Clemson's Spiller cannot be stopped
CLEMSON - What CJ Spiller has done in the last couple of weeks can only be described as electric. That's why the ACC named Clemson's tailback the conference's offensive back of the week Monday for the second time in the last three weeks.
His seven catches for 108 yards against Duke in the Tigers 31-7 victory Saturday broke a Clemson record that stood for more than 50 years, while also leading the team with 71 rushing yards and two jaw-dropping touchdowns.
"He is playing like a man on fire," tight end Michael said Monday morning.
Spiller has been on fire. Since returning from a hamstring injury that forced him to sit out the Georgia Tech game, no one has really stopped the Tigers most explosive offensive weapon in two decades. Not since the days of Terrence Flagler in the mid 1980s has one player been able to do so much with the football.
He leads the ACC in all-purpose yards (148.0 per game), and whether it is catching the ball out of the backfield, running it or returning punts and kickoffs, Spiller seems to be doing everything he can to carry the Tigers to a postseason bowl game.
"He is a big playmaker," fellow running back James Davis said. "He is what the team has kind of been missing."
In the last three games, Spiller has caught 16 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 192 yards and two more scores. Inside those numbers are big plays that have seen him make defenses look silly at times.
In Clemson's 31-7 victory over Duke this past Saturday, he had a 24-yard touchdown run that saw him nearly break the ankles of a Blue Devil defender with one of his patented jukes, while his 83-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown in the third quarter was simply a thing of beauty.
"He is something special to watch," Palmer said. "When you are out there on the field and you are blocking for someone like that and he is constantly breaking tackles and is fast and is moving and is doing all sorts of crazy things, it just inspires you to keep playing harder for him and for your teammates.
"It pumps up everybody. He is a great player and has been playing really hard and doing some impressive things to say the least."
It has been evident since interim head coach Dabo Swinney and quarterbacks coach Billy Napier took over the play calling following Tommy Bowden's departure that Spiller has been getting the ball more often and thus has garnered more big plays.
Besides his two game-changing plays against Duke, he had a 57-yard run and a 45-yard catch-and-run against Boston College and then a 44-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass at Florida State. He has also produced a 64-yard kickoff return at BC that setup the game-winning score.
"I don't know how many touches he had earlier in the year versus now, but I know he is making a lot happen when he does get the ball," left guard Thomas Austin said. "He is running with a lot of passion. I have noticed that both he and James are running down hill extremely hard and getting those tough yards."
In the first six games under the direction of Bowden and former offensive coordinator Rob Spence, Spiller was touching the football about nine times a game from scrimmage. In the last three games, he has touched it 47 times overall for an average of 16 times a game.
"Spiller is special, there is no question," Napier said. "We are going to do everything we can do to get him touches. I think he had 18 in the first half the other day. We line him up all over the place just trying to get him involved.
"He is a special player and is one of the best in the entire country at any level. I think everyone is starting to see him become a complete player that is more physical and catches the ball great. He is truly an elite player."
Though it has meant less touches for him, while also further troubling his chances for breaking Clemson's all-time rushing record, Davis likes what Swinney and Napier have done the last few weeks in getting Spiller involved early and often.
"Look at that Georgia Tech game when we really couldn’t get that big spark," said the senior, who needs 268 yards to break Raymond Priester's record of 3,966. "You can tell that CJ was missing. He is a playmaker... He is doing whatever it takes to help this team win. The coaches have put him in position to be the best playmaker on offense as far as breaking the long run and making people miss.
"When you have a guy like that, that is just like (Brian) Westbrook for the Eagles. CJ he does everything. You can put him up at receiver. You can line him up in the backfield. He can even play at quarterback if he has too. That is the kind of playmaking ability that he has."
It's the same playmaking ability Davis saw when watching some of Spiller's high school highlights when Spiller was being courted by Clemson.
"When you have a guy like that, if I'm an offensive coordinator, I'm going to try and get the ball in his hands as much as possible," Davis said. "He is the one that is making a lot of plays for the team and has opened it up for a lot of other guys... That's a guy that you want on your team and you are kind of happy that he is on you team."
Copyright 2008 Edwards Group. All rights reserved
Utah climbs to No. 7 on BCS list
After another weekend of upsets in college football, the Utah Utes' BCS destination, provided they win out, is looking sweeter.
The Utes (10-0) moved up one spot in the Bowl Championships Series standings to No. 7 while BYU (9-1) slipped two spots to No. 15, with Michigan State (9-2) and North Carolina (7-2) passing the Cougars.
