Michigan Wolverines News

Rich Rodriguez found himself presenting a postgame defense of his program. ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Spend a few minutes around these Michigan Wolverines, and discover the happiest 5-7 team in college football history. Everything's fine in the Big Ten basement. Schembechler Hall, football headquarters here, doubles as Shangri-La. Each player and coach and ankle-taper in maize and blue is, as this season's UM slogan screams, "All in for Michigan." And the distance between the Wolverines and the... outright Big Ten champ Ohio State Buckeyes, who walked out of Michigan Stadium on Saturday afternoon with a 21-10 victory? Get a load of this. "Ohio State's not that good of a team," UM punter Zoltan Mesko said. "We beat ourselves." Say what? Mesko won something called the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award, which makes him maybe the smartest Wolverine. Saturday, he sounded delusional. So did the rest of his teammates, who pledged, again, that championship contention isn't far away. So does outgoing Michigan athletic director Bill Martin, who extended the nothing-to-see-here attitude by pledging before the season ended that coach Rich Rodriguez would return for the 2010 season. Ah, Rodriguez, who's spent the past two years becoming college football's most polarizing figure. He's a genius or a joke, a messiah or a mess. On this day, though, he sounded like the only sane person associated with the Wolverines. With firm grasp on each side of a podium, Rodriguez defended himself once again after the loss. He talked about the past: "The last three or four Februarys have hurt us a little bit." The present: "We're going through a growing process that we're not accustomed to at the University of Michigan." And the future: "We'll beat Ohio State when we have a better team than Ohio State." Then in summation, he added, "The University of Michigan will be just fine." It's not that simple, though. Evaluating Michigan football and Rodriguez's impact on it, gets complicated. Take the quarterbacks. On one hand, Ryan Mallett's transfer to Arkansas and a lack of veteran depth prompted the staff to play true freshman Tate Forcier as its primary quarterback. On the other, Forcier regressed this season, capping his rookie year with four interceptions against the Buckeyes. The same goes for the defense. At least eight of Saturday's starting defenders return. But given that UM ranked last in rush defense and scoring defense during the first seven weeks of Big Ten play, does Michigan want them back in those roles? Related Links Recap: Ohio State 21, Michigan 10 Buckeyes hero Coleman on his picks Michigan fans show their discontent Full Week 12 college football coverage Scores, recaps, schedules and more Check with the Wolverines, and it's unanimous. Keep them all. In fact, don't change a thing about this program. "Coach Rod is going to get it done," outgoing defensive end Brandon Graham said. "We're on the road to a championship. You saw the progress this year, even though we got stuck at five (wins). Coach Rod is the guy." But changes need to be made, and at least Rodriguez recognizes that. He and his staff need to recruit big numbers at every position. Player development needs a boost too, and a shuffle of the defensive coaching staff would count as a good start. So set the Rich Rod clock for one calendar year and start it right … now. When Michigan meets Ohio State again, UM will have a new athletic director, one unafraid to change things. The delusion, by then, will be no more. For better or for worse. Dave Curtis is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at dcurtis@sportingnews.com.more>>

Matt Hayes These are the bland Saturdays when no one is safe. No, really. How often have we seen this is the past: the relatively uneventful developing into the remarkably significant. Even No. 1 Florida, playing host to cupcake Florida International, isn't immune at this late stage of the season. "We know what's on the line," Florida linebacker Ryan Stamper said. "We're going hard." Maybe it's some cosmic balance in response to the wild... weekends of the last three years, but just when you think 2009 couldn't be more predictable we give you these six wild possibilities (ranked in order of likelihood it will happen) that could develop Saturday: 1. A Stanford player wins the Heisman Trophy How it can happen: Hey, it has happened before (Jim Plunkett, 1970), why not again? No BCS league tailback has more yards (1,395) or touchdowns (19) than Toby Gerhart, who has surged to the top of Heisman Trophy lists with 405 yards and six touchdowns in back-to-back victories over teams in the BCS top 10 (Oregon, USC). Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said it best on his Twitter account, two hours after Stanford's rout of USC: "Stop the madness. Hand him the Heisman." 2. Kansas State wins the Big 12 North How it can happen: It's embarrassing enough for the Big 12 that K-State can beat Nebraska on Saturday and win the North Division, or lose and not qualify for a bowl. It's worse that we have no idea which Nebraska team shows up: The team that lost at home to Iowa State and Texas Tech with 10 combined turnovers, or the team that physically battered Oklahoma (and could potentially do the same to the Texas spread offense) in a 10-3 win? 3. Arizona one step closer to its first Rose Bowl How it can happen: It'll be loud in the Zona Zoo, and it'll be your typical Pac-10 game: no defense and more offense than a Big Ten fan can stomach. And that's the last thing Oregon wants. The Ducks have the Pac-10's best defense, but have given up 72 points in the last two games. The longer Oregon lets Arizona hang around, the more streaky Cats QB Nick Foles builds confidence. Related Links Hayes: Week 12 story lines SN staff picks for Week 12 Who will replace USC in Rose Bowl? SN Conversation: Jim Tressel Week 12 matchups, scoreboard 4. Michigan upsets Big Ten champion Ohio State How it can happen: Rose Bowl-bound Ohio State has nothing (OK, obviously The Game is something) for which to play; Michigan is playing for a bowl game -- and maybe, as crazy as it sounds, coach Rich Rodriguez's job. We know Michigan can score on offense. But is this the game the Wolverines play inspired on defense (hasn't happened yet) and give Rodriguez a Get Out of Jail Free card? 5. SMU and Temple: conference champions. How it can happen: SMU won one game in each of the last two seasons, yet needs wins over slumping Marshall and awful Tulane to secure the C-USA West Division. The Mustangs likely would face ECU in the C-USA title game, and SMU beat the Pirates in October. And Temple? Been a nice run, fellas. Kent State on Saturday shouldn't be tough, but at Ohio on Nov. 27 will end the ride before a potential MAC championship game against heavyweight Central Michigan. 6. Kansas rallies behind embattled coach Mark Mangino and beats No. 3 Texas How it could happen: Mangino said earlier this week he hadn't lost his team -- a sure sign that a coach has. The Jayhawks could get a big game from struggling QB Todd Reesing, and Texas could commit multiple turnovers and play lethargic on Senior Day, but that's about as likely to happen as Mangino keeping his job. Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. E-mail him at mhayes@sportingnews.com.more>>

Sporting News college football writer Matt Hayes prepares you for the weekend in college football. 1. The Game Remember way back, when there was this nice, buttoned-down gentleman with the sparkling NCAA lower division record walking onto the basketball court at Ohio State to address rabid fans. It took all of one sentence for Jim Tressel to ease the pain of The Game in the minds of the Ohio State faithful. "I can assure you," Tressel said that day in 2001, "that you will be proud of your young... people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially, in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan." Fast forward to 2008, when Rich Rodriguez was hired at Michigan, and his initial response to The Game was—and I'm paraphrasing—like all games, it's one you want to win. Now, leading up to what Ohio State fans like to call "2,1xx (fill in the last two digits, people) days since Michigan beat Ohio State," Rodriguez was again asked about his perceived attitude toward The Game. He said he understands the significance of the rivalry, and that his perceived attitude by others toward The Game will, "pass in time, I'm sure. I'm just hoping that we can play a good game." If that doesn't want to make you run through a brick wall, what will? Make fun of Tressel and Ohio State all you want for their lack of big wins in big games the last three years. But he was hired to beat Michigan and win the Big Ten—and anything after that is gravy. In his nine seasons in Columbus, Tressel's teams have won or shared six Big Ten championships (five in a row) and are 7-1 vs. Michigan. Think Michigan, in the middle of one of the worst two-year stretches in school history, would embrace, I don't know, a Motor City Bowl bid right now? Bobby Bowden once said that his tombstone would read, "He played Miami." On Tressel's tombstone, it'll simply say, "He owned Michigan." And that won't "pass in time." That's etched in stone. 