The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 21, 2005, Page B3, Image 13
IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN
Instant replay has no place dragging out college football games
Michael Conroy /The Associated Press
Southern California’s Dwayne Jarrett, right, outruns Notre Dame’s Ambrose Wooden on Saturday.
Last weekend’s epic
) thrillers rank among
game’s best days ever
Upon further review, instant
replay is a bad idea.
It is ironic that the best game
of the year, more like the best
game of the new century, took
place without the use of instant
replay.
Southern Cal’s
34-31 victory
against Notre
Dame was
thrilling from
start to finish,
k Because the ^ “
f Trojans were the
visiting team and Graduate
with Notre “udmtin
„ , . sports ana
Dame being an entertainment
independent, management
Trojan coach
Pete Carroll was given the
option of whether replay would
be used. Believing that replay
disrupts the game, Carroll
chose against it.
The experiment began in the
Big Ten last year and was
adopted by nine of the 11
major Division I football
conferences, including the
| SEC, for use this season. The
NCAA will soon decide
whether to make instant replay
a permanent fixture of the
game.
Let’s hope they do not.
The most common mantra
of those supporting replay is
that it is about “getting it
right.” I find this laughable,
because the NCAA fails to
institute a playoff system for
determining a true national
champion. They want to get
individual plays right, but they
can’t even make sure they get
the entire season right.
Southern Cal is pretty
familiar with this concept. After
finishing the 2003 season
ranked No. 1 in both major
polls, the BCS computers chose
to rank them third, thus
locking them out of the
national championship game.
The Trojans were forced to
share the title with LSU that
year.
Another major issue I have is
the same one that Pete Carroll
has — it disrupts the flow of
the game. Televising a game
disrupts it enough, and replay
threatens to make it
unbearable. Television is a must
for college football fanatics, but
a line has to be drawn at some
point. Imagine the following
scenario: A team scores a
touchdown, then kicks the
extra point, cue commercial,
after commercial the team kicks
off to the other team, cue
another commercial (this
actually happens quite often),
after this commercial, play
resumes, then cue an instant
replay review.
Another flaw with replay is
that it still does not ensure the
correct call is made. In the final
quarter of the Georgia
Vanderbilt game Saturday,
Georgia quarterback D.J.
Shockley threw a pass to
receiver Bryan McClendon that
McClendon obviously trapped
against the ground. The play
was called a touchdown.
In the West Virginia
Louisville game, West Virginia
attempted an onside kick while
trailing 24-14. Before Louisville
receiver Jimmy Riley could
catch the ball, he was leveled by
West Virginia players, the ball
popped loose and West Virginia
recovered. The referees failed to
enforce a rule that states a
player must be given the
opportunity to field an airborne
ball. West Virginia went on to
score, later winning the game in
overtime.
College football has done
just fine without instant replay
for well more than a hundred
years. The NCAA should find
other ways to ensure the game
is played fairly.
How about just making sure
the referees know the rules and
have their glasses on?
Week six of college football
was one of the best in recent
memory. The Southern Cal
Notre Dame game lived up to
its billing as an epic battle
between two tradition-rich
programs. On Friday night,
56,000 people showed up in
Notre Dame Stadium for the
pep rally. The atmosphere
during the game Saturday was
electric, and Matt Leinart’s last
second touchdown put him
right back on track for a
potential Heisman repeat. The
Trojans are now likely to
remain undefeated heading
into the final week of the season
for the inter-Los Angeles batde
against UCLA.
Week 6 also proved to be a
milestone for other teams
trvine to remain undefeated.
Penn State, a week after a
strong win against Ohio State,
fell to Michigan in the Big
House, 25-27, on a last second
touchdown pass by Michigan
quarterback
Chad Henne.
Alabama
struggled
against Ole
Miss before
kicking a last
second field
goal to win 10
7.
UCLA
trailed
Washington
State 21-0 in
the first half.
UCLA
quarterback
Drew Olson
threw for five
touchdown
passes for the Bruins, who
rallied for a 44-41 overtime
win, which included a 17-point
fourth quarter.
Week 7 matchups:
Texas vs Texas Tech: Vince
Young and the second-ranked
Longhorns face their toughest
test since defeating Ohio State
in week two. Texas Tech
averages more
points per game
than many
basketball teams.
Prediction:
Texas 47 Texas
Tech 35
LSU vs
Auburn: Auburn
has returned to
form since
stumbling
against Georgia
Tech in week
one. LSU is
coming off a
huge win against
the Florida
Gators. The
winner will
challenge Alabama later in the
season for a spot in the SEC
championship game in Atlanta.
Prediction: Auburn 27 LSU
21
Alabama vs Tennessee: It has
been several years since
Alabama was the higher ranked
•team heading into the annual
“third week in October” rivalry
against Tennessee. Tennessee’s
offensive woes continue after
being exposed by Georgia two
weeks ago. Alabama is trying to
find a playmaker to replace
injured wide receiver Tyrone
Prothro.
Prediction: Alabama 17
Tennessee 12
UCLA vs Oregon State:
UCLA had been the surprise of
the PacTen this season. Oregon
State at 4-2 presents a difficult
challenge for the Bruins. Many
points will be scored.
