The Sweep

State of the Nation

The Sweep — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:46:50 GMT

By Luke Winn, SI.com

College football is a red-state sport -- that's rather evident, given its Southern power base -- but just how red is it compared to the country as a whole? The Sweep attempts to tackle that question today with the use of two sources: political voting projections from Nate Silver's brilliant polling site, fivethirtyeight.com, and football polling data from the latest Associated Press Top 25 vote.

According to fivethirtyeight's projections, the state of the nation in the 2008 presidential race is currently 49.6 percent blue (for Barack Obama and Joe Biden) and 48.3 percent red (for John McCain and Sarah Palin). That would yield a 293-to-245 win for Obama in the Electoral College vote.

Fivethirtyeight projects the following states to go blue in November: MA, CT, ME, NH, RI, VT, NY, NJ, MD, DC, DE, PA, MI, IL, WI, MN, IA, CO, NM, CA, WA, OR, HI

... and the following states to go red: FL, GA, NC, VA, SC, TX, AL, LA, MS, MO, TN, KY, OK, AR, WV, OH, IN, KS, NE, ND, SD, AZ, NV, UT, ID, MT, WY, AK.

With that state-by-state breakdown in hand, we examined the latest AP poll, point-by-point, to see how many votes went to blue state vs. red state college football teams. The result? A red landslide -- 78.7 percent to 21.3. That would make the FBS' power structure 30.4 percent more red than the U.S.' Here's the full breakdown of the votes:

Red State AP Votes (Total: 16,615, or 78.7 percent):

Florida: 1,981 (UF 1,438, USF 493, FSU 50)
Texas: 1,952 (Texas 1,100, Texas Tech 845, TCU 6, Rice 1)
Alabama: 1,932 (Auburn 1,067, Bama 865)
Georgia: 1,539 (Georgia 1,525, Georgia Tech 14)
Oklahoma: 1,472 (OU 1,458, Oklahoma State 11, Tulsa 3)
Missouri: 1,336 (Mizzou)
Ohio: 1,347 (OSU)
Louisiana: 1,231 (LSU)
North Carolina: 1,167 (East Carolina 762, Wake 404, UNC 1)
Kansas: 825 (KU)
Utah: 795 (BYU 537, Utah 258)
Arizona: 746 (ASU 744, Arizona 2)
West Virginia: 163 (WVU)
South Carolina: 75 (Clemson 73, South Carolina 2)
Idaho: 22 (Boise State)
Tennessee: 22 (Tennessee 15, Vandy 7)
Kentucky: 6 (UK)
Virginia: 4 (Va. Tech)

Blue State AP Votes (Total: 4,510, or 21.3 percent):

California: 2,212 (USC 1,577, Fresno State 290, Cal 195, UCLA 150)
Wisconsin: 910 (Wisconsin)
Oregon: 616 (Oregon)
Pennsylvania: 607 (PSU)
Illinois: 164 (Illinois)
Connecticut: 1 (UConn)

One major similarity between college football and politics that's revealed here: Without California, the AP's blue-state group, as well as the Democrats, would be nowhere.

The country has trended somewhat blue since the 2004 election, when George W. Bush won 50.7 percent of the popular vote compared to John Kerry's 48.3. (Bush won the Electoral College vote 286 to 251.) Obama, as we mentioned above, is projected to pull in 49.6 percent of the popular vote compared to McCain's 48.3. Yet college football has actually gone in reverse, becoming slightly more red in 2008 versus 2004 -- even though in 2004, there were three more states in the "red" category: Colorado, New Mexico and Iowa. In '04 the FBS was just 26.7 more red than the country as a whole.

