Gameday Gallery: Cincinnati at Pittsburgh

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

BROOKLYN -- I still can't get over my luck this season. Fifteen years after graduating from the University of Cincinnati and first thinking about pulling off the OGS project, I finally took the leap this fall and as I was busy traveling from city to city, Cincinnati was busy putting together its best season in school history.

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And I was there to watch the Bearcats cap off their 12-0 season by beating Pittsburgh in the sport's most exciting game of the year Saturday at Heinz Field.

Cincinnati pulled out an exhilirating 45-44 win over the Panthers, securing its second straight Big East championship and automatic BCS bowl bid.

Watching from the sidelines, I was able to take a few pictures of the great game. Click here or on the picture above for a look at the Gameday Gallery.

VIDEO: Bearcats Celebrate After Thrilling Win At Pitt

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

PITTSBURGH --Typically I like to hustle home after a game and load up some still pictures. I'll try to get to those before the end of the day today, but I wanted to give you a look first at what it was like to be on the field as Cincinnati celebrated its second straight Big East Championship after the Bearcats claimed a thrilling victory at Pittsburgh's Heinz Field on Saturday. Enjoy the six video clips below:

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Cincinnati Players Count Down Final Seconds

Two Cincinnati players rejoice on the sideline and sprint onto the field after the Bearcats claimed a thrilling 45-44 victory at Pittsburgh, locking up a 12-0 season, the Big East championship and the league's automatic BCS bowl bid.

Binns, Bearcats Storm The Field

UC hero Armon Binns and the Bearcats claim temporary ownership of Heinz Field moments after earning permanent ownership of the 2009 Big East championship in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Cincinnati Players Join Fans To Celebrate Big East Title

It didn't take long for the Cincinnati players to want to rush over to the corner of Heinz Field where their red-clad supporters were stationed, road-weary but ready to celebrate their squad's second straight Big East championship, won Saturday in thrilling fashion over Pittsburgh, 45-44.

Cincinnati Teammates Congratulate Pike On Heroic Effort

Pay attention to the end of this video, where you'll see a quick flash of the game ball jammed in Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike's helmet. He and Mardy Gilyard teamed up to lead the Bearcats to a thrilling victory Saturday at Pittsburgh to win the Big East championship.

Cincinnati Coach Brian Kelly Emotional During Postgame Celebration

Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly shared an emotional embrace with one of his players, then walked off Heinz Field with a finger in the air, U2 blaring on the sound system and on a couple of occasions lifts a towel to his misty eye.

Cincinnati's Travis Kelce: "It Feels ------- Great!"

Cincinnati tight end Travis Kelce wasn't shy when asked how Saturday's defeat of Pittsburgh felt.

Bearcats Win Most Exciting Game Of NCAA Season

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

PITTSBURGH -- I lost a job in July and had no idea what I was going to do next. Then I revived a project I'd thought about 15 years ago, hit the road in late August, and 14 Saturdays later, spent a snowy afternoon in Pittsburgh watching through a camera's viewfinder on the sideline as my alma mater finished off its most successful season in school history.

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And the Cincinnati Bearcats did it by beating Big East-rival Pittsburgh in the most exciting college football game of the season at frigid Heinz Field.

The Panthers couldn't hold on to a 31-10 second-quarter lead, and allowed three touchdowns in the final 11 minutes as the Bearcats claimed a thrilling 45-44 victory.

Mardy Gilyard wasn't the X factor for the visitors. He was the A-Z factor, repeatedly breathing life into an unusually tame Cincinnati attack. After Pittsburgh built that 21-point cushion late in the first half, Gilyard returned a kickoff down the left sideline and into the end zone right in front of 1,000 or so screaming red sweaters who made the drive from Cincinnati.

The play pulled the Bearcats to 31-17 just before the break.

The second half featured several momentum swings, big plays, a few key mistakes and even a couple of questionable calls by officials.

