April 22, 2020 • 38 mins
No college football season in modern history was as insane as 2007. Virtually every team who was ranked second in the country ended up losing their perch and a chance at the national championship. This week, we’ll look back at four of those teams who came oh-so-close before succumbing to upsets in the most spectacular manner. Adding to it is that none of those teams have been close to what they were that year: South Florida (Who?), Boston College (Matty Ice!), Kansas (What?) and West Virginia (Oh, Rich Rod).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Special Teams, a production of my Heart Radio.
Greetings and Welcome inside. Special Teams are podcast that takes
(00:22):
a look every week at a big year in the
world of sports and the special teams that make it up. Now,
normally we take a look at one team and how
they've done over the course of one very special year.
But I'm gonna get to play with the format here
this week and next week a little bit and kind
of get outside our comfort zone. Jason Smith and Mike Harmon,
your genial hosts here, as we're gonna take a look
(00:45):
back at the special teams that made up the two
thousand and seven college football season, which is you mentioned
two thousand seven any college football fan and they go,
oh my god, it was the most insane season we
have seen in quite a long time, this season that
ended with l s U beating Ohio State to win
their second BCS and third overall national title. But what
(01:08):
we're gonna do is we are going to spotlight and
take a look at the special teams that were rank
second and lost that ranking over the course of the season,
because that's really the number one thing that people remember
about this as some of the crazy teams that got
as high as number two, couldn't keep it, couldn't keep
the ranking, lost and have moved on and really never
(01:31):
gotten back to the high level they were at in
two thousand and seven. Yeah, for something that was the
high water mark, and you talked about forty fifty years
before they reached that moment, all the excitement, anticipation, only
to fall flat on their faces. I really thought we
were gonna do a Tim Tebow, especially when you said
two thousand seven football and that's all you sent in
a text to me. I said, great, We're just gonna
(01:52):
celebrate the life and times of Tim Tebow. We did
that in the other podcast. We did. We did. We
did the other one for about the Jake misery of
the first year of the Alabama experiment of Nick Saban
And I don't I don't know that that was that special. Actually,
I think that was well for anybody that's fought him
any time since, that was kind of special because it
was the last time he was down and out. True. Well, no, well,
(02:13):
he did take the Dolphins job. Remember he was down
and out. Well, I mean he exercised himself from the game.
He actually said to the reporters, fellas I don't know
what to tell you. I'm not going to Alabama. And then,
of course, and then he was there, So this was
he winking? Did he have his fingers crossed behind him? No,
I got it behind my back. So what if he
(02:34):
can't stretch, what if he has a labor room issue
that doesn't allow him to put his hand behind his back,
then you cross your toes and you put it in
your bucket, or you could do that as well, across
your eyes. Could do a lot of different things. But
there were no fewer than six teams that held the
number two ranking overall this season that lost the number
two overall ranking. Here's how crazy of a show this
(02:55):
is gonna be USC which had the number two ranking
until they're now famous. Three loss to Stanford and Jim
marmaw really the game that put Jim Harbaugh on the
map as a coach. I mean, that doesn't even make
it Dogs. I mean, if we're gonna talk about worst,
I mean biggest upsets in the history of football, made
(03:17):
a forty one point dog. No, that was big, don't
but they don't make it because USC we've seen them
being number two in the world the world of college football.
But they had their runs. They had their run Oregon
who had the number two. No, I'm not saying that
we've seen Oregon up there. Ye sure, here's how big
it is. The first couple of teams, South Florida, remember
(03:38):
the Bulls got as high as number two in the
very first BCS rankings. Matt Growthy was the quarterback who
was just okay throwing the football, but running the football,
he was able to be a good dual threat QB
in South Florida won a couple of big games, and
suddenly that first BCS rankings came out and it was
South Florida's it at number two. They had beaten West Virginia,
(04:02):
who was ranked fifth in the country up until that point.
And suddenly, that whole week, I remember, the talk was
if South Florida runs the table, south Florida's gonna play
for the national championship. Dude, South Florida. Man, who the
hell is South Florida? They can play for the national title? Wow?
But that's the beauty of it. Right. When one of
these stories rise up, it's like, all right, deploy all staffers,
(04:24):
figure out stats where they're from. We're gonna need a
lot of graphics because suddenly the rotation is they're gonna
be in games that are being televised in a bigger way.
And they went into absolutely thumb Syracuse. Yeah, that's that was.
This is back when everybody thumb Syracuse. Remember, Buddy, it was.
But but it was South Florida the Syracuse. I know,
(04:44):
we've lost to Florida's Central, We've lost to Central Florida.
We've lost to Florida International, we lost in International Florida.
We've lost the International House of Pancakes. We've lost to
a lot of teams. Well, many people have been felled
by a giant stack at the I h you're gonna
put the chuck chips and make the smiley face on
it for you. So South Florida their first ranking at
(05:06):
number two, the first BCS rankings, they're all the rage,
and then proving clearly that that pressure was too much
for them, they lost the next three games they played,
taking them right out of contention. Alright, thanks for coming,
South Florida, thanks for being here. Well, you get up
there sometimes that jump up in class. Maybe you start
reading your press clippings, and there's a lot that goes
(05:27):
into it. I mean the fact that the first loss
was at Rutgers. Yeah, Rutgers ruining a perfect season. You
don't hear that that off Rutgers in two thousand seven.
I don't think anybody was anticipating that right there. So
South Florida loses the ranking and then rising up Boston College.
Now this was a shock because look, Boston College has
(05:50):
never been even close to that, But they also have
never had a quarterback like Matt Ryan. This was the
season that put Matt Ryan on the map and turned
him into the number three overall pick in the NFL
draft Jeff Jagazinski, who had a difficult time after this year.
Boston College gets to number two on the strength of
Matt Ryan, who was terrific. He decided to return for
(06:12):
his senior season, and all he did was amp up
his stock. BC had been on the cusp. They had
been a pretty good team, and looked, you're writing Matt
Ryan's coat tails. Of course you're gonna be pretty good.
But this was the year Boston College had a wide
open offense, you know, and and Ryan really made his
legacy in the Virginia Tech game. They had beaten Notre Dame,
(06:32):
and No, Tre Dame. Wasn't that great. But Boston College
beats Notre Dame and you know that's a big rivalry,
and they're rideing high. They're losing to Virginia Tech. Tend
nothing with about three minutes to go in the game, right,
tend nothing there, shut out the first fifty seven minutes
of the game, and you figure, okay, this is where
it ends for Boston College at number two. But Ryan
takes BC down, they score a touchdown, they get the
(06:55):
on side kick, and then with eleven seconds to go,
Matt Ryan makes a play that not only cemented his season,
but really cemented his stock as this is a guy
we got to get in the draft. He rolls out
to the side their thirty five yards from the end zone,
and it's a Brett Farve play. He rolls all the
way out to the left and he stops, and he
(07:16):
turns completely back to the right and chucks it up
to the end zone and Andre Callendar is open behind
the defensive backs as a running back with eleven seconds left,
he makes the catch. They wind up winning fourteen to ten.
It was insane. They put up two touchdowns in the
final three minutes. And watching this game again, which I
did going into here, that last three minutes was full
(07:38):
of everything you wanted to see and you could tell
right there, hey, Matt Ryan's gonna be it. But that
throw was absolutely incredible. Plug. It's the game that cements him,
the ice moniker, that brought him into the end of
the pros right where back against the wall, the number
two ranking, all of these things that that can rise
up and really make you a legend. And again it
(08:00):
was Tim Tebow's here. Everybody else was just playing for
all right, who gets to play right And in the
end he doesn't even make the make the championship game,
but it was about chasing for the Heisman, troue, but
it was about all of that that pageantry that goes through.
But for Matt Ryan, you know, we're always looking for
quarterbacks to rise, we do it every year and looking
(08:22):
for those signature moments and what's going to separate on tape,
especially now that everybody's a tape pundit. You know, even
as a decade ago when Matt Ryan was coming into
the league that there was a small fraction of the
number of guys breaking it down. But this is three
minutes on the field going all right, game on the line,
everything on your shoulder, just go get it. And you're
(08:44):
not talking about a group of support players that went
onto illustrious NFL careers. Here on the offensive side, right,
it's Matt Ryan carrying guys along. BC gets to eight
no and then they lose to Florida State. That ends
their perfect season, their run to the national championship. But
Matt Ryan finishes his career that seasons passing thirty one touchdowns. Obviously,
(09:10):
he goes number three overall in the draft the Atlanta Falcons,
and short of getting another Matt Ryan, this is never
happening for Boston College. Again. They are trying to find
the path to mediocrity as they try to navigate the
A C C. When you know, obviously, now wait a
minute's Clems and it's all these other teams that we're
trying to fight up against. If we go to a
bowl game at six and six, that's a good year
for us. Well, and that's the unfortunate, ever shifting landscape
(09:33):
from college football though, right my allmator Northwestern consistently can
win games. Gonna take step back, but are you ever
going to get to that number two and have your
shot right where everything plays perfectly at every bounce goes
right from Boston College. This was that time recording. Recruiting
a quarterback of that caliber is just such a difficult proposition. Uh,
(09:55):
in this game, you can hope someone would transfer right.
