Thanks to the Longhorns’ 47-14 rout of Baylor on Saturday, Texas signal caller Colt McCoy tied David Greene for most all-time wins by a starting quarterback in NCAA history.

McCoy (23 of 34, 181 yards, 2 TDs) didn’t tear up the stat sheet – not that he had to. The Longhorns gained 224 yards on the ground and held Baylor to only six total rushing yards. The Bears averaged just 0.2 yards per carry and remain one of five Big 12 opponents to have never beaten a Mack Brown-coached Texas team.

Regardless of whether or not you think McCoy is a pro prospect (most don’t), it’s hard to deny how good of a college player he has been in his career. He has been a perfect fit for UT’s offense and continues to be one of the more accurate passers in college football.

McCoy and Texas can now sit back and wait to see if either South Carolina can upset Florida or if Mississippi State can beat Alabama. A win by the Gators and Crimson Tide would more than likely result in the Longhorns staying at No. 3 in the BCS standings.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/14/texas%e2%80%99-mccoy-ties-ncaa-record-in-rout-of-baylor/feed/ 0 http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/09/tcu-jumps-to-no-4-in-the-bcs-standings/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/09/tcu-jumps-to-no-4-in-the-bcs-standings/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:00:43 +0000 Anthony Stalter http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=28589

The TCU Horned Frogs have leapt into the top 5 in the BCS standings according to ESPN.com.

TCU took over fourth place in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday behind Florida, Alabama and Texas. It’s the highest BCS ranking ever for a team from a conference without an automatic bid to the big-money bowl games. No potential BCS buster had ever done better than sixth in the BCS standings.

Florida is first for the fourth straight week, and Alabama and Texas switched spots for the second week in a row.

The Gators and Crimson Tide have clinched their respective divisions in the Southeastern Conference and will meet Dec. 5 in the league championship game. One of them is all but guaranteed a spot in the BCS title game on Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif., if they can get through the next month without a loss.

The same goes for Texas, which has three regular-season games and possibly the Big 12 championship remaining.

The other undefeated teams — TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State — need the top three to stumble to have any shot of reaching the title game.

Some complain about TCU’s schedule, but at least they crush their opponents on a weekly basis. Clemson and Air Force are the only two teams that have given the Frogs a game this season and TCU played both of those contests on the road. And the fact that they’re willing to play non-conference foes like Clemson and Virginia should count for something.

The Frogs have one of the fastest, most aggressive defenses in the nation and I’d love to see what they could do in a BCS bowl. Of course, they have to get by Utah first, whom they play next Saturday.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/09/tcu-jumps-to-no-4-in-the-bcs-standings/feed/ 0 http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/10/14/will-boise-state-stay-in-the-top-5-after-edging-out-tulsa/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/10/14/will-boise-state-stay-in-the-top-5-after-edging-out-tulsa/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:52:18 +0000 Anthony Stalter http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=26601

By now, everyone knows that the clowns that compile the BCS rankings are simple-minded folks. They have short-term memory and are easily influenced by big wins.

With that in mind, was Boise State’s 28-21 win over Tulsa on Wednesday night good enough to convince voters to rank them in the top 5 when the BCS standings are released for the first time October 18?

In short: No.

The Broncos are a solid football team and turned in a sound effort against the Golden Hurricane, outside of two first half turnovers that allowed Tulsa to keep the game close. But Boise State had several opportunities in the third quarter to put the game away and couldn’t. That allowed Tulsa to mount a comeback with a G.J. Kinne to Slick Shelley 55-yard touchdown pass with just under 9:30 remaining. The Golden Hurricane also had two chances to tie the game with less than six minutes to play, but failed to do so when their final two drives stalled.

Given the conference it plays in, it’s not enough for a team like Boise to only beat an opponent by seven points. While Tulsa had a 4-1 record entering the game, their only loss was a 45-0 beat down at the hands of Oklahoma in Week 3. Voters will certainly compare Boise and Oklahoma’s victories over Tulsa when it comes time to rank the Broncos next week.

Although Tulsa put up a fight in the first half, this game was hardly ever in doubt for Boise. Up until the fourth quarter, they moved the ball at will and completely dominated the third quarter. But again, while their overall effort was solid in the victory, their performance was unimpressive to say the least. And knowing BCS voters like we do, if teams like USC, Ohio State and Cincinnati roll this week, Boise might find itself ranked outside the top 5 come October 18.

