2012 Schedules

Here are some interesting observations about schedules in the 2012 season:

• 22 teams have ONLY FBS opponents on their schedules
• No SEC or ACC schools are among the twenty-two teams to play this type of schedule
• Five are from Conference USA
• Four are from the Big Ten
• 97 teams have ONE game against an FCS opponents on their schedules
• 4 teams have TWO games against FCS opponents on their schedules
• Florida State
• Cincinnati
• Pittsburgh
• Texas A&M
• 1 team plays TWO FCS opponents and TWO Division 2 opponents
• UT-San Antonio, which was rushed up to the FBS level to save the WAC
• 3 teams play a 13-game regular season
• New Mexico
• UNLV
• South Alabama
• The NCAA allows teams that play Hawaii on the road to play a 13-game schedule if they chose. The extra game helps generate revenue for the school to offset the expensive travel costs of flying a team to Hawaii. Hawaii is also allowed to play a 13-game schedule every year if it chooses. Hawaii will only play 12 games in 2012.
• Only one win over a FCS program counts towards bowl eligibility. Beating two FCS programs in a season gives a FBS school no advantage in getting to bowl eligibility. In fact in might make bowl eligibility tougher since they can only lose to 5 FBS teams, opposed to 6 FBS teams if they had played one or no FCS cupcakes.

On The Hot Seat: Week 14

1. David Bailiff—Rice went 4-8 this season and had its fourth sub-.500 season under Bailiff in his five seasons leading the program. Under Bailiff, the Owls have never won more than 3 conference games in a season except for the 2008 season where Rice won the Texas Bowl.

2. Robb Akey—The Vandals finished their fifth season under Akey, going 2-10. Akey has an overall winning percentage of .306 and a winning percentage of .259 against FBS opponents.

3. Mike Riley—Oregon State finished the season 3-9, losing the season finale to Oregon by a score of 49-21. The Beavers have now lost the last four Civil Wars. Mike Riley had his worst campaign as a head coach and has brought Oregon State fans back-to-back losing seasons.

4. David Cutcliffe—Cutcliffe is a good coach but in a very tough place to win. However, Duke seems to be paying him way too much money, $1.65 million per year, for providing four losing seasons. Furthermore, Cutcliffe’s Blue Devils are only 2-2 against FCS teams.

5. Derek Dooley—Dooley is 11-14 after two seasons. Surely Tennessee will need a lot of time to rebuild into the great program it once was, but Volunteer fans have a short fuse. Dooley will need to get at least 7 wins in the regular season next year to survive.

6. Mike Price—Mike Price finished his eighth season in El Paso with a 5-7 record. Each of Price’s last six seasons has featured more losses than wins. Price is 0-3 in bowl games during his eight-year tenure. How long will the Miners athletic department be complacent with subpar performance?

7. Frank Spaziani—Boston College is not going to a bowl game for the first time since the 1998 season. Boston College’s offense was atrocious this season, scoring more than 19 points only in three games. Spaziani’s record as a head coach plummeted to 20-19 after a 4-8 season.

8. Randy Edsall—Edsall inherited a 9-4 team and went 2-10 in his first season. One such loss was from a 38-7 thumping by Temple, Maryland’s first loss to Temple ever. Eight of the ten losses were by double-digit margins. Usually coaches shouldn’t be judged after one or two seasons, but Maryland has become the ACC’s blow-up doll.

9. Bobby Hauck—Hauck is 4-21 after his first two seasons. His winning percentage of .160 is the worst in the history of UNLV Rebels football.

10. DeWayne Walker—Walker’s Aggies are 9-29 in three seasons. Walker needs to show improvement in a WAC that becomes weaker next year with the departure of Hawaii, Fresno State, and Nevada.

Waiting list: Jeff Quinn, Dan Enos

Fired: Paul Wulff, Neil Callaway, Ron Zook, Steve Fairchild, Dennis Erickson, Turner Gill, Rob Ianello, Larry Porter, Rick Neuheisel, Mike Sherman, Pat Hill

More FCS Upsets

Two Mountain West Conference teams were upset by FCS teams today:

Sam Houston State 48
New Mexico 45 (OT)

Southern Utah 41
UNLV 16

New Mexico took the game to overtime but has been horrible since Mike Locksley took over. UNLV surprisingly got dominated a week after upsetting Hawaii 40-20 in the same stadium. There have been five FCS-FBS upsets so far during the 2011 season. The vast majority of the 2011 inter-division matchups have been played in the first four weeks of the season, as most games from here on out are conference games.

