A Wild, Wild Rumor – Gene Chizik to Auburn

OK, I’m not buying this one bit. So why am I sharing it with you?

To illustrate how kooky things can get when it comes to rumors about coaching openings, that’s why. Oh, and because I think it will get eyeballs to this blog for a few hours.

Besides, some newspapers have held back the reins on similar stories because they couldn’t or wouldn’t believe the reports that came from elsewhere, be it cyberspace or Joe’s Garage. Like when Steve Alford was being romanced by New Mexico and vice versa. There was smoke before there was fire, but not everyone covering the Hawkeyes had their smoke-detectors going off.

According to something called AuburnUndercover.com, Iowa State football coach Gene Chizik interviewed with Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs Thursday about the vacant Auburn football job.

Chizik was the defensive coordinator at Auburn from 2002 through 2004. The Tigers went 13-0 in ’04, then Chizik took the same job at Texas.

Now, this story seems about as legit as e-mails from Nigerian lottery-winners. Isn’t it a little more likely Chizik may have conferred with Jacobs about, say, Auburn defensive coordinator Paul Rhodes?

Rhodes is likely to be out of a job at the school when the replacement for outgoing head coach Tommy Tuberville is named. Chizik has openings at openings at offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator.

So my smoke-detector isn’t going off. I can’t see Auburn, which needs a major splash to compete with Nick Saban at rival Alabama, to go after a guy with a 10-game losing streak at Iowa State.

But it’s out there at http://tinyurl.com/5v5t54.

Some of these team-specific sites offer some pretty darn sound, responsible information. Others do a lot of trading in the rumor business.

AuburnUndercover – which may have a history for on-the-mark reporting for all I know – includes this segment in that linked story:

Will Muschamp, defensive coordinator and head coach in waiting at Texas, vehemently denied a report by Channel 10 in Mobile that he would be named Auburn’s head coach Friday.

“Where does that stuff come from?” Muschamp said when contacted by AuburnUndercover.com. “It’s not true. I’m staying at Texas.”

Yes, where does that stuff come from? Where, for that matter, did the rumor come from that Auburn was in discussions with Steve Spurrier, the coach who will (one expects) lead South Carolina against Iowa in the Outback Bowl.

This is from that same AuburnUndercover story:

Channel 12 in Montgomery reported that Auburn “could be close” to offering South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier a contract. Those close to the search say there is no truth to that either, though Spurrier remains in the mix. Spurrier denied earlier that he is a candidate.

“There’s nothing to that,” Spurrier said. “It’s amazing how some of that stuff gets started. The Auburn one? Is that the one you’re talking about? Yeah, that one jumped out of nowhere. It’s interesting how anybody can almost start a rumor, I guess.”

That rumor is pretty goofy, too. Spurrier is 63 and hasn’t exactly brought his Florida-style dominance of the 1990s to South Carolina in his four years there.

But as for Chizik, he’d only be harming his career going after a golden parachute he can’t land. How would the Cyclones possibly sell an ailing football program to their ever-tolerant fan base if the coach had been looking for an emergency escape out of Ames.

Even though this rumor is wilder than the open Illinois U.S. Senate seat going to Mike Ditka, Chizik may want to go all Barney Fife, and nip it in the bud.  He should laugh at the story, tell the Cyclones  “We’re turning this thing around here, and please hang in there with us. We love you fans.”

And then go recruit a bunch of really super-duper high school seniors.

The Hlist: President-elect Obama, Please Don’t Let Nick Saban Get Nuclear Capability

 

Opening kickoff

“If we can come out and beat O-State that would clear everything up.”— Michigan senior safety Brandon Harrison about the 3-8 Wolverines’ upcoming game at Ohio State.

Everybody has a dream.

First downs

1. Cool Cats: The Big Ten’s Coach of the Year will probably be Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald.

The Wildcats are 8-3, and will go to a very good bowl with a home win Saturday over decaying Illinois.

In rain, sleet and snow, Northwestern gutted out a 21-14 win at Michigan. That was its first win in Ann Arbor since 1995, when Fitzgerald was the Wildcats’ star linebacker.

“All of a sudden you come out in the second half and it’s snowing,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s a beautiful Big Ten football weather day.”

It wasn’t so lovely to Michigan fans. Most fled their stadium long before the game ended.

They didn’t want to see the Wolverines clinch their first eight-loss season in the program’s 129-year history.

Harrison, so optimistic in the “Opening Kickoff” comment, wasn’t as cheery about the game that had just ended.

“I’m sick to my stomach right now,” he said.

2. Empty Win: LSU’s Tiger Stadium also was emptied out in the fourth quarter of the Troy-LSU game. Those who stayed witnessed the biggest comeback in Tigers history.

LSU rallied from a 31-3 hole for a 40-31 triumph.

The Baton Rouge Advocate’s Randy Rosetta called it “a comeback that will survive as the stuff of legend for years to come in front of the sparse but hearty few thousand fans who stuck it out.”

LSU quarterback Jarrett Lee was booed and benched in the first half. For the seventh time this year, he had an interception returned for a touchdown. But he completed 11 fourth-quarter passes and last year’s national champs awakened in time to avoid an embarrassment.

“Not one time in our minds did we think we were going to lose this game,” Lee said.

Which is more than you could say for LSU’s fans.

3. Band Goes Digital: At halftime of the USC-Stanford game, the ever-irreverent Stanford band formed the number “24,” on the field, referring to the Cardinal’s point total in its shocking 24-23 win at USC.

The band formed the letters “OJ” for its opening number, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”

O.J. Simpson won the Heisman Trophy when he played at USC, you see. Forty years ago!

The Trojans won this time around, 45-23.

“There was a lot of talk about revenge coming into the game,” said Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh. “That’s a word I don’t use in college football.”

“It was revenge,” said USC tailback C.J. Gable.

Stanford, for some odd reason, lined up for a field goal on the game’s last play. USC Coach Pete Carroll, for some odd reason, called a timeout. Stanford changed its mind, and Alex Loukas threw an 18-yard touchdown pass.

“Loukas wanted to go for the end zone,” Harbaugh said. “So I said, ‘Let’s go for the end zone.’ . . . I just wanted to get the last points.”

Carroll’s reaction to Harbaugh’s decision-making: “He can do whatever he wants. I don’t care.”

“If Harbaugh stays at Stanford a while rather than going off to the NFL,” wrote Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News, “this could turn into quite the snarky annual kickoff appointment.”

Fumbles

1. Axed: A not-so-funny thing happened to Minnesota (7-4) on its way to a New Year’s bowl. It lost to Northwestern and Michigan at home, then fell 35-32 at Wisconsin Saturday after holding a 21-7 halftime lead.

The Paul Bunyan Axe remains in Madison.

“We’re going to lay on a sword for the next couple days,” Gophers Coach Tim Brewster said. “We’re going to bleed this one out hard. This will be tough to let go.”

Iowa hopes he’s right. The Hawkeyes will try to extend Minnesota’s misery Saturday night in the Metrodome.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, will try to get to 7-5 by beating Cal Poly Saturday in Madison.

“I really don’t know how the bowl system works,” Badgers center John Moffitt said. “I feel like there’s three guys in a room and they flip a quarter. I’m trying to go every game, one game at a time — just try to win out.”

The Hlist questions why it takes three guys to flip quarters, but not as much as it wonders why Wisconsin is playing Cal Poly in mid-November.

2. Coldcocked: Florida’s 56-6 win over South Carolina was Gamecocks Coach Steve Spurrier’s worst loss in his 309 games as a head coach in college and pro football.

“A loss is a loss, whether it’s by one point or 50 points,” Spurrier said. “Sometimes getting your butt beat real good is better than a one-pointer or two-pointer.”

Sunday, Spurrier sounded more like an apologist than the brash Ol’ Ball Coach who directed Florida to six SEC titles and the 1996 national championship.

“We’re not the first team they’ve ever scored 50 on lately and may not be the last team. But we are 7-4,” he said.

The Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Bianchi: “Seeing Spurrier coming back to The Swamp and getting clobbered was like watching an aging Sinatra returning to the Sands and forgetting the words to ‘My Way.’

“Urban Meyer came to Florida and wanted to be like Steve Spurrier.

“Now Steve Spurrier’s at South Carolina and wants to be like Urban Meyer.”

3. No, Prez, No!: We don’t need our presidents worrying about sports, unless Alabama Coach Nick Saban is close to nuclear capability. Even if he isn’t, he needs to be watched closely.

Anyway, Barack Obama really doesn’t need to pander to the masses by pushing for a college football playoff.

