Tinker Town: "I'm getting scared over the violence that the Alabama football players are feeling before this coming college football game against Notre Dame. Oh my, the noise of football helmets, pads, slapping together making that sound. Like the sound of death, the very chilling bone cracking crashes that lets us know that something bad just happened. Is this game really legal. Repent!?"
Tinker Town: "What that song?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?
LSU vs ALABAMA Are You Ready?
thenhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?
2012 SEC game: Barrett Jones, Rammer Jammer
andhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?
Bama Nation Reacts - SEC Champions 2012
nowhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?
BCS National Championship - Notre Dame Trailer
vshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?
BCS National Championship - Alabama Trailer
------------------------http://espn.go.com/college-
AJ McCarron fit for BCS pressure
Updated: January 3, 2013, 1:52 PM ET
By
Chris Low | ESPN.com
John David Mercer/US PresswireAs he's matured, AJ McCarron has taken more control of Alabama's offense.
They're roommates, and the back-and-forth banter between the two is priceless.
"Skill players are different. They're a whole different breed," Jones joked. "They're always concerned with how they look. I always have to let him take the first shower, because I know he's going to take longer."
The gleam in Jones' eye is unmistakable anytime he can get a good verbal jab in against McCarron.
The only thing that compares is the gleam in Jones' eye when McCarron is directing the Alabama offense with the game on the line.
"He's in command out there, and his confidence spreads to everybody on the team," Jones said. "We're both perfectionists and bicker a lot in a brotherly way, sometimes to the point of yelling on the field."
"I'm usually right," Jones beamed.
Being the fierce competitor that he is, McCarron isn't about to let his All-America center have the last word.
"We mess with each other almost every play," McCarron said. "He'll be the first one to tell you that I save his butt a bunch, too. He will want to slide protection one way, and I'll want to slide it another way. After he sees it, he turns around and says, 'Yeah, you're right.' I'm like, 'Yeah, I know. Just listen to me."
It's that kind of confidence (or swagger, or whatever you want to call it) that has made McCarron a perfect fit for the starting quarterback job at Alabama. Growing up in the state, McCarron understood the inherent pressure that comes with that job. He also came to understand that playing quarterback for Nick Saban is one of those pressure-cooker jobs that not everyone can handle.
There were some hiccups along the way. McCarron still winces when he thinks back to Alabama's 9-6 loss to LSU in overtime last season, and his late interception on the goal line earlier this season against Texas A&M that sealed Alabama's fate in that game.
But, really, ever since his Offensive MVP performance against LSU in the BCS National Championship Game last season, it's been a steady climb for McCarron, who's been preparing for this stage his entire life. No moment is too big for him. Nothing keeps him down, and he's learned to embrace everything that comes with Alabama football.
His parents, Tony McCarron and Dee Dee Bonner, were both huge Alabama fans when AJ was growing up in Mobile. AJ was a Miami fan, however, and when it came time to pick a college, he nearly went to Oklahoma. In fact, the night before signing day, he told his mother that he had decided on the Sooners, and she started crying.
He had a change of heart overnight and chose to stay home and play for the Crimson Tide. He knew what he was getting into, because he'd seen it from his own family.
"We used to have parties, and we'd gather up and watch the game on Saturdays when I was little, and you could hear my whole family going nuts and cursing at people, so I've seen it all," McCarron said. "I know to take everything with a grain of salt.
"It's helped me handle the pressure and the negative comments a lot better than a quarterback from somewhere else. I've seen it. My dad was that fan when I was growing up that as soon as a player messed up, he would start dogging him. You wouldn't know why or if the receiver ran a wrong route. He just started dogging him. I've seen it growing up and know how to deal with it, so it doesn't bother me."
It also helps that McCarron's zest for winning championships matches that of Alabama's rabid fan base, which has been known to swallow up coaches and players with its insatiable appetite for winning titles.
"I love playing here," McCarron said. "It's the best fans in the world, but this place can be hard to play at. Everybody gets so used to winning, and when we don't win, it's like the world is coming to an end.
