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| Craig Ochs lost his starting job to Bobby Pesavento after an injury last year. AP |
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Oklahoma
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Texas
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Colorado
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Nebraksa
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Texas A&M
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Kansas State
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Iowa State
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Texas Tech
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Oklahoma State
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Missouri
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Baylor
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Kansas
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Watermelons eaten by Texas Tech players and members of their coaching staff at their annual feast celebrating the end of preseason practice. The juicy pulp had a price as OSU tackle Shane Olivea commented that the Red Raiders were “soft” and unwilling to hit at the end of the Buckeyes’ victory.
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"From the tape we’ve seen there’s no question that he scored. We saw it from every angle, the sideline, the end zone. The football was clearly in bounds. It should have been a touchdown.”
-- Iowa State coach Dan McCarney, commenting on the call that ruled Seneca Wallace failed to score on the next-to-last play of the Cyclones’ 38-31 loss to Florida State.
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By Tim Griffin, Special to CNNSI.com
Colorado’s first Big 12 football title has done more than merely stoke demand for commemorative championship t-shirts, beer steins and vanity plates across the Centennial State.
Quarterback Craig Ochs detects an attitude change among his teammates after their charge to the title last season.
“I think there’s a bit of a swagger to this team,” said Ochs. “We have this confidence after last season. I wouldn’t call it arrogance, but it’s more of a swagger. Great teams need to have it and I think we’ve got it.”
The Buffs are hoping to become the first Big 12 school to notch back-to-back conference championships after a surprising run to the title last year. Along the way, the Buffs stormed past Nebraska for the first divisional title in school history and trumped that victory the following week with a stunning 39-37 upset over Texas for the Big 12 crown. Regardless, preseason pollsters have almost unanimously ranked CU below South Division powers UT and Oklahoma.
Only a year ago, the Buffs were the only ones who believed in themselves. Coach Gary Barnett’s motivational ploy of taking several players to Texas Stadium during the conference’s media days was ridiculed by some as a shallow gimmick.
“We made it a big deal last year because nobody believed we could make it a big deal,” Barnett said. “You never know how far you can go until you risk going too far. That team needed confidence.”
Now, Barnett is trying to tone down some of the bluster after the Buffs’ 38-16 loss to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl. His team appeared flat and listless in that game after spending much of December whining about not playing Miami for the national championship.
“Being in the Big 12 championship was the greatest experience in my coaching career and winning took it step further,” Barnett said. “But losing the Fiesta Bowl was the biggest disappointment I’ve ever had in my career.”
The return of Ochs, who wasn’t on the field for Colorado’s late run to the title, will be critical in CU’s repeat hopes.
Ochs missed parts of five games with a concussion and sprained ankle, losing his starting job to Bobby Pesavento because of the injuries. By the time Ochs was healthy, Pesavento was entrenched in his position.
“It was one of the toughest times of my life, having to watch from the bench,” Ochs said. “Going through the injury, I did a lot of soul searching. But I learned a lot from it. I think I learned a lot as a football player and learned a lot more as a man from going through it.”
It will start Saturday at Invesco Field against Colorado State, as the Buffs attempt to become Barnett’s first Colorado team to win its first game. His teams have lost their first game in each of three previous seasons, twice against the Rams.
Even with the returning talent, Barnett doesn’t want his team thinking it can relax because of its past success.
“Our team needs to take the perspective that the Big 12 championship is not a traveling trophy,” he said. “You’re not trying to defend it, which would be a passive stance. You get to keep it, so you just need to go out and pursue another one.”
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Jammal Lord had big shoes to fill. But Nebraska’s starting quarterback passed his opening test with flying colors, according to Nebraska coach Frank Solich.
Lord rushed for 103 yards – the most by a first-game Nebraska quarterback since Steve Taylor rushed for 139 yards against Florida State in 1986.
“Jammal played as I hoped and expected,” Solich said. “There wasn’t a college athlete in the country under any more pressure than he was under for this game. I don't know that he could have stepped in and done any better than he did.”
