Behind the Scoreboard - Claude Vinson


Thursday, November 29, 2007
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Behind The Scoreboard
By Claude Vinson

Coaches out; more upsets

Whew! What a weekend of football that we have just had. Everyone was talking about the upsets, the gaffes and the pure enjoyment and excitement.

If you want to get the gaffes out of the way first, that would be easy. Where did it occur? In the Egg Bowl. I am a staunch supporter of my alma mater, Ole Miss, and will readily admit that it has been a few years since I attended an Egg Bowl. Oddly enough, the last one I made was in Starkville.

Sure, yours truly started out watching the game and for some odd reason, when the Rebels went up 14-0 in the third quarter, I suddenly felt a foreboding of doom. I had already left the remote when Coach Orgeron made his career-altering decision. The gaffe was a fourth down try at his 49 with less than 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

There was logic in the decision; it just wasn’t all that sound. I refuse to beat “Coach O” up on this one like some of my compadres did. Coaches make such decisions.

I had just walked into The South Reporter office when Barry (Burleson) broke the news to me – MSU had run off 14 unanswered points then kicked a field goal. What was I saying about a foreboding of doom? I immediately told Barry that “Coach O” was toast.

He has company on the early rounds of the coaching carousel. Phil Bennett of SMU was told back in October that if he didn’t have a winning season to buy a ticket. Wow! What a great movitational tool. So the chief Mustang rider unsaddled his pony and wrote his resignation.

Likewise the head Aggie, Dennis Franchioni, was given his severance by Texas A&M. Also Bill Callahan was terminated by Tom Osborne (the new AD) at Nebraska.

All of these former football leaders have lucrative “buyout” packages. Is this really fair to the fans and supporters?

You all know the upsets. The granddaddy of them all, LSU by the ’Hogs.

Houston Nutt wasn’t mentioned above because speculation is that he saved his bacon with the knocking of LSU out of national contention.

Number three Missouri knocked off number two Kansas by a score of 36-28. Mizzou had been the underdog. With the fall of Kansas, there are no more unbeatens in the top 25.

It will probably be next weekend before the BCS picture is completely cleared up.

Hey, the BCS computers have to play their game, too.

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