Friday offseason one-liners

AP

Some links from around college football on a Friday…

• Want to pay players? Fine, but John Infante says start with a few guidelines. 
• Wisconsin assistants are making more in 2013.
• Auburn is looking for playmakers along the defensive line this spring.
• I don’t even care that this isn’t football related. You’ve earned this link, Florida Gulf Coast. Seriously, y’all have to see this alley-oop.
• Paul Finebaum on Harvey Updyke’s guilty plea: ”For everyone’s sake, I’m just glad this is finally over.”
• Clint Trickett may be the starting QB for Florida State heading into spring, but the Seminoles have an interesting battle at the position.
• Baylor will have some new threads for the 2013 season.

AP

OK, let’s take some time to collectively catch our breath, because the first half of the SEC Championship Game had quite the back-and-forth, up-and-down pace to it with a little bit of everything dashed in. Between three turnovers, including a defensive touchdown, an onside kick and big plays by both teams, there is not much we have not seen at this point. Auburn holds a 28-27 edge on Missouri at the half in Atlanta.

The first quarter had a good handful of highlights. Missouri wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham provided a spectacular touchdown catch to give Missouri a 10-7 lead, leaping and reaching for a ball only he would be able to get his hands on and holding on to the football as he came crashing to the ground with a defender hanging on. Or so it seemed. Video replay showed the touchdown may have actually been incomplete, but the play was not even an extended review before Missouri kicked the extra point. Auburn may have gotten the raw end of the play, but they shrugged it aside and ran right down field on the ensuing possession, 75 yards on five plays ending with a Nick Marshall touchdown. Marshall did make a couple of mistakes in the first half, including a fumble that was scooped up by Missouri’s E.J. Gaines and returned for a touchdown. That gave Missouri a 17-14 lead, but the Auburn Tigers would battle back and take control of the game on the ground. Auburn has already rushed for 283 yards, the most yards allowed on the ground this season by Missouri, 283 yards.

The key player in that rushing production has been Auburn running back Tre Mason. Mason is closing in on the SEC Championship Game rushing record, and he should pick it up early in the second half. After rushing for 194 yards against Missouri’s defense, Mason needs just seven more yards to tie the game’s rushing record, previously set by LSU’s Justin Vincent, who rushed for 201 yards 2003. Mason added two touchdowns from inside the ten-yard line.

Before the end of the half, Missouri cut in to Auburn’s 28-20 lead when James Franklin connected with Green-Backham, who left his defender in the dust and had nobody stopping him on the way to the end zone. This is going to be a wild finish, but will either team prove worthy of a trip to Pasadena?

One of the stories about this game involves whether or not a one-loss SEC champion should be in the BCS Championship Game. As it stands right now, as long as Florida State and Ohio State win their conference championship games later tonight, the SEC will likely be shut out of the title game, bringing an end to the BCS championship streak. Neither team seems to be showing enough to warrant jumping the Seminoles or Buckeyes if the two undefeated teams win their conference championships today.

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AP

It’s 30 degrees in Waco, but the offenses of Texas and Baylor are even colder.

Playing in what amounts to a de facto Big 12 title game (thanks to Oklahoma’s upset of Oklahoma State), No. 9 Baylor and No. 25 Texas went into halftime deadlocked at 3-3 as the frigid weather prevented both teams from getting untracked.

The direction of the wind seemed to be the biggest predictor of success for either team. When the Bears had the wind at their backs in the first quarter, they looked to be in rhythm on offense and came away with some early points courtesy of a 22-yard field goal by Aaron Jones. Meanwhile, the Texas offense couldn’t get untracked and Baylor was so confident in its ability to stop the Longhorns that it tried a fake punt on 4th and 7 from its own 43-yard line. It failed, but the Texas offense couldn’t make the Bears pay.

Once the two teams switched sides in the second quarter, Texas looked better. Longhorns running back Malcolm Brown started to get rolling and Texas evened things out with a 42-yard Anthony Fera field goal. Brown finished the half with 118 yards on 17 carries.

With the wind swirling and the ball as cold as a stone, this is not a game for quarterbacks. Baylor’s Bryce Petty threw for 170 yards on 13 of 23 passing, but every completion was like picking teeth. Case McCoy was worse, completing 7 of 19 for just 38 yards.