2. The Game, part II So I flip on the television the other day as background noise while doing a jigsaw puzzle with my daughter, and I hear a bobblehead on ESPN talking to an "ESPN reporter" buried in Palo Alto investigating "the fallout of Stanford running up the score on USC." I almost puked. It's bad enough that we have to—and I can't believe I'm writing this—feel sorry—for USC and its hiccup of a season. It's worse when the network that televises more college football than any other panders to the Trojans like they're an innocent altar boy in a land of heathens. Just to recap, everyone: • Aug. 30, 2008: Leading 45-7, USC throws a touchdown pass on Virginia with 2:33 to play. • Sept. 13, 2008: Leading 28-3, USC throws a touchdown pass on Ohio State with 1:33 to play. • Oct. 4, 2008: Leading 37-10, USC throws a touchdown pass on Oregon with 1:50 to play. • Oct. 18, 2008: Leading 62-0, USC scores a rushing touchdown against Washington State with 2:16 to play. • Sept. 5, 2009: Leading 49-3, USC throws a touchdown pass on San Jose State with 4:13 to play. We can go back over the rest of the decade if you'd like, but it's fairly clear who has been running up the score on whom. So my question to Pete Carroll now is, "What's your deal, man?" Oh yeah, Stanford vs. Cal, The Game. Classic letdown game: Stanford won't have a chance to run it up. Maybe ESPN can investigate that, too. 3. The state of the Big 12 You're going to read this, and you're not going to believe it. But trust me, it's true. I looked it up: If Kansas State beats Nebraska, it wins the Big 12 North and is one game away—Big 12 championship game vs. Texas—from playing in the Fiesta Bowl. But if Kansas State loses to Nebraska, it's not bowl-eligible—its six wins will include two against Division I-AA opponents, and only one counts toward bowl-eligibility—and will stay home for the holidays. That scent you get isn't the sweet smell of opportunity. It's the stench of what has devolved into a horrific season in the Big 12. There's Texas, and then … who? The reality is, Nebraska should be 9-1 going into the K-State game. The Huskers blew a lead at Virginia Tech and lost 16-15 in the last seconds. Then they committed eight turnovers in a 9-7 loss to Iowa State. But after Texas and Nebraska—and you just know league bigwigs are desperate for a Huskers win Saturday—there's a whole lot of Independence Bowl. It's enough to make one of the game's best coaches (Bob Stoops) think about that plateau his program has hit, and move on to the best job in college sports. Hey, I can make up a rumor as good as the next guy. 4. The show beyond the show It has been 36 years since we've come this far in the season with six unbeaten teams remaining. And it seems twice as long since Boise State's thumping of Oregon to begin this season. Has any team fallen out of the collective consciousness harder and faster than Boise State? The Broncos travel to Utah State on Friday night in yet another opportunity to hang 50-plus points, and it just doesn't matter. So while everyone takes potshots at Boise State for their spot in the WAC—quick aside: the Mountain West Conference could already have had Boise State, but has turned away overtures—we're all missing Kellen Moore's spectacular season. The Broncos' sophomore quarterback has the nation's No. 1 pass-efficiency rating, and he is primed to set the NCAA single-season record for touchdown-to-interception ratio. Moore has 32 touchdowns and only three interceptions. The NCAA record is 10.3 (41 touchdowns, four interceptions) by Omar Jacobs of Bowling Green in 2004. Moore currently is at 10.6, and he has games remaining against Utah State, Nevada, New Mexico State and the bowl game. His numbers project to 42 touchdowns and four interceptions, which would put him one touchdown ahead of Jacobs. In this season of no one wanting the Heisman Trophy, why hasn't Moore received more juice? 5. The bottom of the barrel Rice found a way out of the depths of ugly last week, leaving New Mexico, Eastern Michigan and Western Kentucky as the nation's only winless teams. Two of the three winless teams (New Mexico, EMU) have first-year coaches; the other already has fired its coach. To make matters worse: the last weeks of the season won't change a thing. • New Mexico Feeling positive: Embattled Lobos coach Mike Locksley has sought guidance from the man among men, Tony Dungy. Even Dungy can't stop this train-wreck of a season/coaching hire. Embracing reality: Lobos play host Saturday to Colorado State, the only team in the Mountain West Conference that can remotely feel its pain (seven straight losses; giving up at least 31 points in six of the losses). Win there, or the last stop between victory and a winless season is at TCU. • Eastern Michigan Feeling positive: No matter what happens, EMU has a respected, revered man (Ron English) as its head coach. We don't need to get into who doesn't, if you know what I mean. Embracing reality: Of EMU's last two opponents, Toledo has tanked since the first month of the season, and Akron has won twice this fall. The problem: both games are on the road. • Western Kentucky Feeling positive: WKU played its best game of the season last week in a 21-18 loss to Louisiana-Monroe. Embracing reality: WKU's remaining opponents, FAU and Arkansas State, are two of the Sun Belt's most talented teams, even though they haven't played that way this fall. Why not sneak up on one of the two when there's nothing left to play for? Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. E-mail him at mhayes@sportingnews.com.more>>