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HOT: Nebraska’s special teams
Turned two blocked punts into TDs in a 48-10 win over Arizona State.
NOT: Texas Tech’s defense
Gave up 317 yards rushing to Ohio State, including eight gains of at least 16 yards.
HOT: Iowa State QB Seneca Wallace
Passed for 311 yards and accounted for three TDs against FSU.
NOT: Big Ten game officials
Cost ISU a chance at overtime when they ruled that Wallace didn't score on the next-to-last play of the Cyclones' 38-31 loss to FSU.
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Texas Tech coach Mike Leach went against conventional strategy when he opted to go for a touchdown late in the first half from the Ohio State 1 when his team trailed 21-7.
Tailback Foy Munlin was stuffed at the line and the Red Raiders never recovered in a 45-21 loss.
“It doesn’t matter what the play was,” Leach said. “You should be able to get six inches.”
Tech wide receiver Carlos Francis was more blunt about the missed opportunity.
“That’s a 14-point turnaround,” Francis said. “It hurts bad. It hurts in Playstation, and it hurts in real life.”
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 Iowa State coach Dan McCarney
Even though his team missed an opportunity for the biggest upset in school history, it didn’t quit after falling behind 24-0.
Nebraska CB Pat Ricketts
Provided three pass breakups and made life miserable for ASU All-America candidate Shaun McDonald in the Cornhuskers’ 48-10 thumping over the Sun Devils.
Nebraska K Josh Brown
Dictated field position in the Cornhuskers’ victory by drilling seven of his nine kickoffs for touchbacks.
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New Kansas coach Mark Mangino faces a difficult chore Saturday in his college head coaching debut against an Iowa State team that almost pulled the biggest upset in school history.
The Cyclones’ near miss against Florida State should have the Cyclones ready for redemption in the conference opener at Ames.
Former Kansas coach Terry Allen now is working as an assistant for Iowa State, while former ISU assistant Nick Quartaro has joined Mangino’s staff at Kansas.
The biggest advantage may be for Kansas, which has seen Iowa State play this year while playing its first game under Mangino against the Cyclones.
“They’re going to watch that tape 16,000 times and we have no idea what they’re going to be doing,” Iowa State coach Dan McCarney said.
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Kansas State has selected senior Marc Dunn as its starting quarterback. Dunn, who started only two games last season, beat out junior Ell Roberson for the job. ... Oklahoma apparently has settled on Trey DiCarlo as its kicker for Friday’s opener at Tulsa. Coach Bob Stoops said he expects to see as many Sooner fans at Skelly Stadium as those for the Golden Hurricane. … Iowa State has lost its last 30 games against ranked teams. The Cyclones’ last victory over a ranked team came on Nov. 6, 1993, when they upset Kansas State 27-23. Coach Dan McCarney's record against ranked teams is 0-24. … Texas A&M athletic director Wally Groff's resignation, effective Dec. 31, was a surprise to many of his friends. One Big 12 athletic director who met with Groff said he showed no indication of quitting his job only a week earlier. Among the replacement candidates include Fox Sports Net general manager Jon Heidtke, Texas A&M associate athletic director for football operations Tim Cassidy and Texas-San Antonio athletic director Lynn Hickey, who would become the Big 12’s first woman athletic director if she were hired. … Oklahoma State will be gunning for a three-game road winning streak at Saturday’s game against Louisiana Tech in Shreveport, La. The Cowboys’ last three-game road winning streak came in 1988. … Texas coach Mack Brown has been raving about the improved pass blocking of sophomore RB Cedric Benson, who struggled with the task last year. Benson was taken out of the Oklahoma game because of fears about picking up blitzes. … Texas A&M LB Brian Gamble showed up at the Aggies’ media conference this week with a nasty black eye and cut over his eye after scuffling with former A&M QB Vance Smith at a College Station bar over the weekend. “We were just guys being guys,” Gamble told the San Antonio Express-News. “He’s lost about 20 pounds and now he’s got this boyish face like when he got here and a new tough-guy attitude. But he ran and hid after he hit me.”
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