It was defense – or lack thereof – that did in Charlie Weis. It will take someone well versed in that less-appreciated aspect of college football to return Notre Dame to its winning tradition.
We’ve heard no end of potential suitors to replace Weis: Stoops, Meyer, Kelly and whoever [...]
Dadgummit.
After a dreadfully slow Monday night, I came home to check the UK basketball score only to notice a more important update. Bobby Bowden is expected to retire Tuesday morning. Honestly, I think my heart skipped a beat while reading those dreadful words.
Bowden met Monday with school officials and was [...]
In the wake of the recent coaching change, Notre Dame is going to have an important decision to make relative to this year’s bowl game.
Ordinarily, a 6-6 team wouldn’t need to worry about such things, but this is Notre Dame, after all.
It is expected that the team will have an [...]
It's official: Coach Bobby Bowden will end his 34 year head coaching career on December 1, 2009. It was inevitable that Coach Bowden would retire from Florida State University, but after the game against Florida this past weekend, there seemed to be a possibility that he would return for one [...]
Let's cut out all the wish-wash and euphemisms and get straight to the point.
Florida State fired Bobby Bowden Monday morning, sacked him, canned him, showed him the door. Pick your phrase. But please don't say Bobby Bowden retired.
Because Bobby Bowden did not retire, did not step down.. At' [...]
We finally made it. The improbable rematch to the best game from last year is here. Both teams are missing key pieces from last year. However, neither slipped up, and for the first time ever we have a battle of undefeateds in the SEC championship.
To put it bluntly, this game [...]
In case anyone forgot, the Wisconsin Badgers are playing football this weekend.
And, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few Badger fans did actually forget. Hockey? Yes. Basketball? Yes. Football in early December? Really?
Not only is the Wisconsin-Hawaii match-up overshadowed by the conference championships occurring that same afternoon, but' [...]
According to ESPN, Florida State Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden, one of the all-time legends of the game, is expected to retire after 33 years of coaching in Tallahassee.
With the recent struggles of the Seminoles and the inability to sustain success in recent years, it seems the game had passed Bowden [...]
When a coaching change comes, it’s hard not to look back (in this case, over five years) and wonder what might have been. In the case of Charlie Weis, I think it is especially apropos.
While I am sure the list I compiled is by no means all-encompassing, it’s a start:
2004 [...]
Another battle for the Commonwealth Cup, another victory for the Virginia Tech Hokies.
Tech used its dominating rushing attack to subdue arch-rival Virginia and ultimately ran away with the contest posting a 42-13 victory over the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, VA.
The game was, as many had speculated, the last of the Al [...]
I personally cannot remember a season that featured more ups and downs than the one that the Tennessee Vols and coach Lane Kiffin just completed.
Some might say '01 compared slightly. That's partially true. From the heartbreak of the last minute loss to Georgia to the ecstasy of defeating Florida in the' [...]
With a great deal of class, Marshall University head football coach, Mark Snyder, has resigned.
When will the school announce the hiring of Al Groh?
Though Groh was not as successful as he would have liked to have been, or the University of Virginia would have liked him to have been, he [...]
Since there is no clear-cut Getty Images picture of Arizona State linebacker Vontaze Burflict getting his LeGarrette Blount on, I'm using a stock image from the game instead.
According to Sports By Brooks (hat tip; click on the link for the video), Burflict punched Arizona long snapper Ricky Wolder in' [...]
Last week, I made my BCS bowl predictions. This week, myself and Michael Gartman (AKA: Sportscaster007) are going through each and every conference and predicting the bowl games using our knowledge of the BCS and his mad prediction skills.
Today, we start with the ACC and Big 10. Throughout the week [...]
The 2009 college football season started with three clear cut contenders for the Heisman Trophy. Those contenders were Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, and Colt McCoy.
In the first week of the season Sam Bradford was injured against BYU and his hopes to repeat as a Heisman winner were gone. To be [...]
