The Orlando Sentinel’s Mike Bianchi sings the praises of Lloyd Carr and wonders “What does it say about college football when rootless vagabonds and chronic liars such as Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino are in demand, and an honorable coach such as Lloyd Carr feels the need to step down?”

Why is Florida State no longer among the elite programs in college football? Andrew Carter of the Orlando Sentinel takes a look at the Seminoles’ road since they beat Virginia Tech on Jan. 4, 2000, to win the national title.

ESPN.com’s Chris Low talks to Mississippi State’s Sylvester Croom about the significance of the Bulldogs’ success this season.

The Wizard of Odds unearthed the video of the Texas A&M yell leader who declared that Joe Paterno was on his death bed and someone “needs to find him a casket.” Probably not his proudest moment:

Give Paterno, who is often portrayed as a humorless grump, credit for a terrific line in response to the controversy created by the incident: “Everybody’s got to take things with a grain of salt. There’s some young guy up there and he’s trying to be funny. Maybe he’s accurate. I don’t know.”

There seems to be plenty of action surrounding the U.C.L.A. coaching search. On Thursday, Norm Chow removed himself from consideration and Rick Neuheisel spoke about the violations that took place when he was the coach of Colorado. Meanwhile, the Bruins spoke with Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti, who, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News by Brian Dohn, is now the leading candidate for the job. Bellotti is expected to make a decision within 72 hours.

A disturbing story out of North Carolina, where Jessica Rocha of the Raleigh News & Observer reports that two women have been charged with sexually assaulting three Tar Heels football players.

It doesn’t look like it will happen, but Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg Times writes that Florida State show withdraw from the Music City Bowl in the wake of a cheating scandal.

Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times gives his best-to-worst list of bowl matchups, and he does not seem to be enthralled by many of them.

Dave Hickman of the Charleston Gazette writes that the whole imbroglio about Rich Rodriguez leaving West Virginia for Michigan has gotten so heated that it’s difficult to pick a side.

Bobby Bowden gave his support to naming the Florida State offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher his successor-in-waiting, which will help smooth the Seminoles’ eventual transition to the post-Bowden era, writes Steve Ellis of the Tallahassee Democrat. David Whitley of the Orlando Sentinel writes that the move should help Florida State begin to attract high-profile recruits again.

One person who does not think much of the plan is Paul Finebaum of the Mobile Press-Register. He opens up with both barrels, writing, among other things, that “Bowden took yet another bizarre turn in a Hall of Fame career gone bad, and opted for a self-serving farewell tour with no clear finish line.”

Sometimes it’s the little things that bother you. Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing is bummed that he won’t be able to see ZZ Top’s halftime performance at the Orange Bowl, where the Jayhawks face Virginia Tech. As Reesing told Nathan Reed of the Lawrence Journal-World, “I’ve been known to listen to some Top.”

The Les Miles-to-Michigan rumors are quickly taking on “Elvis is alive” proportions. Despite all evidence to the contrary, they stubbornly continue. According to Mark Snyder of the Gannett News Service, Miles spoke with Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin and Mary Sue Coleman, the university president, on Friday morning. But Skip Bertman, L.S.U.’s athletic director, has a simple message for Michigan fans: “You can’t get Les Miles — the guy signed his contract. It’s over.”

Elsewhere, Craig Smith of the Seattle Times reports that Washington State will name Eastern Washington Coach Paul Wulff its new coach today. Jim Moore of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer writes that most people around the Washington State program seem to be very pleased with the hire. He adds that Wulff “is a man who knows hardship, from his mom disappearing when he was 12, perhaps killed by his dad; to losing his first wife to brain cancer.”

No one has ever accused football coaches of having the best perspective. Nick Saban, when talking about Alabama’s back-to-back losses to Mississippi State and Louisiana-Monroe had this to say, according to Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News:

“Changes in history usually occur after some kind of catastrophic event,” Saban said. “It may be 9/11, which sort of changed the spirit of America relative to a catastrophic event. Pearl Harbor got us ready for World War II or whatever, and that was a catastrophic event.”

