College Overtime (cont.)

Smaller story, but I'm sure you're following it ...

Ten years ago, June Jones took over a Hawaii team that had gone 0-12 the year before and immediately led it to a 9-4 record and WAC championship. It seems Jones is losing his touch. This time, it took him a full two years to resuscitate a formerly hapless program.

SMU (6-4, 5-1 C-USA), which posted its second straight 1-11 record in Jones' debut season last fall, took over sole possession of first place in Conference USA's West Division (supplanting nationally-ranked Houston) with a 35-31 win over UTEP on Saturday. The Mustangs got the win despite giving up 627 yards, sealing the game on a fourth-and-6 sack at the SMU 14-yard-line in the final seconds.

With one more victory, either next week at 5-5 Marshall or Nov. 28 against 3-7 Tulane, the Mustangs will lock up their first bowl berth since 1984.

SMU fans have suffered through two miserable decades and five different coaching regimes watching a team that seemingly never could recover from its infamous NCAA death penalty in 1987, which shut down the program for two seasons. After firing Phil Bennett in 2007, school officials spent 71 days waiting out Jones, then in the midst of Hawaii's run to the Sugar Bowl, before luring him with a reported $2 million annual contract, a staggering amount for C-USA.

Jones' famed Run and Shoot offense hasn't gotten into full gear just yet, but it's been good enough for the Mustangs to rank 22nd nationally in passing offense (271.7 yards per game). Freshman quarterback Kyle Padron, who stepped in for injured starter Bo Levi Mitchell in SMU's Oct. 24 loss to Houston, was a modest 17-of-24 for 244 yards, two touchdowns and two picks against the Miners -- but he's 3-0 as the Mustangs' starter.

Jones' last postseason trip did not go so well; Georgia crushed his Warriors in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. If all goes well, he could be returning to New Orleans -- for the New Orleans Bowl -- or one of C-USA's other bowl partners. The faithful have waited 25 years for any taste of the postseason.

Replay officials: You're killing us

It's come to this: After writing a column last week about the influence of YouTube and Twitter on exposing this season's many officiating controversies, I spent the weekend receiving e-mail reports about pretty much every potentially offensive call from around the country. Please stop. I have eyes, too, and nearly every game I watched this weekend included at least one absurd replay moment.

Friday night at Cincinnati, I watched Bearcats running back Isaiah Pead dive over the pile toward the goal line and lose the ball. Officials on the field called it a fumble, but the guys in the booth said the ball crossed the plane. After watching the replay myself, I found myself in agreement -- but I still had a problem with the double standard officials employed in overturning the call.

After last week's Alabama-LSU interception controversy, SEC coordinator of officials Rogers Redding told the Birmingham News: "The instant replay rule is if you don't have clear, 100 percent, absolute proof that the call on the field is incorrect, then you let it stand." Believe me, there was nothing 100 percent positive about Pead crossing the plane.

Nor was there "indisputable evidence" that Jimmy Clausen's arm wasn't moving forward on a late-game fumble call against Pittsburgh, though it did appear so to me. In that case, however, the guys in the booth overturned the call on the field and ruled it a fumble. Ditto the end of the Northwestern-Illinois game, when officials ruled that Illinois receiver Jarred Fayson, while down, did not have possession of the ball when Wildcats defender Sherrick McManis swiped it from him for a game-sealing interception. Again, the replay guys let that one slide. But lest you think that's a Big Ten thing, remember back to the Indiana-Iowa game, when the booth overturned an apparent touchdown catch by Hoosiers receiver Terrance Turner, who sure he looked like he had a foot inbounds to me.

Believe me, I take no joy in wasting column space writing about officiating. It is quite possibly my least favorite topic in sports. But instant replay is causing far too great a credibility crisis in college football, especially considering it was added solely for the purpose of improving officiating.

But at least we may have one possible explanation. In that same Birmingham News article, national officiating coordinator David Parry made the astounding revelation that replay officials -- unlike millions of fans watching from home -- do not use HD television monitors. An administrator at Friday night's game told me conferences are looking to upgrade for next season but are concerned about the cost. Note: You will each be receiving upwards of $17 million from the BCS this season; try taking a cut out of that.

Or, better yet, here's an idea: Is there any particular reason why replay officials actually need to be at the stadium? Why not set up a couple of guys in someone's living room with a remote, a cell phone and a 60-inch plasma screen? Do something. These days the ref in those Buffalo Wild Wings commercials is getting more calls right.

Devin Barclay: American Hero

Are you a current or former struggling soccer player? Have you ever dreamed of making a game-winning kick in front of 105,000 people to send your team to the Rose Bowl? Ohio State's 26-year-old walk-on-turned-instant-legend shows you how.

Golden Tate: Irish Hero

With the last days of the Charlie Weis era upon us, it's time to reflect on all the great memories of his five-year tenure in South Bend. This guy provided about 90 percent of them.

Looking ahead

Mini-previews for three of this week's big games

• Ohio State at Michigan, Saturday (Noon ET): Shortly after Saturday's Rose Bowl-clinching win, Jim Tressel told his team: "You can have three hours and savor this, but when the clock strikes 12:00, we know what week it is." Then: "I'm just playing with you guys. They have no defense. ... Take a couple of days off."

• Cal at Stanford, Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET): When's the last time these two rivals both entered their annual Big Game with seven wins? That would be 1991, when Dennis Green was coaching the Cardinal, Bruce Snyder was coaching Cal and Jim Harbaugh passed for a career-high 3,121 yards for the Chicago Bears.

• Oregon at Arizona, Saturday (8 p.m. ET): Two years ago, the Ducks' BCS hopes died in Tucson when Dennis Dixon's knee gave out. This time both teams are playing for high stakes: the spot opposite the Buckeyes in Pasadena on New Years. A loss would likely eliminate Arizona; Oregon would still have a slim shot.