Section B · Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, September 16. 1997
The Associated Press
Big 12 Conference faces unexpected struggles in opening weeks
Selected comments from Big 12 coaches at yesterday's weekly conference call: KANSAS (3-0,1-0)
Next game vs. Cincinnati on Saturday
next game vs. Cincinnati on Saturday
The Kansas Jayhawks' 3-0 start has
helped coach Terry Allen gain the early
confidence of his team.
"Obviously we had a fortunate schedule with a couple of games that a Big 12 team should win, then we played Missouri last week." Allen said.
"It's given players and coaches confidence in each other. That's critical in a transition year like we're having. That really helps you down the road."
KANSAS STATE (2-0, 0-0)
KANSAS STATE (2-0, 0-0)
Next game vs. Bowling Green on Sept.
27
Kansas State did beat Olm Coach Billy Snyder sounds more like the Wildcats lost the game because of a poor second-half showing.
"It's an overall performance that we're not proud of." Snyder said. "We've got a lot of mistakes to overcome and our open week will be devoted to correcting the mistakes of the last two ball games.
"That was a very good performance by our football team," Snyder said.
NEBRASKA (2-0, 0-0)
next game vs. Washington on Saturday Coach Tom Osborne wasn't as shocked as everyone else by Central Florida's performance before the Cornhuskers pulled away to a 38-24 victory.
"Our gagge with Central Florida was not a
convincing win." Osborne said. "We did win and we did struggle and we were behind two or three times."
Nebraska's slow start was not planned, Osborne said.
"We've never told our players we are going to start slow and finish fast," Osborne said. "The first quarter we try to find out how people will play each set and then adjust. Usually we do better after that and that was the way it was with Central Florida."
MISSOURI (1-1,0-1)
Coach Larry Smith lamented the Tigers' lack of scoring punch
"The Kansas game is a bitter loss for us," Smith said. "It was very disappointing. We got inside the 10 yard line twice and didn't score. Offensively
we basically shot ourselves in the foot with penalties and lost yards and turnovers." COLORADO (1-1, 0-0)
next game vs. Wyoming on Sept. 27
Cogan Rick Noahsolo said he expects
"We were obviously embarrassed and whipped thoroughly by a
good Michigan team," Neuheisel said. "Time will show that Michigan is a good team, at least I hope so."
Colorado has an open date to get ready for Wyoming.
"We have to look in the mirror and accept
the fact that we're not a very good football team at this time," Neuheisel said. "But that doesn't mean we can't be when we play again in two weeks against Wyoming."
Iowa State lost its game 53-29 at Minnesota and now must get ready for its in-state rival, No. 13 Iowa.
Iowa State lost its 27th consecutive road
Next game vs. Iowa on Saturday
"I worry about the kids," coach Dan McCarney said. "They've
worked so hard and done so many things in the off season and worked so hard to come up short three games.
"They understand we we're getting close. We had an opportunity to win Saturday and they understand why we didn't after seeing their mistakes."
OKLAHOMA (1-1,0-0)
OKLAHOMA (1-1, 0-0)
Next game vs. California on Saturday
Next game vs. California on Saturday
Coach John Blake blamed the Big 12's
Coach John Blake blam rough start this season on the even distribution of talent around the nation.
"I wasn't surprised with some of the things that were done," Blake said.
banany n'intelligence-
ball have to have to have to have a
chance win
"Right now, there's just a lot of parity in college foot-
OKLAHOMA STATE (3-0, 1-0)
Next game vs. Northeast Louisiana on
Sept. 27
The defense came up with five sacks as the Cowboys blanked Fresno State 35-0 for their first 3-0 start since 1988. It's got the team thinking more seriously about goals it set before the season started.
of the season," coach Bob Simmons said. "Starting 3-0 just makes it more of a reality of what our goals are and the possibilities.
Now you want to stay focused and stay on track.
"We talked about all that at the beginning
TEXAS TECH (1-1,0-0)
TEXAS TECH (1-1) 0-6
Next game vs. North Texas on Saturday
The Red Raiders lost to Tennessee in their opener and then had an open week before
opener and then had an u beating Southwestern Louisiana 59-14 on Saturday.
"I're nice to win for a change," coach Spike Dykes said. "Open dates after losing to Tennessee
end to get long and I thought our guys reacted well. We made a lot of good improvement from the first game and we needed to improve."
The Raiders play host to North Texas this week and Dykes remembers their last encounter.
