Ray Holloman Posts

Even for Iowa, this was a tightrope walk on dental floss, Russian roulette with a double barrel shotgun, riding the demolition derby on a dirt bike.

Even for Iowa, the team that three times has trailed after the end of the third quarter only to rally, that has won games both with a touchdown and a blocked field goal as time expired, a team that must have a separate equipment truck just to haul all its rabbits' feet, this safely qualified as flirting with disaster.

Even for Iowa, Saturday's 42-24 win over Indiana safely qualifies as a comeback.

"Bottom line," said Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz, speaking awfully clearly for a man whilstling past the graveyard, "the guys are finding a way to get it done."

And when it was over, the backlash against the team everyone loves to bash came fast and furious . Even for Iowa.

More than two week before Stanford kicks off its season on the Friday the 13th, the Cardinal is already swimming in bad luck.

Head coach Johnny Dawkins suspended star sophomore Jeremy Green indefinitely late Wednesday night, citing unspecified team rule violations. The suspension comes just one week after the team's top freshman, Andy Brown, was lost to the season to an ACL tear.

The school provided no further information on the suspension or its possible length.

Equally unclear is how the Cardinal will replace Green's production.

Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant will not have his eligibility restored this season, the NCAA announced Tuesday night.

Bryant, a preseason All-American, was suspended four weeks ago by Oklahoma State after the school learned he had lied to the NCAA about a meeting with former NFL star Deion Sanders. The NCAA later ruled him ineligible Oct. 7.

"I made a mistake by not being entirely truthful when meeting with the NCAA," Bryant said in a statement at the time. I sincerely regret my mistake and apologize to my teammates, coaches, OSU fans and the NCAA."

Oklahoma State is appealing the ruling and expects a decision next week.

Bryant's eligibility will be restored by the NCAA next September, though the junior is expected to be among the first wide receivers selected in the NFL Draft.

For Alabama, it came down to a physics problem.

In the last seconds of what suddenly became a white-knuckle 'Third Saturday' tilt, Terrence Cody, the Crimson Tide's city block of a nose tackle, punched through the Tennessee line and came face to foot with Vols' kicker Daniel Lincoln. All that was left to was to see whether something the weight of an upright piano could rise high enough into the air to bring down a 44-yard-field goal try.

So, when the would-be game-winning kick caromed off Cody's armpit, sealing Alabama's 12-10 win, the nose tackle ripped off his helmet with two hands and let loose a massive yelp that must have echoed from Tuscaloosa and Tuscany.

He hadn't just beaten Tennessee. He'd done a number on Isaac Newton too.

ESPN football analyst Bob Griese apologized twice Saturday for a comment he made about NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya during ESPN's telecast of Ohio State and Minnesota.

To promote Sunday's NASCAR race in Martinsville, ESPN displayed a graphic with the top five drivers in the points race. Color commentator Chris Spielman asked "Where's Montoya?"

"Out eating a taco," Griese responded.

If there was anything more remarkable than the tone-deaf nature of Griese's comments about the Colombian driver, it was that the remark was so audible, given how far Griese had just wedged his foot into his mouth.

West Virginia wore his number. Connecticut brought his jersey and helmet to the sideline. The Morgantown crowd roared in his honor and stood silent in his memory.

Six days after UConn cornerback Jasper Howard died from a stab wound suffered after a school dance, two Big East rivals kept his memory very much alive.

The Huskies played their heavy hearts out and paid tribute to Howard with everything except a win.

"I just feel empty,'' Connecticut coach Randy Edsall said. "The kids played their hearts out and did what we asked them to do. This is a special group of kids. We've got to take this and just learn how to play like this all the time.''

This is the college football week for those who like their baseball games as pitcher's duels, their bowl games in the snow, and want all their films starring Kirsten Dunst.

This isn't the week for those who like 'em ugly. Sexy matchups need not apply.

Only the Mountain West tilt between BYU and TCU, and the 24 vs. 25 battle of Oklahoma and Kansas pit ranked teams against each other.

But in college foootball every week matters. So join us in a live chat to discuss whether the Horned Frogs can mount a threat for the BCS title game, whether Dan Mullen can upset his former coach and take down the Gators, and where Alabama will live up to its No. 1 ranking in is "Third Saturday" tilt with Tennessee.

Live chat is after the jump.

In a sport known for its toughness, and at a school whose logo has a five o'clock shadow and a tougher-than-a-bar-brawl growl, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen seems almost out of place.

He smiles often, speaks in positives, and exudes nice-guy charisma to the point that you might expect him to have a beeper just in case an elderly woman needs help crossing a street somewhere in Starkville.

Were there not ample evidence to the contrary, it might be hard to believe he's the protégé of Urban Meyer, the brash Florida coach whom he'll face for the first time Saturday.

He is, generally speaking, a nice peg in a surly hole.

But for one night, Mullen, should be perfectly in character. No one was ever cut out for the role of student outsmarting the teacher quite like Meyer's former offensive coordindator.

With a gentle tug on a blue baseball cap, Kyrie Irving gave the grandest gesture of the past few seasons that Duke can still finish what it starts in the recruiting world..

Irving, a 6-foot-1 point guard from Elizabeth, N.J., gave a verbal commitment to the Blue Devils at a press conference televised live on ESPNU Thursday. The fifth-ranked player in the 2010 class according to Scout.com, Irving solves two problems for the Blue Devils, giving Mike Krzyzyewski its first playmaking point guard in six season and proving that, after whiffing on select targets like Patrick Patterson (Kentucky), Greg Monroe (Georgetown) and another electric point guard, Kenny Boyton (Florida), Duke still knows its way around the recruiting trail.

Irving credited his relationship with the Duke staff for his decision.

"When I went on my official visit, it felt like home," Irving said. "And it's the place for me."

Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins may not be the unluckiest man in college basketball right now, but with the way his luck is turning, he can probably get the poor sap that is to buy him a beer.

On the day Dawkins received a verbal commitment from the prize of his 2010 recruiting class, the second-year Cardinal coach watched Andy Brown, the star of the 2009 class go down with a knee injury. Monday night, the school confirmed that the ACL tear will cost Brown the season.

"This is an unfortunate loss for our program and I know how much of a disappointment this is for Andy," Dawkins said. "Andy had worked very hard leading up to the start of practice and we were expecting him to contribute this year. I wish him well in his recovery and look forward to having him back next season."

For Brown, a mobile 6-foot-8 forward who starred at Southern California basketball power Mater Dei, the injury was the second ACL tear in 10 months.

For Stanford, an all-but-certain shoo-in for the back of the line in Pac-10 predictions, it was another blow to the immediate future of the program.