Thoughts on week 3 in college football

I'll admit this is the first week I've really had a chance to watch a full slate of college football. It was a week in which we had near upsets, shootouts, and comeback wins.

Michigan over Akron- The Wolverines clearly had a hangover from the Notre Dame game and it showed. Michigan nearly suffered an upset of Appalachian State proportions to a team that has lost 28 straight road games and has suffered through three straight one win seasons in the Akron Zips. Pump the brakes on the Wolverine bandwagon for now. Quarterback Devin Gardner needs to learn the meaning of ball security and the defense has to play better if they expect to compete with Ohio State for the Big Ten championship. Give Akron credit for coming close and playing hard.

UCLA over Nebraska- The Bruins came into Lincoln with heavy hearts after the death of Nick Pasquale and played with a lot of early emotion. Unfortunately that emotion led to an early 21-3 deficit. The Bruins rallied in the second half and put up a combined 38 unanswered points in a 41-21 win. For the Huskers it was disappointing loss after looking like they were poised to run away with this game. UCLA made the adjustments and Nebraska failed to get the momentum back.

 "The second half was a lot like last year," Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said. "We made the tackles in the first half. I don't know how many tackles we missed in that second half but it is a lot. We missed tackle after tackle after tackle." 

Sounds almost like every big game the Huskers have played in since they've joined the Big Ten. If Pelini can't get it together and start winning some of those games he might find himself listening to the wolves howling for his job.

Alabama over Texas A&M- Billed as the SEC game of the century for this season, it lived up to the hype. Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel didn't disappoint as the Aggies jumped out to a 14-0 lead. After that it was all Alabama, as the Tide rolled to 35 straight points to seize control of the game. Tide quarterback A.J. McCarron went 20-29 for 334 yards and 4 touchdowns. The 42 points and 628 total yards were the most allowed by an Alabama team, but it wasn't enough as Alabama has taken control of the SEC West division.
Maybe it's time to trumpet AJ Champion aka McCarron as a legit Heisman candidate.

Arizona State over Wisconsin- This game ended in controversy. The Badgers appeared to be robbed of a possible win by the officials. The Badgers were driving for a game winning field goal. Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave appeared to take a knee to stop the clock and put the ball on the ground. A Sun Devil defender jumped on the ball and looked like it was a defensive delay of game. The officials spotted the ball and time ran out on the Badgers in this back and forth affair.

Oregon over Tennessee- It was a good week for the Pac-12 as the league racked up a number of 'name' wins this weekend. the Ducks once again steamrolled another opponent and they made their SEC foe look like a Sun Belt team. Fans chanted S-E-C and we want Bama. The Ducks have been impressive early but first take care of business in your own conference before calling out the champion like Clubber Lang.

Minnesota over Western Illinois- This game was significant because Golden Gophers head coach Jerry Kill was carted off on a stretcher after he suffered another seizure in their 29-12 win over  Western Illinois. Reports say he's resting comfortably in the hospital but you have to wonder if the administration at Minnesota might be thinking of moving on instead of keeping Kill around.

Ole Miss over Texas- The Rebels scored an impressive 44-23 win over the Longhorns. I guess it doesn't matter who the defensive coordinator is in Austin if the talent is going to underachieve. Coach Mack Brown might see the vultures circling if the Horns can't win the Oklahoma game. In all fairness starting quarterback David Ash didn't play but with the talent on hand in Austin this team has no excuses to be losing by three touchdowns at home.

Honorable mention- Ohio State looked impressive against California with backup quarterback Kenny Guiton at the controls....Notre Dame and South Carolina bounced back after week 2 losses, although it took the Irish awhile to get going...On a positive note Rutgers honored the paralyzed former player Eric LeGrand by retiring his number 52. It marked the first time in the 144-year history of the birthplace of college football that the university retired the number of a football player and this one was clearly loved by all in attendance.

