News Nuggets, 11.09.04
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
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Compiled from staff reports
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Frogs hopping backwards from BCS territory
PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
11.08.04: C-USA
standings, scoreboard, schedule & TV ... Associated Press
college football poll ...
More... |
11.07.04: Roundup:
Bearcats shoot down Golden Eagles ... College football
weekend: stars & storylines ...
More... |
11.06.04: USM
poised to increase its dominance of C-USA ... Juggernaut
Utah team downplays distractions ...
More... |
11.05.04: Pirates
overpower Newberry in preseason warmup ... Cardinals gun
down Memphis in wild shootout ...
More... |
11.04.04: Pirates
poised to hit hardwood amidst news aplenty ... Primetime TV
preview: Louisville at Memphis ...
More... |
11.03.04: Primetime TV preview: South Florida at UAB ... Almond back
in the saddle for No. 21 Southern Miss ...
More... |
11.02.04: Army
game once again the charm for ECU honors ... No. 25 Miners
digging out of rut under Price ... Tar Heels savor first
victory over Top 5 opponent ...
More... |
11.01.04: C-USA
standings, scoreboard, schedule & TV ... Associated Press
college football poll ...
More... |
10.31.04: Games
of interest: Hurricanes stall in Chapel Hill ... College
football weekend: stars & storylines ...
More... |
10.30.04: ECU
shot-blocking wizard sidelined by thumb injury ... Utes tune
out Meyer speculation, BCS chatter ...
More... |
10.29.04: Football
grad rates keep Division I average from sinking ... Despite
miscues, Hokies handle Georgia Tech ...
More... |
10.28.04: CBS,
Fox poised to challenge ABC for BCS rights ... Injury
sidelines prolific Blue Devils newcomer ...
More... |
10.27.04: Coaches
predict Cards to dominate, Pirates to improve ... Seahawks
undergo management shuffle ...
More... |
10.26.04: Mountain
West outsider banging hard on BCS door ... Southern Miss
dominates league's weekly awards ...
More... |
10.25.04: C-USA
standings, scoreboard, schedule & TV ... Associated Press
college football poll ...
More... |
10.24.04: Bearcats
stagger heavily-favored Memphis ... College football
weekend: stars & storylines ...
More... |
10.23.04: Blue
Raiders go hip-hop to fill empty seats ... No. 15 Louisville
makes mince meat of Bulls ...
More... |
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FORT WORTH Texas Christian has gone
from trying to become the first outsider to bust into the Bowl Championship
Series to just hoping for a chance to play in the postseason.
Before Utah took over the banner for
teams from non-BCS conferences this season, the Horned Frogs were the ones
chasing the big-game dream. Now they're just a .500 team tied for fifth
place in Conference USA.
``It definitely is different. There was
a lot of hype last year,'' quarterback Brandon Hassell said. ``It was fun
being in the spotlight, being in the position of winning and having fun.
Now, we're not playing well and guys are stressed out.''
The Frogs won their first 10 games last
year and were as high as sixth in the BCS standings. They were the first
non-BCS team to reach the top six, which would have guaranteed them a spot
in one of the four major bowls had they been able to maintain that ranking.
Even though TCU didn't, dropping to No.
8 even before their loss at Southern Mississippi, that magical run helped
prompt pending changes in the BCS system. Those changes are designed to give
more access to teams for smaller conferences by the 2006 season probably
too late for Utah (9-0), which dropped from sixth to seventh in the new BCS
rankings Monday.
Before joining Utah in the Mountain
West Conference in 2005, the Frogs (4-4, 2-3 C-USA) will try to salvage what
they can from their final C-USA season.
``We have an opportunity at the end of
the season to show what TCU is really about and that's what's going on is
not really our character,'' offensive lineman Anthony Alabi said.
Since going 1-10 in 1997, LaDainian
Tomlinson's freshman season, TCU has been to six straight bowl games and had
three 10-win seasons.
``We're trying to win our last three
games so we get ourselves back into a bowl game and keep the streak alive,''
coach Gary Patterson said.
The Frogs play Wednesday night at No.
12 Louisville (6-1, 4-0). Their last two games are home against Southern
Miss and Tulane.
TCU managed consecutive wins this
season only in the first two games: 48-45 in double overtime over a
Northwestern, which missed five field goals, and 44-0 over an SMU team that
had a double-digit losing streak.
While Hassell (sprained ankle) and
fellow quarterback Tye Gunn (swollen knee) have traded snaps and starts
because of injury most of the season, the offense has still averaged 434
yards and 33 points a game.
But the defense has been
uncharacteristically bad, allowing 425 yards (94th nationally) and 34 points
(99th) a game. TCU has had top-notch defenses under Patterson, who arrived
as defensive coordinator in 1998 and replaced Dennis Franchione as head
coach after three seasons.
``It's one thing to be doing bad if
you're not winning but playing well defensively,'' Patterson said. ``For me,
it's frustrating because you're trying to grow people up. ... I knew this
was going to be a challenge. I was hoping it would be a little bit better at
this point.''
TCU returned just four defensive
starters from last season, and has just three first-team seniors. Five teams
have gained at least 400 yards, including Northwestern's 637 in the opener,
and four have at least 44 points, with Texas Tech winning 70-35.
