Weekend TV Preview

- Big time preview of Saturday's game with #1 USC tomorrow.

- Here's your schedule for the weekend. Keep this schedule and you won't have to talk to a wife/girlfriend for 60 hours.

Tonight

West Virginia (-16.5) at Maryland - ESPN - 6:30 pm
West Virginia has not impressed me in the least. They've been able to score points against inferior teams, but have not been able to play defense worthy of a top 5 team. Maryland is a tough team at home, always plays good defense, and loves Thursday night games.
Pick - Maryland +16.5

TCU (-8) at Air Force - CSTV - 7:00 pm
I'm a big believer in going against a mid-major team the week after they play a top team. And Texas was able to have some success by wearing the TCU defense, which is the MO of Air Force. They beat Utah on the road last week, which impresses me in the mid-major world. Give me the points.
Pick - Air Force +8


Friday

Oklahoma St. (-10) at Troy - ESPN2 - 7:00 pm
A QB controversy is brewing in Stillwater. Bobby Reid injures his ankle last week and his fill-in plays great. Now there are rumblings that Reid, after a mediocre start, needs to be benched. My guess is he's feeling the pressure and is rushing back from injury this week in order to save his job. Not good. Let's keep the underdog theme going here.
Pick - Troy +10


Saturday -
A pretty weak batch of 11:00 AM games, but from 2:30 on, get on your couch, risk getting baboon ass, break out the Blanton's Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey, and get ready for 11 straight hours of great matchups.

Central Michigan at Purdue (-21) - ESPN2 - 11:00
Purdue's defense may suck, but they have a potentially elite offense that has been lights out the first 2 weeks. The matchup may suck, but you'll be entertained by this offense.
Pick - Purdue -21

Iowa (-17.5) at Iowa State - Versus - 12:30
Iowa State absolutely sucks. On the level of Duke and Temple. Take Iowa HUGE.
Pick - Iowa -17.5

Texas Tech (-28) at Rice - FSNSW - 2:00
Texas Tech will finally put a full game together with offense and defense.
Pick - Texas Tech -28

Notre Dame at Michigan (-7.5) - ABC - 2:30
In the past I would say always take Michigan at home against a rookie QB, but this year? Who knows? Still, I think Notre Dame sucks that bad, so give me Michigan to finally cover and win a freaking game.
Pick - Michigan -7.5

Tennessee at Florida (-7.5) - CBS - 2:30
A classic SEC matchup, was the game of the year in the 90's. The swamp is one of the best home field advantages in all of college football, and makes it a must watch just for that reason, to see how loud and crazy the stadium can get. I'm going with Tennessee b/c I can't see either team being able to blow the other out. Also take the under.
Pick - Tennessee +7.5

Ohio State (-4) at Washington - ESPN - 2:30
I just hope this Washington bandwagon doesn't take a sharp turn this weekend and I get thrown off. I'm officially on it. That QB Jake Locker is a running and throwing machine. Ohio State is overrated and from the Big 10. Upset special of the day, #10 goes down.
Pick - Washington +4

Texas (-18.5) at Central Florida - ESPN2 - 2:30
Texas looked like garbage in the 1st half against TCU, and then athletes took over in the 2nd half. Central Florida has beat a major team on the road (NC State), so that counts for something with me. Give me the points, not calling upset, but I can see a 14 point game.
Pick - Central Floria +18.5

UCLA (-14) at Utah - ESPNU - 4:00
Utah has disappointed me big time this year. I thought with an athletic, experienced QB that was finally healthy, they might potentially be a Boise State-type of team. How I was wrong. UCLA is stout as hell and finally has an Offensive Coordinator able to take advantage of their offensive talent.
Pick - UCLA -14

Arkansas at Alabama (-3) - ESPN - 5:45
Arkansas is hurting. McFadden and their top WR Monk will play injured, but the defense will be missing 2 starters. Alabama was one of my sleeper teams this year because of their defense and enough returning talent on offense to be decent. On the other side, Arkansas was one of my overrated teams, so of course I'm taking Bama at home by a field goal.
Pick - Alabama -3

Louisville (-6.5) at Kentucky - ESPN Classic - 6:30
Maybe this is on EPSN Classic because of the high probability it will be an 80-75 final score. Rarely do these offensive showdowns live up to the hype, but this has a great chance to do it. A top 5 team only a touchdown favorite on the road to an unranked team? Louisville's on borrowed time with that shatty defense. This will be my first chance to see Andre Woodson, apparently the SEC's best QB, an ESPN 1st All-American, and the next highly drafted QB. I wouldn't know because I've never seen him. Should be the most entertaining game of the day. The Kentucky Bourbon Bowl. I'll drink some Blanton's Whiskey to honor this game.
Pick - Kentucky +6.5

USC (-10) at Nebraska - ABC - 7:00
I haven't been able to think/concentrate all week because of this game. This hasn't happened in a while. I believe the last time was in 2001, when Oklahoma came to town and it was #1 vs. #2. I was a wreck. And I'll be a wreck Saturday waiting for this game. Preview tomorrow. It needs its own day on the blog.

Boston College at Georgia Tech (-7) - ESPN2 - 7:00
Ok, so they beat a shatty Notre Dame team and killed a 1-AA? Hold off on all of this hype for Georgia Tech. BC has beaten Wake Forest (an underrated team) and another conference foe (NC State). I'll take those skins along with all the returning talent. Give me BC and the points against an always overrated Tech team.
Pick - Boston College +7

CROWN GAME
Florida State (-4) at Colorado - ESPN - 9:00
Colorado's 2nd straight week in the Crown Game. They came out firing last week in the first half, building a 14 point lead, only to fade faster than I did after a full day of drinking whiskey in Lubbock. I hate Florida State, think they suck, and have to take Colorado at home. Depending on the outcome of the USC/Nebraska game, I'll either be staring blankly at the TV watching the 2nd half of this game, or taking celebratory shots of a $200 bottle of Crown Royal Extra Rare.
Pick - Colorado +4


Sunday

Indy (-7) at Tennessee - CBS - 12:00
Indy looked damn good last week. That defense looked stout as hell. Not this week. I'm a VY believer and he'll keep them in this thing, like he did both times last year against Indy. Take the dog at home.
Pick - Tennessee +7

Dallas (-3.5) at Miami - FOX - 3:00
This won't be close. Dallas's defense may suck, but Miami couldn't score on Celina HS. Romo continues to build his RomoSexcual Fan Club and nails J Lo and Gloria Estefan after the game.
Pick - Dallas -3.5

Kansas City at Chicago (-12) - CBS - 3:00
I couldn't believe how pitiful KC looked last week. Chicago's defense might shut them out. Any team with Damon Huard at QB can't have a rosy outlook on their season.
Pick - Chicago -12

San Diego at New England (-3.5) - ESPN - 7:15
Can't wait to hear Bill Simmons' defense of Belicheck and his cheating ways. As much as I couldn't stand Belicheck before, I now despise him even more. Give me San Diego just to spite Simmons and his premature crowning of this team as the best ever.
Pick - San Diego +3.5




- T-New and Greg Ellis back at practice. Newman more likely to suit up Sunday.