Think you graduate translations, always open, no possibilities, into the
transfer portal and see what's inside. Still waiting for someone
to make the movie Transfer Portal, Transfer Portal. It would
end up being a horror movie though. Like a player
would step into the transfer portal, something would happen, they
would get taken over. They would look and act the
(10:15):
same on the outside, but they'd be different on the Yes,
there you go, transfer portal. I like that, Like, so,
there you go. There's the first couple of teams had
their shot at number two and failed. Coming up next
the team that had the next chance at it, and
regardless of whether or not they lost, this coach may
have done the best single season job in college football
(10:37):
in the past twenty five years. We'll get to it
coming up next year on special teams. As we continue
(10:58):
on special teams, the Curse of the Number two is.
Looking back at the two thousand seven n c A
football season, the craziest in recent memory. We're looking back
at the teams that got as high as number two, shockingly,
because you're gonna hear their names and you're gonna say, boy,
that's never happening for them. Again. We went through South Florida,
we went through Boston College, and next it was Kansas's turn.
(11:20):
In a year that every minute we get more removed
from this season, we go just how the hell did
this happen with Kansas? Kansas who wins about two games
a year. God as high as number two. Mark Mangino,
the head coach who everybody remembers them, Oh, he was
a real big guy, and and he was he was
a guy that started out eleven and oh that year, God,
(11:44):
Kansas as high as number two. They wound up finishing
twelve and one. But before we get into the what
happened to them at number two? That's why I said
a few minutes ago, Mark man Gino may have done
the greatest coaching job in the last twenty five years
in college football, because Kansas was a waste land before
he got there, and in his time they go to
four bowl games. They're bowl eligible in five of the
(12:05):
eight years he's there. They were both eligible in five
of the last thirty years before Manio got all right,
the best player they had was a keep to leap right.
He went on to a long career in the NFL.
Still in the NFL, the only guy to ever say
don't you know who I am? To me, Well, that's right.
You went to Kansas. You gonna have to do well.
But you went to Kansas, dn't you? How do you
make it out of there on a at a Super
(12:26):
Bowl event where you've got Laura loud music and the
person introducing him as he came down the blue carpet
for that night did not enunciate whatsoever. So I don't
know even though what I said in terms of addressing him,
he guys, you gotta know my name? Like okay, the
kind of just kind of shoved you in front of
(12:47):
my microphone. There's it was one of those situations like
there's no no briefing you. It's like no bay quib
talent bright. So he got in my ear and he just,
you know, just reminded me because again, I mean, look,
you're seeing all agains, like nobody's wearing a name dark,
so it's like, hi, my name. You know, you're putting
(13:11):
most guys you're trying to fix the name of an
NFL player who's already in versus a guy who's going
to be drafted, and so it's just one of those circumstances.
I felt stupid. I wrote him a note of apology.
It's like, there was no disrespect. That's really nice. So
I was cool, and the next time I saw him,
(13:31):
it was all good. We laughed about it. But still
hates me secretly, But that's okay. Uh. Todd reesing that
year through thirty three touchdowns. He was the quarterback in Kansas.
He threw six in a seventy six thirty nine win
over Nebraska. Again, that doesn't seem real that Kansas would
do this, But two thousand seven was right around the
(13:52):
time we started seeing the crazy teams out of the
Big twelve, the teams at the spread offenses putting up
a lot of points. Whether you ran a spread offense
or not, it didn't. It was still where look at
all these points where the Big twelve had always been
seventeen thirteen on a rainy November afternoon. But you're playing
for the National Channel. We know we've already seen it.
About a decade earlier, when Joe Tiller started being all
crazy after new and then starting to spider out. And yeah,
(14:16):
this was like the epicenter of all that because you
had Missouri, you had Kansas, you had Texas Tech, Oklahoma,
all these teams that started to embrace that. And I mean,
think about seventy six thirty nine Kansas. Look, we've seen
Nebraska takes some thumps and lumps over the past few years,
but seventy thirty nine to Kansas. I mean, come on,
that's where if you're in Nebraska, you go. We had
(14:38):
to just get rid of our program. We just like
we used to beat Kansas seventy three. Well, but that
was the tough time, right. You mentioned Notre Dame a
little earlier in the podcast. They were not exactly in
the best shape, not still in the pageantry of Notre Dame.
And I know it drove your buddy Beeto cooked nuts
because it wasn't they weren't rolling along. Sure, you had
many conversations about where Notre Dame stood, and like they're
(15:02):
always front center, but all your traditional powerhouses in that
year and in the years surrounding it, they were navigating
some choppy waters. But it still looked good on the
resume because to the casual observer. It's just a storied program.
So you got him. Now, Kansas didn't play a lot
of great teams, just the way the schedule went for them.
(15:23):
But they go into a big showdown against Missouri knowing
full well that the winner of that game is going
to be the number one right team in the country
because Ohio State had lost earlier that day. I remember
that game. It was It was a it was a
night game. The weather was typical what you expected to be.
It was cold, it was windy, and they were going
(15:43):
up against Missouri, who was that good. Jeremy Macklin was
a freshman on this team. Chase Daniel wound up a
Heisman finalists, you know, he was a quarterback in Missouri.
And this was a game that, oh, by God, Kansas
or Missouri is going to be the number one team
in the country going into a big twelve championship game.
One of these teams could win a game and play
(16:04):
for the national title. Kansas or Missouri. Now Missouri has
always been hey, they've had some decent seasons, but we're
talking one game away from Kansas or Missouri playing for
all the marbles. The nightmare scenario, right, We're talking about
South Florida earlier. Man, this is where you even get
into starting to rank teams and have these reveal specials
(16:24):
and you include one of these names. There's lots of
executives sweaty palms and rings. So what's gonna happen? We
gotta sell Kansas in the National title game? Yeah, I
mean Chase Kaufman the tight end, trying to sell him
along the way. Yeah, I don't I don't know that
was gonna be an easy sell. But Jase Daniel getting
(16:44):
it done. Man, he had that that big efficiency rating
and through thirty three touchdowns, he could at least said, hey,
high powered Chase Daniel in that game? Was it? Even
though Todd Reesing played well, he threw a couple of picks,
and Reesing didn't throw a lot of picks that year,
Chase Daniel was forty out of forty nine for three
sixty one and three touchdowns. Missouri running that big, wide
(17:06):
open offense. And in fact, after the game, they asked
the Kansas Jayhawks, hey about Chase Daniel all this stuff,
and the keep to leap said, we just sent that
guy to New York, like we just sent the trophy.
We just sent that guy to New York. He had
that kind of game against all the eyes of the
nation on you, right, I mean, because this became the
curiosity at that point. It was it was on the
(17:29):
scroll and you would see the record. Maybe you caught it.
And if you're truly degenerate with dual remote controls, multiple
TVs watching all the you know already had an eight
box for your picture and picture. Otherwise it was all right,
the curiosity, and then all of a sudden, here it
was front and center. So yeah, a game in that
(17:49):
kind of spotlight could propel someone into grand futures. So
Kansas doesn't make it to the Big twelve Championship game,
they do beat Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl to one,
and Kansas actually got a first place vote. At the
end of the year, we're supposed to vote for the
national champion. Kansas actually got a first place vote because
there was some debate as to whether or not, Hey,
(18:11):
with the crazy season that we had, are the teams
that are playing for the National Championship game in the
BCS gonna automatically get the votes they're supposed to get
by winning that game. But only one person didn't vote
for L s U. Seven times in nine weeks and
number two fell. Yeah. I think it was Israel Gundy.
Eiraz if I remember, was the guy who didn't vote
for voted for Kansas to the number one team in
(18:33):
the Cup. Sound. So Kansas has an incredible run. They
falter at number two. But this is where the story
of Kansas gets really interesting, and it's just too bad
because you would think at this point Mark Mangino could
write whatever tickety wanted to Kansas moving on, like twelve
and one we won the Orange Ball. I'm gonna be
here forever. From to win team is first year to
(18:56):
nine ten wins and then this storied season. But it
ended for Mangino in two thousand nine a mid talk
of mistreatment of players. He had yelled at Raymond Pendleton
after he jumped into the end zone against Central Michigan
week one of this year. Uh I got famous on
YouTube as much as he was screaming at him because
he kind of showboted his way into the end zone.
