College Confidential

Fuente has not talked with #LSU; #Frogs recovering

TCU co-offensive coordinator Justin Fuente said he has not talked with LSU about the Tigers' offensive coordinator opening, despite rumors that the 32-year old assistant was a top candidate.
Fuente, who interviewed recently for the same position at Clemson, has helped lead the Horned Frogs offense to all-time benchmarks in yards and scoring since becoming a co-coordinator with Jarrett Anderson before the 2009 season. Before that, Fuente had been the Frogs' running backs coach since 2007.

Also:
Running back Ed Wesley was on crutches during the Frogs' celebration Sunday at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. He's still nursing a mid-season injury that was aggravated during the Rose Bowl, in which Wesley only carried the ball four times. Wesley said he has about five more weeks of recovery, which means he should be healthy for spring practice.
Linebacker Tank Carder's right arm -- the one he used to swat down Wisconsin's two-point conversion pass attempt in the Rose Bowl -- was in a sling Sunday evening. Carder, who injured the shoulder last spring, had surgery last week. It's unknown whether Carder will be ready for contact by April.
-- Stefan Stevenson

  

Fuente remains at TCU, but for how long?

TCU co-offensive coordinator Justin Fuente is reportedly one of several top candidates for the offensive coordinator position at LSU.

Tiger offensive coordinator Gary Crowton announced Thursday that he took the offensive coordinator coaching position at Maryland.

Fuente, who has coached at TCU since 2007 and been the co-coordinator with Jarrett Anderson since the spring of 2009, has helped the Horned Frogs' offense set new standards in yards and points the last two seasons.

 Fuente, 34, interviewed for the same position at Clemson last week but that job went to Chad Morris, who helped lead an offensive turn around in one year at Tulsa after coaching at Texas high schools for 16 years.

Fuente played quarterback at Oklahoma for two years before transferring to Murray State. His first coaching experience came at Illinois State in 2001 as quarterbacks coach. He was named offensive coordinator in 2004 before becoming TCU's running backs coach in 2007.

-- Stefan Stevenson

 

A Great Day For College Football - #Aggies, #Hogs, #Tide, #Wolverines

This should be a great day to ignore house projects/yard work as well as the telephone.
If you live in North Texas you have one of five games to possibly attend.
If you're too lazy to leave your couch, and there is no shame in that, there are games aplenty on the television machine.

No. 1 Alabama at No. 19 South Carolina, 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS
How many times does Verne Lundquist say "Oh boy" to try to cover up a gaffe?
I keep thinking the Tide will lose, I just don't see it being today.

No. 11 Arkansas vs. Texas A&M, 2:30 p.m. CT, ABC
Mike Sherman needs this more than Bobby Petrino.
This will be a game whereas last season's version of this was not.

No. 12 LSU at No. 14 Florida, 6:30 p.m. CT, ESPN
This should be a good game, but won't. Florida pulls away from an LSU team that can't get out of its own way. Both teams are talented and it should be a fun game of big plays, and self-inflicted pain.

No. 23 Florida State at No. 13 Miami, 7 p.m. CT, ABC
This game is slowly regaining national relevance. Neither team is nearly as dominant as they were in the '90s, but this usually features a half dozen of future NFL players doing crazy junk on the field.

No. 17 Michigan State at No. 18 Michigan, 2:30 p.m. CT, ABC
MSU's coach recently had a heart attack and yet he's going to coach from the booth. Dude, it's a football game. Stay at home and play Halo. MU's Denard Robinson is the most exciting player in college football since VY was killing it in Austin. A game where Keith Jackson needs to come out of retirement.

Colorado at No. 24 Missouri, 6 p.m. CT (no TV)
Worth mentioning because this is the 20-year anniversary of the infamous "Fifth down game" that help give CU a national title.

- Mac Engel

Follow me on Twitter

@MacEngelProf

The Most Hated Man in LSU is 56-15 With the Tigers

LSU head coach Les Miles is 56-15 in his career in Tiger Land with one national title, and if Tigers fans could fire him today they would. He's won more games than any other coach in LSU history during a five-year span. This guy won the Fake National Title in 2007.
It's the way the Tigers win with what is perceived an NFL roster that bothers Tiger Nation.
"We're facing one of the most talented teams in the conference," Florida coach Urban Meyer said on the SEC conference call today of his next opponent. "We see them every year and every year they look the same to me."
That's a compliment, and it's a shot. The thought is with the talent the Tigers have they should never lose. Ever. So it must be because Les Miles is The Dumbest Coach Ever the Tigers don't win the Super Bowl, and an Olympic gold medal.
Last week's win against unranked Tennessee, which was a win that has been well documented and mocked, was taken as a loss. At the very least, it's been received as an undeserved gift.

http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2010/10/finney_miles_show_too_comic_fo.html

Having watched LSU a few times, they win in a sloppy fashion. They average 57 yards in penalties per game, nearly 20 more yards than their opponent.
The offense looks haphazardly thrown together, and manages to do just enough to win. But that's the problem: The Tigers keep winning.
They are 5-0, and 3-0 in the NFL's subdivision, the SEC. The No. 12 Tigers play at No. 14 Florida on Saturday.
"I think this team is a pretty special team. I think our players love LSU and represent the state and the city. There isn’t any question there," Miles said today on the SEC conference call. "I only hope there is no distraction involving the coach. I want the team to play the way they are capable, if they do that we’ll all like the results."
Godspeed to Miles should the Tigers actually lose, or even win.