Winners- Pac-12, Alabama, Rutgers, UCLA, Ole Miss, Marcus Mariota, AJ McCarron, Eric LeGrand    

Losers- Big Ten, Pac-12 officials, Texas    

UCLA receiver Nick Pasquale dies after being hit by a vehicle

Unfortunately, there’s extremely tragic and sad news coming out of Los Angeles Sunday afternoon.

UCLA wide receiver Nick Pasquale died early Sunday morning after being struck by a vehicle.

Pasquale was on foot when a vehicle hit him at 1:27 a.m. on Camino De Los Mares, west of Calle Nuevo in San Clemente, according to the release. He was pronounced dead at the scene, said Lt. Jeff Hallock, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

The vehicle was identified as a Mercedes sedan and was heading westbound on Camino De Los Mares at the time of the accident, Hallock said. The driver stopped at the scene and called police to report the incident, Hallock added.

There is an ongoing investigation of the incident but the driver of the vehicle has not been cited or arrested.

Howland interested in the Rutgers job

Former UCLA coach Ben Howland might be back on the sidelines real soon. Howland has indicated that he would be interested in the Rutgers job according to a report by CBS Sports' Gary Parrish.

While it would make sense for Rutgers to take an immediate upgrade, it might be a while since they'll be hunting for a new athletic director as well, since former AD Tim Pernetti resigned after coach Mike Rice was fired after a videotape aired of Rice cursing players out and throwing basketballs at their heads.

Howland has been known to recruit New York City well so he could be a favorite of university boosters. If I was the president I would've made this hire yesterday.

Craig Neal gets the New Mexico job

After Steve Alford left for UCLA, the players left behind lobbied for top assistant Craig Neal to get the job. The coaching search didn't last long as Neal was given the job full time. Neal will sign a five-year contract worth $750,000 annually, plus incentives. The deal would make Neal one of the four highest paid coaches in the Mountain West Conference.


Neal was with Alford at Iowa and the past six seasons at New Mexico and was considered a co-architect of the Lobos' resurgence. Neal was a finalist with Brian Gregory a year ago for his alma mater, Georgia Tech.

This will be Neal's first head coaching job in Division I. The Lobos will have a loaded team coming back and will have a good shot to repeat in the Mountain West. The Lobos return key players Tony Snell, Alex Kirk and Mountain West Conference player of the year Kendall Williams. Neal has inherited a good situation now he'll have to keep the momentum trending upward.

Report: UCLA signs Steve Alford to become new head basketball coach

A report by ESPN's Andy Katz are saying that Steve Alford is leaving New Mexico to be UCLA's new basketball coach. The Bruins have come to an agreement with the New Mexico coach on a seven-year contract worth $2.6 million per year. This comes after firing Ben Howland after a second round ouster in the NCAA tournament.

The agreement with Alford comes less than two weeks after Alford had agreed to a new 10-year contract with New Mexico that reached into the $2-million-per-season range, including base salary, bonuses and incentives.

This is more of a surprise since many consider UCLA to be one of the top jobs in the country. The Bruins were spurned by Butler's Brad Stevens and VCU's Shaka Smart. It's obvious that many don't view it that way. Washington's Lorenzo Romar, Marquette's Buzz Williams, and NC State's Mark Gottfried were rumored to be candidates.

I don't know how this turns out, but  Alford is leaving a loaded Lobos team for whoever takes over. Alford will face a ton of pressure trying to coach up to the UCLA standard set long ago by JohnWooden.

UCLA Hires Former Jets Sideline Tripper

Former New York Jets assistant coach, Sal Alosi, is known best for his role in 'Tripgate'. Let me refresh you on the incident in case you forgot.

During a game against the Miami Dolphins in December 2010, Alosi intentionally tripped the Dolphins' Nolan Carroll while he was running down the Jets sideline on a special teams play. He also instructed inactive players to  make a wall along the sideline. That was his ultimate undoing. he was soon fired over the infraction.