Senior quarterback Tony Pike connected with Gilyard on a 68-yard touchdown for the only points of the third quarter.

Pitt's talented freshman Dion Lewis scored the first of his two fourth-quarter touchdowns -- he also had one in the opening period -- to give the home team a 38-24 advantage, but Pike and D.J. Woods teamed up on an 8-yard scoring strike just 77 seconds later. Jake Rogers's point-after attempt hit the upright, leaving Cincinnati with an 8-point deficit.

More than five minutes passed before Isaiah Pead bulled his way to a 1-yard touchdown, and Gilyard's leaping grab of a Pike pass for the two-point conversion made the score 38-38.

Then the fun started.

Pitt took more than four minutes on a drive that ended with Lewis' 5-yard touchdown run at the 1:36 mark. Panthers holder Andrew Janocko couldn't corral the snap, however, so Pitt's lead was 44-38.

You had the feeling that it wasn't just those in the red sweaters behind the far end zone who knew that PAT failure was going to be relevant a short time later.

Pike, who completed his final 11 passes, got UC into what anyone else would call its two-minute offense. For the Bearcats, it's called Saturday.

UC marched easily down the field, and tied the game when Pike found a diving Armon Binns a half step beyond his man. The 29-yard touchdown pass tied the game at 44 with 33 seconds left. Rogers's PAT was good this time, and the celebration was on.

Cincinnati players stormed the field, donning brand new red, white and blue caps, the first symbols of a second straight Big East championship.

Pike, Gilyard and all their sweaty, grass-stained friends exchanged hugs, high-fives and hell-yeahs; a few even ran around with tears streaming down their faces.

The two stars were among the last Bearcats to leave the field and join the locker-room party. Pike signed autographs, shook hands with fans and even took some weak trash talk from bitter Pitt students who hung around near the UC tunnel, at least 20 minutes after the game had ended.

Meanwhile, Gilyard enjoyed a few minutes in front of the cameras, covering such topics as his support for Nebraska, Cincinnati-style chili and the future of Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly. You can watch that below, and come on back for more celebration video Sunday morning.

Ohio Prep Stars Look To Build Rivalry In Big East

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

CLEVELAND -- If Brian Kelly takes the job at Notre Dame, that could bring a double-dose of bad news to Cincinnati football fans.

First of all, the Bearcats would obviously be losing one of the nation's finest coaches, but if they don't tread carefully, they could also lose local quarterback prospect Luke Massa.

Massa said in a telephone interview with OGS Thursday that he doesn't know what he'll do if Kelly bolts, and the tall teen sounded fairly convincing as he said it.

"Right now I'm hoping he stays," said Massa, who this fall helped the Bombers to their eighth Greater Catholic League crown in the last 10 years, and the second round of the state playoffs. "When the time comes and he makes a decision, I'll have a decision to make, too."

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Massa gave the Bearcats a verbal commitment in July, but is well within his right to sign on someone else's dotted line when national letter-of-intent day hogs the headlines in February. Charlie Weis's regime at Notre Dame expressed interest, so perhaps there still might be room for him in South Bend if Kelly takes the job there after all?

Wisconsin and Cincinnati were the only schools to make offers, but Massa also "talked to Boston College, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Michigan State." Not a bad list of options.

With Kelly entrenched in the gossip section of the sports world, you'd think a few of the aforementioned schools would re-open those conversations. But Massa said that hasn't been the case, adding that in a perfect world, he'll play for Kelly at Nippert Stadium.

"It would be pretty cool to play in your hometown," he said. "Brian Kelly has been so successful here the last few years, and I'd love to be a part of it. The program is still on the rise."

And of course Massa is keenly aware how well the UC offense would showcase his talents for NFL scouts a few years down the line.

"I think UC would give me a great opportunity," he said. "They have such a good system and their offense is explosive."

St. Xavier's Jesuit rival in Cleveland, St. Ignatius, boasts first-team all-Ohio quarterback Mark Myers. The Wildcats beat Massa's Bombers in the regular season, and Myers's football future seems a little more stable than Massa's.