Paul and I used to get into heated debates over which was better – college or pro football. One time we almost came to blows in his living room, although it’s important to note that there may have been some alcoholic beverages involved that contributed to the debate growing into a fight.

His main points were that NFL players only cared about money and essentially weren’t playing for the love of the game. Conversely, since college players weren’t being paid, they played more for the competition and the love of football. He also noted that the game-day atmosphere in college football was way better than in the NFL and that the regular season games had more meaning because if a college team lost, than their season could essentially be over.

His first point about college football players loving the game more because they’re not being paid is a bit flawed. Some NFL players only play for the money. But some college football players are only playing so that they can make it to the NFL…so they can make money. I really don’t see the difference.

But Paul had a point about the atmosphere being better in college – I would rather tailgate with a bunch of rowdy college kids than some stuffy executive types that got their NFL tickets for free at the company picnic.

However, after Oklahoma leapfrogged Texas in the BCS standings this week despite the fact that the Longhorns beat the Sooners earlier in the year, I refuse to agree with anyone who says regular season games in college have more meaning than in the NFL.

True, an NFL team could lose seven games in one season and still make the playoffs. But at least everything in the NFL is decided on the field. If the Cardinals win the NFC West this year with a 9-7 record, it’s because they beat out everyone else in their division. The Seahawks, 49ers and Rams might blow chunks this season, which essentially gave Arizona an easy crown, but at least every team had the same opportunity to win the division at the start of the year.

Not so in college football. You see, not only do you have to win all (or all but one) of your games to play for a championship in college football, but you also have to hope that those teams that you beat have a good season so that it looks like you had a tough schedule. Oh, and you also have to win by a large margin of points so that you appear more dominant than other teams in your division.

There was a three-way tie in the Big 12 South this year between Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. All three teams beat each other, but because Texas and Oklahoma were higher in the BCS standings, it really came down to the Longhorns and Sooners for the rights to play Missouri in the Big 12 Championship.

Texas beat Oklahoma (who was the top ranked team at the time) 45-35 on October 11. Therefore the Longhorns deserve to play in the Big 12 Championship. Case closed, right? In a head to head match (on a neutral field mind you), Texas beat Oklahoma.

And yet the Sooners will play the Tigers in the Big 12 title game on Saturday. Why? Because the college football system is the most flawed concept in sports.

Don’t tell me that a playoff would make the regular season meaningless because clearly it’s already meaningless. The bowl games are a joke and the national title is unfair so really, what does that make the regular season?

Besides, that argument doesn’t hold any water because if you had an eight-team playoff system, the regular season would still hold as much value (if not more) because teams would be scrambling to get into the postseason. Two losses could still doom a team if college football had a playoff, just as two losses doom a team now in the current format. We would have the same regular season excitement, but now teams are actually playing for something.

Can we make it any more difficult to crown a champion? No other sport makes it so difficult to figure out what team is the best than in college football. Not the NBA, not the NHL, not college basketball – not the NFL.

Which brings me back to my original opinion – until college football installs a playoff system, it will never be on the same level of the NFL.

I’m not talking about the differences in the two games, because they’re both great. I love football – college, pro, Canadian, Arena, whatever. I’m talking about the two systems. I’m talking about one system that actually crowns a legit champion, compared to the other that crowns a mythical champion who got to play for a title because they looked better on paper than they did on the damn football field.

Boise State, Utah and Ball State are considered BCS schools, but why? They don’t have a legit shot at competing for a national championship, so why even call them BCS schools? Why not stick them in their own division and call them “BCS Schools II”. I’m tired of hearing how these schools don’t play anybody and therefore don’t deserve a shot to win a national championship. Stop assuming that Florida would roll over Boise or that Alabama would demolish Ball State – show me. Prove to me that those teams shouldn’t be on the same field as Florida, Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama.

You know what happens in the NFL when you assume one team can beat another? They actually have to prove it on the field. Many assumed last year that the Patriots would blow out the Giants in the Super Bowl. It didn’t happen and it turned out to be one of the greatest Super Bowls in the history of the NFL. We might get a great national championship game, but in the end it’ll just be another great game. It means nothing. Boise didn’t have a chance to win a title and neither did Utah, Ball State or Texas. Hell, even though they had their shot and blew it, USC deserves a chance to play for a national championship, too. But none of those teams will have that chance.