He was accused of poking a linebacker artist right in
(19:18):
the chest and yelling at him before the Colorado game.
Players didn't like him because he spoke to them disrespectfully.
He had a lot of parking tickets as well, and
the way he behaved towards people who gave out the
parking tickets. I mean, these are all insane, don't you
know who I am? These are all insane things that coaches.
Really the old school, I'm gonna get in the guy's
face like that would never happen nowadays. One one instance
(19:41):
televised on TV is all you would need for the
coach to go okay. I got it back away from things,
but Mangino had a pattern of behavior and compounded it
with the whole parking ticket thing and wound up getting
fired and he had to leave Kansas when this should
have been the biggest success story possible and maybe Kansas
is still good all these years later. They had the
(20:03):
fast Lane for eight years with him. But this didn't
end with Oh, here's the n c A A coming
to town and we found all these violations. This was
a coach couldn't behave the right way towards his players,
and despite the fact of all the success, he winds
up finding his way out of town. That that just
baffles me that that happened. Took a couple of years
to get back in the game. Then it was at
Youngstown State and later a couple of years as a
(20:25):
coordinator and tight ends coach at Iowa State. But that,
you know, you have to wonder if the if the
word was out on him while this was going on,
because you would think that a guy who turns the
Kansas program around would have his pick of jobs anywhere.
You know, the hot just always there's always big ticket
teams every year that are looking for somebody new, and
(20:46):
he would think at some point Mangino's name would come
around where he would be seriously considered and would jump,
and it didn't happen the next wave of guys, right,
I mean that that's just a reputation changing, changing times,
more reports. The the internet is unforgiving in these kind
of things, right twenty years ago. Stories are there, and
(21:06):
like we've seen plenty of Bob knight um biographies over
time and clips, But if it's just the the speaking points,
those may be more insidious because it's a lot of
behind the scenes talk as opposed. All right, here's just
the video clip for Mangino that became the end of it,
and we just saw so many other coaches get their shots.
(21:28):
So if you thought Kansas getting number two was really unlikely.
W do we tell you about the last team that
made it to number two and fell victim to the curse?
The game that cost them ended up changing the history
of college football. We'll get to that coming up next
Jason Smith and Mike Carbon Special Teams Podcast. Five teams
(22:04):
that made it to number two during the two thousand
seven college football season all bit the dust. But it
looked like everything was gonna go well for the six
team because all they had to do was win a
home game as a twenty eight and a half point favorite.
That's it, and they couldn't. Nice and easy. The two
thousand seven season for the West Virginia Mountaineers and head
(22:25):
coach Rich Rodriguez came down to one game, one moment
in time. Rich Rodriguez is the toast of college football.
His spread offense that he instilled in West Virginia had
become all the rage. In fact, there was many people
who thought this guy was the best coach in college
football at this time. Taking West Virginia team that had
(22:47):
middling success for the most part, look did pretty well
under Don Neelin. They won some big games, but certainly
they're not one of the powers in college football, and
he turned them into one of the powers in college
football his spread offense, Pat White, Steve Slaton, Noel Divine
was a freshman running back on that team. They rolled
up all kinds of offense. Over the course of this season.
(23:08):
They really hit their peak. Yes, they lost to South Florida,
but that was their only loss. They want out to
get to number two late in the season, where all
they had to do was beat Pittsburgh in the backyard Brawl.
They would play for the national championship. And Rodriguez, look,
there were already rumors was he going to get a
lifetime extension at West Virginia. But I remember that time
(23:30):
and I remember that being a big question that Rodriguez.
West Virginia did what they wanted to do for him,
and there were reports that he was getting too big
for the program, and there was some concern that he'd
be getting too big and be the most important person
in the state, uh, something which was kind of corroborated
by John you Bacon's book on Rich Rodriguez his three
(23:52):
years at ann Arbort with Michigan. Sorry spoiler alert, Rich
Rodriguez went to Michigan after this um that there was
some question with Rich Rodriguez and you was he someone
who got too powerful and thought he was gonna be
able to stay at his alma mater forever because he
went to West Virginia. But instead, after the season, they
basically said, we've done what we wanted to do for you,
so we took the jump to Michigan. But before that happened,
(24:14):
all he's got to do is beat Pittsburgh in the
backyard Brawl again twenty eight and a half point favorites.
All he's got to do and he plays for the
national championship. That's it simple enough, right, which is why
if it looks too easy on the calendar, he can't
set it and forget it. This is not a wrong
COO product. You're not cooking a chicken, no roast chicken
(24:36):
to go watch TV like I would say, but t J,
that's why they played the games. They're gonna play your
sixty minutes and obviously hampered in this one as Pat
White gets hurt. So it certainly changed the complexion of
and your game plan and everything that you can orchestrate
because he wasn't the most prolific past or only about
eighteen hundred passing yards on the year, but the run
(24:58):
game and Steve Slayton would later go on to become
a fantasy hero uh in the NFL. And guy we
talked about a lot on fantasy shows. You did, I did,
we all did. Uh, And then he disappeared. But Pat White,
I remember, he was so fast. He had those really
he was really tall. He had those really long, thin
legs and didn't look like he was moving, kind of
(25:19):
little bit bow legged the way he ran. But he
was unstoppable. You know. They figured out rod Rich Rodrigue said, Okay,
this is my system. I need the quarterback to make
the right reads and make the right throws, and it's
all about timing. And Pat White was clearly the best
guy he had had. Now again, they go into this
game twenty and a half point favorites. There at home,
the pit Panthers are playing with their backup quarterback, Pat Boston.
(25:41):
I mean, they had everything they could possibly want in
this game. But then, as you said, Pat White dislocated
his thumb early in the second quarter. He misses most
of the game. He comes back in the fourth quarter,
but twice they had to go for it on fourth
down against pitt and they couldn't make it in pit territory.
They had nine first downs all day, when usually nine
(26:02):
first downs is like a good first two drives in
West Virginia. Juan stat probably the high mark of his run.
He had just gotten the contract extension, like the day before,
he got a three year contract extension. Before they were
gonna go in and get blown out by fifty points. Well,
you know, trying to trying to get had that happy
moment before a big burial. But and his Alma monor
(26:24):
and well then we we saw this one ground down.
This is one that you turned back to in the
fourth quarter. Gun, All right, when did they score? Is
there anything happening in this game? There's not a lot
of excitement. Again, nine first downs all day, They had
five turnovers on fumbles. It was just the worst time
to play your worst game of the season by far.
(26:46):
Pat McAfee miss two field goals and that could have
kept the game tied. Lashawn McCoy ran for a hundred
and forty eight yards. He was the guy that helped
Pittsburgh hold onto the football, keep it away. I mean,
this was Lashawn McCoy's game before we turned into a
star on the National Football League. And they wind up
winning it thirteen to nine over West Virginia. Pitt takes
(27:08):
a safety on the final play of the game, uh
to just cemented away because they don't want to block
punt going in for a touchdown, And it's over West Virginia,
who was that good rolling. It's over for them, And
somehow Ohio State and LSU wind up playing for the
national championship. Because of the craziness that involved West Virginia,
(27:30):
everything just kept falling off to the wayside. I mean,
it's like the perfect storm where you think your season
is done. You're starting to look at hotel and vacation
packages to wherever the Big ten was going to send
you if you're Ohio State, l s U. Obviously Matt
Flynn in that squad getting ready to roll up. There
was a quote from a an sp Nation article Owen Schmidt,
(27:54):
who was a fullback, saying, well, you get through this
whole series season and then you get to the blank
and last game and blow it against the blankiest team
in the blanky blank world. In other words, I'm still
having some anger issues over what might have been. Well, yeah,
this you're talking about. You had that chance to go
play for the national title and instead you lost you
(28:15):
fift it because you were beating the crap out of everybody,
and you play your worst game here. I mean it
just it just didn't make sense. If it was on
the road, I get it. Okay, they come up with
a big one at all if they had a good
team or they had a good quarterback. No, they're playing
with their backup quarterback. And even without Pat White, West
Virginia should have won this game by three touchdowns and
they didn't. Well, you think the ingenuity, right, We always
(28:37):
talk about the geniuses at work Rodriguez here or McVeigh
and the Super Bowl against the Patriots, that you're gonna
be able to figure out that one play call that
is gonna catch a defense off guard, and oftentimes we
see it's just the opposite defense rises up. And in
this case, no matter what Rodriguez and company dialed up, Uh,
(28:59):
Dave wants to it, all the pieces were in place.