TCU (9-2), which lost to Utah 13-10, fell six spots to No. 18. Boise State gained a spot to No. 9.
The upset of the weekend was Penn State's 24-23 loss to Iowa, which dropped the Nittany Lions (9-1) from No. 3 to No. 8 in the BCS standings.
That loss, plus West Virginia's 26-23 upset by Cincinnati, could have a significant impact on Utah's BCS bowl destination if the Utes earn an automatic bid.
It's most likely that the national championship game on Jan. 8 will feature a Big 12 team against an SEC team.
Fiesta Bowl representatives who attended the TCU-Utah game said they would prefer to have a top five team to match up with a Big 12 team in their bowl. But even if Utah creeps up two more spots, the Fiesta may pass over the Utes and take Penn State or Ohio State if one of those teams is available. USC (8-1) could be available as an at-large team, too, if Oregon State (6-3) wins out and represents the Pac-10 in the Rose Bowl.
If that happens, the Sugar Bowl, which has the second pick, is likely to take the Utes to match up with its SEC team rather than selecting the Big East champion, which receives an automatic berth. Currently the highest ranked Big East team is Pittsburgh (7-2) at No. 21 in the BCS standings after the then-ranked No. 25 Mountaineers (6-3) lost to Cincinnati (7-2).
Alabama (10-0) and Texas Tech (10-0) remained at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by Texas (9-1), Florida (8-1) and Oklahoma (9-1).
The Utes moved up to No. 7 in the USA Today Coaches' poll while BYU is No. 14 and TCU fell to No. 18.
The Utes are No. 8 in the Harris Interactive Poll, BYU is No. 14 and TCU is No. 18.
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West Virginia vs. Connecticut College Football Betting Odds
West Virginia vs. Connecticut odds opened at West Virginia as the -2 away favorite and has since jumped all the way to -4.
UConn (6-2, 2-1) gets another shot at West Virginia (5-2, 2-0) Saturday in East Hartford, where the Huskies have won 11 consecutive games. Connecticut earned a share of the Big East championship with West Virginia last season.
The Mountaineers come in on a roll, having won four straight since a 1-2 start, including a convincing 34-17 victory over Auburn last week.
West Virginia dominated the Tigers despite getting just 8 yards rushing from quarterback Pat White, who needs 348 yards to break the NCAA career record for quarterbacks set by Missouri's Brad Smith from 2002-05.
Some things you should know is that West Virginia has won the last 4 verses Connecticut.
Yes, there is one stat we don't like. The Mountaineers are 1-10 ATS in their last 11 games following a ATS win. That said, the Huskies are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following a SU win of more than 20 points.
West Virginia is a great bet here at -4 - not a guaranteed win but the edge is very strong.
gambling911.com
Ohio at Temple Football Betting Odds
Ohio heads to Temple for a Tuesday night MAC East battle to get Week 9 college football action kicked off. You can do your college football betting on this game live on ESPN 2 with the home Owls favored by 3.5 points.
The Ohio Bobcats will be glad when this game is over and they get a chance to make a little run with three straight home games. It's been a tough 2-5 start for Ohio, but that was expected with the Bobcats playing six of their first eight games away from home.
The Bobcats are just a half-game back in the MAC East and a win at Temple this week would give them just as good of a shot as anyone else at bringing home the title.
The Bobcats have discovered a running game under the normally pass-happy Frank Solich and that will be the offensive element which carries this team to a MAC East title if they do indeed find a way to pull it out. Running back Donte Harden has 323 yards over the last three games while the offense has had more rushing than passing attempts during that stretch. Ohio has also dominated the time of possession over its last five games and I think playing this way gives the Bobcats the best chance to win.
The Bobcats have been hit hard by injuries on the defensive front, but they have found a way to weather the storm to remain competative. Lots of different blitz packages and a hightened focus on creating turnovers has served the defense well. Ohio was at -5 in terms of turnover ration after the first four games, but is now at +2 the last three weeks. The major downfall of this type of defense is that it can lead to big plays for the opposition, but that's a risk the Bobcats have to take.
QB Boo Jackson, not to be confused with the great Bo Jackson, is still learning and gaining experience but appears to have a big upside. The kid is a great scrambler, but sometimes his superior athletic ability gets him into trouble as he does not know when to simply eat it.
If Jackson can keep his composure, I'm expecting a big game from tight end Andrew Mooney. Temple will likely stack the line to try to limit Ohio's newly discovered running attack. This should give Mooney plenty of one-on-one opportunities to make plays.