This game could favor the team that runs the ball best, which means Texas could have the edge heading into the second half, unless Baylor running back Lache Seastrunk (21 yards on 7 carries) can get untracked.

Whatever the case, Bears better warm up quick if they don’t want to miss their first ever Big 12 title and BCS game berth.

AP

And here we thought the Big 12 had rid itself of those pesky conference championship games.

Thanks to a touchdown with less than 20 seconds remaining, and another gift with no time remaining, Oklahoma stunned archrival Oklahoma State 33-24 in Stillwater.  The shocking home loss to a decided underdog effectively ends the Cowboys’ hope for a spot at the BCS table.

After taking a 24-20 lead with 1:46 remaining, the Cowboys allowed the Sooners to drive 66 yards for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown, a seven-yard pass from Blake Bell to Jalen Saunders with just :19 seconds left that served as the Sooners first true offensive touchdown of the game.  A series of laterals on OSU’s final possession ended with a fumble recovery for a touchdown for OU.

In the win, the Sooners scored on a punt return (Saunders), a touchdown pass off a fake field goal and a defensive touchdown.  The two teams were a combined 4-of-18 on third down.

A win by the Cowboys would’ve clinched the Big 12 title and the conference’s automatic BCS berth for OSU.  Thanks to the Sooners’ late-game heroics, the Texas-Baylor game in Waco is now an unofficial Big 12 championship game, with the winner representing the league in the Fiesta Bowl.

Unbelievably, the Sooners, depending on how things play out the rest of the day and if they can get into the Top 14 of the final rankings (they’re No. 17), could be in line for an at-large BCS berth, likely the Sugar Bowl against an SEC opponent.  The Cowboys’ loss also raises the BCS hopes for Oregon, which could very well earn a spot in the Sugar Bowl instead of Oklahoma.

Such a development could give us the Alabama-Oregon postseason game everyone thought we’d see earlier in the year, albeit on a much smaller stage.

Bedlam indeed.

AP

Rice (10-3, 8-1 CUSA) was already lined up to go to a bowl game for the second straight season, but now they will do so as Conference USA champions for the first time in program history. The Owls, playing at home in Houston, defended their home turf against Marshall (9-4, 7-2 CUSA) in dominating fashion, winning by a score of 41-24.

Rice out-gained Marshall y more than 100 yards, 487-371. Considering how successful Marshal has been this season on offense, that is no small feat. Marshall had recorded at least 500 yards in each of their previous five games and failed to record 400 yards of offense just twice this season (Virginia Tech, FAU). Marshall had struggled on the road at times, so the home field advantage for Rice was nothing to overlook.

Rice pulled some tricks to get on top early and running back Charles Ross had 109 rushing yards and two touchdowns to help pace the offense. The Owls jumped out of halftime with a 13-0 third quarter, which helped to keep Marshall at a distance. Rakeem Cato was 24 of 41 for 265 yards and two touchdowns but the big plays just were not there often enough for Marshall’s quarterback this week.

With the Conference USA championship, Rice should be heading to the Liberty Bowl, which hosts the Conference USA champion. This will be the first time Rice has played in the Liberty Bowl. The Liberty Bowl also has a tie in with the SEC, but seven their bowls get their pick of SEC teams before the Liberty Bowl gets to make a selection. Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Ole  Miss could all be options for the Liberty Bowl to choose from.

UPDATE (4:26 PPM): Marshall has accepted an invite to the Military Bowl, which will be played in Annapolis, Maryland this season.

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It was not pretty, but UCF will take it. The Golden Knights clinched the outright American Athletic Conference championship by coming from behind int he second half at SMU, 17-13. It was the seventh time this season UCF won a game by seven points or less.

This was the coldest game in UCF program history, and there were times when it was clear the temperature was causing some problems for quarterback Blake Bortles and the rest of the offense. Bortles had a football slip out of his hands while on the move and receivers had a tough time holding on to the football. UCF started cold as well, scoring just three points and trailing the Mustangs 10-3 at the half. Things were not much prettier in the second half, but it worked for UCF as the offense finally found some plays to build on.

