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NFL.com writes- Iupati is a massive guard that started three years at Idaho although he did miss some time in 2008 after dealing with offseason shoulder surgery. He is one of the more powerful blockers in the draft and once he gets his hands on opponents it’s pretty much all over. Iupati was born in American Samoa and English is not his native language which can slow down his progress when it comes to learning new schemes and the playbook. While it may take Iupati a bit longer to develop into a front line player, he could have a long and productive career once he settles in.
Papers please, comrade. From the Honolulu Advertiser-
Perhaps it was fitting that the University of Hawai’i men’s basketball team had to sit for about 30 minutes on a stalled bus on a dark and lonely road on the way to Moscow, Idaho, last night.
“We got here, that’s all that matters,” Hawai’i head coach Bob Nash said.
And without a trip to the gulag either!
Just an attempt at humor here. You just get a chance to write many sports posts headlines like I did here.
No I’m not talking about some middle aged man propelling a ball at some objects at the end of a lane, but the games that climax every college football season. Bowl season officially starts this afternoon, here are the matchups for all the college football fanatics out there.
Note- I gave the shortened name version of all the upcoming games. Also I listed what broadcast network would be televising the game and what time they would be coming on the air. All times are Eastern Standard.
Dec 19
New Mexico- Fresno State vs. Wyoming 4:30 p.m. ESPN
St. Petersburg- Central Florida vs. Rutgers 8 p.m. ESPN
Dec 20
R+L Carriers New Orleans- Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee 8:30 p.m. ESPN
Dec 22
MAACO Las Vegas- Oregon State vs. BYU 8 p.m. ESPN
Dec 23
Poinsettia- Utah vs. Cal 8 p.m. ESPN
Dec 24
Sheraton Hawaii- Nevada vs. SMU 8 p.m. ESPN
Dec 26
Little Caesars- Marshall vs. Ohio 1 p.m. ESPN
Meineke- Pitt vs. North Carolina 4:30 p.m. ESPN
Emerald- Boston College vs. USC 8 p.m. ESPN
Dec 27
Music City- Kentucky vs. Clemson 8:30 p.m. ESPN
Dec 28
Independence- Texas A&M vs. Georgia 5 p.m. ESPN2
Dec 29
EagleBank- UCLA vs. Temple 4:30 p.m. ESPN
Champs Sports- Miami vs. Wisconsin 8 p.m. ESPN
Dec 30
Humanitarian- Bowling Green vs. Idaho 4:30 p.m. ESPN
Holiday- Arizona vs. Nebraska 8 p.m. ESPN
Dec 31
Armed Forces- Houston vs. Air Force Noon ESPN
Sun- Oklahoma vs. Stanford 2 p.m. CBS
Texas- Navy vs. Missouri 3:30 p.m. ESPN
Minnesota vs. Iowa State 6 p.m. NFL Network
Chick-fil-A- Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee 7:30 p.m. ESPN
Jan 1
Outback- Northwestern vs. Auburn 11 a.m. ESPN
Capital One- Penn State vs. LSU 1 p.m. ABC
Gator- West Virginia vs. Florida State 1 p.m. CBS
Rose Bowl- Ohio State vs. Oregon 4:30 p.m. ABC
Sugar- Cincinnati vs. Florida 8:30 p.m. FOX
Jan 2
International- South Florida vs. Northern Illinois Noon ESPN2
Papajohns.com- South Carolina vs. UConn 2 p.m. ESPN
Cotton- Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss 2 p.m. FOX
Liberty- Arkansas vs. East Carolina 5:30 p.m. ESPN
Valero Alamo- Michigan State vs. Texas Tech 9 p.m. ESPN
Jan 4
Fiesta- Boise State vs. TCU 8 p.m. FOX
Jan 5
FedEx Orange- Iowa vs. Georgia Tech 8 p.m. FOX
Jan 6th
GMAC- Central Michigan vs. Troy 7 p.m. ESPN
Jan 7th
BCS National Championship Game- Texas vs. Alabama Jan. 7 8 p.m.
