Week 10: Headlines

It seems to be the current trend in college football. Of course we are talking about parody. This weekend was another action packed, and upset packed weekend in college football. Three top ten teams dropped, and a couple other highly ranked teams escaped with victories by the skin of their teeth. Here are this past weekend's headlines...

TCU Blows Out Utah
In a relatively big surprise the Horned Frogs not only beat the Utes...the destroyed them. A game that was billed as the biggest of the weekend, and a game that could decide a birth to the national title proved to be a one sided affair. To say Utah was never in the game would be an understatement. The Horned Frogs jumped out to a 40-0 lead, and never looked back. They went on to win the game in impressive fashion by thumping the Utes 47-7 in Salt Lake City.

The win not only eliminated the Utes from national title consideration; it also prepelled TCU right into the mix. A close game could have given some critics room to debate that TCU isn't at the same level as the BCS conference teams, but the way they beat Utah trumped that. TCU now looks like a team that could find their way into the national title game. Only if Auburn and Oregon stumbles though.

Tigers Roll Tide
In a game that will go down in SEC lore as LSU upset Alabama and all but certainly ended any chances of the Tide repeating as national champions. A game that was highly competitive came down to a fourth down that Les Miles decided to go for with a reverse. The Tigers picked it up and then went on to score a touchdown, and defeat Alabama.

The victory may also push the Tigers into a possible national championship scenario, but a lofty one at best. In order to get to the big game LSU needs Auburn to lose twice in order to represent the the SEC West in the conference championship game. On the other hand the loss for Alabama eliminates the Auburn match-up as a de facto national championship precursor.

The Hero or the Goat: Nebraska Beats Iowa State
In sports there are always those plays where you are either going to be the "hero' or the "goat." Saturday's match-up between Iowa State and Nebraska would be one of those situations. In a highly competitive game that required overtime Cyclone head coach Paul Rhoads decided to go for two on a fake extra point attempt. A decision that gave the Cornhuskers the one point victory, and made Rhoads the goat. If it would have worked...he would have been a hero, and a genius.

Jo Pa Wins Number 400
If it wasn't for the rest of the madness, or the fact that Penn State is out of the Big Ten chase, Joe Paterno winning his 400th victory on Saturday may have been the headliner. For the first time in FBS history a coach has won 400 games, and has done it all with the same school. After trailing by 21 points the Nittany Lions rallied to win decisively, and give Paterno his 400th victory at home in front of a faithful Penn State crowd.

In an era when coaches leave town almost as fast as they came in Joe Paterno has shown how to do it right. With a staff of coaches that at one time were recruited to be players Patterno proved that it is still possible in todays world to have coaches that ride out the storm, and build a solid program. And in the end it only seems fitting that the man that is Penn State football did not give credit to himself for the victories, but rather his players and the fans. Once again showing why Joe Paterno is the last of a breed, and in many ways the best.