Helmet Stickers: Week 3

ACC—Clemson ended No. 21 Auburn’s 17-game winning streak and avenged its overtime loss to Auburn last year. The Clemson Tigers’ 624 yards was the most the program has ever put up on a SEC school. Clemson beat Auburn after losing the last fourteen meetings. It has been sixty years since the Clemson Tigers have beaten the Auburn Tigers. At one point, Clemson converted ten-straight third downs, going 13 for 18 overall on the day.

Big 10—Illinois got by an improved No. 22 Arizona State squad 17-14, despite putting up 240 yards of offense and giving up 362 yards to the Sun Devils. The Illini defense stepped up when it had to, tallying 6 sacks and 2 picks against Sun Devil quarterback Brock Osweiler. Illinois led 10-7 before the first quarter was over. Early in the fourth quarter, the Sun Devils took the lead 14-10 on a 14-yard quarterback rush. A 16-yard touchdown pass to Illinois wide receiver A.J. Jenkins put Illinois back on top 17-14 and was enough to get a big victory for a program that has struggled since going to the 2008 Rose Bowl.

Big 12—No. 1 Oklahoma’s resume for the BCS Championship Game is looking good after a 23-13 victory over No. 5 Florida State in Tallahassee. The Sooners defense was phenomenal: 6 sacks and held the Seminoles to 27 rushing yards on 26 attempts. Oklahoma defensive back Javon Harris had two interceptions, while linebacker Tom Wort added another. Florida State tied the game at 13-13 in the fourth quarter, but the Sooners added a touchdown and field goal in the final minutes to get the W.

Big East—Louisville took out rival Kentucky 24-17 on Saturday. Louisville last beat the Wildcats in 2006. Louisville quarterback Will Stein left the game early in the second quarter with a shoulder injury. True freshmen Teddy Bridgewater came in to replace him and completed 10 of 18 passes for two touchdown and no interceptions. The Cardinals are 2-1 and have two weeks to get ready for Marshall at home.

C-USA—UTEP prevailed over New Mexico State 16-10 in the Battle of I-15. UTEP kicker Dakota Warren had most of the Miners’ points: field goals of 42, 47, and 37 yards. The Miners only touchdown was set up by a 60-yard run off of a fake punt. UTEP’s defense played a great game, getting 6 sacks and holding NMSU to 16 yards rushing on 29 carries. The Miners have now beaten the Aggies three straight years.

MAC—Western Michigan routed in-state rival Central Michigan 44-14. Broncos wide receiver Jordan White had 13 catches for 177 yards, while quarterback Alex Carder threw for 355 yards, going 28 for 37. The Broncos have lost to the Chippewas each of the last five seasons. If Western Michigan can go on to defeat Eastern Michigan later in the season, it will win the Michigan MAC Trophy.

MWC—UNLV pulled a huge upset over Hawaii Saturday evening at Sam Boyd Stadium. The Rebels beat the Warriors 40-20, despite the Vegas line favoring Hawaii by 17.5 points. UNLV running back Tim Cornett ran in an 80-yard touchdown, the longest touchdown run for the Rebels in 22 years. The Rebels defense was opportunistic, recovering all four of Hawaii’s fumbles. The Rebels got their first win of the season and the biggest of the Bobby Hauck era.

Pac-12—Utah absolutely destroyed BYU in the latest installment of the Holy War. The Utes put up 54 points on the Cougars, while only allowing 10 points and 11 rushing yards with stout defense. The Utes forced the Cougars to turn over the football a whopping seven times. Young was embarrassed on its home field. Utes running back John White IV rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns. After losing 10-7 in the second quarter, Utah scored 47 unanswered points in the blowout.

SEC—Florida beat Tennessee for the seventh straight time Saturday in a 33-23 decision. Florida senior running back Chris Rainey was the MVP of the game. He rushed for 108 yards, caught for 104 yards, and blocked a punt. The Florida rush defense totally shut down the Volunteers run game. The Vols rushed for -9 yards in the contest. Luckily, solid play was able to overcome the Gators’ 150 yards of penalties.

Sun Belt—Florida International gets the Sun Belt helmet sticker for the third straight week. FIU was the only Sun Belt team to get a win over a FBS opponent, which was Central Florida this past Saturday. The Golden Panthers got by the Knights without stud wide out T.Y. Hilton. Hilton was injured. FIU is 3-0 for the first time in school history. The Panther defense put up six sacks on Central Florida’s Jeff Godfrey. One of those sacks came from FIU cornerback Tevin Blanchard late in the first half. It resulted in a fumble that was picked up by FIU defensive end Isame Faciane and returned 51 yards for the score.

