Irish? Here Are Four New Horsemen

You wouldn’t believe the stuff that piles up on a college football writer’s desk during the course of a year in which Notre Dame starts 8-0.

I try my level best to keep up and have more Post-It reminder notes than a soccer mom but things fall through the cracks -- specifically four of this year’s more compelling stories: Iowa, Georgia, North Carolina State and Bowling Green.

Let the record state these schools are a combined 32-1 with nary a peep out of your command central correspondent.

Truth is, when Notre Dame is hot the Irish suck media attention like a fire eats oxygen, and let’s just say presently the Irish have four burners lit.

If this keeps up, you can reach me through December at a post office box in South Bend.

Miami, of course, has to be covered because the Hurricanes are defending national champions and haven’t lost a game in 25 months, so I actually saw Miami beat Florida in Gainesville.

Oklahoma demanded attention during the annual Red River Show Up (and humiliate) Texas week and Ohio State caught my eye in Columbus on a trip to scout Washington State.

This hasn’t left much time for the Rest of the Nation.

These poor orphans of Notre Dame’s success deserve more ink, but unfortunately my “Things to Do� list was only recently discovered beneath a pile of potatoes and cabbage.

Memo to self: find out more about:

Iowa: Does team still play in Big Ten; is Hayden Fry still coach? May be time to get tailback Ronnie Harmon some pub.

North Carolina State: Find out if games against East Tennessee State and Massachusetts will hurt Wolfpack’s RPI ranking and seeding in NCAA tournament (Updated memo: Scratch that -- those teams are on the school’s football schedule).

Georgia: Follow-up on Uga VI’s off-season trip to Washington. Heard 4-year-old canine mascot flew to nation’s capitol in private jet and got the red carpet treatment -- most dogs only get their noses rubbed in it -- in halls of Congress.

Bowling Green: There’s a Bowling Green in Ohio and Kentucky. Find out which one has the football team ranked ahead of Tennessee.

Seriously, with Notre Dame’s next game only days away, this might be the only chance to sneak in a few thumbnail sketches on non-Irish teams between now and St. Patrick’s Day.

* Iowa (8-1): The No. 9 Hawkeyes are coached by Kirk Ferentz (turns out Fry retired years ago) and are possibly Rose Bowl bound. The Hawkeyes’ only loss was to rival Iowa State but the team has won six consecutive games since, including a Big Ten, 34-9 eye-opener at Michigan last week. Consider it payback for 1902, the year Michigan nipped Iowa, 107-0. Quarterback Brad Banks ranks third nationally in pass efficiency, which comes as news to Big Ten schools who recruited Banks to play defensive back.

Fast fact: Did you know this is the first time Iowa has ever defeated Michigan and Penn State in the same season?

Some bad news: Iowa and Ohio State are undefeated in conference but don’t meet this year because of a Big Ten schedule rotation system that also didn’t have Ohio State and Northwestern paired in 1996, the year those schools tied for the conference title.

National title hopes? Iowa picked the wrong year to have one defeat, but would gladly settle for fresh-cut roses.

* North Carolina State (9-0): No more jokes about this school’s schedule, only to respectfully note the Wolfpack has defeated two Division I-AA teams while the other seven victories were logged against major college teams with an aggregate record of 23-37. Listen, North Carolina State is taking enough grief in the BCS standings with its 85th strength-of-schedule mark.

Who wouldn’t want to be 9-0? Only Miami (29) and Bowling Green (10) have won more consecutive games and North Carolina State quarterback Philip Rivers leads the nation in passing.

The most fascinating statistic, however, belongs to freshman running back T.A. McLendon, who has 492 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in the three games -- Texas Tech, North Carolina, Clemson -- in which he has vomited on the sidelines. It’s a nervous reflex that dates back years. Word is, fans at McLendon’s high school games wouldn’t rest until the star put his head in a bucket.

National title hopes? North Carolina State is 14.04 points out of the No. 2 bowl championship series spot. In outer space terminology, that’s the equivalent of 14.04 light years.

* Georgia (8-0): That Uga-goes-to-Washington-last-summer story is true. While the homeless lined up for lunch at area shelters, Georgia’s famous bulldog mascot ate roast beef out of the hands of U.S. senators. When Uga barked during a speech, some said it was the most intelligent thing emanating from the caucus room in years.