Cowboys' Newman, Ellis back at practice

12:01 AM CDT on Thursday, September 13, 2007
By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News
cwatkins@dallasnews.com

IRVING – The Cowboys' battered defense received some positive news Wednesday afternoon when cornerback Terence Newman and outside linebacker Greg Ellis returned to practice.

A day earlier, the Cowboys lost one of their veteran starters for the season when nose guard Jason Ferguson was placed on injured reserve with a torn right biceps muscle.

But coach Wade Phillips said it was encouraging for Newman (partially torn right plantar fascia) and Ellis (bursitis in left Achilles' tendon) to get back on the practice field after missing the season opener.

Newman practiced in shoulder pads with the scout team to test his foot. Jacques Reeves, who started in place of Newman in the season-opening victory over the New York Giants, worked with the first team.

Newman, who said he won't speak to media until Friday, is a vital cog to a Cowboys secondary that was partly to blame for allowing 438 total yards, two catches of 25 or more yards and 16 receiving first downs to the Giants.

The cornerback would only smile when asked if he's playing against Miami on Sunday.

"He moved around pretty well, had a nice interception," Phillips said. He's "still not completely comfortable moving in certain directions, but he wanted to get out there and see what he can do, so we'd know where he is and what his limitations are."

Ellis did some light individual drills during practice. He said he's still in pain, but it's more manageable than before. He also said Britt Brown, the Cowboys' associate athletic trainer, is taping his foot differently to give him more comfort.

"It's week-to-week," Ellis said before practice. "I'm still having problems with it, and I'll see what I can go fight through. I'd love to be out there this weekend, I'd have loved to be out there last weekend, but it's kind of moment-to-moment as far as practice."

Ellis, who didn't practice in pads, said he wants to practice fully today, but that will depend on how his surgically repaired Achilles' feels.

Ellis was cleared to practice in individual drills at the start of training camp, but he stopped less than 30 minutes into the session because when he was engaged with a blocker he felt pain pushing off. He pushed off during the early portions of practice Wednesday and didn't seem to have problems.

"I'll just see what happens," Phillips said regarding Ellis' practice status for today.

Ellis most likely would have to practice in pads at least a full week before he participates in a game. The team wants to see how he copes with the pain and handles blockers and then figure out what to do with him on the field.

He could make his debut Sept. 23 at Chicago.

"I got nine years of practice in," Ellis said. "But the drop steps are still kind of new to me, but rushing the passer, I do that against my wife, so I can do it; that's not a question."

First-round pick Anthony Spencer is the starter in place of Ellis. The Cowboys could bring Ellis off the bench on passing downs until he gains more strength in his heel.

Having Ellis, the team's second-best pass rusher, should help a unit that had no sacks from its starters Sunday night. The only sack came from backup nose guard Jay Ratliff, who is now a starter.

The Cowboys had six quarterback pressures, with starting outside linebackers DeMarcus Ware and Spencer combining for four.

The pressure on the quarterback could increase with Ellis' presence.

Defensive end Chris Canty compares Ellis' status to Michael Jordan when he was sick during Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz.

"When Mike had the flu, he went for [38]," Canty said. "That's G-Money [Ellis]. That's what he is to this team."




- Devin Harris extended 5 more years, 6 if you count next year. Now give him the F'ing reins and let him go. He's a #5 pick, going into his 4th year, stop it with the 25 minutes a game bit. Stop pulling him after a bad play. Let the dude play, it will only help him and the team. They're now officially committed to him, now show it on the court.

Mavs sign Harris to five-year extension


11:32 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 12, 2007
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News esefko@dallasnews.com

The Mavericks consider Devin Harris one of the cornerstones for their future. They proved that Wednesday by agreeing to a lucrative five-year contract extension with the 6-3 point guard.

Harris, entering his fourth season, will earn $3.99 million this season. According to a source, the extension will kick in for the 2008-09 season and is worth more than the five-year, $42.6 million deal Milwaukee point guard Mo Williams signed recently.

That would put Harris' salary around $8 million in the first year of the extension, presuming 10.5 percent raises through the life of the contract.

"Devin, along with Josh [Howard], those guys will carry the baton for us into the future," president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. "Devin's deal was something we were hopeful of getting done so that it doesn't have to be weighing on his mind this season.

"Devin definitely wanted to be here, and the feeling was mutual."

The negotiations between Nelson, owner Mark Cuban and Henry Thomas, Harris' agent, were going slowly, Nelson said, until things began to move rapidly Tuesday and Wednesday.

Harris, 24, was the fifth overall draft pick in 2004, coming to the Mavericks in a draft-night trade with Washington.

Harris averaged career highs last season with 10.2 points, 3.7 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 26 minutes per game. He was one of the few Mavericks who had a strong series in the first-round upset loss to Golden State, averaging 13.2 points and five assists.

Harris is expected to be the full-time starter this season at point guard. The Wisconsin product has increased his scoring and assists in each of his first three seasons.

"All he has to do now is just play," Mavs coach Avery Johnson said. "You look at what the Spurs did with Tony Parker. They signed him to an extension, and it's paid dividends for them. Devin, we think, has a enormous amount of talent and potential."

Harris, along with Howard, who signed a four-year extension last summer that kicks in this season, are locked up long term. The team also signed Jerry Stackhouse earlier in the summer to a three-year contract and has Dirk Nowitzki locked up for four more seasons and Jason Terry for five more.



- The Good


- The Bad



- Now that I'm at least a partial-season ticket holder, I'm allowed to batch about the Stars. I haven't seen the sweater yet, but the team will reveal some new ones today. The rumored new look is shown above. I'm a traditionalist when it comes to uniforms. I hate it when teams switch looks in order to appease to the MTV/pop culture crowd. See: the Univ. of Miami, the Star's ugly black alternates that were canned, the Seattle Seahawks, the Buffalo Bills, the Seattle Sonics 96-era uni's, the Detroit Pistons turquoise disaster, Vancouver's new look, etc. Give me tradition and stability.

I thought the Stars had a great looking sweater that would rank up there with some of the best in the league. They were the types of sweaters that were new but yet classic along the lines of Detroit, Toronto, Boston, Chicago, etc. Very unlike the rest of the NHL teams that come out with new sweaters. They're usually ugly and forced. Why are they changing a good thing???

I'm not saying that Turco photo is a bad look. It's not just horrible, actually would probably grow on me. I just love their current sweater, I think it's on the fringe of top 5 in the league. We'll see if the photo up top is in fact the new sweater, and if so, bad move considering they didn't need a change to begin with.

