Rene's Weekend Roundup: Record-setters
This past weekend witnessed a few records fall in college football. One coach saw his salary increase by 150 percent, and some recruits are getting closer to making their final decision for college.
The Florida seniors of 2009 have won 46 out of 52 games over the last 4 seasons, including 2 National titles and 2 SEC Championships. The 20 seniors represent the winningest 4-year class in SEC history.
This year marks the first time since 1973 that there are as many as 6 teams still unbeaten this late in the college season (Florida, Alabama, TCU, Texas, Cincinnati and Boise State).
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In the "Game for the Ages" category, East Mississippi Community College beat Gulf Coast Community College, 75-71, in the 2009 MACJC football state championship. Randall Mackey out of Bastrop High School was dominant. The 2010 Ole Miss commitment and the MACJC Player of the Year threw for 494 yards and 7 touchdowns, while rushing for an additional 123 yards.
Mackey and the East Mississippi Lions had 633 yards of total offense. Their opposition had 608 yards. Gulf Coast quarterback Greg Jenkins accounted for 332 yards and 5 touchdowns through the air. Gulf Coast running back Vick Ballard had 194 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns for the losing team. East Mississippi will play in the Mississippi Bowl game on December 6 in Biloxi, Mississippi. If you're going, you might want to bring a calculator.
Sweet Revenge...
Former Notre Dame quarterback Zach Frazer transferred from South Bend to UConn following the spring of 2007. The 6-foot-4, 225 pound junior was recruited by UConn, Notre Dame, Louisville, Penn State and Syracuse before signing with the Fightin' Irish. Frazer was 4th on the depth chart in South Bend behind Jimmy Clausen, Evan Sharpley and Demetrius Jones who would transfer to Cincinnati and switch to linebacker.
Frazer did have an eye to the future when he transferred realizing that he would face his former mates down the road. He did live his dream this past weekend as the victorious starting quarterback at Notre Dame Stadium, albeit for the Irish opponent. Frazer was 12 for 25 passing with a touchdown pass in the 1st overtime in the 33-30 win over Notre Dame that likely hammered the last nail in the coffin for Irish head coach Charlie Weiss.
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If you are a true-blue, hard core Ohio State fan, you may know the answer to this trivia question and then again you might not.
Which year did Ohio State begin the tradition of Buckeye-leaf decals on the helmets for extraordinary effort and great plays? 1963, 1965, 1968 or 1970? Answer later...
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LSU has the fewest fumbles (8) in the nation over the last 38 games. The Tigers haven't lost a fumble since the Arkansas game of 2006.
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Since the 3rd week of the season, the top rusher in the nation may surprise you. UTEP junior running back Donald Buckram, who now leads the nation with 1,569 yards, has accumulated 1430 yards.
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Boise State has only 3 seniors listed on their offensive and defensive two-deep depth chart (44 players). Sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore is one underclassman that is a major reason for the team's undefeated season. Moore has 33 touchdown passes and only 3 interceptions.
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Speaking of unbeatens, TCU has outscored their last 6 opponents, 278-63. Two of those victims, BYU and Utah, were ranked. The Horned Frogs defense is 4th rated nationally. The team's national ranking (4th) is the highest that the school has had since 1956.
TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes is a Nagurski finalist. Hughes had 15 sacks in 2008 and has added 10.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss this season.
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Going into last weekend, BYU back Harry Unga needed 4 carries and 21 yards to pass Curtis Brown as the top rusher in Cougar history for all-time carries and rushing yards. Unga had 11 carries for 67 yards in the 38-21 win over Air Force.
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How is this for a pay increase? Clemson head coach, Dabo Swinney had a salary of $800,000 for this season. I said HAD because his team's 34-21 victory over Virginia last weekend gave the Tigers 8 wins for the 2009 campaign and catapulted his salary to $ 2 million per season.
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The Nevada Wolfpack travel to the blue field to battle undefeated Boise State this weekend. And don't sell the Wolfpack short. They started the season with an unimpressive 35-0 loss to Notre Dame, followed by two more losses. From the that point on, the 'Pack have won 8 straight.
The reason for their success is easy to see. They are the first team in the FBS to have three 1,000 rushers on the same team in one season. Vai Taua has 1,185 yards and 9 touchdowns. Quarterback Colin Kaepernik has 1,129 yards on the ground and 16 scores. Senior running back Luke Lippincott was 134 yards short going into last weekend's game against New Mexico State of reaching the 1,000 barrier. Lippincott ran for 162 yards against the Aggies and now has 1,028 yards and 9 touchdowns. Collectively, the threesome have 3,342 yards rushing and 34 touchdowns.
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Colt McCoy is the winningest quarterback in college football history, but did you know which QB had the most career victories in the Big Ten? Michigan's Rick Leach posted a 38-8-2 record.
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Toby Gerhart is the leading touchdown producer in the nation this season on the ground with 23 scores. The Stanford Cardinal big back is also the 2nd leading rusher in Stanford history with 3,182 career yards after overtaking former Bears and Saints fullback Brad Muster, who rushed for 2,940 yards during his day at Palo Alto.
Gerhart has posted nine 100 yard rushing games this season. He also doubles as an outstanding baseball player. Gerhart hit .288 as an outfielder last season and is contemplating playing for the Cardinal baseball team again this fall.