Bortles rushed for two touchdowns in the third quarter to give UCF the lead and the score stayed there though the entire fourth quarter. He ended his day completing 24 of 35 pass attempts for 242 yards. SMU quarterback Neal Burcham, playing in place of an injured Garrett Gilbert, had to be taken out of the game in the fourth quarter after landing hard on the cold turf and suffering a concussion. That left the bowl hopes of SMU in the hands of Garrett Krstitch, a very inexperienced quarterback. Krstitch was intercepted once and was unable to lead SMU back late in the game.

The loss ensures SMU they will stay home this postseason. SMU had played in four straight bowl games entering this season under head coach June Jones. After seeing the football team’s win total diminish each of the past two years now, what kind of changes are on the way in Dallas could be interesting to watch.

UCF now awaits to find out their official BCS bowl destination, although it is expected they will be heading to the Fiesta Bowl. The Orange Bowl would be more desirable for UCF though, given the in-state proximity and the number of fans already saving up for an overseas trip to play Penn State in Ireland to open the 2014 season.

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If Oklahoma is to knock rival Oklahoma State out of the BCS picture, it’ll have to do so without its starting quarterback.

At the end of the first half, Trevor Knight was knocked out of bounds by an Oklahoma State defender near the goal line on a third-down play.  Almost immediately, Knight was taken into the locker room for further evaluation of an unspecified injury.

Shortly before kickoff of the second half, OU announced that Knight would not return for the remainder of the game.  The program has not specified the nature of the injury, although local radio reports have the player standing on the sidelines with his arm in a sling.

With Knight out, head coach Bob Stoops turned to Kendal Thompson.  The sophomore promptly tossed an interception of the Sooners’ first play from scrimmage of the third quarter, which the Cowboys converted into a touchdown that pushed their lead to 17-10.

AP

Of the three teams still alive in the Big 12 title race, only Oklahoma State doesn’t need any outside help.  Win, and they’re in a BCS game.

Thus far, that’s been easier said than done.

Despite a 201-132 advantage in total offense, Oklahoma State and Bedlam rival Oklahoma went into the locker room tied at 10-all at the end of two quarters of play.  A 21-yard field goal by OU’s Michael Hunnicutt knotted the score with :38 left in the second, a few minutes after a 41-yard field goal by OSU’s Ben Grogan gave the Cowboys the lead and was apparently kicked in the midst of an earthquake.

Cowboys running back Desmond Roland rushed for 110 first-half yards and scored OSU’s only touchdown.

A 64-yard punt return by Sooners wide receiver Jalen Saunders late in the first quarter accounted for OU’s lone touchdown.

If the Cowboys are able to pull away from their bitter rivals in the second half, OSU will make the Texas-Baylor game later this afternoon moot when it comes to an automatic BCS berth, although the Bears could earn an at-large berth with a win thanks to Northern Illinois’ loss.  However, an OSU loss would send the winner of that game to the Fiesta Bowl as the conference’s representative.

Without the flair and pageantry that comes with some of the conference championship games we are seeing later today, the Conference USA Championship Game has been a fun one to watch over the years. This year’s edition is not quite set up to be a classic, with Rice leading Marshall 21-10 at the half.

Rice piled on points midway through the first quarter, scoring two touchdowns in the span of just over two minutes. Rice pulled some tricks with Luke Turner taking a pitch from the wildcat and completing a 35 yard touchdown pass to Donte Moore over the middle to open the scoring for the game five minutes in to the game. After the Rice defense pushed Marshall back five yards on a three-and-out, the Owls quickly struck again. This time it was Taylor McHargue unloading the scoring strike with a 75-yard pass to Jordan Taylor, who out-ran two defenders and moved his way to the left sideline to sprint the rest of the way.

Rice took a 21-3 lead before Rakeem Cato and Marshall managed to get in to the end zone. Cato kept one play away as he was being pushed to the right sideline when he avoided one defender and unloaded a ball to his receiver, Gator Hoskins, just shy of the end zone. The play set up a short run for Devon Johnson to pull Marshall to within 11 points before halftime. The half ended with the teams exchanging five punts between them.

We could still be in for a fun finish. Marshall and Rice are each capable of putting up some points in a hurry, but the Thundering Herd have struggled on the road at times and the cold weather may be playing a factor.