“I don’t know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this,” Obama said on “60 Minutes” Sunday. “So, I’m going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it’s the right thing to do.”

“Certainly it’s an important issue for college football and colleges,” said Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany. “Where does it stand in the list of challenges we have in America today? I would say it’s not very high.”

If only the Big Ten Network’s ghastly “Friday Night Tailgate” used that kind of common sense.

“I look forward to talking with (Obama) and explaining to him that it’s not in the best interest of the academic integrity of our institutions,” Ohio State Chancellor Gordon Gee said.

The Hlist thinks that would be useful.

Because in these challenging times, our new president will need all the laughs he can get.

Final gun

“If 35-7 against Kansas on the road isn’t good enough for someone, we’ll just go wherever they tell us to go.” — Texas Coach Mack Brown on a suggestion the Longhorns’ latest win might not have wowed pollsters.

The Hlist: America’s Most-Craved College Football Roundup

By Mike Hlas

The Gazette
mike.hlas@gazcomm.com

Illinois head football coach Ron Zook, left, talks with linemen Jeff Alle (rear) and Jon Asamoah during Saturday’s 23-17 loss to Western Michigan at Ford Field in Detroit. (AP photo)

Opening kickoff

“We are at about 19,000 feet. The mountain is at 26,000 feet, and the air is changing a little bit. The air is a little rarer.” — Alabama Coach Nick Saban after his team improved to 10-0 with a 27-21 overtime win at LSU

First downs

1. The Wait is On: There is no Game of the Week this week. Which is all right, because next week’s is good enough for two weeks.

It’s 10-0 Texas Tech at 9-1 Oklahoma. Both are idle this week. Both got even more revved up Saturday. Tech routed No. 8 Oklahoma State, 56-20, and Oklahoma obliterated Texas A&M, 66-28.

“We can stop ourselves, and that’s what we try not to do,” said stellar Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree. “But I think probably that’s about the only people who can stop us.”

“We seem to surprise a lot of people other than our team,” added his coach, Mike Leach.

The Red Raiders have scored 479 points. Oklahoma tops even that, with 514. The Sooners held a 66-21 lead over A&M after three quarters in College Station, then released their feet from Aggie throats.

“There are still sportsmanship issues that you do your best to handle,” Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops said. “I just think that’s important. We played hard for three quarters.

“You just have to choose sportsmanship over BCS points. To me, in the end, it’s the right way to play it.”

OU running back Chris Brown didn’t have the same sentiment after his three-touchdown effort.

“You know how the BCS is going right now,” Brown said. “You just can’t win by a nail-biter, unless it’s a very great team you’re playing against. You can get up on a team 35-0 in the first half and fell like, well, the game’s over. Not with us. We want to keep pouring it on.”

2. Dancing in East Lansing: Did you see this coming? Did anyone? The first-place team in the Big Ten on Nov. 11 is Michigan State.

The Spartans are 6-1, a nose in front of 5-1 Ohio State and 5-1 Penn State. They have this week off, then play for at least a share of the Big Ten title Nov. 22 at Penn State. MSU is virtually assured its first January bowl in nine years

Michigan State beat Purdue, 21-7, to set up its showdown in State College.

“We’ve been through a lot together, but I think our greatest moments are ahead of us,” said Spartans senior quarterback Brian Hoyer. “We have an opportunity to do something here that hasn’t been done in a long time.”

MSU head coach Mark Dantonio: “I said last year that we have an opportunity to win every single football game that we come out to. Everything we do — the 80 hours a week you work as a coach — that’s to win, that’s not to stay close.”

3. Bucking Broncos: Can anyone in the Big Ten defeat Western Michigan?

The Broncos of the Mid-American Conference handled Illinois in Detroit, 23-17. WMU quarterback Tim Hiller completed 28 of 40 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns.

You may remember Hiller torching Iowa for 367 yards and three TDs in Western’s 28-19 win in Iowa City last November.

“He’s a great player, an NFL player, with unbelievable accuracy,” said Illinois Coach Ron Zook.

“My grandfather (Dan Sabino) played for Illinois in 1952 when they won the Rose Bowl,” Hiller said. “He had his jersey and ring in his office. I learned all about Illinois football. That’s why this was so special.”

4. Campbell Mmmm Mmmm Good: The Hlist normally holds pickpockets in the same regard it does Pick ‘Ems.

That’s The Gazette’s Saturday Pick ‘ems, a weekly collection of bizarre predictions and even less stable commentary. The Hlist is one of the participants. The Hlist may be a self-Hloather.

