Ripper Ramblings

Michigan in pursuit of Les Miles: For Les Miles to become the next head football coach at Michigan the following things need to happen: Lloyd Carr needs to be ousted, Miles has to want the job, and Miles needs to be in a position where he can accept the job. Carr will be out at Michigan and it is only a question of when, and that is critical to the Miles situation. Miles wants the job at LSU. There is nothing that LSU can offer that Michigan can't. Miles played and coached at Michigan. The greatest obstacle is whether Miles will be in a position to accept the job. The dream scenario for all parties is if Carr starts winning some games, say an 8-4 finish, and Michigan can string out the decision until after the bowls and after an under the table agreement has been made with Miles. That will allow for Miles to coach LSU in the national title game without answering Michigan questions 24/7 (there will still be a lot of them). Then, sometime in early January Michigan cans Carr and quickly hires Miles. Some feel that Michigan will oust Carr mid-season. While that is generally a good idea (see UNC and Butch Davis), it is not a good idea for Michigan, especially in their pursuit of Miles. While you read this administration and consultants are trying to verify Miles' interest in the job. If they can confirm his interest they will keep Carr on as long as possible because it will be very difficult to pursue Miles as he works through a season in the top 5. Michigan will not want to leave the job open for months. If Michigan cans Carr soon, that may be a good indication that Miles is not interested. If Carr continues to bite the dust the pressure may be too great to keep Carr, even with interest from Miles. That is the last situation Michigan wants to be. Miles would be in a terrible situation. He would be left with the decision to pass on his dream job or pull the unprofessional move of taking another job as he preps for a national title. Now, all of this is easier if LSU drops a couple of games, but that doesn't look like its going to happen.

Lynch has Hoosiers thinking bowl. Indiana sits at number 13 in scoring offense and number 21 in total yards. They led preseason MAC favorite Western Michigan 34-7 at one point. The fast start and easy schedule has Indiana thinking about a bowl for the first time since 1993. Wins versus Akron, Minnesota, and Ball State would get IU to five wins with many other winnable games on their schedule. The interesting things is that through the tragedy of the Terry Hoeppner death, game a tremendous opportunity for new head coach Bill Lynch. Lynch had his chance as the head coach of Ball State before a decent start fizzled. Lynch was supposed to be sent off to pasteur and bounce between different assistant coaching gigs throughout college football. Now he sits as the head coach of a Big Ten school primed for a special season. Look for Lynch to ride talented sophomore QB Kellen Lewis to the post season and a longer term hire.

Dodgeball bounces back. A week after getting destroyed by Oklahoma, first year head coach Todd Dodge responded well in a losing effort to SMU. The former Southlake Carrol High School head coach racked up 601 yards passing showing that maybe his unique offense can fly at the college level.

Minnesota passed all over. Coach Tim Brewster is off to a rough start at the Metrodome. His defensive coordinator Everett Withers has allowed 412 and 418 yards respectively to middle of the road MAC schools Bowling Green and Miami University. Minnesota looks like almost a lock to finish in the Big Ten's cellar.

Gotta Love Deinhart. Tom Deinhart proving it is never to early to get some nice coaching hot stove going.

Dan Beebe names Big 12 Commish: The open spot left by now Big Ten Network exec Kevin Weiberg has been filled. The Big 12 did a nice job of sneaking it under the radar by waiting for the games to start. There was positive reaction to his hire, as expected. But it seemed like that reaction game only from those at schools like Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Texas A&M. What does that mean? Beebe will not push hard to evenly distribute TV money between all 12 schools. That move will probably allow for the Big 12 to stay together, but won't make the little guys (Iowa State, Kansas State) any happier.

A couple things on South Florida. How in the world did the Coach's Poll have Auburn ahead of South Florida in the other receiving votes? South Florida, a school of over 34,000 undergrads, many of whom commute, took home a $650 K check for their trip to Auburn. That total is a quarter million more than what App State got in their win over Michigan. Nonetheless, South Florida athletic director says that it will be the school's last "bodybag game" as they will expect a return visit out of all their non-conference opponents.

Zook needs to make a change. Illinois reserve QB Eddie McGee was forced into action verses Missouri in week 1 due to starter Juice Williams' injury. McGee went 17 of 31 and a TD. Juice game back in week 2 and was just 12 of 24 for 123 yards verses Division I-AA Western Illinois. Juice is coming off of a season in which he was last in the nation amongst starters in completion percentage at 39%. Illinois has many things going for it but Juice is not one of them. The Zooker needs to go with McGee.

Jayhawks off to a good start. After two games Kansas in number 3 nationally in scoring offense and number 10 in total offense while outscoring opponents 104-7. If Nebraska stumbles look for Kansas to sneak into the mix in the Big 12 North.

Finally some kickoff stats. Thanks to Terry Bowden we have some stats on how kicking off from the 30 yardline has impacted things. The average starting position after a kickoff has moved from the 27 to the 30 yardline. The percentage of kickoffs returned this season has gone up to 88% from 70%.

Hawaii visits the mainland. Hawaii's overtime win over Louisiana Tech did nothing to prove that the Warriors can play on the mainland. The game was the first leg of a 12 day road trip for Hawaii. They flew to Houston on Wednesday Sept. 5th before going over to Ruston, LA for their first game. They will then spend the week in Houston before going up to Las Vegas to play UNLV on their way back to the island. For the first few days the team will stay on Hawaii time to adjust. It is certainly a good thing they can stay in Houston before the UNLV game, as a week in Vegas would be a disaster.

Under the radar game for week 3. Boston College @ Georgia Tech. The best thing that new Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski did was leave the previous defensive staff in place. BC has the nation's 4th best rush defense. Georgia Tech, behind new offensive coordinator John Bond (coached Garret Wolfe to No. 1 in rushing in NCAA in '06), has Tashard Choice and the Jackets at number 4 in that nation in rushing. It should be a great clash that could be replayed in Jacksonville during the first weekend of December.