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AP

After wrapping up the American’s automatic BCS berth on Thursday night, thanks to Louisville’s victory over Cincinnati, the sense of urgency may nto be there for UCF this afternoon in Dallas. But don’t let that take away from what SMU is doing to UCF just yet. SMU needs to pick up a win this afternoon to become bowl eligible, and after one half they may be on their way to the postseason. SMU leads UCF 10-3 at the half in cold Dallas.

The only touchdown of the half came midway through the second quarter when Neal Burcham completed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Keenan Holman. The score gave the Mustangs a 10-3 lead. UCF has been very limited in their offensive production against SMU, with quarterback Blake Bortles completing eight of 13 passes for 84 yards and Storm Johnson rushing eight times for 28 yards. UCF was held to just 122 yards of offense in the first half.

SMU entered the day a win shy of bowl eligibility status, so they will need a strong second half to finish this one off. UCF does not look like the same team they have been at times this season, but we have also seen the Knights overcome some sluggish starts in conference play for thrilling endings. Whether that happens today or not is anyone’s guess. If UCF does come back to win this one their bowl situation will not change. They will be the last conference champ seeded in the BCS bowl selection process, which could mean Fiesta Bowl, win or lose.

A win for UCF will win the outright championship rather than sharing the championship with Louisville. UCF owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Cardinals, which is why UCF has already clinched a spot in the BCS.

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AP

It’s official: the Fighting Irish will be spending late December in the Big Apple.

Following up on speculation that has been making the rounds of late, Notre Dame confirmed Saturday afternoon that it has accepted an invitation to play in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl.  The fourth version of the postseason game will be played Dec. 28 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

It will mark the storied football program’s first-ever postseason game in the metropolitan New York area.

“Quite simply, we are thrilled to bring our football program to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl,” said Irish head coach Brian Kelly in a statement. “We were privileged to play in New York City and Yankee Stadium in 2010. The treatment our University received from the Steinbrenner family, the New York Yankees and the entire organization was unlike anything we’ve experienced in my tenure at Notre Dame.”

Notre Dame will face an undetermined opponent from the AAC.  If Rutgers beats USF later on today and becomes bowl eligible, the Scarlet Knights are expected to get the invitation.  If Rutgers stumbles, Houston is expected to get the nod.

AP

Bowling Green’s romp over unbeaten Northern Illinois has already cost the conference millions in BCS money.  In the end, it could prove costly for the winning team on the sidelines as well.

A source has confirmed to ESPN.com‘s Brett McMurphy that Wake Forest has targeted a pair of MAC head coaches to fill its vacancy: BGSU’s Dave Clawson and Ball State’s Pete Lembo.  The latter has already interviewed for the opening, while the former is expected to do so in short order.

McMurphy reported that a decision from Wake Forest on a permanent replacement for the retired Jim Grobe could come as early as Sunday, presumably after interviewing Clawson today.

Clawson has been with the Falcons for five years and led the football program to its first conference championship since 1992 Friday night in Detroit.  In his third season with the Cardinals, Lembo has BSU in bowl games in back-to-back seasons for just the second time in school history.

Prior to Bowling Green’s stunner in the MAC title game, it was reported that Lembo was the likely front-runner for the Wake job.

AP

As expected, the initial phase of Steve Sarkisian‘s staff building at USC has a Great Northwest flavor to it.

The Trojans announced Friday that Sarkisian, hired last Monday, has plucked three assistants from his now-former Washington staff: Johnny Nansen, Keith Heyward and Peter Sirmon.  Specific titles and job responsibilities will not be announced until Sarkisian has completed his staff, although the three served as running backs coach/special teams coordinator, secondary coach and linebackers coach, respectively, with the Huskies.

“I’m fired up to have Johnny, Keith and Peter join the staff,” said Sarkisian in a statement. “We’re on the right path in putting together one of the best coaching staffs in America.”

Sarkisian also announced that Trojans wide receivers coach Tee Martin would be a part of his initial staff as well.

It’s believed Sarkisian’s defensive coordinator with the Huskies, Justin Wilcox, will interview for the head coach vacancy at Boise State, an opening created by Chris Petersen‘s departure to replace Sarkisian at UW.    Sarkisian would like to bring Wilcox with him to Los Angeles.

