Chicago Sun-Times

Firing of Lake Kiffin should put rumor mill into overdrive

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 22:04:33 -0500

Hope you have a high tolerance for coaching-job rumors. If not, it’s going to be extremely annoying for a while. Lane Kiffin was fired by USC in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and the speculation about who will replace him already is at a fever pitch. All the coaches being named have jobs, so it could be December before someone is hired. That won’t stop writers and fans from obsessing over this story until then. Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald is one of several young, successful college coaches who will be asked by reporters this week to clarify their commitments to …

Look for Illini QB Aaron Bailey to play bigger role

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 14:30:47 -0500

Five things I don’t want to know yet about Saturday’s Illinois-Miami (Ohio) game in Champaign but am afraid I already do: 1. Miami (0-3), owner of the least-productive offense (149.3 yards per game) in the country, will set a new season high in points. Of course, all it’ll take is 15 to do that — or fewer than half the 34 Southern Illinois scored on the Illini. 2. Illini true freshman quarterback Aaron Bailey will throw his first pass. Offensive coordinator Bill Cubit has an expanded package of plays for Bailey, who thus far has only run the ball. Bailey …

Urban Meyer turns reins over to Braxton Miller as Ohio State outlasts Wisconsin

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 00:22:00 -0500

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cue sappy music and a montage of Kenny Guiton highlights from Ohio State’s soft out-of-conference schedule. The fifth-year senior’s bid to share snaps with Braxton Miller officially ended Saturday when the Buckeyes defeated Wisconsin 31-24 at home. It lasted about as long as Jimmy Carter’s bid for re-election. Coach Urban Meyer said in the week leading up to the game that he would play both quarterbacks — and he did. He just wasn’t clear that Guiton would see all his reps as the Buckeyes’ holder on field goals. His grasp on that job is nearly as tight …

Georgia, LSU real threats to Alabama’s SEC, national reigns

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 23:56:00 -0500

The popular narrative about the Southeastern Conference hasn’t changed much through its seven-year reign atop college football. Run the ball, play defense like your read end’s on fire, hit like Chattahoochee-bound locomotives and, if you somehow can survive a schedule filled with teams built just like you, make it to the BCS title game. From there, the rest is easy. Alabama followed this model to a T — perfected it, really — in finishing No. 1 three of the last four seasons. The Crimson Tide (4-0) still owns the top ranking after blanking No. 21 Ole Miss 25-0. Its running …

ND’s running game comes to life

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 02:42:14 -0500

IN BRIEF Running game comes to life with 220 yards SOUTH BEND, Ind. —George Atkinson III broke free for an 80-yard run on Notre Dame’s first offensive play in the second half. The touchdown run was just part of a revitalized running game for the Irish on Saturday. Notre Dame finished with a season-high 220 rushing yards. The team hadn’t cracked 100 rushing yards since the season opener against Temple Atkinson had a career-high 148 rushing yards and one touchdown. “I just saw our linemen blocking and I did my job,” Atkinson said. Atkinson’s run got the Irish within 21-14 …

Three victories by Illini breed confidence

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 02:41:52 -0500

CHAMPAIGN — Yeah, but … That was the start of a lot of sentences Saturday as Illinois was demolishing Miami (Ohio) 50-14. Yeah, but it’s just a low-rung MAC team. Yeah, but it’s still September. Yeah, but the Big Ten season will be a different animal. All true, but none of it worrisome to the Illini, who open conference play next weekend at Nebraska. “We’re very confident,” quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase said. Given their 14-game league losing streak and their often-lifeless play in 2012, the Illini were widely predicted to finish in last place in the Leaders Division once again. Now? …

NIU roars out of the gate, beats Purdue 55-24

Sun, 29 Sep 2013 02:41:28 -0500

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — After last week’s victory against Eastern Illinois, Northern Illinois safety Jimmie Ward said his team needed to “start the fight.” Despite starting the season unbeaten, NIU has been plagued by slow starts. That wasn’t the case Saturday afternoon, as the Huskies lit up the Ross-Ade Stadium scoreboard in a 55-24 victory against Purdue. NIU’s 31-point win tied a Mid-American Conference record for margin of victory over a Big Ten school. “That was our mantra all week, wasn’t it Jimmie? We need to start it,” NIU coach Rod Carey said after the win, looking over at Ward …

Rout of winless Miami affords Illini the chance to have fun

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 20:19:20 -0500

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — They played this one to the end, a 50-14 Illinois victory, because, well, those are the rules. But it certainly was over by halftime, when the Illini (3-1) led Miami (Ohio) 36-0. It probably was a done deal even sooner than that, come to think of it. Early in the second quarter, quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase found tight end Evan Wilson for a leaping touchdown grab that gave the Illini a 13-0 lead. That’s when coach Tim Beckman and offensive coordinator Bill Cubit injected some extra fun into the game, as they’ve done often this season. A two-point …