WAC—Nevada defeated conference foe San Jose State by a score of 17-14. The Spartans were poised to get the go-ahead touchdown with 1:10 remaining in the game, but Nevada safety Duke Williams intercepted the Spartans’ third down pass into the end zone to clinch the victory for the Wolf Pack. Running back Mike Ball rushed for 124 yards and scored both of the Wolf Pack’s touchdowns.

Independents—The Black Knights got a quality 21-14 win over Northwestern, their first win of the season. All but 6 yards of Army’s offense came on the ground. Army quarterback Trent Steelman scored all three of the Black Knights’ touchdowns on runs, the third of which gave Army the lead with less than 3 minutes left. Victory was sealed after the defense stopped the Wildcats on 4^th and 1 on the Army 33-yard line. The Black Knights controlled the clock for over 40 minutes with their triple-option offense.

MWC Home Attendance Figures

	Air Force			Brigham Young
Falcon Stadium			LaVell Edwards Stadium
S4 Northwestern State	40,236		S4 Washington	63,771
S11 BYU	46,692		S25 Nevada	61,471
O2 Navy	47,565		O9 San Diego State	62,176
O9 Colorado State	41,547		O23 Wyoming	60,505
O30 Utah	37,211		O30 UNLV	61,283
N13 New Mexico	27,309		N20 New Mexico	59,077
AVERAGE	40,093		AVERAGE	61,381
	Colorado State			New Mexico
Hughes Stadium			University Stadium
S25 Idaho	23,925		S11 Texas Tech	25,734
O2 TCU	22,553		S18 Utah	23,940
O16 UNLV	30,753		O2 UTEP	22,511
O30 New Mexico	18,266		O23 San Diego State	16,488
N13 BYU	16,501		N6 Wyoming	18,017
			N23 TCU	18,640
AVERAGE	22,400		AVERAGE	20,888
	San Diego State			TCU
Qualcomm Stadium			Amon Carter Stadium
S4 Nicholls State	25,290		S11 Tennessee Tech	37,117
S25 Utah State	45,682		S18 Baylor	47,493
O16 Air Force	28,178		O9 Wyoming	38,081
N6 Colorado State	34,689		O16 BYU	40,416
N20 Utah	34,951		O23 Air Force	46,096
N27 UNLV	22,091		N13 San Diego State	45,694
AVERAGE	31,814		AVERAGE	42,483
	UNLV			Utah
Sam Boyd Stadium			Rice-Eccles Stadium
S4 Wisconsin	31,107		S2 Pittsburgh	45,730
S25 New Mexico	16,961		S11 UNLV	45,102
O2 Nevada	28,958		S25 San Jose State	45,099
O30 TCU	16,745		O23 Colorado State	45,029
N13 Wyoming	16,111		N6 TCU	46,522
N18 Air Force	13,790		N27 BYU	45,272
AVERAGE	20,612		AVERAGE	45,459
	Wyoming
War Memorial Stadium
S4 Southern Utah	20,043
S18 Boise State	29,014
S25 Air Force	22,413
O16 Utah	20,014
O30 San Diego State	16,252
N20 Colorado State	17,011
AVERAGE	20,791

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE BY SCHOOL

Brigham Young	61,381
Utah	45,459
TCU	42,483
Air Force	40,093
San Diego State	31,814
Colorado State	22,400
New Mexico	20,888
Wyoming	20,791
UNLV	20,612

Helmet Stickers: Week 11

ACC—The Hurricanes gave the Yellow Jackets their third consecutive loss in a game between two backup quarterbacks. Freshman quarterback Stephen Morris passed for 230 yards and a touchdown. He completed 10 of 18 attempts. Four different Hurricanes ran for touchdowns—Lamar Miller, Damien Berry, Mike James, and Graig Cooper—in the triumph.

Big 12—Just days after head coach Dan Hawkins gets fired, the Buffaloes rebound and paste the Cyclones 34-14 at Folsom Field under interim coach Brian Cabral, who has been a coach at Colorado since 1989. Colorado’s bowl hopes are still alive, if just barely. The Colorado defense played with intensity, picking up eight sacks and holding the Cyclones to -6 rushing yards. Colorado safety Patrick Mahnke sacked Iowa State’s Austen Arnaud in the fourth quarter, knocking Arnaud out of the game.