The Seattle Times reported Friday that the buyouts for Sarkisian and the three assistants breaking their UW contracts total in excess of $1.5 million.  Wilcox’s departure for USC would push that number to over $2 million.

Petersen’s Boise State buyout was $750,000.

AP

In finally prying him out of Boise, Washington was expected to make Chris Petersen one of the highest-paid head coaches in the Pac-12.  As it turns out, it appears you can take the “one of” out of the equation.

Bruce Feldman of CBSSports.com reported Friday night that Petersen and UW had agreed on a five-year contract that would pay the former Boise State head coach an average of $3.6 million annually.  The school, which will officially introduce Petersen at a press conference Monday, has yet to release any contractual details.

If the numbers are accurate, Petersen would easily become the highest-paid head coach in the Pac-12, at least as far as public institutions are concerned.

Petersen’s predecessor, Steve Sarkisian, previously held the title, earning a reported $2.57 million in 2013.  Utah’s Kyle Whittingham ($2.43 million), Colorado’s Mike MacIntyre ($2.4 million) and Cal’s Sonny Dykes ($2.39 million) were all at or around $2.4 million this season.  In his final season with the Broncos, Petersen was paid $2.1 million.

As they are private institutions, Stanford and USC are not required to release salary details for its coaches.  In its salary data base, though, USA Today had Lane Kiffin making $2.59 million as the Trojans’ head coach.  It’s believed Sarkisian will top $3 million annually for his move to USC.

The Cardinal’s David Shaw is also believed to have cracked (at least) the $3 million mark.

AP

Well, it’s finally here.

Outside of the Army-Navy game next Saturday, Week 15 serves as the final weekend of the 2013 “regular” season.  Despite the fact that 14 weeks are already in the books, though, there are still several critical questions that remain unanswered.

Can Ohio State run its winning streak to 25 straight and claim a spot in its first BCS title game since after the 2007 season?  Would a one-loss and SEC champion Auburn do the unprecedented and leapfrog an unbeaten AQ team into the championship game?  Will Missouri and/or Michigan State make the argument that dominated the week leading into Championship Saturday a moot point?  Can Florida State avoid tripping up against Du… sorry, couldn’t finish typing that with a straight face.

The ACC, Big Ten and SEC championship games aren’t the only ones of import this weekend, though, as the Big 12 and Pac-12 will also send a team apiece into the BCS with automatic bids:

• If Oklahoma State can defend its home Stillwater turf and beat Oklahoma in Bedlam, the Cowboys claim the Big 12 championship and the automatic BCS berth.  If not, the winner of the Texas-Baylor game — in Waco — will earn the conference’s postseason honors.
• The Pac-12, as it relates to the BCS, is simple and straightforward: the winner of the Stanford-Arizona State conference championship game in the desert will play in the Rose Bowl against either the Big Ten champion or an at-large team.

Of course, a handful of other games litter the Week 15 schedule — MWC (Utah State-Fresno State) and Conference USA (Marshall at Rice) league championship games as well as regular-season finales in the AAC and Sun Belt — although most eyes will be on the games mentioned above.

So, how will the weekend play out?  How will the questions posed earlier be answered?  Allow the CFT staff to peer into their respective, sometimes cloudy crystal balls and take a stab at just that.

AUBURN (11-1, No. 3 BCS) vs.MISSOURI (11-1, No. 5 BCS)
SEC Championship game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga. 4 p.m. ET kickoff

Chris Huston: Auburn 42, Missouri 35
Kevin McGuire: Auburn 34, Missouri 32
JJ Stankevitz: Missouri 38, Auburn 34
John Taylor: Missouri 41, Auburn 34

Auburn/Missouri, 2-2

OHIO STATE (12-0, No. 2 BCS) vs. MICHIGAN STATE (11-1, No. 10)
Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. 8:17 p.m. ET kickoff

Chris Huston: Ohio State 27, Michigan State 10
Kevin McGuire: Ohio State 24, Michigan State 20
JJ Stankevitz: Michigan State 27, Ohio State 24
John Taylor: Ohio State 37, Michigan State 24

