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Saturday breakdown: Zany weekend leaves coaches second-guessing
Nov. 27, 1999
Three days of games, a college football lifetime of questionable decisions.
The madness started on Thursday night when Mississippi State's Pig Prather had an all-time brain cramp by fielding a punt in the end zone. That would have been curious enough if he had just taken a touchback … but he decided to bring the ball out, and, of course, was stopped well short of the 20.
 | | | Andre Davis caught two TD passes in Virginia Tech's victory over Boston College.(AP) | |
But enough about the players.
The coaches were the real, uh, stars when it came to being mental.
Let's start with Ole Miss coach David Cutliffe, who wasn't content to take a knee and take a tie at the end of regulation on Thursday night. With only 20 seconds left, Romaro Miller was throwing from his own 24, with faint hopes of getting into field-goal range. The result: A pass was deflected, intercepted and returned to the Ole Miss 26, setting up the Bulldogs' game-winning field goal.
"I did something at the end that I know better than," Cutcliffe said. "I don't look back, but it was a poor decision on my part."
On Friday, Nebraska coach Frank Solich was given a gift: A late-game fumble deep in Colorado territory with the game tied. Already within field goal range at the 16 with 1:49 left, Solich called a relatively risky option play for his fumble-prone offense … which promptly fumbled.
The Buffs recovered the ball and drove down field, but the Huskers luckily got a chance for overtime redemption when Colorado missed a 34-yard field on the final play. That saved Solich an offseason of serious second-guessing.
"If I had to do it all over again," Solich said, "I probably wouldn't call the play again."
Which brings us to Saturday. Another day, another regretful coach.
This time it was Georgia's Jim Donnan.
His team was at the Georgia Tech 2 with less than a minute to go and the clock running. You don't really blame him for calling a safe run up the middle instead of having QB Quincy Carter take a knee to set up a field goal -- and you really don't blame him for the poor officiating that failed to rule Jasper Sanks was down when he fumbled -- but you can point a finger and say, "Hey, didn't you learn anything from Kevin Steele?"
Ah, yes … every boneheaded decision is measured against Steele's. Flash back to the second week of the season, Baylor holding a 24-21 lead, final seconds ticking off, the Bears at the UNLV 1, running a play trying for a touchdown instead of taking a knee. The ball is fumbled and Kevin Thomas returns it 99 yards for a touchdown in one of the most shocking endings in college football history.
Donnan could have learned that "take-a-knee" lesson vicariously … but, instead, he learned it the hard way.
"Looking back on it," he said, "we probably should have just fallen on the ball and then kicked."
Those were some of the lowlights in an interesting weekend that was great to watch and really important for this: Virginia Tech blasting Boston College and solidifying its rightful place as the No. 2 team in the BCS standings.
As for the highlights, here are some of those:
Game of the weekend
| A peach of a game |
| A rivalry, a 17-point comeback, 1,097 yards of offense, two star quarterbacks, controversial calls by the officials, 99 points, overtime … and a true freshman kicker who's the hero, but only after he has his third-down attempt blocked. We especially like that last part, and the guy who becomes an instant legend is Luke Magnet, who booted a 38-yard field goal to give Georgia Tech a wild 51-48 victory and spoil a comeback by Georgia.
