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ESPN
| College Pregame Shows | CNN
Review from past weeks: 1 2
3 4
No.
14 Wisconsin 38 Northwestern 7
While
Wisconsin clearly proved itself as the best team on the field, Dave
Barnett and Bill Curry may have been the second best team at Camp
Randall.
I
can’t say for sure because I didn’t see the Wisconsin band. In any
case, it wasn’t my alma mater, Northwestern.
But
while Wisconsin didn’t demonstrate a weak link Saturday,
Barnett and Curry did - sideline reporter Dave Ryan. (Barnett,
Curry and Ryan each week do the Big Ten Game of the Week on ESPN.)
Barnett
is an extremely solid play-by-play announcer, who can control
his voice and make it rise to game action. He doesn’t have any quirks,
like a Keith Jackson, or any trademark calls, like a Dick Enberg,
but he gives you an honest effort, letting the action dictate his
call.
Barnett
also works well with Curry. After Curry called, Northwestern’s
Barry Gardner the best linebacker in the Big 10. Ryan wasn’t afraid
to challenge that statement asking him about Ohio State’s much-publicized
Andy Katzenmoyer. Curry didn’t back away from the question, saying
Gardner has more tackles and takes more difficult classes with,
carrying a 3.40 GPA.
Curry,
in only his second year of broadcasting, surprisingly has
made a very smooth transition from the field to the booth. Before
joining ESPN in 1997, Curry was a college football coach from 1980-96
and an NFL center from 1965-74, making the All-Pro team in 1971
and 1972. Curry’s easygoing, understated speech is a refreshing
change from the screaming heads that litter so many other football
telecasts.
It
is obvious that Curry approaches each game as if he was preparing
to coach it. When Northwestern defensive back Fred Wilkerson
was called for a personal foul in the second quarter for fighting
after the play, Curry said he had seen Wilkerson taking cheap shots
after the play in the film from last week’s game. Barnett asked
Curry if he, as the coach, would talk to Wilkerson on the sidelines
about that, Curry said he would have talked to him during the week.
Not
only does Curry prepare like a coach, he analyzes the game like
a coach. After diagramming a Northwestern trap run in the first
quarter, Curry said it was “extremely well-blocked, [and the runner]
should have gotten more out of it.” Later, after Northwestern committed
three motion violations on offense in the first 21 minutes, Curry
said, “I don’t care how rookie you are, or how inexperienced you
are, you shouldn’t make mistakes like that.”
Viewers
don’t get that kind of candor from many analysts.
Unfortunately,
though, like so many other football telecasts, sideline reporter
Ryan lacks any usefulness. He rarely reports any news based
on game action, reading only stories that were prepared before the
game. And he doesn’t even conform those stories to game action.
For
example, Ryan said near the end of the first half that Wisconsin
coaches are very high on receiver Chris Chambers and consider him
an NFL player. Ryan added that Chambers was overshadowed in the
game by Northwestern stud receiver D’wayne Bates. I’m sure that
sounded great before the game; however, by the time Ryan told the
story, Chambers had scored on a 60-yard pass play, while Bates was
being held to a handful of catches.
Ryan
did talk to both coaches at halftime and did update a couple of
injuries in the second half but, overall, he was as effective as
the Northwestern offense.
Glitches:
1. Because of a commercial, ESPN missed most of Northwestern’s only
touchdown, which occurred with four seconds left in a game. Earlier
in the game, ESPN missed most of a Wisconsin running play while
showing Badger running back Ron Dayne taking a breather on the sidelines.
2. It appeared that a problem with Curry’s microphone prevented
him from talking over a replay of Chambers’ 60-yard touchdown. The
touchdown was shown with silence. 3. Curry said “You have to give
the punter more than two yards.” He obviously meant a punt returner
but never corrected himself.
History
Lessons: 1. Curry said Wisconsin’s straight-ahead, no-nonsense
power football reminds him of the old Packer teams he played on
under coach Vince Lombardi. “I think we had a reverse in our playbook
but never used it.” 2. Curry, who was All-Pro center on Colts teams
in the early 1970s, said “We used to tell Johnny Unitas ‘You have
2.8 seconds, and then you are on your own.’”
