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'College Football Monday'
Frank Coyle's New Weekly Column

Roy Helu Shines in Nebraska Huge Win over Missouri - Top Big 12 North

Photo - RB Roy Helu - Nebraska

Nebraska running back Roy Helu had an outstanding performance on Saturday that was instrumental in their victory vs then unbeaten Missouri. Helu set a new Nebraska record by rushing for 307 yards and 3 TDs in the key Big 12 win. As a result, the Cornhuskers are in clear control in the Big 12 North after pounding Missouri 31-17, mainly on the explosive running of Helu. Incredibly, he totaled 228 yards rushing on the first 10 carries with TD runs of 66, 73 and 56 yards. He now has 6 TD runs of over 50 yards, the highest number in the nation. He set a new Nebraska rushing record that is impressive when you note the long list of strong feature backs like Mike Rozier, Calvin Jones, Roger Craig and the one and only legendary I.M. Hipp. Helu has moved up significantly among senior pro prospects in a very average class of running backs. His combination of size, speed and power is impressive and his senior production has moves him to the top of the senior class. He is a talent runner that will receive an invitation to the Senior Bowl All-star game in January, the premier postseason game for NFL prospects.

The 2010 college football season continues to undergo a shuffle on certain polls related to the #1 team in the nation. Draft Insiders.com maintains Texas Christian deserves #1 off their perfect record into November. They moved up to #3 in the new BCS poll and face undefeated Utah this week that will reduce the unbeaten teams by at least one club. All the other major polls have Oregon ranked #1 after the Ducks replaced Auburn in the new BCS poll. Oregon remained #1 in the AP, Coaches and Harris polls. The Ducks exploded vs Southern Cal to turn a reasonably close game into an impressive win. They are a wild exciting team that can strike from anywhere with the ability to make big plays on every unit. They have excellent team speed that is amazing and any club that expects to beat them will have to have a fast talented tough defense to withstand their big play potential. They will not be tested again until the end of the season when they face Arizona and Oregon St. in their final two contests. The Ducks running back LaMichael James has moved into strong Heisman Trophy contention off a 239 yard rushing performance that included 3 TDs vs the Trojans. Auburn slipped to #2 in the BCS despite slamming a poor Ole Miss club. They will probably go into the Iron Bowl vs Alabama undefeated with a soft November set of games on the schedule. Young QB Cam Newton improved his Heisman standing with another impressive performance. It is his Trophy to lose in the critical final month of the regular season, though James can overtake him with a weak game or a few mediocre performances.

The ‘Worlds Biggest Cocktail Party’, Florida vs Georgia has lost its luster with two programs off from recent performances. Florida struggles with a young QB in John Brantley and a defense that failed terribly in big tests vs Alabama and LSU. Georgia is simply a lousy team. They have not played defense the past four seasons and the coaching staff is on the ropes to survive after the season. It could be one of the premier coaching openings at the close of the season. The SEC in general is not up to recent standards, but it is still a strong conference overall. Mississippi St. and South Carolina have improved nicely that compensates for teams like Georgia and Tennessee falling significantly in recent seasons.

Two of the previous seven unbeaten, Missouri and Michigan St. fell on Saturday and both were easily man handled by Nebraska and Iowa. It reduced the undefeated clubs to five teams with two, Texas Christian and Utah facing each other this week. TCU has rolled over an average schedule, but gets a major test this week at Utah. The Horned Frogs defense is ranked #1 in the nation and has allowed only 16 points the past five games. Remember TCU pounded Baylor, Oregon St, BYU and Air Force when people suggest the MWC is a weak conference. A victory over Utah this week justifies a shot at the national title.

A few clubs took major hits last week that probably damages their postseason plans. Count Texas, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Miami, Kentucky and Michigan among them. Texas may be the most inconsistent team in the nation. They have lost home games to Iowa St., Baylor and UCLA, unheard of in recent season. With a 4-4 record, they will be hard pressed to go 7-5, though only one quality team, Oklahoma St remains on their schedule. Notre Dame is simply awful and just starting a rebuilding program under Brian Kelly. We took criticism for not placing them in the Top 25 teams in August, but they never remotely deserved to be ranked at any point this year. Miami will probably be without QB Jacory Harris for at least the Maryland game this week after a vicious hit in the loss to Virginia. His health and ability to return to play may be the difference in any major bowl invitation. West Virginia like Miami also fell to 5-3 after a poor performance vs UConn. That comes off a weak effort the prior game in their loss to Syracuse that cost them a Top 25 ranking. They may achieve 8+ victories, but mainly on playing in the poor Big East that has seen most programs take a disturbing step backwards. Michigan lost their third game in a row to go to 5-3 entering November. They faced quality opponents recently after a soft early schedule. They could still achieve a 7-5 record with remaining tough games vs Wisconsin and Ohio St, to complete the season.

Baylor, Syracuse and Michigan St. are three of the great stories of the college season with head coaches Art Briles, Doug Marrone and Mark Dantonio all strong Coach of the Year candidates. Actually, I feel the toughest vote of the year annually is the Coach of the Year award. I have contended that turning around a weak D1 football program into a bowl participant may be the toughest assignment in sports. This year as usual there are a host of candidates for the coach award with Temple’s Al Gooden, Miss St’s Dan Mullen and Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald all outstanding mentors. Add San Diego St’s Brady Hoke and Central Florida’s George O’Leary to that short list. They have turned around marginal D1 programs and each should earn a quality bowl invitation. Coaches like Oklahoma St.’s Mike Gundy, Auburn’s Gene Chizik and Missouri’s Gary Pinkel have done excellent jobs getting good programs to improve off their 2009 bowl appearances.

College Football Week Nine Notes
QB Ricky Stanzi of Iowa has improved his draft stock significantly this fall and has shown a hot hand in big games including the win over Michigan St this past week. He was instrumental in the 37-6 victory over MSU, throwing 3 TD passes in the process. He has improved his arm strength and accuracy that has elevated him to the top of the 2nd tier of pro prospects for the position. His ability to manage an offense has impressed many NFL scouts and has improved his stock overall as a pro prospect. His intangibles and decision-making have been critical in the Iowa success over the past two seasons.

Looking for great games other than Texas Christian vs Utah this week. Schedule includes outstanding matchups with Stanford vs Arizona and Alabama vs LSU and surprisingly Baylor vs Oklahoma St and Boise St vs Hawaii all that should have a huge effect on the Top 25 rankings and bowl matchups. I think Stanford and Baylor are for real to continue their hot streaks. WAC teams, Hawaii and Nevada may be the only teams capable of stopping Boise St. They hope to be primed for an upset over Boise St. Though, Hawaii plays at Boise St. where they have just broke Miami’s home record with their 59th consecutive victory. It broke Miami’s record set from 1985-94. Boise St. is 36-0 vs the WAC at home. Nevada face Boise St at home on November 26th that may be the only contest that separates the wacky Broncos from running the table.

Frank Coyle writes ‘College Football Monday’ weekly during the season. He is a longtime scouting consultant for the Senior Bowl, the nation’s premier postseason All-star game. He is also a member of the FWAA and voter in College team and player awards - Heisman, Outland, Nagurski, Thorpe, etc. He is a voter for weekly Team and Player Awards