Enter your Score Predictions for this week's game in the comments section.
Previous Winners
Week 1: Denise - Off by 1 Point! - (Guess 50-10, Actual 49-10)
Week 2: Luke - Off by 1 Point! - (Guess 38-16, Actual 38-17)
Week 3: Denise - Off by 11 Points - (Guess 45-21, Actual 56-21)
Week 4: Kristin - Off by 31 Points - (Guess 41-10, Actual 17-3)
Week 5: Kovar - Off by 5 Points - (Guess 52-12, Actual 48-13)
Week 6: Kovar - Off by 9 Points - (Guess 22-20, Actual 13-20)
Week 7: Kovar - Off by 14 Points - (Guess 52-28, Actual 51-41)
Week 8: Kovar - Off by 3 Points - (Guess 33-18, Actual 31-17)
Week 8: Hepp - Off by 16 Points - (Guess 28-17, Actual 31-30)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Where Was Ed Cunningham On This One?
If the Big12 is reviewing helmet to helmet hits and try to judge whether there was "intent", maybe they should look at this play a little closer.
ESPN/UT Close to $120 Mil TV Deal
By Tom Shatel
WORLD-HERALD COLUMNIST
Well, Texas did it again. No, not lose another game. Lost in the shuffle of the Longhorn train wreck was a report last Friday from orangebloods.com that UT is ready to sign a 10-year, $120 million contract with ESPN.
The report raised both eyebrows and questions. Is Texas not going to do its own network now? Would all Longhorn games be on ESPN? Would a future Big 12 TV deal suddenly be sans Texas? Would this kill the Big 12?
I e-mailed those questions to Chip Brown, who reported the news for orangebloods.com. He replied that ESPN would just be awarded the rights to put the Texas Network on its cluster of channels and not have any new access besides what’s already in the current Big 12 deal.
Also, this would not preclude the Big 12 from signing a new TV deal this spring. Texas, for its part, would be double-dipping.
Why would ESPN do it? Brown added, “It aligns ESPN with Texas for the future, so that if there’s massive upheaval again in 2016 when the Big 12 TV contracts are set to expire and Texas does something like go independent, ESPN would be there. ... Basically, ESPN wanted to make sure it could protect one of its top TV inventories.’’
In other words, it’s a $120 million life insurance policy for an ESPN-Texas marriage down the road.
The thing is, if this keeps Texas fat and sassy in the Big 12 (and why wouldn’t it, since UT will stand to make $25 million to $30 million annually on TV?), this totally Texas move could keep the Big 12 together. Unless, of course, it miffs the Oklahomas and Texas A&Ms of the world to the point of leaving.
WORLD-HERALD COLUMNIST
Well, Texas did it again. No, not lose another game. Lost in the shuffle of the Longhorn train wreck was a report last Friday from orangebloods.com that UT is ready to sign a 10-year, $120 million contract with ESPN.
The report raised both eyebrows and questions. Is Texas not going to do its own network now? Would all Longhorn games be on ESPN? Would a future Big 12 TV deal suddenly be sans Texas? Would this kill the Big 12?
I e-mailed those questions to Chip Brown, who reported the news for orangebloods.com. He replied that ESPN would just be awarded the rights to put the Texas Network on its cluster of channels and not have any new access besides what’s already in the current Big 12 deal.
Also, this would not preclude the Big 12 from signing a new TV deal this spring. Texas, for its part, would be double-dipping.
Why would ESPN do it? Brown added, “It aligns ESPN with Texas for the future, so that if there’s massive upheaval again in 2016 when the Big 12 TV contracts are set to expire and Texas does something like go independent, ESPN would be there. ... Basically, ESPN wanted to make sure it could protect one of its top TV inventories.’’
In other words, it’s a $120 million life insurance policy for an ESPN-Texas marriage down the road.
The thing is, if this keeps Texas fat and sassy in the Big 12 (and why wouldn’t it, since UT will stand to make $25 million to $30 million annually on TV?), this totally Texas move could keep the Big 12 together. Unless, of course, it miffs the Oklahomas and Texas A&Ms of the world to the point of leaving.
Ndamukong Suh Attempts an Extra Point
With Jason Hanson injured, the Detroit Lions turned to Suh to kick the extra point.
