You know it’s not your typical college football season when Notre Dame is jealous of Duke’s success. And when Division I-AA Appalachian State gets votes in the AP’s Top 25 poll. And when Michigan coach Lloyd Carr invites actor Russell Crowe to deliver a pregame pep talk.
What did Crowe tell the Wolverines before they trounced Notre Dame?
“I think that’s secret information, mate,” he replied.
No secrets here. With Big Ten conference action set to begin Saturday, let’s look at the five biggest surprises of the young season.
1. Notre Dame’s offensive line: The group includes a first-team preseason All-American, center John Sullivan, and the nation’s most highly recruited player in 2005, left tackle Sam Young. And yet you would think that Notre Dame found its linemen at the buffet line of the local Big Boy.
Thanks to its 23 sacks allowed, the Irish have a rushing offense that has gone backward, producing a national-worst minus-14 yards.
ESPN analyst Mark May, who deserves credit for predicting a 1-7 or 2-6 start for the Irish, put it well: “This is Football 101. You line up right, you know who to block, you know how to block. If you don’t know who to block, the coaches aren’t teaching you who to block. If you don’t know how to block, the coaches aren’t teaching you how to block. Basic football.”
2. Three of the wrong kind: It’s not so much that Iowa, Northwestern and Minnesota lost last weekend, it’s who beat them.
Before topping its in-state rival, Iowa State had fallen to Kent State and Division I-AA Northern Iowa. Iowa managed just 233 total yards in losing 15-13 to the Cyclones.
Northwestern lost — at home — to a Duke team that had not beaten a I-A opponent since 2004. And I’m not sure if this is good or bad news, but Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald insisted his players had taken Duke seriously during prep week.
The Gophers’ defense could not be any worse. The pass “D” is allowing 431.0 yards per game — compare that with 120.3 for Ohio State — and its three opponents have been Bowling Green, Miami of Ohio and Saturday’s winner, Florida International.
Is this the worst year for the Big Ten since 2001, when only Illinois (12) and Michigan (20) finished among the AP’s Top 25? Sports Illustrated thinks so, rating it last among the six BCS conferences.
What’s not debatable is that the upset losses — let’s not forget Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32 — hurt the league’s national perception and computer rankings.
3. Geaux, Tigers: The team from Baton Rouge has made a bold statement that needs no interpretation. LSU has been the best of the best, crushing Mississippi State, Virginia Tech and Middle Tennessee by a combined 137-7.
LSU made everyone’s preseason Top 5, so the Tigers’ start is hardly surprising. But no one thought the offense would jell this quickly after losing three first-round picks: quarterback JaMarcus Russell and receivers Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis.
More impressive, LSU dropped 44 points on Middle Tennessee without three injured starters: quarterback Matt Flynn, receiver Early Doucet and guard Will Arnold. If Flynn can’t go Saturday against South Carolina, redshirt sophomore Ryan Perrilloux will start again.
4. Slippage: If it makes Michigan feel any better — and it shouldn’t — two other perennial powers have stumbled out of the gate. Auburn is 1-2 after back-to-back home losses to South Florida and Mississippi State. Texas is 3-0 with ugly victories over Arkansas State (21-13) and Central Florida (35-32).
“They’re battling complacency,” ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said of the Longhorns during a telephone interview. “They don’t seem to be playing with a lot of desire; they’re just treading water. They should say to themselves: Forget the opponent. Let’s play against each other and live up to Texas’ standard.”
Auburn has played even less inspiring ball, throwing seven interceptions and losing five fumbles.
5. “D” is for delinquent: Michigan had the nation’s best rushing defense for much of last season. Now it ranks dead last in the Big Ten, allowing 161.7 yards per game. And that’s after the Wolverines held Notre Dame to minus-6 on the ground.
Spread-option teams Appalachian State and Oregon made Michigan look slow. Luckily for Michigan, the Wolverines do not face Indiana and its mobile quarterback, Kellen Lewis, this season. Yes, I just wrote that.
Wisconsin has no room to brag either. Badgers opponents have penetrated their 20-yard line 11 teams this season, scoring eight touchdowns and two field goals. The three opponents: Washington State, UNLV and the Citadel. A week after nearly beating Wisconsin, UNLV lost to Hawaii — at home — 49-14.
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tgreenstein@tribune.com
