0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/15/2015
If you were to compile a short list of the most painful losses Steve Spurrier has ever endured as a collegiate head coach, you would include a game he didn’t even lose, the 31-31 tie in 1994 against Florida State. You would also include the 1996 Fiesta Bowl against Nebraska — not so much the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/14/2015
In December of 2000, Mike Riley was the head coach of the San Diego Chargers. The USC Trojans, crashing and burning as a program, needed to be rescued from the wreckage of the Paul Hackett era. They wanted Mike Riley. To be more specific, they wanted Mike Riley more than they wanted Pete Carroll. However, […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/13/2015
You can hate the proliferation of bowl games all you want, but for some teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, a bowl game means a lot more than meets the eye. Sure, Michigan does not much care about the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. Oklahoma — it is clear — did not care at all about […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/9/2015
7-6. 8-5. 7-6. The past three seasons in Blacksburg, Virginia, have deviated from the enduring gold standard Frank Beamer has established as the patriarch of the Virginia Tech Hokies’ football program. Like so many other men before him who have endured a series of frustrating seasons after the age of 65, Beamer — who is […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/8/2015
In a closing ceremony for old Robertson Stadium at the end of the 2012 season, the Houston Cougar football program — soon to begin work on a new stadium which opened last year — wanted to spike the football. Bill Yeoman, shown above, was just the man to do it. Houston is trying to make […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/7/2015
The American Athletic Conference, also known as “The American” or the AAC for short, owns a number of compelling subplots this season. Navy joins the league and will force opponents to defend the triple option. Memphis, under Justin Fuente, rose from the ashes last season but also embarrassed itself in the so-called “Miami Beach Brawl” […]
Chris Petersen knows he has to get his players to compete with Oregon — if he can’t show that in the 2015 season, a mild to moderate sense of panic will set in at Washington.
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/3/2015
One team is coached by a Patterson, the other by a Petersen. They’ve both had quarterbacks step away from football, burned out and in need of adjustments beyond the theater of competitive athletics. They’ve both endured ugly off-field incidents and general friction with players who were supposed to be anchors of their defense. They have […]
“Hey, Big 12! We’re really good!” — The message BYU wants to send in its bowl game, even though the Big 12 won’t expand next year or the year after that. BYU is trying to plant seeds that will sprout several years down the line.
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/2/2015
At Nebraska. Home against Boise State. At UCLA. At Michigan. Home against Cincinnati. At Missouri. At Utah State. Those games comprise the majority of BYU’s regular-season schedule for 2015. The Cougars are the football program we all admire. BYU has taken risks. BYU wants to prove itself against the best teams from various other conferences. […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 7/1/2015
A number of coaches face make-or-break seasons this year. Start in the ACC, where Al Golden and Frank Beamer have a lot to prove to their fan bases. Steve Sarkisian is only in his second season at USC, but if he flops, he’ll be in huge trouble… and rightly so. He has all the talent […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/30/2015
Pop quiz: At what age did John Wooden call it a career? Don’t feel bad — I had to look this up myself. Answer: 64 years of age. Bo Ryan will coach his last game at age 68 after announcing that the 2015-2016 college basketball season will be his last. It’s not that much of […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The schedule — it’s a variable which constantly plays a part in shaping college football seasons. In the heyday of their rivalry, Miami played Florida State in the middle of October instead of late November. The Hurricanes clearly benefited from facing the Seminoles when they were still rounding into form. The schedule mattered in a […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/29/2015
Remember The Good Ol’ Days, those times of yesteryear when the wine was young and the sun-kissed evenings lasted forever? They’re not in the distant past for Northern Illinois football. They’re in the here and now, very much a part of the present tense. USC under Pete Carroll. Ohio State under Jim Tressel. Virginia Tech […]
Navy just defeated Army and now has a very short turnaround for the Poinsettia Bowl, with quarterback Keenan Reynolds at less than 100 percent (hamstring). Navy bagged a winning season and increased its winning streak over Army to 13 games. A bowl result won’t radically reshape the way this season is remembered in Annapolis.
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/25/2015
Navy Midshipmen 2014 Record: 8-5 (won bowl game) 1 Burning Question: How high is this team’s ceiling if it secures the ball? A year after former Navy coach Paul Johnson saw the triple option re-emerge in all its glory at Georgia Tech, powering the Yellow Jackets to a New Year’s Six bowl blowout of an […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/23/2015
The night was Thursday, January 3, 2002. One night earlier, Steve Spurrier had coached his final game as a Florida Gator in the Orange Bowl against Maryland. Two nights earlier, Florida State concluded its first season with five or more losses since 1983. It was a great time to be a Miami Hurricane. The U […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 6/22/2015
On Mad Men, you heard about “The Hobo Code,” a concise reference to Don Draper’s nomadic and elusive existence as Dick Whitman. This season, Colorado State football hopes that it will prosper as a result of “The Bobo Code,” Mike Bobo’s venture into the head coaching business in Fort Collins. Today, Student Section associate editor […]
