Notre Dame is one win away from bowl eligibility.
Compare that with last season's across-the-board, worst-ever season. We're talking progress. Big time. This group still isn't out of Cotton Bowl consideration, for gosh sakes.
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| Hey, nobody forced the Rev. John Jenkins and his former AD to give Charlie Weis an absurdly early 10-year contract. (US Presswire) |
ND's offense is averaging 133 yards more per game than it did in 2007. Sure, you're saying it has to be better, considering the Irish were dead last in total offense last season. Still, improvement is improvement. Notre Dame's has been significant. The offense is up to No. 50 nationally.
Scoring is up, too -- it's 48 percent better -- from 16.42 points per game to 24.33.
Notre Dame is also in a must-win situation. Against Navy, of all teams, a squad it has beaten in 43 of the past 44 meetings. That is, if you believe the pundits who have descended upon the Irish program this week like Texas Tech students rushing the field. The difference is, the pundits have fangs.
A lot of Notre Dame fans are gathering behind them. After 46 games, they're ready to dump Charlie Weis. AD Jack Swarbrick somehow got roped into having to issue the dreaded vote of confidence this week. A year after defeating the Irish for the first time in 44 years, somehow the Midshipmen hold Weis' fate in their tricky, triple-option hands.
Notre Dame football has sunk that low -- except it hasn't. The same mob that shamefully forced Tyrone Willingham out before the end of his contract is ready to do the same to Weis.
Sure, Weis makes it a lot easier to pull the trigger early again. For one, the seal has been broken. ND no longer has the moral and ethical upper hand on everyone else when it comes to firing coaches.
Also, Weis is cocky and largely hasn't delivered. His team is 1-15 in its past 16 games against opponents with winning records.
"I'd be perturbed too," Weis said. "You sit there and say, 'Why aren't we better than that?'"
Notre Dame lost 17-0 to Boston College last Saturday. It was a horrible result. Jimmy Clausen tossed four interceptions. The offense reverted to 2007 form.
It's never good for job security when an Associated Press story begins "Amid growing fan discontent ..."
But Notre Dame owes Weis the rest of his fourth season and a fifth and maybe a sixth. The school partially created this situation when it signed the coach -- after all of seven games -- to a 10-year contract in 2005. There are seven years to run on that sucker and it reportedly has a $20 million buyout.
Remember, all that was earned after seven games. This is on the school president, the Rev. John Jenkins, and former AD Kevin White as much as it is Weis.
As long as the coach hasn't embarrassed the university and there is hope, let this thing play out. And there is hope. Weis is piling up recruiting classes. We still haven't seen the full Clausen yet.
Yes, WWL knows. We might never see those classes and Clausen develop. But let's stop the virus right there. An astounding five coaches have been fired/resigned already in the middle of this season. Nervous ADs didn't have the class or patience to wait until the end of the season.
Notre Dame is better than that. There are loads of examples of programs that stuck with a failing coach one more season and prospered. Colorado with Bill McCartney and Missouri with Gary Pinkel come to mind.
It has been 20 years since the last national championship, 14 since the last bowl win. The Notre Dame athletic administration hasn't had a solid plan for football since Lou Holtz left.
It's one win away from a good place to start. A bowl game.
Scouting the Nation
Where's the tiara? Until the ice breaks in the jammed-up Big 12 South, Texas has to feel like the first runner-up in the Miss America pageant: There to serve in case the winner cannot fulfill her duties.
The Longhorns go to Kansas knowing nothing is likely to really shake out until next week's Texas Tech-Oklahoma game. They still need a Texas Tech loss for the conversation to move along.
Texas is third in the BCS, the highest-ranked one-loss team, but for how long? Florida (vs. South Carolina) is fourth, only .0158 of a point behind.
If Texas is passed by the Gators -- or even idle Oklahoma -- on Sunday, look out. Hell hath no fury like a Longhorn scorned.
They don't call him Sly for nothing: No. 1 Alabama hasn't scored an offensive touchdown against Mississippi State since 2004, losing the past two to the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom is 2-2 against his alma mater, 18-34 against everyone else.
Back home and confused: Steve Spurrier is back in The Swamp, where he played, coached and prospered. His South Carolina quarterbacks will have their heads spinning on Saturday.
Spurrier plans to rotate his QBs on almost every play, a practice he first used in the late 1990s while coaching the Gators. The OBC hasn't beaten his alma mater since 2005; that includes a one-point loss to the eventual national champs in 2006.
"If Ole Miss can beat 'em (Florida), we've got to believe we've got a chance to go in there and beat 'em," Spurrier said.
The ultimate bond: When the Stewart brothers -- Michigan's Charles and Northwestern's Sidney -- face off against each other in Ann Arbor it will go way beyond sibling rivalry.
Charles is a senior defensive back. Sidney is a sophomore receiver.
"This one is for bragging rights for the rest of our lives," Charles said. "If he catches the ball, he's just No. 5 in purple and I'm going to try to take his head off."
Seven years ago it was a good thing Charles went after Sidney's head. Their home was on fire and Sidney rushed in to help his father, who was battling the blaze. A fireball hit Sidney, who literally ran down the street with his hair on fire.
Charles tackled his brother and put out the flames with his bare hands. Sidney was covered with massive burns and had to go through extensive surgeries to get to this point.
"When something like that happens, it puts things into perspective," Charles said. "It's not worth arguing about petty things. There was a lot of pain in my family and I wasn't able to sleep around that time because I would wake up at night covered in sweat. We got through it and we're all stronger now."