After back-to-back weeks on the road in MAC play, the Temple Owls return home and look to improve to 2-3 in the conference. Temple may have to try to win again without starting QB Adam DiMichele who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury. Chester Stewart has had a rough go of it in the backup role and it would be a huge lift for the Owls to get the leader of their team back.
With DiMichele out, the Owls have been forced to find a running game and they had to look to the defensive side of the football to do it as Kee-ayre Griffin has switched over to offense and made teams respect Temple's run at least marginally.
The Owls are near the bottom of four main offensive categories -100th in passing, 108th in rushing, 115th in total offense and 110th in scoring, but have still managed to remain competative in every game this season outside of the Penn State contest.
The defense has been the side of the ball keeping the Owls in football games. Led by defensive end Junior Galette, who had a huge game last week, the Owls are stringing together solid performance. They have especially been tough when their opponents are in the red zone, rabking 32nd nationally in red zone defense.
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'Pacman' won't be punished by Cowboys for scuffle
IRVING, Texas -- When the Dallas Cowboys acquired Adam "Pacman" Jones, team owner Jerry Jones knew there was little leeway to avoid trouble because of the cornerback's past.
The Cowboys owner just never expected Adam Jones to get into a scuffle at an upscale downtown Dallas hotel with one of the bodyguards provided by the team.
"Candidly, it never occurred to any of us that he might have an incident that would be anywhere close to being public with an individual that was sitting there to keep that from happening," Jerry Jones said Thursday.
The Cowboys don't plan to discipline Adam Jones for the incident that occurred late Tuesday night after he attended a private party. Police were called, but no charges were filed after the scuffle that Jerry Jones said was the result of some back-and-forth banter between the player and his bodyguard that got out of hand.
"These guys were joking, were kidding, having fun. It crossed over into more than that, and it ended quickly," Jerry Jones said. "This was a personal thing and it was resolved in a personal manner."
While the Cowboys expect Adam Jones to start Sunday's games at Arizona, the NFL was conducting its own investigation and it was not clear if the league would take punitive action against the player.
The NFL's investigation comes only six weeks after commissioner Roger Goodell fully reinstated Jones from a 17-month suspension, including the entire 2007 season, that followed a series of off-field problems. Without being specific, Goodell said Thursday in a radio interview that Jones knew was expected of him.
"I don't think there's any misunderstanding about the position that Adam has put himself in with respect to all of his behavior," Goodell said on ESPN Radio. "I have been very clear with him on how his behavior cannot reflect poorly on himself, the team, or the NFL. There were certain things that I expected of him. I think he clearly understands that."
Goodell and Jerry Jones both expressed disappointment about what had happened.
Adam Jones, who has started all five games for Dallas, wasn't in the locker room Thursday when it was open to media members. Later on the practice field, Jones seemed at ease joking with secondary coach Dave Campo and teammates during the 25 minutes reporters were allowed to watch.
Dallas police responded to a disturbance about 11 p.m. Tuesday at The Joule hotel. Police said the incident was over by the time they arrived and that some hotel employees reported overhearing a scuffle in the men's restroom in the lobby. A small glass item on the vanity in the restroom was damaged.
Jones and his bodyguard, Tommy Jones, said everything was OK, and both were driven from the hotel by an acquaintance, police said. The bodyguard told police he didn't want to press charges and the hotel described the damage as minimal.
Jerry Jones said alcohol was served at the party, but witnesses said player's "conduct should not be interpreted as over drinking."
The Cowboys owner said he didn't know when the NFL would conclude its investigation, but knew league officials "view it very seriously. Very seriously. I know firsthand they do because the commissioner was counting on me and he certainly is counting on me to really manage this."
Goodell visited the Cowboys after practice Wednesday, a scheduled stop after speaking to business leaders in San Antonio earlier that day. Jerry Jones knew then that there had been a disagreement between Adam Jones and his bodyguard, but didn't know the extent of the melee until after the commissioner had left.
Jones called the incident an "aberration" and said Tommy Jones remained part of the team-provided security detail that is with the player at all times, including his home in the small rural community of Prosper north of Dallas.
The owner had recently reiterated his desire for Adam Jones to maintain a low profile off the field.
"Out where he lives where they have cows and cattle, if it happened out there, we wouldn't be having this conversation," Jerry Jones said.
Adam Jones was arrested six times and involved in 12 incidents requiring police intervention from the time the Tennessee Titans drafted him in the first round in 2005 and sent him to Dallas in April to complete a long-discussed trade.