I gotta bring that in because it actually worked for
him here, because he tried that line in Chicago ahead
of a really bad season for the Bears. Here it
worked against the Mountaineers and ruined their party. I mean, really,
you could say that this was completely in line with
the season that was with everybody being at number two
and not being able to win. Certainly this game fits
(29:22):
right in are you talking about? But this was the
loss that Look, I get Kansas losing to Missouri and
then Missouri winds up losing in the Big twelve championship
game to Oklahoma. I I get South Florida losing. You know,
I get USC losing because you know John David Booty,
you know I get I get all those cal Bears.
I mean, they reached number two and that was the
first time they've been there since, not even with Marshawn Lynch.
(29:45):
Look there was this was for set and longshore. Javid
Best justin for said, had a nice little fantasy run there,
and Deshaw Jackson was there, so I mean you had
a squad there, But I mean first since fifty one,
Like that's one of the the themes. Have you wrap
all these in a big hugs. These were all teams
that they hadn't been there in decades or maybe now.
(30:07):
We never got back again. South Florida didn't finish another
season ranked until I mean, look, that's you can say
all these teams that have never been there, the pressure
was too much for them because it's one thing. All
these teams were there. Now, look USC losing that was
early in the year, a couple two. But once you
got South Florida's there pressure too much, Boston College pressure
too much, you know to think about pressure too much.
(30:29):
Plus you had a good team. You're played against all
those people that were always happy for to be around
the program. Think about it when you actually get good. Yeah, right,
we we helped propel you. Like it's one thing. Hey
we keep the thing running and keep the lights on.
Here's some extra access and you know, dinners and handshakes
and photos and I was like, hey, we want to
(30:50):
be around the program, and this is like happy and
blue chips. He look who we got you. Now, this
to me is the most interesting of all the games
and all the teams because this changed the history of
college football. Right if rich Rodriguez wins this game and
goes and plays for the national championship, even if West
(31:12):
Virginia thought he was getting too powerful, there's no way
he leaves. He wanted to stay. They would have given
him something. You can't have a coach go to the
national championship and then not give him what he wants
and or assign him to a big concert extension to
make you stay. So Rich Rodriguez stays and less Miles
most likely becomes the head coach of Michigan because they
had talked. Less Miles said he told his players, look,
(31:35):
the only job will ever leave for his Michigan, right,
and he even told Michigan, when you want me, call
me like that was where he came came up as
an assistant. He was going to be the Michigan head coach.
But Rich Rodriguez loses this game. So now what happens
l S When the dust clears, l s U finds
themselves in the National Championship game. So now if Michigan
(31:57):
wants to hire less Miles, they gotta wait because less
Miles told him, yeah, I'll come, but I gotta coach
this game first. And Michigan really biff the search and
and it was just an awful time because look, they
wanted with Rodriguez, who was terrible, But because Rich Rodriguez
lost this game, less Miles couldn't leave, Like he could
leave if they're playing in a lesser Bowl game or
(32:18):
you're not playing for the National Championship. But he felt
I gotta stay with my team. Michigan wanted an answer,
wanted to have it done sooner. Less Miles said, I
can't do it. So then they went on and they
hired Rich Rodriguez to be there and coach. And we
know how that turned out some of the worst seasons
that Michigan has ever had, and Rich Rodriguez got fired
and went on to have you know better success. But
(32:38):
it should have been better for Rodriguez at Michigan. It
should have been better from West Virginia. But this one
game changes everything because then you're looking at Less Miles
leaving l s U. Now who comes to l s
U to coach. I don't know how long does Rich
Rodriguez stay at West Virginia, does he win the national championship?
Does he stay for a long time, does he stay
for one more year and instead gets a job at
Miami to the NFL or goes to that exactly, the
(33:01):
college football and maybe the NFL changes forever because Rich
Rodriguez lost this game, which he there's no reason why
they should have lost. Boy, next time I see Dave wants,
I'm gonna go shake his hand and say you changed
more than a decade of college football, think about this coach,
you know. And the thing is, I don't know that
Dave wants That's gonna have a hell a lot to
(33:22):
stand on instead except for that, I bet you if
you look at him us one set Rich Rodriguez, you said,
Dave want Stead, what's the biggest moment of your career?
He would say winning that game. I mean, he went
onto the NFL, won some games in Miami and everything,
but he would say this game, this moment in time,
winning that for pitt after getting the contract extension, knocking
them out, that was some kind of way. And if
you asked Rodriguez, what lost do you rue the most?
(33:46):
Even though he went through all kinds of losses at
Michigan where there are a couple of years where Rodriguez
started four and oh and five and oh, and had
he won one more game or one rivalry game, he
might have stayed in Michigan State one more time. He
probably would have okay rate, But I guarantee you it's
this game. He would say, that's the because it was
national championship, and maybe he wins and he's got the
(34:07):
biggest thing he could ever have on his resume for
his entire coaching career. You got the word ruined too,
so that's like, are you It's a good word. It's
hard to get ruin unless I'm talking about actress Sarah
ru which whenever do we talk about Sarah? I don't know.
She's been in a bunch of stuff. We could probably
Shoehorner in a couple of places. T J. Sarah us
certainly less than perfect in any conversation. There you go,
(34:30):
nicely done. Is that the Jamie Gert's vehicle? Is that?
My writer? Is that a different show? Jamie Gertz was
square pegs, square peggs, square peg, square pegslayers on a
square something or later. I actually saw her recently in
an episode if he are in my binge watching Wait,
what year was Jamie Gertz? And the are the year three? Oh?
This is like before her renaissance and Twister. I believe
(34:53):
so right about right looking currently, I think when you
get into the years and that's like all right. So
for me, Jamie Gertz had her Lost Boys was her peak,
and then he oh, come on, Jamie Kurtz was fast. Yeah,
and then it came down a bit and then she
came back up because no one was expecting her. Oh,
Jamie Gurtz is and twister because you remember Helen Hunt
and the you know in the whole plot in Bill Paxson,
(35:15):
Philip s Mar Hoffman. Oh, Jamie Kurtz is the wife
that you know is only gonna be in this for
about a half hour because Bill Paxton has sorry spoiler
has to go back with Helen Hunt. Yeah, well, there
you go. And then she was on in a sitcom
that played later on I believe it was an ABC sitcom.
Uh so she had a renaissance there as well. Now
in the the mom category. So well, when you when
(35:38):
you when you get older, you start playing the moms.
That's how it goes. The heaviyear set guy and Jamie Kurtz. Yeah,
Kevin James. So wait, somehow Rich Rodriguez was responsible for
Kevin James's birth and comes a lot of stuff. It's
all Rich Rodriguez and Dave watched it. So that's the
craziest of two thousand seven. How it shook out Because
(36:00):
Missouri lost in the Big Twelve championship game to Oklahoma
while West Virginia was losing to pitt This pushed Ohio
State and l s U in uh. And as a result,
Ohio State, who hadn't played the last two games, like
they were sitting around for two weeks waiting to see
what would happen Ohio State and l s U. Because
of these losses, they were propped up into the BCS
(36:21):
National Championship game. L s U wins at thirty four.
They are your national champions. So when you look back
at this year, you would say, okay, LSU one, and
they were a pretty big dynasty back then. You know,
save in Miles, they won some games, they had great
players going through things. You know, it seems al right,
well that was a normal year, but really it was
anything but wow. Just craziness. We mentioned it. Seven teams
(36:41):
that got to the number two slot lost in a
total of nine weeks, so just chaos. Normally we have
a little bit of stability, and on the back end
it's like, oh, who's getting the number four vote? None?
Which number two is falling? And how far week after week? Also,
remember back then there was no big ten championship game,
so you were done before Thanksgiving. How to say, we're
(37:03):
playing up Michigan then what we're sitting around for a while.
They played Michigan that year on the seventeenth of November,
didn't play again until January seven. That's how it used
to go. So there's our latest episode of Special Teams,
the Curse of the Twos the two thousand seven college
football season. You have an idea for a future episode
of Special Teams, hit us up on Twitter at how
(37:25):
about a fresca? Mike is a swollen dume. You can
hear our show every night Monday through Friday on Fox
Sports Radio, The Jason Smith Show with My bass friend
Mike Harmon ten pm to two am on the East Coast,
seven to eleven on the West Coast. We'll talk you
next week with another episode of Special Teams. Before you go,
(37:53):
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Heart Radio, I Heart Radio apps, Apple, whatever it is,
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will love you forever and ever and ever. Special Teams
(38:17):
is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
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Welcome to Special Teams, a production of my Heart Radio.