Grade:
B. Barnett is solid, Curry is among the best in college football
and Ryan needs to improve.
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Last week: To see George's review of CBS' Florida-Tenn. Telecast,
click here.
To
see George's picks/previews of this
week's games, visit Saturday Selections.
To post a comment on the Saturday Selections, go to the Speak
Out page.
To e-mail your opinion to George, click
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Host Bob Lorenz and analyst Trev Alberts
focused the first part of the show on #9 Washington at #2
Nebraska. They also discussed #18
USC at #10 Florida State, Kentucky at #8 Florida and Houston
at #4 Tennessee, among others.
Lorenz did his usual good job and delivered an outstanding
feature on Washington QB Brock Huard. The piece studied
Huard's religious convictions and his father Mike's relationship
with Brock and quarterbacking brothers Damon (of the Miami
Dolphins) and Luke (a North Carolina freshman). Kudos to
CNN for not backing away from the "faith angle," which
Brock Huard says plays such a great part in his life.
Meanwhile, Alberts was good but not as bold and authoritative
as usual. He went out on a limb to say Alabama-Arkansas
would be the best game of the day but was Master of the Obvious
in calling Saturday's contest vs Houston a "dangerous game
for Tennessee."
Alberts' best point came when he noted that the cancellation
of UCLA's game at Miami hurts Bruins QB Cade McNown, taking
Heisman Trophy votes from him and possibly shifting voters
to Syracuse's Donovan McNabb.
Reporter Tim Layden, in Lincoln, Neb., said Washington's
Lester Towns and Nigel Burton told him they weren't prepared
for last year's game, a big Huskers win in Seattle. He also
revealed that Nebraska QB Bobby Newcombe's father admitted
the first-year starter is nervous about his first big game.
He's no star but Layden does a good job of adding to the
telecast, delivering a maximum amount of information in
a minimal amount of time. The fact that he is the only on-site
reporter enables him to comment on several games, not just
the contest he is covering. This serves the show quite
well.
Again, the show was well done but it is just too difficult
to squeeze enough college coverage into half an hour. Throw
us a bone, Ted Turner!
Top
tip: Alberts saying Nebraska QB Newcombe and running back
DeAngelo Evans may be hurt psychologically by wearing knee
braces, noting that braces tend to affect "speed" guys more
than linemen.
Top
fact: Half of the top 12 ranked preseason teams have already
lost this year, Lorenz noted.
Top
graphic: Breakdown revealing the startling lack of run-pass
balance in Washington's offense.
Fightin'
words: On USC-Florida State, Alberts said Trojans defensive
coordinator Bill Young told him that his middle linebacker,
Chris Claiborne, is better than Ohio State's Andy Katzenmoyer.
Predictions: Alberts likes Nebraska against
Washington; Florida against Kentucky; and Alabama
vs Arkansas.
(Randy)
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 College
Gameday this week traveled to Lincoln, Neb., site of the
most attractive-looking game of the day, No. 9 Washington
at No. 2 Nebraska. As we have said before, College Gameday
suffers a little bit being on location.
And
this show was no exception.
Sure,
the show displays the energy and fever that hits college towns
like Lincoln on game days; however, the crowd and the cheering
are also a distraction as host Chris Fowler and analysts
Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit struggle to talk above the noise.
There
were rumors in various newspapers last week that the Gameday
crew did not travel to Knoxville, Tenn., where Tennessee
hosted Florida, because Volunteer fans had made threats
against Fowler based on past comments he had made. ESPN
denied all rumors, which don’t make sense because the
game was on CBS, and ESPN wouldn’t be on location promoting
a game that wasn’t on either ABC or ESPN.
Next
week, the Gameday staff will be at Columbus, Ohio,
where No. 1 Ohio State hosts Penn State, who’s idle this
week and will be at least No. 7 come gametime. The show
plans to originate from a game site at least 10 times this
season, including from the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4.