At the same point in the 2004 college football season (two weeks in), the poll votes were distributed as such:

Red State AP Votes (Total: 16,336, or 77.4 percent):

Florida: 3,411 (Miami 1,398, Florida State 1,058, Florida 955)
Oklahoma: 1,569 (OU 1,522, Oklahoma State 47)
Georgia: 1,524 (Georgia 1,478, Georgia Tech 46)
Louisiana: 1,344 (LSU)
Texas: 1,331 (Texas 1,311, TCU 20)
West Virginia: 1,087 (WVU)
Ohio: 1,030 (Ohio State)
Tennessee: 884 (Tennessee 798, Memphis 86)
Virginia: 812 (UVa)
Alabama: 790 (Auburn 739, Troy 31, Alabama 20)
Utah: 699 (Utah)
Iowa: 665 (Iowa)
Indiana: 595 (Purdue 557, ND 38)
Idaho: 201 (Boise State)
Kentucky: 153 (Louisville)
Kansas: 51 (K-State)
North Carolina: 44 (NC State)
Missouri: 41 (Mizzou)
Mississippi: 37 (Southern Miss)
Colorado: 27 (CU)
South Carolina: 23 (Clemson)
Virginia: 13 (Virginia Tech)
Arkansas: 5 (Arkansas)

Blue State AP Votes (Total: 4,760, or 22.6 percent):

California: 3,038 (USC 1,611, Cal 969, Fresno State 454, Stanford 4)
Michigan: 577 (Michigan)
Wisconsin: 404 (Wisconsin)
Maryland: 393 (Maryland)
Minnesota: 340 (Minnesota)
Massachusetts: 8 (Boston College)

Florida, it turns out, was not only the most powerful state in the 2004 Presidential election, it was the most powerful state in college football's red/blue split. This was at a point when Miami, Florida State and Florida were all still powerhouses, and the Sunshine state was the unquestioned epicenter of D-I football. And just as Florida has lost it stronghold on the gridiron -- California, Texas, Alabama and Georgia are all challenging for supremacy -- it has lost its linchpin status in the general election. According to fivethirtyeight, the four biggest tipping-point states for Obama and McCain in '08 are Colorado, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia ... with Florida coming in fifth.

Reporters' Notebooks

The Sweep — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:49:22 GMT

By Jay Christensen, TheWizOfOdds.com

Randy Ellis, Oklahoman: A Nebraska fan who works in the technology department at the University of Texas has apologized and agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to the Oklahoman and sportswriter Jake Trotter for using the newspaper's Internet template to post a fake story about Sooner quarterbacks Sam Bradford and Landry Jones.

Mike McCall, Miami Herald: Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is now playing defense. He took exception to comments made by Miami's Randy Shannon about Urban Meyer's character after the Gators drove and kicked a 29-yard field goal with 25 seconds left in Saturday's 26-3 victory against the Hurricanes. For the record, Florida was a 21.5-point favorite.

Curt McKeever, Lincoln Journal Star: Texas' Mack Brown says the excessive celebration rule, which cost Washington dearly against Brigham Young, was meant to prevent taunting, not celebration.

Don Markus, Baltimore Sun: Was Maryland's loss at Middle Tennessee State the worst in team history? Ralph Friedgen says no, but others say yes.

Desmond Conner, Hartford Courant: Bill Stewart on West Virginia fans. "If we've got fans worried about what motel they're going to get in January, they better be worried about Week 1, 2, 3 first. If they jump off the bandwagon, they jump off."

Jeff Metcalfe, Arizona Republic: Arizona State fans were spotted waving "Bring on Georgia" signs during Saturday's game against Stanford. The signs were provided by Chick-fil-A, whose headquarters are in Atlanta and sponsor of what used to be the Peach Bowl.

Brett Dawson, Louisville Courier-Journal: Rich Brooks, whose Kentucky Wildcats have steamrolled Norfolk State and Louisville, is rankled by rankings. His team remains out of the top 25. Cupcakes Middle Tennessee State and Western Kentucky are up next for his Wildcats.

Bill Koch, Cincinnati Enquirer: The fracture to the right leg of Cincinnati quarterback Dustin Grutza is more severe than the preliminary examination indicated and he will undergo surgery.