I'm not on the fence on this one, but I am the fence because I think people on both sides are going to be ticked off at something I write in the next few inches.
We all know emotion runs high, especially when it comes to college football.
Most West' [...]
The biggest game of my life as a sports fan is Thursday. And as the clock creeps closer to kickoff with each minute ticking by, I am only getting more and more nervous.
Obviously, I can’t do anything to directly help Oregon increase of their chances of winning, so I will [...]
People make a lot of coaches, with terms like "legend" and "icon" being tossed out a bit loosely at times, but to see a man like Bobby Bowden step down reminds us of what these kinds of words mean. Bobby Bowden was a true legend in coaching, a real icon [...]
Word is in on the Bobby Bowden situation: Bowden has chosen to retire from the Florida State Seminoles on Tuesday .
The Tallahassee Democrat reported today that Bowden was given two options by Florida State president T.K. Wetherell and the FSU athletic department: return to the team in a limited [...]
It was another fun Saturday (and Friday, and Thursday for that matter) in college football, and as always I had my pad and pen in hand, writing down all the sights and sounds that needed documentation.
For those of you who might be reading my “20 Thoughts,” for the first time [...]
As other B/R writers have argued , Jimmy Clausen and Charlie Weis's fates have been inextricably intertwined since the beginning, and it ought to follow that Clausen will depart to the NFL a year early now that Weis is fired.
At first, I thought Clausen would maybe consider staying, considering' [...]
Our long national nightmare is over.
Okay, so maybe it's not Watergate, but Al Groh was officially fired Sunday, a mere 18 hours after another humiliating loss to Virginia Tech. Groh's exit to stage left after nine tumultuous years as coach of the Virginia Cavaliers was much like the man himself: [...]
With college football season coming to its most crucial point, it'd be easily to focus solely on everything taking place on the field. But remember for every touchdown scored and field goal kicked, there's a cheerleader behind it, whose endless enthusiasm and excitement made it happen. And this weekend coming' [...]
Converting the BCS to a playoff requires one to tread lightly, almost like walking on eggshells. Where you might win in one aspect, you'll lose in another.
Really, not all that different from the current setup.
The current BCS system is set up like this, according to the official BCS Web site:' [...]
It happens with every coaching change, and it happened when Dan Mullen arrived at Mississipppi State. Players left. Some of them were expected to be big contributors this season. But they all had one thing in common: None of them were seniors.
All 16 of the MSU seniors recognized prior to [...]
Charlie Weis has been fired from Notre Dame, Urban Meyer has re-dedicated himself to the University of Florida, and Bob Stoops has denied that he has any interest in becoming the next Notre Dame head coach.
While we wait for Brian Kelly's stunning announcement that he'll leave an undefeated, and BCS-bound' [...]
It's ACC Championship game week! It's Georgia Tech vs Clemson for the right to go the Orange Bowl. Both teams are coming off bitterly disappointing losses to their in state arch rivals. Georgia Tech lost 30-24 to the Georgia Bulldogs and the Clemson Tigers lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks [...]
The downtrodden USC Trojans and surprisingly upstart UCLA Bruins seemed to be headed in opposite directions before they faced each other on Saturday. Southern Cal had endured two of the most embarrassing losses in the history of the university to Oregon and Stanford in the previous three weeks.
Meanwhile, UCLA was [...]
Many college football fans around the country know defensive coordinator Will Muschamp for the all too recognizable sound clip making the rounds on YouTube, where he yells "Boom (expletive)" after a vicious hit made by one of his players.
While he may have not been aware that the ABC microphones were on [...]
I'm nervous. As a Gator fan that is. See, I've been around for awhile. Ever heard the Florida Gators referred to as the "Choking Gators?"
Unless you're over the age of 35, probably not. Heard of "Run, Lindsey Run!?" Again, probably not. But I have.
I've seen the other side of Florida [...]
