Tag: Jim Harbaugh (Page 7 of 8)

      Orange Bowl Preview: Stanford vs. Virginia Tech

      December 29, 2010 /

      2011 BCS Bowl Previews: BCS National Championship | Fiesta Bowl | Rose Bowl | Orange Bowl | Sugar Bowl

      Date: Monday, January 3 2011
      Time: 8:30PM ET
      TV: ESPN

      Why Watch: The Hokies became the first program in FBS history to win 11 straight games after starting their season 0-2. Frank Beamer’s squad could have folded after losing to FCS school James Madison but instead it rallied, winning 11 in a row in impressive fashion. VA Tech largely flew under the radar while knocking off ACC opponents with relative ease and then crushing Florida State in the conference championship game. Now the Hokies look to put a bow on their season with a win against arguably the best one-loss team in the nation. Stanford had one of the best seasons in school history, losing only to an undefeated Oregon team in early October. They have a Hesiman finalist at quarterback in Andrew Luck, who would probably go No. 1 in the NFL draft if he decides to go pro next season. The Cardinal also employs one of the hottest head coaches in the nation in Jim Harbaugh.

      Game Facts Stanford is 9-11-1 all-time in bowl play and will be playing in the postseason for the second consecutive year following an eight-year absence. Oklahoma beat the Cardinal 31-27 in last year’s Sun Bowl. The Hokies will be playing in their fourth BCS bowl in the last seven seasons. They’re 9-14 all-time in bowl games and they’ll be making their 17th straight bowl appearance. Under Beamer, they’re 8-9 in bowl games, which includes 37-14 win over Tennessee in last year’s Chick-fil-A Bowl.

      Key Player: Steven Friday, Virginia Tech.
      They say the key to any good pass defense is a good pass rush and for Virginia Tech, that starts with Friday. The senior defensive end had 8.5 sacks to lead the Hokies this season. He’s incredibly quick off the edge and if he can harass quarterback Andrew Luck, the Hokies could slow down the possible No. 1 pick and the Cardinal offense.

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      College Football, External Sports

      2010 College Football Bowl Schedule & Matchups

      December 6, 2010 /
      CORVALLIS, OR - DECEMBER 04: Darron Thomas of the Oregon Ducks looks to pass against the Oregon State Beavers during the 114th Civil War on December 4, 2010 at the Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

      Looking for a college football bowl game schedule? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Let The Scores Report be your one-stop shopping experience for all things bowl game schedule.

      BCS National Championship: Auburn vs. Oregon, January 10, 8:30PM ET
      In the end, there really wasn’t any debate to which teams should play for the national title. The Tigers beat six teams this year that finished in the top 25 of the BCS standings and went 13-0 on the year. Their 56-17 pounding of South Carolina in the SEC championship game left no doubt about their spot atop the BCS rankings. On the other side, Oregon blew out Tennessee earlier in the year, but the Ducks’ made their best statement in a 52-31 thrashing of Stanford. They outscored opponents by nearly 31 points a game this year, with only one team (Cal) coming within single digits of Darron Thomas and Co.

      Sugar Bowl: Ohio State vs. Arkansas, Tuesday, January 4, 8:30PM ET
      The Buckeyes have another shot to end their woes against the SEC when they take on the Hogs on January 4. If Terrelle Pryor plays as well against Arkansas as he did against Oregon in the Rose Bowl last year, then OSU will be fine. But the Buckeyes will certainly have their hands full with Ryan Mallett and the Hogs’ explosive offense. Arkansas has a chance to win 11 games in a season for the first time since 1977.

      Orange Bowl: Stanford vs. Virginia Tech, January 3, 8:30PM ET
      This is a great matchup but it’ll be overshadowed by the persisting rumors that Jim Harbaugh will be coaching elsewhere next season. Stanford’s defense will have its hands full with VA Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who took the ACC title game over against Florida State. But the Hokies will need more than Taylor to defeat a Stanford team that is arguably the best one-loss teams in the country. Andrew Luck can further cement his status as the No. 1 pick in April’s draft with a great performance.

      Fiesta Bowl: Connecticut vs. Oklahoma, January 1, 8:30PM ET
      The Huskies stumbled to a 3-4 record while losing their first two Big East conference games, but they rebounded to go 5-0 down the stretch and their reward is that they get to take on Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. The Sooners will be heavy favorites against Connecticut but remember that Oklahoma is on a five-game BCS bowl losing streak that include three national title losses and a pair of Fiesta Bowls. Statue of Liberty, anyone?

      Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. TCU, January 1, 5:00PM ET
      This may be the most underrated matchup of the five BCS bowl games. Wisconsin won its final seven regular-season games and did so by averaging 48.3 points per contest over that span. They also combined for 201 points in their final three games and now take on a TCU team that owns the top-ranked defense in the country. That’s impressive considering they lost Jerry Hughes and Daryl Washington (their top defenders from a season ago) to the NFL last April.

      2010 College Football Bowl Schedule:

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      College Football, External Sports

      After that debacle, it’s definitely time for Rich Rodriguez to go

      November 27, 2010 /
      ANN ARBOR, MI - NOVEMBER 20: Head coach Rich Rodriguez of the Michigan Wolverines reacts while playing the Wisconson Badgers at Michigan Stadium on November 20, 2010 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Wisconsin won the game 48-28. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

      I don’t know if you’ve been able to figure out over the course of the season which team I root for when it comes to college football, but I’ll admit that it’s not Michigan. I do, however, live near thousands and thousands of Michigan fans, and most of my friends root for the Maize and Blue, so I’ve heard a lot of this lately: Fire Rich Rod!!! (Their exclamation points, not mine.)

