Catch Bonesville's exclusive
weekly Internet radio program, BONESVILLE HUDDLE, featuring insightful
give-and-take between columnists Al Myatt, Brian Bailey
and Denny O'Brien. (Posted in Windows Media Format on
Wednesday of each game week for streaming on demand.)
As the Conference USA football race heads towards the momentous games of
November, no one has been able to break away from the pack and keep a hold
of its spot as king of the mountain.
The coaches’ preseason poll in July listed Louisville first, Southern
Miss second, East Carolina third and Texas Christian fourth. Add UAB — the
seventh pick — to that list and you have the five teams with just one league
loss going into the second week of November.
Louisville has been up and down more than Kobe Bryant on a pogo stick.
The Cardinals are seeking a third straight league title but stumbled out of
the gate like a weak-legged colt at nearby Churchill Downs.
Louisville lost to rival Kentucky and Colorado State in its first three
games, and comments after those non-conference losses about voids on the
offensive front were prevalent. Dave Ragone lacked pass protection and the
Cards couldn’t run the ball.
Then the Cards put it together on a rainy Thursday night in the bluegrass
and knocked off Florida State 26-20 in overtime. It was the type of
non-conference win that C-USA coaches talk about as far as bringing
credibility to the league.
Then Louisville struggled at Memphis before winning 38-32.
Meanwhile, Southern Miss made a run to the top of the league standings.
The Golden Eagles beat Illinois early and then lost out-of-league games to
Alabama and South Florida. They won at home over Cincinnati to get to 3-0 in
league play going into an ESPN 2 game at TCU last Wednesday night.
The Eagles were poised to take a big step in a return to the C-USA
penthouse but they didn’t just lose to the Horned Frogs, they were hammered,
37-7.
TCU, which had lost the first league game of the season on Labor Day at
Cincinnati (36-29 in overtime), has recovered to reel off seven straight
wins. The Frogs went into Louisville with freshman quarterback Tye Gunn,
took a huge lead and smoked the Cards, 45-31.
Gunn hurt a knee against Southern Miss and may be lost for the season,
which only adds a little more uncertainty to the league race. TCU (4-1),
Southern Miss (3-1), Louisville (3-1), UAB (2-1) and East Carolina (2-1)
remain in the thick of the hunt for the league title and that coveted 3:30
p.m. kickoff on Dec. 31 in the Liberty Bowl.
“I think that’s indicative of what’s really taken place in this league,
almost from its inception,” said ECU coach Steve Logan. “From top to bottom
there’s just not a lot of difference. There’s two or three teams that find
themselves each year in a rebuild mode and they kind of have a hard time
making a run at it.
“Really, there’s anywhere from six to seven teams each year that can rise
up and be a very significant player in a conference race. That’s kind of a
result of most of the schools in this conference developing players as
opposed to going out and signing finished products.
“It depends on how fast or how slow those guys are going to develop and
you never know. You might all of a sudden end up with an NFL guy that nobody
thought was going to be an NFL player. So that’s what kind of happens inside
the league.”
Heading for Houston
The Pirates return to league play following an open date with a 3 p.m.
start on Saturday at Houston (WITN-TV 7). After an 0-11 season in 2001, the
Cougars are showing considerably more life lately.
Interestingly, third-year Houston coach Dana Dimel played defensive
tackle for Hutchinson Junior College in Kansas when Logan was head coach
there.
The Cougars are 4-4 overall and 2-3 in C-USA after a 26-21 win over
Memphis on Saturday as Joffrey Reynolds ran for 122 yards and Nick Eddy
threw for two scores.
“They’ve got a great recruiting area down there,” Logan said of Houston.
“The University of Houston is a good job from the standpoint that they have
great tradition and stuff like that, but here again, they’re running into
some dynamics down there. Number one, their fan base has really eroded. I’ve
said this a million times, I don’t know how you have football with no fans.
“Eventually somebody has got to buy a ticket. I think they’re dealing
with some things like that.”
