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9BLACK E9 DAILY 11-24-06 MD SU E9 BLACK

The Washington Post x S Friday, November 24, 2006 E9

CollegeGameday By Adam Kilgore THE RUNDOWN BCS ALARM WASHINGTON POST PHOTO ILLUSTRATION TODAY CLOCK Noon: No. 11 Texas vs. Texas A&M, WJLA (Channel 7), WMAR (Channel 2) 2:30: No. 5 Arkansas vs. No. 9 LSU, WUSA (Channel 9), WJZ (Channel 13) 3:30: No. 23 Nebraska vs. Colorado, WJLA (Channel 7), WMAR (Channel 2) 9: Fresno State at Louisiana Tech, ESPN2 After the tryptophan wears off, try testing how much turkey your system can handle and watch a great day of games. The best is Arkansas hosting LSU, which has no SEC ramifications but could hold national championship implications. If Arkansas wins, especially if it creams the ZERO MINUTES Tigers, it hangs on to a sliver of hope of UNTIL MIDNIGHT playing Ohio State in Glendale, Ariz. If it loses, it can still beat Florida in the SEC There is only one championship game and play in a BCS more week to argue bowl, but its national before the computers title hopes will be and pollsters have the gone. LSU final say. JaMarcus Russell Five schools still and Arkansas running Shadow have a chance to join back Darren McFadden Ohio State in the are two of the SEC’s desert, although most entertaining Arkansas and Notre players. In what was a Dame look more like wildly entertaining game last year — and spoilers at this point. one that was in question for much longer The Fighting Irish will than expected — No. 11 Texas hosts be haunted by the Awards 47-21 loss to Texas A&M. Texas needs a win to clinch the Big 12 South, but the Aggies tested Michigan. The the Longhorns last season with mobile Razorbacks will be quarterback Stephen McGee (check out Attention Must Be Paid to Players, hampered by the 50-14 his old-school loose sleeves) and running loss to Southern back Joworski Lane, both of whom are No Matter Their College or Pedigree . Regardless back. The other traditional of how each finishes, Friday-after-Thanksgiving Big 12 game is neither team likely will Colorado at No. 23 Nebraska. The he Thanksgiving leftovers are in the fridge, they’re playing college hoops in Hawaii leapfrog Michigan in Huskers have clinched the Big 12 North and rakes are ready to trade places with snow shovels. bowl season is the BCS ratings. and Colorado is 2-9, but hey, it’s almost here; when it expires, a remarkable season will be left behind, with signing day If the Trojans beat probably better than hanging with your and coaching searches the only things left to keep message boards buzzing. Notre Dame tomorrow in-laws. Those checking out TBut before you say goodbye to college football, say hello to what you missed. While Troy night and cross-city disappointing Fresno State’s late visit to Smith made his run, Rutgers charmed the nation and Florida State and Mi- rival UCLA next week, Louisiana Tech likely need to seek rehab ami flopped, players and coaches on fields from Air Force to Wyoming, through West Coast of- they will play in their — for something. fenses and East Coast biases, created seasons to remember — if only anyone had noticed. third consecutive BCS So now, before we sort out the latest BCS mess, here are the best of this season’s unsung, title game. Those overlooked and underrated. victories should put TOMORROW AFTERNOON USC ahead of Noon: Virginia at No. 17 , WDCA (Channel Prolific Passer: John Beck, BYU Surprising Story Line: Michigan in the 20) computer rankings, Noon: South Florida at No. 7 West Virginia, ESPN2 The school that produced , Jim The Big 12’s Fall which would be Noon: South Carolina at No. 24 Clemson, ESPN McMahon and added another Maybe it’s time to give the Big Eight and enough to push the Noon: No. 4 Florida at Florida State, WJLA (Channel 7), quarterback to its lineage this season in Beck, a WMAR (Channel 2) Southwest conferences another shot. It might not Trojans ahead in the Noon: Division I-AA Playoffs, Lafayette at 6-foot-2 senior. Beck is second behind Hawaii’s have been that bad, but while the Atlantic Coast BCS ratings. If that Massachusetts, CN8 in passing efficiency and has thrown Conference received much of the sky-is-falling occurs, the loudest Noon: Cincinnati at Connecticut, pay-per-view for 3,135 yards — 104 more than in criticism — and for a while, rightfully so — the grumbles will be heard Noon: Kansas at Missouri, pay-per-view one fewer game. He has completed 71 percent of 12:30: Kentucky at No. 19 Tennessee, pay-per-view Big 12 endured a quietly embarrassing season. in Ann Arbor and 2:30: No. 13 Oklahoma at Oklahoma State, Comcast his passes, which would break ’s Aside from Oklahoma — which might go to a BCS Gainesville, assuming SportsNet Mountain West Conference record. Beck has led bowl despite suspending its quarterback before the Florida wins out. 3: New Mexico State at Utah State, pay-per-view the Cougars to an 