Colleges

College Gameday

By Times staff, wires
Published October 20, 2007

Quotable

"I actually turned my cell phone off."

Cal receiver Lavelle Hawkins on the Bears' 31-28 loss to Oregon State

Five things

1. Michigan State should be well-prepared for today's meeting with Ohio State. Spartans coach Mark Dantonio served as the Buckeyes' defensive coordinator from 2001-03. "He set the blueprint for our current regime's defense," OSU coach Jim Tressel said.

2. In less than two seasons, former Nebraska star Turner Gill has done what no coach has accomplished since Buffalo returned to major college football in 1999: The Bulls never before won three conference games in one season, never mind winning two in a row, following 31-10 win against Ohio on Oct. 6. With five career wins at Buffalo, Gill has already matched the Bulls' wins in the previous four years before he arrived and began turning around a team that went 10-69 in its first seven seasons at the Division I-A level.

3. With a win against Penn State, Indiana qualifies to end a 14-year drought without a bowl trip.

4. Boston College's Jamie Silva, above, leads the ACC with 0.71 interceptions per game, DeJuan Tribble - whose 15 career interceptions are tied for the all-time lead among active major college players - isn't far behind at 0.57 picks per game, and both are ranked in the top 15 nationally in that department.

5. Iowa State will face four teams ranked in this week's Top 25 over the final five weeks of the season. The Cyclones, a woeful 1-6, still have No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 15 Missouri, No. 25 Kansas State and No. 15 Kansas on the schedule.

By the numbers

6 Victories for Duke coach Ted Roof, right, in his fifth season

7 Victories for first-year Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski

11 Years it had been before last Saturday since the Nos. 1 and 2 teams had lost on the same day

14-0 Steve Spurrier's career record against Vanderbilt

36-11 Big Ten record at home

13-14 Big Ten record on the road

A long time ago in Lexington

Florida hasn't lost to Kentucky in Lexington since 1986 (that's 20 straight games), when the Wildcats upset a UF team that came in fresh off wins over Auburn and Georgia. The score was 10-3.

Wanna know just how long ago that was?

- 33 Florida players on the Gators' two-deep roster were not born, including Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin, Louis Murphy and Jarred Fayson.

- Platoon won the Academy Award for Best Picture and We are the World won a Grammy for Record of the Year.

- The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded after launch, killing all seven crew members.

- The Oprah Winfrey Show became nationally syndicated.

- The Fox network was created, offering 10 hours of prime-time programming per week.

- Former Florida and current South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier was unemployed. The Tampa Bay Bandits had folded and Spurrier hadn't yet landed at his next job, Duke.

Antonya English, Times staff writer

Midseason report

The Associated Press recently named USF its surprise team of the season so far. Some of its other picks:

Best games

1) Kentucky 43, LSU 37 (3OT)

2) Boise State 69, Nevada 67 (4OT)

3) California 31, Oregon 24

Biggest upsets

1) Stanford 24, USC 23

2) Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32

3) Syracuse 38, Louisville 35

Information from the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times was used in this report.

Woodson's way

Kentucky's victory over then-No. 1 LSU last weekend was a major boost for the growing program, but the Wildcats' 49-0 loss to LSU last season may ultimately turn out to have just as much significance.

It was after that loss that Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson went from just another quarterback to the oft-mentioned Heisman candidate he is today.

"He did okay, I would say, in that game, but I think his defining moment came in the locker room after the game," UK coach Rich Brooks said. "He called the team up and he basically told them, 'This isn't us. We're better than this and we're going to get this thing together and go forward.' So I think his teammates all of a sudden saw a little bit different Andre Woodson after that. We all had our fannies handed to us down there, but he was a guy committed to get the job done. That's the way he's been ever since."

Since that day, Woodson has led the Wildcats to 11 wins in 13 games. At 6 feet 5, 230 pounds, the third-year starter is second in the SEC in passing average (255.1) and second in passing efficiency (147.1). When the No. 8 Wildcats host No. 14 Florida today, Woodson will be leading a team that's happy, yet not satisfied with where it is.

"I think we've proved that we're a team that deserves a lot more respect," Woodson said. "We've come a long way from being a doormat in the SEC. We're very happy, very excited, but at the same point, we have a lot more to accomplish."

Woodson has 1,786 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and just four interceptions and is among the top five Heisman candidates on ESPN.com's watch list.

"He is a veteran player, and you can spot a veteran a mile away," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "...You could see him coming on the last couple of years."

Antonya English, Times staff writer

After watching USF throttle UCF 64-12, fans may be wondering how the Knights managed to play a far more competitive game in losing to Texas 35-32 last month.

College football being what it is, there is no shortage of factors to explain the incomparable outcomes, but there is evidence on YouTube that the Longhorns did not take their game against UCF seriously. If you search "Soulja Boy Texas Longhorns" on the Web site, you will find an amusing video of the Longhorns dancing to the popular hip-hop tune Crank That just seconds before kickoff.

And we're not talking about one or two players. We're talking more than 20 players doing the dance routine described in the song. In the background, you see the Knights taking the field for the kickoff. A related clip shows the entire Longhorns team doing the routine before an unspecified home game.

Crank That, recorded by 16-year-old Atlanta-based rapper Soulja Boy (a.k.a. DeAndre Way), has been atop the Billboard charts for weeks so don't think the song and dance has been limited to the Longhorns. On YouTube, you will find teachers, cheerleaders, Virginia Tech students, Sarasota youth players and several clips of Hurricanes mascot Sebastian the Ibis doing the dance.

Even Army's Black Knight mascot can be found doing the dance on the hallowed grounds of Michie Stadium. What would Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard think?

Ernest Hooper, Times staff writer

[Last modified October 19, 2007, 21:28:32]