Forde-Yard Dash: Who's got something left to prove?
Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (marching band porn sold separately at Kansas State):
PROVE YOURSELF
Some things were proved in the first week of games. Some things are yet to be determined. The Dash details a few players/coaches/teams with a lot more proving to do this week:
Vernon Adams (1). Proving Ground: Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, Mich. The new Oregon quarterback played well until being knocked wobbly by former Eastern Washington teammate John Kreifels – who was ejected for targeting on the play. Ducks coach Mark Helfrich has indicated that Adams was not concussed on the play, and thus he is expected to play when Oregon visits Michigan State on Saturday night in what is the biggest game of the young season to date. Adams produced 340 yards total offense, showing his athleticism by running for 94 yards and taking the top off the Eastern Washington defense with a couple of plus-territory deep balls to Dwayne Stanford. But on the road against the Spartans will be an entirely different challenge. Still, the Oregon defense might have more to prove than Adams after giving up 42 points and 549 yards. “Honestly,” defensive end DeForest Buckner said to goducks.com, “that was awful.”
LSU (2). Proving Ground: Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field, Starkville, Miss. LSU played less than five minutes Saturday against McNeese State – five snaps on offense, three on defense and a couple on special teams – before the game was canceled because of storms. Last time LSU had a game canceled: 1918, when World War I took out the entire season. The Tigers learned nothing about themselves and now must dive head-first into SEC play against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs shocked LSU in Tiger Stadium last year, and will put the full cowbell chaos on Les Miles’ team in Starkville on Saturday. For a team still processing a new defense under first-year coordinator Kevin Steele and trying to upgrade its dismal passing game under first-year starting quarterback Brandon Harris, there is a ton to prove.
Mississippi State punt returners (3). Proving Ground: Scott Stadium, Starkville, Miss. Last year Jamoral Graham was an accident waiting to happen in the return game, mishandling at least four punts. He was replaced late in the season by receiver Fred Ross, who kept the job coming into this season – and fumbled a punt Saturday against Southern Mississippi. It’s an important part of the game that Dan Mullen’s team hasn’t been able to get right.
Tennessee (4). Proving Ground: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn. Much is expected from the Volunteers this season, and after rolling past Bowling Green (and its fainting, shoeless defensive lineman Mike Minns), here comes the Prove-It game against Oklahoma. Last year the Vols lost by 24 in Norman, but they were still playing the wrong quarterback at that point – it was pre-Joshua Dobbs. Against Bowling Green, Dobbs accounted for 294 yards and three touchdowns while mostly handing off to backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara (combined 267 rushing yards). The pressure will be on Tennessee’s defense, which gave up 433 passing yards to Bowling Green and surrendered 33.2 points to ranked opponents in 2014.
Baker Mayfield and Lincoln Riley (5). Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn. Oklahoma’s new starting quarterback and new offensive coordinator had several nice moments in their debut against Akron. But it was Akron, and the Sooners started slowly – their first six possessions produced a total of 76 yards and three points. A sputtering start in Knoxville would get 102,000 Tennessee fans into the game in a big way and make Oklahoma’s job that much more difficult. Then again, Mayfield and Riley may be licking their chops to get at the Volunteers’ suspect pass defense.
Kirk Ferentz and Paul Rhoads (6). Proving Ground: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, Iowa. The coaches at Iowa and Iowa State have seen their once-high approval ratings dwindle during the last few years, which means the loser of the annual in-state battle will likely be feeling some September heat. The Cyclones have won three of the last four, but it was virtually the only highlight they had last year. Winning team in the CyHawk rivalry has gone to a bowl game six of the past seven years, while the losing team has gone to just three bowls in seven years.