But
just because the show has moved, that doesn’t mean Corso
and Herbstreit have left their opinions behind. Here are
a few of their predictions for Saturday’s games:
No.
9 Washington at No. 2 Nebraska - Both take Nebraska.
No.
18 USC and No. 10 Florida St. - Both take Florida St.
in a close one.
Kentucky
at No. 8 Florida - Both expect Florida to score a lot
(Herbstreit says Florida will score on nearly every possession)
and win.
No.
22 Alabama at Arkansas - Both see Alabama winning.
Purdue
at No. 23 Notre Dame - Corso predicts Notre Dame by
a field goal, while Herbstreit says it’ll be Purdue over
Notre Dame in “the upset of the day.”
Michigan
St. at Michigan - Corso takes Michigan St., after losing
with Michigan twice earlier in the season. Herbstreit sees
Michigan by two touchdowns.
Northwestern
at No. 14 Wisconsin - Both pick Wisconsin.
Georgia
Tech at UNC - Herbstreit takes Georgia Tech.
Corso
says Tennessee, still on a high from last week, wins
a close one against Houston, who is No. 3 in the nation
against the run. Herbstreit predicts another upset, saying
Pittsburgh will beat No. 21 Virginia Tech at Blacksburg,
Va.
As for
the features, they were adequate. Fowler did a nice
profile on Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch and Couchmania
in Kentucky, while Steve Cyphers visited with Washington
wide receiver Dane Looker, who discussed his transfer after
playing two years of basketball at Western Washington.
Cyphers
also examined the challenges of replacing a coaching legend,
using Nebraska and Washington as examples. At Nebraska,
Frank Solich replaces Tom Osborne, while Washington coach
Jim Lambright took over for Don James. Cyphers discussed
the difficulties other coaches had replacing legends, talking
to Ray Perkins, who replaced Bear Bryant at Alabama; Fred
Akers, who replaced Darrell Royal at Texas; and Earle Bruce,
who replaced Woody Hayes at Ohio State.
My
problem with this story, like so many others on this
topic, is that it ignores Doug Williams taking over this
year at Grambling for Eddie Robinson, the winningest
coach in college football history. Is there a more intimidating
challenge than replacing someone who was there for 55 years?
Glitch:
Tape of Steve Cyphers giving an injury update on the Washington-Nebraska
game stopped, rewound a bit and then restarted. Viewers
didn’t miss anything, but it certainly wasn’t smooth.
Good
shot: ESPN showed how nice the weather is today in Miami,
where the UCLA-Miami game was postponed because of concerns
about Hurricane Georges. ESPN did an excellent job reporting
on the significance of the postponement and how it deals
with the Bowl Championship Series.
Reporter
Tony Barnhart in Tallahassee, Fla., said sources told him
that UCLA comes out fine because it has a strong enough
PAC-10 schedule to compensate for the loss of this game,
and it doesn’t have to risk a loss by playing it. Corso
said this could be a “public relations fiasco” if
UCLA is in the BCS with a perfect record after only 10 games,
while Herbstreit said “This game will be rescheduled”
to avoid any problems with the BCS.
Best
lines: 1. In response to Herbstreit’s question
of what’s on page one of the coach’s manual, Fowler said,
“Schedule Corso.” 2. After Corso called Michigan
the National Champion last year, Fowler said, “You better
say co-National Champions here [in Lincoln, Neb.].” 3.
Fowler pulled a Keith Olbermann in his opening to the Houston-Tennessee
game. After discussing the Volunteers’ victory last week
against Florida, Fowler said, “And in comes Houston. Hello!”
Strongest
comments: 1. Corso “[Alabama’s] Shaun Alexander
is the best runner in the country.” 2. Herbstreit
said the University of North Carolina, and in particular
defensive back Dre Bly, should be more concerned about UNC
than the NFL.
Grade:
A-, another strong show.(George)
Back
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Last week:
To see George's review of CBS' Florida-Tenn. Telecast,
click here.
To
see George's picks/previews
of this week's games, visit Saturday
Selections.
To post a comment on the Saturday Selections, go to the Speak
Out page.
To e-mail your opinion to George, click
here.
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