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Inside College Football
Posted: Tuesday October 19, 1999 04:10 PM
Bowden vs. Bowden | Schizophrenic Texas Tech Penn State's D | Extra Points Fast Forward | Spotlight: Ronald Jean Mount Union broke Oklahoma's record with its 48th straight win By Ivan Maisel
For a team that likes to keep the ball in the air, Mount Union's Purple Raiders are equally determined to keep their feet on the ground. Last Saturday none of the players exulted, no coach shook his fist in the air, few fans did more than clap politely. It was business as usual after the Purple Raiders defeated Otterbein 44-20 for their 48th straight victory, breaking Oklahoma's 42-year-old record for the longest winning streak in college football. In a postgame scene of remarkable calm, Mount Union's players passed by Otterbein's, shaking hands one at a time, Little League style, and then, among lengthening shadows at the end of a beautiful autumn day, walked quietly into football history.
At Mount Union, a United Methodist school of some 2,000 students in northeastern Ohio, the streak is almost a forbidden topic. Coach Larry Kehres, a former Purple Raiders quarterback who has crafted a high-powered passing attack that makes stars out of average athletes, wanted it known immediately after the game that he didn't want to be confused with Oklahoma's Bud Wilkinson. "They played on hallowed ground," he said of the Sooners. "Believe me, Division I is not Division III." No, it's not. In Division III the players do not receive athletic scholarships, cars or much else besides shoulder pads. Indeed, football at Mount Union is the inverse of everything we've come to expect of big-time sports. The athletes aren't paid but instead must pony up nearly $19,000 for the chance to play (though most have campus jobs and/or academic or need-based scholarships). The school doesn't sell its TV rights but rather buys its own airtime. In addition, as a member of the Ohio Athletic Conference, Mount Union coaches also are restricted from going into any player's home to recruit. A very quaint idea of athletics is practiced here. A modesty that is born when Division I coaches don't recruit a kid is reinforced when the Division III coach sees to it that the quarterback and the other marquee players pick up the team's laundry after practices and games. Gary Smeck, who passed for 282 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday's victory, wasn't permitted an extravagant opinion of himself afterward. "When I'm done talking to you," he said at the postgame press conference, "I've got two piles of laundry -- game jerseys and pants -- to wash. Although we might wait until Sunday to throw them in the dryer." This kind of ego leveling doesn't reduce the caliber of play or the entertainment value of small-college football. It may work the other way. Kids who come to this program with no pretense -- about 95% are from Ohio, a lot of them from small-town Ohio -- fall easily under Kehres's sway and adjust magnificently to his wide-open and high-scoring system. The result is that a lot of no-name athletes achieve astonishing results. Although he says he really doesn't want to be confused with Knute Rockne, in 14 years Kehres has had a winning percentage of .890, second to none at any level among those who've coached at least 10 seasons at four-year colleges. He has also led the Purple Raiders to three straight national titles and four in the last six years. But enough of these gaudy superlatives. "Hey, Gary," said Adam Marino, the receiver who'd just caught nine passes for 209 yards, "we doing laundry tonight?" Smeck, the star of the team that had just broken Oklahoma's record, said they were, and they had better get started. —Richard Hoffer
Kentucky's Special Teams: Kentucky fullback A.J. Simon has his finger on the trigger of one of the most exciting plays in football, and he isn't afraid to squeeze. Simon, the blocking back in the Wildcats' punt formation, has carte blanche from coach Hal Mumme to call a fake, with the ball going to him. Five times over three seasons Simon has called the play, and five times he has made a first down, most recently in Kentucky's 31-5 defeat of LSU last week. Faced with a fourth-and-22 on the Wildcats' 42, Simon took the snap and threw a short pass to tight end Derek Smith for a 23-yard gain. In Mumme's three seasons with the Wildcats, his upbacks are 9 for 9 in converting fakes. "It's basically a judgment call," Simon says. "I'm trustworthy. I show up on time. I've never made a mistake to disappoint Coach. As far as I know, I haven't made any mental errors in three seasons." Simon once pulled off a fake from his own 14-yard line. "Coach obviously has a lot of trust in me," Simon says. "He looks at it this way: If I'm willing to take the chance, he would do the same."
