The Volunteers were in their rollicking locker room Saturday, celebrating first-year coach Derek Dooley’s first statement win at Tennessee. Sophomore safety Janzen Jackson was in the stands hugging his parents.
Oops. Sorry, guys. Can you come back on the field? You still have a game to lose.
If you can suffer a more devastating setback than Tennessee’s last-second, 16-14 loss at LSU, you will need more crying towels.
Tennessee led 14-10, with LSU at the Vols’ 1-yard line, when a series of mass substitutions from both confused sidelines led to a wild snap, an apparent Tennessee win and a stunned Tiger Stadium.
However, during the substitutions, LSU coach Les Miles surprisingly inserted three wide receivers, throwing off Tennessee’s goal-line defense. Defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox sent in four players for the Vols’ base defense, but only three others returned to the sideline.
Then one of them, cornerback Prentiss Waggner, went back on the field — giving Tennessee 13 players and a penalty flag, long after Miles had thrown down his headset.
“We were complaining about it earlier,” Dooley said after the game. “When they run guys on, we have to have adequate time to run guys off. It’s a rule . . . so you can’t go out and do that.”
Maybe it’s karma. The pre- vious week, Tennessee got away with only 10 men on the field in the second overtime of a 32-29 win over Alabama- Birmingham. But UAB wasn’t on the Vols’ minds.
“My biggest heartbreaking loss was (12-10) last year at Alabama,” senior wide receiver Gerald Jones told reporters. “I didn’t think it could get worse than that. It did.”
Ducks flying high.
Third- ranked Oregon is as explosive as the 2008 Oklahoma Sooners of Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and Reggie Bush-led USC from 2005. The Ducks’ 49 points in the last three quarters in their 52-31 rout of Stanford made them legit threats to make the BCS title game, even though their defense can’t stop Alabama.
Even with road games at Tennessee and Arizona State, Oregon leads the country in total offense (averaging 569.2 yards), scoring (56.6 points) and turnover margin (plus- 2.2) and ranks second in rushing (331.0 yards). The Ducks have outscored opponents 114-7 in the second half.
Also, second-year coach Chip Kelly is showing the guts needed to make the title game. He went for an onside kick down 21-10 and went for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 34.
“We’re the Ducks,” kicker Rob Beard said. “Even if we come out slow, people, don’t doubt us.”
Get set to sweat, Texas.
Some wind sprints will be run in Austin this week. Texas penalties prolonged three of Oklahoma’s four touchdown drives in the Sooners’ 28-20 win. Two were personal fouls, including freshman Jackson Jeffcoat’s apparent retaliation foul on third-and-20. That set up DeMarco Murray’s clinching 20-yard TD run.
That’s not Texas’ only problem. Aaron Williams’ fumbled punt sealed the loss. He replaced Curtis Brown, who muffed a punt inside the 5 the previous week against UCLA.
D-coordinator dismissed.
Bronco Mendenhall has fired his first assistant in his six years as BYU’s coach.
Defensive coordinator Jaime Hill was canned after Friday’s 31-16 loss to Utah State.
Hill was given a choice: Be fired or resign. He told The Salt Lake Tribune he was “a scapegoat.” He was some goat. The 1-4 Cougars, off to their worst start since 1973, rank 101st nationally in total defense (433.4 yards allowed per game) and last in rushing defense (259.2).
Former BYU defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen told The Tribune, “Coach Hill was a really good secondary coach, but not so much when it came to calling the entire defense.”
Another former BYU player told The Tribune that Hill had numerous clashes with players and assistants.
Fourth-and-short.
If football is a religion in Texas, there must be a lot of atheists in Waco. Baylor is averaging only 39,693 fans a game. . . . A loss to Tennessee this week would give Georgia its first five-game losing streak since 1953. . . . Yes, Eric Folk is the same Washington kicker who also beat USC last year in the final three seconds. . . . USC ranks 99th in total defense (418.8) — right below Marshall, right above Duke.