Berry Tramel, Oklahoman: Oklahoma booster Clay Bennett, the businessman whose group is moving the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City, won't be attending the Sooners' game at Seattle.

Brian Christopherson, Lincoln Journal Star: Nebraska offensive lineman Andy Christensen has been reinstated to the team after he was found not guilty of first-degree sexual assault.

Mark Tupper, Decatur Herald & Review: Illinois has lost defensive back Miami Thomas for the season because of a torn ACL in his right knee.

Kathryn Kennedy, Daily Reflector: East Carolina officials are continuing to interview witnesses and view video of possible excessive force by police after the Pirates' victory over West Virginia.

Style Archive: Gridiron Edition, Week 2

The Sweep — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:54:52 GMT

By Luke Winn, SI.com

The Style Archive moves into its third week here at The Sweep, having already brought you the best and worst jersey developments, as well as some fantastic dreadlocks and a bleeding defensive coordinator.

Here, we move on to five exhibits spotted by our field observers over the weekend:

1. JoePa & The Whale

Among the go-to ties in the wardrobe of Penn State coach Joe Paterno, a style icon if there ever was one in college football, is this navy-blue whale model. Paterno, Bill Clinton, John Kerry and Brett Favre: all fans of Vineyard Vines.

2. Isotoner QB

Robert Marve did not have a fantastic debut as Miami's starter (he threw for just 69 yards in a loss to Florida), proving that while wearing a glove on your non-throwing hand looks cool, it does absolutely nothing for your passer rating.

3. Southeastern Swag

We caught sight of this message on the right wrist of Georgia linebacker Marcus Dowtin following the Dawgs' 56-17 victory over Central Michigan. We're interested to see how well the "swag" carries over into SEC games.

4. U of M(uffintop)

The five keys to being a good defensive lineman, as everyone knows, are: size, speed, power, strength and a respectable muffin-top. Michigan's Terrance Taylor stylishly rocks his in a white casing that nicely spills out over the maize pants.

5. Intimidation!

How did this facial expression -- made by BYU running back Harvey Unga as part of a dance ritual before Saturday's 28-27 win over Washington -- not receive an unsportsmanlike conduct flag from referee Larry Farina? We're baffled.

Poll Positions

The Sweep — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 05:29:19 GMT

By Bill Trocchi, SI.com

Perusing this week's Associated Press Top 25 voter breakdown, there were a few ballots that caught my attention. Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury submitted this interesting top 3: No. 1 Missouri, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 East Carolina. Forget USC, Georgia, Oklahoma, Florida and Ohio State -- Mr. Wilner wants results against real opponents, and all three of those teams have delivered.

Kirk Bohls of the Austin American Statesman was similarly impressed with East Carolina's start, ranking the Pirates No. 2 (they are No. 14 in the overall poll).

Molly Yanity of the Seattle Post-Intelligence gave LSU its only No. 1 vote, and provided Kentucky with all six of its points by slotting the Wildcats at No. 20. That vote allowed every SEC East team to receive votes this week.

Georgia received 23 first-place votes, but the only voter who resides in Georgia, Adam Van Brimmer of the Savannah Morning News, not only didn't have Georgia No. 1, he had Georiga No. 3 in the SEC (and No. 5 overall), behind No. 2 Florida and No. 3 Alabama.

Marcus Fuller of the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press fell asleep at the wheel, submitting West Virginia at No. 15 and East Carolina at No. 25 even though East Carolina whipped the Mountaineers 24-3.

Which brings us to Maurice Patton of the Nashville Tennessean, who hopefully emailed the wrong version of his poll to the AP home office this week. Clearly, something was amiss. Mr. Patton had Tennessee at No. 20 and UCLA unranked. (UCLA beat Tennessee 27-24.) He submitted Clemson at No. 17 and Alabama at No. 21. (Alabama routed Clemson 34-10.) And finally, he had West Virginia at No. 16 and East Carolina at No. 23. (As mentioned above, ECU beat WVU 24-3.)

Let's hope Mr. Patton double-checks his final version next week.

