воскресенье, 16 сентября 2012 г.

Ohio State brings up more tales of woe from Paterno.(SPORTS) - Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

The marquee matchup in college football Saturday has No. 4 Penn State playing at No. 3 Ohio State. And the matchup has Joe Paterno sounding like a broken record.

Paterno, the Penn State coach, said his team won't have to play much better than it did in beating Wisconsin 23-20 on Saturday.

'Not much better,' Paterno said. 'Much, much, much better. We're going to have to play much, much better for us to stay in it. And even then, we might not be able to stay with them.'

The oddsmakers seem to agree - Ohio State is a 10 1/2-point favorite.

One for the books

In Gary Barnett's book that was published after Northwestern won the Big Ten title and went to the Rose Bowl, the Wildcats coach noted that only one Michigan coach shook his hand after a stunning 19-13 upset victory over the Wolverines last season.

The Wolverines (No. 5 CNN/USA Today; No. 6 AP) play at Northwestern on Saturday, but Michigan coach Lloyd Carr hasn't been burning the midnight oil reading books.

'I only read [books on] The New York Times bestseller list,' Carr said. 'Is there anything more boring than coaches' books?'

But Carr is remaining fairly mum about the lack of handshakes a year ago.

'I'll clarify all those conflicts we had when I write my book,' Carr said. 'We really don't have any relationship other than recruiting and playing against them. That's pretty much it.'

McCullough replaced

Wisconsin running back Carl McCullough, a junior from Cretin-Derham Hall who was the Badgers' leading rusher last season, has been replaced as a starter by 260-pound freshman Ron Dayne.

The Badgers are idle Saturday before playing at Ohio State on Oct. 12, but Dayne was promoted past McCullough after gaining 129 yards and scoring two touchdowns in the loss to Penn State.

'I was very pleased with how he ran and how he handled himself,' Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said of Dayne. 'He caught the ball well out of the backfield, too.'

Rough debut

Quarterback Tim Couch was one of the most highly recruited players in the country coming out of high school, and he surprised many by deciding to attend Kentucky. He was referred to as a savior for the struggling Wildcats' football fortunes, and was spoon-fed playing time in Kentucky's first three games.

Then he got his starting debut - against No. 1 Florida. His first pass was intercepted, his first completion went for 1 yard, and the next lost 10 yards. In all, Couch was 6-for-18 for 13 yards.

'The deck was stacked against him,' said Florida defensive back Lawrence Wright. 'But he's going to be a great quarterback.'

Danny Wuerffel, Couch's counterpart at Florida, also was understanding. 'That had to be a tough experience, to come here for your first start,' he said.

Couch wasn't despondent.

'There are little things you can pick up,' Couch said. 'I learned a lot from my first start and I'm looking forward to the next one.'

Lots of luck. Kentucky plays at Alabama (ranked No. 5 in total defense) on Saturday.

Extra points - Oklahoma (0-3) is sinking fast. Out of 111 Division 1-A teams, the Sooners rank 107th in pass defense, 96th in scoring defense, 76th in total defense and 56th in rushing defense. If the Sooners - who still have to face Kansas, Texas, Baylor, Kansas State, Nebraska and Texas A&M - don't win six of eight games, it will be their third straight losing season, and that hasn't happened since 1931-34. - Although his team won 13-0 Saturday, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden was impressed with North Carolina's personnel. 'Don't let me forget to call my agent friends,' Bowden said. 'I've got to get Mack [UNC coach Brown] some agent problems. I'm going to start shooting those agents up to Chapel Hill.'