"Before he joined the Cowboys, he built up a reservoir of doubt," Jerry Jones said. "He had created with his actions no benefit of the doubt."
Nose tackle Tank Johnson, who brought his own checkered past to Dallas, said the incident was overblown and that it wouldn't distract the team.
"This is not that big of a deal," Johnson said. "Nobody's in jail, nobody's in trouble, nobody's hurt. We're all here ready to practice, ready to work."
An empty locker separates the cubicles of Jones and Johnson, who missed the first eight games last season while serving an NFL suspension for a series of off-field problems. Johnson doesn't think Goodell will take any punitive action against the cornerback.
Tennessee got a fourth-round pick in the April draft, and a sixth-rounder next year for Jones. The Cowboys could get back a fifth-rounder in 2009 if Jones is punished again.
"That doesn't affect us," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said Thursday. "We've moved on and that's their issue."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
McCoy, Stull carry streaking Panthers past No. 10
TAMPA, Fla. -- South Florida just doesn't have a whole lot of success when it's ranked in the Top Ten.
Last year, the Bulls rose to No. 2 in the country only to lose three straight games and drop out of the Big East title picture.
On Thursday night, LeSean McCoy ran for two touchdowns and Bill Stull threw for another as Pittsburgh beat the 10th-ranked Bulls 26-21 on Thursday night.
The Panthers (4-1, 2-0 Big East) have beaten the last three nationally ranked teams they have faced, including No. 23 Cincinnati and No. 2 West Virginia in 2007. They have won two of the last three games with South Florida (5-1, 0-1) in Tampa.
"West Virginia, obviously, is always going to be the best because they're our backyard rivals," Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt said. "But this, this is probably the closest it's going to get since I've been at Pitt."
The win was the fourth straight for Pittsburgh, which was ranked 25th in the preseason poll only to lose its opener to Bowling Green.
"I'm not going to go to the grave right now," Bulls coach Jim Leavitt said when asked what he would say to his team. "We're 5-1. We didn't play real well tonight. It's reality. That's the way it is.
"Nobody's gone through the Big East undefeated in all the years we've been in it. We've got to find a way to put it behind us."
Quarterback Matt Grothe accounted for most of South Florida's offense, but the Bulls didn't score any points on offense in the first half. Grothe was 11-of-20 for 129 yards and rushed 11 times for 25 yards, including a 1-yard keeper for a TD in the third.
Grothe threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jessie Hester in the fourth quarter to give the Bulls a 21-20 lead. But Pittsburgh came right back to take the lead, covering 60 yards on three plays in a quick drive that ended with a 3-yard run by McCoy. The 2-point attempt failed.
McCoy, a sophomore, rushed 28 times for a game-high 142 yards, his second straight game over 100.
Stull finished 16-of-27 for 228 yards.
Mike Ford ran 14 times for 73 yards for the Bulls.
"It's hard to go undefeated in college football," Grothe said. "They looked completely different than what they looked on film. I think they came a little bit more prepared than us. They backed us into a corner and made us do some things we didn't want to do."
South Florida struggled in the first half with the offense held to just 77 yards. Grothe was 5-of-12 with an interception. The pick by Don DeCicco was the first interception for Grothe in 107 passes and just his third in six games.
The Bulls had a 42-yard field goal attempt blocked by Greg Williams, and on their next field goal attempt, South Florida faked the kick but backup quarterback Grant Gregory failed to convert on fourth down.
"With all the mistakes we made in this game, I'm surprised [the score] wasn't farther apart than it was," Leavitt said. "We weren't in sync, I don't think, offensively, all game. We were kind of sporadic. Same on defense."
The Bulls scored first when Quenton Washington broke through untouched and blocked a punt by Dave Brytus. Charlton Sinclair picked up the fumble, returning it 27 yards for the score.
However, Pittsburgh scored on its next drive with Stull hitting receiver Jonathan Baldwin for a 52-yard touchdown pass.
The Panthers took a 14-7 lead on a 6-yard run by McCoy and extended the lead to 10 when Conor Lee hit a 35-yard field goal with 22 seconds left in the first half.
"In all, the offense is starting to come together," McCoy said. "That's the sign of a good team, and the win's great and we knew we could do it. We just can't think that far into the future and worry about the Big East because that will come."
Lee's 31-yard field goal made it 20-14 in the fourth.
All-America junior defensive end George Selvie did not start for the second straight game for South Florida, although he entered the game with 10:22 left in the second quarter and recorded two tackles, one for a loss.
