Although Arkansas wore its home uniforms and played in Little Rock, it officially was the visiting team against Louisiana-Monroe last weekend. Why? Louisiana-Monroe asked to be considered the home team so it could count the Little Rock crowd of 55,652 for its home-attendance figures submitted to the NCAA.
A new NCAA rule requires football teams to play at least five home games per year with a minimum 15,000 attendance or risk losing Division I-A status. To help Louisiana-Monroe, Arkansas agreed to a proposal to which the NCAA can’t object because War Memorial Stadium qualifies as a neutral site for the Razorbacks because it is off campus.
Arkansas didn’t come away empty-handed. In exchange for that consideration, Monroe agreed to play the Razorbacks in Little Rock five times over a 10-year period–2004, ’06, ’08, ’10 and ’12–and Arkansas pays Louisiana-Monroe a flat rate of $500,000 for each game.
“It’s a win-win for both schools,” Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles said.
Shula pays the price
Alabama is off to the most horrific 3-0 start in school history because second-year coach Mike Shula let star quarterback Brodie Croyle start the third quarter against Division I-AA Western Carolina with the Crimson Tide ahead 31-0.
On the drive, Croyle tore knee ligaments and is out for the season.
Shula knew the injury was bad because “it happened right in front of me.”
Marc Guillon will make his first career start in a tough Southeastern Conference road game Saturday at Arkansas.
Who, me?
In a rule change this year, officials are identifying players who commit penalties by number, just like in the pros. So how is the new rule going over with players and coaches? Opinion is mixed.
“I don’t like it at all,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “It’s for the wrong reason. It just falls into the category of, let’s point the finger at somebody so we can cast the blame.”
UCLA coach Karl Dorrell has a different take: “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. If anything, it makes the players think that this is how they do it in the pros.”
Verle Sorgen, the Pacific 10’s coordinator of football officiating, says the new rule makes referees more accountable for their decisions.
“I hope the official on the field, knowing that he has to get a number, will take that extra split-second to watch the act, to make sure it’s a penalty, not just glancing at it and going on to other officiating duties.”
Those nasty Cats
Kansas’ loss to Northwestern last week likely will be the difference in the Jayhawks going to back-to-back bowls for the first time in school history. The Jayhawks need to split their eight conference games–an unlikely occurrence–to win six games and become bowl eligible.
Equal time
Tennessee won’t tinker much with its rotation of freshman QBs Brent Schaeffer and Erik Ainge. Although Ainge might start this week against Louisiana Tech, both quarterbacks will get nearly equal time. The real test, offensive coordinator Randy Sanders insists, is how the quarterbacks respond on the road. The Vols’ first road game is Oct. 9 at SEC East rival Georgia, a team Tennessee hasn’t beaten since 1999.
Unintended consequences
California and Southern Mississippi have rescheduled their game that was postponed because of Hurricane Ivan for Dec. 4. The only way the game would be meaningful for the Bears would be if they have a chance to win the national title.
Say Cal wins the Pac-10 but isn’t part of the Orange Bowl race. Why would coach Jeff Tedford risk playing key starters in a meaningless game with the Rose Bowl looming? The loser in all of this is Southern Miss, which was expecting a huge gate last week from one of the nation’s hottest teams.
Floating high
Navy quietly is putting together another impressive season. The Midshipmen are 3-0 after a convincing 29-0 win over Tulsa, and Notre Dame now appears to be the toughest test left on the schedule.
As odd as it sounds, Navy could play in a BCS bowl as an independent if it finishes the season unbeaten. The game, likely the Fiesta Bowl, would be a sellout and a lock for high television ratings.
Still smarting
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is unimpressed with the Sooners’ 3-0 start, clearly recognizing last year’s late-season collapse.
“Remember last year when we were the greatest team in college football until the last two?” he said. “Pretty funny, wasn’t it?”
Extra points
Pittsburgh meets Furman on Saturday. No Big East team has ever played the Paladins, one of the top Division I-AA teams. . . . With its game against Baylor this week, North Texas will be playing its third Big 12 team already this season, having lost to Texas and Colorado. . . . The Big 12 has five of the top 15 rushing teams in the nation. Texas is first, Oklahoma State fourth, Nebraska 12th, Kansas State 14th and Oklahoma 15th. … There are just two matchups between undefeated teams this weekend–top-ranked USC at Stanford and Rice at No. 5 Texas. . . . Florida meets Kentucky on Saturday for the first of four straight games at the Swamp. . . . Bill Flowers became Mississippi’s leading receiver with a big day against Vanderbilt last week, but it came with a price. The senior lacerated a kidney and won’t play Saturday at Wyoming.