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Terrelle Pryor leads the Ohio State Buckeyes in both rushing and passing. That hasn't happened since 1956 when Don Clark turned the trick, but only attempted 7 passes for the entire season. Buckeye Heisman winners Vic Janowicz and Les Horvath also led the Buckeyes in both categories.
Pryor has only thrown for two interceptions in the last 5 outings.
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Now the Buckeye trivia question...What year did Ohio State begin the tradition of the Buckeye decals? 1968
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Texas Tech coach Mike Leach had 82 career wins, but the 41-13 win over Oklahoma makes Leach winningest coach (83 victories) in Red Raider history.
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Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez's Wolverines have allowed 30 points or more to their opponents 13 times in 24 games. Former head coach Bo Schembechler only allowed 30 points to opposing teams 5 times in 247 games.
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Tim Tebow has suffered a career high 23 sacks through 11 games in 2009. Some experts feel he is most likely a 3rd-round NFL draft pick this spring, with a position yet to be determined. It seems the longer Tebow has played in college, the more time his critics have had to dissect his mechanics and style. I wonder if he should have bolted for the NFL following his junior season where many thought that he would have gone in the 1st round.
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Houston quarterback Case Keenum now has 94 career touchdown tosses for his career, tying him 12th on the all-time list. His next scoring pass ties him with Notre Dame's Brady Quinn and Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury for 11th. If he throws for 5 more, Keenum will tie with Rice's Chase Clement and USC's Matt Leinart.
Keenum has eleven 400 yard plus passing games to tie him for school honors with former Cougar gunslinger David Klingler. Keenum's 94 scoring tosses give him the top spot in that category in school history.
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SMU gained bowl eligibility with the 35-31 win over UTEP on Nov. 14. It's only the 3rd time since the Mustangs suffered the death penalty in 1989 that they have been bowl eligible. They haven't made a bowl appearance since 1984 when the Ponies upended Notre Dame 27-20 in the Aloha Bowl. In that game, running backs Jeff Atkins (112 yards) and Reggie Dupard (103 yards) exceeded the century mark on the ground.
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Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones had only 13 catches for 175 yards and 1 touchdown in the 1st 6 games. In the last 4 outings, the sophomore has 18 grabs for 287 yards and 3 touchdown catches.
The Crimson Tide have collected quite a bit of young talent. Waiting in the wings on the two-deep depth chart are 15 sophomores and 5 freshmen.
Bama paid UT-Chattanooga $400,000 for their visit last weekend but are scheduled to pay San Jose State $900,000 for the season opener to Tuscaloosa in 2010. Alabama has also entered into a two-year agreement with Penn State beginning in 2010 with a home-and-home arrangement. The home team keeps the revenue for both games.
A pair of highly recruited Alabama freshmen have toiled on the scout team this season. D.J. Fluker, the 6-foot-7, 350 offensive tackle who played at McDonogh 35 prior to Katrina, and former Dutchtown running back Eddie Lacy have shown well as true freshmen. Some expected Fluker to compete for a starting spot, but the emergence of JUCO tackle James Carpenter put that to rest.
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With 2 more victories Boise State would become the first school outside of the college football powers to finish the regular season with consecutive undefeated records. The Broncos finished undefeated during the regular season in 2008 but lost to TCU, 17-16, in the Poinsettia Bowl to finish 12-1.
The Toledo Rockets were the last team to go undefeated in consecutive seasons, three straight actually, from 1969-71.
Florida State had 14 straight 10-win seasons from 1987-2000. Texas has a streak of nine 10-win seasons in a row from 2001 to the present.
The Florida Gators have 21 straight wins, the longest current streak. Texas is next with 15 followed by TCU with 13 wins.
Alabama has the record for the longest winning streak in the SEC with 28 consecutive twice. One streak ran from 1991-93, the first came from 1978-80.
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This Saturday, LSU faces Arkansas' Ryan Mallett, the reigning SEC offensive player of the week following his performance against Miss. State last week. Mallett had 313 yards passing and 5 touchdowns. He also set a single-season school record with 28 touchdown passes this season.
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Texas A&M defensive end Von Miller leads the nation with 15 sacks. UL-Monroe's Aaron Morgan (out of Amite High) is the country's 13th rated sack artist with 9.
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According to the Dallas Morning Star, LSU commitment Mike Davis from Dallas Skyline High School had 263 yards receiving in last week's playoff game including 3 touchdown catches of 74, 71 and 57 yards.
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A Klu Klux Klan rally prior to the Ole Miss-LSU game had an effect on their 2010 recruiting efforts. About 8 prospective athletes cancelled their recruiting visits upon hearing of the Klan's presence this past weekend in Oxford. Whether you are an Ole Miss fan or not, that is a sad state of affairs.
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Marcus Lattimore (6'0-214) from Duncan, South Carolina is ready to announce the school of his choice for the 2010 signing class on Tuesday morning. South Carolina, Auburn, Oregon, North Carolina and Penn State are the 5 finalists for one of the nation's top prep running backs.
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ESPN reports that LSU is in the hunt for some highly regarded 2011 recruits:
* ILB Anthony Wallace (6'1-220) of Dallas, Texas lists Texas A&M, LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Miami.
* OLB Trevon Randle (6'2-205) of League City, Texas his considering Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, LSU and Texas A&M.
* ILB Nathan Broussard (6'3-223) of from Plano, Texas has Stanford, Texas, LSU, Nebraska and Kentucky on his early list.