Prediction: UCLA 42
Oregon State 36
Southern Cal vs Washington:
Washington is a far cry from
the program that once
dominated the Pac Ten. Don’t
expect the Trojans to stumble
against the Huskies.
Prediction: Southern Cal 58
Washington 17
Week 5 predictions: 4-2
Overall: 22-9
Laura-Joyce Gough /THE GAMKCOCK
Laura-Joyce Gough/TWY GAMECOCK
All I know is Kentucky is really; really bad
1. Will Sidney Rice
continue his streak of
consecutive games with a
touchdown reception?
If you’re wondering, this
question has officially
reached superstition status. I
honestly feel that if I don’t
include it and Sidney Rice
fails to catch a touchdown
pass, it will be my fault.
Therefore I will continue to
include this question until
I further notice.
Anyway, Sidney will
continue to get more and
more attention from defenses
each week. Luckily,
Vanderbilt is ranked No. 11 in
the conference in pass
defense. The only team in the
SEC that is worse defending
the pass than Vanderbilt is
Kentucky.
Have I mentioned Kentucky
is horrible? What? Two of my
previous three columns were
dedicated to. pointing that out?
Oh, OK, thanks.
>2. Is this the same old
Vanderbilt?
Vanderbilt started 4-0 and
had Gamecock Assistant Sports
Editor Alex Riley driving the
Official Vanderbilt Bandwagon
down Assenibly Street. Since
then, they have been 0-3 with a
loss to Middle Tennessee State
University. That’s a kick in the
with Jake Broom
Third-year political science
student
VANDERBILT
pants.
Vanderbilt is led by senior
quarterback Jay Cutler, who
was voted by the coaches as
preseason All-SEC first team.
Can you imagine how Jay
Cutler must feel? Being an
All-SEC quarterback playing
for Vanderbilt is like being
Emeril and getting a job
cooking in the GMP. It’s like
Eva Longoria being in an
arranged marriage to Drew
Carey. It’s like ... OK, I’ll
stop.
3. Does Homecoming
actually matter?
I’ve never really understood
Homecoming. It only serves as
a distraction, and other than
an excuse to make T-shirts and
coozies with things such as
“Cocktoberfest” and “Spurs
and Struts” printed on them, 1
see no point. (Quick tangent:
Has anybody ever actually
paid money for a coozy? It
seems like twice a week, I’m
going to the Russell House
and somebody is shoving a
coozy in my face. Listen, if I
wanted a coozy, I’d come get it
from you. I don’t need
anything else separating me
from Pandini’s. Not you, not
your fliers and certainly not
your coozies.)
4. Have we found the right
combination on the offensive
line?
The starting lineup of Jabari
Levey, Freddy Saint-Preux,
Chris White, Na’Shan
Goddard and Jamon Meredith
produced the best performance
of the year against Kentucky. I
think the most important word
in that sentence was
“Kentucky.”
If USC played Kentucky
every week, our offensive line
would be foil of All-Americans.
The only problem is that
when Carolina plays teams
with above-average defensive
fronts, Blake Mitchell looks
about as comfortable in the
pocket as an emo dude trying
on his first pair of women’s
jeans. (What is the deal with
that? I might have to dedicate
an entire column to this
phenomenon at some point
in time. Don’t say I didn’t
warn you.) If they don’t
continue the improvement
big-time, Tennessee’s
defensive line might actually
eat him alive on national
television.
I hope USC has found the
right combination, and so does
Blake Mitchell’s ankle.
5. What will Syvelle Newton
do next?
Syvelle Newton has gone
from backup wide receiver to
backup quarterback to
starting quarterback to
starting wide receiver
to backup quarterback
to backup tailback all in
a matter of three
seasons. jjd
On Saturday, there is a Vj
good chance that he could ™
throw a pass, catch a pass, jr
hand the ball off and
receive a hand off, all in the A
same game. ^
Carolina football hasn’t 9
seen versatility like that g
since Steve Tanneyhill won l
National Mullet of the Year, 1
wrestled a rabid bear to the
death, cured the common
cold and led the Gamecocks
to a victory all in one
Saturday afternoon.
OK, I made that last
sentence up.
; 'Vanderbilt is on the slate, and
Turman is excited about the
contest.
“It’s a game that we really
want to win,” he said.
“Especially the seniors; it’s our
last Homecoming football
game, so it’s going to be a
special game for us.”
If the game gets close and it
comes down to one play at the
end, Turman, who. has never
backed down from a
challenge; knows exactly what
he wants to do with the ball.
“Call a dive play, y’know,
just a straight-ahead run. Give
me the ball and let me run
behind a stack of guys. You
- know, I’m down for that.”
When Carolina looks for its
fourth win of the season and
second consecutive victory
Saturday, No. 32 will be, as
always, a pillar of stability ready
for whatever the Commodores
might throw his way.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocksports@gwm. sc. edu
ON THEI
i COVER i
Teaser photos j
courtesy of The :
Associated Press, j
I Nick Esares, •
Cover photos \
^ courtesy of Mike :
% Safran j
wCover designed by •
Laura-Joyce :
H Gough/:
If The Gamecock j
11 I I
_
TURIDAI) • COnTinUED PROR16