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Battle of the conference 'What ifs?'
You've got questions? We've got answers
By TONY BARNHART
Cox News Service
ACC
What if ...
1. Another Bowden Bowl goes to Junior? Would it be enough to make FSU coach Bobby Bowden think about retirement?
No chance — at least according to the son, who has won two of the last three family feuds.
“But we haven’t beaten them down there,” said Clemson coach Tommy Bowden, who is 2-5 against his father but 0-3 against him in Tallahassee, site of this year’s game. “We’ve been able to do a lot of the things we wanted to do here but we haven’t (won in Tallahassee). That’s a big step that our program still needs to take.”
Tommy Bowden suggests, with tongue planted firmly in his cheek, the media quit speculating about his father’s retirement.
“He’s doing exactly what he wants to do,” Tommy said with a laugh. “It’s not like he has to work all that hard anyway.”
2. Miami doesn’t earn a trip to the ACC championship game? Would Larry Coker really be on the hot seat?
The ‘Canes coach has a 53-9 record, a national championship ring and a second-to-none track record of producing pros. But fans’ most recent memory of Coker is watching his team get drilled by LSU its last time out, 40-3 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
“One of the biggest disappointments I can ever remember,” said Rick McCully, a federal judge and past president of the Atlanta Hurricane Club.
McCully watched the ugliness with a few friends, including John Fenton, who played on Howard Schnellenberger’s second Miami team, which went 9-3 in 1980.
“Back then, we were overjoyed to win nine games,” said Fenton, an accountant and past president of the Touchdown Club of Atlanta. “But 9-3 at Miami is not good enough anymore.”
Both men support Coker and his decision to suspend four players, including starters Tyrone Moss and Ryan Moore, for the Sept. 4 opener against Florida State.
“I believe Coach Coker’s heart is in the right place,” Fenton said. “But I know that if Miami doesn’t have a big year, there is going more pressure on him.”
3. Georgia Tech goes out and beats Notre Dame?
The last time Notre Dame left Bobby Dodd Stadium with its heads hanging was Nov. 8, 1980, when Tech tied the Irish 3-3. Notre Dame was 7-0 and ranked No. 1 at the time.
It was validation for first-year coach Bill Curry, whose Jackets won only one game that season.
Saturday’s game in Atlanta, however, is much bigger for Tech, Curry said.
“Beating Notre Dame would drastically affect Brady Quinn’s Heisman chances, ruin Notre Dame’s national championship aspirations and cause Tech fans to say, ‘Now, let’s see if we can win the little ones,’ “ Curry said.
Not only would the win be big for Tech, but it would be a big step for the ACC and its quest to become the country’s best football conference.
“These types of games elevate the teams playing in them but it elevates the conference as well,” ACC commissioner John Swofford said. “The fact that it is ABC’s opening Saturday night prime-time game and the fact that Notre Dame is back in the national championship picture means it’s just a terrific combination for us.”
SEC
What if ...
1. Joe Tereshinski struggles in Week 2 and Georgia loses to South Carolina?
Bulldog Nation might panic. But Mark Richt won’t.
“Mark Richt has handled the quarterback situation on this team brilliantly,” said UGA and NFL quarterback great Fran Tarkenton. “If Joe T struggles at Columbia, he’ll recover and be ready to play the next game. But if Joe Cox or Matthew Stafford gets thrown in there and plays poorly, it could affect the rest of their careers.
“The worst thing you can do with a talented young quarterback is ask him to do things he’s not prepared to do. Coach Richt did these young guys a huge favor. And even if things don’t go well at Columbia, you’re not going to make a rash decision at quarterback. Coach Richt knows that.”
2. Cal knocks off Tennessee six days from now?
Jason Hobbs, a mortgage broker in Knoxville, runs the Web site
www.volnation.com, where there’s been a raging debate all summer.
Tennessee fans, Hobbs said, are divided into two camps: the “NegaVols,” who believe the program is headed in the wrong direction, and the “Fulmerites,” who think UT coach Phillip Fulmer will solve the problems that led to last year’s 5-6 stinker.
If Tennessee falls to Cal, Hobbs believes the “NegaVols” will take off the gloves and start calling for Fulmer’s head.