South Florida forced two fumbles, both recovered by linebacker Kion Wilson, the first two of his career.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
No. 2 Sooners try to avoid another TCU loss
NORMAN, Okla. -- Lendy Holmes remembers the sheer silence he heard in Oklahoma's locker room after his first collegiate game.
There was no hooting and hollering, no win to celebrate. Unranked TCU had just come in and beaten the fifth-ranked Sooners, stifling Heisman Trophy runner-up Adrian Peterson in a 17-10 victory. No one had beaten Oklahoma on its home field in 19 games -- and no one has done it since.
When the No. 24 Horned Frogs (4-0) visit Owen Field again on Saturday, they'll be trying to snap a 20-game home winning streak for the second-ranked Sooners (3-0) this time.
"Now that we have them again, that's all the motivation that you need," said Holmes, a freshman receiver in that 2005 game who's since become a starting safety.
For a handful of Sooners players still on the team, that TCU game will forever be etched in their memories. Like it was for Holmes, the loss was the first college game for defensive tackle Cory Bennett and linebacker Keenan Clayton. In every home game since, they've been able to celebrate in the locker room afterward.
"Just one loss a long time ago can set the foundation for what you don't want to happen for years to come. That's one thing that we've focused on is making sure that we don't make any mistakes that we've made in the past," said Bennett, a senior.
Oklahoma's current home-winning streak s the longest of coach Bob Stoops' tenure and the longest currently in the nation. Stoops won 17 straight home games before losing to Oklahoma State in 2001, then 19 in a row before the TCU loss. He's 56-2 at home in his 10th year at Oklahoma.
"I just remember the feeling that I had after the game. That's one of those things, I don't want that feeling again," Bennett said. "You don't want to lose at home. That's one thing you don't want to do, no matter where you're at."
To that end, Stoops has reminded his players -- at least those who didn't experience it firsthand -- what TCU did in its last visit to Norman.
"They need to understand that we've obviously got to perform a whole lot better to have a chance to win," Stoops said.
The upset of the Sooners is only one in a line of victories against teams from BCS-affiliated conferences for the Frogs. TCU is 11-2 in its last 13 games against such opponents, including a 31-14 win against Stanford earlier this season.
Altogether, the Mountain West is 7-3 against schools from BCS conferences this season, and another TCU upset would be the biggest boost yet for the league's reputation.
"It would definitely be a great thing for us as a senior class and as a program here at TCU to be able to pull off a BCS bowl game. In order for us to do that, we definitely want to come out and win this game, but we also have to win week after week after that," said linebacker Jason Phillips, the only Frogs player left who started the 2005 game.
"So we're not trying to say this is going to make or break our season as far as the BCS goes, but it is definitely a game we want to put a lot of concentration into to pull out a victory in."
The Frogs come in with the top-rated defense and rush defense and the second-best turnover margin in the country. They're also controlling the ball for 37 minutes per game, the most in the country.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma is the highest-scoring team in the nation, averaging 54.6 points.
"You can't go into the ball game saying we're only going to give up 28," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "Like we've always done here at TCU, we're going in trying to get zero. Then you see how it falls."
When last the teams met, TCU was coming off a 5-6 season and Oklahoma was unsettled at quarterback after 2003 Heisman winner Jason White's departure. Paul Thompson started at quarterback and Rhett Bomar also played, and neither was effective.
"I know everybody wants their revenge but, then again, you just can't let what happened in the past affect you," Holmes said. "You've just got to play with what you have right now. You've got to block that out because this is a whole new game.
"We can either win it or we can lose it again. It's just a matter of how we take it and how we go out there and perform."
Earlier this week, Stoops tried to back away from the perception that Oklahoma was accusing TCU of cheating in that 2005 game. When he closed the Sooners' scrimmages this fall, he said it was because opponents in past seasons had been able to scout too effectively. That stuck with the Frogs, who are responsible for Oklahoma's last two season-opening losses -- in 1996 and 2005.
Patterson brought up the cheating allegations at his postgame news conference after the Stanford win, and said he'd be offended if Stoops thought he'd sent spies to Norman.
Only he and his players know whether that's forgotten now.
"I'd be doing my team an injustice to stand up here and say we want to play well. Our kids have played awful hard, we're 4-0 and we're ranked in the Top 25. There's only one reason we're going to Norman: play well and find a way to win the ball game," Patterson said.
"We understand it's against a very high-powered, very talented, very well-coached Oklahoma football team that has a lot of history on their side."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
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