Stars set to reveal worst-kept secret

New uniforms will be revealed Friday, but news has already leaked


11:29 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 12, 2007
By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News
mheika@dallasnews.com

As secrets go, this one has sprung more leaks than a 1980s goalie.

Want to know what the Stars' new uniforms are going to look like? You could wait until 6 p.m. Friday and see the official unveiling at American Airlines Center.

Or jump in chat rooms or on message boards, including one on the Stars' Web site, where you can see players have been photographed by fans' cellular phones while testing the uniforms, the Stars' youth select teams have already worn the new sweaters in a local tournament and goalie Marty Turco wears the new threads on a commercial running in Canada.

"It was a long time to try to keep a secret," Stars president Jim Lites said. "There were too many factors involved."

The NHL is switching its uniform to the technologically advanced RBK system this season, and many teams have taken the opportunity to change their look – the Stars included.

Out are the old star-shaped sweaters, and in are simpler lines. Out is much of the green that has been a base color in recent years, and in is a uniform heavy on black and white.

Decisions on the style of uniforms were pretty much in place by last season's All-Star Game, played at AAC, so keeping the prototypes in the dark was no easy task. Players needed to see them. So did marketers. And the Stars needed to have sweaters for such things as preseason photos and commercials.

That's why the team first considered releasing the designs at the NHL entry draft in June.

The problem is, while Reebok could provide plenty of uniforms for team purposes, it could not produce enough for the fans. So the Stars had to make a decision: release a jersey they weren't yet able to sell, or wait until stores were filled with merchandise.

The Stars chose to wait, and understood the risks. So when the youth select teams wore a replica of the uniforms in a Labor Day tournament, Lites could only shrug.

"I mean, we couldn't make them get two sets of uniforms," he said. "It was simple logistics."

And when the message boards went crazy, the Stars just had to grin and bear it. In fact, they even threw out hints to their all-black home uniforms by telling fans, "Black is the new green," on invitations for the unveiling.

Still, they believe Friday's event will have plenty of buzz.

"While there are glimpses of the jersey out there, nobody has really seen it up close," said Rob Scichili, the team's senior director of communications. "These uniforms are very impressive when you see them in person, and we're very excited about them."


- My Top 5 Uni's by Sport

- NHL

#1


#2


#3


- #4


#5



- MLB

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


- NBA - Pretty weak league for good uni's, but I tried.

#1


#2


#3 - I'm biased OK?


#4


#5




- NCAA Football

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


#9


#10 - A surprise here - BYU



- NFL

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5



- NCAA Basketball

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5

Back tomorrow

- No blog today, too busy. Picks for the weekend on tap for tomorrow.

- U2 is greatness, and so is BaD Radio.

It's USC week

- The best coaching situation in America? You be the judge. What's his motivation to get back to the communist NFL?


- The USC Song Girls




- Sam Keller is back playing USC, this time in a different uniform. I'll take the 347 yards and 2 TD's, just hold back on those 5 int's.

And just get used to it, there's going to be more stories written about his game in Tempe, Ariz in 2005. Where he staked ASU to a 21-3 halftime lead over #1 and invincible USC, threw for 258 yards and a TD, took bows, fist pumped, and made a scene to the student section going into the locker room at halftime. Only to throw for only 100 more yards and 1 TD, with 4 INT's in the 2nd half, while watching Arizona State lose that lead and the game, 38-28.

By the way, I love all of the arrogance and confidence. If he did that Saturday, I wouldn't mind one bit.


The LA Times chimes in.

Square peg Keller comes full circle

Quarterback found he didn't fit in at Arizona State, where he was a rising star before a USC comeback and an injury derailed him. Now at Nebraska, he's about to get another shot at No. 1 Trojans.

By Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 11, 2007

LINCOLN, Neb. -- "Destiny is not a matter of chance," the quotation reads above the entrance to the Osborne Athletic Complex. "It is a matter of choice."

The phrase is credited to Nebraska politician and statesman William Jennings Bryan, but the words might as well be inscribed on a chain around the neck of Nebraska senior quarterback Sam Keller.

Two years ago, while starring at Arizona State, Keller disappeared into halftime at Sun Devil Stadium with a 21-3 lead over No. 1 USC.

Keller raised his arms to a jubilant student section on his way to the locker room. The upset victory was going to make Arizona State a national title contender and possibly make an All-American out of Keller.

A reporter for the Arizona Republic proclaimed "game over" in the press box and a reporter from Los Angeles scribbled the premature proclamation on his notepad.

Less than a year later, Keller woke up here, running Nebraska's scout team.

Bad dream?

"Probably the luckiest thing that's ever happened to me," Keller said.

Keller played that second half against USC in 2005 and had four passes intercepted, the last hitting star receiver Derek Hagan in the hands before the ball trickled somewhat miraculously into the arms of USC's Kevin Ellison, who made the game-cinching pick while flat on his back.

USC rallied to win, 38-28, and it was Keller's turn to go belly-up.

He suffered torn thumb ligaments the following week at Oregon, relinquished the job to Rudy Carpenter, then earned his starting spot back before the 2006 season, only to lose it the next day when Sun Devils coach Dirk Koetter, reportedly under pressure from players, gave the job back to Carpenter.

And that was Keller's cactus career.

He transferred to Nebraska, sat out last year, and will be in the huddle here Saturday night when No. 1 USC plays the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska is ranked No. 14 in this week's Associated Press poll.

Arizona State was No. 14 when it played host to top-ranked USC on Oct. 1, 2005.

"Kind of weird how it ends up," Keller said in a recent interview on campus. "You get another crack at a team that was, in actuality, your last point of success as a starter. . . . I never would have foreseen this."

Keller foresaw beating USC two years ago and leading Arizona State to the Pacific 10 Conference championship, if not the national title.

After stepping in for injured Andrew Walter to win most-valuable-player honors in the 2004 Sun Bowl -- he threw for 370 yards in a victory over Purdue -- Keller opened the 2005 season by passing for a school-record 669 yards in his first two games.

Forty touchdowns and 4,000 yards seemed possible. Keller might even have turned pro.

"That could have happened if I didn't get hurt, or that could have happened if I had beaten USC," he said.

Plans changed. Arizona State went one way and Keller went another.

Nebraska was running low on quarterbacks after touted prospect Harrison Beck transferred to North Carolina State.

"When he raised his hand to come, I said, 'Absolutely,' " Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan said of Keller.

What happened at Arizona State remains somewhat a mystery.

This is Keller's don't-want-to-talk-about-it version:

"It was a business decision they made, players and coaches alike," he said. "Me, I made my own decision . . . and that was not to stay there."

One story: Keller's teammates didn't trust him with the quarterback keys, so they revolted at a team meeting. Keller had a reputation as a partyer. There were posted pictures of him in the company of booze and girls.

