Vanderbilt takes a bow and JoePa takes a seat. The Big 12 threatens to overtake the Southeastern Conference as best in the land. The other coach Stoops can take it easy, his job at Arizona seems safe.
Week 6 of the college football season brought a return to normalcy – everywhere except Nashville, that is.
The Big Story
Revenge of the nerds, SEC style.
Vanderbilt did it again, finding a way to beat Auburn 14-13 on Saturday night and upping its record to 5-0 and earning a curtain call from its fans. The last time to the Commodores were 5-0 was 1943, when they played a shortened schedule because of World War II that included two victories over Tennessee Tech.
The latest victory helped push Vanderbilt up to No. 13 in the AP Top 25. Which means Vandy now ranks higher in the AP football poll than it does in U.S. News and World Report’s list of top academic universities, where it’s tied for 18th with Notre Dame.
he century SEC coaches, McGugin ruled over Vandy’s greatest gridiron success.
From 1904-34, he went 197-55-19 – and the Commodores just haven’t been the same since. The 16 coaches who have followed McGugin are 284-468-24.
Current Vandy coach Bobby Johnson knows his history. When it was suggested by a reporter that the Auburn victory was the greatest in school history, he reminded everyone about McGugin’s teams.
“I don’t know where this one ranks. Back when Dan McGugin was the coach, his teams beat teams 150-0,” Johnson said.
He was only exaggerating a little. In 1915, Vandy beat Mississippi 91-0 and followed it up a week later with a 35-0 victory over Tennessee. Apparently, coach McGugin had a little Steve Spurrier in him.
These Commodores aren’t quite so dominant. Vanderbilt ranks in the back half of the SEC in most offensive and defensive categories.
The key has been turnover ratio. Vandy is No. 1 in the country at an average of plus 1.80 per game. Also, Vanderbilt has been among the least penalized teams in the land.
“We still have a lot of work. We can improve in so many ways and we’re going to try and get better,” Johnson said.
The Commodores don’t beat themselves and take advantage of the other team’s mistakes.
s looking good.
Paterno’s perch
At 81 years old, coming off a broken leg and nursing a sore hip, Joe Paterno is having a difficult time roaming the sideline.
JoePa watched his team’s 20-6 victory over Purdue from the press box Saturday. It’s the second time this season he’s had to take to the box because standing was too uncomfortable.
There were already plenty of signs pointing toward Paterno’s possible departure from coaching after this season. He doesn’t have a contract for next year and recruits have reportedly been told the next coach will be a member of his staff. Penn State president Graham Spanier seems intent on taking control of the program and being the man to oversee the changing of the guard.
Sitting at No. 6 in the nation, Penn State (6-0) is poised for a run at the Big Ten title, maybe even a national championship. At the very least, the Nittany Lions should be on their way to a nine- or 10-win season. Even all the off-field problems Penn State players have had over the past couple of seasons are being overshadowed by the team’s success.
The stage is perfectly set for Paterno to walk away on top after this season.
Best game you didn’t see
UTEP 40, Southern Miss 37 in double OT.
Heisman-worthy
me love after running for 297 yards on 20 carries in a 44-35 victory against rival Louisiana-Monroe. Fenroy is third in the nation in rushing (150 ypg).
Quick hits
-While Bob Stoops has his Oklahoma team No. 1, little brother Mike has to be feeling better about his job status at Arizona. The younger Stoops’ team is 4-1 and seems on his way off the hotseat and into a bowl for the first time in five seasons with the Wildcats.
-The worst team in major college football? How about North Texas? Only the Mean Green and Washington remain winless after Army beat Tulane. The combined record of Washington’s foes is 22-6. North Texas has lost to teams with a 17-8 record, including a 42-10 loss at home to Florida International (2-3) on Saturday night.
Lookahead
The Big 12 is making a serious run at the SEC for title of best conference. Both leagues have six teams in the Top 25.
The SEC teams have already started to beat each other up, which dropped Auburn, Florida and Georgia in the rankings over the last few weeks.
ng teams in the nation.
The SEC likes to tout its vaunted defenses, but the league is clearly down offensively, in large part because of new schemes and inexperienced or ineffective quarterbacks.
Is the Big 12 better than the SEC? Hard to say. The Big 12 is definitely more exciting.
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Ralph D. Russo covers college football for The Associated Press. Write to him at rrusso(at).org.
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