Myers is headed to Pittsburgh, where he hopes after a year or two of growing and learning, he can contend for a starting position and lead his Panthers to a couple of victories over Massa's conference-rival Bearcats.

"It will definitely be fun to play against him in the Big East," Myers said.

Added Massa: "I think both of our first starts were against each other as sophomores in 2007. The quarterback ahead of him got hurt, and the quarterback ahead of me got hurt too. It would be cool to compete against him again at the next level."

Myers said he visited Pittsburgh, just two hours away from Cleveland, three times over the summer. He said he likes that the school is in the city, adding he was also impressed by the facilities and the school's academic offerings.

Myers said he grew up watching Ohio State on autumn Saturdays, but despite a few conversations with Buckeyes brass, he "didn't think (he) would fit in with their offense."

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound lefty has drawn comparisons to Dave Ragone, among other strong-armed southpaws.

"I'll have to be very dedicated to football because it's your job in college for four years," Myers said.

Catching Up: Ex-UC Quarterback Glenn Farkas

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

CLEVELAND -- I talked to an old bud this week named Glenn Farkas. My Cleveland friends might remember him for tormenting our proud Richmond Heights Spartans on the football field many years ago. And the basketball court. And the baseball diamond. Hell, I bet he drank our beer and stole our girlfriends, too.

Farkas was a three-sport standout at nearby Kirtland High School, and although he was two years ahead of me, I was once asked to guard the long-range bomber when I was a sophomore. I would imagine my basketball coach had been drinking before making that decision. I believe I held Farkas to 30 points that night.

And my Cincinnati friends might remember him for quarterbacking the Bearcats for several years.

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Glenn has been a generous supporter in recent years of my photography projects and One Great Season. We caught up this week, and he had a few interesting thoughts to share about UC football.

Farkas' Kirtland teams were successful in all sports, and the Bearcats actually weren't too bad when he accepted a scholarship to play in Clifton. A born winner, you might call him.

But after he'd been at UC for a couple of years and the program found itself in some NCAA trouble, the Bearcats became pretty good at losing, a trend with which Farkas wasn't too familiar.

So understandably, he doesn't recall his last two years at UC, the first two of the Tim Murphy era, as being all that enjoyable.

"(Former UC coach Dave) Currey used a West Coast offense, which is why I came," Farkas said. "Murphy wanted to implement a little of everything -- dropback, rollout, option -- and we did none of them well."

Farkas said Murphy took a Bobby Knight approach to motivating players, a technique to which Farkas and other veterans didn't respond kindly. In Farkas' junior and senior seasons of 1989-90, the Bearcats had a combined record of 2-19-1.

"My final two years were the worst two years I can remember in any sport I ever played," Farkas said.

Farkas, now a big-shot money manager in Chicago, said he's followed UC football much more closely since the Bearcats joined the Big East Conference. And while he likes what Brian Kelly has done to push the program toward the unfamiliar territory of the nation's elite, he thinks a setback is on the horizon for Cincinnati fans.

"I am proud to see where UC has gone in the last five years and especially under Kelly," he said. "He will likely take another job after this year and I cannot blame him. The money will speak loudly."

Farkas said he tries to make time to watch the top college matchups each weekend, and is yet another believer that the sport needs a playoff system. He proposes a format that awards a playoff invite to each of the champions of the six BCS conferences, as well as four other wild-card teams, as determined by the polls. Those four teams will play each other for the two remaining spots in what would be a seeded, eight-team playoff.

"They'll never do it," said Farkas, who tries to get back to Nippert Stadium for one game each season. "It's an objective way to determine a winner and makes too much sense."

Despite Injury, Pike's Numbers Better Than Tebow's

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

WASHINGTON, Pa. -- If it were up to Cy Young voters to determine college football's Heisman Trophy winner, you'd probably see Cincinnati's Tony Pike back on the list.

