No. -10 Mississippi . . . What was supposed to be a breakout season for the Rebels was anything but. Ole Miss (8-4) put the finishing touch on the disappointing campaign with an embarrassing 41-27 loss to rival Mississippi State (5-7) in the annual Egg Bowl last Saturday. Yup … 41 points. The Bulldogs hadn’t scored that many against the Rebels since 1917. Making matters even worse for Houston Nutt and Co. was the fact that MSU backup quarterback Chris Relf did most of the damage, throwing a pair of touchdown passes and running for 131 yards and another score.
No. -9 Pete Carroll . . . Does anyone want to discuss why his act never panned out in the NFL? Those that saw the despicable conclusion to the UCLA-USC game know what we’re talking about. It’s not so much about calling for the touchdown bomb one play after taking a knee. It was his sideline reaction to the pile-it-on score that was so disgraceful and nearly touched off a full-scale brawl that would probably still be raging if it had got going.
No. -8 New Mexico State . . . The loser of last Saturday’s New Mexico State-San Jose State slugfest was an automatic qualifier for this final edition of the “Worst of the Weak” for the 2009 season. It was an honor for both teams involved as this was the only play-in game for an automatic berth. The Spartans won the 13-10 shootout, giving retiring head coach Dick Tomey a victory in his final home game and his 183rd win overall. The Aggies were predictably pathetic, completing just six passes, earning only 12 first downs and somehow managing to gain a whopping 218 yards of total offense.
No. -7 Lane Kiffin . . . When will this guy grow up? Or at least keep his obsession with Urban Meyer to himself.
No. -6 Colorado State . . . The Rams won their first three games of the season, including wins at Colorado and at home against dangerous Nevada. The run ended with an expected loss at BYU, but who would have thought Colorado State would never win again? The Rams’ ninth consecutive loss came last Friday night as Wyoming (6-6) kicked a field goal with 1:27 remaining to post a 17-16 victory over CSU and book a bowl bid.
No. -5 Atlantic Coast Conference . . . This is one of those “body of work” selections. The league’s season started with a pair of losses to FCS teams (Richmond over Duke, William & Mary over Virginia). There were various other embarrassing non-conferences defeats throughout the campaign. Then last weekend, both of the ACC’s division winners lost to in-state rivals that are SEC also-rans. Why should we even care if Clemson or Georgia Tech wins the conference crown?
No. -4 Carlos Dunlap . . . Thank goodness he was stopped at that green light and sound asleep.
No. -3 Michigan State . . . It’s one thing to lose to Central Michigan and lowly Notre Dame, as the Spartans did early in the season. But it’s an entirely different thing to end up losing to Iota Phi Theta as several players on the Michigan State team did within 90 minutes of its team banquet. Nice going, guys.
No. -2 Western Kentucky . . . We told you last week that there would be a ton of pressure on Florida Atlantic as the Owl seniors play their last home game, facing the threat of not handing the Hilltoppers their 19th loss in a row. Well … the heat was certainly on last Saturday in Fort Lauderdale as Western Kentucky rallied to take a 17-16 lead early in the third quarter. But never fear. The Hilltoppers came through in the end, managing only a pair of field goals the rest of the way in the 29-23 loss, ensuring that their season slide continued to 0-11 and keeping the quest for perfection alive.
And finally, the absolute “Worst of the Weak” . . .
No. -1 Eastern Michigan . . . In the final minutes of the first half with the score tied at 14-14, the Eagles were driving and had designs on taking a lead into the locker room at halftime. But quarterback Alex Gillet came to the rescue, tossing an interception to Akron’s Miguel Graham, which was returned 62 yards for a touchdown. Gillet did his best to blow Eastern Michigan’s shot at 0-12, passing for 148 yards and rushing for 102 more, while directing an offense that out-gained the Zips and converted on 10 of 17 third down opportunities. But the “pick-six” he threw can clearly be credited for the Eagles’ 28-21 loss last Friday, which put the final touches on the perfectly imperfect 0-12 season. We knew you guys could do it!
*Number 9*
Ok you need to stop your blind hate for USC. Rick deserves a spot on here if anything. Did you see how poor of a sport he was? He called a timeout after Barkley took a knee. He called numerous timeouts because he could accept he lost. This is moronic and at the very least you should mention Rick’s poor sportsmanship rather than contribute to hate people have for USC.
Answer to number 7
when the media stops printing everything this child says.
Don
Josh, Really?? calling a timeout is poor sportsmanship? That is reaching a bit. Neuhisel is an ass too, but after Pete Carrol cried about Stanford running up the score against them…after USC does this repeatedly, his actions in that game, throwing a bomb when they were already winning big, were DESPICABLE. I can’t even believe some moron like you would stand up for that sorry man. I hope USC never wins the Pac-10 again.
Kiffin real grow up about the same time you become a real reporter.
Kage 10, did you watch the game? Cause apparently you are a moron if you did and don’t think that was bad sportsmanship. Neuhisel called a timeout after Barkley took a knee to let the clock run! There was a minute left and he was down by 2 scores! Yes that is bad sportsmanship! Calling all of your time outs later in that possession? Calling a time out with 13 seconds left? yes that is horrible sportsmanship. UCLA deserved that bomb and you should think before you speak. Don’t be jealous of USC. Are you sad your degree didn’t get you a good job?
Cause apparently you are a moron if you did and don’t think that was bad sportsmanship. Neuhisel called a timeout after Barkley took a knee to let the clock run! There was a minute left and he was down by 2 scores! Yes that is bad sportsmanship! Calling all of your time outs later emu boots