Oklahoma’s balanced attack presents challenge to Notre Dame

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 02:14:38 -0500

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Oklahoma had a bye last Saturday, so coach Bob Stoops spent a portion of his time watching the Notre Dame-Michigan State game. He thought this Irish team resembled the one that went to Norman and beat the Sooners 30-13 last season. “They are a very similar team, as far as the way they like to play on offense and defense. Their schemes are all the same,” Stoops said. “They’ve got good athletes and are well-disciplined in everything that they do. I see a very similar [team], watching them, as they were a year ago.” The traditional …

Huskies seek another bone in game at Purdue

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 00:28:40 -0500

DeKALB — Sean Evans was on the Ross-Ade Stadium sidelines in 2009, witnessing first-hand one of the gutsiest calls anyone in attendance will ever see. Evans, then a true freshman cornerback who would end up taking a redshirt year, watched as former head coach Jerry Kill called a fake punt from NIU’s own 16-yard line. It paid off, as running back Justin Anderson took a direct snap and ran 11 yards for a first down. The call helped the Huskies run out the clock and hang on for a 28-21 win over Purdue. “We had belief. That’s one thing that …

TELANDER: Big Ten commish Jim Delany sees no reason to change

Fri, 27 Sep 2013 15:15:18 -0500

Jim Delany is no dummy. If you rule a multibillion-dollar sports conference that pays you well over $1 million a year, with loads more cash on the horizon, why would you ever want to change your format? Indeed, if you can govern something called the Big Ten, which has 12 schools and soon will have 14, and you have no problem with the jabberwocky of calling 12 or 14 ‘‘10,’’ then why not relax, sit back on a giant mushroom and smoke from a hookah like the bloated Caterpillar in Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland? Delany, the longtime Big Ten commissioner, …

Ohio State vs. Wisconsin served better when it’s bitter

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 22:13:15 -0500

The ugly truth is, Urban Meyer and Gary Andersen really like each other. Although they spent only one season together as coaches — 2004, when Meyer’s Utah team, with Andersen on the defensive staff, went 12-0 and won the Fiesta Bowl — they clicked and have remained in close contact. ‘‘I couldn’t be more proud of who he is as a person,’’ Meyer said over the summer. ‘‘It’s an important relationship to me,’’ Andersen said this week. There’s a word for guys like these two: friends. Sickening, isn’t it? The Big Ten needs the coaches of Ohio State and Wisconsin …

Illini offense has shown flashes but needs to be better

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 21:22:59 -0500

Two Sundays ago, back on campus a day after Illinois’ 34-24 loss to Washington at Soldier Field, senior quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase knocked on offensive coordinator Bill Cubit’s office door. “How did it look?” Scheelhaase asked, knowing the veteran coach had burned the midnight oil reviewing game tape. “Not good,” Cubit told him. “But we’ll get better.” Will they? The performance of their offense merely is the single biggest key to the Illini’s season. Three games in, Illinois (2-1) ranks 113th nationally, and last in the Big Ten, in total defense, allowing 492.7 yards per game. Washington’s offense went wild on …

Kain Colter makes statement by promoting players movement

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 21:22:59 -0500

Kain Colter could have sought permission from Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald before wearing two wristbands that read “APU” during the Wildcats’ 35-21 victory over Maine on Saturday. But that would have defeated the purpose. Colter is at the forefront of a movement called “All Players United.” He is a part of weekly conference calls that include players from across the nation. On one of those calls, it was determined that last Saturday players would wear the wristbands during their games. The movement is an advocate for a number of hot-button issues in collegiate athletics. While no issue is most important, …

Small colleges: St. Xavier continues run of rugged foes vs. St. Francis

Wed, 25 Sep 2013 21:22:59 -0500

The football season is three games old, but it already has been eventful for St. Xavier. “We jumped right into the fire, “ coach Mike Feminis said. “First the defending national champions, then a very good Division II team and then a team ranked in the top 25.” In reverse order, the Cougars came away with a 42-10 romp against Robert Morris, which had been ranked No. 22 going into the game on Saturday. The previous game was a 51-20 loss to the University of Indianapolis, ranked 22nd in NCAA Division II. The Cougars opened with a 31-24 overtime victory …

Notre Dame ready for another dual

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 22:26:20 -0500

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Temple quarterback Connor Reilly finished as the team’s leading rusher against Notre Dame. In Week 2, Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner gave the Irish fits. The next week, Purdue quarterback Rob Henry was effective through the air, but not much of a factor running the ball. Notre Dame successfully bottled up Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook last Saturday. All four of No. 22 Notre Dame’s opponents have had quarterbacks capable of doing damage through the air and on the ground. This week, the Irish are preparing for another dual-threat quarterback in No. 14 Oklahoma’s Blake Bell. “From …