What Next?

I think we can all agree that last Saturday was a truly great Saturday of college football.

The highlight, of course, was the latest installment of the Red River Rivalry—a Texas-Oklahoma showdown that figures to live on in the memories of Longhorns fans (and college football fans) for years and years to come.

But there were other great moments, too: Toledo’s upset of Michigan at the Big House; the bizarre ending in that North Carolina-Notre Dame game; the gritty, unexpectedly spirited performance of Oklahoma State, who shocked just about everybody by picking off Chase Daniel three times and knocking off the high-flying Missouri Tigers; and, of course, for us Nittany Lions fans, there was Penn State laying the wood to Wisconsin in Camp Randall, handing the Badgers their worst loss since 1989.

Yeah, that was a good one.

By day’s end, I was exhausted. But so much had happened, and there were so many highlights to see, that I couldn’t help but try and stay up for a very late edition of “College Football Final.” I failed, of course, but I tried.

But that’s besides the point of this column.

The point of this column is this: After a Saturday like the truly glorious one we just enjoyed, what can we reasonably expect for this Saturday?

Can we really expect another classic like Texas-Oklahoma? Another upset like Toledo over Michigan? Another instance in which Charlie Weis refuses to shake the opposing coach’s hand?

You might think the answer is “No.”

But you’d be wrong.

I think we actually can expect another day as good as last Saturday. And the reason is this: College football throws us a curveball, or gives us a classic, pretty much every week. This has been the case for as long as the game has been played.

I mean, if TCFA had been around back in 1869, and if Your Editor had to pick the games (well, game) for that first-ever weekend of college football, I would have more than likely picked Princeton over Rutgers. I mean, it's Rutgers. But as we now know, I would have been wrong, because the turbin-clad Rutgers squad pulled the upset that day, knocking off Princeton 6-4 on the banks of the Raritan River in the first college football game ever played (aka, the most important day in American history).

My point? Simple: Don’t think this weekend can’t be as good as last weekend.

Because it can be.

We might get another Texas-Oklahoma. We might get another grumpy Charlie Weis. We might get another Rutgers-Princeton. Heck, we might even see Penn State finally beat Michigan.

And if that were to happen? Well, it be truly one of the great Saturdays.

Maybe even one of the greatest.

Out And About: News And Notes You May Have Missed

• Tommy Tuberville isn’t coaching like a man who helped build Auburn back into a national power. He’s coaching like a man afraid of losing his job. Let’s review the last few months On The Plains: 1. After the 2007 season, Tuberville scraps his long-successful power-running offense for a “spread” attack, which he announced would be authored by spread guru Tony Franklin; 2. Auburn begins the 2008 season and immediately looks like garbage on offense. They post a 3-2 win over Mississippi State that SEC apologists call a “classic defensive struggle,” though outsiders realize said SEC apologists are full of crapola; 3. After Auburn barely manages to pick up a first down against equally offensively challenged Vanderbilt, Tuberville fires Franklin, but adds that he’s “committed” to running the spread, even though he doesn’t have the personnel to run it and even though he doesn’t know anything about offense; 4. The Auburn offense looks as crappy as ever in a truly embarrassing loss to Arkansas (a team that was routed by Texas; just sayin’, SEC fans), and because Tuberville already fired Franklin, he had nobody to blame except, well, himself. Which brings us to this week, and Tuberville’s latest genius (read: desperate) move: He's ditching the spread. Shocker. Said Tuberville: "Offensively, we just don't have an identity and that's what we have to do this week. We'll sit down and visit and see what the best thing, we'll sit down as a group. We'll start working today and what we think we need to do for the next five games and then we're not going to change it.” That is, unless we continue to suck, and then I’ll change it real quick, most likely by firing somebody.