8-2 record, and one of those season, losing its Heisman Trophy hopeful running If the Trojans are 3:30: No. 16 Georgia Tech at Georgia, WUSA (Channel losses came at Boston College in overtime. When it 9), WJZ (Channel 13) back halfway through the season and receiving one knocked off, the real 3:30: Grambling vs. Southern, WRC (Channel 4), WBAL happened, the game was thought to be an of the unluckiest calls of the year — it’s hard to fun begins. Even if (Channel 11) indictment of BC. It might have been a validation. find a team to feel good about. The Big 12 went Florida beats Florida 3:30: No. 8 Louisville at Pittsburgh, ESPN 3-8 against teams from the other BCS State tomorrow and One Orlando Breakout Running Back: conferences, and those three wins were at home Arkansas next week in columnist called P.J. Hill, Wisconsin against South Florida, Ole Miss and Washington, the SEC title game, it’s teams that currently are a combined 15-19. uncertain whether the Florida’s coach Playing in the same conference as Ohio State and “Urban Cryer” after Gators would jump Michigan, no team was more forgotten than 11-1 ahead of Michigan in Urban Meyer said Wisconsin, and no player represented that better Jordan Coaching Whiz: it would be a Palmer the BCS ratings. It is than Hill, who averaged 128 yards per game as a Bud Foster, Virginia Tech too close to call. travesty if Michigan redshirt freshman, two more than Michigan’s Mike played a rematch Two things remain the same If that scenario Hart. Playing in the Big Ten, a conference known as last season: Foster’s unfolds and the Gators with Ohio State. He could help facilitate for its run-stuffing defenses, Hill is the nation’s that if the Gators lose to Florida State, defense is ranked No. 1 in are excluded, expect sixth-leading rusher and helped the Badgers to the Deadly Combination: the country, and no BCS Coach Urban Meyer to which held off Western Michigan by only best regular season in school history. eight points last week. Florida likely Jordan Palmer and conference team with a head blow his top. Meyer needs not only to win, but to win big and Johnnie Lee Higgins, UTEP coaching vacancy has called already has said that if Defensive Monster: him for an interview. The hope USC knocks off Notre Dame later to Carson’s little brother grew up this season, and he a rematch is staged at Hokies have allowed 10.2 have a shot at the national title game. J Leman, Illinois has Higgins largely to thank. The 6-foot, the expense of a 12-1 points per game, best in the The Seminoles may be sagging, but they They should have handed him an all-America 180-pound senior leads the country with 1,230 Florida team, then country, and 231 yards per game, second to LSU get Florida at home and shouldn’t lack for plaque after his performance against Ohio State, receiving yards and is tied for third with Georgia everyone needs to put by three (the equivalent of about .01 of a yard motivation — a win could erase a lot of when he made 19 tackles and led a shocking Tech’s with 13 on 76 together a playoff more per play). Temple inquired about Foster last the wrong that’s gone on this season in defensive performance that held the Buckeyes to catches. He has helped Palmer become the system immediately, if season, but he has yet to receive much of a feeler Tallahassee. Also at noon, catch the most 17 points, the fewest they’ve scored in any game country’s 16th-most efficient passer, ahead of not sooner. from a big-time program despite overseeing what fun-to-watch backfield in recent memory this season. But Leman wasn’t even nominated for , and Nate Longshore. is regularly one of the country’s best units. This when Pat White, and West some all-conference teams, despite making 152 season, the Hokies’ defense has allowed only 11 Three Clock Virginia host South Florida. Another tackles, second in the country behind Iowa State’s Freshman Quarterback: touchdowns and, in the past five games, has entertaining backfield, Clemson’s C.J. Alvin Bowen. Leman might be the best linebacker Moving surrendered 29 points while scoring 16 itself, Spiller and James Davis, takes on state in the country after from Ole Miss, , South Florida rival South Carolina. Georgia From the SEC’s Big Three — keying a stunning turnaround. Scenarios but three others in the Big Ten — Penn State’s Paul K Tech-Georgia carries significant bowl Posluzny and Dan Connor and Ohio State’s James Mitch Mustain, Notre Dame beats implications, including both sides of the Lauranitis — kept him in their shadow. and John Stafford — to the Mighty Mite: Jarrett Dillard, Rice USC; Florida wins out. Chick-fil-A pairing. If No. 8 Louisville 2007 Heisman Trophy When Northern Illinois’s diminutive Garrett Wolfe Who gets left out, beats Pittsburgh, it will stay on track to front-runner Colt McCoy, has three inches on you, it’s easy to be overlooked. Florida or Michigan? win its first Big East championship and first-year signal callers have Probability: 25% But on national receiving leader boards, Dillard is K play in its first BCS bowl. shined this season. But looking down on everyone. Lightly recruited Notre Dame routs Grothe, who led the Bulls to because of his size — 5-6, 160 — Dillard, only a USC; Arkansas beats TOMORROW NIGHT a better record than in-state sophomore, is 11 inches shorter than Georgia Florida. Does Notre powerhouses Florida State and Miami, shouldn’t be Tech’s Calvin Johnson. But he leads the nation with Dame leapfrog 4: No. 12 Boise State at Nevada, ESPN2 left out. Grothe’s passing numbers — 2,216 yards 17 receiving touchdowns, three more than his Michigan? 