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Oct. 27: Joey Johnston's Sidelines

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Joey Johnston/The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 27, 2007

Rocky Bottom

Just what Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer needs. After a 41-17 loss at Alabama, which dropped the Volunteers to 4-3 (2-2 in the SEC East), Fulmer gets a visit from his old nemesis, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier.

In its three losses (California, Florida and Alabama), Tennessee has surrendered an average of 48 points and 512 yards.

"I don't like losing rival games by multiple touchdowns," Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton said. "But it's done now. So let's go play these remaining games and see what we can get done. We're not out of the East race. We're not out of the championship race. We need some help, but we have to take care of our business.

"These are 12-game seasons, and you have to look at things holistically. I think that we've got coaches who have been down this road before, and they know how to respond."

Sounds like Fulmer, who has lost four of his past five meetings against Spurrier at Neyland Stadium, better respond with a victory.

Just Ducky

As we expected before the season, the USC-Oregon game will feature a prime Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback.

As we did not expect, that candidate is not named John David Booty.

Oregon QB Dennis Dixon has his best shot to permanently invade the East Coast's consciousness today when the Ducks (6-1, 3-1 Pac-10) host USC (6-1, 3-1). Dixon, who operates the spread offense to perfection and shows scary running ability, wasn't expected to be one of the Pac-10's top performers, maybe because he spent the summer playing minor-league baseball.

"His experience in baseball, although it wasn't great, probably taught him some things about competing," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "I saw a guy last year that would guess a little bit. [This year] he's not guessing. He understands what defenses are trying to do."

Fantastic Five

Next up: All-out BCS gridlock?

Boston College (8-0) held serve with Thursday night's Flutie-esque 14-10 comeback victory at Virginia Tech. None of the other four unbeaten teams in Division I-A - Ohio State (8-0, at Penn State); Arizona State (7-0, vs. California); Hawaii (7-0, at New Mexico State) and Kansas (7-0, at Texas A&M) - have easy tasks.

Each undefeated team can expect questions about its authenticity. Kansas, which dodges Oklahoma and Texas on the Big 12 schedule, isn't providing answers.

"I'm not going to say whether we're for real or not," Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. "If you watch the games, you will see if we're for real."

The one-loss teams will be watching intently at Texas A&M's Kyle Field, where KU is 0-3 (losing each game by an average of two touchdowns).

The Whiteout

No. 1-ranked Ohio State has won 26 consecutive regular-season games.

Tonight, the Buckeyes return to Penn State, the site of their last loss (not counting the 41-14 defeat against Florida at the BCS Championship Game). Penn State won 17-10 in 2005 in an electric night-game atmosphere.

The Nittany Lions are hoping for a repeat and are staging another "whiteout," in which all the fans wear white. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel doesn't think his team will be bothered most by that background.

"It's probably the guys [Penn State players] in the white pants," Tressel said.

Judgment Day

Texas Tech (6-2, 2-2 Big 12) has amazing offensive numbers with QB Graham Harrell (72.6 completion percentage, 32 touchdown passes, seven interceptions) and freshman WR Michael Crabtree (88 receptions for 1,320 yards) heading into today's game against Colorado.

But the Red Raiders must give a better account of themselves after last week's 41-10 loss at Missouri.

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach compared his team's uneven performance to - you guessed it - Judge Lance Ito.

"What happens with players, [it's] just like Judge Lance Ito gets in the middle of a big trial and decides it's more important for him to be a movie star than it is to be a judge," said Leach, referring to the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial. "He had problems doing his [job] from one snap to the next. So if it can happen to good old Judge Ito, I'm sure it can happen to 18- to 22-year-olds."

Notable Numbers

•Oregon is favored by three points against USC. The Trojans haven't been regular-season underdogs since the 2003 opener at Auburn (four-point spread and a 23-0 USC victory). The Trojans haven't been Pac-10 underdogs since 2001 against UCLA (three-point spread).

•SMU (1-6) already has surrendered a 300-yard rushing performance (342 by Tulane's Matt Forte) and a 300-yard receiving performance (327 by North Texas' Casey Fitzgerald).

•Penn State is hosting a No. 1-ranked team for only the second time in program history (No. 1 Notre Dame beat Penn State 34-32 in 1989). Penn State is 4-9 all-time vs. No. 1-ranked teams and 4-7 under Coach Joe Paterno. Two of the victories came in bowl games (Georgia, Sugar Bowl following the 1982 season; and Miami, Fiesta Bowl following the 1986 season).

•Washington State coach Bill Doba is 27-27 in five seasons. His predecessor, Mike Price, was 27-27 in his final 54 games with the Cougars.

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