Notre Dame-Michigan has lost its luster

The Sweep — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:09:25 GMT

By Bill Trocchi, SI.com

They are supposed to be two of the best. Notre Dame and Michigan have the most wins in college football history. They have two of the best stadiums, fight songs, helmets and traditions. Yet when these two founding fathers of college football meet on Saturday, it will carry less significance on a national scale than the Wisconsin-Fresno State game later that evening.

For two straight years, Notre Dame and Michigan have been unranked heading into their matchup, the only two such years since the rivalry was renewed in 1978. Notre Dame has wallowed in mediocrity for much of this decade, and now Michigan has joined the Irish in the unfamiliar territory of former powerhouse.

There was a curiosity factor last season, with Michigan coming off embarrassing losses to Appalachian State and Oregon, while Notre Dame was outscored 64-13 in its first two games against Georgia Tech and Penn State. Could Notre Dame and Michigan be this bad? What the heck was going to happen when they played? The rubber-necking of two train-wreck seasons had folks interested -- and then the two produced an uninteresting 38-0 game, with Michigan easily hailing victory.

A year later, even the curiosity factor has waned. Michigan is enduring growing pains with first-year coach Rich Rodriguez. There is little doubt that the former West Virginia coach is going to rebuild Michigan once he gets the right style of players to Ann Arbor, but this season will be a trying one for the maize and blue. Notre Dame is wondering, now that Charlie Weis has all his own players, when that 'schematic advantage' Weis promised when he was hired is going to kick in. It certainly didn't appear to be there in a 21-13 home win over San Diego State -- a team that lost to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Remember the late 1980s and early 1990s? Notre Dame-Michigan set the stage for the college football season every September, and the games rarely disappointed. In one seven-year stretch, every game but one was decided by less than a touchdown. From 1989-92, both teams were in the top 10 when they clashed. Rocket Ismail created his legend with two kickoff returns for touchdowns in 1989, helping No. 1 Notre Dame knock off No. 2 Michigan 24-19 at Michigan Stadium. Two years later, in the same stadium, Desmond Howard etched his name in Michigan lore with a diving, fourth-down touchdown catch that iced No. 3 Michigan's 24-14 win over No. 7 Notre Dame. A year later, Lou Holtz and No. 3 Notre Dame settled for a 17-17 tie (remember those?) with No. 6 Michigan -- and both teams ended up finishing the season in the top five. Remy Hamilton won the 1994 game for Michigan with a field goal with two seconds left, and Reggie Ho launched Notre Dame's 1988 national championship with a last-minute field goal to beat Michigan 19-17.

The demise of the Notre Dame-Michigan game is a loss for college football. Outside the 2006 matchup, which featured Brady Quinn's No. 2 Irish getting pummeled by 11th-ranked Michigan 47-21, this game hasn't had the buzz befitting these two proud programs in the past decade. Odds are, the rivalry will renew at a high level at some point, but right now Notre Dame-Michigan is merely just another game.

Reporters' Notebooks

The Sweep — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:17:53 GMT

By Jay Christensen, TheWizOfOdds.com

· Bret McMurphy, Tampa Tribune: Central Florida fans got the cell phone number for South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe and bombarded him with hundreds of calls and text messages before Saturday's game. Grothe's father, Matt Sr., received a death threat and the family was protected by state troopers during the game.

· Paul Strelow, Columbia State: Sophomore tight end Brian Linthicum, who started Clemson's opener against Alabama, appears on the verge of transferring. And sophomore left tackle Chris Hairston was injured Saturday night in a moped accident.

· Michael Hunt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's Bret Bielema says his team is ready for Saturday's showdown at Fresno State. "Can't wait to get out there," he said. "I've got all the respect for them, but that game is going to be decided by what we do."

· Jeff Shain, Miami Herald: The 12 players suspended for Florida State's opener against Western Carolina were not allowed on the sideline and thought to be sequestered in the coaches' offices, where they watched the game.

