Lessons Learned in College Football's Week 12...
By Scott Burks
Here are my thoughts on Week 12 in
college football...
What in the hell was Les Miles thinking?
In case you've missed it, LSU lost to Mississippi 25-23 because of a series
of gaffes made by LSU coach Les Miles. Let us count the ways:
-
After scoring a touchdown to get within
25-23 with 1:17 left in the game, LSU had a second chance when Ole Miss
was called for a penalty, placing the ball on the 1 yard line.
Instead of running behind that mammoth offensive line, Miles chose to
run a fade route, which failed.
-
After recovering the onside kick and
completing a screen pass that took the ball to Ole Miss's 32 yard line,
a play was called that resulted in a 9-yard sack.
-
After another screen pass resulted in a
7-yard loss, it took Les Miles and Co. 17 seconds -- yes 17 SECONDS --
to call their final timeout, taking the clock from 26 seconds to 9
seconds.
-
After completing a Hail Mary pass that did
not reach the end zone (the 5-yard line), Miles did not prepare to have
the special teams ready to run onto the field. He allowed his QB
to spike the football after the ball was spotted with one second left
(in college football, the clock runs when the ball is re-spotted).
I know Miles is not on the hot seat, but that
coaching gaffe alone should put him there. I can easily see this
snowballing since Miles has not played in major bowl since winning the
national championship four years ago.
The ACC is
getting better (Take 2). The
ACC now has five ranked teams in every poll (BCS, AP, and USA Today/ESPN),
which is the most of every major conference. The ACC has gradually
become a reputable conference this season, and now appears they can win a
few of the major bowls in January. This improved season will end in
the ACC Championship featuring Georgia Tech and Clemson, which should
finally provide us with the excitement that the ACC hoped for a few years
ago (I cannot take another year of Boston College and Virginia Tech).
Both teams travel well, and should fill more than half of Jacksonville
Municipal Stadium. Maybe now the ACC will do the right thing and move
the championship game to Charlotte when the contract with Jacksonville
expires...
While I still expect Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez
and Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis
to be fired at season's end, Rodriguez should be given more time.
It typically takes at least three years for a coach's system to be fully
implemented in college football. The coach needs that amount of time
to recruit the type of players for his system. He also needs that
amount of time to be sure those players gets the reps they need in running
that system so they would not appear like fish out of water, as is typical
in the first season of running a new system. Rodriguez needs to be
given at least one more year to right the ship at Michigan. He
obviously has the successful pedigree, having won big at West Virginia
for many seasons. Having said that, if Michigan does not have at least
a winning season, Rodriguez should be fired after the clock runs out at Ohio
State in 2010.
As for Weis, he deserves to go. While
it's not easy to pile on a guy who even admitted that he deserves to be
fired, Weis had enough time to get it right. For the last few seasons,
Weis made excuse after excuse over why his Notre Dame teams were not
winning. He bullied and had a condescending attitude towards the
media. So suffice it to say, it's hard to feel sorry for Weis.
Let's just hope that when it happens, that Notre Dame gets the next hire
right...
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