Bowden vs. Bowden: If it were up to Ann Bowden, whose husband, Bobby, takes Florida State to Death Valley this weekend to play Clemson, which is coached by their son Tommy, she would find a seat in the top row of an end zone at Memorial Stadium "and let my emotions hang out." Instead, she will be sitting in the Florida State section. Nearly the entire Bowden family will be on hand to watch the first father-son coaching face-off in Division I-A history -- and, not incidentally, Bobby's bid to become the fifth major-college coach to win 300 games. It will be quite a reunion. Jeff, the youngest of the Bowdens' four boys, is his father's receivers coach. Jeff's two sisters will sit on opposite sides of the stadium, Ginger in FSU seats and Robyn, who is married to Clemson defensive backs coach Jack Hines, with Tigers fans. Steve, the only son who isn't in football, will be on the Clemson sideline with Tommy. "He needs all the support he can get," says Steve, a Birmingham businessman. "I'm going to stand close by and prop him up." Actually, Steve believes that Tommy will challenge their father in time. "He's so much like Dad is, the way the game plays out in his mind," Steve says. "If he can get players like Dad has before Dad leaves, it will be a real match." Ann refers to Clemson as they and to Florida State as we. She decided it would be uncomfortable for her to sit with Tommy's wife, Linda. "I don't want to put a damper on her enthusiasm," says Ann. But she also says, "I want to be able to cheer for Tommy." How much? "Let them make a first down," she says. "Let them score. That's deep down in a mother's heart." There is a limit. She recalls the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award banquet after the 1993 regular season, when Bobby, whose team would finish No. 1, and their son Terry, who had gone 11-0 in his first year at Auburn, were among the finalists. "Did you know Bobby has never won that?" Ann says. "When they called Terry's name, my stomach did a flip-flop. I thought, Gee whiz, Terry's got time to do that. We're in the twilight of our career." Now Terry is out of coaching -- he's the ABC Sports college football studio analyst and won't be at the game -- and Bobby will try to reach a milestone at his second-oldest son's expense. "I'm really proud," Ann says, "that we're the first family to go through this."
Schizophrenic Texas Tech: After an embarrassing 21-14 loss to North Texas on Sept. 18, Texas Tech rebounded to beat fifth-ranked Texas A&M 21-19. The Red Raiders then lost to unheralded Oklahoma State 41-21 before bouncing back last Saturday to humiliate Colorado 31-10. Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes won't draw any roller-coaster analogies. "I may be dead wrong," he said on Sunday. "I don't think we're that fragile emotionally." The Red Raiders have been fragile physically. After going through two-a-days without losing a player to injury, Tech lost 11 starters in the first three weeks. Some of them have just begun to trickle back. With guard Jason May back on the offensive line against Colorado, quarterback Rob Peters wasn't sacked in a game for the first time this season. Peters completed 15 of 23 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Still, there may be more to Texas Tech's ups and downs than Dykes cares to admit. As evidence, consider how the Red Raiders, who always point to their game against longtime rival Texas A&M, have fared in the aftermath of that annual showdown. In the last 13 years, Tech has gone 3-10 in the game after Texas A&M but has bounced back to go 12-1 in the game after that. Playing the Aggies is bruising physically, but it's safe to say that the big game also takes something out of the Red Raiders emotionally.
Penn State's D: So much for concern over Penn State's defense, which in the first six games of the year looked rather ordinary, yielding 325.8 yards per game, 32nd best in the nation. Last Saturday, in a 23-10 victory over Ohio State, the Nittany Lions held the Buckeyes to 143 total yards, their lowest output since 1987, and sacked quarterback Steve Bellisari eight times. All-America linebacker LaVar Arrington, who entered the game tied for fifth on the team with 27 tackles, lived up to his preseason billing as one of the nation's best defenders by making seven tackles and 2 1/2 sacks. One of the sacks was a highlight-reel play on which he hurdled a would-be blocker and drilled Bellisari for a seven-yard loss. "Coming into this year there were all kinds of hype and expectations of our defense," said Penn State senior defensive end Courtney Brown of a unit that was ranked 12th in total defense last season and has nine starters back, including four All-Big Ten players and two preseason All-Americas. "But we weren't living up to it. We weren't focusing and doing all the little things that made us so good last year. We had to take a step back and reestablish ourselves." Ohio State's offense produced only a field goal and was otherwise overwhelmed by Penn State's front seven. Of the Buckeyes' 14 possessions, just three lasted more than six plays. Still, Penn State players weren't satisfied. "We're just starting to show how we can play," says linebacker Brandon Short. "It's taken us a while to get into a groove. As well as we played at times, I know we can play a lot better than this." —B.J. Schecter Washington State has eight sets of brothers on its roster, including three pairs of identical twins. Of the 16 players, only defensive end Austin Matson, right tackle Reed Raymond and linebackers Fred Shavies and Raonall Smith are starters, and just one other brother plays significant minutes. Says Cougars coach Mike Price, "Part of our budget cuts is that we're just recruiting brothers." ... The play that saved Georgia's season: With his team trailing Vanderbilt 17-3 in the third quarter, Bulldogs junior defensive tackle Richard Seymour intercepted a pass by Commodores quarterback Greg Zolman at the Georgia eight-yard line. The play awakened the Dawgs, who scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to win 27-17.
Tennessee (4-1) at Alabama (5-1)
Penn State (7-0) at Purdue (5-2)
Nebraska (6-0) at Texas (5-2)
Issue date: October 25, 1999
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