The Omaha World-Herald, in a recent article, quoted an anonymous former Arizona State player saying a couple of seniors complained about Keller's off-field behavior and essentially "threw him under the bus."

There was another plausible theory that, if a choice had to be made between quarterbacks, Keller was more expendable. He had only one year of eligibility left compared with three for Carpenter, who might have transferred had Koetter stuck with Keller.

Keller, who turns 23 on Sept. 28, has never denied that he likes to socialize. He is of legal drinking age. When frequenting bars now, Keller is careful not to have a drink in his hand when someone snaps a picture.

He also says Internet stories regarding him were overblown.

Rather than beat the stories down, Keller said, he ignored them.

"You can't let it bother you or it will tear you up," he said. "Half the reason people say some of the things is they want a reaction out of you. They want to see you go in the tank, they want to see things get worse and worse. And the reason is, you were once way up there. And once you're on top they want to knock you off."

Keller knew there would be trust issues when he transferred into town. "You come to a place and you're new, and your picture is on the front page of the paper before you even get here," Keller said. "It's like, 'Who is this guy?' "

He couldn't just walk in here with his gunslinger reputation, so he made a calculated decision. "The minute I got here I went to work," he said. "I became a grinder."

Callahan knew about the rumors that trailed Keller from Arizona State.

"None of that factored in," he said. "People asked me the same thing you're talking about. I don't know what went on, I don't really care what went on. All I'm happy about is that he's here and playing for us."

Nebraska players said they would have been suspicious had Keller walked into town with an attitude.

"If he would have come in with a big head, he obviously would have shunned some guys," senior safety Bryan Wilson said. "Sam's not that guy. . . . He came in humble. He ran the scout team last year."

Wilson even did his own research on Keller.

"I knew a couple of guys who went to ASU," Wilson said. "Everybody said the same thing. He's a good guy. He wasn't arrogant; he was just a fun-loving guy who loves football."

Go to school, go to practice -- "books and ball," as Callahan says.

Isn't that how a new player earns respect?

"You just show them," Keller said. "Talk is cheap. Everything that circulated [in Arizona] was all talk, know what I mean? I just had to come here and be myself. The whole process made me realize how much I love football, and how blessed I was to have this second opportunity. Because it was taken and yanked away, and I've had to crawl my way back."

Keller has not been spectacular in victories against Nevada and Wake Forest. He is averaging 225.5 yards passing per game, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Part of Keller's problem in the past was that he sometimes took too many chances on the field -- that's the gunslinger in him. He has had to accept a more mature approach in Callahan's West Coast offense. But even Callahan says: "I don't want to kill his spirit. I told him, 'All I'm trying to do is get you to maintain your poise, keep you thinking ahead, keep you thinking through the job.' "

Unlike with the Arizona State team he led in 2005, Keller has a marquee tailback to lean on at Nebraska in Marlon Lucky, who is third in the nation with 323 yards rushing.

As far as destiny goes, well, Keller made his choice and it wasn't by chance.

And now top-ranked USC is coming back to town -- a different town.

Two years after Keller thought he'd flushed it all away that day in Tempe, the gunslinger gets one more shot here in Lincoln.

Don't expect any first-half fist pumps this time.



- From the Lincoln paper.


Keller gets second chance against USC

By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007 - 09:11:20 am CDT

Held back by a fence and guys in security shirts, the boys found their best option to be shouting.

“Sam! Sam! Sam!”

Sam Keller emerged from the locker room and into the southern heat with a middling stat line: 24-for-41, 258 yards, one touchdown, one fumble, two interceptions.

And maybe those numbers weren’t good enough for some grown-ups back home, those people already unloading their Husker concerns onto blogs, message boards, radio shows, whatever. But it was sure as heck good enough for two red-shirted boys lining a fence in Winston-Salem, N.C.

“Sam! Sam! Sam!”

The Husker quarterback didn’t hear them. There were media types already converging on him to ask about the next game, that one against Southern California. Never mind it was only minutes after an exhausting 20-17 win against Wake Forest.

Keller said he’d like to enjoy the win for the night, but eventually he started answering questions about the No. 1 Trojans anyway.

The senior had played them, after all. And for one half at least, he had those Trojans scared.

This was back in 2005, before Keller transferred to Nebraska, back when he was at Arizona State.

He completed 26 of 45 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns against the Trojans. He also threw five interceptions, four of them in a second half that saw USC rally to a 38-28 win.

Keller remembers plenty of it. You don’t forget the ones against teams like USC.

“We took what they gave us. We were patient. They want to keep the game in front of them, just like Wake Forest did,” Keller said. “And, at the same time, when you get down against them, there’s windows. You can hit those windows, but they close really fast.

“What happened against SC the last time I played them was I tried to hit windows and when their linebackers get a hand in the air ... those guys are so fast they’ll just jump up and take it (the ball).”

Keller had Sun Devil Stadium rocking that night, helping Arizona State to a 21-3 halftime lead against a USC team that featured Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush.

Then came the second-half interceptions. He told you about those windows. They close quick.

Despite his interceptions, then-ASU coach Dirk Koetter said after the game that Keller made some “beautiful plays.”

“I wouldn’t trade Sam for too many guys out there,” Koetter said that night. “I love the way that guy plays and he’s going to have plenty of great plays and plenty of big games over the next year-and-a-half.”

From Keller’s perspective, the Sun Devils gave it away.

“Yeah, that was a really talented defense and we had them. They couldn’t really stop us. If we just didn’t beat ourselves,” Keller said after that game. “But they were somehow always in position, in all of those plays.”

Arizona State was ranked No. 14 that night, the same ranking Nebraska holds today — four days before USC rides its white horse into Lincoln.

Husker coach Bill Callahan watched tape of that Arizona State game last year while scouting the Trojans, but not since.

He said Monday that the viewing was long enough ago he couldn’t offer you a proper evaluation of Keller’s play from the game, and he probably won’t watch tape of it again this week.

Why would he? Nebraska has a different offense than Arizona State. USC has different players.

Callahan also said there will be no special messages delivered from him to Keller this week just because it’s USC.

“Just the same message as we do week in and out. It’s no different,” he said. “This is a big game because it’s our next game. We’ve been real consistent in that regard. That’s our approach. That’s how we’ve always approached each week’s contest.”

Despite the miscues against Wake Forest, Keller said he played better in that game than his Husker debut against Nevada.

Husker offensive coordinator Shawn Watson agreed.

“He did a nice job of kicking himself around the pocket, making some nice throws,” Watson said. “He, like myself, knows that he needs to continue to improve and continue to get better, but he is. That’s the upside of it. He’s getting better every time he comes out.”

Until 10 days ago, Keller had gone close to two years without playing a game that counted. That didn’t stop expectations of Husker fans from soaring.

