Illinois lost at Michigan by 24 and Maryland went down at Florida State by 21.
No news there.
Then the Fighting Illini and Terrapins won their respective conferences–outright.
It was that kind of college football season: upside down.
Little was the same after Sept. 11. In an unprecedented move, the major-college conferences canceled or postponed their entire slates four days after the attacks on America. Tragedy had truncated the season, and when play resumed the games seemed somewhat less urgent.
But once the season finally began to roll, the unexpected became the norm.
Northwestern went from first to last in the Big Ten.
Penn State did not qualify for a bowl game, but a 5-6 North Texas team did.
Notre Dame, the paragon of sporting virtue, tried to hire the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, the home team of gang members everywhere. The Fighting Irish finally settled on one of their own–George O’Leary. Perhaps he one day will join the pantheon of Irish legends such as Knute O’Rockne, Ara O’Parseghian and Lou O’Holtz.
Like we said, everything was upside down.
More Top Picks Best Electric Coffee Pots
A series of late-season upsets provided weekly drama, and the race for the Rose Bowl went all the way to the final game. But when that game ended in yet another shocker–Louisiana State over Tennessee in the SEC title game–the Bowl Championship Series brought scorn and ridicule to the sport.
The BCS produced a national title match featuring unbeaten Miami against a team, Nebraska, that lost its last game by 26 points and failed to win the Big 12 North Division. A predictable furor ensued at Oregon and Colorado, ranked ahead of the Cornhuskers by human beings but not computers.
As charges and countercharges flew, college football began to resemble boxing, which also has an alphabet-soup process of determining champions.
Don’t be surprised if Don King shows up for the coin toss at the Rose Bowl. It would be the perfect ending to a perfectly bizarre season.
Best team: Miami.
Best athlete: Indiana’s Antwaan Randle El.
Best quarterback: Oregon’s Joey Harrington.
Best running back: Nebraska’s Eric Crouch.
Coach of the year: Maryland’s Ralph Friedgen, who guided a victory-starved team to a 10-1 record and an Atlantic Coast Conference title. The only question is why no one ever hired the 54-year-old Friedgen as a head coach before. Runner-up: Illinois’ Ron Turner. Here’s hoping he doesn’t tire of working at a basketball school.
Class Award: To Texas’ Major Applewhite, who didn’t complain when he was demoted behind Chris Simms, a first-team All-Pedigree quarterback. When Simms committed four turnovers in the first half of the Big 12 playoff against Colorado, Applewhite came off the bench to lead a Longhorns rally that fell just short. As a going-away present, Applewhite has been named the starter for his final college game in the Holiday Bowl. “We felt like right now he gives us the best chance to win against Washington,” coach Mack Brown said.
Best case for Hawaii to win the national title: The Warriors need Nebraska to beat Miami in the Rose Bowl. If that happens, the path to No. 1 is laid out for Hawaii: Nebraska lost to Colorado, which lost to Fresno State, which lost to Hawaii.
Best example of the vagaries of the NCAA enforcement system: UCLA running back DeShaun Foster drives a loaned SUV and is banished for the season. Ohio State quarterback Steve Bellisari drives under the influence and is back on the sideline after one game.
Rolex Award: To the Michigan State timer for his performance at the end of the Spartans’ 26-24 victory Nov. 3 over Michigan. The Wolverines thought time should have expired, but the clock stopped with 1 second to play, allowing the Spartans to score the winning touchdown.
Abacus Award: To Michigan, which had 12 men on the field late in the MSU game. The penalty helped the Spartans on their final scoring drive.
Al Gore Award for Voter Misconduct: Two days after Colorado ripped Nebraska, voters in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll ranked the Buffaloes behind the Cornhuskers. On Sunday, after both teams had been idle for the weekend, the coaches flip-flopped the Buffs and Huskers. If the Cornhuskers beat Miami and Colorado beats Oregon in the postseason, the coaches are contractually bound to flip-flop them again. The Rose Bowl winner must be No. 1 in their final poll.
Best career move: Nick Saban. Michigan State fans couldn’t seem to understand why Saban would leave lovely East Lansing. Now that he has led Louisiana State to the Southeastern Conference title and a Sugar Bowl berth, Saban is as popular as Huey Long. They’re calling him “C’est bon” in Baton Rouge. The Detroit Lions are holding on line one.
Worst career move: Greg Schiano. He jumped at the Rutgers job last off-season from Butch Davis’ Miami staff. Had Schiano waited a few weeks, he would have been first in line to succeed Davis in Coral Gables. “I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy row to hoe here, and it isn’t,” Schiano said.
Best play: Lining up in field-goal formation, Toledo placekicker Todd France took a direct handoff from the holder, bolted over right tackle and raced into the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown. Toledo had spotted Marshall a 23-0 lead, but France’s score gave the Rockets their first lead. They went on to post a 41-36 victory in the Mid-American Conference championship game.