Greetings and Welcome inside. Special Teams are podcast that takes
(00:22):
a look every week at a big year in the
world of sports and the special teams that make it up. Now,
normally we take a look at one team and how
they've done over the course of one very special year.
But I'm gonna get to play with the format here
this week and next week a little bit and kind
of get outside our comfort zone. Jason Smith and Mike Harmon,
your genial hosts here, as we're gonna take a look
(00:45):
back at the special teams that made up the two
thousand and seven college football season, which is you mentioned
two thousand seven any college football fan and they go,
oh my god, it was the most insane season we
have seen in quite a long time, this season that
ended with l s U beating Ohio State to win
their second BCS and third overall national title. But what
(01:08):
we're gonna do is we are going to spotlight and
take a look at the special teams that were rank
second and lost that ranking over the course of the season,
because that's really the number one thing that people remember
about this as some of the crazy teams that got
as high as number two, couldn't keep it, couldn't keep
the ranking, lost and have moved on and really never
(01:31):
gotten back to the high level they were at in
two thousand and seven. Yeah, for something that was the
high water mark, and you talked about forty fifty years
before they reached that moment, all the excitement, anticipation, only
to fall flat on their faces. I really thought we
were gonna do a Tim Tebow, especially when you said
two thousand seven football and that's all you sent in
a text to me. I said, great, We're just gonna
(01:52):
celebrate the life and times of Tim Tebow. We did
that in the other podcast. We did. We did. We
did the other one for about the Jake misery of
the first year of the Alabama experiment of Nick Saban
And I don't I don't know that that was that special. Actually,
I think that was well for anybody that's fought him
any time since, that was kind of special because it
was the last time he was down and out. True. Well, no, well,
(02:13):
he did take the Dolphins job. Remember he was down
and out. Well, I mean he exercised himself from the game.
He actually said to the reporters, fellas I don't know
what to tell you. I'm not going to Alabama. And then,
of course, and then he was there, So this was
he winking? Did he have his fingers crossed behind him? No,
I got it behind my back. So what if he
(02:34):
can't stretch, what if he has a labor room issue
that doesn't allow him to put his hand behind his back,
then you cross your toes and you put it in
your bucket, or you could do that as well, across
your eyes. Could do a lot of different things. But
there were no fewer than six teams that held the
number two ranking overall this season that lost the number
two overall ranking. Here's how crazy of a show this
(02:55):
is gonna be USC which had the number two ranking
until they're now famous. Three loss to Stanford and Jim
marmaw really the game that put Jim Harbaugh on the
map as a coach. I mean, that doesn't even make
it Dogs. I mean, if we're gonna talk about worst,
I mean biggest upsets in the history of football, made
(03:17):
a forty one point dog. No, that was big, don't
but they don't make it because USC we've seen them
being number two in the world the world of college football.
But they had their runs. They had their run Oregon
who had the number two. No, I'm not saying that
we've seen Oregon up there. Ye sure, here's how big
it is. The first couple of teams, South Florida, remember
(03:38):
the Bulls got as high as number two in the
very first BCS rankings. Matt Growthy was the quarterback who
was just okay throwing the football, but running the football,
he was able to be a good dual threat QB
in South Florida won a couple of big games, and
suddenly that first BCS rankings came out and it was
South Florida's it at number two. They had beaten West Virginia,
(04:02):
who was ranked fifth in the country up until that point.
And suddenly, that whole week, I remember, the talk was
if South Florida runs the table, south Florida's gonna play
for the national championship. Dude, South Florida. Man, who the
hell is South Florida? They can play for the national title? Wow?
But that's the beauty of it. Right. When one of
these stories rise up, it's like, all right, deploy all staffers,
(04:24):
figure out stats where they're from. We're gonna need a
lot of graphics because suddenly the rotation is they're gonna
be in games that are being televised in a bigger way.
And they went into absolutely thumb Syracuse. Yeah, that's that was.
This is back when everybody thumb Syracuse. Remember, Buddy, it was.
But but it was South Florida the Syracuse. I know,
(04:44):
we've lost to Florida's Central, We've lost to Central Florida.
We've lost to Florida International, we lost in International Florida.
We've lost the International House of Pancakes. We've lost to
a lot of teams. Well, many people have been felled
by a giant stack at the I h you're gonna
put the chuck chips and make the smiley face on
it for you. So South Florida their first ranking at
(05:06):
number two, the first BCS rankings, they're all the rage,
and then proving clearly that that pressure was too much
for them, they lost the next three games they played,
taking them right out of contention. Alright, thanks for coming,
South Florida, thanks for being here. Well, you get up
there sometimes that jump up in class. Maybe you start
reading your press clippings, and there's a lot that goes
(05:27):
into it. I mean the fact that the first loss
was at Rutgers. Yeah, Rutgers ruining a perfect season. You
don't hear that that off Rutgers in two thousand seven.
I don't think anybody was anticipating that right there. So
South Florida loses the ranking and then rising up Boston College.
Now this was a shock because look, Boston College has
(05:50):
never been even close to that, But they also have
never had a quarterback like Matt Ryan. This was the
season that put Matt Ryan on the map and turned
him into the number three overall pick in the NFL
draft Jeff Jagazinski, who had a difficult time after this year.
Boston College gets to number two on the strength of
Matt Ryan, who was terrific. He decided to return for
(06:12):
his senior season, and all he did was amp up
his stock. BC had been on the cusp. They had
been a pretty good team, and looked, you're writing Matt
Ryan's coat tails. Of course you're gonna be pretty good.
But this was the year Boston College had a wide
open offense, you know, and and Ryan really made his
legacy in the Virginia Tech game. They had beaten Notre Dame,
(06:32):
and No, Tre Dame. Wasn't that great. But Boston College
beats Notre Dame and you know that's a big rivalry,
and they're rideing high. They're losing to Virginia Tech. Tend
nothing with about three minutes to go in the game, right,
tend nothing there, shut out the first fifty seven minutes
of the game, and you figure, okay, this is where
it ends for Boston College at number two. But Ryan
takes BC down, they score a touchdown, they get the
(06:55):
on side kick, and then with eleven seconds to go,
Matt Ryan makes a play that not only cemented his season,
but really cemented his stock as this is a guy
we got to get in the draft. He rolls out
to the side their thirty five yards from the end zone,
and it's a Brett Farve play. He rolls all the
way out to the left and he stops, and he
(07:16):
turns completely back to the right and chucks it up
to the end zone and Andre Callendar is open behind
the defensive backs as a running back with eleven seconds left,
he makes the catch. They wind up winning fourteen to ten.
It was insane. They put up two touchdowns in the
final three minutes. And watching this game again, which I
did going into here, that last three minutes was full
(07:38):
of everything you wanted to see and you could tell
right there, hey, Matt Ryan's gonna be it. But that
throw was absolutely incredible. Plug. It's the game that cements him,
the ice moniker, that brought him into the end of
the pros right where back against the wall, the number
two ranking, all of these things that that can rise
up and really make you a legend. And again it
(08:00):
was Tim Tebow's here. Everybody else was just playing for
all right, who gets to play right And in the
end he doesn't even make the make the championship game,
but it was about chasing for the Heisman, troue, but
it was about all of that that pageantry that goes through.
But for Matt Ryan, you know, we're always looking for
quarterbacks to rise, we do it every year and looking
(08:22):
for those signature moments and what's going to separate on tape,
especially now that everybody's a tape pundit. You know, even
as a decade ago when Matt Ryan was coming into
the league that there was a small fraction of the
number of guys breaking it down. But this is three
minutes on the field going all right, game on the line,
everything on your shoulder, just go get it. And you're
(08:44):
not talking about a group of support players that went
onto illustrious NFL careers. Here on the offensive side, right,
it's Matt Ryan carrying guys along. BC gets to eight
no and then they lose to Florida State. That ends
their perfect season, their run to the national championship. But
Matt Ryan finishes his career that seasons passing thirty one touchdowns. Obviously,
(09:10):
he goes number three overall in the draft the Atlanta Falcons,
and short of getting another Matt Ryan, this is never
happening for Boston College. Again. They are trying to find
the path to mediocrity as they try to navigate the
A C C. When you know, obviously, now wait a
minute's Clems and it's all these other teams that we're
trying to fight up against. If we go to a
bowl game at six and six, that's a good year
for us. Well, and that's the unfortunate, ever shifting landscape
(09:33):
from college football though, right my allmator Northwestern consistently can
win games. Gonna take step back, but are you ever
going to get to that number two and have your
shot right where everything plays perfectly at every bounce goes
right from Boston College. This was that time recording. Recruiting
a quarterback of that caliber is just such a difficult proposition. Uh,
(09:55):
in this game, you can hope someone would transfer right.
