A stroll through college football’s Land of Oz

  • John Sleeper / College Sports Writer
  • Thursday, October 4, 2001 9:00pm
  • Sports

Listening to the Washington Husky band practice various snippets of “The Wizard of Oz” this week made us look back at a couple of interesting items of the week.

Gotta love that flick. Love whoever played that Wicked Witch of the West, who scared the devil out of me when I was 7. Loved the talking apple trees. The fake wizard, with the smoke and fire act that made the lion shake like Charles Frederick on a punt return.

It all just took me back. Hated the music, but the special effects just sent me, even then.

I remember when friends of mine used to tell me that you truly haven’t seen “The Wizard of Oz” until you’ve prepared yourself with certain mind-altering substances, which also must explain the actions of the following subjects:

If I Only Had a Heart: Florida coach Steve Spurrier ran the score up to 52-0 on Mississippi State Saturday, then had the nerve to say he did it for his (gulp!) assistant equipment manager.

Spurrier kept throwing the ball in the waning moments of the game, finally scoring the last touchdown with 1:45 left, because, he said, one Clay Carter got cold-cocked by a Bulldog fan last year while trying to retrieve a Florida football after a 47-35 Mississippi State win.

Then Spurrier gave Carter the game ball.

Wow.

On one hand, at least Spurrier admitted he’s a jerk. But to run up the score because of an assistant equipment manager? Puh-leeze.

On the other hand, it couldn’t have happened to a better guy than Jackie (“I bit off the testicles of a live bull to rev up my team”) Sherrill.

If I Only Had a Brain: Anderson-Hester did it again. The architects of the Seattle Times rankings, used in the Bowl Championship Series formula, have the Huskies ranked No. 1 in the country.

They claim it’s all numbers. Completely objective. Cold, hard empirical analysis. In fact, you can see them shrugging their shoulders, raise their eyebrows and point their palms to the heavens when they say something to the effect of, “Hey, don’t blame us. We just feed the data.”

To which we say, “Horst Schmidt.”

It’s been well documented that both Anderson and Hester are UW grads. Makes you wonder what kind of data they fed the machine. First in the country. Give me a break. Have they actually watched the games? Did they see Washington struggle with 0-4 Cal? Have they watched an offense that’s ranked seventh in the Pacific-10 Conference? Did they watch the defense make Kyle Boller (geez, Kyle Boller?) look like John Elway?

Have they watched Miami?

We don’t begrudge people who love their school and their football team. But to give them the power that Anderson and Hester have is akin to giving Robert Downey Jr. keys to your Porsche.

Give it up, kids. Give the ball to a responsible human.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s games involving Pac-10 teams:

Kickoff: 12:30 p.m. at Husky Stadium.

TV, radio: FSN (cable), KOMO radio (1000 AM)

Stars to watch: Washington – Quarterback Cody Pickett has been brought along slowly up to now, but still has had good success hooking up with wideout Reggie Williams. Paul Arnold also has been emerging, with two touchdowns on big plays against Cal last Saturday. Willie Hurst is back after taking a week off with a bad hamstring. He and Rich Alexis figure to provide as much run production as a young offensive line will allow. On defense, Larry Tripplett has played the part of the All-America defensive tackle he’s been projected to be. Linebacker Ben Mahdavi has been effective in pass coverages and in blitz packages.

USC – Carson Palmer has been ripped by media and fans (two TDs, six interceptions), but represents prodigious talent at quarterback. The running game has been stagnant, but Sultan McCullough can break loose at any time. Kareen Kelly is third in the conference in receptions. Defensive end Lonnie Ford is one of the top pass rushers in the conference.

Breaking down the game: USC coach Pete Carroll said that one major problem Palmer has had is the lack of a running game. No kidding. The Trojans are last in conference rushing. If the Trojans can’t run, forget it. On the other hand, if the Husky offensive line can take advantage of two freshmen starting on USC’s defensive line, it may wake up their own inconsistent running game.

Bottom line: Even without injured linebacker Kai Ellis, the Huskies should be able to get some pressure on Palmer, especially if they shut down the run.

Pick: Washington, 20-10.

Kickoff: 2 p.m. at Martin Stadium, Pullman.

TV, radio: No live TV, KRKO radio (1380 AM).

Stars to watch: Washington State – Jason Gesser is the early pick for Pac-10 MVP, with a lofty 303-yard average in total offense, 12 TDs and just two interceptions. Or maybe he can share the award with wideout Nakoa McElrath, fourth in the nation in receiving yards. Dave Minnich keeps defenses honest at 4.3 yards a carry. Simply, the Cougar offense is the best in the conference. On defense, end Isaac Brown has been a terror in the pass rush. Lamont Thompson and Billy Newman have been solid in the secondary.

Oregon State – Quarterback Jonathan Smith has struggled with a new receiving corps, barely completing half his passes. Tailback Ken Simonton was a Heisman candidate, but that’s out the window with a 3.8-yard average per carry. James Newson leads receivers with 15 catches form 170 yards. On defense, the unit is struggling, but free safety Jake Cookus averages a team-high 6.3 tackles a game.

Breaking down the game: Given the way OSU’s defense has struggled, it’s difficult to see how it can stop WSU.

Bottom line: At the beginning of the year, did you think WSU would be favored by 11 points? The bet here is that OSU isn’t as bad as UCLA made it look. The Cougs are on such a roll and are playing with such confidence, though, it may not matter.

Pick: Washington State, 34-20.

Louisiana-Lafayette at Arizona State: We hope Louisiana-Lafayette is in for a big payday for this. Like about $3 billion. Pick: ASU, 48-7.

Oregon at Arizona: Something’s wrong with the Ducks, and their 38-21 victory against Utah State is much more disturbing than their lackluster 24-22 victory over USC. Steve Smith’s nation-leading four interceptions aside, Oregon’s pass defense has been horrible. And has anyone else noticed that nobody’s mentioning “Joey Harrington” and “Heisman” in the same sentence anymore? Pick: Oregon, 24-23.

Sleeper pick of the week: Texas 28, Oklahoma 12.

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