If there could be such a thing as a popular darkhorse, Pike was it by midseason. He was averaging 10 touchdown passes and 4,000 yards a game it seemed, before missing three full games and parts of two others with an injured forearm. Fortunately for the Bearcats, sophomore backup Zach Collaros filled in so splendidly at quarterback that when Pike was rounding back into form, coach Brian Kelly had an embarrassment of riches at the position for still-unbeaten UC.

And while the injury gave fans in Clifton reason to be excited for next season with Collaros at the helm, the missed time cost Pike a chance to become the school's first Heisman winner.

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Baseball writers gave rising superstar Tim Lincecum his second straight Cy Young Award this month, in one of the more intriguing votes in recent history. Lincecum needed only 15 wins to grab the NL honor, while AL stud Zack Greinke won just 16 games en route to becoming the Kansas City Royals' first such honoree.

Obviously, those writers recognized quality over quantity, and while Heisman voters will have a hard time ignoring Texas quarterback Colt McCoy's prolific numbers, Pike boasts the kind of consistent dominance that could possibly earn him at least a few votes if he closes with another stellar effort Saturday in a nationally televised Big East championship game against Pittsburgh. Something to tell the grandchildren.

Despite the limited action, Pike's passing numbers are actually slightly better than those of Florida's Tim Tebow, who won the Heisman in 2007.

Pike:

+ 162-for-249 passing, 2,048 yards and 23 TDs and 3 INTs.
+ Passer rating of 162.22.
+ He's had two games with 30+ completions, and four games with 300+ yards.

Tebow:

+ 162-of-244 passing, 2,166 yards, 17 TDs and 4 INTs.
+ Passer rating of 160.67
+ He hasn't completed more than 17 passes in a game this season, and hasn't thrown for more than 255 yards.

Certainly Tebow is the most dangerous running quarterback in the country, so he's got a large edge over Pike in that category. But Tebow also has one of the nation's top defenses in his own locker room. Pike's defensive mates aren't nearly as dominant, so he's had to earn his unbeaten record this year more than Tebow has earned his.

I'm not saying Pike is a better quarterback or that he deserves first-place Heisman consideration, but it would be nice for his incredible performance this season to be recognized appropriately.

Murphy's Law: Contend For Ivy Crown Every Year

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Brian Kelly is no doubt deserving of all the hype he's been getting as one of college football's top coaches, but does the name Tim Murphy ring a bell?

Those familiar might remember Murphy as the guy who turned Cincinnati's program around with a steady, five-year plan that culminated with an 8-3 record in 1993, his last in Clifton, and almost steered the Bearcats to their first bowl berth in decades.

Before Murphy entered the picture in 1989, the Bearcats faced a 4th and Remarkable, and by the time his work was done, he'd done far more than just keep the drive alive.

"We are proud of the fact that we took one of the worst programs in the country with several major NCAA sanctions compromising the rebuilding process and brought the ship in on time and under budget," Murphy told OGS in an e-mail interview this week.

And as one of the sport's greatest rivalries nears its 126th renewal of what they simply call The Game -- no, it's not Ohio State-Michigan -- Murphy, who has been the coach at Harvard since leaving Cincinnati, said the order in Cambridge was as tall in 1994 as it was at UC five years earlier.

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"Re-building the program at Harvard was very similar in that we had to change the culture, dramatically improve our recruiting, player development, strength and conditioning as well as improve our facilities," said Murphy, whose Crimson visit the Yale Bulldogs for a noon kickoff on Saturday.

Changing the culture is something I witnessed with my own eyes while covering Murphy's Bearcats for a couple of seasons when I was a student at UC. I had a Sunday morning interview scheduled at his office, just hours after he and his Bearcats returned from Morgantown, W. Va., where the Mountaineers handed Cincinnati yet another loss. But the coach was in a positive mood because UC did what coaches tell their players to do in pregame locker room speeches. They did their jobs, they carried out their assignments, they played hard and they didn't make mistakes. The score was close, but when you're not necessarily contending for AP votes, and the scheme of things is indeed grand, you measure your progress by games like the one those Bearcats played at West Virginia. It was a victory everywhere outside of the standings in the newspaper.