· Mike DeArmond, Kansas City Star: Missouri is planning to start a campaign to help the Heisman chances of quarterback Chase Daniel.

· Brian Christopherson, Lincoln Journal Star: Nebraska senior defensive end Barry Turner broke a bone in his left leg against San Jose State. He's likely done for the season.

Conference Power Rankings: Week 2

The Sweep — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:44:19 GMT

By Bill Trocchi, SI.com

The 2008 debut of the Conference Power Rankings generated a whopping 128 comments from the college football faithful last week, demonstrating the passion this subject generates. Here's my personal favorite from last week, which compared the rankings (which were published prior to Monday's UCLA-Tennessee game) to the history of World War II:

How can this guy call himself credible and write an article before all the games are complete? It is like writing the history of WWII just after the Germany invaded France. "The Thousand Year Reich is going to be DOMINANT for a very long time, folks. I see maybe a TWO Thousand year Reich. Nobody on the Continent can touch them and there is little chance that either the Brits or the Americans will be able to unseat Adolf's Annihilators."

What a fricken joke. Shame on SI for even letting this article see the light of day.
-- protonm, Sept. 2, 2008

Keep 'em coming, folks.

Unfortunately for the rankings, there were fewer meaningful non-conference games this week as the BCS conferences mostly loaded up on patsies. Still, there was more to learn as the mother of all non-conference games (Ohio State at USC) approaches.

NOTE: The BCS+ notation reflects BCS conference teams, plus other teams ranked in the current AP Top 25.

1. SEC (17-3 non-conference, 4-2 vs. BCS+)

Last Rank: 1

The Good: SI.com's Andy Staples pointed out that Florida didn't look as good as it should've against Miami, but I'll still give the Gators props for a 23-point win against an emotional and athletic opponent. Georgia looked scary good on offense at times against Central Michigan, and Ole Miss took ACC leader Wake Forest to the gun on the road.

The Bad: Arkansas, again. The Razorbacks survived another fourth-down situation on a game-winning drive, and had to sweat out a missed field goal against ... UL-Monroe, for a 28-27 win. The Razorbacks have to be the least impressive 2-0 BCS team in the nation. Honorable mention was Alabama's listless 20-6 win over Tulane in which the Tide were outgained by 146 yards.

The Verdict: Not an overly impressive week by the nation's best conference, but no other conference jumped up.

2. Big 12 (22-2, 3-1 vs. BCS+)

Last Rank: 2

The Good: It is tough to reward such a weak schedule, but the league was 12-0 and almost every game was a blowout. Oklahoma pounded Cincinnati, and eight of the 12 wins were by 20 points or more.

The Bad: Colorado barely beat Eastern Washington, returning an interception for a touchdown in the final minutes, then picking off a pass in the end zone on the final play to preserve a 31-24 win. Not exactly how you want to head into the West Virginia game in two weeks.

The Verdict: A warm-up week before four BCS teams appear on next week's non-conference slate -- Washington (vs. Oklahoma), Washington State (at Baylor), Arkansas (at Texas) and Iowa (vs. Iowa State).

3. Pac-10 (7-3, 3-3 vs. BCS+)

Last Rank: 3

The Good: Washington has to fall into this category, playing BYU virtually even for four quarters, only to have an untimely flag spoil a potential overtime. Also, Cal running back Jahvid Best (384 total yards in two weeks) looks like a guy who can lift the Golden Bears into the elite of the league, and the nation.

The Bad: Oregon State was overwhelmed by a Penn State squad that dealt with more off-the-field adversity prior to the game. The Beavers should have been out for redemption after their opening loss to Stanford. Instead, they were run over.

The Verdict: The Pac-10 has had its share of conference games, and it still has seven BCS+ games. No question, this league has more guts in the scheduling department than any other major conference.

4. Big Ten (18-3, 3-3 vs. BCS+)

Last Rank: 4

The Good: Penn State whipped Oregon State, and Stewart Mandel says the Lions' offense has clicked into high gear sooner than expected. Wisconsin also had a dominating win, over Marshall, and Northwestern won at Duke. An unbeaten week, but again, the competition left something to be desired.