To listen to the BYU Football Podcast, click here ( or download the podcast by right-clicking and selecting "Save link as...").
Here is an outline of what hosts Jake Stowell and Mark Welling talked about in this week's podcast.
A review of a nasty, dirty, grind-it-out, Holy War. Conservative play calling by [...]Charlie Weis is gone and now Notre Dame can look forward to the future.
Before we start to look for the future coach of America's biggest college football team (Kirk Herbstreit's pronouncement on College Gameday that Notre Dame was an 'irrelevant' program was absolute rubbish—do you hear us talking [...]
Every single year the same question comes up around Blacksburg—will Bud Foster finally leave Virginia Tech?
Foster has been a coach at Virginia Tech since 1987, and he took over the defensive coordinator job in 1995.
Throughout Foster's tenure, Virginia Tech has been one of the greatest defenses in the nation, year [...]
The Clemson Tigers came into this weekend's game against the South Carolina Gamecocks with confidence and a six-game winning streak.
But after being embarrassed by their arch rivals 34-17, the Tigers and their fans are looking for answers.
The Tigers were outplayed and out-coached by the Gamecocks.
Plain and simple, the Gamecocks were [...]
It was supposed to be a match made in heaven.
Charlie Weis was a big contributor to Super Bowl runs for the NFL’s New England Patriots, instructing quarterback Tom Brady on the intricacies of the professional game after Drew Bledsoe was knocked out of commission. He was one of Bill Belichick’s [...]
Local Legend Honored in Today's Syracuse vs. Northwestern Football Game
I recently had the privilege of speaking with Coach Richard "Dick" MacPherson of UMass, Syracuse, and New England Patriots' fame. Coach MacPherson is being honored at halftime of the Syracuse vs. Northwestern football game on Sept. 9, 2009, at Syracuse University.
The' [...]
Many of the more rabid Washington Huskies fans were upset with the losing streak going into the 102nd Apple Cup on Saturday.
In many ways there was a little too much optimistic feeling around the program after the win over USC. The core of the team was the same as the [...]
I’ll admit it. I had basically given up on Georgia Bulldogs football for 2009, conceded a loss to Georgia Tech, and was already looking forward to next season.
The Dawgs had lost to Kentucky at home and were playing on the road at No. 7 Georgia Tech—a team who had suffered [...]
So, Weis was officially fired today, immediately launching the media frenzy that will be the search for his replacement.
Within minutes of the announcement, I saw conflicting reports on the Internet regarding my favorite (Bob Stoops).
KTUL.com (Tulsa, OK) is reporting that the Irish and Bob Stoops have [...]
Looking back it all seems like a bad dream. Alabama had suffered through its most difficult period in over 50 years.
From 2000 to 2006 Alabama had four different head coaches and some of Alabama's players went through as many as three times that number in Coordinators and position coaches.
Alabama's rivals [...]
Tiger Woods is a 33 year old man among boys.
He has chosen 1979 West Virginia in which to fulfill his frustrated football fantasies because a) when you take off the flannel shirts and the Levis 505s and put those Mountaineer women in Donna Summer spandex, it's a good thing, and b) [...]
The past five years in South Bend have been bumpy, to say the least.
The first two years of the roller coaster ride led Charlie Weis and his team to two BCS bowls on the arm of Brady Quinn.
The past three years have been filled with disappointment, flashes of promise, and [...]
Multiple sources are reporting that Notre Dame has fired head coach Charlie Weis after five seasons.
There were rumors that Weis had cleared out his office prior to departing to Stanford to face the Cardinal on Saturday evening, and that Weis would not be recruiting on the West Coast following the [...]
With another eight win season and leading UCF to its third bowl game in five years, head coach George O’Leary seems to be, once again, off the hot seat and back for another year.
The media sees that statistic and assumes that fans and students are happy with O’Leary, that everyone [...]
