CMJ
Nov 13th, 2002, 05:31:42 PM
Got this off of espn.com - It's great! There's also another article on our standout Brandon Kennedy that's worth a read. :D
Wednesday, November 13
Sun Belt has the game of the week -- really
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Pat Forde
Special to ESPN.com
Ohio State plays at Illinois Saturday. That's big, in the BCS scheme of things.
Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Georgia and Notre Dame, all among the conga line of one-loss teams still dreaming of a shot at the national title, play as well. Those are all big.
But outside of the Fiesta Bowl vortex, the most vigorously contested game of the week might be one of the least-hyped.
Get ready for New Mexico State vs. North Texas, for the Sun Belt Conference title.
Corso, Herbstreit and Fowler might not be on location in Denton, Texas, but this is huge. Really.
“ All the marbles are on the table. Everything we've done since January is going to boil down to this game. ”
— Tony Samuel,
New Mexico State coach
(Unlike Kelley Washington and Craig Ochs, your friendly correspondent has not taken a recent blow to the head. I have been medically cleared to write this column.)
You want high stakes? This game has high stakes. Winner goes to the New Orleans Bowl. Loser gets nothin'.
"All the marbles are on the table," said New Mexico State coach Tony Samuel, who is widely rumored for a higher profile job after this season. "Everything we've done since January is going to boil down to this game."
That high enough?
The maligned Sun Belt is a one-bid league. Champion goes bowling, everyone else sits home and watches. It's like the old days in the Big Ten, when Michigan and Ohio State would wage cold-weather war on artificial turf for the Rose Bowl, in what used to be a single-bid league.
OK, that's a stretch. You won't see Woody and Bo -- or national television cameras -- Saturday at Fouts Field.
The better analogy is the title game in a lower Division I conference basketball tournament -- and if you've ever tuned into Championship Week on ESPN, you've seen college athletics at its most passionate. You can see what the opportunity to be part of the Big Dance means to the contestants.
Same thing here. A bowl bid to a Sun Belt team means roughly 9,000 times more than it does to teams from the mega-conferences. Who's going to be more excited: The winner of this game or the sixth-place team from an over-indulged BCS league that shuffles off to the Huge Life Insurance Company Bowl in search of complimentary sweat suits and wrist watches?
North Texas went to the New Orleans Bowl last year, suffering the slings and arrows of national observers who were appalled at its 5-6 record. But the Mean Green wasn't apologizing for its first bowl bid in 42 years -- the longest bowl drought in the nation at that point.
This year it's New Mexico State striving to scratch the 42-year itch and owning that dubious postseason distinction. Last time the Aggies went bowling: Dec. 31, 1960, the Sun Bowl in nearby El Paso.
"I was five years old the last time they went to a bowl game around here," Samuel said. "That about sums it up."
This not only is a huge moment for the two schools, it's huge for the conference.
For starters, the winner will have at least six victories, which means there will be no sub-.500 league bowl rep this year. Second, it provides some drama for a league that has made tangible strides this year.
Last season the Sun Belt posted all of three non-conference wins against I-A opponents. This season the number is seven, including wins over teams from the Mountain West Conference, the WAC, Conference USA and the SEC.
"I think we've improved a little bit as a league," North Texas coach Darrell Dickey said. "The credibility of our league has taken a giant step forward."
The league's showcase game will boil down to New Mexico State's option-based offense against North Texas' relentless defense.
The Aggies are 14th in the nation in rushing offense at 231 yards per game. The Mean Green is third in the nation in scoring defense (12.6 points per game), eighth in total defense (274 yards per game) and hasn't allowed an offensive score the past three games.
"They keep it very simple," Idaho coach Tom Cable said of the North Texas defense. "It's not like you can't find them or you're going to get disguised. They're going to tell you where they're at."
Both teams have gotten here on the arms of redshirt freshman backup quarterbacks, after injuries to the starters.
New Mexico State redshirt freshman Paul Dombrowski stepped in for Buck Pierce and has thrown for 1,003 yards and also leads the Aggies in rushing with 747 yards and nine touchdowns. Win this game, and he could be the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year -- and Player of the Year.
North Texas lost starter Scott Hall to a torn pectoral muscle in the season opener. Since then Adam Smith has shepherded a conservative attack that relies largely on the running game and turning games over to the defense. But Hall rose to the occasion in the one game where a Sun Belt offense scored on the Mean Green, rallying North Texas for a 72-yard drive and throwing the winning touchdown pass in the final minute of a 13-10 win over Arkansas State.
North Texas has won nine straight Sun Belt games, is 5-0 at Fouts Field in Sun Belt games and is riding the momentum of four straight wins. The Mean Green is the justifiable favorite. But when the New Orleans Bowl is on the line, you might as well throw out the record books.
Really.