It hasn't been a problem for McCarron, who heads into Monday's Discover BCS National Championship matchup with Notre Dame with 26 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. He leads the country in passing efficiency and has taken ownership of the entire offense.
"I know everything now," said McCarron, who's 24-2 as a starter. "Last year, I knew just my job and not what everybody else had to do. That comes with time. You have to grow as a leader and grow as a quarterback. This year, I know everything in and out, and it shows because coach Saban allows me to check in and check out of plays. Almost every snap, I have an option.
"Last year, maybe one play a game, I could do it."
Saban said McCarron's added maturity, both as a player and as a leader, has been one of the driving forces in Alabama getting back to the national title game this season.
"It's amazing how much these kids change, and AJ is so much more mature than he was," Saban said. "That's allowed us to grow as a team and has made a big difference in a lot of things we're able to do."
One of the untold stories about this season is how much pain McCarron has endured and how he has kept going. He injured his right knee against Missouri and then took a wicked shot to his back a few weeks later against Mississippi State.
"It doesn't matter how big you are or what your size is. You're going to take a beating," McCarron said. "You're going to take some licks. I played though it.
"You want your team to follow you. Anytime you get any type of injury, you have to try and play through it and show them that, 'Hey, I'm here for us, and I'm going to play no matter what.'"
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http://msn.foxsports.com/
FOX sports
Fiesta Bowl: Oregon races past KSU
Oregon's De'Anthony Thomas scores two touchdowns in the Fiesta Bowl victory.
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Updated Jan 4, 2013 1:03 AM ET
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP)
De'Anthony Thomas caught the opening kickoff, raced past Oregon's sideline and leaned his head into the end zone like a sprinter crossing the finish line.The track meet had started and the fifth-ranked Ducks (No. 4 in BCS Standings) barely looked back after that.
Triggered by Thomas' 94-yard return, Oregon bolted by No. 7 Kansas State (No. 5 in BCS) 35-17 Thursday night at the Fiesta Bowl in what may have been coach Chip Kelly's final game with the Ducks.
''I felt like my role in this game was to be a momentum-builder and a game-changer,'' Thomas said. ''Once I saw that edge, I wanted to get to the end zone as fast as I could so I could celebrate with my teammates.''
They did it a lot.
Teams that had that national title aspirations end on the same day, Oregon and Kansas State ended up in the desert for a marquee matchup billed as a battle of styles: The fast-flying Ducks vs. the execution-is-everything Wildcats.
With Kelly reportedly talking to several NFL teams, Oregon (12-1) was too much for Kansas State and its Heisman Trophy finalist, Collin Klein, turning the game into a try-to-keep up race from the start.
Thomas followed his before-everyone-sat-down kickoff return with a 23-yard touchdown catch, finishing with 195 total yards.
Kenjon Barner ran for 143 yards on 31 carries and scored on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Mariota in the second quarter. Mariota later scored on a 2-yard run in the third quarter, capped by an obscure 1-point safety that went in the Ducks' favor.
Even Oregon's defense got into the act, intercepting Klein twice and holding him to 30 yards on 13 carries.
Whether Kelly leaves Eugene or not, he had a good run, leading the Ducks to four straight trips to BCS bowls, the last two wins.
Ducks fans sure let him know how they felt, chanting ''We want Chip!'' just before he was handed the massive Fiesta Bowl trophy.
''Our focus was on this game tonight,'' Kelly said. ''If for some reason, someone wanted to talk to me, it's because of those players over there. We have an unbelievable team, an unbelievable program and any success is because of those guys.''
Last year's Fiesta Bowl was an offensive fiesta, with Oklahoma State outlasting Stanford 41-38 in overtime.
The 2013 version was an upgrade: Nos. 4 and 5 in the BCS, two of the nation's best offenses, dynamic players and superbly successful coaches on both sides.
Oregon has become the standard for go-go-go football under Kelly, its fleet of Ducks making those shiny helmets - green like Christmas tree bulbs for the Fiesta Bowl - and flashy uniforms blur across the grassy landscape.
Their backfield of Thomas, Barner and Mariota made up a three-headed monster of momentum, each one capable of turning a single play into a scoring drive of 60 seconds or less.