Let me pose an interesting question to you:
What happens if this weekend's conference championship games shake up the BCS enough to necessitate a rematch between Alabama and Florida for the National Title Game?
This is how it could happen:
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Alabama manages to come back [...]
None of the comments matter until someone is actually fired.
There's a code of conduct among college football coaches. You don't express an interest, or a lack of interest, in a job that someone else still holds.
As of Monday morning, Charlie Weis is the head coach at Notre Dame, though only' [...]
Forty-eight hours.
That is all it took for Colt McCoy to take charge in the Heisman race.
The Texas quarterback, whom many felt was robbed in the voting a season ago, has been one of many names thrown out as possibilities to win college football's most distinguished award.
Perhaps never before had [...]
Looking a little deeper at the West Virginia win over ninth-ranked Pittsburgh is essential to understanding the current state of the Mountaineer football program.
Here are the good points
WVU is 8-3, and fans are disappointed. When I was in college back during the Paleolithic era in 1975, the Mounties were 8-3, [...]
I wrote an article earlier this year about why Notre Dame Wouldn't Win More than Eight Games . Some called me crazy. Here are some thoughts from those noble fans and how intelligent they really are:
"I won't debate you on ND's 2009 W-L record, but I'll bet you. You've got" [...]
Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis' failure was evident long ago. His lack of experience with the college game and as a head coach made him unable to anticipate future problems and incapable of implementing changes to correct them.
His list of shortcomings is long and condemning, but painfully' [...]
While you get back to normal after too much food and football, Professor Tom passes out these grades from last week's Big East play:
West Virginia (8-3, 4-2) 19, Pittsburgh (9-2, 5-1) 16:
That huge THUD you heard Friday night was Pitt falling on its face as Tyler Bitancourt's 43-yard field goal [...]
The first week of December provides the opportunity to watch numerous championship games while jockeying for bowl position continues at a high level.
Baby's Losers
1. The Civil War: Oregon State @ Oregon
There are some games that are always full of adventure, excitement, and surprises. The Civil War is one such game, [...]
Freshman defensive back Marcus Davis has been suspended indefinitely after being arrested in Pearland (approximately 15 miles South East of Houston) early Saturday morning.
Davis was pulled over around 6:45 AM as he was driving with a flat tire. He was then arrested for driving while intoxicated and for possession of [...]
For the fifth time in six seasons, the New Hampshire Wildcats advanced to the FCS Quarterfinals.
On Saturday, Nov. 28, the No. 10 Wildcats defeated the No. 8 McNeese State Cowboys, 49-13.
UNH quarterback R.J. Toman led the charge, completing 17-of-25 passes for 240 yards. He also threw three touchdown passes and [...]
There have been a myriad of articles and fan-posts stating the absolute impossibility of Nebraska beating Texas in the Big 12 championship game.
However, I'm forced to remind the so-called "realists" what that word actually means. A realist notices all possibilities. In fact, the very definition of a realist is: "One'" [...]
In the wee hours on Friday night (read: Saturday morning), I got a call from my buddy, Vice, who was vacationing in the Rocky Mountains. While my friends and I were celebrating a miserably close Iron Bowl victory in Auburn, Vice and company had watched the game at a little [...]
(Paul Johnson says great teams don't lose twice in a row. Time to find out if he's got a great team, then.)
Cometh the moment, cometh the man. And if that saying is true, then there are a lot of boys in the Georgia Tech locker room right now.
Gripe, Bee fans,' [...]
You know, I have some dubious plays from the players donning Green and White in Calgary, but even more of a head-scratcher is Rick Neuheisel deciding, "Okay, I am going to literally give up seven more points by calling a timeout when the fate of my UCLA Bruins is already" [...]
By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season
WASHINGTON, Pa.: If it were up to Cy Young voters to determine college football's Heisman Trophy winner, you'd probably be able to add Cincinnati's Tony Pike back to the list.
Pike, the popular midseason darkhorse, missed three full games and parts of two' [...]