Saban also questioned the commitment of some of his players, Scarbinsky’s colleague Ian R. Rapoport reports.

Jack Corcoran of the Tallahassee Democrat reports that Florida State linebacker Geno Hayes certainly gave Florida some bulletin board material when he said, “Tim Tebow is going down this week.”

Donnie Webb of the Syracuse Post-Standard writes that Connecticut’s Larry Taylor, who used the fake fair catch signal to great effect in a win over Louisville earlier this season, attempted the same thing against the Orange.

Mark Mangino tops Bruce Feldman’s list at ESPN.com of the 10 best coaching jobs of the season.

When Miami plays hosts to Virginia on Saturday it will be the Hurricanes’ last game in the Orange Bowl before moving to Dolphin Stadium next season. The cost to renovate the stadium was too high and the appeal of more modern facilities was too great. As a result, the Hurricanes’ 70th season in the Orange Bowl will be their last.

The University of Miami has never had the resources that many other big-time college football programs have, but what they lacked in facilities they made up for in swagger, attitude and national titles. The same can be said of the Orange Bowl, which was a dilapidated structure of steel and concrete without seat backs or even enough parking or bathrooms, but it was also the site of the greatest home-field advantage in the history of college football. For nine years not one visiting team came out of Miami with a victory.

From 1985 to 1994 the Miami Hurricanes put together an N.C.A.A.-record 58-game home winning streak, won three national titles (1987, 1989 and 1991) and had two Heisman Trophy winners in Vinny Testaverde (1986) and Gino Torretta (1992). In fact, two of those national titles were actually won at the Orange Bowl, where the Hurricanes came out of nowhere to build one of the great dynasties of college football. Miami also won a national title at the Orange Bowl in 1984, which was the game that first put the program on the map.

Miami football coach Jimmy Johnson led the Hurricanes to a 20-14 victory over Oklahoma in 1988 Orange Bowl. (Raul Demolina/Associated Press)

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Boston College’s loss to Florida State brought the Eagles back to reality, according to Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe. Now they must focus on winning the A.C.C. championship.

After Indiana became bowl eligible with its victory over Ball State, Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star reports that the thoughts of the Hoosiers players and coaches turned to their late coach, Terry Hoeppner.

The Denver Post’s Woody Paige has bestowed a new nickname on Nebraska: The Little Red Writhing Huskers. Bob Lutz of the Wichita Eagle writes that “the only thing unbelievable about the 2007 version of Nebraska is how it continues to set new standards for futility.”

The Baltimore Sun’s David Steele writes that the only thing Navy lost on Saturday was the voices of some of its fans.
This video clip of a group of Navy fans watching Ram Vela’s spectacular sack of Evan Sharpley in the final minute of regulation gives you some indication of why their vocal cords got such a workout. You can thank Every Day Should Be Saturday for the clip:

The full fallout from Dennis Franchione’s VIP Connection newsletter controversy may not be felt until the end of the season. Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News writes that Athletic Director Bill Byrne may use the controversy as leverage to get rid of Franchione, if the Aggies don’t perform well on the field. Likewise, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News writes that Byrne’s tepid response to a question about Franchione’s job status spells trouble for the coach down the line.

Who would have ever thought that Florida State would have a two-game losing streak to Wake Forest? But, after last night’s 24-21 loss in Winston-Salem, N.C., that’s exactly what the Seminoles have got. Scott Carter of the Tampa Tribune writes that the defeat is another step back for a once-dominant program that is now struggling.