And while you might hear the "changing the culture" cliche frequently in sports, its repetition makes it no less necessary. Murphy has created and maintained an environment that, after Saturday's game, will have produced 10 straight seasons of finishing in the top three of the Ivy League, including four conference championships in that stretch. A win at Penn last week would have given the Crimson their third straight Ivy crown.

"We are proud of the fact that every player we have recruited has graduated and played on a championship team, including several NFL players," Murphy said.

Murphy is 10-5 against Yale in the oldest-continuing and third-most-played rivalry in college football. The teams first met in 1875, and Yale this Saturday will try to win in front of its home fans for the first time in a decade.

"To the players, and especially the seniors, (the Harvard-Yale game) is the most important and memorable day in their life to this point," Murphy said. "To the students, alumni and fans it is the big event of the year in terms of the great sense of community and tradition that it brings to their respective schools. And in my opinion it embodies all that is good about college athletics."

So yeah, odd as it sounds, Harvard has been the bully of the Ivy League since Murphy's arrival, and while his loyalty is obvious, he still remembers his UC days with fondness, even if no one gives him credit for laying the foundation for his successors.

"I take no responsibility for UC being where it is today; that is for others to determine," Murphy said. "I love watching UC on TV the few chances I get. The university, the physical plant and facilities and the success of UC football are impressive and something for anyone connected with UC to take great pride in."

Imperfect Play Keeps Bearcats Perfect At 10-0

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season At this point in the season when a handful of teams are fighting for just two spots in the national championship game, style points are key if you can get them.

And although Cincinnati stayed unbeaten with an entertaining 24-21 defeat of visiting Big East rival and former league bully West Virginia, the Bearcats struggled at times and seemed downright lucky to escape Nippert Stadium with a 10-0 record on Friday the 13th.

UC lost its first fumble of the season, and the Bearcats threw an interception, dropped a touchdown pass and missed a field goal.

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Cincinnati caught a break when Isaiah Pead (pictured, above) fumbled while diving over a pile of players near the goal line in the second quarter. The Mountaineers recovered, but the officials reversed the call and ruled the play a touchdown after reviewing the video, saying the ball crossed the plane before Pead lost control of it.

Pead would finish with a career-high 175 yards, including a pair of nifty runs of 52 and 43 yards.

Quarterback Tony Pike (pictured, right), out the last month with an injured forearm, threw a pair of touchdown passes in two celebrity red-zone appearances. To cap UC's opening drive, he came in when the Bearcats were at the 10, and on his first play since Oct. 15, rifled a pass over the middle to Armon Binns in the back of the end zone.

And to open the second half, Pike connected with D.J. Woods for a six-yard scoring strike to give the home team a 21-14 lead.

Zach Collaros, who's sparkled in a fill-in role since Pike went down, took all but a handful of snaps for UC Friday and passed for 205 yards, adding 44 more on the ground.

The Bearcats are 10-0 for the first time in school history, and at 6-0 in the Big East, are a half game ahead of Pittsburgh, whose Panters are 5-0 in the league. The teams will meet for the conference crown on Dec. 5 in Pittsburgh.

Cincinnati only has one game before then, a home date with Illinois on Nov. 27, the night after Thanksgiving. The BCS computers have shown pretty good love for the Bearcats, but nailbiting triumphs in their last two outings don't help their cause. Convincing wins against the Illini and at Pittsburgh are necessary if UC wants to play for all the marbles.

I can't recall a mid-November scenario where two power teams (Florida/Alabama and Texas) appeared on a collision course to meet in the championship game while three other unbeaten teams (TCU, Cincinnati, Boise State) stood by, hoping for some help. I know we say it seemingly every Thanksgiving, but if there's ever a year for the NCAA to figure this thing out, it's this year.

