A great weekend for college football. Not only does Nebraska beat Colorado en route to the Big 12 title game, but a bunch of teams lost that were ranked above the Huskers. If the Huskers aren't ranked in the 15-18 range this week, you have to wonder what the hell the writes are thinking.
- Keep Voting For Suh For Heisman
Here. Let's face it, Suh is not going to win the Heisman. "The Best College Football Player" clearly has to be an offensive player. Don't let that discourage you - the point is to get him an invite to the presentation. If he can have a huge game against Texas in the Big 12 title game, maybe that'll be enough.
- Mark Mangino = Dead Man Walking
If you saw Mangino walking off the field after Kansas lost to Missouri, you know what I'm talking about. He was Zombie Mangino, walking slowly, eyes straight ahead, mouth agape - a man who'd just had his (very large) last meal.
He probably deserved that look, too. With around three minutes left, Gary Pinkel chose to punt, despite the fact that neither defense had stopped the other team. Kansas gets the ball near their own end zone, then they run two pass plays that result in incompletions. On third and long, Kansas tries a quarterback draw that ends with Todd Reesing getting caught for a safety.
The result - no time off the clock, points for Missouri, and the ball. KU's defense was true to form, and couldn't stop the Tigers. They get an easy field goal to win, Mangino is most likely fired, and Kansas ends at 5-7 after being picked by most people to win the Big 12 North.
No wonder Mangino looked like a zombie. (BTW, ESPN if you expect us to link to your videos, don't disable embedding.)
- Missouri's Danario Alexander Ignored
Alexander is not on the list for the Biletnikoff, the award given to college football's best receiver. Instead, that'll go to Golden Tate (Notre Dame), Jordan Shipley (Texas), or Freddie Barnes, the three finalists. Does Alexander belong? You tell me.
| Player | G | Rec. | Yards | Avg. | TD | Rec./G | Yards/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danario Alexander | 12 | 107 | 1644 | 15.36 | 13 | 8.92 | 137 |
| Jordan Shipley | 12 | 99 | 1292 | 13.05 | 13 | 8.25 | 107.67 |
| Freddie Barnes | 12 | 138 | 1551 | 11.24 | 16 | 11.5 | 129.25 |
| Golden Tate | 12 | 93 | 1496 | 16.09 | 15 | 7.75 | 124.67 |
- All Hail Texas
Did you hear Nebraska's name mentioned once on Saturday? I didn't. It's a foregone conclusion, nationally, that the Huskers will lose to Texas. I can understand the sentiment since our offense sucks, but apparently no one has much respect for our defense. Maybe that's just us - we haven't been that impressive. Maybe that's the Big 12 North's reputation (ala Nebraska not being ranked despite winning the North).
Or maybe it's the fact that college football media is all about offense. The concept that defense wins championships is evading people.
- Bowling For Nebraska
What bowl will we end up in? The Fiesta. Bold? No, a reaction to everyone writing us off. With our defense, we've been in every game except Texas Tech. The Longhorn offense isn't that special. Their defense, though, is damned good. Unfortunately for the ‘Horns, that'll be cancelled by the fact our offense sucks.
I'll work that logic out for you this week, I promise.
- Oklahoma State As Themselves
Thinking about a BCS bowl, Okie State? That had to be what you were doing this weekend. T. Boone can pour all the money he wants into Oklahoma State, but until Mike Gundy and the Cowboys win games like this, they'll continue to be what they've been throughout their history - second-best in Oklahoma. I don't know what it'll take to fire Gundy, but they're not going to get any better than they are now.
Nice try, ‘Pokes. Next up for you - being bypassed by Nebraska for a better bowl even if we lose to Texas because we have better travelling fans than you do.
- Sticking With Thanksgiving Theme
And giving thanks means being thankful that the Huskers no longer have to face these guys next season:
Missouri's Alexander and Derrick Washington. Kansas' Todd Ressing, Kerry Meier, and Dezmon Briscoe. Kansas State's Brandon Banks is moving on, as are Texas Colt McCoy, Jordan Shipley, and Sergio Kindle. Oklahoma State loses Zac Robinson, Dez Bryant, and Perrish Cox.
2010 doesn't look so bad already.
- Charlie Weis, gone.
I know, Notre Dame is not a Big 12 member, but in looking ahead, perhaps it's time to be more nationally focused.
Todd McShay stated that the rumored buyout for Weis is $18M. That's idiotic. If you were Brian Kelly, wouldn't you take the job just for the golden parachute? Maybe the government could step in here and cut Weis' bonus down. A university, even if private, should never be paying money like that to someone that's so miserably a fail.
- LSU Manages the Clock
Les Miles got this week right. He didn't screw up the end of the game, getting his field goal unit on the field with .09 left. His handshake with Bobby Petrino was a thing of beauty, IF they actually shook hands. More like two ships passing in the night with a fair amount of prejudice between them.