Sporting News staff reports The Michigan-Ohio State game will move to the first Saturday after Thanksgiving next season, a decision that doesn't sit well with Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel. "I'm kind of an old-timer. … I've always thought the Big Ten had a great advantage in the fact their kids go home for an extended Thanksgiving vacation," Tressel told reporters in a teleconference. "To have a chance to be with your family over... Thanksgiving, I've always felt was a real positive thing for our kids. The decision was made to move it back (and) I'm not sure I was a proponent of that." Michigan coach Rodriguez doesn't necessarily agree with the decision, either, but he does like one benefit that comes out of it. "I do like the fact we'll have an opportunity to have an open date," he said. "I think that's the biggest benefit of moving the schedule back another week."more>>

Sporting News staff reports Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez says the process of filing forms that log hours his players devote to football was corrected as soon as he learned it wasn't happening. Rodriguez declined further comment Wednesday because of an ongoing NCAA investigation. An internal audit released Monday discovered the football program failed to file the school's forms that track how long and often players work out and practice... as a tool to comply with NCAA rules. The office of university audits sent Rodriguez a memo on July 24, stating that forms from the 2008 regular season had not been submitted. The Detroit Free Press, citing anonymous players, reported a month later that Michigan exceeded NCAA limits regarding practices and workouts.more>>

Sporting News' Dave Curtis analyzes what Tuesday's buzz means to college football. Players taking charge The details of the dissension involving Kansas football and coach Mark Mangino will shake out soon enough. The good bet is against Mangino—when did a "personnel matter" ever turn out positive for the personnel involved? For now, it's safe to say this: Whatever's going on at Kansas highlights the continuing power shift away from coaches.  Mark Mangino is feeling the heat in Lawrence, from... several sources. For years, the guys in charge of the program owned their terrain; not even athletic directors had the courage to butt into the day-to-day affairs down the hall in the football offices. Now, it seems everyone has a vote in the way things go.  Boosters speak with their wallets. Recruits speak to the media. Players speak with threats to transfer. Fans speak on message boards and talk radio and all the rest. At Kansas, Mangino has neither fostered a dominant program (his Jayhawks are 23-39 in Big 12 play) nor conducted himself like Pete Carroll on the sideline (Mangino's outbursts at players made the YouTube honor roll). Maybe he's guilty of nothing more. Maybe he's committed enough sins to lose his job. Either way, it doesn't look as though he's in control of his program. Rivalry, schmivalry Rich Rodriguez has spent much of the past two years defending his pride and his program's reputation. And although it's easy to find fault in the past two years of Michigan football, we've got his back on one thing—the Ohio State series. Pestered about the importance of the rivalry, Rodriguez again reassured reporters this week, using the word "understand" 11 times in an answer about the game's magnitude. The crazy part isn't the repetition; it's why he gets asked about it so often. What does it matter if Rodriguez understands the game's meaning? Do fans expect players to play harder against Michigan than against Purdue or Wisconsin? (Maybe there's the problem, folks). College football rivalries are beautiful things, but they're fueled by fans and history and geography. If anything, the rivalries matter more in recruiting battles because of that history and geography, than on the field. So good for Rodriguez for having the "Beat Ohio State" button he said he received before he even held a press conference in Ann Arbor. Let's see if that, or how well he "understands" the Ohio State rivalry, helps Saturday afternoon at the Big House. Kicking it And the secret to having a national title contender this year is … excellence on kickoff return? The six unbeaten teams in Division I-A have navigated