7: Florida International at Florida Atlantic, MASN and 13 touchdowns — are adequate, but his closest competitor and four more than Johnson. Probability: 18% 7:30: Division I-AA Playoffs, James Madison at K USC wins out; Youngstown State, ESPN2 rushing ability sets him apart. He has run for eight Dillard has caught at least one pass 7:45: No. 20 Wake Forest at Maryland, ESPN touchdowns and 560 yards this season in leading every game, and has twice scored three. His play Florida wins out. Are 8: No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 3 USC, WJLA (Channel 7), BY FRANK POLICH — REUTERS the Bulls to seven wins and their second straight helped Rice turn around its season, as the Owls the Trojans invited to WMAR (Channel 2) OSU’s slides toward the Heisman. bowl. lost their first four but have won their last five. another BCS title 11: Purdue at No. 25 Hawaii, pay-per-view game? You know about USC-Notre Dame, and Probability: 55% we’ll get to that. But don’t miss perhaps the biggest game in Boise State history. If the No. 12 Broncos can win at Nevada, they will clinch a spot in the BCS and strike a blow for mid-majors everywhere. To do so, they will have to solve Nevada’s THE PLAYBOOK unique Pistol offense, in which the running back lines up directly behind a quarterback in a shortened shotgun. FIRST DOWN SECOND DOWN THIRD DOWN FOURTH DOWN Expect plenty of points. Despite that game’s magnitude, it’s cranberry sauce to the big, juicy Hold On Good Cause Good Cause 2 Good Cause 12? turkey of Notre Oklahoma isn’t the only Big After Miami brawled with Virginia missed Clemson Miami Coach Larry Coker Dame-USC. One of 12 team that can complain Florida International and on its schedule this season, reviewed the film of his the game’s brightest about a botched call costing started sinking in the but it didn’t miss an team’s 17-7 loss to Virginia stars, quarterback it the game. Conference officials standings, the team ordered shirts with opportunity during the holiday season. on Saturday and noticed a formation he Brady Quinn, will formally apologized to Missouri after its its ‘U’ logo on the back. After defensive Captains Chris Long, Marcus Hamilton, had never before seen. He dubbed it attempt to derail the 21-16 loss to Iowa State this week lineman Bryan Pata was murdered, the Christian Olsen and Deyon Williams “The Deuce,” because the Cavaliers Trojans’ seemingly because of a flag thrown on what would number 95 was added to the shirt, and decided Monday to collect money from employed two running backs, tight ends annual championship hopes. USC will have been the Tigers’ go-ahead the apparel company that makes the teammates to donate to Tigers wide and wide receivers. The problem, of pass Michigan for the No. 2 spot in the touchdown late in the fourth quarter. shirts is now making them available for receiver Ray Ray McElrathbey, who course, is that it adds up to 12 players, BCS with a win, and Notre Dame’s Lineman Monte Wyrick was called for the public. They can be bought until cares for his little brother, Fahmarr. In and Virginia scored a touchdown on the chances of going to the title game would holding after ran it in from Christmas eve for $16.99, with $9.50 five minutes, they collected $2,000 and play to make the score 14-0. Coker be pretty much shot. The win would still the 1, but after reviewing the call, the going toward Pata’s family. Wednesday sent it to a charity set up for acknowledged he and his staff should be ’s best ever, though. officials realized Wyrick hadn’t really Fahmarr. “Wow, this is wonderful,” have caught the penalty, but said the held. Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel can McElrathbey said. “It really makes me referees erred, too. Virginia Coach Al take heart, though: He received a feel good about being a part of college Groh also noticed the 12-man formation OTHER TOP 25 three-year extension before the game, football. I can’t thank them enough.” and tried to call a timeout, but

No. 15 Rutgers vs. Syracuse, Noon while Cyclones Coach Dan McCarney quarterback Jameel Sewell snapped the

No. 21 BYU at Utah, 3:30 p.m. has been fired. ball too quickly and the play went on. 9BLACK E9