Contributed by freelance sportswriter Mateo

How about some serious love for those pesky Oregon State Beavers and their 5 ft. 6 in. freshman hoss-of- a-halfback Jacquizz Rodgers. Rodgers was a workhorse and ran the ball 37 times for 186 yards and two TD’s in a stunning upset win over the No. 1 USC Trojans 27-21. Props to the offensive line of the Beavers too . . . they looked awesome pushing around Petey Carroll’s “best defense he has ever had at USC”.

To put this in perspective, the Beavers were a 25 point underdog. I mean really, USC, are you the same team that sports experts were giving a free pass to Miami and the BCS title game?

The Pac Ten is pathetic with one team ranked in the top 25. Petey and his boy’s were supposed to cruise Cali-style to the championship game this year after dominating Ohio St. 31-3.

Shame on the professional sports columnists for handing USC the Holy Grail before the season barely got started.

They should know the NCAA football season delivers the best of the best upsets in sports, every year. The Trojans are again a part of upset talk and are my early nominee for our Bitch-Slap-of-the-Week.

When I referred to the Big Ten as the “Little Ten” in my Michigan article last week, I should have been referring to the Pac 10 instead. Penn St. Played Oregon St. this year and they spanked them 45-14.

USC is setting a pattern, having one game hiccups to below average teams. This ends up costing them a chance to play for the National Championship. This is the third year in a row the Trojans were undefeated and then lost to a team with a losing record; it’s a trend.

Looking past major underdog opponents should be something that the “happiest coach in America” addresses next season before facing any Pac 10 team.

Maybe this humbling experience will make you wipe that shit eatin’ grin off your face, Petey, and remember . . . it’s been a while since you won a National Championship.

Mateo is the NCAA contributor for SportsClimax.COM. Mateo spends his spare time chasing his degree while slingin’ drinks at the Grotto near Western Michigan University.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax

ANN ARBOR – In the infant stages of this NCAAF 2008 season, we’ve learned something about the Big Ten. They may soon be referred to as the “Little Ten” if their powerhouse teams don’t get off their asses and start playing some head-banging, Big Ten ball. Another early observation is that Ohio State doesn’t deserve to play for the NCAA Championship after getting their asses handed to them by the USC Trojans 35-3. That embarrassing performance earned OSU the SportsClimax.COM “Bitch-Slap-of-the-Week”.

Then there is the disappointing, lackluster Michigan Wolverines. During the off-season, when Michigan lost the Terrelle Pryor sweepstakes to their rival Buckeye’s, many people threw in the towel and knew it was going to be a rebuilding process; but Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez should not be waving his white flag this early in the season.

After losing his debut in the Big House to underdog Utah and dropping another to Notre Dame, Rich Rod and his new-look Wolverines are off to a shaky start. Rebuilding or not, when you take over a program with the prestige and pride of the University of Michigan, a rebuilding year should include a major bowl berth since the bowl season is watered down to mediocrity.

When a major program like the Wolverines need a rebuilding year, it shouldn’t look at Notre Dame’s 3-9 garbage season last year as an acceptable standard.

After watching Steven Threet at QB over the first three games, he doesn’t possess the tools for the spread offense or possibly any offense in the Big Ten. With his lack of accuracy and throwing arm and less than average mobility, he plays more like a Mid-American conference QB in a Big Ten uniform.

Rodriguez should see that. Why not let him take more snaps under center. When Threet did line up and take some snaps in one offensive series against Miami OH, the Wolverines played to their strengths and pounded the ball down their throats for a touchdown.

Rodriguez clearly wants to implant his offense and continues to force it without players who fit that scheme and because of that, the offense is sputtering.

Michigan has 13 offensive lineman over 280 pounds who control the line of scrimmage. They have two halfbacks, Brandon Minor and Kevin Grady, who are skilled and powerful runners weighing 214 and 228 pounds respectively, who have only carried the ball a combined fifteen times.

Sam McGuffie, 5 ft. 11 in., 185 lbs, has carried the ball 50 times. McGuffie is great in open space and should get his touches through screens and other open field plays. Why hand a runner like McGuffie the ball on 3rd and short from the shotgun and expect him to grind out the yards. And somebody needs to tell Coach Rodriguez that fakes to his halfback from the shotgun is getting zero respect from a defense; especially in the bullshit situational parts of the game.

This is the University of Michigan and Rodriguez has been a disappointment because of his lack of commitment to win football games. No one wants to see his spread offense for an entire game when the team lacks the weapons to make it work effectively. This offense needs to take more snaps under center and allow their size to be a factor instead of playing against their strengths.

That offense has potential to dominate when Shavodrick Beaver is running it next year. Beaver, out of Texas, has made a verbal commitment for next year and has been evaluated has a highly athletic quarterback and compares to Dennis Dixon in size and skill.

I believe in R.R. to bring glory back to the University of Michigan in the future. Coach Lloyd Carr hit a plateau and wasn’t taking the team to the elite level of competition expected by the Michigan faithful. In his last five years, Coach Carr was 1-4 in bowl games, got swept in BCS games and had a record of 1-4 against Ohio State.

Coach R.R. is capable of leading Michigan back to the elite stage but he shouldn’t use this rebuilding year as an excuse to lose football games. Michigan is a school that reeks with prestige and pride.

Kansas City Chiefs Coach Herb Edwards said, “You play to win the game”. Coach Rodriguez needs to think about Edward’s comment every Saturday and remember he is wearing maize and blue.

The next few games are against Big Ten rivals, Wisconsin and Illinois. If Rodriguez isn’t careful, he may be staring a 1-5 record right in the face . . . on his way to a Notre Dame-like rebuilding season.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax