ShareThisIn light of the triple whammy of depressing facts that Debbie Harry is 64, Farrah Fawcett is no more and Olivia Newton John turns 61 Saturday, here's a quick pick-me-up from college football:
-- You ever notice how many star seniors say, "I'm not even thinking about the NFL?'' And how many really mean it? It's about as rare as a lucid moment from new Mixed Martial Arts star Herschel Walker.
But then there's Florida QB Tim Tebow. After watching the brutal display of punishment he took and dished out in Saturday's closer-than-expected win over Tennessee, we really wonder if the 6-3, 245-pound Tebow gives a hoot about playing on Sundays. If he does, wouldn't he balk about carrying the ball 24 times (five more than the rest of UF's team combined) against a physical Vols' defense?
Then again from his virginity to his Christian missions (including performing circumcisions) to his arm waving, screaming pep talks on the sidelines, Tebow is wired differently than most Heisman winners. Maybe he'll quit, get into politics and settle the health-care debate. Or start a new branch of the Peace Corps.
But unless Urban Meyer quickly finds some other play-makers on offense, the Tebow and the Gators might wind up physically beaten up by midseason, which is exactly what happened two years ago in UF's disappointing 9-4 finish in defense of its 2006 national title.
-- It's Groundhog Day at Southern Cal. With the Saturday's inexplicable 16-13 loss at Washington (a team they pounded 56-0 last year), the Trojans have now lost to an unranked team for the fourth straight season -- three times in the Great Northwest vs. Oregon, Oregon State or Washington. SC gets worse treatment up there than John Rambo.
Coach-surfer dude Pete Carroll can tweet Offspring's "The Kids Aren't Alright" as his song selection all he wants. But the chances are the debacle in Seattle may just sentence Troy to a fourth straight Rose Bowl appearance New Year's Day against -- ho-hum, fill-in-the-blank Big Ten team -- and not the BCS national title game six days later on the same field. Something tells us Carroll will really have to work on his music selection to get USC motivated for that one.
-- Note to Tommy Bowden, Phil Fulmer and Tommy Tuberville: If the trio of former coaches really want back in anytime soon, their realistic choices at BCS schools is narrowing to three: Virginia, Louisville or Colorado. And while we'd bet on Al Groh, Steve Kragthorpe and Dan Hawkins getting the pink slips you guys got last year, that doesn't mean the jobs are ideal.
Louisville and Virginia are basketball schools. That Rick Pitino and his unique brand of after-dinner restaurant behavior is still coaching UL is all the proof you need there. Colorado's athletic department is reportedly bleeding red ink, which would influence the unemployed three's salaries (Yikes!). And remember that since Bobby Bowden guided Florida State to the 1999 national title, every coach who won a BCS crown was younger than 55 when his team won. Bowden and Tuberville are 55 and Fulmer is 59.
-- Saturday's bitter 16-15 loss at No. 13 Virginia Tech was Nebraska's 10th straight to a ranked opponent. With each loss, it gets harder and harder to remember how utterly dominant the Cornhuskers once were (101-12 with three national titles from 1993-2001, 54-37 with no BCS bowl appearances since).
The biggest problem vs. ranked-foes? Poor defense (32.1 points per game in the losing skid). And even when the 'Huskers play well for 59 minutes like Saturday, an inexplicable collapse leads to more heartbreak.
UPSET PICK: Fresno State squandered the amazing effort of RB Ryan Mathews (234 yards rushing including TDs of 69, 68 and 60 yards) to drop us to 1-2. With wins over Memphis and SE Louisiana, we're just not buying Ole Miss as the No. 4 team in the nation. Watch 4-point underdog South Carolina knock them off Thursday night in Columbia.
EVERYBODY UP: Having been granted a sixth year of college eligibility, Texas WR Jordan Shipley is the kind of player we pull for. And he showed why in the Longhorns' 34-24 win over Texas Tech Saturday night. As if his 11 catches weren't enough, Shipley also took a punt back 46 yards for a touchdown. His momentum took him through the Texas Memorial Stadium end zone to the corner where Bevo, UT's mascot is kept. The massive bovine was startled and then got up as Shipley quickly retreated.
"Bevo surprised me. I looked up and there he was," Shipley said. "I'm going to try to avoid Bevo from now on."
Folks, that's called senior leadership.
(E-mail John Lindsay at lindsayj(at)shns.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
Column