Wednesday Notebook: Cincy's New Predicament

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Cincinnati has an odd predicament on its hands, and it has nothing to do with the Bearcats' inconvenient depth at quarterback.

Does UC root for Notre Dame at Pittsburgh this weekend? An Irish win would extend Charlie Weis' shelf-life as the coach in South Bend, precisely what Cincinnati fans want in order to keep Brian Kelly in the Queen City.

But a Pitt victory on Saturday ups the BCS ante when the Bearcats head north for their season-ender on Dec. 5 that will likely determine the Big East champion. Both UC and the Panthers are 5-0 in the Big East.

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If you're more interested in the long view, you might be rooting for the Irish, but those whose eggs are all in the 2009 basket surely recognize that Kelly will leave soon anyway, so why not try to win the whole thing right now? As a UC grad, I think I prefer the latter logic, so on the same weekend that football fans in Cincinnati will be rooting against the hated Steelers, I'll also be cheering on the Panthers.

WHAT TO DO NEXT? I have my own personal debate I could use your help with. The college football season is winding down, and I'll be back at my luxury Brooklyn apartment in no time. What should I do with One Great Season? Still keep the site college football-exclusive? Or broaden it to cover all sports or even non-sports categories? Any feedback would be appreciated.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES: I was on the field under a gorgeous autumn sky at Beaver Stadium an hour or so before Ohio State and Penn State kicked off Saturday. That's when I heard Iowa was trailing late against Northwestern, and one thought hit me: Wouldn't it be funny if Ohio State -- in a down year when after Week 2 folks in Columbus were calling for coach Jim Tressel's head, when fans seemed ready to plan a bowl trip to Florida for a weak New Year's morning kickoff -- won out and grabbed the Big Ten's automatic Rose Bowl bid?

Well, that's exactly what's going to happen and if there's a year for it to happen, it's this year, when the Buckeyes won't likely have to deal with the psychological burden of preparing for 40+ days to meet USC in January. USC never loses in January.

That's not to say teams want to avoid playing the best competition, but trying to beat Pete Carroll in a bowl game is about as easy as figuring out who's leading the Heisman race right now.

A BCS bowl win for Ohio State would do wonders for the Buckeyes' confidence in the national picture, and depending how temperamental Terrelle Pryor performs, he could very well launch a Heisman candidacy in much the same way an athletic quarterback named Vince Young announced his own bid as a Texas sophomore in a breathtaking Rose Bowl win just a few years ago.

And then the countdown will be on for next year's Week 2 meeting in Columbus, when Miami's own 2010 Heisman candidate, Jacory Harris, will lead his Hurricanes into the Horseshoe.

BLOUNT DRAMA: LeGarrette Blount will be back in a Ducks uniform Saturday against Arizona State, and that's a good thing.

But it's a good thing in a general sense more than the specific sense. It's good for the sake of second chances, but there's still a sour taste left by the harsh suspension of Oklahoma State wideout Dez Bryant, whose transgression was far less offensive than Blount's.

I believe in second chances in most cases, especially if the student-athlete has at least met any requirements set forth by his school, which, according to word out of Eugene, Blount has surpassed.

Lastly, the argument that I've heard from some, that Blount shouldn't have been penalized so harshly because football is his meal ticket, that the sport is all he has and the university so coldly took that away from him, is ridiculous. Punishment is doled out according to the severity of an offensive act, not according to the level of inconvenience it will cause the perpetrator.

NOT TOO KEEN ON HOUSTON QB: It's impressive that Case Keenum is 4-0 in games decided by seven points or fewer this year. Being cool under pressure certainly adds a feather to his fedora, but let's remember one thing: Keenum plays for Houston, whose Cougars needed a field goal at the gun to avoid a loss to 4-5 Tulsa Saturday, about a month after giving up 58 points in a loss to 3-6 UTEP.