But KCRG-TV’s John Campbell predicted this score: Iowa 24, Penn State 23. And that’s no fish tale.

FUMBLES

1. Penned In: Penn State’s loss to the Hawkeyes wasn’t welcomed only in Iowa.

“Let’s face it, the majority of the country did not want to see Penn State in the BCS title game,” wrote Stewart Mandel of sportsillustrated.com.

It’s hard to get too down on Penn State. That’s still the best team in the Big Ten, and will be the league’s Rose Bowl representative. Plus, Joe Paterno was more than generous after Saturday’s game.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Iowa,” Paterno said. “The Iowa kids stayed tough, played hard. Their quarterback played a heck of a game for them. . . . And when they turned the ball over for us, we didn’t get the job done. Don’t take anything away from Iowa, OK?”

What becomes a legend most? Grace in a difficult moment, that’s what.

2. Orange Slush: Let’s say you’re the Motor City Bowl, and Illinois finds a way to win one of its last two games to finish 6-6. Do you want the Fighting Illini in your game?

Who is the Motor City Bowl to be picky? Who is the Motor City Bowl to turn up its nose at a team that was in the Rose Bowl last season?

Well, Illinois played in Detroit Saturday, losing to Western Michigan in front of a reported gathering of 12,785. The actual crowd was about half that at 65,000-seat Ford Field, the site of the Motor City Bowl. It is believed to be the smallest crowd to see an Illini game since they hosted Pittsburgh before 9,962 fans in 1945.

“We could have played them naked in a gymnasium (and still lost), said Illinois defensive coordinator Dan Disch.

“We want our seniors to go out with a bang,” said Illinois receiver Arrelious Benn, “but they’re not going out with the bang they expected.”

3. Gophers Burrow Downward: Minnesota was nationally ranked and 7-1. Then it lost successive home games to Northwestern and Michigan, which aren’t exactly Texas Tech and Oklahoma.

“You could tell they didn’t take us seriously,” said Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham after the Wolverines’ 29-7 win at Minnesota. “They weren’t expecting us to smack them in the mouth. They questioned our toughness. They must have thought that we just stopped caring about playing.”

The Gophers stop playing their home games in the Metrodome for good after their season-finale against Iowa. Michigan (3-7) closed its Metrodome history with 12 wins in 12 visits. That’s a dozen times it left the Dome with the Little Brown Jug traveling trophy.

“Michigan needs to get the Little Brown Jug, fill it with cognac, and forget this whole season ever happened.” said Chris Fowler on ESPN’s College Gameday.

Final gun

“Okay, this time I really mean it: Since Notre Dame clearly can’t hold up its end of the football rivalry, BC really is going to have to drop them from our schedule the way we did Holy Cross.” — Mike Lupica, New York Daily News and Boston College grad.

BC beat Notre Dame, 17-0, for its sixth-straight win over the Irish.

(AP photo of Michigan State’s Javon Ringer)

The Hlist: A Look Back at Last Week in College Football

Opening kickoff

“Lloyd’s of London has just refused to insure Ringer’s legs. Forty-four carries in a single game means Ringer deserves a sedan chair to get around campus for the next week in between practices and workouts.” — Spencer Hall, Sportingnews.com. Michigan State running back Javon Ringer rushed 44 times for 198 yards in MSU’s 42-29 win at Indiana.

First downs

1. Victors Valiant: Michigan Stadium sits nearly three-fourths underground. The Wolverines dug out of quite a hole in their 27-25 win over Wisconsin.

In the first half they had 21 yards, one first down, and five turnovers. They trailed 19-0 at halftime and were booed off the field.

“If you were anywhere in the Ann Arbor vicinity,” Michigan Coach Rich Rodriguez said, “you heard that.

“If there was a hole to crawl into, I’m sure a bunch of us, including myself, would have liked to crawl into it.”

Wolverines receiver Greg Mathews: “Their strength-and-conditioning coach was talking about how we were soft and out of shape, and ESPN was talking about how this was a warm-up for the Big Ten for Wisconsin. We take that personally. Michigan is nobody’s doormat, especially in the Big Ten.”

2. Biggest 12: The SEC faded into the sunset as superpowers Florida and Georgia lost at home. Looking westward, America finds its football power conference to be the Big 12.