the first 11 weeks of the season with different strategies and strengths. But they find common ground in gaining good field position after their opponents score. All six squads rank among the top 20 nationally in kickoff return average, with everybody except Alabama (No. 19) squeezing into the top 10. Related Links Hayes' Hot Seat: Coaches get grief 24/7 TSB: Carroll, USC hearing it during slide Curtis: Leavitt's Bulls lose momentum again Bowl projections: Curtis sets all 34 matchups The stats are a bit misleading—better teams have fewer kickoff returns than losing ones because they tend to allow fewer points. But winners also benefit from short fields—something to which Texas (29.6 yards per return) and TCU (28.6) can attest. The Horns and Horned Frogs rank second and third in the country. Who's No. 1? Stanford, and it seems as though the Cardinal are playing decent football, too. This story appears in Nov. 18's edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only daily digital sports newspaper, sign up today for free. Dave Curtis is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at dcurtis@sportingnews.com.more>>

USC won't make the BCS. SMU is good, and Temple is better. The national title game should include two unbeaten teams. A lackluster Big East record shows that Jim Leavitt's teams aren't built to last a full season. All sorts of alleged guarantees in college football have failed to come through in 2009. But a few new rules have developed. Here's a peek at a handful:  Rule 1: USF tanks down the stretch Again, the Bulls took an undefeated into October and looked like a Big East title contender.... Again, they tumbled in conference play, capped by a 31-0 tail-kicking against Rutgers on Thursday. Coach Jim Leavitt's program is 16-17 in conference play since joining the league and only once has finished as close as a game out of first place. Rule 2: Rich Rodriguez vs. the fans He almost took the Alabama job. Then he did bail, to Michigan, sparking lawsuits and nasty he said-he said. Then he coached UM to its worst season in decades. Now, he's sitting on a six-game Big Ten losing streak, with the NCAA investigating his program. "The last half of the year has not gone well," Rodrgiuez said on a teleconference. Rule 3: Oklahoma rules at home Despite a four-loss season, the Sooners remain a sure thing at Owen Field. Saturday's thumping of Texas A&M stretched the program's home winning streak to 29 games, longest in Division I-A. Oklahoma State gets the next crack at snapping it on Nov. 28. Rule 4: Here comes Oregon State The Beavers started 2-2 last season and stormed to within a game of the Rose Bowl. Same drill in 2009 -- OSU has won five of six, losing only at USC. Coach Mike Riley said the season turned during an October win over Stanford. "That was probably where the whole team started looking the a whole team, with all three phases," he said on a teleconference. Rule 5: The other Trojans The much-reported Fall of Troy hasn't affected, well, Troy. One more victory would give the guys from Troy, Ala., a fourth straight Sun Belt Conference championship. It might be time to rename the New Orleans Bowl the Larry Blakeney Invitational. Rule 6: "The list of candidate includes East Carolina Coach Skip Holtz..." Get ready for heavy doses of Skip, Louisville and Virginia fans. With his coaching genes and recent winning at ECU, Holtz seems to pop in connection with every major-conference gig east of the Mississippi. He considered Syracuse a year ago, and might listen again this year if schools that fit the geography come calling. Rule 7: Navy = bowl game Supposed talent deficiencies and recruiting disadvantages haven't kept the Mids from reaching seven straight bowls, counting their trip to next month's Texas Bowl. Wins, especially over Notre Dame, must make Annapolis' academic and military rigors more manageable. Rule 8: Another Badger big boy Related Links What We Learned: Coaches losing pull Hot Seat: Constant grief for guys in charge Bowl projections: Curtis sets them all Ron Dayne and Anthony Davis started the trend, and P.J. Hill carried the Badgers for three seasons. Now it's John Clay, the Badgers' 250-pound tailback who leads the Big Ten in rushing. He has produced six games of 120 or more yards and 12 touchdowns. This story appears in Nov. 18's edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only daily digital sports newspaper, sign up today for free. Dave Curtis is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at dcurtis@sportingnews.com.more>>