The Bad: Ohio State and Michigan both struggled against MAC teams. While most are not worried about Ohio State, especially if it can get Beanie Wells back, Michigan is another matter. Week 2 was more of the same from Week 1 as the square pegs try to run the round-hole offense.

The Verdict: Not much to be learned with nine non-BCS opponents, but Ohio State will carry the conference's flag this week to Los Angeles against USC. Fair or not, that game will paint this league a certain way.

5. ACC (13-7, 2-7 vs. BCS+)

Last Rank: 6

The Good: Wake Forest prevented some embarrassment with a last-second field goal by the clutch Sam Swank. A loss by the ACC favorite to a mid-level SEC team at home would have been another flesh wound to a hurting conference. Florida State put up some pretty numbers in a 69-0 win over Western Carolina. Hey, 69 points is a lot.

The Bad: Duke needed to beat Northwestern at home to help boost the league in these standings. Maryland, you got some 'splaining to do after a 24-14 loss to Middle Tennessee. Plus, Virginia Tech and Virginia were underwhelming against Furman and Richmond, respectively.

The Verdict: The 'Bad' is clearly outweighing the 'Good' in this conference after two weeks, though Miami looked respectable at The Swamp.

6. Big East (8-7, 0-6 vs. BCS+)

Last Rank: 5

The Good: Ummm ... South Florida survived in overtime at Central Florida. That's good, right?

The Bad: UConn had to go OT vs. Temple. Cincinnati was routed by Oklahoma. Syracuse lost by two TDs at home to Akron. West Virginia looked lost against East Carolina. That enough?

The Verdict: Who is the best team in the this league? Or, worse yet, who is the second best? Four non-conference games await this week against four BCS opponents. If the league wants to shape up, Week 3 brings a big opportunity.

Comparing Tebow To A Musk Ox?

The Sweep — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:48:45 GMT

By Andy Staples, SI.com

I knew when I saw the one-character subject line (?) and the first line of a writer friend's e-mail (Musk ox?) that I had some 'splaining to do.

In case you missed my column from last night's Florida-Miami game, I compared Florida quarterback Tim Tebow to a muskox -- or musk ox, depending on your chosen text -- while analyzing the fact that the Hurricanes managed only one sack despite a well-crafted blitzing strategy and some excellent young pass-rushers.

One Florida fan e-mailed to say he was highly offended that I would compare Tebow to Ovibos moschatus, a large, furry ungulate that lives near the Arctic circle. The defending Heisman Trophy winner, whose attributes as a human being surpass even his superb abilities on the football field, should take no offense. The comparison was a compliment.

Allow me to explain.

I needed an animal analogy to describe Tebow's rare combination of strength and agility in the face of a pack of predators. Funny-named animals tend to pack more of a literary punch, but comparing Tebow to a platypus or an aardvark really would have been insulting. I considered a bull moose, but I refrained from that analogy because of its political implications; Teddy Roosevelt ran as the Bull Moose Party's candidate in 1912, and current Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's fondness for hunting moose and turning said moose into stew has been well chronicled in recent weeks. Plus, moose have a bad habit of getting run over by trucks, some of which resemble Miami's defensive linemen in speed and size.

So I went with the musk ox, which is unfortunately named because of the scent males sometimes excrete. And while that scent may offend the human nose, female oxen find it quite fetching. Now that Gov. Charlie Crist is engaged, Tebow is Florida's most eligible bachelor, so that part of the comparison works.

Also, while musk oxen look like huge, lumbering beasts, they actually are quite agile. Despite weighing as much as 800 pounds, they are surprisingly quick and nimble when negotiating rocky, snowy hillsides. And woe unto the wolf who tries to attack a musk ox herd. When defending the herd, the oxen gather together with their horns facing out. Should a wolf come near, the dominant ox might charge, trampling the wolf or tossing it with its horns. Tebow has been known to do the same thing to defensive ends with his stiff-arm.