Such stories are rarely told about Heisman winners.

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Tuesday Notebook: Eugene, BCS and Sam Bradford

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

EUGENE, Oregon -- I made it.

After waking up Monday in Cincinnati, driving to Dayton, flying to Washington, D.C., flying to Phoenix, flying to Portland and crashing at a hotel there late last night, I drove down picturesque Interstate 5 this afternoon and arrived at my hotel at about 5 p.m. Pacific time.

I can tell the Canon 50D is going to be busier this week than my liver was last week. Great to see old friends in the Queen City, sure, but equally certain is how badly I need a break from all that fun, and signs point to such relief here in this sleepy pocket of the very scenic Pacific Northwest where I know exactly nobody.

Efforts to secure a credential for Saturday's USC at Oregon game have been shut down, but the investigation into a reasonably priced single ticket is pending. Not only will this game likely decide the PAC 10 champion, but it's Halloween and the fans at Autzen Stadium are notorious party people, so keep your eyes open for some good imagery this weekend.

Until then, it looks like I'll get some post-practice interviews Wednesday, but before I get that far, here are some other tidbits to consider this week:

+ Many are talking about how a USC win makes it a serious BCS National Championship game contender, but you know what? I'll say the same about the Trojans' opponent Saturday. Oregon is No. 10 in the BCS rankings, and beating Pete Carroll's highly ranked USC gang would shoot those Ducks squarely into the mix, and very deservedly so.

+ Wouldn't it be funny to see Oregon leapfrog ahead of Boise State in the BCS standings?

+ Iowa, Cincinnati, Boise State and TCU are the second-tier contenders for a spot in the BCS title game. Those entirely in control of their destiny include Florida, Alabama, Texas and most likely LSU and possibly USC. I think Florida or Alabama might actually need to lose twice for one of those second-tier squads to jump ahead. That means that heading into the last month of the season, no fewer than seven and maybe as many as nine losses are needed among the elite names currently among the Top 10 for, say, Iowa or Cincinnati to earn a trip to Pasadena. Such a feat would be just as dramatic than what happened down the stretch in 2007. But don't expect that scenario to materialize. I still think it's going to be Florida and Texas, though I'd prefer to watch Florida and USC.

+ Please stop with the second-guessing of Sam Bradford. Too often we hear the TV pretties talk about the importance of staying in school to get that education, if not to at least enjoy the college experience. Bradford did exactly that, and now Todd McShay, who I typically like, leads the pack of those repeatedly broadcasting the disappointing truths about millions of dollars lost. Tyler Hansbrough came back twice when experts thought he was ready for the next level, and the only reason people don't rip him is because he didn't get hurt. Don't go hindsight and blast a kid barely out of his teens for wanting more school. Bradford knows his decision to stay will cost him in the long run, but he'll still be a good NFL quarterback.

UC Coach Kelly Gives Latest on QB Tony Pike

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

CINCINNATI -- Tuesday was my first exposure to Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly. After giving an update on the health of star quarterback Tony Pike, he tried to close that part of the discussion with some good-natured ribbing of longtime TV guy Denny Janson, another Cincinnati funny guy.

But of course when the starting quarterback of your No. 5 team is injured, among this year's Heisman hopefuls and of course a local kid, ending a conversation about his injury isn't an easy thing to do. Reporters peppered Kelly with questions about Pike at the coach's weekly press luncheon on UC's campus Tuesday.

And then of course the conversation shifted to what the plan is for the week for Pike's two backups, Zach Collaros and Chazz Anderson.

Three Thoughts For Thursday

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

ATLANTA -- I've got some non-football items to address today. I was born here in Atlanta, but only lived here until I was 2 years old.

So mom wants me to visit our old church and maybe even the hospital where I was born. I think I'll also visit our old neighbors, the Pompilios. 

