The Other Fifteen

Watching Nebraska’s recent struggles on offense, I couldn’t help but think about their old option teams that used to steamroll everyone in their path, and even rattled off a few national championships. Those games were fun to watch (unless you were cheering for their opponent that day), and it never ceased to amaze me how many different ways they could break off a big play.

Those days are over, obviously, culminating in Nebraska’s disastrous 9-7 loss – at home – to Iowa State a couple weeks ago. That’s right. Iowa. State.

Anyway, Nebraska had every opportunity to recapture that offensive glory by hiring Paul Johnson as their coach, but chose to go in a more conventional direction. Did they make the right call? Have other teams whiffed on their coaching hires? Let’s take a look, shall we?

Nebraska
Who the could’ve hired: Paul Johnson
Who they hired instead: Bo Pelini

Paul Johnson is the mastermind behind the triple-option offense, and before moving over to Georgia Tech, he managed to make Navy (Navy!) an offensive force. Georgia Tech decided to roll the dice on his “gimmicky” offense, and currently sits at #10 in the BCS standings with an 8-1 record.

Nebraska, meanwhile, decided to focus on the other side of their storied tradition, and brought in former Nebraska defensive coordinator Bo Pelini to revive the feared blackshirt defense. And their defense is good (ninth nationally). However, they’ve got an offense that’s averaging a paltry 368 yards per game, good for eighty third in the nation. They’re 5-3.

Miami

Who they could’ve hired: Mike Leach
Who they hired instead: Randy Shannon

As a diehard Texas Tech fan, it pains me to imagine our loveable pirate anywhere but Lubbock. But the Hurricanes would’ve been deadly with Mike Leach’s offense and Miami’s speed.

In a segment on Leach for 60 Minutes, CBS correspondent (and Texas Tech alum!) Scott Pelley spoke to Michael Lewis, author of Money Ball and this piece on Leach for the New York Times Magazine. He asked, “What would you say someone who says ‘This is all well and good but he’s never won the conference championship, let alone a national championship?’”

Lewis responded, “I’d say first, he’s young. Just wait. I’d say also, God help you if he gets hold of the sort of athletes they get at Texas or Oklahoma or USC. Nobody else will stand a chance.”

Miami chose Shannon instead (much to the dismay of Donald Trump), and while they are 6-2 and ranked #16 in the current BCS, you can’t help but wonder what might have been.

Notre Dame

Who they could’ve hired: Urban Meyer
Who they hired instead: Charlie Weis

When Notre Dame fired Ty Willingham, it was clear who they had in their sights. Urban Meyer was a Midwestern guy who called Notre Dame his dream job (he coached their wide receivers from 1996-2000). He’d just finished an undefeated season and Utah and it was clear he was ripe for the plucking. Then he did something the Irish didn’t see coming – he took the job at Florida. It was a genius move on his part. Florida already had the pieces in place for his offense and could be competitive right away (evident by the fact that they won the national championship in his second year). Notre Dame would’ve been a rebuilding project. They were too slow, too Big Ten-ish, too conservative. Could he have turned them around? Probably. Would he have two championship rings today? Who can say, but personally, I doubt it.

When Meyer jumped to Florida, Notre Dame searched frantically for a suitable second candidate, eventually landing on the lumpy, nerdy, off-putting Mrs. Charlie Weis. They started strong, causing the officials at Notre Dame to stupidly offer Weis a ten-year extension. Still, the biggest wins of his career thus far have been two moral victories against USC. Would that have happened with Meyer? Again, I doubt it.

Florida’s record under Meyer (2005-present): 52-9 (3 bowl wins, 2 national championships)
Notre Dame’s record under Weis (2005-present): 35-23 (one bowl win over powerhouse Hawaii)

Let’s get to some picks, shall we? Last week: 12-6

ACC

#22 Virginia Tech (6-3) at East Carolina (5-4)
Oops. A day late on this one. Virginia Tech beat East Carolina 16-3 last night. Umm…nice work, Hokies?

