DES MOINES – An offer for a friendly wager over Tuesday’s Orange Bowl from Iowa Gov. Chet Culver was apparently ignored by Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office.
The University of Iowa Hawkeyes are taking on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the FedEx Orange Bowl Tuesday night in Florida.
Culver spokesman Troy Price said a message left with Perdue’s office was not returned.
“We reached out and never heard back from them,” Price said.
I’d like to think it’s because Perdue’s scared that he’d lose the bet. It’s the romantic in me.
Politics and football alert #1: Somehow, I suspect this ad isn’t going to be greeted as warmly in Ft. Worth today as it might have been a few days ago.
Politics and football alert #2: It looks like Congress is getting back in the long distance diagnosis business again. That worked spectacularly with Terri Schiavo.
And speaking of Mike Leach, as rumors go, stranger things have happened than this.
College football head coach waits until end of NFL season, hires NFL assistant as new defensive coordinator. That’s in Charlottesville, Virginia, not Athens, Georgia, though.
Boise State. You know how we in the SEC used to refer to Spurrier as the guy you’d pick if you had to have a coach for one game? Well, Chris Peterson is that guy now. What an absolutely brilliant game plan he came up with – he knew the TCU defense would be the best unit on the field for either team, but his defense did a great job of making the TCU offense one-dimensional. That and the turnover edge evened the game out. He got the win because he continues to have the balls of a burglar in big games.
TCU. Horned Frogs, we Dawg fans feel your pain. Red-headed quarterback throwing picks all night? Check. Ineffective running game? Seen that, too. Stupid penalties killing any semblance of rhythm on offense in the first half? Yep. Burned on a fake punt? Been there. On the other hand, we’d take your defense in a heartbeat. I don’t know how TCU’s offense would hold up in the SEC, but that defense wouldn’t have to apologize to anyone. On a night when its offense basically imploded, TCU held Boise State 27 points below its season average (and seven of that came on a pick-six) and more than 140 yards of total offense under the Broncos’ season average.
Fox. Bless your hearts, you guys tried, you really did. You didn’t subject us to Thom Brennaman. There was no mention of Jumpers. You didn’t give us endless puzzling shots of the schools’ bands at totally strange moments during the game. Camera work was good. On the other hand, you still haven’t figured out how to broadcast the feel of a college game; crowd shots seemed random all night. And this won’t do you any favors, either (h/t The Wizard of Odds):
Of course, the question on everyone’s mind this morning is the bigger picture one.
… Some wondered whether the Broncos deserved a shot at the national title. On this night, they were just barely good enough to edge Mountain West champion TCU, snapping the Horned Frogs’ 14-game win streak.
Asked if he thought Boise State should be No. 1, Efaw replied, “Probably not. But I mean, maybe next year. I don’t know. We have a great team and we fight hard and we’re undefeated.”
I think Gary Patterson’s got it right when he questions how much an eight-team (or larger) playoff would help a program like his. I don’t know if either of these schools could survive the demands of playing three single-elimination postseason games. But a one-shot title game chance? Call it a puncher’s chance if you’d prefer, but sure. Especially if Chris Peterson were coaching in it.
If you’re a fan of the Auburn program, there’s a quote from Tommy Tuberville that ought to have you rolling on the floor. Speaking of his interest in being considered as the successor to Mike Leach at Texas Tech, here’s what TT had to say about the offense he’d run as head coach:
.. Tuberville said if he got the chance to coach at Tech, there would be no overhaul of the Mike Leach offense.
“It’d be crazy to change it,” he said. “That’s a trademark of Texas Tech now. It’s helped put them on the map. It’s helped in recruiting, I’ve noticed. Mike’s had a good chance of getting quarterbacks and receivers to come there – in the past, (Tech) wasn’t able to get them. We’ve run a lot of the spread over the years, and I’m very familiar with it.”
Some revisionist history, plus Jimmy Sexton – what more could you ask for if you’re the Texas Tech AD?
Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton said Monday there will be a zero-tolerance level for future gun-and-drug related incidents similar to those committed by players on the Vols’ football and basketball teams during the past two months.
Two UT football players were dismissed after an alleged attempted armed robbery involving a pellet gun in November, and four basketball players have been indefinitely suspended after being charged with various misdemeanor drug and weapons offenses after a traffic stop Friday.
“Our tolerance for these type of activities has gone to zero,” Hamilton said. “I’ve been very angry over the last few days as we’ve dealt with this process, and frankly, the anger is still there…”
All of which begs raises the question, what was Tennessee’s official policy before the two latest run-ins with the law?
“And Georgia fans, don’t be turds. Enjoy this. Soak it up. It’s awesome. If you don’t win this year, it’s still not a failure. It’s a heck of a run. Back-to-back in the Playoff era hasn’t been done. So, to ask for a third I feel like it’s gluttonous. I feel like it’s not OK. But we’ll be in the mix.”-- David Pollack, On3.com, 5/9/23
Get The Picture 