Hopefully, Tebow took no offense at the comparison. He shouldn't. Who wouldn't want to be known as a giant, strong, quick, agile defender of the herd whom the ladies find irresistible?

A Post-Hurricane Saturday In Baton Rouge

The Sweep — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:38:24 GMT

By Stewart Mandel, SI.com

The menu for Rusty Welch's Tiger Tailgate on Saturday was scheduled to include sausage, brisket and stuffed potatoes. But there was no football this weekend in Baton Rouge, where residents are still dealing with extensive damage from Hurricane Gustav, causing the postponement of Saturday's LSU-Troy game.

Six days after the hurricane hit, Rusty -- a diehard LSU fan and tailgating extraordinaire whom I met last year at a book signing -- was still without power as of Saturday morning. His roof suffered extensive damage (including the chimney blowing off).

I asked him to chronicle how he spent his first post-hurricane Saturday as compared with a normal game day:

Game day, 5:30 a.m.: Wake and go to the tailgate area, set up tents, generator, satellite dish, flat-panel TV and start the BBQ pit.

Hurricane Day 6 a.m.: Wake at 5 a.m. to check gas in the generator powering our refrigerator and 5,000 BTU window A/C unit, go to gas station at 6 a.m. in order to beat the crowd to refuel. Non-working traffic signals increase driving time tremendously.

Game day, 7 a.m.: Place six briskets on the BBQ to begin slow cooking to serve around 4 p.m.

Hurricane Day 6, 7 a.m.: Drive to McDonald's to purchase breakfast from a limited menu. During the drive, take notice of neighbors removing debris from crushed cars, houses and roofs.

Game day, 8 am to Noon: Watch GameDay, cook burgers and sausage for 75 and 100 people at our tailgate.

Hurricane Day 6, 8 a.m. to Noon: Remove debris from my house, repair broken fence, try to determine if there is a way to plug the second hole in our roof.

Game day, Noon to 4 p.m.: Visit with family, friends and business folks while enjoying beverages and games on the flat-panel TV, serve briskets and stuffed potatoes.

Hurricane Day, Noon to 4 p.m.: Spend two hours on a conference call regarding Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention Center (BRCIC), which is currently receiving over 2,000 phone calls per day. Go to in-laws to wash clothes since they got electricity back Friday night.

Game day 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.: Continue visiting, watching games and enjoying beverages, then head to the stadium to watch LSU football.

Hurricane Day 6, 4 pm to 11 p.m.: Go to a friend's house so I can access the Internet and try to get additional work accomplished. Go to another friend's house and watch the Florida-Miami game until 9 p.m. before leaving in order to meet the city's mandatory 10 p.m. curfew.

Rusty and his family received some good news by the end of the night: Their electricity had been restored. About half the city, however, remains in the dark.

Meanwhile, state officials are bracing for a possible follow-up blow later this week from Hurricane Ike. It remains to be seen whether Saturday's LSU-North Texas game will be affected.

Hopefully Ike will be merciful. The good people of Baton Rouge could sure use some relief next weekend -- not to mention Rusty will be cooking fajitas.

To donate to the Hurricane Gustav Relief and Recovery Fund, click here.

Five Things We Learned

The Sweep — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:36:16 GMT

By Stewart Mandel, SI.com

1. That Ohio State's Big Ten schedule will be no cakewalk. The widely-held assumption for some time was that, regardless of Saturday's USC outcome, Ohio State will turn around and steamroll its way through the "weak" Big Ten en route to another BCS title game appearance/controversy. Outside of Ann Arbor, however, there have been noticeable signs of improvement throughout the conference these past two weeks, with Penn State and Wisconsin emerging as viable threats.