Louisville leads the nation with 520
total yards a game, but is 0-3 against TCU. The Cardinals were already C-USA
champs and ranked 17th in 2001 when TCU beat them to keep its bowl hopes
alive.
Now the Frogs will try to do it again.
``It's never fun when you're losing,
and it's something we don't want to get used to,'' Hassell said. ``We want
to go out and just leave this team the way it was when we came in,
winning.''
Utah slips in BCS poll despite
latest big win
BCS
RANKINGS
Rank / Team / (Record)
1. Southern Cal (9-0)
2. Oklahoma (9-0)
3. Auburn (9-0)
4. California (7-1)
5. Wisconsin (9-0)
6. Texas (8-1)
7. Utah (9-0)
8. Georgia (8-1)
9. Michigan (8-1)
10. Boise State (8-0)
11. Virginia (7-1)
12. Florida State (7-2)
13. West Virginia (8-1)
14. Louisville (6-1)
15. Tennessee (7-2)
16. Arizona State (7-2)
17. Miami (FL) (6-2)
18. Virginia Tech (7-2)
19. Louisiana State (6-2)
20. Iowa (7-2)
21. Texas A&M (6-3)
22. Oklahoma State (6-3)
23. Boston College (6-2)
24. Texas-El Paso (6-2)
25. Notre Dame (6-3)
Note: Bold
denotes team from a conference without an assured BCS
bowl berth. |
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A perfect record probably isn't going
to be enough to get Utah into the Bowl Championship Series.
The unbeaten Utes slipped one spot to
seventh in the BCS standings Monday, a drop that could cost them a berth in
one of the four big-money bowl games.
The top five in the BCS stayed the same
with Southern California, Oklahoma and Auburn leading the way, followed by
California and Wisconsin.
The top two teams in the final
standings will play in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 4 for the BCS national title.
Utah is trying to become the first team
from a non-BCS conference (Mountain West) to play in a BCS game. The Utes
can guarantee a spot in what probably would be the Fiesta Bowl which
delivers a payout of about $14 million by finishing in the top six. A
top-12 finish makes the Utes eligible for consideration, but guarantees
nothing.
Texas jumped over Utah this week into
sixth place.
Just like two weeks ago when Utah moved
up to sixth, Utes coach Urban Meyer found out from his wife that the team
had dropped.
``She had a little reaction. I won't
use the language she did,'' he said. ``In three weeks we'll have a reaction.
There's too much football to be played yet.''
Meyer tried to be diplomatic, but asked
if the BCS system should be changed, he said. ``... Is the sky blue?
Absolutely. And it will happen. Logical thinking will eventually take
over.''
Texas' 56-35 comeback victory over
Oklahoma State on Saturday boosted its BCS grade to .7904.
The Utes aren't getting enough bounce
in the polls and computer rankings out of their lopsided victories over
conference opponents. Their grade (.7511) went up slightly after a 63-31 win
over Colorado State.
Utah maintained its positions in both
The Associated Press Top 25 (seventh) and coaches poll (eighth) this week,
but the Utes dropped in the computer rankings from sixth to eighth, while
the Longhorns moved up to No. 5 in that category.
Utah finishes its season with games at
Wyoming on Saturday and at home against Brigham Young the following week.
Two wins would ensure a second straight MWC title. The league champ gets a
Liberty Bowl berth, which pays $1.35 million.
But how the races play out in the Big
12, Pac-10, Southeastern Conference and Big Ten will have as much to do with
where the Utes play in the postseason as their own games.
And with Georgia and Michigan right
behind Utah, the Utes may be in danger of getting caught again.
``I still think there's a lot of
football to be played in the next two weeks,'' quarterback Alex Smith said.
``Especially for some of those conferences. They all have conference
championship games. I still think some things are going to take care of
themselves. If we win out, I don't think there will be a worry if we're
going to get in the top six or not.''
The AP media poll and ESPN/USA Today
poll each account for one-third of a team's BCS grade. A compilation of six
computer rankings make up the other third.
Texas is ahead of Utah in both polls,
sixth in the AP and seventh in the coaches.
Despite being one of the winningest
teams in the country in recent years, the Longhorns have never reached the
BCS, which was created in 1998 and includes the Sugar, Rose, Orange and
Fiesta bowls.
Last season Texas was in line to grab
one of the BCS's two at-large bids when Kansas State knocked off Oklahoma in
the Big 12 championship game. That gave the Wildcats the automatic berth as
league champ and made the Sooners an at-large team playing for the national
title.
For Texas, it was back to the Holiday
Bowl for the third time since 2000.
Recent disappointments tempered
Monday's good news in Austin.
``We've been there before,'' Texas
coach Mack Brown said. ``We were five last year and didn't go. You'd better
just keep winning.''
Utah is one of six unbeaten teams in
Division I-A, along with USC, Oklahoma, Auburn, Wisconsin and Boise State.
The Sooners increased their lead on the
idle Tigers, by moving into the No. 1 spot in the computer rankings.
Southern Cal, No. 1 in both polls and
second in the computer rankings, has a grade of .9847. Oklahoma's is .9664,
and Auburn's is .9097. The Tigers are third in each poll and according to
the computers.
News Nuggets are
compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members, data
published by ECU, Conference USA and its member
schools, and reports from Associated Press and
other sources. Copyright 2004
Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be
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