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Joey Johnston's Sidelines: The Race For No. 1

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Joey Johnston/The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 27, 2008

The Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-0) have buried the memory of last season's 1-11 finish. OK, games against Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Montana State and Florida Atlantic helped a bit, too.

Today, it gets serious with a half-dozen Minnesota starters playing their first Big Ten road game - at Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes (3-1) are waiting. How do you prepare for the 100,000-plus crowd?

"I think you have to throw them in the deep end and say, 'Swim!'" Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said. "That's pretty much the deal."

Top-ranked USC's 27-21 loss at Oregon State on Thursday night gave some early juice to the BCS Championship Game landscape. Here are the Associated Press poll top 10-ranked unbeaten teams and what's ahead in the coming month:

It's a difficult task for Illinois (2-1) tonight at Penn State (4-0), one of the Big Ten's noisiest dins, and it's going to be even louder with "white-out" fans in the stands.

Illinois coach Ron Zook, coming off a Rose Bowl season, seemed shocked that his 14-point underdog team was being given little chance. "That's why they play the games, isn't it?" Zook said.

Illinois hasn't had much recent success in Big Ten openers (beating Indiana 27-14 last season to snap an astounding 13-game losing streak in league openers). And it is 3-12 all-time against Penn State, including an 0-5 mark on the road.

ILLINOIS AT PENN STATE

(ALL-TIME)

The Michigan Wolverines (1-2) have struggled to get under way with new coach Rich Rodriguez. Today represents jump-start potential when Wisconsin (3-0) visits the Big House.

"There are two seasons - preseason, Big Ten, bowl game," Wolverines LB John Thompson said. "The first part of the season is over. No one has won a game in the Big Ten, so it's 0-0. Time to win."

Wisconsin has beaten Michigan in Ann Arbor only once since 1965. But overall, the Badgers are going for rare back-to-back victories against Michigan. It last happened in 1993 and '94 (before that, 1959 and '60).

Sitting Ducks

So how did the Oregon Ducks find themselves playing with their No. 5 quarterback in the 37-32 home loss against Boise State? Here we go:

•No. 1: Nate Costa suffered a knee injury in August.

•No. 2: Justin Roper had a concussion against Washington and a knee injury at Purdue.

•No. 3: Jeremiah Masoli had a concussion against Boise State.

•No. 4: Chris Harper, largely ineffective, was benched.

•No. 5: Darron Thomas entered.

Now this. Thomas, a contender to start today at Washington State, was involved in a speed-racing crash early Thursday. Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said Thomas, who threw for 210 fourth-quarter yards against Boise State, suffered only a minor injury.

But Oregon's QB situation has never been more tenuous. Considering last season's development - Heisman Trophy contender Dennis Dixon going down with a season-ending injury - it almost seems unfair.

Softies

Clemson's toughness was questioned when the Tigers were routed by Alabama in the season opener. Things have gotten better - Clemson (3-1) can make gains in the ACC Atlantic by defeating Maryland (3-1) today - but coaches are discouraging a comfort zone.

Tigers defensive coordinator Vic Koenning recently brought a roll of toilet tissue to a pregame meeting.

"Everybody kind of smiled about it at first," Clemson safety Michael Hamlin said. "But when Coach Vic got in there talking about it, you could see how serious everybody got. And nobody liked it."

Can't Kick

Big East preseason favorite West Virginia is 1-2 - the win was against Villanova - and desperately needs a strong showing today against Marshall.

The Mountaineers might want to bear down and let their playing do the talking.

Last week at Colorado, Mountaineers PK Pat McAfee said he was "going to go for 75 yards" on a field-goal attempt during the day-before walk-through at Colorado's Folsom Field. McAfee said he made 70-yarders at home before adding, "Back up and let the big dog eat."

In overtime, McAfee's 23-yard attempt bounced off the left upright.

Colorado's Aric Goodman followed with a 25-yard game-winner.

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