Think you graduate translations, always open, no possibilities, into the
transfer portal and see what's inside. Still waiting for someone
to make the movie Transfer Portal, Transfer Portal. It would
end up being a horror movie though. Like a player
would step into the transfer portal, something would happen, they
would get taken over. They would look and act the
(10:15):
same on the outside, but they'd be different on the Yes,
there you go, transfer portal. I like that, Like, so,
there you go. There's the first couple of teams had
their shot at number two and failed. Coming up next
the team that had the next chance at it, and
regardless of whether or not they lost, this coach may
have done the best single season job in college football
(10:37):
in the past twenty five years. We'll get to it
coming up next year on special teams. As we continue
(10:58):
on special teams, the Curse of the Number two is.
Looking back at the two thousand seven n c A
football season, the craziest in recent memory. We're looking back
at the teams that got as high as number two, shockingly,
because you're gonna hear their names and you're gonna say, boy,
that's never happening for them. Again. We went through South Florida,
we went through Boston College, and next it was Kansas's turn.
(11:20):
In a year that every minute we get more removed
from this season, we go just how the hell did
this happen with Kansas? Kansas who wins about two games
a year. God as high as number two. Mark Mangino,
the head coach who everybody remembers them, Oh, he was
a real big guy, and and he was he was
a guy that started out eleven and oh that year, God,
(11:44):
Kansas as high as number two. They wound up finishing
twelve and one. But before we get into the what
happened to them at number two? That's why I said
a few minutes ago, Mark man Gino may have done
the greatest coaching job in the last twenty five years
in college football, because Kansas was a waste land before
he got there, and in his time they go to
four bowl games. They're bowl eligible in five of the
(12:05):
eight years he's there. They were both eligible in five
of the last thirty years before Manio got all right,
the best player they had was a keep to leap right.
He went on to a long career in the NFL.
Still in the NFL, the only guy to ever say
don't you know who I am? To me, Well, that's right.
You went to Kansas. You gonna have to do well.
But you went to Kansas, dn't you? How do you
make it out of there on a at a Super
(12:26):
Bowl event where you've got Laura loud music and the
person introducing him as he came down the blue carpet
for that night did not enunciate whatsoever. So I don't
know even though what I said in terms of addressing him,
he guys, you gotta know my name? Like okay, the
kind of just kind of shoved you in front of
(12:47):
my microphone. There's it was one of those situations like
there's no no briefing you. It's like no bay quib
talent bright. So he got in my ear and he just,
you know, just reminded me because again, I mean, look,
you're seeing all agains, like nobody's wearing a name dark,
so it's like, hi, my name. You know, you're putting
(13:11):
most guys you're trying to fix the name of an
NFL player who's already in versus a guy who's going
to be drafted, and so it's just one of those circumstances.
I felt stupid. I wrote him a note of apology.
It's like, there was no disrespect. That's really nice. So
I was cool, and the next time I saw him,
(13:31):
it was all good. We laughed about it. But still
hates me secretly, But that's okay. Uh. Todd reesing that
year through thirty three touchdowns. He was the quarterback in Kansas.
He threw six in a seventy six thirty nine win
over Nebraska. Again, that doesn't seem real that Kansas would
do this, But two thousand seven was right around the
(13:52):
time we started seeing the crazy teams out of the
Big twelve, the teams at the spread offenses putting up
a lot of points. Whether you ran a spread offense
or not, it didn't. It was still where look at
all these points where the Big twelve had always been
seventeen thirteen on a rainy November afternoon. But you're playing
for the National Channel. We know we've already seen it.
About a decade earlier, when Joe Tiller started being all
crazy after new and then starting to spider out. And yeah,
(14:16):
this was like the epicenter of all that because you
had Missouri, you had Kansas, you had Texas Tech, Oklahoma,
all these teams that started to embrace that. And I mean,
think about seventy six thirty nine Kansas. Look, we've seen
Nebraska takes some thumps and lumps over the past few years,
but seventy thirty nine to Kansas. I mean, come on,
that's where if you're in Nebraska, you go. We had
(14:38):
to just get rid of our program. We just like
we used to beat Kansas seventy three. Well, but that
was the tough time, right. You mentioned Notre Dame a
little earlier in the podcast. They were not exactly in
the best shape, not still in the pageantry of Notre Dame.
And I know it drove your buddy Beeto cooked nuts
because it wasn't they weren't rolling along. Sure, you had
many conversations about where Notre Dame stood, and like they're
(15:02):
always front center, but all your traditional powerhouses in that
year and in the years surrounding it, they were navigating
some choppy waters. But it still looked good on the
resume because to the casual observer. It's just a storied program.
So you got him. Now, Kansas didn't play a lot
of great teams, just the way the schedule went for them.
(15:23):
But they go into a big showdown against Missouri knowing
full well that the winner of that game is going
to be the number one right team in the country
because Ohio State had lost earlier that day. I remember
that game. It was It was a it was a
night game. The weather was typical what you expected to be.
It was cold, it was windy, and they were going
(15:43):
up against Missouri, who was that good. Jeremy Macklin was
a freshman on this team. Chase Daniel wound up a
Heisman finalists, you know, he was a quarterback in Missouri.
And this was a game that, oh, by God, Kansas
or Missouri is going to be the number one team
in the country going into a big twelve championship game.
One of these teams could win a game and play
(16:04):
for the national title. Kansas or Missouri. Now Missouri has
always been hey, they've had some decent seasons, but we're
talking one game away from Kansas or Missouri playing for
all the marbles. The nightmare scenario, right, We're talking about
South Florida earlier. Man, this is where you even get
into starting to rank teams and have these reveal specials
(16:24):
and you include one of these names. There's lots of
executives sweaty palms and rings. So what's gonna happen? We
gotta sell Kansas in the National title game? Yeah, I
mean Chase Kaufman the tight end, trying to sell him
along the way. Yeah, I don't I don't know that
was gonna be an easy sell. But Jase Daniel getting
(16:44):
it done. Man, he had that that big efficiency rating
and through thirty three touchdowns, he could at least said, hey,
high powered Chase Daniel in that game? Was it? Even
though Todd Reesing played well, he threw a couple of picks,
and Reesing didn't throw a lot of picks that year,
Chase Daniel was forty out of forty nine for three
sixty one and three touchdowns. Missouri running that big, wide
(17:06):
open offense. And in fact, after the game, they asked
the Kansas Jayhawks, hey about Chase Daniel all this stuff,
and the keep to leap said, we just sent that
guy to New York, like we just sent the trophy.
We just sent that guy to New York. He had
that kind of game against all the eyes of the
nation on you, right, I mean, because this became the
curiosity at that point. It was it was on the
(17:29):
scroll and you would see the record. Maybe you caught it.
And if you're truly degenerate with dual remote controls, multiple
TVs watching all the you know already had an eight
box for your picture and picture. Otherwise it was all right,
the curiosity, and then all of a sudden, here it
was front and center. So yeah, a game in that
(17:49):
kind of spotlight could propel someone into grand futures. So
Kansas doesn't make it to the Big twelve Championship game,
they do beat Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl to one,
and Kansas actually got a first place vote. At the
end of the year, we're supposed to vote for the
national champion. Kansas actually got a first place vote because
there was some debate as to whether or not, Hey,
(18:11):
with the crazy season that we had, are the teams
that are playing for the National Championship game in the
BCS gonna automatically get the votes they're supposed to get
by winning that game. But only one person didn't vote
for L s U. Seven times in nine weeks and
number two fell. Yeah. I think it was Israel Gundy.
Eiraz if I remember, was the guy who didn't vote
for voted for Kansas to the number one team in
(18:33):
the Cup. Sound. So Kansas has an incredible run. They
falter at number two. But this is where the story
of Kansas gets really interesting, and it's just too bad
because you would think at this point Mark Mangino could
write whatever tickety wanted to Kansas moving on, like twelve
and one we won the Orange Ball. I'm gonna be
here forever. From to win team is first year to
(18:56):
nine ten wins and then this storied season. But it
ended for Mangino in two thousand nine a mid talk
of mistreatment of players. He had yelled at Raymond Pendleton
after he jumped into the end zone against Central Michigan
week one of this year. Uh I got famous on
YouTube as much as he was screaming at him because
he kind of showboted his way into the end zone.