PROVE YOURSELF, CONT.: THREE BLUEBLOODS WHO NEED TO STOP THE BLEEDING OFFENSIVELY
Texas (7). Proving Ground: Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas. The Longhorns produced the lowest yardage total (163) of any FBS team in the opening week. They also might have had the toughest assignment of any FBS team in the opening week, playing a true road game against No. 11 Notre Dame (although a surprising number of Texas fans got into the stadium). But still: Texas is not supposed to be that inept. Ever. The pressure on offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and starting quarterback Tyrone Swoopes is acute; they have to show significant progress this week against Rice (not a walkover) to decelerate the fan and media criticism. Worth noting that head coach Charlie Strong has fired an offensive coordinator in-season before, canning Mike Sanford in October 2011 at Louisville and promoting none other than Watson from quarterback coach to play caller.
Penn State (8). Proving Ground: Beaver Stadium, State College, Pa. At least Texas’ offense was futile against Notre Dame. The Nittany Lions collapsed against Temple. No disrespect to the Owls, but when should they ever be able to record 10 sacks against Penn State? When Christian Hackenberg wasn’t on his back, he wasn’t completing passes, either: he was 11 of 25 for 103 yards (with an interception) and Penn State converted just two of 13 third downs. Hackenberg’s devolution under James Franklin needs an immediate reversal, and Saturday opponent Buffalo should present that opportunity. The Bulls only recorded two sacks in their opening win over Albany.
Michigan (9). Proving Ground: Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Mich. Compared to the above two, the Wolverines’ offensive performance against Utah didn’t look that bad after all. But three interceptions and no running game aren’t a recipe for future success. Jim Harbaugh was resolutely supportive of starting quarterback Jake Rudock, who is the No. 83-rated passer in FBS after the first week. After focusing on the tight ends against Utah, Rudock will need to prove he can get the ball reliably to his wide receivers against Oregon State on Saturday in order to make defenses play honest.
TAKE THE UNDER
It was a great weekend for an underdog conference and for Under Armour (10).
“A lot of houses were protected this weekend,” was the wry comment from Nick Carparelli, Under Armour’s Senior Director of College Sports. The shoe and gear manufacturer went a stunning 15-0 to open the season, with victories by Maryland, South Carolina, Auburn, Notre Dame, Utah, Cincinnati, Texas Tech, Hawaii, South Florida, Old Dominion, Navy, Colorado State, Northwestern, Boston College.
The only thing preventing Under Armour from going a Sweet 16-0 was Toledo, which was leading when its game against Stony Brook was canceled because of lightning.
Now a word about that underdog conference. As it lost members and leaked prestige in recent years, “Conference DOA” was the pejorative substitute name for Conference USA. But the league roared back to life to start 2015, going 8-4. Among the big scores:
Charlotte (10). The 49ers got the first victory of the season Thursday afternoon, 23-20 over Georgia State, for their first victory as an FBS program. They led virtually wire-to-wire, a dreamy debut that could extend to 2-0 against Presbyterian this week. Cornbread Maxwell heartily approves.
Western Kentucky (11). The Hilltoppers are expected to be one of C-USA’s best teams, and they quickly backed that up last Thursday by beating Vanderbilt in Nashville. The victory was less surprising than the score: 14-12, tying Western’s fewest points in a victory since 2003. For a team that averaged 44.4 points last year and gave up 39.9, winning with defense showed some versatility. Perhaps the Toppers won’t have to simply outscore everyone this season, though that defense will be tested in a major early season league showdown Saturday against Louisiana Tech.
Florida International (12). The hire of retread Ron Turner in 2013 was universally panned, including right here in The Dash. But after losing 19 of his first 24 games on the job, Turner had his finest moment since 2001 when the Panthers went to Illinois last Friday and shocked Central Florida 15-14. FIU rallied from a 14-3 halftime deficit and blocked a field goal on the final play to preserve the win, marking the school’s biggest victory since the T.Y. Hilton days.
Marshall (13). There is life after Rakeem Cato, and a pretty good life at that, it appears. The Thundering Herd scored its first-ever victory over a Big Ten opponent Sunday, beating Purdue 41-31. Safety Tiquan Lang may have had the Game of the Year already for a defensive back: 17 tackles and two pick-sixes. Holy Rod Woodson.
