College Football Rivalries and Revenge

It’s that time of the college football season where many games mean more than just the final score. Pride. Bragging rights. Conference titles. Revenge. Teams sitting at 2-6 can get fired up to play a state or conference rival, or one that is unbeaten.

  We saw this when Oklahoma visited Colorado, a pair of Big 12 teams with lofty goals. The Sooners were unbeaten and rolled over their first 4 opponents. Colorado was in its second season under coach Dan Hawkins, a good coach with something to prove after a frustrating 2-10 2006 season. The Buffaloes played inspired football, as if their whole season depended on this one game. It was the first of what has been many upsets this fall.

  South Florida just lost its No. 2 standing after a loss at Big East rival Rutgers. It was interesting in that Rutgers coach Greg Schiano pulled out all the stops, doing unorthodox things on both sides of the ball. It was a must-win for Rutgers to re-establish itself as a top-25 team. He blitzed eight defenders on some plays and then rushed only two on others, confusing USF quarterback Matt Grothe, the leading candidate for Big East player of the year.

 He also called a trick pass play off a kick. "We don't do a lot of that around here," Schiano said afterward. "We try to stick to the nuts and bolts. Thank god they worked." It was a memorable 30-27 victory that re-established the program as a contender for a major bowl. The normally conservative Schiano suddenly morphed into a riverboat gambler on national TV! That can also happen when rivals or revenge games take place, something to consider when handicapping.

  In addition, the heat is on some coaches, something to keep an eye on as the second half of the season gets rolling. Some coaches will demand more of their team, feeling the heat and knowing their jobs might be on the line. Other times teams will tune out a coach it doesn’t care for, knowing he’s probably going to be gone anyway.

   Big 12 coaches Dennis Franchione and Bill Callahan have been taking some heat for their team’s up and down play. Nebraska has some serious issues on defense after giving up at least 40 points in four of the last five games. In losses at Miami and Texas Tech, A&M was outscored 69-24. The Aggies’ final two away games are against No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 15 Missouri.

  Extra motivated teams are outstanding to wager on, if you can find them. Rivalry games are one area to look at, another is when a player or team leader fires up a team. Texas coach Mack Brown said quarterback Colt McCoy gave an impassioned speech in the locker room following UT's 28-21 loss to Oklahoma. He then enjoyed his best game of the season against Iowa State with a 298-yard outing.

   "McCoy was very aggressive with them," Brown said. "That's the first sign of that kind of leadership I've ever seen out of him. I think he finally knows that it's time for him to take over and be in charge." McCoy said his impromptu speech was full of "adrenaline and emotion." "We had lost our last two games, and that was enough," McCoy said. "We had to respond. I feel like I am going to be playing here for a long time. It was time to step up."

   Wide receiver Quan Cosby said McCoy's message resonated with the team.  "It was very needed, at a time when we were all feeling kind of down," Cosby said. This is the time of year when players, coaches and teams get step it up a notch, both on the field and ATS.

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