The Cougars averaged 15,244 fans for their four home C-USA games last
season. There were 14,221 for ECU’s 19-3 win in 1999. That was the announced
crowd but there didn’t appear to be that many actual fans in the seats.
“Dana was asked to come in an literally clean up a program,” Logan said.
“He has done that. He’s got a much better caliber of person on the team now
and he’s starting to reap some benefits now in his third year. He’s gone
through some real tough times and they’re a better football team than they
were three years ago.”
The last meeting between ECU and Houston was a 62-20 Pirates win in
Greenville in 2000. But the Cougars will no doubt look at ECU’s 2-5 overall
record and figure they have a shot at victory this week.
“We’ve got to get on the plane and find a way to play the football game,”
Logan said. “We’ve got our own set of problems. Everybody needs to win every
game so. He (Dimel) is doing a good job but we need to find a way to get a
victory.”
Carolinas
The dream of a perfect season for N.C. State came to an end on Saturday
with a 24-17 loss to an inspired Georgia Tech team. North Carolina has
looked terribly inept in its last five halves of football, getting outscored
127-13 in that span. That performance has dropped the Tar Heels into the
basement of this week’s poll.
N.C. State ... Wolfpack still on top despite first loss of season to
Georgia Tech.
Clemson ... Freshman quarterback Charlie Whitehurst leads a Tigers
rally at Duke.
South Carolina ... Gamecocks lose for the tenth straight time to
Tennessee.
Wake Forest ... Deacons can’t hold two touchdown leads against Florida
State.
East Carolina ... Idle Pirates the only Division I-A team in North
Carolina not to lose.
Duke ... Blue Devils let opportunity for upset slip away against
Clemson.
North Carolina ... Tar Heels have been struggling mightily since
second half at Virginia.
SNAPSHOTS AROUND THE CAROLINAS
N.C.
STATE (9-1, 4-1 ACC)
State managed just 57 yards rushing and had three turnovers in a 24-17
loss to Georgia Tech. The Pack was also 4 of 13 on third down conversions
and 0 for 2 on fourth down. State's hopes for a BCS bowl berth hinge on this
week’s noon game on Saturday at Maryland.
CLEMSON (5-4, 3-3 ACC)
The Tigers overcame a 24-10 deficit at Duke in the last 10 minutes as
freshman Charlie Whitehurst completed 34 of 52 passes for a whopping 420
yards. Whitehurst threw for four touchdowns, including three in the last
10:14. The Tigers visit UNC at noon on Saturday.
SOUTH CAROLINA (5-4, 3-3 SEC)
Coming off an open date, the Gamecocks trailed 12-10 when Tennessee
quarterback Casey Clausen drove the Volunteers on a 17-play drive that
pushed the lead to its final 18-10 margin. Next up for Coach Lou Holtz’s
club is a home date with Arkansas on Saturday.
WAKE FOREST (5-5, 3-4 ACC)
The Deacons jumped out to leads of 14-0 and 21-7 over Florida State but a
combination of FSU quarterback Adrian McPherson and Wake’s mistakes helped
the Seminoles to a 34-21 win. The Deacons have two weeks off before hosting
Navy on Nov. 23.
EAST CAROLINA (2-5, 2-1 C-USA)
The Pirates may get senior outside linebacker John Williamson back this
week. They’ve had an open date since their 44-20 loss at Louisville and will
try to get back on track at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Houston.
DUKE (2-8, 0-6 ACC)
The Blue Devils were poised to snap their ACC losing streak before
Clemson came back with 24 points in the fourth quarter. That extended the
league loss skein to 23 games. Duke has an open date before playing at
Georgia Tech on Nov. 16.
NORTH CAROLINA (2-7, 0-5 ACC)
Maryland handed the Tar Heels a 59-7 loss on Saturday for UNC’s biggest
losing margin ever in Chapel Hill. The Terps totaled 588 yards of offense as
UNC fell to 0-5 at home this season going into a noon home game with Clemson
on Saturday.