Suh won a friendly kicking competition in training camp when he booted a 30-yard field goal that allowed the defense an early exit from practice and forced the offense to run wind sprints. Lions coach Jim Schwartz said, "Ndamukong is our backup field goal kicker; he’s done it in practice. You guys have been to practice before and seen him do it. We have a lot of confidence that he could kick it. It put him in a difficult situation because he went out without any warm-ups.
“I probably should have called a timeout and given him time to get ready.”
See it for yourself...
Suh won a friendly kicking competition in training camp when he booted a 30-yard field goal that allowed the defense an early exit from practice and forced the offense to run wind sprints. Lions coach Jim Schwartz said, "Ndamukong is our backup field goal kicker; he’s done it in practice. You guys have been to practice before and seen him do it. We have a lot of confidence that he could kick it. It put him in a difficult situation because he went out without any warm-ups.
“I probably should have called a timeout and given him time to get ready.”
See it for yourself...
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
A&M Announces 12th Man Day
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The 12th Man, the nationally famous student body at Texas A&M, looks to set another record with the largest student crowd in the history of collegiate football against #8-ranked Nebraska when the Cornhuskers come to Kyle Field on Nov. 20.
Some 27,152 Aggie students have the football or all-sports option to pull tickets for the game. Director of Athletics Bill Byrne has announced that any Aggie student who does not have an all-sports or football option may purchase a $20 ticket to the Cornhusker game by showing their ID.
“In addition to our loyal Aggies who have shown up all season,” Byrne explained. “I would like to invite any student to Kyle Field to buy a $20 ticket to experience the excitement surrounding Aggie football. I would like to set a world record with over 30,000 students in our stadium on Saturday night, Nov. 20 against Nebraska.”
The tickets would be located in the upper corners of the third deck and in the upper levels of the north end zone. These tickets go on sale beginning at 8 a.m. on Thursday. They are available at the 12th Man athletic ticket center inside the Zone at Kyle Field and temporary sales trailers which will be located near Sbisa Dining Hall on the north side of campus as well as the bus stop near Wehner on west campus.
The regular student pull will still take place as normal, with seniors pulling tickets on Monday, juniors on Tuesday, sophomores on Wednesday and freshmen on Thursday. All those holding all-sports or football options may pull a ticket until Thursday at 5 p.m. and then any tickets left over will be sold.
Guest tickets for $40 are also available for sports card holders.
The highest recorded number of student tickets sold was in 2002 when a record 30,192 Aggies purchased football or all-sports options. When the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners came to town a record 28,000 pulled tickets that season.
“There are larger stadiums, but there are none with the overall support shown by the 12th Man,” Byrne said. “Our student body stands throughout the game. They were a huge factor in our game against OU last week and they are what make Kyle Field so special.”
“If we need to add chairs on the track I am happy to do so to get each and every Aggie student into the game to see our last home game of the year, and in what could be the last time for Nebraska to come to Kyle Field for quite some time,” Byrne stated.
Some 27,152 Aggie students have the football or all-sports option to pull tickets for the game. Director of Athletics Bill Byrne has announced that any Aggie student who does not have an all-sports or football option may purchase a $20 ticket to the Cornhusker game by showing their ID.
“In addition to our loyal Aggies who have shown up all season,” Byrne explained. “I would like to invite any student to Kyle Field to buy a $20 ticket to experience the excitement surrounding Aggie football. I would like to set a world record with over 30,000 students in our stadium on Saturday night, Nov. 20 against Nebraska.”
The tickets would be located in the upper corners of the third deck and in the upper levels of the north end zone. These tickets go on sale beginning at 8 a.m. on Thursday. They are available at the 12th Man athletic ticket center inside the Zone at Kyle Field and temporary sales trailers which will be located near Sbisa Dining Hall on the north side of campus as well as the bus stop near Wehner on west campus.
The regular student pull will still take place as normal, with seniors pulling tickets on Monday, juniors on Tuesday, sophomores on Wednesday and freshmen on Thursday. All those holding all-sports or football options may pull a ticket until Thursday at 5 p.m. and then any tickets left over will be sold.
Guest tickets for $40 are also available for sports card holders.
The highest recorded number of student tickets sold was in 2002 when a record 30,192 Aggies purchased football or all-sports options. When the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners came to town a record 28,000 pulled tickets that season.
“There are larger stadiums, but there are none with the overall support shown by the 12th Man,” Byrne said. “Our student body stands throughout the game. They were a huge factor in our game against OU last week and they are what make Kyle Field so special.”