Since then Alosi has been working as a personal trainer and probably waiting for another shot at a coaching job. That time has come for Alosi.

Alosi was hired to be UCLA's strength and conditioning coordinator. I suppsose he should be there for a while unless he pulls some of the chicanery that he did while with the Jets.        

UCLA Gets A Bowl Waiver

At 6-6 and going into a conference championship game UCLA has a chance to have a losing record and not make a bowl. At least that's how it usually works out. Except the Bruins applied for a bowl waiver so that they will be able to go bowling with a more than likely 6-7 record. And for some strange reason they were granted the waiver.

Here's the reasoning. Since they fighting Neuheisels are the Pac-12 South champ by default since USC is on probation, the Pac-12 is struggling to fill their allotment of bowl slots. So enter UCLA with their meager 6-6 (or 7) record to help out the situation. The Bruins, the Pac-12 South paper champs, are 31 (and counting) point underdogs to Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game. So they'll probably end up being 6-7 going into their bowl game. Athletic Director Dan Guerrero sounds pleased at the recent turn of events.

“As a program, we appreciate the NCAA approving our petition for a bowl waiver,” said UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero in a release. “We will be able to give our 18 seniors one more chance to represent their university and end their collegiate careers on a high note, regardless of the outcome of this Friday’s Pac-12 Championship Game. We’d like to thank the NCAA for considering the unique situation in which we find ourselves this year and rewarding us with this opportunity.”


And another chance to catch a beatdown. They'll be joining some elite company as North Texas went to the 2001 New Orleans Bowl with a 5-6 record. At least the Mean Green won their conference and aren't a fake champion like UCLA.

Dan Guerrero’s and UCLA’s selfish motivation to bring money into the shcool is a short sighted effort. The embarrassment that playing in the Pac-12 Championship Game, know full well, that they are not qualified to play in that game… then the audacity to petition for a Bowl Game, just to bring in some bucks at the expense of the players, is a joke.

The football team has taken enough grief this season under Neuheisel, but having a 6-6 season, the huge loss to USC (the real Pac-12 South champs), the blow out losses against the other teams, and then to be completely embarrassed on national TV when they play Oregon, as 31.5 pt underdogs, which my money is on Oregon by 50 pts.

Now you want the UCLA players in another potential loss and more embarrassment in a bowl game. Again… Dan Guerrero and the UCLA administration doesn’t show me any style, class nor grace. I guess, if the shoe fits, wear it.


UCLA alumni are furious with this move, Guerrero and Neuheisel. Perhaps Guerrero needs to be fired too.















    

UCLA's Travis Wear Injured While Snorkeling

UCLA's basketball season is just five games old and they're already enduring a trying season. They've lost to Loyola Marymount and Middle Tennessee State, had a bad showing in Maui, and are 1-4 with their lone win coming against Chaminade.

Before the season started the coach Ben Howland has had to deal with the Jerime Anderson arrest, Reeves Nelson's insubordination, and now Travis Wear's injury.

In a season already gone awry for UCLA, the pain became literal on Thursday when sophomore forward Travis Wear cut his right foot while snorkeling in Maui and required five stitches.

Wear, the Bruins' second-leading scorer who is averaging 10.4 points per game, will not practice Saturday and will be reevaluated Monday, when UCLA (1-4) plays host to Pepperdine (2-2) at the Sports Arena.

This season could go from bad to worse if the Bruins can't pull it together and go on a hot streak and win some games.

Quote Of The Week: Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen the drug machine was giving a little anti-drug advice to the UCLA baseball team earlier this week. I know it's strange coming from Charlie Sheen as he's battled an addiction to drugs and porn stars for years, so when I heard about his latest bender it didn't surprise me since he's been fighting those demons since the late 1980's.

"Stay off the crack. Drink a chocolate milk. Enjoy your moment. That's all I got." 

Well said Charlie. Maybe his next stop will be at the local high school.