- Mac Engel

Follow me on Twitter

@MacEngelProf

Nothing the Big 10 Did Over the Weekend Should Count

SUNDAY MORNING HANGOVER FROM COLLEGE FOOTBALL ... 

* TCU coach Gary Patterson said after his team’s win against SMU it was like “Alabama-Auburn”. Do you think Alabama coach Nick Saban will say, “It was like TCU-SMU” after the Tide play the Tigers in November?

(OK, it’s a cheap shot, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t take it. It’s sports. Have fun, people.)

* A huge win for UNT coach Todd Dodge against Florida Atlantic. The Mean Green, who have been beset by injuries unlike no other team in Division I, are 1-3 and 1-0 in the Sun Belt.

Dodge was down to his third-string QB, Riley Dodge, who won all of those games for his dad when the pair were at Southlake Carroll High School. Riley completed 10-of-15 passes for 146 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. He also ran 11 times for 67 yards.

TD lives to coach another day.

* Texas State is 3-1 for the first time since 2005 after it defeated Southern Utah, 42-28. The Bobcats, ranked No. 23 in the I-AA poll, ran for 224 yards.

* Now that Houston is without QB Case Keenum for the season with an injury, the Coogs may be a running team. RB Bryce Beal ran for 123 yards and four touchdowns in UH’s 42-23 win against Tulane. The Coogs are starting a true frosh QB, Terrance Broadway.

* BYU’s last season in the MWC isn’t terribly memorable, mostly the Cougars aren’t very good. BYU lost at home against future MWC member, Nevada, 27-13. True frosh QB Jake Heaps made his first start for the Cougars, and was 24-of-45 for 229 yards.

* Boise State better watch out - Nevada can play. The Wolfies are 4-0, and host the Broncos on Nov. 26.

* Lamar returned to reality. The first-year program was blown out at Stephen F. Austin, 71-3. SR QB Jeremy Moses threw for 353 yards and four TDs, and went over the 10,000-yard mark for his career.

* I have no idea what to make of CUSA. I know no one cares, mostly because the conference has no top 25 team now that UH QB Case Keenem is out. But for the sake of TCU’s strength of schedule, it needs SMU to win that conference. Even if the Ponies win though, the voting masses won’t care anyone beat the CUSA champs’ because no one is clearly better than the other.

* Alabama is the best team in the nation, but I don’t like its chances of running the table again in the SEC. Alabama’s next two games are vs. No. 9 Florida, and at No. 12 South Carolina. On Nov. 6, the Tide play at No. 15 LSU. And, of course, the Tide finish with Auburn. The Tide have to lose eventually, right?

* How much money is being spent on the ad campaign for the new Wall Street movie? I'm seeing that ad in my sleep.

* We don’t know exactly how good Oregon is because it plays in the Pacific Time zone. It’s more proof how badly you need to be in the Central or Eastern time zone, or be Los Angeles, to really get noticed. That said, the Ducks are a serious threat to reach the BCS title game.

* UTEP’s win against Memphis gives the Miners a 3-1 start, their best since 2005. It’s just the sixth time in the last 46 seasons the Miners are won three of their first four games. Lots of tradition in El Paso. But it could save Mike Price’s job.

The game was won after the Miners drove the ball 95 yards in the final minutes to set up Dakota Warren’s 18-yard FG.

* After handling Rice in rain-filled game, Baylor is halfway to six wins to qualify for the What Else Is There To Do In This Town Bowl. Can the Bears get there?

* The Big East is awful. Period. It’s only ranked team, however, No. 22 West Virginia, actually showed itself quite nicely in a 20-14 loss at No. 15 LSU.

* Auburn QB Cameron Newton may be better than Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett. Not as a pro, but as a collegian.

* Did any athletic department stuff their bank account on the backs of its football team more than San Jose State? The Spartans traveled to play at Alabama, at Wisconsin and at Utah; they lost those three games by the combined score of 131-20. If they didn’t clear $2 million off those three losses something is wrong.

* Suspend the idea that the best RB at Alabama is backup Trent Richardson. He’s good, but JR and defending Heisman winner Mark Ingram is better.