“If we need to add chairs on the track I am happy to do so to get each and every Aggie student into the game to see our last home game of the year, and in what could be the last time for Nebraska to come to Kyle Field for quite some time,” Byrne stated.
Cassidy and Osborne awarded Blackshirts
After starting the two games at safety, Austin Cassidy and Courtney Osborne received Blackshirts on Tuesday.
P.J. Smith and Rickey Thenarse had been the safeties dressed in black, but both were back in red at the most recent practice.
As it stands, there are 12 Huskers wearing Blackshirts: Allen, Crick, Steinkuhler, Meredith, David, Compton, Hagg, Gomes, Dennard, Amukamara, Cassidy, Osborne.
Asked specifically about the progress of the sophomore Osborne, defensive coordinator Carl Pelini was heavy on praise after Tuesday's practice.
"Courtney is very physical," Pelini said. "He's a student. He studies and he understands his role and the position he plays. He doesn't make mistakes at practice. He's where he's supposed to be and it's important to him."
P.J. Smith and Rickey Thenarse had been the safeties dressed in black, but both were back in red at the most recent practice.
As it stands, there are 12 Huskers wearing Blackshirts: Allen, Crick, Steinkuhler, Meredith, David, Compton, Hagg, Gomes, Dennard, Amukamara, Cassidy, Osborne.
Asked specifically about the progress of the sophomore Osborne, defensive coordinator Carl Pelini was heavy on praise after Tuesday's practice.
"Courtney is very physical," Pelini said. "He's a student. He studies and he understands his role and the position he plays. He doesn't make mistakes at practice. He's where he's supposed to be and it's important to him."
Monday, November 8, 2010
Getting to Know the Jayhawks
LAST TIME OUT
Pick the adjective to describe the comeback Kansas mounted against Colorado, when the Jayhawks scored 35 points in the final 11:05 to win 52-45 on Saturday. It stopped an 11-game Big 12 losing skid for KU in what has turned out to be a difficult first season as head coach for former Nebraska quarterback and assistant coach Turner Gill.
The greatest comeback in Kansas football history included three of the four touchdown runs Saturday by James Sims. It was Sims' 28-yard scamper with 52 seconds left that capped the scoring. The freshman finished with 123 yards on 20 carries.
Colorado helped out the Jayhawks down the stretch. Tyler Patmon returned a fumble 28 yards for a touchdown to pull Kansas within 45-38, then intercepted a Cody Hawkins pass to set up Sims' game-tying 6-yard run with 4:30 remaining.
Colorado tried to come back, reaching the KU 7-yard line with eight seconds left. But Hawkins threw two incompletions and the clock expired.
Kansas improved to 3-6 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12.
QB CAROUSEL
Kansas started the season with Kale Pick at quarterback, switched to Jordan Webb and will come to Lincoln with Quinn Mecham at the controls.
Mecham was making just his second career start against Colorado, when he completed 23 of 28 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns. Mecham was 12 for 12 for 165 yards in the second half.
Mecham, from Provo, Utah, is a transfer from Snow Junior College who enrolled in January and went through spring practice with the Jayhawks.
RUN DOWN
An inability to stop the run has caused Kansas trouble all season, although it limited Colorado to 142 yards on Saturday.
Prior to the CU game, the Jayhawks had gone through a four-game stretch where every opponent managed at least 225 yards — Iowa State 232, Texas A&M 227, Kansas State 286 and Baylor 244. Those four teams combined for 13 rushing touchdowns.
Earlier in the season, KU also got stung for 291 rushing yards by Georgia Tech and 202 by Southern Mississippi.
Kansas currently ranks 11th in the Big 12 in rushing defense, giving up 202.8 yards per game and 5.1 per carry. That's not good news with Nebraska heading into Saturday's game leading the Big 12 in rushing offense at 288.1 yards per game and 6.4 per carry.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Kansas fans who lived with decades of frustration were given some hope when former coach Mark Mangino started to change the Jayhawks' fortunes a few years back. It was never better than when KU finished 12-1 in 2007 and won the Orange Bowl.
Since starting out 5-0 last season, however, Kansas has lost 13 of 16 games. The seven straight to finish the 2009 season, along with unhappiness over Mangino's treatment of players, led to KU hiring Gill away from the University of Buffalo.
Nebraska has won two straight against the Jayhawks, but KU had one of its best stretches against the Huskers before Bo Pelini replaced Bill Callahan. Kansas beat NU 76-39 in 2007 and 40-15 in 2005, both in Lawrence, and its losses in 2006 and 2004 in Lincoln were by seven (in overtime) and six, respectively.