Around the Sun Belt
Arkansas State coach Steve Roberts said freshman defensive end Brandon Rollins was moved out of intensive care Sunday night, five days after he fell three stories down a dormitory elevator shaft. ... The Indians have lost three straight league games by a total of 11 points, including a three-point loss to North Texas and a five-pointer to New Mexico State, showing how close the program is to a breakthrough. ... In a complete reversal of form, high-octane/no-defense Idaho held an opponent to 10 points last Saturday -- and was shut out. It was the first time the Vandals had been shut out since 1986. ... Idaho lost league passing leader Brian Lindgren for the remainder of the season to a broken collarbone against North Texas, so Cable said he will split time 50-50 the final two games between sophomore Adam Mallette and redshirt freshman Michael Harrington -- younger brother of Detroit Lions rookie QB and former Oregon star Joey Harrington. ... Louisiana-Lafayette quarterback Erik Rekieta made the most of his first Division I in place of injured Jon Van Cleave. The junior-college transfer completed 25 of 33 passes for 256 yards in the Ragin' Cajuns win over Arkansas State, trying the school record for single-game completions. Counting his fourth-quarter work the week before against Idaho, Rekieta has now led two comeback victories in two attempts. Life could get more difficult this week at Arkansas, however. ... Louisiana-Monroe true freshman quarterback Steve Jyles continues to resemble a star in the making. He ran his streak of passes without an interception to 149 last week against Auburn, completing 19 of 37 throws for 193 yards and a touchdown, and rushing for 53 yards as well. Jyles didn't complete 50 percent of his passes in a game in the first five contests, but has been mover 50 percent in four of the last five. ... Of the 22 players who started at Auburn, 12 were different from the beginning of this strange season, which saw head coach Bobby Keasler resign after three games. Only five starters were the same on defense. ... Middle Tennessee State closes with a three-game salvage operation at home. The Nov. 23 game against North Texas, originally scheduled as a potential championship contest, is now just window dressing for the 2-7 Blue Raiders, who have only held one opponent to less than 20 points this year. ... Samuel said New Mexico State will have No. 2 rusher Eric Higgins back for the North Texas game, though he wouldn't say whether Higgins will start. Injuries had kept the tailback out of the past three games. He has three 100-yard games on the season. ... North Texas human fire hydrant Brandon Kennedy was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week after racking up six tackles for loss against Idaho. The 5-10, 312-pound Kennedy leads the league in TFL with 21, and leads the team in sacks as well. He anchors a front four that is the catalyst for the Mean Green's vicious defense.
Pat Forde covers college football for the Louisville Courier-Journal
Wednesday, November 13
Sun Belt has the game of the week -- really
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Pat Forde
Special to ESPN.com
Ohio State plays at Illinois Saturday. That's big, in the BCS scheme of things.
Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Georgia and Notre Dame, all among the conga line of one-loss teams still dreaming of a shot at the national title, play as well. Those are all big.
But outside of the Fiesta Bowl vortex, the most vigorously contested game of the week might be one of the least-hyped.
Get ready for New Mexico State vs. North Texas, for the Sun Belt Conference title.
Corso, Herbstreit and Fowler might not be on location in Denton, Texas, but this is huge. Really.
“ All the marbles are on the table. Everything we've done since January is going to boil down to this game. ”
— Tony Samuel,
New Mexico State coach
(Unlike Kelley Washington and Craig Ochs, your friendly correspondent has not taken a recent blow to the head. I have been medically cleared to write this column.)
You want high stakes? This game has high stakes. Winner goes to the New Orleans Bowl. Loser gets nothin'.
"All the marbles are on the table," said New Mexico State coach Tony Samuel, who is widely rumored for a higher profile job after this season. "Everything we've done since January is going to boil down to this game."
That high enough?
The maligned Sun Belt is a one-bid league. Champion goes bowling, everyone else sits home and watches. It's like the old days in the Big Ten, when Michigan and Ohio State would wage cold-weather war on artificial turf for the Rose Bowl, in what used to be a single-bid league.
OK, that's a stretch. You won't see Woody and Bo -- or national television cameras -- Saturday at Fouts Field.
The better analogy is the title game in a lower Division I conference basketball tournament -- and if you've ever tuned into Championship Week on ESPN, you've seen college athletics at its most passionate. You can see what the opportunity to be part of the Big Dance means to the contestants.
Same thing here. A bowl bid to a Sun Belt team means roughly 9,000 times more than it does to teams from the mega-conferences. Who's going to be more excited: The winner of this game or the sixth-place team from an over-indulged BCS league that shuffles off to the Huge Life Insurance Company Bowl in search of complimentary sweat suits and wrist watches?
North Texas went to the New Orleans Bowl last year, suffering the slings and arrows of national observers who were appalled at its 5-6 record. But the Mean Green wasn't apologizing for its first bowl bid in 42 years -- the longest bowl drought in the nation at that point.