It was not beyond the hope of some that he might emerge as an equal to last year’s quarterback, Zac Taylor. Maybe he’d even be better. No small challenge, considering Taylor was the 2006 Big 12 offensive player of the year.

Of course, people forget how it began for Taylor. In his first two games as a Husker, his numbers were 29-for-69, one touchdown, three interceptions.

Keller’s first two games: 38-for-66, two TDs, three interceptions.

Good, not great. This week the numbers must be great.

When talking about the challenge, Keller called it a “big, big, big game.” Three bigs.

He said he loves big games.

Watson senses that, too. On Saturday, he was asked if he wished this game were played later, giving Keller more time to ready himself.

“Not really,” Watson said. “It falls when it falls. It’s time to go, man. It’s time to play it.”





- Nebraska injury report/practice notes

Red Report: Callahan tight-lipped on injuries
Monday, Sep 10, 2007 - 07:34:03 pm CDT
Husker coach Bill Callahan on Monday continued with his trend of not revealing much about Husker injuries.

The two injuries of interest right now are those of defensive tackle Ty Steinkuhler and safety Tierre Green.

The junior Steinkuhler, who injured a knee less than five minutes into the opener, made the trip to Wake Forest on Saturday. He even warmed up, but did not play a snap.

The senior Green, meanwhile, suffered a shoulder stinger in the third quarter of Saturday’s game and did not return.

Callahan revealed little more other than both players are “day-to-day.”

Getting the snaps in Green’s place was senior Ben Eisenhart, Culbertson native.

Eisenhart appeared to have a game-clinching interception Saturday, only to have it taken away after officials looked at a replay and said he trapped the ball.

“He’s a smart guy. He’s a tough guy,” Callahan said of Eisenhart. “And, of course, being from in-state, he’s a guy who just bleeds Husker red. He’s going to give everything he’s got.”

BY THE NUMBERS — 14: Nebraska’s ranking in both the Associated Press and USA Today Top 25 polls. It is the Huskers’ highest ranking since reaching No. 12 in the AP poll midway through the 2003 season.

SCOUTING REPORT -- CB Zack Bowman: Husker senior cornerback Zack Bowman is showing no ill effects of the major knee injury that put him on the shelf for almost five months this offseason.

The co-captain was second behind safety Larry Asante on the team in tackles Saturday, with seven.

Of course, the big play was his interception in the end zone with 6:05 left that helped preserve Nebraska’s 20-17 lead.

Wake Forest quarterback Brett Hodges lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone that went right to Bowman.

It was, as Callahan said, “the lift we needed to close them out.”

What happened on that play?

Nebraska was playing a zone coverage, dropping seven guys back.

“He was playing what we call a ‘sevens coverage,’ where basically it’s like a picket fence (in the secondary),” Callahan said. “I thought it was just a great play, understanding the nature of their route distribution, and making the play on the ball.”

OPPONENT WATCH -- Colorado: According to the Boulder Daily Camera, Colorado redshirt freshman Cody Hawkins suffered his first loss as a quarterback in 60 games on Saturday against Arizona State, dating back to his days of Pop Warner football.

The son of Colorado coach Dan Hawkins completed only 15-of-42 passes in the game for 155 yards. The Buffs only had 39 rushing yards and blew a two-touchdown lead in the 33-14 defeat.

“We had their wallet,” CU corner Terrence Wheatley told the Daily Camera. “We took their money and we gave it back to them with interest.”





- The Daily Oklahoman says Nebraska has a chance to put the final piece of the Big 12 credibility puzzle together by beating USC, after Texas and Oklahoma took care of their business last weekend. I'd say Nebraska's challenge is a tad stiffer.

Cornhuskers have final shot at putting Big 12 over the top

By John Helsley
The Oklahoman

Oklahoma's attention-getting rout of Miami delivered a much-needed blow in favor of the Big 12's reputation.

Texas did its part Saturday, too, halting the league's 17-game losing streak against ranked non-conference foes by rallying to knock off TCU in Austin.

Still, the Big 12's rep isn't all that. And just one final shot at some national pop remains — until at least December — for swaying perceptions of being overrated.

And it's a loooong shot: Nebraska's tangle with No. 1 Southern Cal on Saturday night.

Agree or disagree with those who say the Big 12 has been found lacking. But critics can back up their position with data.

Yes, seven Big 12 teams are ranked or receiving votes in at least one of the two major polls, with the Sooners and Longhorns each occupying spots in the top 10. But memories of that 17-game slump against ranked outsiders — stretching to the first three games of this season — and a 3-5 record last bowl season haven't dissipated on the strength of one decent weekend.

That will take more than OU walloping an unranked has-been or Texas taking down some BCS wannabe.

It'll take a statement game. So good luck, Huskers, it's up to you.

"I think it's a great competitive challenge for our football team,” Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said Monday, downplaying the matchup. "We've been in big games. We've played the Michigans and the Auburns and the Oklahomas and the Texases.

"And this is the next big game on our schedule.”

Oh, it's big all right.

ESPN and its College GameDay crew will be there, building up all day to the prime-time 7 p.m. kickoff. The rich traditions of both programs will be saluted. Lee Corso might even go completely wacky and waddle around inside the Herbie Husker suit.

And before the nation's eye, in some ways the Big 12 will be on the spot.

"I'm for the Big 12,” said OSU coach Mike Gundy.

Same at Missouri, even if the Tigers figure to fight it out with the No. 14 Huskers for North Division superiority.

"I want the Big 12 to win every game there is, I'll keep it at that,” Tigers coach Gary Pinkel said with a laugh.

Big 12 status is no laughing matter.

Oklahoma and Texas find themselves in the national title picture. One — the survivor of the Red River Shootout — figures to remain there.

Yet if come early December it becomes crowded at the top and unbeatens from the Pac 10, Big Ten, SEC or, say, a perfect West Virginia are involved, conference strength could become a factor in deciding the BCS championship game matchup.

And Nebraska-USC could swing the Big 12's fate — one way or the other.




- From the Tulsa paper.

Big 12 is hoping for fall of USC

BILL CALLAHAN did not endear himself to Oklahomans in 2004 when, after a loss to OU, he referred to Sooner fans as "hillbillies."

But OU fans -- and Big 12 coaches -- will be in a mood to give Callahan hugs and kisses Saturday night if the Nebraska coach can find a way to ambush top-ranked USC.

OU would like to see the Trojan horse toppled for obvious reasons. The Sooners have BCS title game ambitions and the path has fewer obstacles if USC, one of four teams ranked ahead of Oklahoma in the coaches' poll, absorbs a defeat.

The Big 12 would relish a Nebraska victory because the league needs luster restoration. Big 12 teams went 0-13 in nonleague games against ranked opponents last season.

The league helped itself last week, when Texas beat a ranked TCU squad and Oklahoma routed once-proud Miami, Fla., and Nebraska won a road game against defending ACC champ Wake Forest. Those cap feathers upped the Big 12's record to 18-6 this year against nonleague foes.