Other teams outside the Power 5 who made some noise:
Temple (14). The highlight of a highly competent opening week for the American Athletic Conference was the Owls’ 27 unanswered points to bury Penn State after falling behind 10-0. (The lowlight was UCF’s gag against FIU.) Temple has now opened successive seasons with major upsets of Power 5 teams – last year was over Vanderbilt, which in immediate retrospect was not a major upset but Las Vegas deemed it such at the time. The victory over the Nittany Lions sets up a surprisingly relevant, early AAC tussle with Cincinnati on Saturday.
Boise State (15). After beating Washington, the Broncos are halfway through their College Football Playoff sabotage double. Next up: at BYU and its backup quarterback Saturday late night. Luckless Taysom Hill is out for the season again, and although backup Tanner Mangum was a miracle man Saturday (more on that later), he remains an untested (but old) freshman. If Boise wins those two, the undefeated chatter will take on a more realistic tone – and the CFP committee will have to deal with it.
Hawaii (16). It has been established that beating Colorado is not a big deal anymore, but consider who Norm Chow had beaten in his first three seasons as coach of the Warriors: Lamar, UNLV (twice), South Alabama, Army, Northern Iowa, Wyoming and San Jose State. In that context, taking down a Pac-12 opponent qualifies as a mighty triumph. Hawaii then will take a four-day advantage in rest and preparation into Ohio State on Saturday – whereupon it still will be bludgeoned.
Hawaii and Boise both are members of the Mountain West, which had a solid first week in its own right. (Exception: Wyoming, which was thumped by FCS North Dakota.) The league has three opportunities this week to further damage the Pac-12’s battered prestige: Utah State at Utah Friday, in which the Aggies need to play a lot better than in their struggle past Southern Utah; Arizona at Nevada, which has three victories over Pac-12 teams in the past five years; and San Diego State at California.
CLEAR THE WAY FOR THE ROOKIES
There was a time when coaches were terrified at the thought of playing true freshmen at quarterback. That time is past, at least in some locales. Freshman quarterbacks were all the rage and all over the landscape in week one. The roll call:
Josh Rosen (17), UCLA. His debut numbers were sensational: 28-35, 351 yards and three touchdowns in an easy win over Virginia. That called to mind another freshman (this one a redshirt) in his college debut: Jameis Winston was 25 of 27, 356 yards and four TDs against Pittsburgh. Rosen benefitted from spring practice at UCLA, and his performance buoys The Dash’s belief that the Bruins can win the Pac-12 and make the playoff.
Kyler Murray (18), Texas A&M. Hasn’t taken over the position, but made some key plays against Arizona State in relief of starter Kyle Allen as the quarterback questions continue to rage unanswered in College Station.
Murray ran for 69 yards and threw for 49, but Allen came back into the game to pull it out of the fire. Murray remains raw, but he’s an undeniable winner: He was 42-0 as a starter in high school and won three Texas state championships.
Lamar Jackson (19), Louisville. Will start for the Cardinals on Saturday against Houston. Jackson relieved starter Reggie Bonnafon against Auburn and took over the position, running for 106 yards and throwing for 100. He led Louisville back from a 24-0 hole, putting a scare into the Tigers in what ended up a 31-24 game. The problem is that Jackson is throwing to a comparably inexperienced receiving corps.
Seth Collins (20), Oregon State. Another deluxe athlete who appears to have settled a QB conundrum. Collins had a couple of highlight-reel plays against Weber State: a 44-yard touchdown pass that he dropped artfully over a defender, and a hurdle over a tackler that unfortunately was called back on a penalty. He ran for 152 yards and passed for 92, and figures to be the focus of Michigan’s defensive gameplan Saturday.
Eric Dungey (21), Syracuse. Pressed into duty when luckless starter Terrel Hunt injured his Achilles' tendon (after breaking his leg near midseason last year). Dungey was one of a whopping 15 true freshmen to play for the Orange in their opener, and he started quickly: His first collegiate pass went 32 yards for a touchdown.