He was accused of poking a linebacker artist right in
(19:18):
the chest and yelling at him before the Colorado game.
Players didn't like him because he spoke to them disrespectfully.
He had a lot of parking tickets as well, and
the way he behaved towards people who gave out the
parking tickets. I mean, these are all insane, don't you
know who I am? These are all insane things that coaches.
Really the old school, I'm gonna get in the guy's
face like that would never happen nowadays. One one instance
(19:41):
televised on TV is all you would need for the
coach to go okay. I got it back away from things,
but Mangino had a pattern of behavior and compounded it
with the whole parking ticket thing and wound up getting
fired and he had to leave Kansas when this should
have been the biggest success story possible and maybe Kansas
is still good all these years later. They had the
(20:03):
fast Lane for eight years with him. But this didn't
end with Oh, here's the n c A A coming
to town and we found all these violations. This was
a coach couldn't behave the right way towards his players,
and despite the fact of all the success, he winds
up finding his way out of town. That that just
baffles me that that happened. Took a couple of years
to get back in the game. Then it was at
Youngstown State and later a couple of years as a
(20:25):
coordinator and tight ends coach at Iowa State. But that,
you know, you have to wonder if the if the
word was out on him while this was going on,
because you would think that a guy who turns the
Kansas program around would have his pick of jobs anywhere.
You know, the hot just always there's always big ticket
teams every year that are looking for somebody new, and
(20:46):
he would think at some point Mangino's name would come
around where he would be seriously considered and would jump,
and it didn't happen the next wave of guys, right,
I mean that that's just a reputation changing, changing times,
more reports. The the internet is unforgiving in these kind
of things, right twenty years ago. Stories are there, and
(21:06):
like we've seen plenty of Bob knight um biographies over
time and clips, But if it's just the the speaking points,
those may be more insidious because it's a lot of
behind the scenes talk as opposed. All right, here's just
the video clip for Mangino that became the end of it,
and we just saw so many other coaches get their shots.
(21:28):
So if you thought Kansas getting number two was really unlikely.
W do we tell you about the last team that
made it to number two and fell victim to the curse?
The game that cost them ended up changing the history
of college football. We'll get to that coming up next
Jason Smith and Mike Carbon Special Teams Podcast. Five teams
(22:04):
that made it to number two during the two thousand
seven college football season all bit the dust. But it
looked like everything was gonna go well for the six
team because all they had to do was win a
home game as a twenty eight and a half point favorite.
That's it, and they couldn't. Nice and easy. The two
thousand seven season for the West Virginia Mountaineers and head
(22:25):
coach Rich Rodriguez came down to one game, one moment
in time. Rich Rodriguez is the toast of college football.
His spread offense that he instilled in West Virginia had
become all the rage. In fact, there was many people
who thought this guy was the best coach in college
football at this time. Taking West Virginia team that had
(22:47):
middling success for the most part, look did pretty well
under Don Neelin. They won some big games, but certainly
they're not one of the powers in college football, and
he turned them into one of the powers in college
football his spread offense, Pat White, Steve Slaton, Noel Divine
was a freshman running back on that team. They rolled
up all kinds of offense. Over the course of this season.
(23:08):
They really hit their peak. Yes, they lost to South Florida,
but that was their only loss. They want out to
get to number two late in the season, where all
they had to do was beat Pittsburgh in the backyard Brawl.
They would play for the national championship. And Rodriguez, look,
there were already rumors was he going to get a
lifetime extension at West Virginia. But I remember that time
(23:30):
and I remember that being a big question that Rodriguez.
West Virginia did what they wanted to do for him,
and there were reports that he was getting too big
for the program, and there was some concern that he'd
be getting too big and be the most important person
in the state, uh, something which was kind of corroborated
by John you Bacon's book on Rich Rodriguez his three
(23:52):
years at ann Arbort with Michigan. Sorry spoiler alert, Rich
Rodriguez went to Michigan after this um that there was
some question with Rich Rodriguez and you was he someone
who got too powerful and thought he was gonna be
able to stay at his alma mater forever because he
went to West Virginia. But instead, after the season, they
basically said, we've done what we wanted to do for you,
so we took the jump to Michigan. But before that happened,
(24:14):
all he's got to do is beat Pittsburgh in the
backyard Brawl again twenty eight and a half point favorites.
All he's got to do and he plays for the
national championship. That's it simple enough, right, which is why
if it looks too easy on the calendar, he can't
set it and forget it. This is not a wrong
COO product. You're not cooking a chicken, no roast chicken
(24:36):
to go watch TV like I would say, but t J,
that's why they played the games. They're gonna play your
sixty minutes and obviously hampered in this one as Pat
White gets hurt. So it certainly changed the complexion of
and your game plan and everything that you can orchestrate
because he wasn't the most prolific past or only about
eighteen hundred passing yards on the year, but the run
(24:58):
game and Steve Slayton would later go on to become
a fantasy hero uh in the NFL. And guy we
talked about a lot on fantasy shows. You did, I did,
we all did. Uh, And then he disappeared. But Pat White,
I remember, he was so fast. He had those really
he was really tall. He had those really long, thin
legs and didn't look like he was moving, kind of
(25:19):
little bit bow legged the way he ran. But he
was unstoppable. You know. They figured out rod Rich Rodrigue said, Okay,
this is my system. I need the quarterback to make
the right reads and make the right throws, and it's
all about timing. And Pat White was clearly the best
guy he had had. Now again, they go into this
game twenty and a half point favorites. There at home,
the pit Panthers are playing with their backup quarterback, Pat Boston.
(25:41):
I mean, they had everything they could possibly want in
this game. But then, as you said, Pat White dislocated
his thumb early in the second quarter. He misses most
of the game. He comes back in the fourth quarter,
but twice they had to go for it on fourth
down against pitt and they couldn't make it in pit territory.
They had nine first downs all day, when usually nine
(26:02):
first downs is like a good first two drives in
West Virginia. Juan stat probably the high mark of his run.
He had just gotten the contract extension, like the day before,
he got a three year contract extension. Before they were
gonna go in and get blown out by fifty points. Well,
you know, trying to trying to get had that happy
moment before a big burial. But and his Alma monor
(26:24):
and well then we we saw this one ground down.
This is one that you turned back to in the
fourth quarter. Gun, All right, when did they score? Is
there anything happening in this game? There's not a lot
of excitement. Again, nine first downs all day, They had
five turnovers on fumbles. It was just the worst time
to play your worst game of the season by far.
(26:46):
Pat McAfee miss two field goals and that could have
kept the game tied. Lashawn McCoy ran for a hundred
and forty eight yards. He was the guy that helped
Pittsburgh hold onto the football, keep it away. I mean,
this was Lashawn McCoy's game before we turned into a
star on the National Football League. And they wind up
winning it thirteen to nine over West Virginia. Pitt takes
(27:08):
a safety on the final play of the game, uh
to just cemented away because they don't want to block
punt going in for a touchdown, And it's over West Virginia,
who was that good rolling. It's over for them, And
somehow Ohio State and LSU wind up playing for the
national championship. Because of the craziness that involved West Virginia,
(27:30):
everything just kept falling off to the wayside. I mean,
it's like the perfect storm where you think your season
is done. You're starting to look at hotel and vacation
packages to wherever the Big ten was going to send
you if you're Ohio State, l s U. Obviously Matt
Flynn in that squad getting ready to roll up. There
was a quote from a an sp Nation article Owen Schmidt,
(27:54):
who was a fullback, saying, well, you get through this
whole series season and then you get to the blank
and last game and blow it against the blankiest team
in the blanky blank world. In other words, I'm still
having some anger issues over what might have been. Well, yeah,
this you're talking about. You had that chance to go
play for the national title and instead you lost you
(28:15):
fift it because you were beating the crap out of everybody,
and you play your worst game here. I mean it
just it just didn't make sense. If it was on
the road, I get it. Okay, they come up with
a big one at all if they had a good
team or they had a good quarterback. No, they're playing
with their backup quarterback. And even without Pat White, West
Virginia should have won this game by three touchdowns and
they didn't. Well, you think the ingenuity, right, We always
(28:37):
talk about the geniuses at work Rodriguez here or McVeigh
and the Super Bowl against the Patriots, that you're gonna
be able to figure out that one play call that
is gonna catch a defense off guard, and oftentimes we
see it's just the opposite defense rises up. And in
this case, no matter what Rodriguez and company dialed up, Uh,
(28:59):
Dave wants to it, all the pieces were in place.
