Quantcast Week 11 College Football Preview 2008: Open Season on Head Coaches
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THE WORLD OF BAX: Open Season on Head Coaches

Let’s look at a coach’s resume: 150-51-1 as the Head Coach at his alma mater, with two conference titles and a National Title on his resume. This coach has been on the sideline for 422 games at his school as a player, assistant, and Head Coach. That coach would have to be pretty secure in his job, right?

Now, let’s look at another coach: His past four season’s results are 5-6, 9-4, 10-4, and 3-6. He has only won 1 game against his top three rivals in the past two seasons and the fans are openly calling for his head. Unfortunately, for Phil Fulmer, he is both coaches on the list above and after 17 years, the man who embodies his school more than any other head coach this side of Joe Paterno will finish his career in three games.

Frankly, Fulmer had become stagnant as Tennessee’s head coach. When he won the 1998 National Title, his wife urged him to quit on the spot, telling him that things would never be so good again. Unfortunately, after a decade of heartbreak (see: 2001 SEC Title Game) and underachievement, she was right.

Fulmer wasn’t the only head coach to find out that his tenure was ending this week. Toledo’s Tom Amstutz, who became the first MAC coach to defeat Michigan earlier this year and has taken the Rockets to 4 bowl games in 8 seasons, and Kansas State’s Ron Prince, who had beaten Texas the last two years and was only in his third season on the job, also were fired this week. Is college football becoming the NFL? Usually, an NFL coach has three seasons to create a winner, but in college football, coaches generally have more time. Beginning a few years ago with the Tyrone Willingham firing, college football has begun a dangerous trend towards hiring and firing coaches far too often.

With these three new firings, the season’s total for Division 1 football is now up to five coaches (including Washington’s Tyrone Willingham and Clemson’s Tommy Bowden) and that number could easily double by the end of the season. It seems unfair to the players on all of these teams to get rid of a coach during mid-season. This isn’t the NFL and if a school is going to fire a coach, then they should do it after the season ends, not in October or early November to ensure a head start on recruiting. The players are forgotten all to often in situations like this.

Moving away from the E! SPiN drama of “All My Coaches,” lets look at this week’s action. After a week where I went 5-3 on my picks, I now sit at 52-32 on the year. That’s good but I can definitely do better. Although this week doesn’t have quite the panache that last weekend was expected to have, it certainly is a good group of games and all three remaining BCS unbeatens play games which could derail their National Title hopes. Let’s hope that this weekend is exciting as last weekend was.



#17 Maryland @ Virginia Tech

Thursday, 7:30 PM EST

This game is enormous in the ACC race. If Maryland wins, the Terrapins would maintain their one game lead over Florida State and Wake Forest in the ACC Atlantic standings. If Virginia Tech wins, they stay alive in the 5 team gridlock with 2 conference losses. Each team also enjoys a major advantage going into the game. Maryland’s is quarterback play; The Terps have had very solid quarterbacking and the top two quarterbacks for the Hokies are questionable to play. However, Virginia Tech will enjoy one of the country’s best home field advantages playing on a Thursday night in Blacksburg. Thursday night is where ranked teams go to die but I have to pick the visiting Terrapins. I think that they’re going to get solid quarterback play and Virginia Tech won’t be able to score enough to keep up.

Maryland 23, Virginia Tech 17

 

#12 Texas Christian @ #11 Utah

Thursday, 8:00 PM EST

This is a BCS elimination game for both teams. TCU already holds a big win over BYU and would essentially clinch the Mountain West title by beating the Utes. Utah is coming off of a narrow 13-10 win at New Mexico and will need to play much better to have a shot at defeating the Horned Frogs. In the preseason, I picked Utah in this game but I’m changing my pick. I don’t think Utah will have a lot of success against Gary Patterson’s excellent defense and TCU will score enough points to emerge victorious in Salt Lake City, making them the odds-on favorite to play in a BCS bowl.

TCU 24, Utah 14

 

#9 Ohio State @ #20 Northwestern

Saturday, 12:00 PM EST

Ohio State travels to Evanston to face a surging Wildcats team. Northwestern had an emotional win last week at Minnesota to vault the ‘Cats to 7-2 on the season. Northwestern has surprised by playing solid defense and airing the ball out. The Wildcats could be without starting quarterback C.J. Bacher, but back up Mike Kafka was very good last week in the upset win over the Gophers and his mobility could compensate for the loss of starting tailback Tyrell Sutton. However, Ohio State needed a week off to get its offensive problems sorted out and I expect them to come out angry after losing to Penn State two weeks ago. Expect Terrelle Pryor to have a big game in the Buckeyes’ 4th road game against a ranked opponent and the Buckeyes will win this game big to kick off their season-closing stretch.