Four of the top seven teams in the Associated Press rankings are Big 12 bullies. Oklahoma ascended to No. 1 after throttling previously unbeaten TCU, 35-10.

The Sooners rushed 36 times for a measly 25 yards — and still dominated. In the first half alone, OU had pass plays of 38, 24, 73 and 55 yards.

“Some teams are great stopping the run,” said receiver Manuel Johnson, who had an Oklahoma-record 206 receiving yards. “Other teams are great in the back end. If they’re going to give you an apple you’re going to eat it.”

3. Rebels With a Cause: The University of Mississippi hosted a rather important debate Friday night. The next day, its football team ended the debate over whether Florida was a strong contender for the national title with a shocking 31-30 triumph.

“I still can’t believe it,” a giddy Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden told a bunch of writers when talking about Florida’s shocking loss after FSU’s win over Colorado. “I’ll have to read your newspapers just to make sure.”

The game effectively ended when the Rebels stopped Florida quarterback Tim Tebow on a keeper on 4th-and-1 at the Ole Miss 32 with 41 seconds left.

“(Tebow) was saying, ‘I got it, I got it.’ I said, ‘No you don’t,’” said Ole Miss defensive end Kentrell Lockett.

4. High Tide: Before the season, Georgia was the chic pick to win the national championship. But national champs don’t trail 31-0 at home, at halftime, to anyone.

Alabama bulldozed the Bulldogs, 41-30.

“They had probably never been hit in the mouth like that,” said Crimson Tide offensive tackle Andre Smith.

“Forget Corso and Herbstreit,” wrote Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Forget Holtz and May. Forget, for that matter, anything you might have read in this space about Georgia being really good this year. For guidance in matters concerning college football, you had only to read the financial magazine Forbes, which last month proclaimed Nick Saban ‘the most powerful coach in sports.’

“Here’s how mighty the Alabama man actually is: He came to Sanford Stadium and outflanked (Georgia Coach) Mark Richt in a way nobody has since … since ever.”

Fumbles

1. Choked Cheddar: Wisconsin blew a 19-0 lead at Michigan in the game’s final 18 minutes, allowing three scoring drives of 75 yards or more.

“It was embarrassing,” Badgers linebacker DeAndre Levy said. “I didn’t know how to react. I couldn’t believe this was happening, how we basically gave the game away in the second half.”

“This isn’t something that ever goes away,” Wisconsin defensive tackle Mike Newkirk said. “No matter how much time passes, it’s going to haunt you.”

Thanks for participating in National Title Derby, Badgers. Off you go.

2. Fla-Fla Flooey: Florida quarterback Tim Tebow has a Heisman Trophy. He won’t get a second.

Tebow’s top speech of this year won’t be given at New York’s Downtown Athletic Club. Instead, it was delivered after the Gators’ stunning loss to Ole Miss.

“To the fans and everybody of Gator Nation, I’m sorry. Extremely sorry,” Tebow said. “We wanted an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida has never done here. I promise you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this.

“You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season. You will never see another player push his team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season. You will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season.

“God bless.”

3. Black Eye: Georgia went to black jerseys for its game against Alabama, and had its fans wear black as well. It was a blackout, all right.

Alabama strength coach Scott Cochran told Crimson Tide players in a practice last week “They’re wearing black because they’re going to a (expletive deleted) funeral.” Somebody caught Cochran’s comment on video, and it showed up on YouTube.

Georgia’s players were so upset by that insult to their competitive spirit that they rolled over and played dead.

4. Ooooh! Scary!: Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky issued a warning for unbeaten Missouri as the Tigers get ready for their game at Lincoln this week.

“Missouri … they need to watch out, because we’ve got a lot of anger right now,” Lucky said after the Cornhuskers’ 35-30 loss to Virginia Tech.

Lucky had eight carries for 17 yards in that game. The Hlist thinks it’s better to be good than Lucky.

Final gun

“There’s a certain emotional fragility about (Coach Joe) Tiller’s recent teams. They simply don’t bounce back, after a bad break, after a bad loss. After Notre Dame came out in the third quarter and scored a quick touchdown to go ahead 21-14, Purdue became deflated. Just like that.

“The Boilers routinely put up big numbers against lesser teams, but routinely fall short against better teams.” — the Indianapolis Star’s Bob Kravitz on Purdue’s 38-21 loss at Notre Dame