Some random notes on the above 34 games
*- 19 of the 34 games are not scheduled till Dec. 31st or later. I guess college football fanatics are expected to flip channels very quickly on those 3 days(Dec 31-Jan 2) when 15 games are being aired.
*- What a downer must it be for Oregon State players and fans. A few weeks ago they were one win from a Rose Bowl trip. Instead they lost to Oregon and are playing in a minor bowl before Christmas.
*- The NFL network televises a college football game. I guess that’s the cable sports equivalent of the Sci-Fi channel showing wrestling….
*- The bowls are now set where now certain conference finishers are locked into the same bowl games every year. I understand why the current system is done, but I prefer the day when bowl games would have greater variance from year to year. The Peach bowl would usually invite a ACC or SEC school but they could be creative, like when they invited Army and Illinois. Wouldn’t a SEC team against BYU or Wyoming be nice for a change?
*- Bobby Bowden’s farewell game is against the same school(West Virginia) that he left before coming to Florida State. I do know FSU and WV have played at least twice previously in bowls during the Bowden-Florida State era.
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| Monday, December 11, 2006 |
Dennis Errickson left behind some bruised feelings in Moscow, Idaho.
Athletic director Rob Spears said the comments to him had generally been “very angry [about Erickson leaving] and very supportive of the program. I don’t know if you could say it will galvanize us, but I do think we have a chance to turn a negative into a positive.”
Spears would not give a timetable for the Vandals’ third search for a football coach in four years. “I’m going to find somebody that not only understands Idaho but appreciates the university and what a fine institution we have,” he said. “It’s going to be done when it’s done.”
Whoever takes the job will face some skeptical players. “It was kind of weird with Erickson talking and telling us he thinks he can win a national championship at Arizona State. It makes us realize the doubt he had in us,” Bird said. “I guess he has to do what he has to do. We just didn’t expect it, but it’s certainly something we can get over. Hopefully they can get a guy in here that genuinely cares about us and wants to build a program. The hardest thing is to find a guy that isn’t going to use us and not use the school as a stepping stone.”
That’s not going to happen. Idaho is a stepping stone. Sorry, guys.
Ironically, Erickson’s first stint as a head coach was with the Vandals from 1982-85. It has been a long journey since:
| Dennis Erickson’s Coaching Record |
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Dennis Erickson will be the next head coach at Arizona State, according to the Idaho athletic director. He has amassed a 149-64-1 career record in 18 seasons at the collegiate level and a 40-56 record in six seasons in the NFL.
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Year(s)
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School/Team
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Record
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1982-85
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Idaho
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32-15
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1986
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Wyoming
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6-6
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1987-88
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Washington State
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12-10-1
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1989-94
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Miami
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63-9
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1995-98
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Seattle (NFL)
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31-33
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1999-2002
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Oregon State
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31-17
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2003-04
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San Francisco (NFL)
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9-23
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2006
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Idaho
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4-8
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My problem isn’t coaches using lesser schools to build up resumes to get more lucrative opportunities elsewhere. Coaching is a job, after all. But they should not be allowed to sell players on four years together and then leave them, not only in a lurch, but stuck at that school under NCAA rules. If coaches can leave whenever they get a better offer, student-athletes should have the same right.
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| Sunday, December 10, 2006 |
The Dennis Erickson road show is taking its act to Arizona State.
Dennis Erickson has accepted the head coaching job at Arizona State, Idaho athletic director Rob Spear said Saturday night.
The 59-year-old Erickson spent one season at Idaho in his second stint at the school, going 4-8. He led Miami to two national titles, also has been a head coach at Wyoming, Washington State and Oregon State and coached Seattle and San Francisco in the NFL.
Erickson has a 149-64-1 record in 18 seasons as a college coach. At Oregon State, he took over a program that had an NCAA Division I-record 28 straight losing seasons. His first team in Corvallis went 7-5 and made an Oahu Bowl appearance. His second Beavers’ team routed Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl to cap an 11-1 season.
Erickson has been an enormously successful college coach, so it’s no surprise that he’s getting a chance to move up the ranks. I’m surprised Miami didn’t make a run at him.
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