• Are the proverbial wheels coming off in Columbus? It sure sounds like it. There seems to be a split in the Buckeye locker room—upperclassmen on one side; Terrelle Pryor, the underclassmen, and The Vest on the other. At least, it’s hard not to come to that conclusion after hearing Buckeye tight end Jake Ballard this week tell reporters (stupidly) that he thought the struggling Buckeye offense would benefit from a two-quarterback system—with freshman phenom Pryor splitting time with former starter Todd Boeckman (you know, the guy who led them to the national championship game last year). Ballard, clearly frustrated with the freshman’s lack of passing skill and his tendency to try to make plays with his legs, told reporters that Boeckman was capable of making some “big throws” (apparently, the kind Pryor can’t make) and that his leadership in the huddle has been missed. Which would have been fine, I guess. But then Ballard launched one final salvo. Said The Tight End Who Won’t See The Field Again Until November: “[Pryor] has got realize this isn’t high school.” Ouch. The Vest, for one, seems content to stick with Pryor for the time being, and Pryor doesn’t seem all that fazed by his tight end’s comments. Said The Alleged Phenom: "The game's no different [than in high school]. There are the same things as high school, just bigger guys, faster guys. It's like an all-star team on each side. It's not hard at all. We've just got to start clicking and it'll be just as easy."

Quick Hits: Straight And To The Point

• File this one under Extremely Bad Ideas. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, who is clearly proud of his program’s 15-10 record against BCS conference teams over the past eight years, has decided that he’d like to create a “graveyard” outside of the Utes’ Rice-Eccles Stadium. The grave markers, of course, would be emblazoned with the names of the BCS teams Utah has beaten. And Whittingham seems really keen on the idea. "I think it would be something fun, a good thing to do," Whittingham said. As for his boss, athletic director Chris Hill? Well, he’s not quite so enthusiastic. "We have lots of things we need to do to beautify our stadium," Hill said. "That probably isn't one of them." I love that quote.

• What do the following ESPN personalities have in common? A) Ron Jaworski; B) Merrill Hoge; C) Mel Kiper; D) Todd McShay. Answer: They are the “film guys”—the bottom-rung ESPN talking heads who lock themselves in a closet somewhere in Bristol and watch film, apparently, all the time. As a result, they stop viewing football as the beautiful game that it is and instead turn it into a weird blockhead science. This is just fine for Hoge, Kiper and Jaworski—besides, they cover that horrible “National Football League,” where fun went out the window about 20 years ago. But it’s not OK for McShay, who is presented as a college guy, and yet sounds like a Hoge wannabe (shudder). Dear Todd, get out of that film room. Go to a game. Have a drink. Relax.

• Is Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez (cliché on the way) “on the hot seat” already? Well, no, probably not. But that hasn’t stopped reporters from asking Michigan athletic director Bill Martin that very question. And here is Martin’s response: "There is no question I am totally supportive of Rich. Was I surprised with the loss last Saturday? Sure. No question. But I think he is the right man for this program at this time." And what is the state of Michigan at this time? Well, here you go: The 2-4 start is the worst at Michigan since 1967.

• Another note about Rodriguez: As we know, he is the first non-“Michigan Man” to become Michigan's head coach since “Ohio State Man” Bo Schembechler took the reigns in 1969. Schembechler was followed by Gary Moeller (not great) and, later, Lloyd Carr, who in 13 seasons won five Big Ten championships and one national championship. And yet Michigan fans weren’t happy with that. I wonder if they’re re-evaluating things now.

• One last note about RichRod. Here’s the coach, offering his thoughts on Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark: "He's really good. We recruited him a little bit [at WVU]. He's done a great job. The thing that impresses me, he's made all kind of throws that are very, very accurate. I'm talking about deep throws, throws under pressure, timing throws. He's managed the offense. He's in complete command of what he's doing out there. He's done a great job with the screen. I've been very impressed with him."

• Penn State Coach Joe Paterno was asked to assess Michigan. His response? “I'm not sure there's a lot wrong with them. In our business, people are very, very impatient." Hey Rich, you officially owe one to JoePa.

• I thought this was a very intelligent comment from The Vest this week, who was asked about freshman Terrelle Pryor’s apparent unwillingness to “throw the ball away”: "One of the things we talk about is your best throw of the day might be a throw-away. That might be the best decision you've made all day. I think that's something that's not clearly internalized yet by him, because he's had so many things happen when he's kept the play alive, for us and for his teams in the past. So he'll get to that point."

• Speaking of the Buckeyes … if Jake Ballard wants to blame somebody for Ohio State’s offensive struggles, he might want to stop pointing fingers at Pryor and start pointing at that Auburn-esque offensive line. According to Cleveland Plain Dealer Ohio State beat writer Doug Lesmerises, Pryor has been sacked 10 times this season on just 41 passing attempts. Last year, Todd Boeckman was sacked 13 times—on 273 passing attempts.