Little Things Meant a Lot This Year

What if Oregon had not lost its special teams coach, or Colorado had set up for a field goal in August, or the Texas coach had not been stricken with the heebie-jeebies about playing a freshman against Oklahoma?

Would the national title picture look different today?

The “what-ifs” in college football have always made it unique to all the two-bit sports that think a playoff is a better way of resolving on-field differences.

Rest assured, as much as you might look forward to seeing how this year’s national title will be won, you might be able to look back and see how it was lost.

It is already fact at least one school with one loss will be playing for the national title in the Jan. 3 Rose Bowl, which will no doubt leave several one-loss schools grumbling about how they got the bowl championship series shaft.

Instead of blaming the BCS, though, some of these schools should look in the mirror.

The margin for error in this sport is Calista Flockhart thin--and often costly. One defeat knocks most teams out of contention while a second ding can send you to a bowl not of your choosing (See Stanford, Seattle Bowl).

So, let’s play the what-if game with:

Miami: What if Boston College quarterback Brian St. Pierre’s last-minute pass near the goal line on Nov. 10 did not bounce off Hurricane cornerback Mike Rumph’s knee into the arms of teammate Matt Walters, who turned the freak play into a 90-yard touchdown that secured an 18-7 victory?

Answer: It was a 12-7 game at the time. Had Boston College punched it in and won, Miami is not likely No. 1 in the BCS, not undefeated and not a cinch to go to the Rose Bowl with a win at Virginia Tech this week.

Texas: What if Coach Mack Brown had played freshman tailback Cedric Benson against Oklahoma?

Answer: Texas might have won a tough game it lost, 14-3, and the Longhorns would be undefeated and playing Saturday’s Big 12 title game for a guaranteed berth in the Rose Bowl instead of needing to win and then needing help.

The Benson hedge will long be hashed over in Texas lore. Benson did not get a carry against Oklahoma because Brown feared the freshman was not a good enough blocker in pass protection. Benson made his first start the next week against Oklahoma State and rushed for 131 yards. Then, he rumbled for 100 yards against Colorado, 157 against Missouri, 108 against Baylor, 213 versus Kansas and 79 against Texas A&M.;

In the Oklahoma loss, a 7-3 game until the final minutes, Texas backs combined for 27 yards in 25 attempts.

Oregon: What if the Ducks’ talented special teams coach Tom Osborne had not been lured away to Arizona State this year?

Answer: The Ducks would be undefeated entering this week’s Civil War game against Oregon State and needing a win to clinch a Rose Bowl spot.

Explanation: Flash back to Oregon’s only blemish, a 49-42 home loss to Stanford. The Cardinal rallied from a 42-28 fourth-quarter deficit by blocking two Oregon punts and recovering an on-side kick.

Under Osborne’s direction, Oregon had boasted the Pacific 10’s top special teams units. But Osborne left Eugene this year to join first-year Arizona State Coach Dirk Koetter’s staff in Tempe.

Colorado: What if, in August, quarterback Craig Ochs had taken a knee against Fresno State and Coach Gary Barnett had summoned the field-goal team?

Answer: Colorado would be 10-1, looking to avenge its only loss this week against Texas in the Big 12 championship game and well-positioned to make a national title claim.

What happened? In one of this year’s most inexplicable decisions, Colorado attempted a pass from the Fresno State two-yard line when a field goal would have given the Buffaloes the lead.

Ochs rolled right on a goal-line option and his pass was intercepted in the end zone by Fresno State cornerback Devon Banks with 3:32 left.

Fresno State held on to win, 24-22.

Tennessee: What if the Volunteers had played a lick of defense down the stretch against Georgia?

Answer: Tennessee would be unbeaten headed into this week’s showdown against Florida. Tennessee thought it had Georgia whipped in Knoxville on Oct. 6 when Travis Stephens’ 62-yard touchdown with 44 seconds left gave Tennessee a 24-20 lead.

The Volunteer defense, however, folded like Minnie Pearl’s hat in the waning seconds, allowing Georgia to score the winning touchdown with five seconds left.

Crunch Time

The few schools remaining in national title contention are a needy bunch, and this is what they need to snag one of two Rose Bowl berths (in order of their BCS ranking):

1. Miami. Needs to beat Virginia Tech on Saturday in Blacksburg.

2. Florida. Needs to beat Tennessee in Gainesville this week and win the Southeastern Conference championship game Dec. 8 in Atlanta.