TEN MIRACULOUS MINUTES FOR THE MANGUMS
Michael and Karen Mangum have watched a lot of sports in their lifetimes: They have five kids, four of whom were or are college athletes and a fifth who likely will be as well. But Saturday, Sept. 5, will go down in family history as the best day of all.
“The joke in the family is that it will never get better than that,” Michael said with a laugh Monday.
Here’s what happened: The Mangums were in the stands at Idaho State to see son Madison catch three touchdown passes – one of them a spectacular, Odell Beckham-esque one-handed stab that ended up being the No. 2 play on SportsCenter that night.
Why was it only No. 2? Because about 950 miles away, Madison’s younger brother, Tanner (22), was throwing the Hail Mary pass that allowed BYU to beat Nebraska. That was No. 1.
Unfortunately for the Mangums, they could be in only one place at a time, and they chose the Idaho State game because Madison is a senior starter and Tanner is a freshman backup. Or was a backup, until Taysom Hill got hurt.
In the stands at Idaho State’s Holt Arena, Michael had been following the BYU game on his phone but didn’t have video capability. A friend loaned him a phone with video and they were watching when Karen said, “Wait a minute, that’s not No. 4 [Hill’s number]. That’s No. 12. That’s our son.”
With the stakes raised, so were the Mangums’ attention. They were riveted to the phone as Tanner led the last drive.
And then the phone’s battery died, with 21 seconds left in the game.
Michael sat back and said, “Well, one way or the other we’re going to find out in a couple minutes.”
Shortly thereafter, their phones exploded with texts.
Amazing!
Wow!
Can you believe it?
Something exciting obviously happened, but it wasn’t until the Mangums left the stadium that they could piece it together and watch replays.
Michael figured that the time between Madison’s one-handed catch and Tanner’s miracle pass was about 10 minutes. Good genes, good luck and great timing colluded to make Saturday afternoon unforgettable for the Mangums. If only they had a great cell phone to add to the mix, it would have been perfect.
GRADING THE COACHING DEBUTS
The Dash appraises the first games of some coaches in new places:
Jim Harbaugh (23), Michigan. Grade: C. The Wolverines’ loss to Utah was not unexpected, but it did puncture the belief by some Michigan fans that Harbaugh could turn water into wine and 5-7 into 10-2 overnight. The disappointing aspect was how similar Michigan looked to the error-prone Brady Hoke teams that couldn’t push anyone around up front offensively.
Mike Riley (24), Nebraska. Grade: C-minus. Like Harbaugh, Riley didn’t start his new job with a breather. He played BYU, albeit at home. Losing on a Hail Mary made it a bit of a fluke, but the failure to adequately defend that play was only the latest defensive lapse in a game where the Cornhuskers surrendered 511 yards.
Jim McElwain (25), Florida. Grade: A. Yes, it’s nice to open with New Mexico State. But given some of the Gators’ struggles against puny opponents during the Will Muschamp Era, a 61-13 romp rife with fireworks in the passing game was a welcome change. Plus there was no video evidence of Gator-on-Gator blocking schemes.
Gary Andersen (26), Oregon State. Grade: B-minus. Scraping to two field goals and a 6-0 halftime lead against Weber State didn’t dazzle anyone, but the Beavers pulled away after intermission and dominated statistically. Oregon State was spotty offensively last year under Riley, and it could be more of the same this season with a freshman QB.
Paul Chryst (27), Wisconsin. Grade: C-minus. Nobody expected the Badgers to beat Alabama in Dallas, but the game was all but over by early third quarter. The harsh reality for Wisconsin fans accustomed to an endless assembly line of running backs and offensive linemen is the fact that the Badgers ran for 40 yards on 21 carries.
Alabama is great in the front seven, but those are startlingly small numbers.
Pat Narduzzi (28), Pittsburgh. Grade: B-minus. On the plus side, the Panthers lost their best player to injury (running back James Conner) and still beat a team they lost to in 2012. On the minus side, they gave up 407 yards and 37 points to Youngstown State. For a defensive guy like Narduzzi, that had to gnaw at his guts.