Ohio State, 3-1

FLORIDA STATE (12-0, No. 1) vs DUKE (10-2, No. 20)
ACC Championship game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. 8 p.m. ET kickoff

Chris Huston: Florida State 51, Duke 24
Kevin McGuire: Florida State 42, Duke 17
JJ Stankevitz: Florida State 59, Duke 10
John Taylor: Florida State 54, Duke 10

Florida State, 4-0

STANFORD (10-2, No. 7) vs. ARIZONA STATE (10-2, No. 11)
Pac-12 Championship game at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. 7:45 p.m. ET kickoff

Chris Huston: Arizona State 31, Stanford 28
Kevin McGuire: Arizona State 30, Stanford 26
JJ Stankevitz: Stanford 30, Arizona State 21
John Taylor: Stanford 34, Arizona State 31

Arizona State/Stanford, 2-2

OKLAHOMA (9-2, No. 17) vs. OKLAHOMA STATE (10-1, No. 6)

Chris Huston: Oklahoma 38, Oklahoma State 35
Kevin McGuire: Oklahoma State 38, Oklahoma 28
JJ Stankevitz: Oklahoma State 41, Oklahoma 27
John Taylor: Oklahoma State 34, Oklahoma 17

Oklahoma State, 3-1

TEXAS (8-3, No. 25) vs. BAYLOR (10-1, No. 9)

Chris Huston: Baylor 48, Texas 41
Kevin McGuire: Baylor 43, Texas 27
JJ Stankevitz: Baylor 56, Texas 38
John Taylor: Baylor 52, Texas 24

Baylor, 4-0

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In the final year of the BCS system, there will be no BCS buster. No. 14 Northern Illinois (12-1, 8-1 MAC) was dealt their first loss of the season at the worst possible time of the year. Bowling Green (10-3, 8-1 MAC) delivered the blow with a 47-27 victory in the MAC Championship Game.

Bowling Green’s strategy seemed so simple in concept, but few teams manage to get the mission to play out. Forcing Northern Illinois in to a position to rely more n the pass than allowing the Huskies to grind out yardage on the ground paid off, and the Falcons delivered a near flawless performance on both sides of the football.

While Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch is a bit of a household name at this point, this night belonged to Bowling Green’s Matt Johnson. Johnson was precise with his passes, completing 21 of 27 of them for 393 yards and five touchdowns. Receivers Ronnie Moore and Alex Bayer each had over 100 receiving yards. As solid of a performance as this was for the offense — and it was top-notch — the defense is what really took control of this game.

Bowling Green held Lynch to just 89 rushing yards and allowed him to complete just 21 of 40 pass attempts for 219 yards and one touchdown. The brilliance of the defensive game plan was focusing on what Lynch would do when they managed to force him to throw. That has far easier to say than do, as most opponents might tell you. Lynch had thrown just five interceptions all season heading in to the championship game, but Bowling Green managed to pick off the MAC’s top offensive player twice. But it paid off as it took Northern Illinois out of their element. With the offense continuing to pad their lead, Northern Illinois struggled to make much of a dent. What this does for Lynch’s chances to receive a trip to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist remains to be seen, although he may still be worthy of an invite for an award that appears to be Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston‘s.

The outcome of this game removes Northern Illinois from the BCS conversation. A win would have likely resulted in a second straight BCS trip if they managed to stay ahead of UCF in the BCS standings. UCF plays Saturday at SMU, but even if the Knights were to win the Huskies likely would have stayed in front to clinch an automatic BCS spot. Instead there will be no BCS busters, which means the door is open for a number of teams from some of the traditional power conferences. Baylor, Oregon and Clemson are among the programs who should be most happy with this result.

Bowling Green will likely move on to play in the GoDaddy.com Bowl against a team from the Sun Belt Conference. Northern Illinois will likely make a return trip to Detroit for the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, against a Big Ten team. Northern Illinois was 2-0 against Big Ten competition this season, with wins against Iowa and Purdue. Those are the two top bowls in the MAC line-up, although those bowl announcements have yet to be made official.

One question to ask now is whether Bowling Green head coach Dave Clawson will be around to coach the Falcons in their bowl game. Clawson was already a rising name in this year’s coaching carousel, and with this dominating performance by his team tonight, he could certainly be in line for a new job in a hurry.

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