3. Texas. Needs to beat Colorado in Big 12 championship game and Virginia Tech to defeat Miami. Or, if Miami wins, needs the Tennessee-Florida winner to lose in SEC title game. Even though Tennessee is No. 6 in the BCS, many experts think the Volunteers would leapfrog Texas into the No. 2 spot by closing with two wins.

4. Nebraska: Probably needs everyone else in the BCS top six to lose.

5. Oregon. Needs to beat Oregon State and get a lot of help. If Miami wins this weekend, Oregon would need a Texas loss and the Florida-Tennessee winner to lose in the SEC title game. Even then, the second Rose Bowl spot could come down to a points battle with Nebraska, which leads Oregon in the BCS by 0.39.

6. Tennessee: Needs to beat Florida, win the SEC title game and hope the BCS boost is good enough to overtake either Texas or Oregon for the No. 2 spot from if both those schools are weekend winners.

7. Colorado: Needs to beat Texas in the Big 12 title game and hope for Oregon, Florida and Tennessee loses. In this scenario, you’d have to figure the pollsters would justly jump the Buffaloes ahead of Nebraska.

8. Illinois: Needs to hire a public relations firm. Ron Turner’s team won the Big Ten championship yet has no shot at the Rose Bowl because of a three-touchdown loss to Michigan.

9. Oklahoma: Needs to go back and replay the fourth quarter against Oklahoma State.

10. Stanford: Needs to gather all available minds at the Hoover Institute and figure out how a team this worthy ended up in the Seattle Bowl.

Hurry-Up Offense

Coaches are famous for playing up the strengths of their opponents, but you could hardly accuse Texas’ Brown of hyperbole after he watched Colorado’s 62-36 demolition of Nebraska. “I have never seen anyone line up against Nebraska and play like Colorado did,” Brown said. “It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen on film.” Well, at least the most amazing thing since Brian Bosworth starred in “Stone Cold.”

This does not compute dept.: What does Texas have to gain by beating Colorado this weekend? Would you believe nothing, zip, zilch, nada. In fact, Texas could lose ground in the BCS by winning. Check it out: If No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Florida win this weekend, as expected, Texas will not be able to make up any ground in the polls. Moreover, Texas will lose quality win points for defeating Colorado. As of this week, Texas has earned a 0.9 bonus based on Colorado’s No. 7 BCS ranking. But a Texas win will knock Colorado down, if not out, of the BCS standings. Schools earn bonus points based on wins against top-15 BCS schools.

The Steve Spurrier-vs.-Florida State spat entered its second week and shows no sign of abating. Last week, Spurrier went on a Dennis Miller-like rant when he accused the Florida State program of dirty play. Monday, at a news conference, Florida State Athletic Director Dave Hart fired back, saying of Spurrier: “It would probably be good if somebody just spanked him, put him to bed and hopes that he wakes up all grown up.” Spurrier’s retort: “As long as we’ve been here you have to expect some torment thrown at you from your enemies occasionally. It is part of the game.”

Florida feud II: Atlantic Coast Conference officials viewed the tape in which Florida State defensive tackle Darnell Dockett allegedly twisted Florida back Earnest Graham’s knee at the bottom of a player pile, but reported the tape proved inconclusive.

Florida feud III: This isn’t the first time Spurrier has attacked Florida State. The week of the 1996 national title game against Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, Spurrier accused Seminole players of late hits against his quarterback, Danny Wuerffel. Spurrier said his opponents played to the “echo of the whistle.”

Indiana is making a late Heisman Trophy push for quarterback Antwaan Randle El, reminding voters in mailers the trophy is supposed to be awarded annually to the “outstanding college football player” in the United States.

Reaction: Randle El is a phenom, the only NCAA player in Division I history to pass for 6,000 yards and rush for 3,000. He will get some Heisman votes, but has no shot of winning even though this is the weakest Heisman field we’ve seen in years. Incredibly, Randle El did not even make the list of semifinalists for this year’s Davey O’Brien Award, given out to the nation’s top quarterback.

Is there someone to blame for all of this? Yes, Indiana Coach Cam Cameron. It was Cameron who moved Randle El from quarterback to wide receiver to start the season. After two games, Randle El switched back to quarterback but by then had blipped off the national radar screen.

For what it’s worth, it appears Randle El may win the Chicago Tribune’s “Silver Football” award, given annually to the Big Ten’s top player. As any employment-loving Tribune Co. worker would know, the “Silver Football” predates the Heisman by 11 years and was first awarded to Red Grange.