It appears that the jaw-dropping punt return that Akron used to complete a jaw-dropping comeback against Western Michigan on Saturday should not have counted. Graham Couch of the Kalamazoo Gazette reports that Western Michigan Coach Bill Cubit received an apology from the Mid-American Conference’s coordinator of officials, saying that the referees at the game missed a block in the back penalty that should have negated the return. Here’s a video of the block:

Spencer Hall, the man behind the curtain of Every Day Should Be Saturday, put in a cameo appearance at SportingNews.com where he breaks down this weekend’s games in terms of what beers they most resemble. Our favorite? No. 4 Boston College against Notre Dame: St. Peter’s India Pale Ale. “Tons and tons of hops equals bitter and expensive, like both schools in this matchup.”

Though it is more about Olympic sports than college football, I thought Sally Jenkins’s column in today’s Washington Post deserved a spot in the links. Jenkins writes that many people are missing an obvious alternative to the battle against performance-enhancing drugs in sports: legalization. It’s an opinion that’s likely to draw strong reaction from both sides. If you have one, feel free to comment.

South Florida’s victory over West Virginia was a major step forward for the program. Joey Johnston of the Tampa Tribune writes that the Bulls’ defense has them in a position to begin thinking about a possible conference championship.

Today’s game with Alabama marks the first time Florida State’s Bobby Bowden will face the Tide as a head coach. Jeff Shain of The Miami Herald reports on how Bowden feels about finally being able to play Alabama. The Tampa Tribune’s Martin Fennelly wonders if Alabama ever thinks about what life would be like if, years ago, it had hired Bowden.

Speaking of the Seminoles, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post writes that it’s been a down year for the Atlantic Coast Conference, which has no team ranked in the top 10. (All of the other B.C.S. conferences have at least two teams in the top 10.)

Pete Bosak of the Centre Daily Times reports on the former Penn State player LaVon Chisley, who was kicked off the team in 2005. Yesterday, Chisley was convicted of first- and third-degree murder in the stabbing death of a friend and was sentenced to life in prison.

Wendell Barnhouse of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram gives his take on the Dennis Franchione newsletter story, saying Franchione’s ethics are “cloudy at best.”

And finally, Mike Gundy’s favorite newspaper, The Oklahoman, reports that Gundy told a radio station that, in regard to the hullabaloo surrounding his postgame tirade at a newspaper columnist, “I want this all to end.” On that note, enjoy the games.

This weekend features an intriguing Pac-10 matchup between California and Oregon that ought to have B.C.S. reprecussions as well as a rare Florida State-Alabama matchup that marks the first time Bobby Bowden has faced the Crimson Tide in his 42 years as head coach. Also on tap is a good A.C.C. battle as well as the first test of the year for a Wisconsin team that has not looked impressive thus far. Still, it’s next weekend, which features L.S.U. hosting Florida as well as Oklahoma vs. Texas in Dallas, that has college football fans buzzing.
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Count Paul Hornung as one Golden Domer who is not happy with the way Notre Dame’s season has gone. He tells the Chicago Tribune’s Fred Mitchell that the Irish have simply not attempted to recruit several future stars because of academic worries.

At Florida State, Andrew Carter of the Orlando Sentinel reports that the university said 23 student-athletes and two Florida State employees took part in academic fraud in the 2006-7 academic year. There is no word on whether any of the athletes involved were football players. Meanwhile, the Seminoles are getting ready to play Alabama this weekend, a matchup that the Sentinel’s Mike Bianchi calls Saint Bobby against Nick Satan. However, Saban found enough good in his heart to take a few minutes for a brief Q&A with the Florida Times-Union’s Bob Thomas.

At Texas A&M, Athletic Director Bill Byrne didn’t exactly give Coach Dennis Franchione a ringing endorsement after saying he was “embarrassed and angry” following the Aggies’ loss to Miami. Brent Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express-News has a brief story.

And how could a day go by without a mention of Mike Gundy? Today’s comes from Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle, who talked to several Big 12 coaches about Gundy’s rant at the columnist Jenni Carlson. And Joe Biddle of the Tennessean adds that Gundy had every right to defend his player, but the manner in which he did it was wrong. Finally (yeah, I know, it’s more than one mention), Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register writes that Gundy is mad because a columnist chose to write something that he didn’t like.