If college football had a playoff system, it would be the most popular game in America (yes, even more popular than the NFL). Even casual college football fans would pay attention more to the regular season because they would know it meant something in the end. But until a postseason is in place, college football will always bow at the feet of the National Football League.

I loved Tech going into this game and backed them as a team that still wasn’t getting enough credit. I even bought into the small hype that they should be the No. 1 team in the nation instead of Alabama. Apparently was wrong, like, way wrong.

This wasn’t just a bad night for the Raiders – the Sooners were just flat out better in every phase of the game. It was easy to see that OU was going to put up some points. Not only is the Sooner offense one of the best in the nation under Heisman hopeful Sam Bradford (14 of 19 for 304 yards, 4 TDs), but the Tech defense is also nonexistent.

But for the Sooner defense to hold Tech to only 21 points is simply amazing. No team in the nation (besides maybe OU) was running its offense better and more efficiently than the Raiders were. And OU made Tech look like they were in their first spring practice of the year.

This obviously throws a massive kink in the BCS rankings, which is fantastic for fans that want a playoff in college football. What team is the best in the nation? Can you honestly say it’s Alabama? Can you honestly say it’s not Oklahoma? What about Texas, who, oh-by-the-way beat Oklahoma earlier this year but lost to Tech on the final play of the game. What about Florida? The Gators lost Ole’ Miss, but are playing their best football of the season right now and have a date with ‘Bama in the SEC Championship Game coming up.

The BCS is getting what it deserves with OU’s win – complete anarchy. Everything is a mess right now and their little computers don’t have a clear-cut answer (not that they ever do). A playoff would be absolutely great for a season like this.

It’s hard to say unequivocally that neither team deserves to be ranked in the top spot. ‘Bama has disposed of some of the best teams in the SEC including LSU and Georgia, but college football enthusiasts will be quick to note that the conference is down on a whole this year so those victories don’t hold as much water.

Conversely, Tech has run through the best the Big 12 has to offer including Texas and Oklahoma State, and still has to face Oklahoma two weeks from now. And unlike the SEC, nobody is saying the Big 12 is down this year.

Assuming Tech gets past the Sooners (which won’t be a picnic by any means) and ‘Bama holds off Mississippi State and Auburn, than the battle for No. 1 will most likely come down to championship weekend. If the Tide beat Florida, than it’s hard to say ‘Bama should be ranked any lower than the top spot, especially considering Tech’s opponent in the Big 12 championship won’t be as tough. (I think we can essentially say that Oklahoma will be Tech’s Big 12 Championship Game.)

Don’t count out the Gators either. They’re playing about as well as any team in the nation right now and are making a case for being ranked No. 1 themselves. This is going to be a great finish to a wild college football season.

Many pundits thought that OK State would hang with the Red Raiders, but the exact opposite transpired. The Cowboys did take a 7-0 lead after recovering a fumble on Tech’s first possession of the game, but Graham Harrell (40 of 50 for 456 yards, 6 TDs) and Michael Crabtree (8 rec., 89 yards, 3 TDs) took over the rest of the way. Speaking of Crabtree, I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’s going to be an elite receiver at the next level. He’s big, he’s physical, he can run and he has phenomenal hands. He won’t be bust in the NFL – he’s going to be special. And watching Harrell run Tech’s offense is like watching an artist paint a freaking masterpiece.

Not that any team does, but OK State had absolutely no idea how to defend Tech’s explosive passing attack. If they blitzed, the Raiders picked it up and Harrell shredded the Cowboys up the middle and down the seams. If State stayed back in coverage, Harrell took what the defense gave him and still found open receivers. And down on the goal line, the Cowboys stood zero chance against Crabtree or the Raiders’ spread attack.

I’m not surprised that Tech won and won convincingly, but I am surprised at how easy it was. OK State is a good football team and an improving program, but as soon as they got up 7-0, it’s almost like they put it on cruise control the rest of the way. Tech made them look like a Pop Warner team.

I want to see Tech play for a national championship. People can talk about how they don’t play defense, but they just held a powerful Cowboys’ offense to only 20 points. They’re exciting to watch and they play with an attitude. They’re the most exciting team in college football and I’m not so sure that even a top defensive team like USC or Alabama could slow them down.

Tech is just that good.