to the Auburn game with all its T’s crossed and I’s dotted, Auburn will make it difficult. Cam Newton and the Tigers will be ready.

So for all you Alabama supporters, go ahead and hope. If the Tide can survive all those landmines, they deserve it.

But I wouldn’t bet on it.

Paul Rhoads: Great Fit at Iowa State

Paul Rhoads is putting smiles on the faces of Iowa State football fans again.

To the outside world, a coaching record of 12-10 in your second season is no big deal. But to Cyclone fans, it is a cause for celebration.

Rhoads took over a program that had won five games in two years. The previous coach, Gene Chizik (now at Auburn), basically dumped the program and Iowa State.

Rhoads, who grew up down the road from Iowa State, was looking for work after Auburn fired him as defensive coordinator.

Rhoads biggest job was salesman. He had to sell recruits and fans that Iowa State could win again. Sales are one thing and doing it is another.

Rhoads knew it would be difficult. Iowa State is a difficult job. It’s hard to get top-notch recruits. Iowa State doesn’t normally compete for Big 12 titles. The Cyclones are usually near the bottom.

But Rhoads had been an assistant at Iowa State and actually told people he wanted to coach there.

Last season, Rhoads led the Cyclones to a 7-6 record including a signature win at Nebraska and a bowl victory over Minnesota. Fans were giddy.

This season, Iowa State has faced one of the toughest schedules in the nation. And things looked pretty bleak at one point after back-to-back poundings against Utah and Oklahoma. Then the Cyclones traveled to Austin, Texas and defeated the Longhorns for the first time ever.

So with a 5-4 record, Iowa State needs one more victory to become bowl eligible. The Cyclones would love to take care of that chore this week with another upset win against Nebraska.

With the tough schedule, it is amazing that Rhoads has his team in position for more bowling. It’s not difficult to understand why Iowa State fans really like this guy.

This is RAGBRAI Week in Iowa

The last week in July, bike riders from Iowa, the rest of the country and some foreign counties invade Iowa with their bicycles. This ride begins at the Missouri River in western Iowa and concludes at the Mississippi River in eastern Iowa.

From Sunday to Saturday, upwards of 20,000 bikers take part in the event that begin in 1972 when you two Des Moines Register writers rode their bikes across the state. RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Race Across Iowa) was born.

The route changes each year and covers more than 400 miles. Designated cities(they apply for the opportunity) across Iowa host riders every night. Even though it isn't a race, you better be in shape. This isn't like going out with your grandma and leisurely viewing the country side. You best be ready to grind out approximately 60-80 miles per day.

Riders are traveling the northern route this year so there is more interest in the event for people in my part of the state. Yesterday, there were a short 11 miles north of my town.

It is quite the site to see the sea of bikes and bikers. I talked to one biker yesterday with a Texas outfit. I asked him what his favorite college sports team was. Much to my surprise he said that he cheered for Iowa State. This Dallas, Texas guy grew up in Iowa.

I have friends from southern Missouri on the ride. So I went to see them Monday night. I saw a biker with a Florida State outfit and my friend saw an Auburn outfit.
Of course, there are plenty of Iowa Hawkeye gear too.

So college sports even show up in a biking event. I could have almost guessed that Texas guy was going to declare his love for the Texas Longhorns, ha. I guess I was wide right on that prediction.