Virginia (3-5) at #16 Miami (6-2)
Virginia continues to be terrible. The Leach-free Hurricanes continue to be decent. Miami rolls.

Maryland (2-6) at NC State (3-5)
Maryland continues to be terrible. NC State continues to be maddeningly mediocre. I’ll take NC State.

Wake Forest (4-5) at #10 Georgia Tech (8-1)
This has been a disappointing year for Wake who almost became an ACC power. Georgia Tech wins this one.

Duke (5-3) at North Carolina (5-3)
Ah, the classic rivalry! Duke and Carolina. So much history. So much bad blood. Yes, I know. That only applies to the basketball programs. Still, I think UNC will derive a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction from taking the air out of Duke’s tires this weekend.

Florida State (4-4) at Clemson (5-3)
Hell, I don’t know. One team that has been inconsistent all season long (Florida State) playing the poster child for inconsistency (Clemson). I guess I’ll take Clemson, but only because they’re at home.

SEC

South Carolina (6-3) at Arkansas (4-4)
I know, I know. I say this every week, but I’m gonna say it again. Arkansas is better than their record. I’ll take the Razorbacks at home.

Eastern Kentucky (5-3) at Kentucky (4-4)
I finally give Kentucky a little credit and pick them to win last week. So naturally they went out and lost to Mississippi State. Thanks guys. I’ll take Kentucky to win, but I don’t want to.

Tennessee Tech (5-3) at Georgia (4-4)
Wow, what a disappointing season in Georgia. Still, they should be able to handle Tennessee Tech.

Furman (4-4) at Auburn (6-3)
Great mid-season non-conference match-ups, SEC! Eastern Kentucky? Tennessee Tech? Furman?! Is there not a single game in the SEC this week worth watching?!

#9 LSU (7-1) at #3 Alabama (8-0)
Oh right. This one. I’ve gone both ways on this game. On the one hand, Alabama is at home and their defense is tough and they’ve got Ingram in the backfield and LSU’s offense is suspect. On the other hand, LSU’s defense is just as tough, they’ve got Scott in the backfield and Alabama’s offense is one-dimensional. I just don’t know. I’ll take Bama at home, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see LSU eek out a low scoring win.

Memphis (2-6) at Tennessee (4-4)
DeAngelo Williams, where have you gone? Tennessee in a blowout.

Vanderbilt (2-7) at #1 Florida (8-0)
Jay Cutler, where have you gone? Florida in a laugher.

Northern Arizona (5-3) at Ole Miss (5-3)
Eli Manning, where have you gone?! Er…actually, I like Ole Miss to win this game.

Pac-10

#7 Oregon (7-1) at Stanford (5-3)
Oregon is coming off a huge win over USC. Stanford is unbeaten at home. This has “letdown” written all over it. I’ll take Stanford in my Guaranteed (non-binding) Upset Lock of the Week!

Washington State (1-7) at #21 Arizona (5-2)
I plan to pick Washington State to lose every game for the rest of the year. Just so you know.

Washington (3-5) at UCLA (3-5)
I haven’t picked UCLA to win in quite some time. And to be honest, I think I’ve been right every time. Sorry, Bruins. I can’t do it. Washington wins.

Oregon State (5-3) at #23 Cal (6-2)
I think Oregon State could win this game if it were in Corvalis. But it’s not. Cal wins.

#12 USC at Arizona State (4-4)
USC is probably pretty upset after losing last week. You might think they’d come out and score 80 points against Arizona State. Personally, I think this will go the other way. USC wins, but not by much.

Big XII South Game of the Week

#20 Oklahoma (5-3) at Nebraska (5-3)
Pretty slim pickins in the Big 12 South this weekend. What are my other options here? Baylor vs. Mizzou? Texas A&M vs. Colorado? Yuck. There isn’t a single game that even matches up two Big 12 South teams! At least I don’t have to pick another UT game. And to be fair, the Oklahoma/Nebraska rivalry used to be huge when these two teams played in the Big 8. Not that that has any effect on this game. The Oklahoma defense will come up big. Sooners roll.