Fourth and inches … (game week of Nov 28, 2009)

By Todd Erickson  |   Saturday, November 28, 2009  |  Comments( 3 )

College Football
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How stupid can you be, Jimmy Clausen? The most visible Notre Dame football player on and off the field gets clocked by some idiot in South Bend last weekend following the Irish double overtime loss to Connecticut … you really have to question Clausen’s maturity and character. What in the heck is he doing at a bar early on Sunday morning when he has to prepare for Stanford and travel across the country this week? Where is his commitment to his teammates, his coaches, and the school? This incident is just further evidence that Charlie Weis’ days are numbered at Notre Dame.

And with Weis on his way out of South Bend, , how stupid could Notre Dame have been for renegotiating his contract before he had even completed his first season back in 2005? Try $18 million stupid …

Who will be the new head coach of Notre Dame? My source within the university community there insists it will be Jon Gruden. Practically everyone else is saying it’ll be Brian Kelly. I think my source is just close enough to be falling for a decoy, though. Kelly is a far more logical choice to revive the program. Besides, would Gruden even want the ND job?

Jim Harbaugh has done a remarkable job at Stanford, but last week against Cal he made a couple of the most baffling play calling decisions I have ever witnessed.

Down 31-28 with 3:32 on the clock and three timeouts remaining, the Cardinal faced a fourth-and-8 situation with the ball on their own 23-yard line. Obviously a punting situation, if there ever was one, right?

But rather than punting (and relying on his defense to hold the margin at 3 points) Harbaugh elected to go for it. This decision is even more unreal when you consider that his freshman QB, Andrew Luck, was in the midst of his worst game of the season (9 for 28 at that point). Well, Luck was way off the mark on his pass and Cal took over and added a field goal about 90 seconds later.

Then, after Toby Gerhart had just taken a pass and rambled 29 yards down to the Cal 13-yard line with a minute and 52 seconds still remaining, you’d think Harbaugh would rely on his workhorse senior running back to get the rock into the end zone.

Think again. Harbaugh called for a pass and Luck was intercepted. Game over. The Cardinal would still be in the hunt for the Pac-10 championship and a Rose Bowl berth were it not for some really stupid play calling in crunch time last weekend.

Toby Gerhat still tops my list for the Heisman Trophy. Once again, he carried the Cardinal offense, logging 20 carries for 136 yards and 4 TDs against Cal. If anything, he should have had at least 10 more touches in the game, especially when the Cardinal had the ball on the Cal 13-yard line with just under two minutes remaining in the game. Why Jim Harbaugh didn’t live and die with Gerhart at that point, with the game on the line, is absolutely mind-boggling.

Heisman Trophy list is pared down to the Top 3: Toby Gerhart, Stanford, Colt McCoy, Texas, Tim Tebow, Florida.

Conference Power Meter: 1. SEC. 2. Pac-10. 3. Big Ten. 4. Big 12 5. ACC 6. MWC. 7. Big East. 8. C-USA. 9. WAC. 10. Sun Belt.

College football time capsule … December 1, 1951- No. 6 Georgia Tech set an NCAA record for most turnovers gained after jumping on five fumbles and intercepting eight passes against in-state rival Georgia, winning the game 48-6 in Atlanta. The win marked the Yellow Jackets' third in a series of eight-straight wins over the Bulldogs, the longest winning streak in series history. (Courtesy of The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame).

This week’s Rivalry Week picks…

No. 12 Oklahoma State at Oklahoma. The Cowboys are playing for the possibility of receiving a BCS at-large invite to the Fiesta Bowl. The Sooners are playing for pride and to escape the shame of finishing at .500 this season. This is a game where Dez Bryant could have really made a difference. Sooners will pull this one out.
No. 14 Clemson at South Carolina. Clemson is the better team, but South Carolina has more on the line since the Tigers still have the ACC title game next week. This one’s a tough call. Tigers by a whisker.
No. 20 Mississippi at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs will have a difficult time containing Dexter McCluster in the Egg Bowl. Ole Miss won 45-0 last year. It will be closer this time around, but the Rebs will still be on top.
Arizona at Arizona State. ASU is reeling and Arizona is the better team this year. The Wildcats are playing for better bowl placement and the Sun Devils are playing for pride. Anything can happen in a rivalry game, but the ‘Cats should take this one.
No. 22 Utah at No. 18 BYU. I have to think that Max Hall learned his lesson last year against the Utes. The Cougar defense has to step up and turn in a performance like they did against Oklahoma at the beginning of the season, especially if Utah’s defense bottles up Harvey Unga and Dennis Pitta. BYU will find a way to win this one.
Notre Dame at Stanford. In what will be Charlie Weis’ last game as head coach of the Fighting Irish, Toby Gerhart should have a pretty solid performance in his last home game. Both teams are ticked off from their close losses last weekend. This should be a close, high-scoring contest, but the Cardinal will pull this one out.
Florida State at No. 1 Florida. This had all the makings of a great game at the beginning of the season … and then the Seminoles went on a losing streak four games into their campaign. There is no way that Tim Tebow & Co. will lose at home in their final regular season contest.
UCLA at No. 24 USC. You have to like UCLA’s chances in this one. The Bruins come into the game with momentum and the opportunity to position themselves for a better bowl game. USC is coming off a bye week and they are frustrated. They need to win this week and next week vs Arizona to land a Holiday Bowl bid. Trojans slip by their cross-town rivals in a fairly low scoring game.
Georgia at No. 7 Georgia Tech. This seems like the easiest prediction to make this week. Tech is clearly the best football team in the Peach State this season.

Last week: 5-3 Season: 51-35
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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 Top 25 college football power rankings and "Fourth and inches..." weekly columns from August thru January. He is currently working on the second edition of Road to the Rose Bowl...
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CommentsComments: 3  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Big Tex		06:45 PM
11/28/2009
Colt McCoy going off for almost 500 yards all by himself has got to have him in the driver's seat for the Heisman. Remember what...
No.2
Todd Erickson		08:10 AM
11/29/2009
Toby Gerhart rushed for 205 yards and 3 TDs against Notre Dame tonight. He also threw a TD pass and caught one for 33 yards. It...
No.3
Big Tex		06:18 PM
12/01/2009
Gerhart has had an outstanding season and you are correct that Stanford wouldn't be bowl eligible without him. I doubt that UT...
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