Tom Herman (29), Houston. Grade: B-plus. Cougars rolled Tennessee Tech, going up 45-10 early in the fourth quarter and cruising in with a 52-24 victory. The former offensive coordinator at Ohio State watched his new team churn out 627 yards – but the challenge is appreciably harder this week against Louisville.
Chad Morris (30), SMU. Grade: A-minus. The Mustangs were offensively inept last year, which is why they hired the former OC from Clemson. He delivered an immediately better product, putting 21 points on the board against Baylor in the first 26 minutes of the game. Things fell apart from there, but that was expected. SMU looked much improved for most of the night.
Philip Montgomery (31), Tulsa. Grade: A. The Golden Hurricane won, which is something that had only happened five times in the previous 24 games. And they beat a Florida Atlantic team that destroyed Tulsa last year. And they scored 47 points, the most by the program since October 2012. But the fact that Tulsa needed OT to win at home against FAU says the program is still climbing uphill.
THE ALL-TIME WORST FIVE
It’s pretty easy to identify the best programs in college football history – just find the ones with all the national titles and victories and, generally speaking, largest stadiums. You don’t have to be a football know-it-all to list off Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Alabama, USC, Michigan, Ohio State, Texas, Nebraska, Penn State, etc.
The hard part is listing the worst of the worst. Not just who has lost the most, but who has been pounded, humiliated, left for dead and stripped of any hope for future glory. That takes a little research – which The Dash was all too happy to do. The all-time bottom five:
Northwestern (32). Record: 510-652-45. Winning percentage: .441. Outscored by 5,186 points all-time. The Wildcats managed to shave 10 points off that historic deficit by upsetting Stanford on Saturday. But there still are decades of misery to make up for.
Wake Forest (33). Record: 433-634-33. Winning percentage: .409. Outscored by 4,550 points all-time. That deficit figures to grow, not shrink, the rest of this season as Dave Clawson seeks to rebuild.
UTEP (34). Record: 385-565-28. Winning percentage: .408. Outscored by 4,354 points all-time. Miners were routed by Arkansas on Saturday but should be competitive in the C-USA West. Because the West is not terribly good.
Indiana (35). Record: 462-654-47. Winning percentage: .418. Outscored by 3,811 points all-time. The Hoosiers were one point better than FCS Southern Illinois on Saturday. Hey, every point counts.
Kent State (36). Record: 332-527-38. Winning percentage: .396, lowest of any FBS program that has been around more than a few years. Outscored by 3,955 points. That’s after being buried by Illinois on Saturday.
Unlike these programs, Dashette Bianca Balti (37) is an all-time winner.
COACH WHO EARNED HIS COMP CAR THIS WEEK
Bill Cubit (38), Illinois. Plopped down in a dumpster fire and turned it into a pleasurable little weenie roast. Cubit was thrust into the interim head coach position after the Illini abruptly fired Tim Beckman a week before the season, so expectations were about as low as they can get at a Power 5 school. (At least a Power 5 school not named Kansas.) But Illinois won by 49 points in a game it did not statistically dominate to that extent. Nice job by Cubit stabilizing a turbulent situation.
COACH WHO SHOULD RIDE THE BUS TO WORK
Kyle Flood (39), Rutgers. Has any coach ever won the opener by 50 and looked worse than Flood? Dismissing five players and suspending five more before kickoff against Norfolk State culminated yet another embarrassing week at Rutgers, especially since one of the dismissed players was the guy Flood allegedly tried to leverage a teacher into giving a better grade. Greg Schiano is still out there, chopping his wood and biding his time.
POINT AFTER
When hungry and thirsty in Salt Lake City, The Dash recommends drinking before midnight. Last call comes early in the Mormon Belt. But if you get a chance, visit Squatter’s (40) and have a Ghostrider White IPA from local Wasatch Brewery. Thank The Dash later.
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