Sporting News' Matt Hayes analyzes what Monday's buzz means to college football. A turn for the worse For those who think Michigan's slide since September has hurt coach Rich Rodriguez in Ann Arbor, it's about to get much, much worse. The Detroit News reported that the Michigan program in 2008 failed to file required logs used to keep track of how many hours players practiced and worked out. An internal university audit revealed the CARA (countable athletically related activities) logs—which... the university uses to stay in compliance with NCAA rules—were missing. The NCAA, of course, is investigating allegations made by players that Rodriguez and his staff worked players beyond the NCAA's 20-hour limit. The missing logs won't bode well for Rodriguez—with the NCAA or the university. Connect the dots, and it starts to look ugly for Rodriguez—a lot worse than the six losses in the last seven games. When he left West Virginia two years ago, he and his staff were accused of shredding player personnel documents. Here's the problem: In his contract with Michigan, it specifically states that if Rodriguez commits an NCAA violation, he can be fired for cause. And that means Michigan owes him nothing. Now how big does the Ohio State game look? Win, and the joy of beating your rival for the first time since 2003 salves the wounds. Lose, and Rodriguez might not make it to his third year in Ann Arbor. From Krags to Leach? Steve Kragthorpe drew the proverbial line in the sand Monday, proclaiming "I'm not going any place voluntarily." That, of course, means nothing in the grand scheme—other than he's not resigning. "If it's involuntarily," Kragthorpe said, "I can't answer that question." Kragthorpe's Louisville team last week beat lowly Syracuse for the first time in three years, and could still qualify for a bowl game with victories over South Florida and Rutgers. If Kragthorpe is fired—and he's at the top of the list of coaches on the hot seat considering Louisville's stadium expansion and fan unrest—don't be surprised if Texas Tech coach Mike Leach becomes athletic director Tom Jurich's top target. Leach's new contract—finalized last offseason through much fanfare—includes no buyout. With a stadium expansion that will bring capacity to more than 60,000, Jurich needs fannies in seats and a proven winner. Leach fits that mold, and his pass-happy offense (remember what Bobby Petrino's offense did?) would thrive in the Big East. Two more on deck San Jose State and UNLV now officially have head coach openings—if that means anything to anyone. Dick Tomey will retire from SJSU, and UNLV fired Mike Sanford. The two schools are among the top five toughest jobs in the nation: Fan support is minimal and commitment to build and sustain is questionable. Both also are two of the worst-paying jobs in the nation. The two jobs fall in line with the current opening at Memphis: fan apathy and decreased financial support in three programs that could be much better than they are simply because of their geographic footprints. Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. E-mail him at mhayes@sportingnews.com.more>>

Each week, Sporting News' Matt Hayes ranks the Division I-A conferences—and the teams within each league. 5. Big Ten 1. Ohio State 2. Iowa 3. Wisconsin 4. Penn State 5. Michigan State 6. Northwestern 7. Minnesota 8. Purdue 9. Illinois 10. Michigan 11. Indiana Rising Ohio State: Keep the pace, keep the faith. Last month, 'Bucks lost to Purdue. Four weeks later, they're Big Ten champs. Again. Falling Michigan: Defense has collapsed since 4-0 start: three losses by 10 points—where... defense gave up 94 points—is the difference between no postseason and holidays in Florida. Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. E-mail him at mhayes@sportingnews.com.more>>

College football, like much of the 2009 season, held to form Saturday. No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Texas and No. 3 Alabama kept the national title chase a three-team derby with typical wins.   No. 4 TCU looked like a sure BCS bowl team by waxing No. 16 Utah 55-28.   "If the nation didn't think that this was enough style points, then I don't know what is," coach Gary Patterson told reporters. "We're just going to go about our business."   But outside TCU's statement win, the biggest developments of... Saturday's college football games included the handful of storied programs that continued their shocking slides:   Notre Dame What happened: Anemic offense for three quarters put the Irish in an 18-point fourth-quarter hole at Pittsburgh. The No. 8 Panthers held on, 27-22, and eliminated ND from reaching a BCS bowl. What's next? Find somebody with Brian Kelly's cell phone number. Even with a rally late, this ND squad flustered even the most ardent Irish fan. Charlie Weis best start winning ... if he gets to keep coaching.   Southern Cal What happened: Stanford hung 55 points on the Trojans, one-upping the 47 Oregon scored two weeks ago in Eugene. "To be a senior and leave a legacy like this," Trojans safety Taylor Mays told reporters in Los Angeles, "it's sickening."  