HUSKER TIES
Gill isn't the only member of the Kansas staff who previously spent time at Nebraska.
Buddy Wyatt, the Jayhawks' defensive line coach, was a Husker assistant in 2007. Aaron Stamn, who coaches tight ends and special teams for KU, was a Nebraska graduate assistant in 2004 and '05 who followed Gill to Buffalo. Former NU quarterback Joe Dailey is the on-campus recruiting coordinator for Kansas.
Jayhawks offensive coordinator Chuck Long and co-offensive coordinator Darrell Wyatt were at Oklahoma in 2004 when current Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini was the Sooners' co-defensive coordinator and NU assistant Mike Ekeler was an OU grad assistant.
Pick the adjective to describe the comeback Kansas mounted against Colorado, when the Jayhawks scored 35 points in the final 11:05 to win 52-45 on Saturday. It stopped an 11-game Big 12 losing skid for KU in what has turned out to be a difficult first season as head coach for former Nebraska quarterback and assistant coach Turner Gill.
The greatest comeback in Kansas football history included three of the four touchdown runs Saturday by James Sims. It was Sims' 28-yard scamper with 52 seconds left that capped the scoring. The freshman finished with 123 yards on 20 carries.
Colorado helped out the Jayhawks down the stretch. Tyler Patmon returned a fumble 28 yards for a touchdown to pull Kansas within 45-38, then intercepted a Cody Hawkins pass to set up Sims' game-tying 6-yard run with 4:30 remaining.
Colorado tried to come back, reaching the KU 7-yard line with eight seconds left. But Hawkins threw two incompletions and the clock expired.
Kansas improved to 3-6 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12.
QB CAROUSEL
Kansas started the season with Kale Pick at quarterback, switched to Jordan Webb and will come to Lincoln with Quinn Mecham at the controls.
Mecham was making just his second career start against Colorado, when he completed 23 of 28 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns. Mecham was 12 for 12 for 165 yards in the second half.
Mecham, from Provo, Utah, is a transfer from Snow Junior College who enrolled in January and went through spring practice with the Jayhawks.
RUN DOWN
An inability to stop the run has caused Kansas trouble all season, although it limited Colorado to 142 yards on Saturday.
Prior to the CU game, the Jayhawks had gone through a four-game stretch where every opponent managed at least 225 yards — Iowa State 232, Texas A&M 227, Kansas State 286 and Baylor 244. Those four teams combined for 13 rushing touchdowns.
Earlier in the season, KU also got stung for 291 rushing yards by Georgia Tech and 202 by Southern Mississippi.
Kansas currently ranks 11th in the Big 12 in rushing defense, giving up 202.8 yards per game and 5.1 per carry. That's not good news with Nebraska heading into Saturday's game leading the Big 12 in rushing offense at 288.1 yards per game and 6.4 per carry.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Kansas fans who lived with decades of frustration were given some hope when former coach Mark Mangino started to change the Jayhawks' fortunes a few years back. It was never better than when KU finished 12-1 in 2007 and won the Orange Bowl.
Since starting out 5-0 last season, however, Kansas has lost 13 of 16 games. The seven straight to finish the 2009 season, along with unhappiness over Mangino's treatment of players, led to KU hiring Gill away from the University of Buffalo.
Nebraska has won two straight against the Jayhawks, but KU had one of its best stretches against the Huskers before Bo Pelini replaced Bill Callahan. Kansas beat NU 76-39 in 2007 and 40-15 in 2005, both in Lawrence, and its losses in 2006 and 2004 in Lincoln were by seven (in overtime) and six, respectively.
HUSKER TIES
Gill isn't the only member of the Kansas staff who previously spent time at Nebraska.
Buddy Wyatt, the Jayhawks' defensive line coach, was a Husker assistant in 2007. Aaron Stamn, who coaches tight ends and special teams for KU, was a Nebraska graduate assistant in 2004 and '05 who followed Gill to Buffalo. Former NU quarterback Joe Dailey is the on-campus recruiting coordinator for Kansas.
Jayhawks offensive coordinator Chuck Long and co-offensive coordinator Darrell Wyatt were at Oklahoma in 2004 when current Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini was the Sooners' co-defensive coordinator and NU assistant Mike Ekeler was an OU grad assistant.
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