This year it's New Mexico State striving to scratch the 42-year itch and owning that dubious postseason distinction. Last time the Aggies went bowling: Dec. 31, 1960, the Sun Bowl in nearby El Paso.
"I was five years old the last time they went to a bowl game around here," Samuel said. "That about sums it up."
This not only is a huge moment for the two schools, it's huge for the conference.
For starters, the winner will have at least six victories, which means there will be no sub-.500 league bowl rep this year. Second, it provides some drama for a league that has made tangible strides this year.
Last season the Sun Belt posted all of three non-conference wins against I-A opponents. This season the number is seven, including wins over teams from the Mountain West Conference, the WAC, Conference USA and the SEC.
"I think we've improved a little bit as a league," North Texas coach Darrell Dickey said. "The credibility of our league has taken a giant step forward."
The league's showcase game will boil down to New Mexico State's option-based offense against North Texas' relentless defense.
The Aggies are 14th in the nation in rushing offense at 231 yards per game. The Mean Green is third in the nation in scoring defense (12.6 points per game), eighth in total defense (274 yards per game) and hasn't allowed an offensive score the past three games.
"They keep it very simple," Idaho coach Tom Cable said of the North Texas defense. "It's not like you can't find them or you're going to get disguised. They're going to tell you where they're at."
Both teams have gotten here on the arms of redshirt freshman backup quarterbacks, after injuries to the starters.
New Mexico State redshirt freshman Paul Dombrowski stepped in for Buck Pierce and has thrown for 1,003 yards and also leads the Aggies in rushing with 747 yards and nine touchdowns. Win this game, and he could be the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year -- and Player of the Year.
North Texas lost starter Scott Hall to a torn pectoral muscle in the season opener. Since then Adam Smith has shepherded a conservative attack that relies largely on the running game and turning games over to the defense. But Hall rose to the occasion in the one game where a Sun Belt offense scored on the Mean Green, rallying North Texas for a 72-yard drive and throwing the winning touchdown pass in the final minute of a 13-10 win over Arkansas State.
North Texas has won nine straight Sun Belt games, is 5-0 at Fouts Field in Sun Belt games and is riding the momentum of four straight wins. The Mean Green is the justifiable favorite. But when the New Orleans Bowl is on the line, you might as well throw out the record books.
Really.
Around the Sun Belt
Arkansas State coach Steve Roberts said freshman defensive end Brandon Rollins was moved out of intensive care Sunday night, five days after he fell three stories down a dormitory elevator shaft. ... The Indians have lost three straight league games by a total of 11 points, including a three-point loss to North Texas and a five-pointer to New Mexico State, showing how close the program is to a breakthrough. ... In a complete reversal of form, high-octane/no-defense Idaho held an opponent to 10 points last Saturday -- and was shut out. It was the first time the Vandals had been shut out since 1986. ... Idaho lost league passing leader Brian Lindgren for the remainder of the season to a broken collarbone against North Texas, so Cable said he will split time 50-50 the final two games between sophomore Adam Mallette and redshirt freshman Michael Harrington -- younger brother of Detroit Lions rookie QB and former Oregon star Joey Harrington. ... Louisiana-Lafayette quarterback Erik Rekieta made the most of his first Division I in place of injured Jon Van Cleave. The junior-college transfer completed 25 of 33 passes for 256 yards in the Ragin' Cajuns win over Arkansas State, trying the school record for single-game completions. Counting his fourth-quarter work the week before against Idaho, Rekieta has now led two comeback victories in two attempts. Life could get more difficult this week at Arkansas, however. ... Louisiana-Monroe true freshman quarterback Steve Jyles continues to resemble a star in the making. He ran his streak of passes without an interception to 149 last week against Auburn, completing 19 of 37 throws for 193 yards and a touchdown, and rushing for 53 yards as well. Jyles didn't complete 50 percent of his passes in a game in the first five contests, but has been mover 50 percent in four of the last five. ... Of the 22 players who started at Auburn, 12 were different from the beginning of this strange season, which saw head coach Bobby Keasler resign after three games. Only five starters were the same on defense. ... Middle Tennessee State closes with a three-game salvage operation at home. The Nov. 23 game against North Texas, originally scheduled as a potential championship contest, is now just window dressing for the 2-7 Blue Raiders, who have only held one opponent to less than 20 points this year. ... Samuel said New Mexico State will have No. 2 rusher Eric Higgins back for the North Texas game, though he wouldn't say whether Higgins will start. Injuries had kept the tailback out of the past three games. He has three 100-yard games on the season. ... North Texas human fire hydrant Brandon Kennedy was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week after racking up six tackles for loss against Idaho. The 5-10, 312-pound Kennedy leads the league in TFL with 21, and leads the team in sacks as well. He anchors a front four that is the catalyst for the Mean Green's vicious defense.
Pat Forde covers college football for the Louisville Courier-Journal