High honorable mention in the Game of the Week voting goes to three other beauties: Texas A&M's emotional victory over Texas; the Nebraska-Colorado overtime thriller, Mississippi-Mississippi State, and Stanford beating Notre Dame on the last play. All worthy. |
Sizzlin' … the countdown
| 3. Look, it's the Pac-10 |
| Yes, we give the Pac-10 its first sizzlin' award of the season. Why? For the first time all season, a Pac-10 team beat a ranked non-conference opponent (such as it was) when USC slowed down Tim Rattay and beat Louisiana Tech 45-19 … league champ Stanford didn't embarrass itself on national television, beating Notre Dame on a last-play field goal … and then Washington State defeated bowl-bound Hawaii. Watch out in the postseason, the Pac-10 is rollin'. |
| 2. Jackie Sherrill's blood pressure |
| The Mississippi State coach can take a deep breath, savor that nine-win regular-season, and let his heart rate drop to safer levels. His Bulldogs have played five games in which the margin of victory was a field goal or less … and Mississippi State won 'em all, the last four by overcoming double-digit deficits, the last two on last-second kicks by Scott Westerfield, including a 44-yarder to beat Ole Miss on Thanksgiving. |
| 1. Revved-up rivalries |
| Never -- ever -- give up on a rivalry game. When things looked bleak, Mississippi State scored 17 fourth-quarter points to beat Mississippi and A&M scored 14 unanswered points to top Texas. Two other teams (Colorado and Georgia) went on 24-0 runs in the second half … but lost anyway. |
Fizzlin' … the countdown
| 3. Can't you just sit there and cheer? |
| Taking a cue from snowball-throwing Denver Broncos fans, some rowdies at the Colorado-Nebraska game in Boulder chucked a few snowballs at the Cornhuskers' mascot, "Lil' Red." Hey, could have been worse. Remember, earlier in the season Mace was needed to control rioting fans after the Colorado-Colorado State game in Denver. |
| 2. Oh joy … Syracuse in a bowl game |
| The Orangemen lost four of its last five games, was embarrassed by Virginia Tech 62-0 and knocked down again by Miami on Saturday, 45-13. Worse, neither of those games signified the season's low point. That came in a 24-21 overtime loss to Rutgers, the Knights' only victory of the season. Syracuse is still going bowling, to the Music City, and the refrain of "Paul Pasqualoni must go" will just get louder … despite school chancellor Kenneth "Buzz'' Shaw telling angry fans that they need to "get a life." |
| 1. Desert duds |
| Sure, like everyone else, we had Arizona in our preseason top 5, but we also told you after the Wildcats' season-opening flameout against Penn State that they had irreconcilable personnel deficiencies. So, we were 1 of 2 on our predictions. And that's how Arizona's season was -- win one, lose one -- finishing with a loss at Arizona State on Saturday, leaving the Cats at a miserable 6-6 and out of the bowl picture. |
Unsung hero of the weekend
| Unlike several other Cornhuskers, he didn't even fumble |
| Nebraska punter Dan Hedenfeldt backed up Colorado's offense all game, averaging 57.6 yards on seven punts and pinning the Buffs inside their 20 on five occasions. He had only one effort of less than 50 yards and his hang time took away the threat of returner Ben Kelly, who had four returns for 16 yards. Two weeks earlier, Hedenfeldt didn't allow the even-more-dangerous David Allen of Kansas State one return. |
A heap of Heap
| Devils' tight end scorches the Wildcats |
| Two years ago, when ASU signed several of the top Phoenix-area recruits, Arizona coach Dick Tomey said he really only mourned the loss of one -- tight end Todd Heap. Was he ever right to feel that way. Heap, a sophomore, caught seven passes for 170 yards Saturday, including a touchdown pass on a fake field goal, in a victory over Tomey's Wildcats that clinched an Aloha Bowl berth for the Sun Devils. Heap won't show up on All-American teams this season (despite 50 catches for 793 yards), but look for him to be on those preseason teams next fall. |
Five stars of the weekend
| 1. Georgia Tech quarterback Joe Hamilton |
Stats: Completed 22 of 32 passes for 341 yards and four touchdowns; ran 15 times for 94 yards.
Comment: Predicted that if Tech needed a late touchdown drive against Georgia, he would get it done -- and he did. The Jackets tied the game, and won in overtime. |
| 2. Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick |
Stats: Completed 11 of 13 passes for 290 yards and three TDs; ran for 76 yards and a score.
Comment: The redshirt freshman led the Hokies to a 38-14 victory over No. 22 Boston College to complete an undefeated regular season. "He's the difference-maker," said BC coach Tom O'Brien. "He's playing at a level that Charlie Ward and Donovan McNabb did in their third and fourth years." |
| 3. West Virginia quarterback Marc Bulger |
Stats: Completed 20 of 30 passes for 331 yards and four first-half touchdowns.
Comment: Returning from a thumb injury, Bulger got just the kind of ending he could have wanted to his Mountaineer career, leading a 52-21 over his hometown school that didn't want him (Pitt) and keeping the Panthers out of a bowl game. |
| 4. Stanford receiver Troy Walters |
Stats: Caught eight passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns (62 and 38 yards) in a 40-37 victory over Notre Dame.
Comment: Without Walters, Stanford isn't in the Rose Bowl … and doesn't beat Notre Dame, either. |
| 5. Nebraska I-back Dan Alexander |
Stats: Rushed 17 times for 180 yards, including TDs of 50, 1 and 80 yards.
Comment: Out-ran Colorado cornerback/returner Ben Kelly on a touchdown run, which is so impressive that we won't dock him too much for fumbling twice. |
Quote of the weekend
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"We're 11-0. What more do you want us to do?" |
| -- Virginia Tech defensive end Corey Moore |
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