Lots of comments and questions about Ohio State, so that's where I'll begin this week's mailbag:
From Chris in Ohio: While I know Ohio State has been very successful the last few years despite their epic meltdowns in big games, do you think it's time for Jim Tressel to shake things up with some of his assistants? Also, in the event Arizona State beats UGA, you'd put Arizona State over Ohio State and they lost to UNLV? It's a sad day in college football when a team gets that much hate for losing to the #1 team in the country in their own house this early in the season without their best player.
Feldman: As I wrote a few days before the OSU-USC game, I think it'd be hard for Tressel to make the decision to shake up his staff, but after seeing how the Buckeyes have struggled in those big games, maybe some new ideas would be the best thing for the program. Still, Tressel made it clear this week, he's not going to surrender his role as OSU's play-caller:
"I don't know, maybe my ego wouldn't let me," he said Thursday. "Or maybe I'm a workaholic. I couldn't read comic books all day. I've got to go watch film."
To take things a step further, I think it can be very hard for a lot of coaches to make a big shift from what they know. I get the sense from many of them that their favored systems are like your favorite type of music, meaning they're established in your formative years and whether you like to admit it or not, we tend to cling to that style. Moreover, I think it's one thing for a head coach who came up as a defensive coordinator to hire a Mike Leach-type offensive guy, but it many cases it's harder when it's something on your side of the ball to make such an overhaul.
On the second point: I did say that IF ASU were to beat Georgia they should be ahead of Ohio State. Regardless of not having Beanie Wells, I think you have to still judge the Buckeyes on what they've done. And at this point, it wouldn't stack up to ASU beating a top-five team in Georgia. The Buckeyes' case: a blowout of a FCS (formerly 1-AA) team (Youngstown St.); a near-loss to Ohio and a blowout loss to USC. There's just not much to build off of that.
From Toby in San Diego: You give the Mountain West some credit, but then turn around and still have the MWC behind the Pac-10? Are you serious? Does the Mountain West going 4-0 against the Pac-10 mean nothing to you? If the Pac-10 didn't have USC that league would be the WAC.
Feldman: No doubt the MWC is off to a great start, but I don't think you can just factor out the presence of USC when it comes to the worth of the Pac-10. That's like saying if In-N-Out couldn't serve hamburgers, nobody would eat there. Well, it doesn't work like that. That's the big part of the whole deal. I feel like the MWC has narrowed the gap, but if you matched up the leagues' teams, how would this series play out?
USC vs. BYU
Oregon vs. Utah
ASU vs. TCU
Cal vs. Air Force
Arizona vs. New Mexico
UCLA vs. Wyoming
Stanford vs. UNLV
Oregon State vs. CSU
Washington vs. SD State
My hunch: USC, Oregon, TCU, Cal, UNM, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon State, Washington.
From Chris in Knoxville: I understand why The UT/Florida game is not receiving as much hype, but can anyone admit that if Tennessee would've beaten UCLA we would be top 15? Not only top 15, but also this game would be the talk of the week.
Feldman: I suspect the Vols would've been top 15 if they had, as many expected, beaten UCLA. But they didn't, and then it doesn't help the perception of the UT when the Bruins lose by 59 to BYU. That said, I'm still not sure the UF-UT game would be bigger than LSU-Auburn.
From Joe in Winston-Salem, N.C.: In one of your latest chats someone asked you who the best team in North Carolina was and you said ECU over UNC. Did you forget about Wake Forest? Over the last three seasons they have been undefeated against teams from North Carolina (9-0). That included wins against ECU and UNC, not just Duke. They are a top-20 team this year, so do you want to re-think that statement about ECU and UNC being the best teams this year?
Feldman: Thanks, Joe. I actually did forget them. Sometimes in the chat setting I get moving too fast and I goof like that. I think that's why a lot of us chatters tend to be reluctant to answer questions like, "Who are the eight best linebackers in the country?"
From Brett in NYC: Are WVU officials rethinking that extension to coach Bill Stewart? I know it is a little early to hit the panic button, but there are some glaring concerns coming out of the Colorado game. The offense mishandled the clock management at not only the end of regulation but also in the fist half. Compound that with inability to pick up hard yards or throw the ball downhill and you get losses to inferior teams. Think they miss Rich Rod yet?
Feldman: I do think it's too early to hit the panic button, but as I watched the game last night I was trading texts with a buddy and we had some similar thoughts to you on that. That said, there are some huge adjustments career assistants need to make when they become the top guy. Just from talking to some first-time head coaches, game management is one of the trickier things to get ahold of. As for missing Rich Rodriguez, I doubt many folks around Morgantown would ever own up to wishing Coach Rodriguez were still there. I just think there are too many hard feelings to get to that point.