"The last time we played North Texas in this stadium we were favored pretty good and they beat us every way you can," Dykes said.
How could UCLA beat the Longhorns 66-3? The Bruins are that good, said Texas coach John Mackovic.
YEARS (11, 1, 0)
next game vs. Rice on Sept. 27
TEXAS (1-1,0-0)
"UCLA came in and played with a fire and vengeance after losing two games." Meckovic
said. "It was clear to me they came in on a real mission to accomplish something. They felt they had to do something or their backs were against the wall."
Now the Longhorns' backs are against the
wall and they have a week off to work out the kinks.
"When you beat it doesn't matter if it's one point or, like ours, a blowout," Mackovic said. "We have to rebuild the confidence in individuals."
TEXAS A&M (1-0, 0-0)
Next game vs. Southwestern Louisiana on Saturday
Texas A&M was upset by Southwestern
"Our team played down there last year and had
Texas A&M was uplouisiana a year ago en route to a 6-6 year for the Aggles. They haven't forgotten.
eight turnovers," coach R.C. Slocum said. "They pretty much embarrassed us and we're looking forward to getting a chance to play them again."
With the Big 12 getting off to a slow start, the loss-free Aggies aren't thinking about stepping in as the league standard bearer.
"We certainly haven't thought about that at all," Slocum said. "We haven't done anything at this point to be able to stick our chest out and get out in front."
Next game vs. Michigan on Saturday
I see something good about playing
If there anything good Miami and Michigan in the first three games, Baylor coach Dave Roberts has found it.
"It's probably not the best way to open, but down the road it will help," Roberts said.
"Maybe it's not good to pound by Miami and then go play Michigan. But it's a good opportunity and that's not bad. It gives us a chance to see where our program needs to go," Roberts said.
Penn State, Washington victories guarantee another cloudy bowl picture for 1997
By Jim Litke The Associated Press
Opinion
Again.
The people who call the shots for the major bowl games got slapped twice during the weekend. At the rate things are going, the rest of us could be reeling by the time the college football season grinds to a halt.
Still poised at No.1 was Penn State, which gave no indication it was going anywhere by destroying Temple 52-10. Climbing into the No.2 spot, meanwhile, was Washington, which clobbered San Diego 36-3 and
After watching marquee names like Notre Dame, Colorado, Miami and Texas lose Saturday and fall out of contention for the national championship, the boys in the blazers must have figured that was as bad as it was going to get. Wrong. Even worse news awaited them at the top of the rankings Sunday.
leapfrogged idle Florida in the process. Scrub?
little postseason tournament.
So this: Neither team yet belongs to the "Super Alliance" that held a news conference a few weeks ago to remind us for the millionth time why college football doesn't need a playoff.
This bunch promised to do whatever was necessary to ensure a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup to end each and every season. They then proceeded to make offers to the glamour conferences, glamour independents and glamour bowls that they were certain couldn't be refused. But somebody — several somebodies, actually — refused.
It happened to be the people who run the Big 10 and Pac-10 conferences, as well as the Rose Bowl, that cozy little stadium in Pasadena where they stage their own
In the past, that hardly would have been a worry. Other than Washington's half-share of the 1990 title, no Pac-10 team had been part of the national championship picture for nearly three decades. And before Penn State made the Big 10 have 11 teams, the last time that conference had a No. 1 team was Woody Hayes' 1968 Ohio State contingent.
But with coach Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions in the Big 10 fold, that omission alone guaranteed the alliance a perpetual headache. The Huskies' resurgence threatens to make it a migraine.
We have been down this road before. Three seasons ago, Nebraska claimed a national title that had Paterno's smudged fingerprints on the side. Last season, Pac-10 champion Arizona State was ranked No. 2 and Big 10 champion Ohio State was ranked No. 4 when they met in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State won but had the
result been the other way around, the Florida State-Florida game played at the Sugar Bowl would not have produced a clear-cut national champion.
Give the Alliance credit for this much: They went after the Big 10 and Pac 10 and got them to come on board beginning after the 1998 season. The two conference champions will join the champions of the SEC, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 and Big East, with the two remaining slots available to at-large teams (read: Notre Dame). The same deal puts the Rose Bowl into the rotation alongside the Orange, Sugar and Fiesta for the title game.
It's worth remembering that this season still has a long way to run, and that Penn State and Washington could both be faint memories by the time it is over. But it's also worth remembering that the Super Alliance makes the same old phony arguments against a playoff and has so far managed to stave one off.
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