But nothing would re-establish the Big 12 as the real deal like a Nebraska victory over the alleged best team in the land.

Asked if he has a rooting interest in the USC-Nebraska game, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said, "Not really, other than I am for the Big 12. I didn't know they played them this week. (P.S. Coaches are notorious for tunnel vision that requires 24-hour focus on their teams.) But we always, myself, I always want the Big 12 teams to win."

Callahan trotted out some coach-speak Monday. "This is a big game because it's our next game," he said.

But it's big for reasons other than that.

The nation is watching. ESPN's College GameDay crew is coming to Lincoln for the first time in six years.

Games like this don't occur very often in Corn Nation. This will mark the fourth time a top-ranked team will play the Cornhuskers on their turf and, for the first time, the opponent won't be OU. No. 1-ranked Sooner squads visited Lincoln in 1955, 1974 and 1978.

Callahan, whose record at NU is 24-15, needs a glorious conquest to secure approval from Husker fans who still miss classy champ Tom Osborne.

Callahan was granted a contract extension last week that runs through 2012. Said athletic director Steve Pederson, "In terms of what he's done for the program, he has certainly met or exceeded my expectations at this juncture."

But Husker fans would like to see Callahan do more. He is 3-6 vs. ranked teams and 0-5 vs. top 10 teams.

Is Nebraska capable of beating mighty USC? The Cornhuskers may have to get lucky -- make that Marlon Lucky -- to do it. The Trojans beat the Huskers 28-10 last season, holding Callahan's team to 211 total yards, including 68 rushing yards on 36 attempts.

Lucky, a junior I-back from North Hollywood, Calif., carried 10 times for 27 yards against USC last season. Now he ranks first in the Big 12 and fifth nationally in rushing yards (161.5 yards per game).

If Lucky can be a factor Saturday, perhaps the Huskers can hang with a team that Callahan says has no weaknesses.

"Our guys will compete," Callahan said. "That's all I'm interested in is to see is how hard we compete and, if we do that, I'll be satisfied."



-USC Notes

- A starting CB for USC is out for Saturday's game. And other USC notes from the LA Daily News.

USC cornerback Pinkard is sidelined
BY SCOTT WOLF, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 09/10/2007 11:05:20 PM PDT


USC's secondary was dealt a potentially critical blow Monday when cornerback Josh Pinkard was believed to have torn ligaments in his knee, according to sources.

Officially, USC coach Pete Carroll said Pinkard was out for the Nebraska game and would need more examination by team doctors.

"There's more in there than what we thought," Carroll said.

But sources said Pinkard tore ligaments in his left knee, the opposite knee he tore ligaments in last season. Pinkard redshirted last year, so this injury would be costly because he would have just one year of eligibility remaining.

He was considered so impressive in training camp at cornerback that he switched from safety and was named the starter ahead of Cary Harris, who started 11games last season.

"Josh is an incredible athlete and he seems to be a more dominant athlete on our practice field at corner," Carroll said.

What noise? Traveling to Nebraska is considered one of the toughest road experiences in college football, but Carroll sounded unfazed by the challenge.

"We've dealt with this for years," he said, referring to recent trips to Arkansas, Notre Dame, Kansas State and perhaps the loudest crowd, a game against Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.
USC is expected to pipe in crowd noise at practice this week to help prepare for Nebraska, which is a Carroll standard whenever the Trojans play a tough road game.

As if a trip to Nebraska is not enough, ESPN will bring its College GameDay show to Lincoln. USC is the first team ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll to visit Nebraska since 1978, when top-ranked Oklahoma was upset by the fourth-ranked Huskers.

Tailback rotation: C.J. Gable will start again against Nebraska with Stafon Johnson as the backup. Chauncey Washington, who missed the Idaho game with a sprained shoulder, will try to get cleared by doctors today but is expected to play sparingly.

Freshman Joe McKnight should also see more time because his sprained knee feels better.

"We're hoping to use him," Carroll said. "He's looking better out there."

Green hopeful: Tailback Broderick Green, who suffered a stress fracture in his foot, said he hopes to play this season even though he will be out at least another month.

"No, I'm not going to redshirt," Green said. "I'll have the boot off my foot in a couple weeks so I think I'll be playing."

Quick comeback? Center Matt Spanos, who tore a triceps muscle before the Idaho game, will try to practice this week but is not expected to play.

Back to grass: USC practiced on FieldTurf on Monday even though Carroll disdains it.

"I can't get used to liking it but the players don't seem to mind," he said.

The Trojans return to Howard Jones Field today and Wednesday.




- Good piece on a Nebraskan in Iraq.

Big Red is golden for those serving red, white and blue

Matthew O'Brien grew up in Oshkosh, Neb., population 762, and the self-proclaimed, "Goose Hunting Capital of Nebraska." The local hospital has exactly 10 beds. The newspaper publishes once a week. The nearest major airport is 220 miles away in Denver.

"The middle of nowhere," says O'Brien, 22.

Maybe that's why O'Brien enlisted in the Army in 2004 and became a paratrooper -- 82nd Airborne, 2nd Battalion of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Delta Company. He did a tour of duty in Iraq three years ago and was deployed to Afghanistan in February. Afghanistan is where he lost the vision in his right eye and suffered partial sight loss in his left eye.

"I don't think they can fix it," he says. "I've been to doctors in Germany, San Antonio, Washington, D.C. They're trying to do the best they can. It kind of sucks because I was right-eye dominant."

Kind of sucks? But this is Spc. Matthew O'Brien for you. Never met a day he didn't like. Glass-entirely-full type of guy. E-mail address begins, "OB1hotstuff. "



"I just serve my country," he says. "Some people do different jobs and I chose this one."

Through it all -- in tiny Oshkosh … in Iraq … in Afghanistan … and now at the Womack Army Medical Center in Fort Bragg, N.C. -- there has been one red-and-white constant in O'Brien's life: Nebraska football.

Even though Oshkosh is closer to the Wyoming and Colorado state lines than it is to the Nebraska campus in Lincoln, O'Brien is a child of the corn. He knows more about Cornhuskers football than its coach, Bill Callahan. Maybe even more than the great Tom Osborne himself.

Eric Crouch this. Scott Frost that. Is there a detail of any Nebraska game that O'Brien doesn't know?

It didn't matter if he was in the Middle East or the middle of nowhere, O'Brien never forgot about the team he loved. And as it turns out, Nebraskans never forgot about him, either.

This is where Art Ladenburg, NU Class of '60, comes in. Ladenburg lives in Fairfax, Va., and spent 30 years in the CIA. He knows a little something about special ops.