From Pat in Oxford, Miss: I realize it's an early-season bowl projection that you and Mark Schlabach are making. But thought I'd bring it to your attention that the Ole Miss-Southern Miss matchup for the Liberty Bowl is an impossible one. The SEC's deal with the Liberty Bowl makes it impossible to put these two in-state teams together in the bowl. As well as other possibilities like Alabama-UAB, Tennessee-Memphis, etc.
This was an interesting topic. I checked with the SEC office. One league official responded to an e-mail saying there was no such rule and then, 90 seconds later, a second league official writes back saying there is. The second one was in fact correct, as Pat is.
Here is the line from the Liberty Bowl release:
"All the parties -- the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, C-USA and the SEC -- have mutually agreed that there will be no rematches of regular season games or intrastate match-ups over the course of the four-year agreement."
Sorry for that mistake. I'll have it corrected in our next projections.
From Chelsea in NYC: Who will be the next Syracuse coach?
Feldman: Good question. The two guys I expected to be front-runners, Kevin Rogers and Doug Marrone, are both NFL assistants with Syracuse connections. Thing is, I was talking to someone who used to work at the school who raised an interesting point: that hiring another guy from the NFL who doesn't have head coaching experience could be a very tough sell to the SU faithful, and who would buy tickets off that?
Two names that I think make some sense are Buffalo's Turner Gill and Temple's Al Golden. Another possible move, should SU in fact get rid of coach Greg Robinson, would be to chase one of the MAC's other rising stars. Ball State's Brady Hoke, perhaps?
RANDOM STUFF
•Impressive showing by the young Colorado team last night. I was really curious to see hot-shot freshman RB Darrell Scott, although it was another rookie RB who really caught my eye. Rodney Stewart, a Darren Sproles-sized dart, who slashed his way past the WVU D for 166 yards.
Scott ended up with 35 yards on 10 carries.
•Speaking of unheralded recruits who have shined in college, here is a nice story on Auburn's Sen'Derrick Marks by Glenn Guilbeau:
"I recruited him for one reason," Tommy Tuberville said. "He was a great basketball player. He's got great explosion. He's got leaping ability that's unbelievable, and he just gets better. The one thing that makes Sen'Derrick different is he never gets tired. He's one of those that can go all day long. He plays with enthusiasm."
•Fascinating read on Alabama's Mark Ingram Jr. by Mark McCarter:
"Mark Jr. quickly paid dividends. In the opener against Clemson, he was dazzling. He carried the ball 17 times for 96 yards. For Tide fans, it must have been like finding a diamond in your Cracker Jack box instead of the usual plastic trinket. Some Alabama players said later they knew he was good. But not that good, they said. Even as that game was taking place, Mark Ingram Sr. was all but on the jailhouse steps. He has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment for bank fraud and money laundering. (He's currently free on bail until Dec. 5.) It's the third time he has been sent to prison. He was caught in 2001 with counterfeit money. In 2004 he served a year for stealing a credit card. He's been accused of breaking and entering, but the charge was dropped for lack of evidence."
"I've made wrong decisions," he told the New York Daily News last winter. "I'll be the first one to admit it."
•If Wake Forest doesn't do a better job of tackling than it did a few weeks back against Ole Miss, they'll lose to FSU. In this story by Edward G. Robinson III, the Wake coaches take about being more sound on defense.
•Big challenge for Pitt's speedy freshman LB Greg Williams this week against Iowa and its talented TB Shonn Greene as well as the Hawkeyes' productive tight ends, writes Paul Zeise.
Williams, a former RB, certainly passes the eye test, but making the right reads and staying disciplined has been a big focus for the Pitt D.
•Andrew Luck, the blue-chip QB Stanford signed from Houston, may get his first action this week when the Cardinal play San Jose State, writes Michelle Smith.
•Nice pickup for Michigan, getting a commitment from Craig Roh, a stud DE prospect from Arizona:
"I just knew in my heart that that was the place where I could really maximize my potential physically, mentally and really in all aspects," Roh said on ESPNU.
I saw Roh at USC's Rising Stars Camp over the summer. He still needs to fill out quite a bit, but he showed a great first step and he really played hard. He also is a great student.
•Did Notre Dame have a bad week of practice? Mike Rothstein ponders the question.
•Minnesota freshman RB DeLeon Eskridge -- who rushed for 114 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries in the Gophers' 35-23 victory over Montana State last week -- is maturing, writes Marcus Fuller.
•Is it me, or does Kevin Craft look a little like Matthew McConaughey in this photo?
•Good timing for USC getting freshman RB Moody McNeal cleared. The diminutive back has been able to give the Trojans a decent simulation of Oregon State's little dynamo Jacquizz Rodgers, reports Dan Woike.
"He fit right into the preparation for the game plan, looking like Rogers out here," Pete Carroll said. "He's a really exciting kid. He's got natural feel. He looks like he's been out here."
Bruce Feldman