Big East—South Florida is bowl-eligible after an overtime win over Louisville on Saturday. Louisville tied the game at 21 apiece with 1:21 left. Louisville drove to the 4 yard line in overtime. On fourth and inches on the Bulls’ 4 yard line, the Cardinals tried a quarterback sneak instead of going for a field goal. The South Florida defense held and the sneak came up short. The Bulls ran the ball to the Cardinals’ 20 yard line and kicked a 37-yard field goal for the 24-21 win. South Florida wide receiver Lindsey Lamar returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown just before the half.

Big Ten—Northwestern defeated No. 13 Iowa by a score of 21-17 on a rainy Saturday in Evanston. The Wildcats entered the fourth quarter down 17-7. After Jeremy Ebert caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Dan Persa with 6:21 left to close the deficit to 3 points, Dan Persa connected with Demetrius Fields on a 20-yard touchdown pass with just 1:22 left in the game to take the lead. Northwestern safety Brian Peters intercepted Iowa’s Ricky Stanzi early in the fourth quarter to launch the rally. Northwestern has beaten Iowa in five of their last six meetings.

C-USA—Southern Mississippi dealt Central Florida its first conference loss in a 31-21 contest at BH Networks Stadium in Orlando. The Golden Eagles went 11 for 16 on third downs. Southern Miss quarterback Austin Davis threw for 264 yards and four touchdowns. The Golden Eagle defense contained the Knights’ dual threat quarterback Jeff Godfrey by only allowing him to rush for 6 net yards on 12 rushing attempts. Southern Miss prevented UCF from scoring between 5:40 in the first quarter through 4:21 in the fourth quarter—a stretch of over forty-six minutes.

MAC—Western Michigan defeated Eastern Michigan at Waldo Stadium in a game that featured 1,009 yards of offense. Broncos quarterback Carder threw for 349 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions, going 17 for 21. Broncos running back Brian Fields rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns and caught a third touchdown. Receivers Jordan White and Juan Nunez each had over 100 yards receiving. The former caught one touchdown pass, while the latter had two touchdowns in the 45-30 cross-state rivalry.

MWC—UNLV gets a helmet sticker this week, routing Wyoming 42-16. The Rebels ended a five-game skid and got their second win of the season. Rebels quarterback Omar Clayton threw for 163 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman running back Tim Cornett caught one of those touchdown passes and rushed for an additional three scores. UNLV cornerback Will Chandler picked off Austyn Carta-Samuels in the fourth quarter.

Pac-10—Washington State got its first FBS win of the season! The Cougars snapped a sixteen-game Pac-10 losing streak dating back to the 2008 Apple Cup by defeating Oregon State in Corvallis on Saturday. It was the first time Washington State held a team scoreless in the first half since outscoring Stanford 10-0 in 2007. Cougars quarterback Jeff Tuel completed 10 of 15 throws for 157 yards. Tuel also rushed 18 times for 79 yards.

SEC—South Carolina clinched the SEC East with its 36-14 win over Florida. Gamecocks running back Marcus Lattimore ran for a career-high 212 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Stephen Garcia threw for 156 yards, ran for 28 yards, and accounted for no turnovers. The Florida Gators were dealt their first three-game home losing streak since 1989. South Carolina got only its second win over Florida since 1939.

Sun Belt—Florida International set a school record for rushing with 448 yards in its 52-35 win over perennial Sun Belt powerhouse Troy. Running back Darriet Perry rushed for 186 yards. Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton rushed for 158 yards. Running back Darrian Mallary rushed for 118 yards. It was the first home loss for Troy since 2007 and puts the Trojans in jeopardy of not getting at least a share of the Sun Belt conference title for the first season since 2005. The Golden Panthers moved into first place in the Sun Belt standings with the win.

WAC—The Wolf Pack got by the Bulldogs 35-34 in a back-and-forth game with seven lead changes. Colin Kaepernick threw for 171 yards and ran for 153 yards. Wolf Pack running back Vai Taua rushed for 89 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 4:51 left in the game. The victory marked the first time since 1945-49 that Nevada has won three straight games against Fresno State. Nevada is now 9-1 and can capture the WAC title with a win over Boise State on November 26.

                                 

Independents—After losses to Navy and Tulsa and a bye week, Notre Dame destroyed No. 14 Utah 28-3. The Fighting Irish held the Utes to a season-low three points and ended an 11-game losing streak against Top 25 teams. It was the Fighting Irish’s first victory over a ranked opponent since beating Penn State in 2006. In his first start, Tommy Rees looked much improved, throwing three touchdown passes and no interceptions. The Irish defense held the Utes’ offense to a season-low 265 yards. In the battle between Catholics and Mormons, the Catholics dominated. Notre Dame students stormed the field at the end of the game.