Forget the Huskies, they're now melon collies: Rick Neuheisel returns to Washington and that's sad. The program the current UCLA coach resurrected (and then let slide) is winless. Any invective has been spent on Ty Willingham, who is playing out the string.
There's nothing to hate anymore.
Jarrett Lee, thy name is "Pick": Now that the damage is done, expect to see a lot more of LSU freshman Jordan Jefferson this week against Troy.
Les Miles basically admitted this week that it was wrong to keep calling passes for quarterback Jarrett Lee, who had one of the season's worst overall offensive performances against Alabama.
Lee has thrown 14 interceptions this season. Six have been returned for touchdowns. It's hard to believe this kid rallied in the second half to lead the Tigers over Auburn. He is averaging a pick every 16 throws.
Mountain West Force: Air Force's Troy Calhoun can polish his résumé with a season-ending run that begins Saturday against BYU.
The Falcons, 8-2 and off to their best start in 10 years, are hoping to keep their coach. Calhoun, in his second season, has been mentioned for the openings at Washington and Clemson.
"We don't have a guy, we don't have a guru, we don't have a superstar, we don't have a sensational, all-world candidate," Calhoun said of the Falcons. "We're a team school."
The $5,000 deflection: Kansas' Mark Mangino admitted this summer that his epic rant following the Texas game four years ago was planned.
Kansas lost 27-23 in a game that kept Texas alive for the first of consecutive Rose Bowl appearances. The game turned on a questionable pass interference penalty against defensive back Charles Gordon.
"You know what this is all about, don't you," Mangino said at the time. "That's right, BCS. ... That's what made a difference in the call in front of their bench, dollar signs."
Mangino was quickly fined $5,000 by the Big 12. His comments quickly became fodder for wacky FM morning shows.
"It was to save the team," Mangino said at a National Football Foundation forum in May. "Kansas hadn't had a winning program for many years, we were trying to get on our feet. We were getting close but just couldn't get it over the hump. So I took the bullet for it."
Over the line: Just updating that 41½-point spread that Stanford covered last season against Southern California.
If the Trojans cough one up again Saturday in Palo Alto, they will be comfortable in the knowledge that the Cardinal are only 23-point underdogs this time.
Speaking of incomprehensible losses: USC's September loss to Oregon State grows in significance by the day.
The Trojans' defense has been scary good -- except for that game.
• In the seven games since the Oregon State loss, the D has allowed 23 points.
• It has posted back-to-back shutouts and has three total this season.
• It has given up 13 points in the second half all season.
Say it ain't so, Jim: Think of the Oakland Raiders job as a starter marriage. Just something to get your feet wet before the right one comes along.
Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh will solidify that perception if he takes the Raiders job, as is being rumored. Starter marriages aren't necessarily a good thing. The last Raiders coach to last more than two seasons was Jon Gruden (1998-2001).
Jim, look across the line at the guy you're playing this week. Ask Pete Carroll how the NFL treated him.
Where does Daniel Murray go from here? Murray is the Iowa walk-on kicker who beat Penn State last week. He turned down a soccer scholarship at Kentucky to stay home. The next challenge is Purdue (3-7). The game shouldn't be as tight.
Until Saturday, Murray had as many tackles as field goals (one) this season. Now his heroics alone might lift the Hawkeyes to a Jan. 1 bowl.
In the interest of full disclosure: After throwing roses earlier, it's time to examine how far Notre Dame has slipped.
The Irish began this decade second in all-time victories with 761. It had a whopping 24-victory lead over No. 3 Nebraska. Texas was fourth with 730.
With its win last week, Texas pulled into a tie for second place with Notre Dame, behind Michigan (No. 1 with 872 wins). Both the Irish and 'Horns have 829 victories. That means the Longhorns have made up a 31-win deficit this decade, roughly the equivalent of three undefeated seasons.
That also means a 76-year lock on the standings has been altered. Michigan and Notre Dame have been 1-2, alone in all-time victories, since 1932.
BCS TV: OK, so ESPN is trying to land the BCS, maybe for the next 15 years. All five games on the Worldwide Leader. Fine. Great. Just quit writing that this dooms a playoff.
When exactly was it on the table?
The commissioners turned down a plus-one in April. A playoff is still unlikely until after the 2014 bowls, at the earliest.
That has little to do with a long-term BCS/ESPN contract. If the commissioners suddenly decide to institute a playoff, they wouldn't have to get the network's approval. Every one of these contracts is written so that it could be reopened.
Friday walk-through
- Something to think about for next week. Oklahoma's first-half scoring average alone (35.5 points) would rank it 20th nationally.
- Texas has its schedule working against it if it comes down to that dreaded three-way tie in the Big 12 South. It has Kansas and Texas A&M remaining. Compare that to Oklahoma (Texas Tech, Oklahoma State) and Texas Tech (Oklahoma, Baylor).
- Texas does have a voting advantage, sort of. In that scenario, the Big 12 Championship Game berth goes to the team ranked highest in the BCS. Mack Brown and Tech's Mike Leach have coaches poll votes. Bob Stoops does not.
- The latest depth-of-bad note regarding Washington and Washington State: Combined, the two programs have allowed opponents to score on 96 of 104 trips into the red zone.
- This is crazy: Pat Hill has gone from being a hot name at Washington to being on the hot seat at Fresno State -- in a matter of a couple of weeks. "That's a decision the university has to make," said Hill of his job security. The Bulldogs are 5-4 heading into a game against New Mexico State.
- The name of UConn's Randy Edsall has surfaced at Clemson. No way he takes Syracuse, his alma mater. Too big of a clean-up job.
- According to BCSGuru.com, Navy, Rice and Virginia are tied for 45th place in the BCS with a rating of .0001.
