It wasn’t long ago when they were all part of the same hypothetical conference, the Top 10 Conference. Each team had set up shop in the Top 10 for years, and if that oblate spheroid bounced the right way, they might be in the national title hunt.
But the past few years, these five once-dominant programs have been tossed to the BCS sideline and, in some places (see Seattle), off their own fans’ Saturday to-do lists.
With spring football wrapped up last weekend, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Michigan, Tennessee and Washington have something else in common. They have reason for optimism.
No one’s booking flights for Phoenix and the BCS title game, but no one’s ordering blindfolds for the coming season, either.
But this is spring. Hope is eternal. Here’s an update on five proud programs hoping to rebound:
Nebraska: Only 57,415 attended the spring game. Don’t worry. Interest hasn’t waned. They merely closed off the north end for expansion.
Yes, people believe again. The Cornhuskers’ three-game win streak to end last season showed a glimpse of what coach Bill Callahan’s West Coast offense could achieve. It just took a couple of years.
“What manifests itself is the continuation of the system and believing in what we’re trying to get accomplished,” Calla- han said Tuesday in a phone interview. “I know our players did a tremendous job rebounding from tough losses. They could see we were only a player or two away from being a good offensive football team.”
They have continued the turnaround by solidifying an offensive line that was one of the worst in Nebraska history until then-freshmen Matt Slauson of Air Academy High and Chris Patrick emerged at the tackles. Consequently, quarterback Zac Taylor improved from 53 percent passing in the first nine games to 66 percent in the last three with seven TD passes and two interceptions.
He had another great spring, throwing three TDs in the spring game despite an emphasis on improving the worst running game in the Big 12. No one emerged as the No. 1 I-back between the bullish Cody Glenn and the more-versatile Marlon Lucky. Expect Brandon Jackson, injured all spring, and JC transfer Kenny Wilson, who runs a 4.4 40, to compete in August.
Said senior defensive end Jay Moore: “We’re going to be dominant.”
Tennessee: The fallout from last year’s 5-6 mark, the Volunteers’ first losing record in 13 years, was immediate. Coach Phil Fulmer fired three offensive coaches while blaming himself for the quarterback shuffle that produced 11 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and five fumbles by sophomore Erik Ainge, tops on the team.
Fulmer once again brought in David Cutcliffe, whom the Volunteers last saw leading them to the 1998 national title as offensive coordinator. His next task is merely to teach Ainge to not hold the ball too long, teach his receivers to hang onto the ball and teach his running backs to do so at the goal line. After all, Cutcliffe coached a couple of brothers named Manning who turned out pretty well.
The spring had mixed results. Ainge was awful in the last scrimmage, then rebounded with 210 yards and two touchdowns in the spring game. He will be monitored closely this summer. Hosting California in the opener will indicate a lot.
Washington: As he begins his second year in Seattle, Tyrone Willingham finds himself jump-starting a program going through its worst stretch in 117 years of football. The result of three wins in two years is ticket sales falling below 50,000 for the first time in decades.
But Willingham has settled on a quarterback. Isaiah Stanback, who emerged by default as starter after last year’s disastrous spring, is becoming a decent dual threat. He better understands Willingham’s offense, and Willingham better understands Stanback’s need to run.
Stanback looked terrific in the spring game, completing three passes of at least 40 yards, including two for touchdowns, in a 24-3 win. Granted, it was against the reserves of a team with no depth, but that format last year resulted in a fast-pitch softball score of 3-0.
Emerging to help the anemic running game is senior Kenny James, the leading rusher from two years ago who was plagued by injuries in 2005 and is 10 pounds heavier and faster. Unfortunately, the horrific offensive line is still unsettled, and the Huskies play Oklahoma and Fresno State, plus nine Pacific 10 games. That makes one wonder what’s in Willingham’s Starbucks when he says, straight-faced, “We should be a bowl team.”
Texas A&M: Dennis Franchione, master of the turnaround, had better turn around A&M soon. He has a 16-19 record and must improve the nation’s worst pass defense and replace his best offensive weapon, quarterback Reggie McNeal.
The defense was awful last fall, and this year it will be inexperienced. Only five starters return – three on the defensive line – and one starting linebacker, JC transfer Mark Dodge, is 25.
Franchione axed defensive coordinator Carl Torbush and brought in Gary Darnell, the former Western Michigan coach who gave Texas some teeth as coordinator from 1994-96.
Franchione’s offense is solid. Four starters return from a line that led the Big 12’s third-best offense (442.27 ypg) and will block for senior back Courtney Lewis, who averaged more than 80 yards a game.
Sophomore quarterback Stephen McGee, who rushed for 108 yards in a miraculous near-upset of Texas last year, easily won the starting job over senior Ty Branyon.
“Maybe he’s only a sophomore in class, but he’s much older in leadership ability,” Franchione said. “That’s been very good.”
Michigan: Weren’t the Wolverines in the Rose Bowl just two years ago? Yes, they were. Did you see the game? Texas and Vince Young ran all over their defense. Last year the defense stiffened but the offense went south.
The end result is a once-proud program that had five losses for the first time since 1984. Michigan has six consecutive seasons with at least three losses, three straight bowl defeats and a 1-4 record the past five years against Ohio State.
But Michael Hart, who rushed for 1,455 yards as a freshman in 2004, was hurt much of last season and gained only 662 yards. Hart showed this spring he’s healthier, stronger and smarter after playing last year with a sprained ankle. Wide receiver Steve Breaston, already a star, won the spring award given to the player with the most promise.
But Michigan’s ordinary linebacker corps is back and showed so little this spring coach Lloyd Carr refused to praise any of them. Good luck to new defensive coordinator Ron English, who was promoted from secondary coach. He has until a visit to Notre Dame on Sept. 16 to figure it out.
John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
