Weak In and Weak Out, There’s Always Something

We frown on cliche usage here at Weekend Wrap yet feel Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano spoke for a lot of college football when the first six words out of his mouth after his team’s loss to Division I-AA New Hampshire were, “What a difference a week makes.”

Last week: Rutgers opened the season with an upset victory against Michigan State. There was talk this was finally going to be the year for long-suffering Scarlet Knight fans.

This week: New Hampshire 35, Rutgers 24.

Last week: Rutgers was named team of the week by the Football Writers Assn. of America (FWAA).

This week: Rutgers nominated for goat-of-the-week honors by Future Farmers of America (FFA).

Last week: What’s wrong with USC and Louisiana State? USC could have/should have lost its opener to Virginia Tech and LSU needed several Oregon State brain cramps to survive an overtime victory.

This week: Final aggregate score for defending national co-champions: USC/LSU 102, Colorado State/Arkansas State 3.

Last week: Florida State is the team to beat in the Atlantic Coast Conference until proven otherwise.

This week: It has been proven otherwise.

Miami’s 16-10 overtime victory against Florida State was its sixth consecutive against the Seminoles and means even more now that both schools are in the ACC. Miami essentially has a two-game lead over Florida State in the conference race because the first tiebreaker is head-to-head result.

Last week: Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden has full confidence in senior quarterback Chris Rix.

This week: Rix commits four turnovers against Miami and runs his record against the Hurricanes to 0-5. Bowden asks his staff to investigate whether it might be time to rush backup Wyatt Sexton into production.

Last week: Nebraska scored 56 points in Bill Callahan’s coaching debut at Nebraska.

This week: Southern Mississippi hands Nebraska only its seventh home loss in the last 15 years.

Last week: The UCLA defense can’t stop a Pop Warner team.

This week: UCLA stops a Pop Warner team.

Last week: Boise State has never defeated a school from the Pacific 10 Conference.

This week: Boise State crushes Oregon State.

As they say over and over in Coach Bill Snyder’s football class at Kansas State ... that’s why you play the games.

Other cliches that came into play:

* Turnovers will kill you: Oregon had seven in its home loss against Indiana.

* Our backs are against the wall: A Notre Dame player was quoted as saying this before Irish’s second game of the season.

After its win over Michigan, is Notre Dame now in the driver’s seat?

* You lose a game for every freshman you start: Michigan started Chad Henne at quarterback against Notre Dame.

* Statistics are for losers: Oregon gained 495 total yards to Indiana’s 198.

* Great teams win close games: Ohio State needed Mike Nugent’s last-second, 55-yard field goal to defeat Marshall, 24-21. Ohio State’s record since the start of the 2002 season is 27-2. Thirteen of those victories have been by a touchdown or less.

* You’re only as good as your last game: Isn’t that right, Brigham Young?

* There’s no such thing as an ugly win: Maybe not, but Texas over Arkansas came close, and the Connecticut crowd jeered its school’s two-point win over Duke.

* It’s not over until it’s over or no lead is safe: See: Clemson versus Georgia Tech.

* Misery loves company: Actually, this week, that’s Missouri loves company:

Weekend Wrap

Highway (99) robbery: Fresno State defeats Washington and Kansas State on the road and debuts at only No. 20 in this week’s coaches’ poll, and No. 19 in the Associated Press?

Outrageous.

Why should Fresno State, which crushed No. 13 Kansas State in Manhattan, be penalized because voting coaches and writers didn’t have the sense to rank Fresno State in the preseason?

Fresno State has scored three consecutive wins against BCS schools dating to last year’s victory against UCLA in the Silicon Valley Bowl.

Fresno State staked its season on defeating Washington and Kansas State and earning enough respect to carry the team through the lower-echelon Western Athletic Conference. Fresno State, remember, needs to finish No. 6 or better in the bowl championship series standings to earn an automatic bid to a major bowl game.

Utah Coach Urban Meyer says people make too much about BCS versus non-BCS schools.

“What is the BCS?” Meyer said. “There are about 10 to 15 elite teams right now and about 70 or 80 that if they play well they can win.... There are certain teams in what you call the BCS that haven’t had a winning season in 25 years.”

Meyer is right in terms of the football. Utah already has two wins over BCS schools this year, Texas A&M; and Arizona, with North Carolina still to play. The record of those teams last year: 8-28. “They’re not the hardest teams on our schedule,” Meyer said.

Meyer is wrong on perception: Defeating BCS schools is important in terms of national credibility, although Fresno State has to be asking itself what more it needs to do.

Heisman out: Kansas State tailback Darren Sproles (37 yards in 11 carries in loss to Fresno State).

Heisman in: Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton (616 passing yards and nine touchdown passes in two games).

Heisman out: Missouri quarterback Brad Smith (It is believed no player has won the award after losing a game at Troy State).

Heisman in: Any USC tailback (LenDale White replaces Reggie Bush this week; Herschel Dennis due back from suspension for BYU game).