The SEC is considered to be the best conference in college football.
They are even marketed by the media as some hybrid between the NFL and the rest of college football. And they really showed it against the ACC...again.
The ACC, on the other hand, thought they were going to take the [...]
Sometimes rivalry games bring out the best in teams and sometimes they bring out the worst in teams. The best was squarely in the SEC's corner this weekend with three wins over the ACC, two in upsets.
The day started off with South Carolina beating up on Clemson 34-17. [...]
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Following the school's 45-38 loss to Stanford Saturday night, Notre Dame president Father John I. Jenkins has asked head coach Charlie Weis to clean up his office immediately.
“While Weis had originally planned a recruiting trip of the West Coast for this week, we have decided it [...]
We’ve been waiting the entire length of the college football season for a huge upset, but haven’t gotten one.
For all the boredom that that brings to the college football scene, the week seven BCS standings finally point to a final weekend of the season that could be supremely [...]
The rankings are shaping up to be a mess after a week filled with chaos that can only be known as Rivalry Week!
In the BCS, Penn State jumped to the 11th spot, Pitt dropped to No. 15, USC drove past Stanford, and Oklahoma State stayed in front of Houston.
In the AP Poll, [...]
A handful of losses among last week’s top 12 have shaken things up in the BCS picture, and provided a few teams with added hope for a BCS bid.
A blowout loss to Oklahoma dropped the previously 12th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys down to No. 16, and out of the BCS picture [...]
So, Matt Barkley threw a pass. A 48 yard pass. Downfield. After kneeling the ball.
Sure, you can debate whether it was the right move. Honestly, I don’t care. Because this throw, and the aftermath, means so much more.
The Trojans are beginning to show some emotion. Actually, let’s go one better—the [...]
Let the Carousel Begin
Ok, so, officially it started a couple weeks ago with Western Kentucky and UNLV. With the addition of Louisville and Virginia the annual coaching carousel is picking up speed.
More and more coaches are will find themselves out of a job in the coming weeks and some may move [...]
USC played its crosstown rival UCLA for the 79th time last night. While the Trojans have had three disappointing losses already this season, losing to the Bruins would only make matters worse.
Fortunately for Trojan nation, that would not be the case. As rivalry games go, it was pretty dull.
Both teams [...]
The top of the BCS food chain may not have changed much this week, but the middle of the pack saw a few teams jockey for position.
Florida, Alabama and Texas all won, and retained their respective positions from last week.
TCU, Boise State and Cincinnati all remained undefeated this week, staking [...]
The three-headed monster of Tyler Sheehan, Freddie Barnes, and Willie Geter struck again, this time with the Toledo Rockets as its victim. Bowling Green advanced to 7-5 overall and 6-2 in conference with its 38-24 win over Toledo.
Tyler Sheehan had a quiet day in comparison to his usual output, only [...]
As we approach the final hour of Tim Tebow's fantastic college career, Gators fans can look back and remember the greatest four years in University of Florida football history. I say "can," but I really mean "are forced to."
Why? Because Tebow has entered the Favre zone.
The Favre zone is an [...]
Move over Oklahoma—Texas and the Red River Rivalry. Shift it Army—Navy, the annual December battle between two of our proud service academies.
And out of the way Notre Dame, widely thought to be USC's biggest rival.
The Trojans’ biggest rivalry is now with UCLA—and it is the [...]
10) Rice (2-10)
Houston scored 73 points on them, which is the highest team total for any team all season.
9) Maryland (2-10)
How did the Terrapins manage to beat Clemson?
8) San Jose State (2-9)
They got a win this week, better not do it again or they’ll find their way off this list.
Will you be one of the many diehard Knights fans who will join the team on the road for their bowl appearance?
For those of you that are, there are many exciting destinations where UCF might be headed this year, including New Orleans, Washington D.C. They could even have an opportunity [...]
The 2009 game against Georgia Tech marked the beginning of a new era for the Georgia Bulldogs.