Worst preseason No. 1: Sports Illustrated ranked Oregon State first. The Beavers went 5-6.
Worst prediction: The Tribune picked Illinois seventh in the Big Ten. “The Illini need to show more heart when things don’t go their way,” we wrote. Oops.
Mediocrity Award: To the State of Indiana. Notre Dame and Indiana each went 5-6 and fired their coaches. Purdue went 6-5 but lost to Notre Dame and Indiana.
Progress Award: To Georgia. The school last year fired Jim Donnan, who won eight games and tied for second place in the SEC Eastern Division, and replaced him with Mark Richt, who won eight games and tied for third place in the SEC Eastern Division.
Best moments: Tennessee quarterback Casey Clausen leading the Pride of the Southland Band in “Rocky Top” after the Volunteers’ 34-32 victory over Florida in The Swamp. . . . Penn State coach Joe Paterno breaking Bear Bryant’s all-time major-college victory mark. The news was greeted with some sadness in Tuscaloosa, but Crimson Tide followers don’t begrudge Paterno the record. “I think Alabama fans appreciate that he has done it with dignity and class,” said Taylor Watson, curator of the Paul W. Bryant Museum on the Alabama campus. “I’d rather it be Joe Paterno than Steve Spurrier. But I’m not putting down coach Spurrier.”
Worst record for an athletic director: Navy’s Chet Gladchuk, who left Houston in October to take over at the Naval Academy. His old school went 0-11 and his new school went 0-10.
Worst cancellation: Navy’s Sept. 15 date with Northwestern. The Middies missed a great opportunity to grab a victory.
Best bowl: Oregon vs. Colorado in the Fiesta.
Worst bowl: There are many worthy candidates for this award, but let’s give it to North Texas (5-6) vs. Colorado State (6-5) in the New Orleans Bowl, which is so named because founders failed to find a title sponsor. Honorable mention: The Alamo (7-4 Texas Tech vs. 6-5 Iowa) and the Tangerine (7-5 North Carolina State vs. 6-5 Pitt).
Worst legal strategy: Brigham Young officials threatened to sue the Bowl Championship Series conferences and ABC if they denied the Cougars an at-large berth. One week after reports of the threat circulated, Hawaii embarrassed the Cougars 72-45. If BYU still wants to sue, it should consider filing in small-claims court.
Game of the year: Tennessee 34, Florida 32 Dec. 1 in Gainesville. It was postponed from Sept. 15 after the terrorist attacks on the United States. Why not play this SEC Eastern Division showdown at the end of every season? Runner-up: Northwestern 27, Michigan State 26 on Sept. 29 in Evanston. The lead changed hands three times in the final 29 seconds.
STATS & STUFF
BY THE NUMBERS
+21
George O’Leary’s record at Georgia Tech was 34-13 with Ralph Friedgen as his offensive coordinator.
-2
O’Leary’s record at Georgia Tech was 18-20 without Friedgen as his offensive coordinator.
8
Touchdown passes by Hawaii’s Nick Rolovich in a 72-45 rout of Brigham Young on Saturday.
7
More Top Picks Best Sleep Earbuds For Side Sleepers With Sleep Apnea
Touchdown passes by Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch this season.
QUOTE, UNQUOTE
“O’Leary’s success was rewarded by Institute President Dr. G. Wayne Clough and Director of Athletics Dave Braine following the 2000 season with a new contract that will, in all likelihood, keep him at Georgia Tech for the remainder of his career.”
–From O’Leary’s bio in the 2001 Georgia Tech media guide.
CONTRACTION CONFERENCE
If contraction someday works out for Major League Baseball, maybe Division I-A football ought to think about it. A few obvious cutdown candidates:
Duke (0-11): Is this the price of slavish devotion to basketball?
Houston (0-11): City won’t miss the Cougars once the NFL expansion team kicks off.
Cal (1-10): Somewhere, Pappy Waldorf weeps.
Rutgers (2-9): Lost to Cal.
LOOKING AHEAD
It’s never too early to starting thinking about next year. A few of the prime non-conference games to watch in 2002:
Washington at Michigan
Aug. 31
The Huskies could be in the preseason Top 5 when they invade Ann Arbor for a rematch of one of this year’s better games.
Miami at Florida
Sept. 7
This Sunshine State brawl was supposed to take place in the Rose Bowl. But it will be every bit as nasty nine months later. The Gators and Hurricanes have split their first 50 meetings.
Nebraska at Penn State
Sept. 14
It’s eight years too late to settle the argument over which was really the No. 1 team in 1994–the unbeaten Cornhuskers or the unbeaten Nittany Lions.
Michigan at Notre Dame
Sept. 14
Aren’t you glad you took this job, George O’Leary?
Notre Dame at Florida State
Oct. 26
O’Leary may try to talk his bosses into dropping the Seminoles and adding South Florida. He was 0-7 against Florida State at Georgia Tech.
–Andrew Bagnato.