And I need to hit Best Buy because, and let me know what you think of this: The 1TB external hard drive I bought right before I left on this tour doesn't work. I saved some things to it each of the first two or three weeks, and then it just sat unused but well traveled for a month. It must have gotten kicked or something by the baggage handlers.

Anyway, the Best Buy people said they'd do a free exchange, in which case I'd get a new drive but would lose the content on the old one that I'd return to them. Or they'd ship it out for the data to be retrieved for several hundred dollars. It's really a no-win situation. Isn't the point of guaranteeing the products you sell to protect consumers from having to dig deep into their pockets to pay for fixes that shouldn't have to be made in the first place?

But before I set out for the day, here are three quick football takes:

+ Cincinnati can run the table in the Big East and still won't play for the national championship. Boise State's unimpressive win last night at Tulsa was the Broncos' last chance to lose; they're home free the rest of the way. And if Boise's rank in the BCS standings at the end of the season isn't higher than Cincinnati's, a one-loss SEC team's will be.

+ I won't wait until after the USC game to say this, but Jimmy Clausen (pictured, above) is not a Heisman Trophy candidate. I know I wrote this season that a good Notre Dame team is good for the sport, but we don't need to try so hard to make it seem that that squad actually is good. The Irish lost to a decent Michigan team and struggled to beat bad Purdue and Michigan State teams. Let's take it easy with Clausen, who's a nice talent and will certainly play on Sundays, but after USC's defense shuts him down, the calligrapher can take his name off the invite list for a December trip to New York.

+ I don't get sports radio. I understand that Atlanta is more of a pro town, but when the local screamers talk about college football, they lose me. I hate that our culture is so obsessed with perfection, that if Mark Richt (pictured, above) leads struggling Georgia to only seven or eight wins this year, he and/or his assistants need to be fired. The 'Dawgs are 2-3, but fans knew it would be hard to replace both Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno on offense. Sometimes bad experiences can lead to good growth; fans just need to be patient to let it happen naturally. Would replacing Richt really make for a much better season in 2010?

Monday Notebook

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

HOUSTON -- Sitting at Houston's Intercontinental Airport on a Monday afternoon, waiting for my flight to San Jose, I couldn't help but continue to be obsessed about college football. Here are some observations four weeks in:

+ It's turning into one great season indeed. I feel like we're on the way to a very 2007-like campaign full of upsets, unpredictability and an ever-changing Top 25.

+ Not that the Top 25 is the most important aspect of the sport, but if one thing has been proven so far about an early season poll ranking, it's that it's the one thing about the business of college football -- unlike the BCS bowl format -- that is truly for the fans. Perhaps the most significant thing that preseason rankings -- Cal? Ole Miss? -- do is warm things up for the bloggers and radio talk show hosts, and of course their audiences. College football fans might be the most passionate of all sports observers, and rankings in August and September give them plenty to cry about.

+ ESPN and others need to stop using the term "must-win" or "virtual must-win" in September. Notre Dame, anyone? 2007 proved you can lose -- and lose late in the season like Ohio State did -- and still play for the national championship. Already this season, we have four one-loss teams ranked among the top nine. And as I look at the calendar, it tells me it's not yet October.

+ I just got my credential confirmed for the Oct. 10 Florida game at LSU. Thanks go out to the fine people in the LSU Sports Information Department!

+ I covered Tony Pike one time some years back. Not on the field, but when I was freelancing some sports stories for the Cincinnati Enquirer. He was certainly a good quarterback at Reading High School, but at 7 feet tall and no more than 90 pounds, hardly seemed the type of guy who'd be a Heisman  Trophy candidate years later. But do you know what does seem quite Heisman-like at this point? Pike's stat line through four games, all Cincinnati Bearcat victories:

71 percent completion rate | 11 touchdowns | 2 interceptions | 306 ypg passing | 173 quarterback rating.

Kid is nice. Cincinnati is my alma mater, so I definitely root for the Bearcats, but those who claim the Bearcats are the best college team in the state of Ohio should still check themselves.