The Nittany Lions' 45-14 rout of Oregon State was eye-opening to say the least. I would not have guessed that their "Spread HD" would click so thoroughly, so quickly. The Badgers, meanwhile, have shaken off slow starts the past two weeks to bulldoze overmatched foes Akron and Marshall due in large part to the type of relentless power-running game that's become increasingly rare these days. Sept. 13 has been marked on the Buckeyes' calendar for some time, but go ahead and add Oct. 4 (at Wisconsin) and Oct. 25 (vs. Penn State). Keep an eye on Michigan State (Oct. 18) while you're at it.

2. West Virginia hired the wrong coach. I've always been a proponent of patience when it comes to evaluating coaches, so no, I'm not going to slam the door on Bill Stewart three games into his head-coaching career. But events of the past week indicate that WVU had the opportunity to hire one of the hottest head coaches in the country -- and blew it.

Three weeks into a frenetic and disorganized search to find Rich Rodriguez's replacement, WVU retained the services of noted consultant Chuck Neinas. As described last week by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, members of the school's search committee spent the morning of the Mountaineers' Fiesta Bowl game making initial contact with one of the interested candidates identified by Neinas -- only to hand the job to Stewart after the Mountaineers upset Oklahoma.

The spurned candidate who never got that call: East Carolina's Skip Holtz, the same man whose team unleashed a 24-3 upset of the Mountaineers on Saturday and who will most likely be standing on the sideline of some lucky BCS-conference school this time next year.

3. That the Big East is even worse than the ACC. ACC-bashing was all the rage following last week's Clemson/Virginia Tech/Virginia embarrassments. Even though the league provided even more fodder for ridicule Saturday with Wake Forest's near-miss against Ole Miss, Maryland's loss to Middle Tennessee and the Hokies' and Cavaliers' 3-0 halftime leads over Furman and Richmond, you'd be hard-pressed to say it's in worse shape than the Big East.

The conference already holds an inherent disadvantage due to its small size (eight schools), but it's managed to produce two or three nationally prominent teams these past few years. There might not be any this year. West Virginia, Cincinnati, Rutgers and Louisville have already endured lopsided losses, while Pitt lost to Bowling Green and Syracuse lost to Akron. The only remaining undefeated teams are USF and Connecticut -- and both needed overtime Saturday to dispatch UCF and Temple, respectively. Yeesh.

4. That Jahvid Best will run away in the West. Despite never garnering more than four handoffs in a game last season, Cal fans had been breathlessly awaiting the sophomore's turn as the Bears' primary tailback this season -- and now we know why. Saturday night against hapless Washington State, the 5-foot-10 burner broke off touchdown runs of 86 and 80 yards en route to 200 yards (including another TD) on 14 carries. This came after racking up 277 all-purpose yards last week against Michigan State.

Not surprisingly, Best's performances are conjuring Heisman talk in Berkeley. We'll have to wait and see on that one, but more importantly, in light of both a solid non-conference win and a 66-3 conference victory -- has Cal has returned from its one-year dip into obscurity? The Bears have finally settled on a quarterback, Kevin Riley, and Best is the explosive threat that DeSean Jackson was supposed to be last year. The only question will be how its defense fares when it goes up against offenses like USC's, Oregon's and Arizona State's.

5. That it truly does stink to be a ref. Poor Larry Farina. The flag-waving official who rained on Jake Locker's parade Saturday has been thoroughly castigated from coast to coast for his decision to call a costly excessive celebration foul on the Washington QB. Like the rest of you, I found the flag entirely unwarranted, especially considering the crucial stage of the game. But after reviewing the evidence, it seems our collective angst is being directed at the wrong party.

Despite repeatedly showing a graphic of the rule that quantifies "throwing the ball high into the air" as an unsportsmanlike act, ESPN's talking heads were adamant that the call was wrong. Mark May even tried to say that Locker "flipped the ball over his shoulder." Really? Then how come every time they showed the replay, the ball shot straight into the air and off camera for several seconds? Most estimates placed its trajectory at about 25 feet. That's some flip.

It seems to me that Farina, just as he stated, was following the rule he was told to call. The more appropriate reaction would be to find whoever devised this asinine rule and put him on national television.