* Texas A&M’s best chance to beat Arkansas in two weeks is to get pressure on Hogs QB Ryan Mallett and hope he throws picks the way he did against Alabama.

But the way the Tide ran on the Hogs should give Aggies hope that Christine Michael and Jerrod Johnson can score points.

* Texas’ big home loss to UCLA has to have the people in Lubbock worried. This was the same Texas defense that dominated the Red Raiders.

* Oklahoma had to be looking forward to next week’s game against Texas. The Sooners probably should have lost at Cincinnati on Saturday night, but they were the better team.

* I’ll keep saying this - Nebraska is going to win the Big 12 title game in its last season in the conference. And no one will be grinning any bigger than Tom Osborne.

* The Big 12 North is almost as bad as the Big East. In fact, the whole Big 12 is a bit down this year.

* What the Big 10 did this weekend was shameful. The conference finished a collective 8-2, all at home, against a schedule that was so weak and so lame that fans should have been admitted for free.

The opponents were: Northern Illinois, Central Michigan, Bowling Green, Northern Colorado, Ball State, Austin Peay, Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Akron, Temple.

The eight teams that won did so by the combined score of 385-109. Two teams scored 70 points.

Lost in these stupid numbers is that two of schools from this “power” conference actually managed to lose. How?

Purdue should be kicked out of the conference after losing 31-20 to Toledo in West Lafayette. And Minnesota coach Tim Brewster all but signed his “fired” papers after the Gophers lost 34-23 to Northern Illinois.

* TCU needs more style points. Every margin needs to be at least 20 points.

 

- Mac Engel

Bama-LSU game turns deadly for fans

An Alabama fan and LSU fan got into an argument. A pistol and shotgun were involved. -Trae Thompson

LSU player revises, amends remarks

Here is how LSU defensive lineman Ricky Jean-Francois originally phrased his sentiments on playing Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in a story published Monday in the Orlando Sentinel:

“If we get a good shot on (Tebow), we’re going to try our best to take him out of the game,” Jean-Francois said. “With his size and his heart, it’s hard to get a clean shot.”

When asked how Tebow might deal with the pain of the perfect LSU hit, Jean-Francois said, “If he does get hurt, there’s a trained medical staff at Florida, so you can go to the training room on Sunday.”

Here is a statement by Jean-Francois through LSU on Tuesday evening:

"We never go into any football game trying to hurt a player from the other team. My comments in regard to Florida quarterback Tim Tebow were misinterpreted and were intended to reflect the style of football that we play at LSU. We have great respect for Tim as a player and a competitor. By taking him out of the game, I meant as a defense we are going to try to make him ineffective. I'm sorry that my initial comments were interpreted another way."

LSU-UNT will be at Tiger Stadium

North Texas will play LSU this Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Tiger Stadium, according to LSU's website. There had been talks about the game being moved to Shreveport, Texas Stadium, or the Georgia Dome in Atlanta due to the potential threat of Hurricane Ike.

-Trae Thompson

Get well

I was scanning through the papers yesterday, and saw that LSU athletic director Skip Bertman was taken to the hospital. Reports say he had early signs of a heart attack.
Bertman was the legendary baseball coach for the Tigers, guiding them to five national championships (1992, 93, 96, 97, 00).
I had the pleasure to cover his teams while I attended school there in the late 1990s, and got to know Skip quite well. He remains one of my all-time favorites, not just because of his baseball knowledge but also because of his sense of humor and the stories he told. Rarely did a day go by when he didn't playfully tease me. When I was back down there in April for a crawfish boil, I dropped by Alex Box Stadium, and was hoping to run into him. Sure enough, he turns the corner and has this huge grin when he sees me.
"You remember me?" I shout.
He did. We catch up, and he talked to me for my column. Once again, he was glad to help.

-Trae Thompson   

Tigers use up all nine lives

A season of living on the edge finally led to a big fall for LSU. Maybe it was the distraction of coach Les Miles being a candidate for the Michigan job. Maybe it was just inevitable.

Either way, Arkansas 50, No. 1 LSU 48 in three overtimes Friday in Baton Rouge was just another unranked team knocking off a national championship contender.

West Virginia and Ohio State benefited from the Razorbacks’ upset victory.

It’s now a three-way race for the two spots in the national championship game.

1. The winner of Saturday’s Missouri-Kansas game advances to the Big 12 title game on Dec. 1. If the Jayhawks win the Big 12 title and are 13-0, they’re in the national title game. If the Tigers win to go 12-1, their chances of playing in New Orleans are fairly solid.

2. West Virginia. The Mountaineers, No. 3 this week, will move up in the BCS standings ... assuming they beat Connecticut on Saturday.

3. Ohio State. The Buckeyes are finished at 11-1. They can sit and watch the carnage and hope they’re one of the last two teams standing.

-- Wendell Barnhouse