What's next? Put out the APB for Southern Cal's defensive prowess and swagger? Actually, a deep breath will do the trick. USC didn't start a single senior in its front seven; let's trust Pete Carroll to have that group better in 2010.   Michigan What happened: Wisconsin rolled up 469 yards and 45 points in handing Michigan its sixth straight loss against Division I-A competition. "We were really reaching defensively to find an answer to try to stop them," UM Coach Rich Rodriguez told reporters in Madison, Wis. What's next? A fourth Wolverines defensive coordinator in four seasons. Greg Robinson's defense has allowed 26 or more points in all seven Big Ten games and has Michigan on the brink of missing a bowl for the second consecutive year.     This story appears in Nov. 15's edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only daily digital sports newspaper, sign up today.   Dave Curtis is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at dcurtis@sportingnews.com. more>>

Sporting News staff reports Michigan athletic director Bill Martin, the man who hired Rich Rodriguez as football coach, told the Detroit News that Rodriguez's job is secure. Rodriguez, who is finishing off his second season with the Wolverines, watched the team explode out of the gate with four impressive wins but has since suffered through five losses in six games. Michigan remains one game away from bowl eligibility with tough games... left against Wisconsin and Ohio State. The five losses all have come against Big Ten teams with the last win against Delaware State.   Martin, who will retire on Sept 4, 2010, vociferously defended Rodriguez in a Monday interview. "He's not going anyplace," Martin told the newspaper. "Rich is an outstanding coach. There is no question he's got my total support. I think the world of that guy. Is he perfect in every respect? Nobody is. But he works hard. He'll get it right."more>>

Sporting News college football columnist Matt Hayes looks at who will be feeling the heat heading into Week 11. 1. Heisman Trophy voters Case Keenum leads the nation in passing yards per game and touchdown passes. One month remains in the race for the Heisman Trophy, and this thing is only "wide open" because voters refuse to buy into Case Keenum. These, of course, are the same people who a week ago believed Oregon was better than Boise State because, uh, they just are—no matter what that... insignificant thing called scoreboard proclaimed in bold white lights on the first Thursday of the season. A quick aside to my Legends Poll friend Terry Donahue: Coach, there's no such thing as "if they played again." That's the NFL; this is college football. They played, Oregon lost (badly), move on. Now, back to the Heisman: The pressure rests squarely on the collective shoulders of the voters. Mark Ingram of Alabama is a good choice, but he's not the best tailback in the nation (see: Gerhart, Toby). And if Trent Richardson, Alabama's dynamic freshman backup, got Ingram's carries, he'd have the same numbers. I don't want to hear about Colt McCoy or Tim Tebow. While both have had nice seasons, neither has come close to the ridiculous standards they set the previous three seasons. Unless one of the two gets really hot, really quickly, I can't see voting for them—and I'm the guy who still will proclaim Tebow as the greatest player of the modern era. This leaves us with Keenum, whose candidacy is hurt only because his Houston team plays in Conference USA. In nine games, Keenum has thrown for 3,815 yards, 28 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He's completing 71 percent of his passes, and he likely has three regular-season games plus a likely C-USA championship game to further pad those numbers. He led the Cougars to victories over Big 12 South heavies Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, throwing for 801 yards and four touchdowns (two interceptions), and running for two more touchdowns. Against those same two teams, McCoy threw for 376 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Keenum has thrown for more than 500 yards in a game three times, and in Houston's only loss, on the road to UTEP, he completed 51 passes for 536 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. Why does playing in a non-BCS league make Keenum's accomplishments less important than average seasons from McCoy and Tebow? In this season without a BCS player seizing the moment, maybe we should look to the best player regardless of conference affiliation. 