By Mike Luce
The Week 11 Preview: You Can’t Spell Stickup Without “UT.”
Steve Spurrier, now the wise old man of SEC coaches, famously needled rival Tennessee by saying “You can’t spell Citrus without UT.” In light of the news coming out of Knoxville, I wonder if current top Gator Urban Meyer might be tempted to revise his predecessor’s legendary zinger.
During the off-season, Meyer and Tennessee rookie head coach Lane Kiffin waged a war of one-liners in the press. Kiffin, or Kid Smirk as we like to call him here at the CFR, stirred the pot early and often. A tireless self-promoter, Kiffin predicted a victory in ’09 over the defending champion Gators . . . last December.
Then the last-minute switcheroo by prized wide-receiver Nu’Keese Richardson from Florida to Tennessee really seemed to set things off. While speaking at a fund-raising breakfast in February, Kiffin accused Meyer of cheating. He claimed Meyer tried to poach Richardson away from UT by calling the recruit during his visit to Knoxville. That sounds like typical SEC finger-pointing, until the Florida AD and SEC commissioner pointed out that Meyer hadn’t broke any rules when contacting Richardson.
Kiffin continued in much the same vein leading up to the season, and we touched on the he-said-he-said fallout after Florida’s 23-13 win over UT in Week 3.
Richardson stayed out of the spotlight until he missed a practice on November 1, when Kiffin said that UT was “dealing with an issue with Nu’Keese.” He started against Memphis last Saturday anyway; in a blowout win, Richardson recorded his best game of the season, catching three passes for 54 yards and a touchdown.
And then the news broke of Richardson, along with two other freshmen players, allegedly attempting an armed robbery in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Police say that two of the three pulled a gun on some youths sitting in a car at a local gas station and demanded money. As the occupants opened their empty wallets, a third man approached the car and pulled the two away to a waiting vehicle. According to some reports, while the victims had no money they did offer the robbers a cheeseburger – which was declined. A local woman acting as the trio’s driver was also arrested for alleged drug possession.
While I typically advocate a “wait and see” approach to such stories, this one seems pretty clear based on the information currently available. About the only silver lining in this situation is that the players didn’t use a real handgun; when pulled over shortly after the botched attempt (in the getaway car – a Toyota Prius, of all things), police found a pellet gun and other gear identified by the victims.
Sadly, there’s no reason to think the kids wouldn’t have used an actual firearm if one had been close at hand. And while the charges might not be as severe (robbery by pellet gun likely being a lesser offense than robbery by Smith & Wesson), I doubt it will much matter as far as playing careers are concerned.
Here’s our suggestion to coaches at big name programs everywhere: If you suspend a freshman player, assign an upperclassman chaperone for the remainder of the season. (One of the alleged perps, Janzen Jackson, missed the Vols’ game against Memphis for “administrative” reasons.) The offenders would resent it, but the upperclassmen would hate even more the prospect of baby-sitting some 18-year old. Not that Jackson was any more or less to blame for the trio’s brainless scheme, but I doubt he would have been involved at all had he to report his whereabouts to a grumpy 300-pound senior lineman. And who knows, maybe these are the very sort of kids who need a big brother.
Beginning today, the blogs, pundits and call-in shows will cry out with calls for greater administrative oversight and questions about “Where were the coaches?” How about, “Where were their teammates?” (You know, the other guys. Those not riding in the Prius.)
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In other news, reformed hitman LeGarrette Blount will rejoin his fellow Oregon Ducks on the playing field Saturday. Oregon head coach Chip Kelly, commenting on the reaction to Blount’s reinstatement: “If I based this program on what public opinion is, I’d have a lot of problems.” Bravo, Chip. If that was a Facebook status update, we would give you a The College Football Report Likes This.
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While the news out of Knoxville has somewhat derailed our commitment to examine the state of the Pac-10 this week, let’s take a look at some of the action out West. As always, the following is for entertainment purposes only. Including gambling. (Note: rankings reflect position in the BCS poll.)
Game: #16 Utah @ #4 TCU (-20, Saturday, 6:30 p.m.)
Comment: While obviously not a Pac-10 game, we promised to bring The Holy War to your attention. Well, it is upon us. And yea, you shall fear it. The water cooler will boil, Horned Frogs will rain from the sky, Utes will . . . do whatever it is that Utes do.
We like TCU, incidentally.
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Game: Stanford @ #9 USC (-10.5, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.)
Comment: Quick, guess who has the better conference record! Yes, it’s the Stanford Cardinal at 5-2 in Pac-10 play, compared to Southern Cal’s 4-2 mark. Aside from having the most awkward (Cardinal, no “s”, as in big ass pine tree not the chirpy winged animal) nickname in collegiate athletics, Stanford also fields a darn good football team. Stanford outscored Oregon 51-42 last week, and everyone seems to expect the Trojans to finally implode on Saturday.
We’re not buying. While USC sits below Oregon, Arizona, and Stanford in the conference standings, the Trojans have a chance to beat two of the three before the end of the season. Even at 10-2 USC might not end up at the top of the conference heap, but I imagine the BCS would still offer an at-large bid.
Here’s a final score prediction, just for kicks: Stanford 20, USC 31
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Game: Arizona State @ #13 Oregon (-18, Saturday, 9:20 p.m.)
Comment: Oregon has beaten ASU by a combined 168-73 score in their last four meetings. We’re guessing the Ducks run up the score on Saturday night.
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Game: #17 Arizona @ California (-3, Saturday 6 p.m.)
Comment: At 4-1 in the Pac-10, the Wildcats can just peek over the Oregon Ducks and see the Rose Bowl off in the distance. To get there, ‘Zona will have to navigate the following: at Cal this Saturday, then home against the Ducks, followed by two road games – in-state rival Arizona State followed by . . . USC. In this situation (Google “trap game” for more), we would typically like the Golden Bears. But star running back Jahvid Best will sit out while recovering from a concussion and Arizona is riding a three-game winning streak. We’ll take the Wildcats plus the points.
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Game: Washington @ #23 Oregon State (-12, Saturday 2:30 p.m.)
Comment: Remember the good ol’ days, when Washington was ranked and Steve Sarkisian was being hailed as a gridiron genius? Ah yes, Week Three. Those were the times.
Now the Huskies can be fairly described as “reeling” while the Beavers look to make a late-season surge to a New Years Day bowl game. We’ll take the chalk in this game. At the CFR, we love to root for beav . . . Oregon State.
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The Beachwood Sports Seal doesn’t care for this Pac-10 business. He prefers to make money. His picks:
~ #7 Georgia Tech @ Duke (+12.5, Saturday, 11 a.m.)
~ #1 Florida @ South Carolina (+17, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.)
~ #3 Texas (-23.5) @ Baylor (Saturday, 11 a.m.)
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Mike “Dr. Dude” Luce brings you The College Football Report in this space twice a week, with the generous assistance of the Beachwood Sports Seal. They both welcome your comments.
Posted on November 13, 2009