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| Friday, September 29 Big 12 struggles to live up to its name By Todd Cooper Special to ESPN.com | |||||
Last year, the Pac 10 was the pack-it-in conference, finishing an abysmal season with just one team in the Top 25.
But this year, the Big 12 is on the verge of mimicking the Pac's slack of 1999.
So far, the Midwest's superconference has been anything but, netting just one win in seven attempts against Top 25 teams. And of course, in that one victory, Nebraska needed overtime to overcome Notre Dame.
Throw in Texas' tumble at Stanford Saturday and the Big 12 is quickly becoming the down-and-dirty dozen.
With one week before league play begins, the conference's last hope for redemption is in the hands of Oklahoma State as it faces No. 23 Southern Mississippi Saturday.
"Don't say that, don't say that," Cowboy coach Bob Simmons said, chuckling. "We want to win (Saturday) for all the right reasons. That has to do with Oklahoma State first. Would it also bring status to the Big 12? We'd like to think that way."
To be sure, the Big 12 could use a win in the worst way.
Some reasons for this season's futility:
Baylor The good news is that Baylor doesn't have to face Minnesota defensive tackle Karon Riley anymore. The bad news is the Bears will have to face future defenses without Greg Cicero. Riley broke Cicero's collarbone in two places after falling on Cicero five snaps into Saturday's game. "You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket," Steele said. "But he was our leader and he was our coach on the field. There was a moment even I felt like Job. They had killed all the sheep and slaughtered the servants and the house had fell in." Steele plans to try to get a sixth year for Cicero, who already redshirted at Texas. "We'll push the envelope as far as they'll let us." ... Steele plans to close practice for the first time in preparation for South Florida Saturday. Steele said he's doing it in part to prevent any pressure from being put on one of his two potential starting quarterbacks -- Michael Odum and Guy Tomcheck. "I don't really like that but we're going to shut it all the way down to keep the distractions away," Steele said. "It has nothing to do with being secretive or gaining an advantage. I think we're beyond that point." Colorado After an 0-3 start, how about a week off? No thanks, said coach Gary Barnett. Though the Buffs get what might appear to be a much-needed break before Kansas State comes to Boulder Sept. 30, Barnett said he would rather play. "I don't like the bye weeks," he said. "It's not a lot of fun losing and sitting there for two weeks, waiting to play again." ... Signs throughout Colorado's athletic facilities before the Washington game called on the Buffs to "Finish, finish, finish" but Barnett said that continues to be the problem for his team. "We're a team right now that just can't finish," he said. ... The Buffs could use the off-week to work on their hands. In all, Barnett said, Colorado receivers dropped six catchable passes. Normally sure-handed Javon Green dropped a sure touchdown and perfect pass from Bobby Pesavento in the second quarter with Colorado trailing 3-0. Green was stripped of another catch that would have given Colorado a first down in Washington territory in the second quarter. Finally, receiver Eric McCready was stripped of the ball to end Colorado's last-chance drive. ... Green redeemed himself with a one-handed grab of a 53-yard pass from Pesavento and a 19-yard touchdown on a fourth-quarter drive that brought Colorado to 17-14 ... It might have been the most-watched handshake since Clinton-Castro but there wasn't any noticeable tension between Gary Barnett and Rick Neuheisel before the game. ... The Buffs have had 22 penalties in the past two games. Iowa State Iowa State's win made them 3-0 against intrastate rival Iowa in the past three years. But more importantly, the Cyclones, who have a week off, went to 3-0 on the season for the second straight year. This time, coach Dan McCarney said the Cyclones are a stronger 3-0. "There's no question in my mind," he said. "We're a better team overall. I think you saw that in the drive at the end of the game. Our players put a 10-play, 80-yard drive together when (Iowa) had come within three points to ice the football game. So there's some real grit and character on this football team." ... Quarterback Sage Rosenfels usually leaves it up to Ennis Haywood and others to run the ball. But the senior slinger earned Big 12 offensive player of the week honors after passing for 228 yards and rushing for 59 yards on 12 carries and two rushing touchdowns. . . ..How emotional is the rivalry between the Cyclones and the Hawkeyes? When Iowa State sealed the win with a stop on fourth and inches Saturday, defensive back Breon Ansley threw a forearm shiver into Iowa quarterback Scott Mullen. Ansley then removed his mouthpiece and barked into Mullen's ear until Mullen threw the ball at him. Ansley, in turn, was thrown out of the game. Kansas As Kansas prepares for Southern Illinois Saturday, coach Terry Allen said his team again will spend time on the special teams. Unlike their season opener at SMU, the Jayhawks started quickly against Alabama-Birmingham. But leading 14-0, their