Uga’s lobbying efforts have paid off handsomely on the field, as No. 5 Georgia is poised to win its first Southeastern Conference title in 20 years. The only annual hang-up is this week’s game against Florida, which has won 11 of the last 12. That was then, this is now, and no school was happier to see Steve Spurrier scratch his NFL itch than Georgia.

National title hopes? Very real. The Bulldogs are No. 4 in the BCS and only a couple chess moves removed from having a roast-beef-eating dawg in this hunt.

* Bowling Green: (7-0): Report from research department: It’s the one in Ohio, located on a map about halfway between football powers Michigan and Ohio State. The coach is Urban Meyer, who may become Urban Legend if he keeps squeezing wins out of this rock. The Falcons are doomed in the Big Picture because they play in the non-BCS Mid-American Conference, yet have done all they can do with the nonconference schedule, having defeated the last five BCS opponents they have faced.

Meyer has led Bowling Green to a best-ever No. 18 ranking in this week’s coaches’ poll, ahead of Florida State, Penn State, Florida and Tennessee.

Unlike coaches at those schools, though, Meyer has to sell his school like soap. The team hasn’t had more than 22,000 fans for any home game this year, forcing Meyer to pen a letter asking students to buy tickets.

Hey, if these kids don’t fork over some pizza money, the next letter Meyer signs may be at the bottom of a Big Ten contract.

Hurry-Up Offense

Never has the BCS faced a more critical stretch to its survival than the next five weeks. And, trust me, there are powers within that privately hope full-blown chaos will trigger an accelerated course toward a playoff. You want worst (or is it best?) case scenarios? Imagine that five of the six unbeaten schools in the top 10 finish undefeated and Notre Dame edging out Miami for the No. 2 spot in the BCS. That would leave a BCS national title game between Oklahoma and Notre Dame, with Miami, No. 1 in both polls, possibly playing undefeated North Carolina State for the Associated Press title in the Orange Bowl. Meanwhile, Georgia could cap a perfect season by winning the Sugar Bowl while Ohio State could end up 14-0 if it wins the Rose Bowl.

“It’s funny,� Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said of the national title race, “It shakes out every year, but it’s mighty hairy. They’ll be somebody upset, you know that.�

Tip-toeing around giants: Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany acknowledged he has not disciplined Penn State Coach Joe Paterno this year for run-ins with officials because, well, he’s Joe Paterno. “If anyone has earned the benefit of the doubt, I would think Paterno has earned it over the years,� Delany told USA Today and a few other reporters this week at the Big Ten basketball media day in Chicago. Last weekend, during Penn State’s 13-7 defeat, Paterno touched an official while seeking clarification of a disputed call, the second time this season the legendary Nittany Lions’ coach has made contact with a referee.

The problem with Delany’s deference to Paterno is it has given other Big Ten coaches almost free rein to lash out -- Northwestern’s Randy Walker, to name one -- without fear of reprisal. Delany has been forced to give all his coaches more latitude and has only asked them to use “good judgment.�

Delany is in a tough spot, and it only figures to get tougher.

Call a plumber: Miami’s defense has given up 659 rushing yards in its last two victories, against Florida State and West Virginia, deplorable for a defensive front once considered to be the nation’s best. In five previous games, no opponent had gained more than 163 rushing yards.

“There’s no sky falling here as far as the run defense,� Miami Coach Larry Coker said. “We’ll do what we need to do to fix it.� With Notre Dame trailing Miami by only .33 in the BCS, Miami needs to fix it fast.

Colorado has done it again, recovering from a 1-2 start to stand 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big 12 Conference’s North Division. Last year, the Buffaloes lost their opener and nearly made it to the national title game. Gary Barnett’s teams at Colorado have gone 7-9 in August-September games and 12-4 in October. The Buffaloes’ comeback makes this week’s trip to BCS No. 1 Oklahoma all the more interesting in that Colorado is an astounding 8-0-1 against Oklahoma since 1988 and hasn’t lost at Norman since 1987.

Colorado tailback Chris Brown, the nation’s leading rusher, needs to average 174.3 yards in his last four games to break the 2,000 mark.

Florida State, a final tribute? The Seminoles have lost seven games the last two seasons after losing only 17 in the previous 14. From 1987 through 2000, Florida State never finished lower than fifth in the final AP poll. Bowden: “I think one of these days we’ll look back and say, ‘I don’t know how we did it.’ �