Today’s lesson Boys and Girls is: The Importance of Choosing the Right Head Coach.  Iowa State Hires Paul Rhoads defensive coordinator at Auburn to become Head Coach for the Cyclones in 2009.   Paul Rhoads a native of Ankeny, Iowa returns home to take the job of his dream.   During his tenure as the Cyclone Head Coach Rhoads has provided upset victories over ranked opponents in each of those four years.  Last year’s win over #2 Oklahoma State that cost OSU a chance at the National Championship was so far the biggest.   This week’s win in Fort Worth against #15 TCU ranks as the fourth upset in four years against ranked opponents and ends the longest win streak in the college football.   Welcome to the Big XII TCU.  

Compare that to Gene Chizik who was the Iowa State head coach before Rhoads and went 5-19 during his Iowa State Tenure.  Chizik passed Rhoads on the Interstate as Chizik got hired as head coach to replace Tommy Tuberville at the Auburn Tigers.   Chizik went 8-5 first year then bought Heisman Trohpy winner Cam Newton and went 14-0 to win a national championship.   Then last year back to the original 8-5.   This year Auburn falls to 1-4 for the first time since 1998 and 0-3 in the SEC for the first time since 1980.  The big question is how much time or rope does a national championship provide.   Additionally, what are the odds that Holy Rollin’ Gene Chizik BUYS another nationally recognized recruit to save his job in Auburn during the off season.

Iowa State is unlikely to compete for a National Championship anytime soon.   Chizik landed in the right place at the right time, and purchased the right Heisman Trophy winner.   Chizik is currently in the lead, but I think Rhoads has accomplished more and done something Chizik couldn’t do – Win at Iowa State.   I think Iowa State comes out ahead in this one.   I fully expect that Auburn either dumps Chizik or they dump him and they end up with NCAA recruiting violations and set back Auburn so far they have to sit out of bowl games for a couple years.

Big upsets this weekend. (In no particular order)

Yea That Was Good

#3 Florida State 16 loses to N. Carolina 17.  

#4 LSU 6 loses to #10 Florida 14. 

#5 Georgia 7 loses to South Carolina 35. 

#15 TCU 23 loses to Iowa State 37.  

#24 Northwestern 28 loses to Penn State (Boy Scout Leaders) 39. 

#25 UCLA 17 loses to California 43.

My Predictions before the weekend (refer to previous post):

1.    WVU will get the last score and finish ahead of Texas by 3-7 points.  #8 WVU 48 beats #11 Texas 45.  Gino Smith secures his lead in the Heisman Trophy contest. Correct.

2.    This one shouldn't require more than a couple rosaries. Notre Dame by 17.  #9 Notre Dame 41 beats Miami 3.   Correct.

3.    Ohio State by 10. #12 Ohio State 63 beats #21 Nebraska 38.  This one was particular painful for Nebraska because it knocked them out the Top 25 Rankings. Correct.

4.    I like the #10 Gators at home.   #10 Florida 14 beats #4 LSU 6.   Correct.

5.    I like the South Carolina Gamecocks.  #6 South Carolina 35 Beats #5 Georgia 7.  I was right and wrong about this one.   I expected Georgia to show up and make a game of it.   But the Gamecocks did prevail easily.  South Carolina moves to #3 and make them a legitimate consideration for National Championship game.    Correct.

6.    Iowa State Upset alert.  Unranked Iowa State 37 beats #15 TCU 23 in Fort Worth, TX.  Correct.  I predicted Steele Jantz would start the game and Barnett would come in and prevail.  I was wrong about that.   Barnett was 12-of-21 passing for 183 yards and ran nine times for 30 yards in his first start this season for the Cyclones (4-1, 1-1).  Five of Jared Barnett's six starts have come against top-20 teams. He's 4-2.  MVP of the game was Josh Lenz.  Helmet sticker goes to WR Josh Lenz - Iowa State 147 Rec yds, 3 TD, Pass TD in 37-23 win at TCU by Lou Holtz.