Ohio State 33, Northwestern 13



#18 Georgia Tech @ #14 North Carolina

Saturday, 12:00 PM EST

Georgia Tech won an incredible ball game last weekend by forcing a Florida State fumble on the goal line with less than a minute left in the game. However, they will face an even tougher test this week on the road without starting QB Josh Nesbitt. I’m still not sold on Georgia Tech while North Carolina is currently my favorite to win the ACC Coastal division. This game is very big for both teams, but Georgia Tech could move a game away from clinching a spot in Tampa Bay to play for the conference title if they win, so they could be feeling some added pressure. I like Butch Davis’ team at home with QB Cameron Sexton back for this clash. The Tar Heels win a good game at home to move ahead of the Jackets in division play.

North Carolina 31, Georgia Tech 21

 

#3 Alabama @ #16 Louisiana State

Saturday 3:30 PM EST

The Nick Saban Bowl comes to Baton Rouge for the first time and the crowd will be looking for blood. I really don’t understand the Tiger fans’ issues with the man: He won them a National Title, recruited most of the key players on last year’s national title team, went to the NFL and now coaches at a rival school. The man didn’t leave directly for Alabama. Saban didn’t leave LSU in shambles. He was very successful while there. The only logical reason that LSU fans are angry is because they think that he is a better coach than their current man, Les Miles. Well, they’re probably right and Alabama is definitely having a better year than the Tigers. Furthermore, Alabama gets back star defensive tackle Terrance Cody just in time to face a Tiger team which runs the ball better than it passes. All of this adds up to a close win for the Crimson Tide in Baton Rouge.

Alabama 20, LSU 14

 

#1 Penn State @ Iowa

Saturday 3:30 PM EST

Penn State has a surprisingly tough game on their hands this week. Iowa is a very solid team with a strong defensive line and one of the country’s best tailbacks in Shon Greene. Iowa is certainly capable of derailing the Nittany Lions’ perfect season, but that just isn’t going to happen. Penn State is the country’s most balanced team and the Nittany Lions have been killing people all year. I think Iowa will do a good job trying to play keep away from the Lions but in the end I think that Penn State’s quick strike offense will hit a couple of big plays. Penn State beats a better than advertised Iowa team but it won’t be a huge blowout.

Penn State 34, Iowa 17

 

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#25 California @ #7 Southern Cal

Saturday 8:00 PM EST

This will probably be USC’s toughest game the rest of the regular season, but unfortunately for the Bears it will be played in the Coliseum. While Cal is a good, solid team, they simply don’t match up to a very good USC team. In short, I think that Southern Cal’s defense will suffocate Cal but they won’t continue their shut out run either. Expect USC to win this game by a couple of TDs against a good, solid opponent. USC simply doesn’t lose in the Coliseum and Cal’s Rose Bowl hopes will fade like a Southern California sunset.

USC 34, Cal 13

 

#8 Oklahoma State @ #2 Texas Tech

Saturday 8:00 PM EST

Texas Tech won one of the most exciting games all year last weekend over top ranked Texas. The game was billed as the biggest in Texas Tech history and the Red Raiders’ victory was a huge milestone for Mike Leach’s program. However, Tech still has to face off against Oklahoma State this week and the Sooners the next. Oklahoma State comes to town with the Big XII’s top rushing attack and the Cowboys still have their own Big XII South hopes to play for. Furthermore, Oklahoma State’s solid rushing attack could be huge in keeping Tech’s explosive offense off the field. Finally, it would only be human for the Red Raiders to have an emotional let down after such a huge win last week. Last year, these two teams played to a 49-45 shootout and I can see this year’s game finishing up that close. I think Oklahoma State will do a good job playing keep away from the Red Raiders and use their strong rushing attack to defeat Texas Tech and officially throw the Big XII into chaos.

Oklahoma State 36, Texas Tech 31



By Matt Baxendell
CollegeSports-fans.com Staff Writer

Matt Baxendell is collegesports-fans.com’s newest staff writer. If you’d like to join his college football therapy group, email him at matt.baxendell @ gmail.com with all your questions, comments, and anything else you would like to share. Also be sure to check out Matt's 2008 conference previews and college football Top 25 rankings here at CollegeSports-fans.com!

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