“We need a sign that last season is over and that the 5-6 record is behind us,” Hobbs said. “We can still win the SEC if we lose to Cal, but beating them is more for our mental health than anything else.”
3. Tyrone Prothro doesn’t come back for Alabama?
The short answer: ‘Bama won’t be as explosive offensively without Prothro, who was the SEC’s best big-play guy before suffering a horrific leg injury last season against Florida. He’s not expected to be ready to roll until 2007.
Nobody will miss Prothro more than John Parker Wilson, the Tide’s new sophomore quarterback. He said DJ Hall and Keith Brown also have big-play potential. But ...
“When it was third-and-long and we had to have a play, you could almost always count on Tyrone to make the play,” Wilson said. “It really hurts to lose him.”
Big East
What if ...
1. West Virginia is the only unbeaten team and doesn’t make the national title game? Would the BCS melt down if the reigning Sugar Bowl champs are passed over in favor of two one-loss teams?
If Southern Cal can be No. 1 in both human polls and No. 3 in the BCS - as was the case in 2003 - then the BCS math could certainly put a 12-1 Auburn or a 12-1 Texas ahead of a 12-0 Mountaineers team.
It’s all about scheduling. West Virginia plays one team ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 (No. 13 Louisville). The combined record last season of WVU’s 11 Division I-A opponents is 53-71. The Mountaineers also play a I-AA team, Eastern Washington.
“If Auburn’s one loss was close and on the road, I’d have no problem 1/8voting the Tigers ahead of West Virginia3/8,” said Harris Poll voter Joe Biddle.
But would the resulting furor cause the BCS to implode? Doubtful.
“But I imagine the governor of West Virginia would call for a federal investigation,” said former SEC commissioner Roy Kramer, the godfather of the BCS.
2. Louisville’s Brian Brohm throws for 4,000 yards? Will he jump into the Heisman race and challenge Notre Dame’s Brady Quin? Brohm, who threw for 2,883 yards in just 10 games last year because of an injury, knows that rolling up big stats is not the key to getting Heisman support.
“I always believed that the Heisman goes to the best player on one of the best teams in the country,” Brohm said. “I have to help my team win games. After that, we’ll see what happens.”
A good place to start, Brohm knows, is a Sept. 16 home date with Miami. The game will be televised by ABC.
“There will be a lot of people watching, and to win a game like that can do a lot for us,” Brohm said. “But it doesn’t matter what I do if we don’t win.”
3. Pitt gets off to another rough start? After last year’s 1-4 start, a lot of folks are watching second-year coach Dave Wannstedt and his program. Including the conference commissioner.
“For us to get to where we want to go as a conference, Pittsburgh needs to be a contender,” Big East boss Mike Tranghese said. “I’ve spoken to Dave and he feels very good about his recruiting and I feel good about where they are headed.
“But this is a big year for Pittsburgh. The folks there expect to see some improvement.”
Big 10
What if ...
1. Top-ranked Ohio State falls at No. 3 Texas on Sept. 9? Can the Buckeyes bounce back and still win it all?
Absolutely, a couple of Harris Poll voters say.
“Ohio State at Texas would be the ideal time to lose a game and bounce back,” Blair Kerkhoff said. “Second week, on the road, against a highly ranked opponent. Assuming the game was close, the Bucks wouldn’t fall far.”
“Ohio State could lose, but then they would have to be impressive the rest of the way to get back into the top two,” fellow Harris pollster Tommy Hicks pointed out. “Once you lose, you have to hope there 1/8is not3/8 more than one undefeated team at the end of the season. That’s pressure.”
2. Michigan’s Lloyd Carr loses to Ohio State for the fifth time in six years?
“Fair or not, that rivalry defines you as a coach,” said former SEC commissioner Roy Kramer, who knows a thing or two about football in the Wolverine State, having won three high school state titles and one Division II championship as a coach there.
“John Cooper won a bunch of games at Ohio State, but he was defined by what he did against Michigan 1/82-10-1 record3/8,” Kramer said. “Lloyd is a great football coach, but I know he is feeling the heat.”
