0 comments by Matt Zemek on 11/29/2015
It’s the topic which never gets quite enough attention when coaching carousel situations emerge, and when coaching vacancies are discussed: If the new head coach has a specific point of expertise, how will the program fill the vacancy for the “weak-side” coordinator — the one with expertise on the other side of the ball? If […]
at Stanford Stadium on November 28, 2015 in Palo Alto, California.
0 comments by Matt Zemek
While it’s true that the Oklahoma Sooners’ rout of the Oklahoma State Cowboys put the Notre Dame Fighting Irish outside the top four on Saturday night, the Irish knew that with a victory over the Stanford Cardinal, they’d still have a chance to make the College Football Playoff. A North Carolina win over Clemson (or […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 11/25/2015
The good old days often refer to a luminous past which can never be fully recaptured. For the Bedlam football series, the good old days are right now. * Oklahoma and Oklahoma State had existed in a Big Brother-Little Brother relationship for many years. The Sooners almost always set the standard in the Big Eight […]
Not only is Stanford University considered one of the most prestigious schools in the country, but it has one of the most inviting campuses, as well. Students are drawn to the school for its palm trees, nice weather and, most importantly, its rigorous curriculum.
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving are cherished pieces of college football, because they bring back the tradition, romance, and sweet nostalgia of this sport. They recall a time when college football — yes, not pure and innocent under the surface; coaches did cheat back then — was treasured and accepted for what it was, […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
It was a real pain in the posterior last Saturday to watch all those 3:30 (Eastern time) games, imbued with considerable significance. Oh, I watched them, but I didn’t get to catch nearly as much of them as I wanted. Thankfully, Oregon blew out USC and Ole Miss crushed LSU, thinning out the slate of […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The box score of the week has to go to Michigan State-Ohio State… not because of the result itself, but because a team which passed for just 91 yards so thoroughly dominated the game and overcame two seven-point turnovers… on the road… against the defending national champions. Here’s the rest of what we found in […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Last week, my colleague Bart Doan had some fun with Bret Bielema’s idea of a Big Ten-SEC Challenge. I reacted inwardly on a few levels. First, I think the idea is great. The more high-profile non-conference games in college football, the better. Second, if any two conferences do not need to participate in a challenge […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 11/23/2015
It’s just about time to spin the coaching carousel, and surely, even more names will be added to the list as other coaches get fired in the coming weeks. One coach — on the verge of losing his job — just might have rescued himself. At the very least, he gave himself the opportunity to […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Willie Taggart, welcome back to the list of hot coaching names. Taggart — remember him? — was the artist formerly known as the architect of Western Kentucky football. Taggart, in relatively short order, guided the Hilltoppers from the 0-12 cellar at the end of the 2009 season (under former coach David Elson) to a 7-5 […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
If South Florida is the classic example of the late-November surge no one anticipated, the Utah Utes model the exact opposite case study: the late multi-game losing skid which abruptly turns a team’s first-ever division title in its new conference into a jarringly barren season. Utah — playoff contender for two and a half months […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
We have just two weeks left in the regular season for a relatively small group of teams (those playing conference championship games or in one of a few conferences such as the Sun Belt and the Big 12), and only one week for most FBS programs. We’re not handing out awards here, but we are […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Schools need to have their ideal candidates and their backup candidates. Coaches can aspire to pursue certain jobs, but they should in most cases maintain reasonable expectations of what they’re likely to be able to obtain. Some of them should be content to stay where they are. Fans and pundits are busy trying to figure […]
This is what Les Miles must feel like when his team averages at least four yards per carry in a game. No team has a higher winning percentage in such games since the 2005 FBS season.
0 comments by Matt Zemek
It might happen. It seems as though the political and financial winds are swirling to the point that it WILL happen. We’re not dismissing the real possibility that it COULD happen. However, it never SHOULD happen, with the possible allowance of one very tenuous exception which we’ll address below. Les Miles really could be fired […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 11/22/2015
It was a very good Saturday for Nick Saban. See that photo above? That’s Saban taking the team picture with the 1998 Michigan State Spartans. The 1998 Spartans did not possess championship aspirations, and they did not fulfill them. Michigan State lingered in — if not obscurity — “second-class status” for quite some time following […]
MADISON, WI – OCTOBER 03: Head Coach Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes stands on the sidelines during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on October 03, 2015 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Hitting a baseball. Winning 70 NBA games. 16-0 in the NFL. Winning the Grand Slam in golf or tennis — ask Serena Williams. These are some of the hardest things to do in sports. We know this intellectually, on a “head level,” but do we really appreciate the enormity of the task and what it […]