punting woes continued. Punter Joey Pelfanio fumbled a low snap and UAB ran it back for a touchdown. By halftime, Kansas was up by just four points even though UAB gained only 69 yards in the first half. "I haven't slept when I've thought about the punting," Allen said. "Our punting game has caused our team to lose some faith in ourselves." ... Allen had faith in kicker Joe Garcia, even though the senior had missed an extra point that would have put Kansas up 21-20 in the fourth quarter. Tied at 20-20, Allen said he didn't hesitate to turn to Garcia for the 50-yard field goal that won the game. "Joe has been kicking extremely well in practice," Allen said. "It probably would have been good from 55 or 56." ... Algie Atkinson was the Big 12 defensive player of the week for his 10 tackles, including two quarterback sacks and a fumble-forcing tackle that clinched the Jayhawks' win. The junior outside linebacker's big game came after a tumultuous offseason in which Atkinson and another player were investigated in connection with the fondling of a Jayhawk women's soccer player outside a Lawrence bar in February. "Algie is getting his life straightened around," Allen said. "He's a talented athlete. There's no question about that. And he's obviously becoming a more focused human being." ...Though he's made big plays, including a 59-yard touchdown pass Saturday, quarterback Dylen Smith has been a bit too inconsistent, Allen said. Smith fumbled and threw an interception Saturday. "We must get more consistent play out of him," Allen said. "His sharpness has not been what we've expected. In some cases, he simply tries too hard. He's got to relax and let the game come to him." Kansas State The Wildcats once again proved that they can beat up on creampuffs when they creamed Ball State 76-0 Saturday. "It was very much over almost before it began," coach Bill Snyder said. "I don't think we're 76 points better than Ball State or anyone else. We just happened to be very fortunate to get them down early and that was the end of the ball game." ... Ball State apparently didn't take the advice of their most famous alum. On his show last week, David Letterman called on his alma mater to look in the mirror before the K-State game and say: "I am a fighting Cardinal -- the fiercest Robin-sized bird in the world." ... The next victim for the Wildcats? North Texas, which gave fits to Texas Tech but was beaten fairly handily by Baylor. ... David Allen, the nation's best return man the past two years, might have some competition on his hands from his own teammate -- Aaron Lockett. Lockett was named the Big 12 special teams player of the week for the second time this season for his two punt returns for 123 yards, including an 83-yarder, against the Cardinals. Snyder said Allen, who suffered an ankle injury in the season opener Iowa, hopefully will be back for the Buffaloes. And despite Lockett's success, he should get his spot back returning punts. After all, Allen is poised to break the NCAA record for touchdown returns. "He might be getting in the same category as David is," Snyder said. "Aaron is a little bit faster than David is, but David probably has a little bit better vision." Missouri The Tigers have a week off before facing Nebraska Sept. 30 -- their third top 25 team in a row. ... It has been the tale of their season so far. Missouri made just one major miscue Saturday but it came when Zack Abron fumbled at their own 27-yard-line. Three plays later, Michigan State cashed in to tie the ballgame. "Zack definitely played the best in that game," he said of his running backs. "But he still has to work on his ball security." ... No doubt the Tigers have been much better this season after two horrible years in the punting department, but several Tiger fans booed Smith's decision to punt on fourth and two with time running out and the ball at the Mizzou 32-yard line. Missouri didn't get the ball back. "I've done that many times," he said. "I felt strongly we had to get the ball down to the other side of the field very quickly. We had two timeouts to try to hold them in." Nebraska Nebraska coach Frank Solich said he didn't hesitate to reinstate linebacker Mark Vedral after his acquittal last week on charges that he sexually assaulted a student. For all the bad press that the Huskers got over the Lawrence Phillips situation, Solich said this case was handled properly. Per university policy, Vedral was suspended immediately after his arrest and was not allowed to work out with the team until his acquittal. "There were some cases where certainly we deserved all the publicity," Solich said. "There were other cases where really the charge and what had occurred were two different things" ... I -backs Dan Alexander and Correll Buckhalter missed most of last week's practices but are expected to play Saturday against Iowa. ... When Solich said the special teams suffered a complete collapse against Notre Dame, he meant it. Solich said a review of the tape showed that Nebraska didnt even block correctly on an extra point try, resulting in a near block. One way to ensure against kickoff returns, of course, is to boot it out of the end zone. To that end, Husker coaches were concerned about the length of kickoffs from Dan Hadenfelt. Hadenfelt will go back to solely