Ladenburg is nuts about the Cornhuskers. He knew Nebraska was playing at Wake Forest on Sept. 8, knew that Groves Stadium seats less than 30,000 fans, and knew tickets would be at a premium (for ACC games, Wake is required to provide the opposing school with 4,300 tickets; for the Nebraska game, just 3,000 tickets for 15,000 requests). So he bought a Wake Forest season ticket. And he wasn't the only NU fan to pay anywhere from $99-$190 for the Demon Deacons' six-game home package.

"We're a little crazy here in Huskerland," Ladenburg says.

But in a good way. Nebraska fans give a standing O to the opposing team, win or lose, at the end of every game. They're not college football's most patient fans, but they're the most polite. Even most of their hate mail is nice.

"The greatest fans in all of college athletics," says Randy York, Nebraska's associate athletic director. "Nebraskans are good-hearted people who do good-hearted things."

Ladenburg is one of those people. He noticed that the Sept. 15 Wake Forest opponent was none other than Army. Bing. "There must be a military hospital nearby," he said to himself.

There was: the Womack Army Medical Center, home of the Warrior Transition Battalion. The WTB includes 345 soldiers, some of whom underwent single-limb amputations, or suffer from mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), or, in O'Brien's case, have experienced acute loss of vision.

Ladenburg decided to donate the Army ticket from his Wake Forest season-ticket package to the wounded soldiers at Fort Bragg. Then he posted his idea on a Nebraska football fan Web site. Before long, dozens, then hundreds of Huskers fans were pledging their Army tickets to the WTB.

"Fans have actually gone out and bought more [Wake Forest] tickets," Ladenburg says. "What group deserves it more than those guys?"

At last count, Nebraska fans have donated about 200 tickets. They'll spring for more as soon as they hear there's 345 Warriors.

"The amount of participation for this is extraordinary," says Lt. William Bishop, who coordinates operations for the battalion. "It's one of the largest contributions we've had."

On Wednesday at Fort Bragg, a first sergeant asked members of the Warrior Battalion, "Anybody here from Nebraska?"

"Yes, sir," O'Brien said. "I'm from Nebraska."

"Well, there's some people who want to talk to you. They have some tickets for a Nebraska game. You want to go?"

Are you kidding? Does a Husker wear red and love lard? Of course, O'Brien wanted to go.

O'Brien can't drive a car because of his eyesight, so a friend from the base shuttled him 2½ hours from Fort Bragg to Winston-Salem. Nebraska fans invited him to a party Friday night, and on Saturday he watched (sort of -- his eyesight made it difficult to even read the scoreboard) the Huskers beat Wake, 20-17. It was the first Nebraska game he had ever attended in person.

"This is a dream," he says.

Now he has a ticket for the Army game.

"And I got lucky on that one too," he says. "The guy who had the tickets didn't know I was already going to the Nebraska game. When I told him -- and offered to give him back the Army tickets -- he said, 'No, no, you look like you love football more than I do.'"

He does, which is why he'll happily take whatever seat they give him Saturday afternoon at Wake. And if the traffic isn't too bad, he might make it back to Fort Bragg in time for the second half of the USC-Nebraska game.

Whatever happens, O'Brien says he owes Nebraska fans a handshake.

"Cornhusker fans, you can't beat them," he says. "I hope I get a chance to thank everybody."

Actually, Matt, it's the other way around.



- Picks O'the Day

Yesterday - 4-2
YTD - 144-131

Survival

- It wasn't pretty, the offense was hit and miss running the ball, and Sam Keller made some mistakes that could have cost them the game. But they came away with a victory on the road against a 2006 conference champion. I'll take it. Play that way against USC this Saturday, and it'll be 45-0.

Observations:

- I couldn't understand how Nebraska's O-line could look so ordinary after playing such a complete game the week before. This is a Wake defense that gave up some major points and yards to Boston College the week before.

- The complacency and lack of focus was alarming. Looking ahead? Maybe. But that's a bad trait for a team, especially when they're on the road, where your focus and intensity level should be at its highest.

- WR's, like last week, were painfully ordinary. Callahan must upgrade this position immediately. Too many drops for the 2nd game in a row.

- Why Wake didn't run the shotgun, WR end around every stinkin' play is beyond me. Nebraska couldn't stop it and showed no improvement in stopping it all game, and Wake ran it a ton. I'd have run it every damn play. The lack of speed on Nebraska's defense should have been exploited.

- Roll outs by the QB and crossing routes across the secondary was another thing that killed Nebraska. They got burned once, Wake dropped another sure-TD, and it could have been much worse if Wake had kept running it, but strangely, they didn't.

- I'm a Callahan fan, he's improved the talent level, the offense, and the overall state of the program. But he still kills me with key play calls late in games and an NFL-like mentality in managing a game.

The timeout on 3rd and 2 from the Wake 35 with roughly 2:30 left was just dumb. Keep the clock running, you've been running the ball pretty well on the drive, have them on their heels a tad, have a little bit of momentum, and you force them to use their timeouts. Just keep lining up and pounding the ball. Don't let them rest and get the right personnel in.

That's just overthinking the situation. If you're dead set on going for it on 4th and not kicking the FG (which he apparently was), why not say to yourself, we're just going to line it up and have 2 plays to make 2 yards and we're not going to overthink it by calling a timeout and killing our own momentum. And if we don't make it? They have to burn their own timeouts and will have a much tougher time going down the field.

Instead, Wake was able to regroup, save their timeouts, and stuff Nebraska 2 consecutive times.

I'm not agreeing with the line of thinking of going for it on 4th. I'm just saying if you're going that route, Callahan could have done it a lot better and smarter.

Me personally, I'd have pooched it and pinned them inside the 10. You have an all conference punter, use him.

- If they run some of those slow developing plays like they did against Wake next week, they may have only 50 yards rushing. So, since they likely will run these plays and the running game will be effectively shut down, guess who must come to the rescue? Sam Keller.

- I know some are down on Keller, but I'm not one of them. Yes, he looks uncomfortable at times with the offense, he locked into receivers a bit too much, but his WR's suck bad, he has no TE, and he puts the ball on the money with great accuracy. The WR's just can't catch the damn thing. I don't remember them being this bad last year, and the same group returned from last year.

- If Nebraska loses next Saturday, it won't be because Keller wasn't accurate and didn't put them in a position to win. Yes, he has the Brett Favre syndrome of trying to do too much and never thinking a play is dead, but so far, his turnovers haven't been debilitating. He's been saved a few times by the defense, but ultimately, they're 2-0 and he's continuing to learn and make mistakes without sacrificing wins. Some of those mistakes will get eliminated as he gets more comfortable with the offense.

- He took them down the field, he made throws, put the ball on the money, and got no help from an ineffective run game. He's going to be all right.

- The running game wasn't good, but Lucky played well. He ran hard and did what he could. The line just didn't play well. He's proving he can be a 25 carry horse.