      Ohio State defeated Michigan 37-7 today in a game that really wasn’t competitive past midway through the second quarter. It’s the seventh straight loss to the Buckeyes for Michigan, and it could be the final game for Rich Rodriguez in Ann Arbor.

      Let me rephrase that, it should be the last game in Ann Arbor for Rich Rodriguez. Through three years, Rodriguez has won 15 games, six of which have come in Big Ten play. One of those wins came against the top half of the conference — a crazy victory over Wisconsin in his first season — and none of them have come against Michigan’s two biggest rivals, Michigan State and Ohio State.

      Those are incredibly damning statistics, and while this team is obviously better than the last two years, there is no way any Michigan fan can claim enough progress has been made over these three years to be satisfied. The defense is awful, and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change too much next year, as it will still be young and void of talent at most positions. That can partially be solved with a new defensive coordinator and scheme, but then again, it will be the third coordinator and scheme in four years, which can only cause confusion.

      Then there’s the matter of the offense, which has the potential to be incredibly explosive. It also has the ability to completely sputter against good, physical defenses, like it did today against Ohio State.

      The only reason to keep Rodriguez around is because of his offense, and I suppose you could make a decent argument that the Wolverines should score a lot again next year as most all of the offense is coming back. But one more year of that system, and the recruits Rodriguez is bringing in to run it will only further create a problem for the next coach, who no doubt will be in the “Michigan Man” mold, and run a power-based, play-action offense that has proven it can work in the Big Ten.

      There’s also the thought that Michigan’s most prized target, Jim Harbaugh, has reached his peak at Stanford, and when Andrew Luck leaves for the NFL, Harbaugh could do the same. A Michigan offer could be the one thing to keep Harbaugh in the college ranks, as he’s an alum. But once he goes pro, he’s not coming back to the college game without being fired.

      Michigan AD Dave Brandon has a big decision to make, but it also seems pretty crystal clear at this point. He has to fire Rich Rodriguez.

      College Football, External Sports

      Carroll says he won’t forget Harbaugh, Stanford’s 2-point attempt

      November 20, 2009 /

      USC’s Pete Carroll says he’s over Stanford head coach John Harbaugh going for two when the Cardinal were already up 48-21 in the second half of their victory over the Trojans last Saturday. But Carroll also said that he wouldn’t forget about the play either.

      From SPORTSbyBROOKS.com:

      MASON: What do you think, now a couple of days removed, of Harbaugh going for the two-point conversion?

      CARROLL: Well, really, even since the time that it happened, you know, I haven’t bothered with it, and I know everybody else has and taken a lot of time to kinda discuss it and all. I think, you know, it is what you think it is, you know, it’s a statement that you can take away that maybe they were trying to accomplish something that seems out of the ordinary, you know, I don’t really care, to tell you the truth, it doesn’t matter.

      And when you look at it like, uh, they’re ahead in the game and they’re in command of it, they really get to do whatever they want to do, and it doesn’t bother me to worry about it anymore, you know what I mean? Jim came out and said what he wanted to say, you know, a couple different times about it and, you know, to me it’s dropped, I don’t care.
      Will I forget it? No, I’m not forgetting it. But uh, you know, to me, it’s in the past.

      What’s funny is that everyone is concentrating on how Stanford went for two to make a statement to USC, but what Carroll and everyone needs to focus on is that the Cardinal whipped the Trojans’ ass for four quarters. It wasn’t just one play; Stanford owned USC on the Trojans’ home field for 60 minutes. That’s the bigger deal.

      So Carroll truly does need to forget about the one play (albeit, an embarrassing play) and concentrate on what has happened this year to his program. To hell with the two-point conversation: How does that once stout USC defense allow 36 (Oregon State), 47 (Oregon) and 55 (Stanford) points over the course of a four game span?


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Jim Harbaugh squashes Michigan rumors

      November 18, 2009 /

      Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh recently was asked on Sirius XM’s “Mad Dog Radio” if he would be interested in coaching at Michigan if things didn’t work out with current Wolverine coach Rich Rodriguez.

      His response (via the Detroit Free Press):

      Host Bruce Murray: “You are a hot prospect now in college football. You are going to be sought after. Do you have outs to go to other jobs should they present themselves in your contract?”

      Jim Harbaugh: “Well, I love Stanford and I love the football players here and the coaches here. I’m not going to specifically discuss my contract but I hope to have the honor of coaching here, Bruce, for a very long time.”

      Murray: “But you’ve heard the rumors and I’m not saying that you would entertain it. You know if something doesn’t work out with Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, as an alum you’re going to be called by them … ”

      Harbaugh: “Let me just stop you right there, Bruce. This is big game week. This is Cal week, and as you would understand, all my focus and our focus has to be on that. So if we’re going to keep going into this I’ve got other things that are more pressing. … This week is just one of those weeks where the focus really has to be on the game we’ve got coming up.”

      Good for Harbaugh for not getting roped into saying something that he would probably regret later. He didn’t come out and say that he wouldn’t coach at Michigan; instead he kept the focus on Stanford and its upcoming battle with Cal this Saturday. It wouldn’t be fair to his players or his fellow coaches if he stoked the Michigan-head coaching flames three days before a big game against a key rival. Furthermore, it would be disrespectful to Rodriguez for Harbaugh to talk about a job that isn’t his.

      I know he has ties to Michigan because he played there, but I hope the powers at be put together a fair extension so that he can stay at Stanford. They were the ones to give him his first shot and it would be nice to see a college football head coach show some loyalty once in awhile (although one could argue that he has loyalties to Michigan, too).


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

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