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Preseason (Aug. 24)
Week 1 (Aug. 31)
Week 2 (Sept. 7)
Week 3 (Sept. 14)
Week 4 (Sept. 21)
Week 5 (Sept. 28)

Week 6 (Oct. 5)
Week 7 (Oct. 12)
Week 8 (Oct. 19)
Week 9 (Oct. 26)

Week 10 (Nov. 2)
Week 11 (Nov. 9)
Week 12 (Nov. 16)
Week 13 (Nov. 23)
Week 14 (Nov. 30)

September 9, 2002

A WIN IS A WIN
After the past three weeks of college football, it slowly has dawned on most of us that playing a 12 game schedule with so much parity in Division I-A leads the more competent fans and coaches towards the philosophy that “a win is a win”. Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis coined the phrase “Just win baby!” That expression could not ring any louder this fall. In the end, when the votes get counted, wins and loses will be all that matters. In the past, the importance of scores and opponents, especially this early, has meant little. Bottom Line: The ole ‘Margin of Victory’ category needs to be considered separately from the human vote(s), just like the computers are now.


I’M MORE THAN A BIRD, I’M MORE THAN A PLANE
The Miami Hurricanes are more than the defending National Champion with NFL talent. They are also a team full of competent coaching. Run, throw, block, tackle…pick your poison and Miami will demonstrate how to outplay seemingly any opponent. After watching ex-Hurricane Coach Butch Davis lose another home opener with the Cleveland Browns (in what may go down as the most bizarre helmet tossing event in NFL history, no offense to Kyle Turley), one cannot help but wonder if it wasn’t all for the best in Coral Gables. Miami will still be tested this fall, but anyone who still fails to see the true number one seed in the polls is either blind or heavily biased.


THE LUCK OF THE IRISH
No, Tyrone Willingham did not make a deal with the devil. The Purdue faithful may think so, however, as the Irish managed to score 24 points in a victory over the Boilermakers without scoring another offensive TD for the second straight weekend. Two fumbles and an INT returned for a TD could not have been better gift-wrapped. Has anyone ever said a win is a win?


STEVE SPURRIER vs. RON ZOOK
So one of the biggest preseason questions, concerning the post-Steve Spurrier era in Gainesville, was answered this past Saturday. As it turns out, Rex Grossman doesn’t have the receivers, doesn’t have Spurrier’s timing-pattern offense, and the Gators continue to have a porous defense. Florida receivers caught only 10 passes (yes that is correct) and Rex Grossman was 19 for 45. If orange and blue fans have not quite grasped the reality that Spurrier has moved on, they have now. The Gators did show the ability to move the ball early in the game, only to come up empty time and time again. Florida actually finished with more first downs than Miami. Before jumping to premature conclusions, a comparison of this game to the last Miami/Florida showdown (in the Sugar Bowl on January 2, 2001) shows practically the same storyline with the same Rex Grossman at the helm (see stats below). Possibly Coach Spurrier saw a trend that most did not. One cannot help but wonder what he was thinking while watching this game from his new confines in the nation’s capital.

FLORIDA vs. MIAMI: SPURRIER vs. ZOOK

2001 SUGAR BOWL – MIAMI 37      FLORIDA 20
  MIAMI FLORIDA
First Downs 28 25
Rushed-yards 43-184 20-140
Passing yards 270 312
Sacked-yards lost 1-8 1-9
Return yards 148 9
Passes 22-40-2 24-51-3
Punts 2-44.0 5-46.8
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 11-109 9-79
Time of possession 35:19 24:41
2002 – MIAMI 41      FLORIDA 16
  MIAMI FLORIDA
First Downs 25 27
Rushed-yards 46-306 36-163
Passing yards 202 191
Sacked-yards lost 1-5 1-4
Return yards 145 58
Passes 16-33-3 19-45-2
Punts 7-36.1 9-39.6
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 14-134 6-48
Time of possession 31:33 28:27


EL PASO MISMATCH
This past Saturday’s 77-point barrage laid on the UTEP Miners by the Kentucky offense revealed a mismatch from the start. Wildcat quarterback Jared Lorenzen (6-4, 275 pounds on a light day) is ten plus pounds heavier than any one of the Miners DLmen. Imagine the nightmare these UTEP DEs must have gone through when they saw Lorenzen roll down the line of scrimmage at them.


THE PACK IS BACK?
The NC State program, under the direction of junior QB Philip Rivers, is off to a big 3-0 start and has driven in some heavy top 25 weight. Talk about Rivers being amongst the leading Heisman candidates this early in the season has been heard mumbled softly across the nation. While the accolades may start to flow, we are not going to hide the fact that NC State may possess one of the worst schedules in ACC history. Two Division I-AA opponents in East Tennessee State and UMass dot the list, which are sandwiched in between match-ups with such huge names as Navy, New Mexico, and Duke. It is our conclusion that many of the Raleigh season ticket holders have had the wool pulled over their eyes. Carter-Finley Stadium has appropriately been renamed Cupcake Coliseum.


CONTRAST OF THE WEEK
TOBACCO ROAD POWERHOUSES – Duke, East Carolina, UNC, Wake Forest


 

 

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Editor: Dave Hershorin