handling punts. Coaches hope his replacement on kickoffs lives up to his name -- Chace Long. Oklahoma Fans will once again see the wishbone in Norman, Okla., Saturday. No, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops hasn't changed from his fun 'n gun passing approach. Instead, Rice will be the ones running the triple option when the Owls take on Oklahoma Saturday. ... Oklahoma manhandled another triple-option team, Indiana State, last year. "It's more a test of responsibility than it is of knocking someone off the ball," he said. ... Stoops, who has a true freshman at tailback in Renaldo Works, said he couldn't have imagined a first-year player starting when he played for Iowa 20 years ago. "Nutrition wise, today's athletes are taken care of. They start their lifting and their conditioning earlier. They're just physically more mature." Oklahoma State In order to beat No. 23 Southern Miss, Cowboys coach Bob Simmons said his offense must find a way to convert in the red zone. For all the pluses in the Cowboys' 23-0 win over Southwest Texas State Saturday, the Cowboys kicked more field goals than extra points against the Division I-AA team. "We've got to have some better answers when we get inside the 20-yard-line," Simmons said. ... Tailback Reggie White might provide some of those answers. The 6-2, 230-pound junior had his second 100-yard game. "He's really grown and matured in that now he's not letting arm tackles bring him down," Simmons said. "His speed and his size are his asset. He runs aggressively and very hard. I think sometimes it gets him in a little bit of trouble in terms of ball security, but he's got the potential to be very special." ... Simmons said the experience of his offensive line hasn't hurt, either. "Reggie has had success because we've had success in the offensive line," he said. "People have to respect that we can run the ball." Texas After watching any national title hopes all but disappear in a 27-24 loss to Stanford Saturday, coach Mack Brown said he is concerned about his team's ability to rebound against Houston. "It was a very disappointing loss," he said. "They played very well. We thought we played very hard but we didn't play well. I have a tired team right now and a banged-up team right now. And we're playing a Houston team that will be excited after their win against Army (last week)." ... Brown received no questions during the Big 12 coaches teleconference about whether he would start Major Applewhite or Chris Simms this week against Houston. ... After Hodges Mitchell gained 50 yards on 12 carries in the first half, Texas averaged just one yard per rush Saturday night. "We've just been really inconsistent in the running game," Brown said. Texas A&M With a week off, A&M gets some much-needed time to heal. "Normally, I don't like open dates this early," coach R.C. Slocum said, "but this may come at a good time for us because we do have a lot of nagging injuries." First, Slocum had a rash of injuries on his defensive line. Now, he's facing some minor ones on his offensive line. Junior lineman Tango McCauley played after spraining his knee Saturday and is likely out this week's practice. Lineman Michael Mahan suffered a mild concussion and will sit out this week. Those two, and possibly linemen Billy Yates, could be ready for the start of conference play against Texas Tech in two weeks. Slocum said he also hopes to see the return of defensive back Michael Jameson and wide receiver Greg Porter to practice this week. ... Slocum was disappointed in his team's start against UTEP. The Aggies fell behind 17-14 at the half but went onto win 45-17. "I thought they would give us some problems early and they did," he said. ... He said the wrecking crew defense also didn't finish the job the way he wanted. "I was disappointed in the way we tackled," Slocum said. "We didn't wrap up. .. As a result, they kept the ball more than I would have liked." Texas Tech For all the talk about offensive guru Mike Leach's passing attack, his defensive stoppers have been the unsung heroes. On Saturday, the Red Raiders posted a shutout of Louisiana-Lafayette. "They've done a great job," Leach said. "The biggest thing is they do a great job flying to the ball. You see 11 people flying to the ball a lot. Anytime you have that, good things happen. And they've certainly lifted us." ... On the offensive side, Leach said quarterback Kliff Kingsbury has done a good job but he and the offense have a long way to go. "It's taken a little longer than I expected," he said. "I think the main reason is we're playing with a lot of guys who didn't start or didn't have a lot of experience last year." ... Leach said Ricky Williams hasn't "formally" expressed any frustration to him about lack of rushes. He said Williams has been getting the ball as much as last year -- through both rushes and receptions. "All running backs want more rushes," he said. "But his touches are about the same." | ALSO SEE Big East notebook Big Ten notebook Big West notebook Conference USA notebook MAC notebook WAC notebook AUDIO/VIDEO   The Buffs' Javon Green hauls in Bobby Pesavento's pass with just one hand. (Courtesy ABC)avi: 1465 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | ||||
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