COTTRELL COLUMN: Stoops getting his just desserts

Apparently the football gods decided they hadn’t done enough to get Bob Stoops’ attention.

Prior to this season, the usual punishment for the Oklahoma coach’s constant running up the score and occasional arrogance was humiliation in a BCS bowl game.

When that became not enough, the football gods smote golden boy quarterback Sam Bradford in the season opener this year, causing the
Sooners to lose to an inferior BYU squad.

With Bradford out for the next few weeks, Stoops still didn’t get the message.

After wins over Idaho State and Tulsa by a combined 109-0, the football gods guided Miami quarterback Jacory Harris’ arm to 202 yards passing and three touchdowns to lift the Hurricanes — another team inferior to the Sooners, at least when Bradford is around — to a dramatic win.

And now, sitting at 2-2 with the grind of conference play yet to begin, Oklahoma and Stoops are in a bit of a pickle.

Bradford still hasn’t seen the field, which doesn’t bode well for the showdown against Texas on Oct. 17, and isn’t exactly good news even if he does play against a rejuvenated Baylor team this week.

With Bradford almost certain to not risk another injury and head to the pros following this season, Stoops’ chances for a second national title may have ended for the next two or three seasons.

Perhaps if he didn’t like rubbing it in so much ...

Are You Excited?
I’m Excited

The SEC’s judgment week has arrived, as 10 of the conference’s 12 schools will be playing each other, and virtually all of the games have some bearing on how things will shake out the rest of the way.

Let’s take a look at each game.

No. 1 Florida at No. 4 LSU: Les Miles is the luckiest coach in the history of football.

Despite constantly fielding undisciplined teams that find ways to screw up games and keep them close, they somehow get bailed out and come away with a win at the end.

That strategy won’t work against the Gators.

As long as Tim Tebow is 75 percent of what he usually is, Florida should be fine. But their first matchup against a game opponent in a hostile setting will definitely give us a good barometer of where the Gators are.

No. 3 Alabama at No. 20 Ole Miss:
The Tide appear to be the real deal through five weeks.

The defense is almost as good as advertised, the offense is a heck of a lot better than you would have thought and, in general, they’re just beating people to death right now.

Ole Miss, on the other hand, has been impressively underwhelming.

Quarterback Jevan Snead has looked bad, the offensive line might be terrible and the defense isn’t quite as good.

Now, of course, there’s a slight chance this could make the Rebels very dangerous Saturday in their biggest home game in years.

But don’t bank on it.

No. 17 Auburn at Arkansas: The offensive improvement on the Plains borders on the miraculous.

How, in one year, a group of players who could barely line up correctly a year ago became an unstoppable force is beyond me.

Clearly, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn is a genius. And head coach Gene Chizik deserves a lot of credit for luring him to Auburn.

The lack of depth has made the defense a little less effective, but not a lot, though that could be a problem against the high-powered Hogs.

Ryan Mallett — with the exception of the Alabama game — has been as good as advertised at quarterback, and the Hogs are putting up big numbers.

They, however, can’t stop anybody.

Whoever wins this one, assuming both teams remember how to play in the daytime, is going to have to score in the 40s, most likely.

Kentucky at No. 25 South Carolina: Despite not having an offense to speak of, the Ole Ball Coach’s team is somehow 4-1 and in the top 25.

Kentucky, on the other hand, with games against Auburn, Georgia and Tennessee still to go, will be pretty desperate for a win.

Don’t expect a lot of offense here, but fans of defensive struggles should come away pleased.

Georgia at Tennessee: And speaking of desperation, this game should have it in droves.

Georgia has been underwhelming in virtually every way thus far, and still must play Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech, so it will need a win to assure it doesn’t fall into the bottom-tier bowl pool.

Tennessee is a good team everywhere but quarterback, but Jonathan Crompton’s vortex of awful has sucked the entire team into a 2-3 start, and with plenty of tough games remaining, Lane Kiffin’s bunch is going to have to find a way to pick up some wins.

All in all, a great week on tap.

They’re doing it again ...
The bad habits of the 2006 and 2007 seasons appear to be returning in a big way at Florida State.

After some big-time improvement toward the end of last season and with a lot of experience returning, it looked like the Seminoles might be on track to return to glory in the next year or two.

Unfortunately for FSU, things look bleak.

The offense is once again struggling for yards, the defense is capable but also vulnerable to the big play and the team doesn’t seem to have
the pride or discipline to get up for a big game like this past week’s loss at Boston College.

And now the president of the board of trustees is calling for Bobby Bowden’s resignation.

I’m not sure I ever thought I’d see the day that the premier program of the 1990s would turn into such a soap opera.

Maybe that’s what people a little older than me thought of Alabama from about 1995-2007.

Tim Cottrell is sports designer of the Opelika-Auburn News. He will write a weekly column on college football during the season. You can also read him on the O-A Sports Blog at oanow.com. He can be reached at 737-2511 or .