3. Penn State has another season to remember?
If you think soon-to-be-80 Joe Paterno will ride off into the sunset just because he has another run like last year’s 11-1 team did, then you don’t know Joe, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said.
Paterno enters this season with 354 career victories, five behind Bowden on the all-time Division I-A list.
“He’s probably the only guy out there who is as stubborn as I am,” said Bowden, 76. “He wants to catch me, and I want to stay ahead of him.
“He ain’t gonna quit until I quit - and I ain’t going anywhere. We’re like two old mules.”
Big 12
What if ...
1. The NCAA gives Oklahoma a call?
The Sooners didn’t wait for the NCAA to act when they discovered two players had accepted money for work they didn’t do at a Norman, Okla., car dealership. Just before camp opened, starting quarterback Rhett Bomar and guard J.D. Quinn were shown the door.
But that doesn’t mean the case is closed. The NCAA still could hand down its own punishment.
“They turned in a 524-page report 1/8to the NCAA3/8, and it was thorough,” said Dean Blevins, who played quarterback on two national championship teams at OU in the ‘70s. “1/8President3/8 David Boren will not allow anything on his watch ... to spin out of control.”
There are those who believe Oklahoma will rally around quarterback Paul Thompson, one of the team’s most popular players. We’ll find out for sure on Oct. 7 when the Sooners take on Texas in Dallas.
“I expect it will take a toll on this season - a title-type season - but will soon pass with little long-term issues,” Blevins said.
2. Texas wins another title, this time without Vince Young?
Will Mack Brown finally get his due?
The coach of the defending champion Longhorns said it’s been years since he worried about that sort of stuff - and he’s much happier because of it.
“After you win one, you want to feel what it is like to win another one,” said Brown, who’s averaged 10.3 wins a year in eight seasons in Austin. “We expect to win every single game at Texas, and when we don’t I’m not very smart. And that’s OK.”
“Week in and week out, Texas is one of the best-coached football teams in our game,” former Notre Dame coach Bob Davie said. “And Mack doesn’t get enough credit for that. I really like Texas.”
3. Colorado gets it going under new coach Dan Hawkins?
Can the Buffs become a national title contender again, like they were under Bill McCartney?
We didn’t know the answer. So we called McCartney.
“Dan has got a lot of work to do, especially in recruiting,” said McCartney, whose 1990 Buffs won the AP national championship. “He’s got to go to California and Texas to get players, and that takes time because you have to build a lot of relationships. But there is tradition here, and people want to win. There is something special about Dan. I think he can be very successful at Colorado.”
Since 1989, Colorado ranks 11th nationally in wins (140).
PAC 10
What if ...
1. Cal’s Marshawn Lynch runs for 2,000 yards?
Lynch, for one, thinks that would be enough to at least get him in the Heisman conversation.
The junior also believes the fact that there have been three West Coast Heisman winners the past four years (all from Southern Cal) can’t hurt his chances.
“Hey, we’ve got some ballers out here, too,” said Lynch, who ran for 1,246 yards last season despite missing two games with a broken finger. “If we have a good season, I think I’ll get noticed.”
Lynch won’t have to wait long; the Golden Bears open at Tennessee on Saturday. He’s already gotten his fill of “Rocky Top,” the Tennessee tune that’s been piped into Cal’s practice in recent days.
2. Rudy Carpenter gets hurt at Arizona State?
Last week, Sun Devils coach Dirk Koetter announced that senior Sam Keller would be his starting quarterback and that Carpenter, a sophomore, would back him up. Then came one weird weekend, when some of Carpenter’s teammates reportedly went to the coach and threw Keller under the bus, convincing Koetter to change his mind.
Keller has transferred to Nebraska, and the Sun Devils now have a freshman, Danny Sullivan, as their backup. Arizona State has gone from having two experienced quarterbacks to a sophomore and a freshman.
If we’re Koetter, Carpenter gets around-the-clock security detail from here on out.
3. USC can’t find replacements for Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush?
Not to worry, Trojans fans. Even Cal’s Lynch said USC is still the Pac-10’s team to beat.
“They’re going to miss Matt and Reggie, but they’ve still got a lot of really good players,” Lynch said. “There are a lot of guys there who have been waiting on their chance to get on the field and are going to take advantage of it.”