This looks to be another Saturday of great college football. Two huge SEC games in Tennessee-Florida and Alabama-Arkansas as well as two great non-conference matchups in Ohio State-Washington and U.S.C.-Nebraska.

Add in an offensive display between Kentucky and Louisville, which features two of the top pro quarterback prospects in the country, and you have a little bit of everything. Lost in the shuffle is a huge A.C.C. game between Boston College and Georgia Tech that could be a preview of the conference title matchup.

Not much is better than Saturdays in September when the college football landscape begins to take shape as we begin to find out who is overrated and who has been flying under the radar.

3:30 PM, No. 22 Tennessee (1-1) at No. 5 Florida (2-0), CBS

Announcers: Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson

The third Saturday in September means Tennessee and Florida square off in a classic rivalry game with the winner traditionally becoming the favorite in the SEC East. This year Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, who looked great in his team’s blow-out victories over Western Kentucky and Troy, is making his first conference start.
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Peter Tom Willis remembers the day when recruits could not scour the Internet, examine the three-deep on the depth chart and then pick a school. They all signed with Florida State. O.K., maybe some signed with other schools Alabama, Florida, and Miami.

But you get the point. The ‘Noles were loaded back in the ’90s.

Willis said there were terrific players all over the field for Florida State practices. They either made the starter better, or they became the starter.

“If you wanted to play in the N.F.L., you didn’t just think about getting better those 11 games during the season,” said Willis, now a radio analyst for the Seminoles. “You thought about all those practices where you could get better.”

It helps explain what happened to F.S.U. football, Willis said. The Seminoles stopped having those incredibly competitive practices when it could not load up year after with All-American recruits. Depth fell off. Quarterbacks weren’t pushed, and neither were linemen or backs.
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Seminoles fans aren’t happy this morning after last night’s disappointing loss in Death Valley.
While the focus was on Bobby and Tommy Bowden last night, Dave George of The Palm Beach Post couldn’t help but think of Jeff Bowden during Clemson’s 24-18 victory over Florida State.

With classes beginning at Michigan today, John Niyo of the Detroit News writes that the Wolverines are simply going to block out the whispering and the snickers they may hear around campus. Easier said than done. Meanwhile, John Hunt of The Oregonian writes that Oregon feels it matches up pretty well with Michigan after watching what Appalachian State accomplished. And John Gambadoro writes in the Arizona Republic that the Wolverines’ loss proves the worth of the B.C.S. and the emphasis it places on the regular season. And Lorne Chan of the San Antonio Express-News writes that Michigan’s loss may benefit someone you probably hadn’t thought of: Miss Teen South Carolina, Lauren Caitlin Upton, whose tortured response to a question about why some people in the United States couldn’t identify the country on a map became a YouTube sensation.
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This season was supposed to be different for Florida State.

It was to be the start of a return to college football prominence after a lackluster six years in which the Seminoles lost twice as many games (26) as they did in the 1990s (13).

With the new offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher and 14 returning starters, Florida State was the preseason pick by the media to win the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Atlantic Division.

But after the No. 19 Seminoles’ disappointing 24-18 road loss Monday night to their unranked conference foe Clemson, their fans might want to cancel those reservations for the A.C.C. championship game in Jacksonville, Fla.
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Who doesn’t love displaying their college football knowledge by predicting who’s going to win what each week (strictly for recreational purposes, obviously)? Well, we at The Quad are no different.

So without further adieu, here is the inaugural Weekly Pick ‘Em, in which myself, Pete Thamel and Thayer Evans will try to prove that we can somehow use the hours upon hours of time we spend talking, reading and writing about college football for some kind of practical purpose. Each week each of us will pick five games. Feel free to play along, or to simply ridicule our choices. Either way, it’s all in good fun.
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