Mariota has been the show-running leader, a question mark before the season who ably ran Oregon's high-octane offense as the first freshman quarterback to start for the Ducks since Danny O'Neil in 1991.
Oregon won the Rose Bowl for the first time in 95 years last season and was in position for a spot in the BCS title game this year before losing a heartbreaker to Stanford on Nov. 17.
It was the second straight day a BCS bowl began with a quick strike; Louisville returned an interception for a touchdown against Florida on the first play of the Sugar Bowl Wednesday night.
Thomas hit the Wildcats (11-2) again late in the first quarter, breaking a couple of tackles and dragging three defenders into the end zone for a catch-and-run TD that put the Ducks up 15-0.
It's nothing new for Oregon's sophomore sensation: He had 314 total yards and two long
touchdown runs in the 2012 Rose Bowl. The Ducks are used to it, too, after averaging more than 50 points per game.
And they kept flying.
Oregon followed a missed 40-yard field goal by Kansas State's Anthony Cantele by unleashing one of its blink-and-you'll-miss-it scoring drives late in the second quarter. Moving 77 yards in 46 seconds, the Ducks went up 22-10 at halftime after Mariota hit Barner on 24-yard TD pass.
Alejandro Maldonado hit a 33-yard field goal on Oregon's opening drive of the third quarter and Mariota capped a long drive with an easy 2-yard TD run to the left. Kansas State's Javonta Boyd blocked the point-after attempt, but even that went wrong for the Wildcats: Chris Harper was tackled in the end zone for a bizarre 1-point safety that put Oregon up 32-10.
It was the first 1-point safety in major college football since 2004 when Texas did it against Texas A&M, STATS said.
''There were so many things that could have changed the outcome of this game,'' Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown said.
Kansas State had gone through its second revival under Snyder, the studious coach who never lost touch with the game or players young enough to be his grandchildren during a three-year retirement.
Ducks at a glance
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Klein has led K-State's meticulous march this season, a fifth-year senior who plays in the mold of the college version of Tim Tebow: Gritty, humble, finds a way to win, whatever it takes.
Like the Ducks, the Wildcats had their national-title hopes stamped out on Nov. 17, blown out by Baylor with a rare letdown on both sides of the ball.
Kansas State needed a little time to get its wheels spinning on offense, laboring early before Klein scored on a 6-yard run early in the second quarter.
Klein kept the Wildcats moving in the quarter, though not toward touchdowns: Cantele hit a 25-yard field goal and missed from 40 after a false-start penalty.
Klein hit John Hubert on a 10-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, but all that did was cut Oregon's lead down to 32-17.
He threw for 151 yards on 17 of 32 passing.
''It wasn't really complicated,'' Kelly said of slowing Klein. ''He's a great player, one of the greats of college football. I had my heart in my throat a couple of times watching him around, but out guys just made plays when they had to make plays.''
By doing so, they may have put a nice exclamation point on Kelly's college career.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8810344/chip-kelly-interview-buffalo-bills-friday
Chip Kelly to interview with Bills
Updated: January 4, 2013, 12:01 AM ET
ESPN.com news services
Breaking Down The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
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On Friday, Kelly has an interview scheduled with the Buffalo Bills for their coaching vacancy. The interview will take place in Arizona, a day after the Ducks defeated Kansas State 35-17 in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, a league source confirmed to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.
The Cleveland Browns will also interview Kelly on Friday, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Thursday.
USA Today first reported that Kelly was scheduled to interview with Buffalo.
Bills newly promoted president Russ Brandon and front-office brain trust have been in Arizona since Tuesday conducting their coaching search.
According to the Bills' website, the team interviewed Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton on Wednesday, a day after meeting with former Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was fired Monday.
The Bills also are scheduled to interview Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy on Saturday. Former Bears coach Lovie Smith also is scheduled for an interview over the weekend, a source familiar with the situation confirmed.
[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Don RyanChip Kelly will interview for the Buffalo Bills' coaching vacancy on Friday.
Kelly also has been linked as a candidate for the Browns and Philadelphia Eagles.
According to several reports, Browns CEO Joe Banner is already in Arizona and also intends to interview Kelly.