- Suh is a beast. I always knew he was strong, but Saturday he showed it big time. He blew up some plays and saved Nebraska's ass when Wake got in the red zone. Big time.

- Luck, luck, luck. I can't lie and say Nebraska didn't get lucky. But I don't care, it was a road win and it kept them 2-0 going into the biggest game of the Callahan Era. The only hope I have is Keller's experience in big games or against top opponents and Nebraska's ability to play 10 times better at home than on the road.


- National Observations



- Texas A&M should be worried. How do you shut a team out for most of the game only to implode late, get taken to OT, and be put in a position to where anything can happen. To where your ability to control the game is no longer in your hands. They got lucky.

- Texas still doesn't impress me. TCU's offense licks a fat one. Texas did what they should have done to a team like that at home. That said, TCU's defense is very good and they'll win 10 games or so, so Texas should be given some credit.

- Oklahoma validated a lot of what I thought about them. They're good, very good. Could be the fastest defense in the land. And Bradford doesn't look like a freshman.

- I knew Va. Tech would get rolled. LSU's stout.

- Never bet on Auburn or Georgia. Ever. Neither can score, are inconsistent and will always disappoint. Auburn just flat pisses me off. Give me a team that actually wants to score points. Just pitiful.

- I don't want to hear crap about Louisville or West Virginia. To play defense like that and expect respect from around the country is just ridiculous. I'll never take these teams seriously when talking BCS if they continue to play defense like they do.

- Michigan, thank you for finally exposing yourself to the rest of America. I've been on your case for a few years now, but now you've finally dropped your pants in front of the nation. I love it when my predictions are correct, I love it even more when it's Michigan or the Big 10.

- This conference sucks. Ohio State struggles with Akron, Michigan St. with Bowling Green, Michigan gets exposed on defense for the 2nd week in a row, Minnesota barely beats Miami (OH), and Wisconsin barely beats UNLV. I love it.

- Gameday's in Lincoln on Saturday.


- Big 12 Rankings



1) Oklahoma 2-0 - No doubt.
2) Texas 2-0 - As much as I'm down on them, they still beat a ranked team and a pretty stout defense.
3) Nebraska 2-0 - They need to show me something this Saturday.
4) Missouri 2-0 - No matter how bad Ole Miss is, they still beat an SEC team on the road.
5) Texas A&M 2-0 - That Fresno debacle dropped them.
6) Oklahoma St. 1-1 - Good bounceback.
7) Kansas St. 1-1 - Actually did better than I thought against San Jose St.
8) Texas Tech 2-0 - Not paying attention to them until they play someone.
9) Kansas 2-0 - Same as Tech.
10) Colorado 1-1 - Good crown game Saturday night.
11) Baylor 1-1
12) Iowa St. 0-2 - The most pitiful team in D-1.


- National Top 10

1) LSU - It's going to take an SEC dog fight one Saturday or a stroke of luck to beat them.
2) Oklahoma - They're f'ing good.
3) USC - Being idle and looking lackluster against Idaho will drop you.
4) Florida - Not a bad start to defending the title. They'll lose a few, but for right now, not looking bad.
5) West Virginia - Ended up beating Marshall by 25, but it was too hard for a top team. There's just not anyone else to put at #5.
6) Texas - Ok, you're back in the top 10. Beating TCU has to count for something.
7) Cal - A very close game, gave up too many points, but it was a road game against a decent team.
8) UCLA - Really like this team, really do.
9) Wisconsin - Not sure why they're here, but they are.
10) Louisville - Just looking for any excuse to blast them out of the top 10 after giving up 42 points to Middle Tenn St.


Dropped out and probably won't be seen again
Va. Tech
Georgia





- Rangers continue to fly under the radar but just keep winning. Do you think anyone in the metroplex even thinks about them anymore? Have won 5 games in a row and 12 of 14. And actually may not finish last, as they pull into a tie with Oakland for 3rd.
Win again last night, 12-9.

Rangers' leaky pen makes mark in win


12:15 AM CDT on Monday, September 10, 2007
By EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News
egrant@dallasnews.com

ARLINGTON – In case you had to tune into the Cowboys opening kickoff Sunday and missed the end of the Rangers game, which had been scheduled to start a mere five hours earlier, well, you missed another record-breaking win.

In this case, that wasn't such a good thing.

In outlasting the weather and an even sloppier Oakland club, 12-9, seven Rangers combined to heave the ball 230 times to home plate. Since pitch counts were first tracked in 1988, no team has thrown more pitches in a nine-inning win. Colorado had thrown 229 in a win over St. Louis in 2000. Being lumped with Colorado when it comes to pitching records isn't a very good place to be.

The good news for the Rangers, however, was that their fifth consecutive win moved them into a virtual tie with Oakland for third in the AL West. It's the first time they haven't been alone in last in the division since April 24.

"It wasn't nice to watch," manager Ron Washington acknowledged. "But as well as we've been playing lately, for these guys to grind things out and answer Oakland when they came back, I'm very proud of them."

Or as Ian Kinsler put it when asked if this was the worst game in the history of baseball: "No. ... Wait, yeah, it probably was. I'm glad we won this, because it would have been a really bad loss."

The question the Rangers must answer is whether this will be a pyrrhic victory in their pursuit of .500. They are six games under (68-74) with 20 to play.

But they have an exhausted bullpen and a doubleheader Tuesday at Detroit to start a stretch of 17 games in 16 days.

Vicente Padilla, who has a 9.06 ERA on the road this season, starts Tuesday's first game.

Washington will be without: Frank Francisco (who threw 56 pitches in 1 1/3 innings, an outing so bad that the official scorer declined to give him the win even though he had the first shot at it); Scott Feldman (who tweaked his knee and was also bypassed for the win after allowing three walks in 1 1/3 innings); Bill White (who threw 38 pitches in two innings to earn his first major league win) and John Rheinecker (32 pitches).

The Rangers may be able to bring Sunday's starter, Kevin Millwood, back on short rest after he threw only 30 pitches. But it's more likely he'd be available for Wednesday's game rather than Tuesday's doubleheader.

"Hopefully, Padilla can give us seven or eight innings," Washington said. "If we have to go to the bullpen in the fifth, we are in deep trouble."

The Rangers seemed to have control Sunday after the rain delay. They scored eight runs in the bottom of the second to take an 8-1 lead. The inning included a three-run homer by Sammy Sosa that traveled 442 feet into the club level in left field.

"I think the thing I'll remember most about my first win was finally getting to see Sammy hop," White said.

The A's, however, whittled it to 9-8 by scoring three runs in the top of the seventh. The Rangers answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Jerry Hairston Jr., in an 8-for-71 slump, singled through the left side to score two runs.

"Hey, it was a long day, but we won the game and there is nothing ugly about that," Michael Young said. "It may have been long, but it was worth it."



- Picks O'the day

Weekend FB - 15-10-1

YTD FB - 20-13-1