Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-2324.
It used to be so easy for a Division I-A athletic director when it came to football scheduling.
Break up the non-conference schedule with what some referred to as "Body Bag" games to make sure you picked up some easy wins. That would usually be against a low Division I-A team or a Division I-AA squad that would be more than happy to play for a $500,000 paycheck and the chance for their players to tell their grandkids that they once got the snot kicked out of them by mighty Nebraska or Ohio State.
But if this year is any indication, it might be wiser for the big boys of college football to try and pick on somebody their own size.
No fewer than five Division I-A teams lost to Division I-AA teams last week. Western Illinois beat Eastern Michigan, 34-12, Eastern Washington edged Idaho, 8-5, Stephen F. Austin beat Louisiana-Monroe, 23-21, Villanova knocked off Temple, 23-20, and perhaps in the biggest stunner, Cal Poly of San Luis Obispo, which won a grand total of three games in 2002, easily handled UTEP, 34-13, in El Paso.
Closer to home, only a week earlier Nevada was lucky to squeak by Southern Utah, 24-23, when star linebacker Logan Carter managed to block a game-tying PAT try with a little more than three minutes to go. The T-Birds, who also missed two easy field goal tries, won a grand total of one game in 2002.
So what's exactly going on here?
First-year Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe, who is holding his breath as the Golden Hurricane (0-2) plays host to Texas State University (1-1) on Saturday night, believes that I-AA football has narrowed the gap between the two levels in the past decade because of NCAA rules which allow a player to transfer from a I-A program to a I-AA school and be immediately eligible.
"Now you don't have to sit out, and that's why it's opened up the avenue for Division I-AA and Division II," Kragthorpe told the Tulsa World this week. "Look at the (NFL) draft last year. Go back and look at the number of I-AA players who got drafted."
Of the 262 players picked in last spring's NFL draft, 25 were players who did not finish their career at a I-A school.
Texas State (formerly Southwest Texas State) is a good example. The Bobcats, who were hammered by New Mexico, 72-8, in their opener but bounced back to whip Angelo State, 42-7, have 11 Division I-A transfers on their roster, including quarterback Barrick Nealy, who started four games at Houston last year, and defensive back Johnny McCoy, who was the third leading tackler at Kansas in 2002.
"Everything is relative to where you are at as a program," Hawaii coach June Jones said after the Warriors struggled to a closer-than-expect 40-17 victory against Appalachian State two weeks ago. "You know they are capable of doing some things, but don't think for a second they can't beat you."
UTEP coach Gary Nord found that out the hard way last week when the Miners were pummeled by Cal Poly on their home field. The Mustangs took advantage of five UTEP turnovers and rolled up a huge 451 to 256 edge in total yardage.
"We got our rear ends kicked on both sides of the ball," Nord said. "Obviously it hurts your confidence when you get kicked all over the field by a I-AA team."
Now Nord must try and pick up the pieces with a home game Saturday night against San Diego State, a team that outplayed defending national champion Ohio State much of the game before losing, 16-13. The Aztecs (1-1) also struggled to a 19-9 victory in their season opener against I-AA Eastern Washington.
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