Kelly has been deflecting questions about his future all week. He did so again Wednesday when asked if he expects to be contacted by NFL teams in the days ahead.
"I don't expect anything," Kelly said. "I said this a million times. I'm never surprised by anything. I do not know what the future holds. I do know we have a football game tomorrow night and I'm going to be there."
Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens confirmed at least one NFL team has requested permission to speak to Kelly. Mullens said he asked that interested teams be respectful of Oregon playing in a bowl game and allow the Ducks to enjoy their moment, and NFL teams have complied.
Mullens said "our first priority is obviously to retain Chip." He said Kelly's buyout is upwards of $3 million and that there are five years left on Kelly's contract, but if Oregon wins Thursday, the contract rolls over with an extra year.
If the Ducks do lose Kelly to the NFL, Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich will be promoted to head coach, sources confirmed to ESPN. That decision was first reported by USA Today.
The Bills are in the midst of their fifth coaching search since 2001 after Chan Gailey was fired Monday after three consecutive losing seasons.
Although it's unclear how many more candidates they have lined up, the Bills won't be done conducting their search out West after meeting with Kelly.
Horton already has interviewed twice with the Cardinals and once with the Browns before revealing to reporters at the Cardinals' facility that he was set to meet with the Bills.
"I'm excited about the opportunity here, and the fantastic interview I had with Cleveland last night, and am going to try to knock Buffalo's socks off," Horton said.
Horton and Whisenhunt not only coached with the Cardinals but also previously coached in Pittsburgh.
AFC East blog
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• Blog network: NFL Nation
Whaley spoke highly of Whisenhunt and Horton on Tuesday.
"We go way back. We've won some Super Bowls together, so I have high regard for their coaching acumen," he said. "I don't think it will make a decision on if they're going to be our coach, but I can shed some insight on how they performed when I was with them and as persons."
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Tulane University Sent False Information To U.S. News & World Report For College Rankings
Posted: 01/02/2013 10:19 am EST
Tulane University sent false information for at least two years to U.S. News & World Report for the magazine's college ranking consideration, the university disclosed last month.Tulane informed U.S. News in December that officials had discovered its A.B. Freeman School of Business misreported "average GMAT scores for full-time MBA students entering in fall 2011 and the total number of applicants." Tulane said the school had misreported a batch of data from the fall of 2010 and possibly in earlier years as well.
Tulane's MBA program was ranked 43rd in U.S. News' 2013 college rankings.
"We deeply regret that this occurred," Ira Solomon, dean of the A.B. Freeman School of Business, said in a statement. "The checks and balances we have implemented will provide assurance that this will not happen again."
According to U.S. News, the New Orleans-based university is investigating and will release a public report in mid-January.
The Times-Picayune reports Tulane noticed test scores and the number of applicants this year "skewed lower than the previous two years" as it was preparing information about its MBA program to send to U.S. News. Solomon said since the school's standards and admissions criteria have not changed, "this raised a concern that our data from previous years had been misreported."
A few other institutions fabricated data submitted to U.S. News in 2012. George Washington University lost its ranking after the school disclosed it had inflated admissions data for more than a decade.
Emory University and Claremont McKenna College also sent false information to U.S. News in hopes of improving their standings in the highly influential college rankings. After disclosing the misinformation, U.S. News ultimately decided the errors didn't warrant a change in those schools' rankings.
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http://espn.go.com/college-football/
- Oregon coasts in Fiesta Bowl
| Kelly to NFL? - O'Brien staying at Penn State after Browns talk
- Bama's Jones 'ready to roll' | WR Bell closer
- Noles DE Werner going pro
| Joyner returns - Michigan St. running back Bell heading to NFL
- LSU linebacker Minter declares for NFL draft
- L'ville rolls in Sugar Bowl | Gators going pro
- South Carolina QB Shaw needs foot surgery
- WR LaRue decommits from USC | Angulo
- ABC News: Powerful painkiller still widely used
- Fremeau: Top 10 teams to not play for title
| STATS / A.P. / ESPN | Cotton Bowl : Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M; 7:00 p.m. on FOX |
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