I gotta bring that in because it actually worked for
him here, because he tried that line in Chicago ahead
of a really bad season for the Bears. Here it
worked against the Mountaineers and ruined their party. I mean, really,
you could say that this was completely in line with
the season that was with everybody being at number two
and not being able to win. Certainly this game fits
(29:22):
right in are you talking about? But this was the
loss that Look, I get Kansas losing to Missouri and
then Missouri winds up losing in the Big twelve championship
game to Oklahoma. I I get South Florida losing. You know,
I get USC losing because you know John David Booty,
you know I get I get all those cal Bears.
I mean, they reached number two and that was the
first time they've been there since, not even with Marshawn Lynch.
(29:45):
Look there was this was for set and longshore. Javid
Best justin for said, had a nice little fantasy run there,
and Deshaw Jackson was there, so I mean you had
a squad there, But I mean first since fifty one,
Like that's one of the the themes. Have you wrap
all these in a big hugs. These were all teams
that they hadn't been there in decades or maybe now.
(30:07):
We never got back again. South Florida didn't finish another
season ranked until I mean, look, that's you can say
all these teams that have never been there, the pressure
was too much for them because it's one thing. All
these teams were there. Now, look USC losing that was
early in the year, a couple two. But once you
got South Florida's there pressure too much, Boston College pressure
too much, you know to think about pressure too much.
(30:29):
Plus you had a good team. You're played against all
those people that were always happy for to be around
the program. Think about it when you actually get good. Yeah, right,
we we helped propel you. Like it's one thing. Hey
we keep the thing running and keep the lights on.
Here's some extra access and you know, dinners and handshakes
and photos and I was like, hey, we want to
(30:50):
be around the program, and this is like happy and
blue chips. He look who we got you. Now, this
to me is the most interesting of all the games
and all the teams because this changed the history of
college football. Right if rich Rodriguez wins this game and
goes and plays for the national championship, even if West
(31:12):
Virginia thought he was getting too powerful, there's no way
he leaves. He wanted to stay. They would have given
him something. You can't have a coach go to the
national championship and then not give him what he wants
and or assign him to a big concert extension to
make you stay. So Rich Rodriguez stays and less Miles
most likely becomes the head coach of Michigan because they
had talked. Less Miles said he told his players, look,
(31:35):
the only job will ever leave for his Michigan, right,
and he even told Michigan, when you want me, call
me like that was where he came came up as
an assistant. He was going to be the Michigan head coach.
But Rich Rodriguez loses this game. So now what happens
l S When the dust clears, l s U finds
themselves in the National Championship game. So now if Michigan
(31:57):
wants to hire less Miles, they gotta wait because less
Miles told him, yeah, I'll come, but I gotta coach
this game first. And Michigan really biff the search and
and it was just an awful time because look, they
wanted with Rodriguez, who was terrible, But because Rich Rodriguez
lost this game, less Miles couldn't leave, Like he could
leave if they're playing in a lesser Bowl game or
(32:18):
you're not playing for the National Championship. But he felt
I gotta stay with my team. Michigan wanted an answer,
wanted to have it done sooner. Less Miles said, I
can't do it. So then they went on and they
hired Rich Rodriguez to be there and coach. And we
know how that turned out some of the worst seasons
that Michigan has ever had, and Rich Rodriguez got fired
and went on to have you know better success. But
(32:38):
it should have been better for Rodriguez at Michigan. It
should have been better from West Virginia. But this one
game changes everything because then you're looking at Less Miles
leaving l s U. Now who comes to l s
U to coach. I don't know how long does Rich
Rodriguez stay at West Virginia, does he win the national championship?
Does he stay for a long time, does he stay
for one more year and instead gets a job at
Miami to the NFL or goes to that exactly, the
(33:01):
college football and maybe the NFL changes forever because Rich
Rodriguez lost this game, which he there's no reason why
they should have lost. Boy, next time I see Dave wants,
I'm gonna go shake his hand and say you changed
more than a decade of college football, think about this coach,
you know. And the thing is, I don't know that
Dave wants That's gonna have a hell a lot to
(33:22):
stand on instead except for that, I bet you if
you look at him us one set Rich Rodriguez, you said,
Dave want Stead, what's the biggest moment of your career?
He would say winning that game. I mean, he went
onto the NFL, won some games in Miami and everything,
but he would say this game, this moment in time,
winning that for pitt after getting the contract extension, knocking
them out, that was some kind of way. And if
you asked Rodriguez, what lost do you rue the most?
(33:46):
Even though he went through all kinds of losses at
Michigan where there are a couple of years where Rodriguez
started four and oh and five and oh, and had
he won one more game or one rivalry game, he
might have stayed in Michigan State one more time. He
probably would have okay rate, But I guarantee you it's
this game. He would say, that's the because it was
national championship, and maybe he wins and he's got the
(34:07):
biggest thing he could ever have on his resume for
his entire coaching career. You got the word ruined too,
so that's like, are you It's a good word. It's
hard to get ruin unless I'm talking about actress Sarah
ru which whenever do we talk about Sarah? I don't know.
She's been in a bunch of stuff. We could probably
Shoehorner in a couple of places. T J. Sarah us
certainly less than perfect in any conversation. There you go,
(34:30):
nicely done. Is that the Jamie Gert's vehicle? Is that?
My writer? Is that a different show? Jamie Gertz was
square pegs, square peggs, square peg, square pegslayers on a
square something or later. I actually saw her recently in
an episode if he are in my binge watching Wait,
what year was Jamie Gertz? And the are the year three? Oh?
This is like before her renaissance and Twister. I believe
(34:53):
so right about right looking currently, I think when you
get into the years and that's like all right. So
for me, Jamie Gertz had her Lost Boys was her peak,
and then he oh, come on, Jamie Kurtz was fast. Yeah,
and then it came down a bit and then she
came back up because no one was expecting her. Oh,
Jamie Gurtz is and twister because you remember Helen Hunt
and the you know in the whole plot in Bill Paxson,
(35:15):
Philip s Mar Hoffman. Oh, Jamie Kurtz is the wife
that you know is only gonna be in this for
about a half hour because Bill Paxton has sorry spoiler
has to go back with Helen Hunt. Yeah, well, there
you go. And then she was on in a sitcom
that played later on I believe it was an ABC sitcom.
Uh so she had a renaissance there as well. Now
in the the mom category. So well, when you when
(35:38):
you when you get older, you start playing the moms.
That's how it goes. The heaviyear set guy and Jamie Kurtz. Yeah,
Kevin James. So wait, somehow Rich Rodriguez was responsible for
Kevin James's birth and comes a lot of stuff. It's
all Rich Rodriguez and Dave watched it. So that's the
craziest of two thousand seven. How it shook out Because
(36:00):
Missouri lost in the Big Twelve championship game to Oklahoma
while West Virginia was losing to pitt This pushed Ohio
State and l s U in uh. And as a result,
Ohio State, who hadn't played the last two games, like
they were sitting around for two weeks waiting to see
what would happen Ohio State and l s U. Because
of these losses, they were propped up into the BCS
(36:21):
National Championship game. L s U wins at thirty four.
They are your national champions. So when you look back
at this year, you would say, okay, LSU one, and
they were a pretty big dynasty back then. You know,
save in Miles, they won some games, they had great
players going through things. You know, it seems al right,
well that was a normal year, but really it was
anything but wow. Just craziness. We mentioned it. Seven teams
(36:41):
that got to the number two slot lost in a
total of nine weeks, so just chaos. Normally we have
a little bit of stability, and on the back end
it's like, oh, who's getting the number four vote? None?
Which number two is falling? And how far week after week? Also,
remember back then there was no big ten championship game,
so you were done before Thanksgiving. How to say, we're
(37:03):
playing up Michigan then what we're sitting around for a while.
They played Michigan that year on the seventeenth of November,
didn't play again until January seven. That's how it used
to go. So there's our latest episode of Special Teams,
the Curse of the Twos the two thousand seven college
football season. You have an idea for a future episode
of Special Teams, hit us up on Twitter at how
(37:25):
about a fresca? Mike is a swollen dume. You can
hear our show every night Monday through Friday on Fox
Sports Radio, The Jason Smith Show with My bass friend
Mike Harmon ten pm to two am on the East Coast,
seven to eleven on the West Coast. We'll talk you
next week with another episode of Special Teams. Before you go,
(37:53):
rate and review the show. Whether you're listening on I
Heart Radio, I Heart Radio apps, Apple, whatever it is,
give us a rate, tell us you like it. We
will love you forever and ever and ever. Special Teams
(38:17):
is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
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