Not because we beat Tech in Bobby Dodd stadium.
Not because we beat Georgia Tech.
Not because we will be the best football team in Georgia for the next twelve months.
And not because we put an end to Tech’s one [...]
1. Texas 12-0
The Big 12 Championship and a BCS title Game berth are on the line for the Longhorns this week.
Next: Nebraska
2. Florida 12-0
We’ve been waiting for this game all year, and so has The Crimson Tide.
Next: Alabama
3. Alabama 12-0
They travel to Atlanta with revenge on their minds, but will [...]
1. In His Blood
For all of the criticism Alex Zendejas got after the Oregon game, he made up for it against ASU.
Zendejas followed in his uncle Max's footsteps, hitting the game-winning field goal as time ran out to win the game for Arizona.
Max Zendejas [...]
Virginia's Al Groh and Louisville's Steve Kragthorpe will be looking for jobs after being fired by their respective schools this weekend following poor seasons.
While we kind of wish Kragthorpe had been given a little more time—Louisville only recently lost Bobby Petrino—Al Groh, on the other hand...
Every season, Virginia [...]
Well, here we are again and we all knew this was coming. Heck, I bet some of you bought your tickets to Atlanta last February.
Like a juggernaut Army, our football teams have laid waste to the SEC landscape, leaving crying children and jealous alumni wondering to their cars in the [...]
In a matter of 18 seconds at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, a pair of decisions were made by two coaches leading different programs seemingly heading in completely opposite directions.
His team trailing by three with 3:18 left in a game utterly void of defense, Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel took a [...]
The rivalry has been alive since the 1880s and Clemson has dominated the nine of the past 10 meetings at Williams Brice Stadium. Unfortunately, it looks like the Tigers forgot their purpose on Saturday.
This is the 107th time the two teams have faced each other and Clemson fans were definitely [...]
Take the title for what it is worth.
Honestly, I don't know why we are bothering to play the Big 12 title game next Saturday night.
The outcome is a foregone conclusion, regardless of what sort of chance Nebraska may or may not actually have on the playing field when they face' [...]
It was almost 2001 all over again, where a late season loss to the OSU Cowboys sent the Sooners to the Cotton Bowl, costing them and the conference millions in BCS bowl money.
In this year's version of bedlam, the twist is it was the Sooners playing the spoiler [...]
This season has certainly been a disappointment for the Demon Deacons, but at least Riley Skinner and the Deacs won their final game to end a season, career, and era on a positive note.
Faced with tough losses all year, Wake Forest could not catch a break anywhere. Five of their [...]
On Saturday, Notre Dame ended it's season with another last minute heartbreaker at Stanford. Although the game was exciting, the loss dropped the Irish to 6-6 for the regular season for the second straight year.
The difference is that this year expectations were so much higher than that. The team was [...]
The Miami Hurricanes pushed around the South Florida Bulls for 60 minutes on Saturday and beat them 31-10. The football game was more lopsided than the score indicated.
The Hurricanes (9-3) ran for 240 yards, rushed for 161 and held the home team Bulls to a total of 161 total yards. [...]
13 weeks in and there are still six undefeated teams.
Texas won a shootout over their rival, Texas A&M, on Thanksgiving night as Colt McCoy made a strong bid for the Heisman and will be taking on Nebraska, led by Ndamukong Suh.
Cincinnati beat Illinois in a Big East/Big 10 match-up on [...]
Across the SEC and the nation there continues to be talk that the Arkansas vs. LSU game is some sort of forced rivalry by the SEC. I heard it last year and I heard it again this week prior to the game, and funny enough I even heard it since [...]
This week featured some of the most compelling and most meaningful games of the season.
Oklahoma State's buckling at the Bedlam had by far the most dramatic impact on the final BCS destinations. The Cowboys lost 27-0 to the 6-5 Sooners. Hard to believe this team was actually one win away [...]