2. The Notre Dame administration The Charlie Weis question will come down to athletic director Jack Swarbrick, university president Rev. John Jenkins and a few of the school's heavy hitters. Late last year, a few media outlets reported that Weis' buyout wasn't as heavy as many believed. But sources told Sporting News this spring that it is that heavy—and then some. If ND fires Weis after this season, it owes him $18 million. It's cut and dry; don't believe anything else you hear. Notre Dame will have to consider Charlie Weis' $18 million buyout before firing him. That doesn't mean the university won't take that step in stressful economic times, but you better believe it has to be part of the discussion. Firing Weis is a minimum $33-43 million investment, including the Weis buyout and the hiring of a new coach. It will cost at least $3 million a year to get Brian Kelly or Paul Johnson (on typical five-year deals), and maybe as much as $5 million a year for the pipe dream of getting Urban Meyer from Florida. The Irish hired Weis because of his offensive prowess, and because his dynamic personality (while you may not like him, 18-year-old kids and their parents do) would translate to big recruiting classes. In both of those areas, he has delivered. The one area where he hasn't delivered: defense. That has cost him in the win/loss column, where it matters most. Because Weis is the head coach, failure on that side of the ball falls on him. He'd be the first to admit it. Two years ago, Weis hired one of the most respected coordinators in the business, Jon Tenuta, to run the unit, and it hasn't worked out. No one knows the magic number of wins to keep Weis in South Bend, but it's more complicated than wins and losses. 3. The curse of Clemson Admit it: You're starting to believe. As much as I don't want to admit it, because I've been burned by this bandwagon before, I'm hopping aboard again. Clemson—yes, people, Clemson—may finally be for real. Dabo Swinney did a terrific job of holding together the program last fall, and he did it again earlier this year after the meltdown at Georgia Tech and the back-to-back losses to TCU and Maryland. Since the unthinkable against the Terps, Clemson has peeled off four straight wins and needs victories over N.C. State and Virginia in the next two weeks to win the ACC Atlantic Division and play for its first league championship since 1991. I'm all in, you're all in, yet we know what's lurking. The Tigers are hot, C.J. Spiller suddenly is a Heisman Trophy candidate, and quarterback Kyle Parker has eight touchdown passes and two interceptions in his last three league games. It's all set up for ... Clemson's typical flop. If Swinney gets two more league wins out of this team, he's a lock for ACC coach of the year. If not, well ... let's not be the buzzkill just yet. 4. The panic in Ann Arbor Remember when all was well with Rich Rodriguez at Michigan? The team rallied around its embattled coach days before the season opener amid possible NCAA violations, and everything looked peachy a month into the season. Now Michigan is 1-5 in the Big Ten, and two things are clear: 1. TCU or Boise State would win the Big Ten, which could have its worst collection of teams in two decades. And Michigan isn't close to competing in the league. Related Links Hayes' conference calls What we learned Monday This Week In Schadenfreude Introducing UNC DE Robert Quinn 2. The Wolverines' only league win could've—and probably should've—been a loss to Indiana. So where do we go from here? If Michigan doesn't win one of its final two games (against Wisconsin and Ohio State), then it will miss a bowl game in consecutive seasons for the first time since it missed three straight from 1972-74. Don't be foolish and believe Rodriguez is in trouble—at least, not yet. If Michigan fails to become bowl-eligible, Year 3 in 2010 will be make-or-break. And if those alleged NCAA violations are true, the heat will be tenfold, because Michigan then could fire Rodriguez for cause (breaking NCAA rules; it's specifically stated in his contract) and not owe him a dime. 5. Winning as the favorite For the first time since 2005, the college football season has a sense of inevitability in early November. No wild upsets, no crazy possibilities; just three teams with clear paths to the BCS national championship game: No. 1 Florida: at South Carolina, FIU, Florida State, vs. Alabama. No. 2 Alabama: at Mississippi State, Tennessee-Chattanooga, at Auburn, vs. Florida. No. 3 Texas: at Baylor, Kansas, at Texas A&M, Big 12 championship game. In every remaining game—with the exception of the SEC championship—Florida, Alabama and Texas will be double-digit favorites. But as boring as the inevitable looks, imagine the chaos if one of the three loses, and voters are forced to choose between unbeaten Cincinnati, TCU or Boise State—or one of the aforementioned Big Three with a bad loss late in the season? Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. E-mail him at mhayes@sportingnews.com.more>>