I could almost hear the teeth gnashing around the Front Range and the Puget Sound on Monday night. There was Rick Neuheisel, the man Colorado and Washington fans love to hate, glowing on national television after one of the most remarkable coaching jobs in recent memory.
He and offensive coordinator Norm Chow had somehow transformed a hide-your-eyes train wreck at quarterback in the first half into Tom Brady in the second half.
There was Neuheisel, screaming so loud at Kevin Craft after his third interception you’d think Craft would question Neuheisel’s mouthwash. Then after Craft’s fourth interception in 18 passes, Neuheisel had his arm around him, soothing him, sympathizing with him and, knowing Neuheisel, humoring him.
Instead of hiding him in the second half, Neuheisel and Chow kept believing in him. Craft merely responded by hitting 18-of-23 passes and leading two touchdown drives in the 27-24 overtime win over then- 18th-ranked Tennessee in Neuheisel’s UCLA head-coaching debut.
“You were there when I was chewing out John Hessler many years ago at Colorado,” Neuheisel told me on Tuesday’s Pac-10 conference call.
Neuheisel laughed when he said it. Yeah, I remember watching Neuheisel going nose-to-face mask with Hessler during Colorado’s 27-3 loss at Michigan. I thought, this guy is a player’s coach? Turns out, however, Hessler and Neuheisel talk nearly every week to this day.
You can bet Craft and Neuheisel will be talking for a while. After Daniel Lincoln’s field goal sailed wide left to give UCLA the win, the first person Craft hugged was Neuheisel.
“I told him I threw four interceptions when I started out, too,” Neuheisel said. “And Terry Donahue waited until the third game to pull me.”
Say what you want about Neuheisel — and many around here and Washington still call him a liar. Still, let’s face it, the guy can turn a program around at the drop of his trademark sweater vest. The dead-end Bruins are ranked 23rd, and his speech to Craft should be laminated and put in every meeting room in college football.
“I wanted Kevin to realize he didn’t have to win the game,” Neuheisel said. “He just had to manage the game. Punting is a good play. We’ve got a good punter in Aaron Perez. Field position was everything in that game. Every time we turned it over, field position got skewered against us.
“I got a little vociferous after that third interception. I was a little disappointed in myself after I did that because you can’t even imagine what’s going on in the kid’s head.”
I’ve always said that Neuheisel’s type of coaching — player ski trips, guitar solos, outrageous quotes — is needed in college football. But maybe it shouldn’t be by him. He’s called Slick Rick for a reason. He’s smarter than you and he knows it. He has a law degree and thinks the NCAA has gray areas, just like the law does.
It doesn’t. That’s what got him in trouble at Colorado and Washington.
However, betting in an NCAA basketball tournament in which he received written permission from Washington to participate and skirting one contact rule at Colorado were no reasons for Neuheisel to get blackballed by college football.
The game not only needs his type of coaching, but UCLA needs Neuheisel. His charm can match USC’s Pete Carroll even if his record can’t. When Karl Dorrell won 10 games for UCLA in 2005, a persona more appropriate for the World Series of Poker couldn’t win over fans weaned on Jay Leno and Rambo.
Neuheisel swears he had nothing to do with last week’s full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times showing Neuheisel pointing to the distance, presumably at USC, with the proclamation, “The football monopoly in Los Angeles is officially over.”
But he sure didn’t mind the marketing department’s chutzpah.
“They must’ve come to a practice where we looked good,” Neuheisel joked. “As I think about it, it’s really a call to arms to our fans. Our fans have to get some swagger about them.”
The swagger is back in Westwood. Let’s see how long it lasts. Craft is playing because Neuheisel’s first two quarterbacks are hurt. Against Tennessee, UCLA lost tight end Logan Paulson to a broken foot, receiver Marcus Everett to a dislocated toe and tailback Kahlil Bell to a sprained ankle. Six Bruin starters have been lost to injury. They visit 15th-ranked Brigham Young on Sept. 13.
Also, it would behoove Neuheisel to start recruiting physical players. Colorado and Washington began to fade when all the finesse Neuheisel signed caught up with them.
But for now, UCLA is back. And, like it or not, so is Neuheisel.
Hurricanes can’t ruin college lineup
Hurricanes Gustav and Hanna caused more than $1 billion worth of damage in the U.S., but in the college football world the damage was minimal. Only three games were altered, unlike three years ago when Katrina and Rita caused havoc with major parts of the college football schedule.
Troy’s game at Louisiana State on Saturday was easily moved to Nov. 15, when both had open dates. Gustav’s 75 mph winds that whipped up past the west side of Baton Rouge, La., took out the power to Tiger Stadium, and it’s not expected to return until next week.
The schools discussed playing in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. However, with both having the same open date and many fans being affected by the storm, they decided on a postponement. Nicholls State, in Thibodaux, La., postponed its game at New Mexico State in order for the players to be with their families. The schools will meet next week to set a replacement date.
Hanna’s only annoyance so far is in Conway, S.C., where Coastal Carolina postponed its game with Colgate to 11 a.m. Sunday MDT.
John Henderson, The Denver Post
GAMES OF THE WEEK
A big tussle in Florida
Miami at No. 5 Florida: Forty freshmen, including quarterback Robert Marve making his debut, try to jump-start Randy Shannon’s Miami program against the Gators. Eleven players carried the ball for Florida in the 56-10 rout of Hawaii.
Big 12: No. 10 Texas at UTEP. Surprisingly, this is the first meeting in football between these sister schools. Texas, coming off an easy 52-10 win over Florida Atlantic, may need a little help to stay awake, with kickoff at 8:15 p.m. locally, which translates to 9:15 Austin time. ESPN2 has the telecast.
Mountain West: UNLV at Utah. Utes must come back to earth quickly after last week’s win at Michigan. This matchup was the MWC upset of the year in 2007 when last-place UNLV won 27-0. UNLV coach Mike Sanford previously was the Utes’ offensive coordinator. Denver Post staff
COLORADO CONNECTIONS
Zac to the future
Out to prove that last season’s school- record 3,671 yards of offense was no fluke, Oklahoma State’s Zac Robinson, pictured, opened his junior season with a solid effort against Washington State. With Cowboys coach Mike Gundy calling the plays for the first time in his four years at the school, Robinson was 20-of-27 passing for 193 yards in their no-huddle, spread offense. Though the Chatfield High School grad didn’t throw for a touchdown, he did get in the end zone on a 1-yard sneak. This week, the Cowboys are home against Houston and play for the first time in the expanded Boone Pickens Stadium, which now seats nearly 60,000. Denver Post staff
