Kritik und Lob » 0. The Hoosiers other notable non-conferen

College football has nine undefeated teams, and seven of them play away from home Saturday, so odds are there wont be nine undefeated teams Sunday.No. 4 Washington?and No. 7 Nebraska?play their toughest opponents yet. No. 3 Clemson?plays at No. 12 Florida State, where the Tigers havent won in a decade.We havent had a crazy weekend yet, the kind of Saturday where one upset trumps another from early games to late. Why not this one? Time for crazy.1. Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson may be more passer than runner these days, but his competitive fire remains his best asset. Coach Dabo Swinney reminded everyone that after Watson threw the first pick-six of his life against NC State, he completed his next 14 throws (actually, it was 12 of his next 14 throws). Then Swinney noted the third-quarter play when Clemson wideout Mike Williams fumbled at the Wolfpack 4-yard line and NC States?Shawn Boone returned it 70 yards. Tight end Jordan Leggett made the tackle because Watson threw himself into two blockers. Deshaun has all of that other stuff, Swinney said, but that right there, you cant coach that. That comes from the inside.2. Its a long way from Clemson to South Carolina?these days, and a long way from 1-7 UMass, against whom 18-year-old Gamecocks freshman quarterback Jake Bentley threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns last week in his debut, to No. 18 Tennessee?coming off a bye week. While Bentley is the third quarterback the Gamecocks have started this season, he energized an offense that averaged only 14 points per game in its first six games. What made coach Will Muschamp feel good about Bentley was not what he did Saturday. It was Monday. I asked him today on the field, How much film did you get in yesterday, Muschamp said Tuesday, and he said, About two-and-a-half hours. Thats what you want your quarterback to do.3. When Penn State?blocked the kick that rocked Ohio States?world, the Nittany Lions scored their first special-teams touchdown in four years. The Nittany Lions had been the only Power 5 team not to score a touchdown in the kicking game in that time. I drew a direct connection from that failure to the Penn State roster depleted by NCAA-mandated scholarship reductions -- lack of depth, etc. But USC, which had similar reductions from 2012-14, scored 10 special-teams touchdowns -- five punt returns, three kickoff returns and two blocked kick returns -- in those three seasons. Either Penn State didnt get it done, USC did, or both.4. Nuggets unearthed while combing through USA Todays annual survey of head-coaching salaries?released Wednesday: The SEC and the Big Ten each have five of the top 14 highest-paid coaches. But the SEC has the next four. The first Pac-12 coach on the list, David Shaw of Stanford, is 19th ($4.06 million annually). The top Mountain West coach, Tim DeRuyter of Fresno State?($1.51 million) was fired Sunday. The lowest-paid coach ranked in the top 10 listed in the database -- salary information for Baylor is not available -- is Mike Riley of No. 7 Nebraska (42nd at $2.8 million). Three of the top-10 salaries are paid to African-Americans -- Charlie Strong, Kevin Sumlin and James Franklin -- a reminder of the progress already made.5. Speaking of Strong, nowhere is the disparity among the Big 12 membership more starkly illustrated than in head coaches salaries. Bob Stoops of Oklahoma?($5.55 million) and Strong of Texas?($5.2 million) have the fourth- and sixth-biggest paychecks in the game, respectively. The next-highest Big 12 salary, Gary Patterson of TCU, is 20th ($4.01 million). The lowest-paid head coach among the Power 5 conferences, and the only one who isnt paid a seven-figure salary, is David Beaty of Kansas, 1-18 in his attempt to resurrect the Jayhawks. Beaty makes $801,169 per year. The next-lowest paid Power 5 head coach, first-year man Tracy Claeys of Minnesota, makes $1.4 million.6. How about the tumultuous turnover at the top in the Pac-12? The league says that when Stanford dropped out of the AP poll two weeks ago, it was the first time since 1999 that neither Stanford, USC nor Oregon?was?ranked. Its not merely that the Cardinal and the Ducks, the only teams to win the North in the five-year history of the Pac-12, are fourth and sixth, respectively, in the division; its that the only two South teams that have yet to appear in the championship game, Utah?and Colorado, are tied for first in their division. They play on Thanksgiving Saturday; No. 4 Washington and Washington State, both undefeated and atop the North, play the Apple Cup the day before. This could be fun.7. Speaking of the Ducks, if Oregon loses at home Saturday to Arizona State, the Ducks losing streak would reach six games for the first time since they lost the last six games of the 1991 season (and the first two of 1992). Coach Mark Helfrich has begun to look to the future by giving the offense to freshman Justin Herbert. Hes the first Oregon native to start at quarterback since Kellen Clemens in 2005. Thats a reminder that Oregon must find its players outside the state. The Oregonian earlier this year named the top 20 prep quarterbacks in Oregon since the 80s. The only one of recent vintage, Brett Smith, started at Wyoming while the Ducks played Darron Thomas and Marcus Mariota. Malik Rose Jersey . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Fake Spurs Jerseys . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. https://www.cheapspurs.com/516j-glen-combs-jersey-spurs.html . Darren Helm scored on Detroits sixth attempt in the shootout and then Jonas Gustavsson stopped Andrew Shaws shot, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Coby Dietrick Jersey . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. James Silas Jersey . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- When Indiana tipped off its regular season home opener, it looked like the sixth-ranked Hoosiers returned from Honolulu empty-handed.Just five days removed from defeating then-No. 3 Kansas in the Armed Forces Classic, Indiana started Wednesday nights game flat on offense, slow on defense, and for much of the first 10 minutes, played mediocre basketball. The Hoosiers looked tired, searching for the momentum that carried them past Kansas.When youre coming off a great win like we had, you think the (next) game is going to be easier, but its not, Indiana coach Tom Crean said, adding that it felt like his team hit a wall.James Blackmon Jr. got Indiana (2-0) over that wall. Blackmon Jr. made five 3-pointers, scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 100-78 victory over UMass Lowell.The River Hawks led three times during the first 10 minutes and by as many as five points. But with 8:24 remaining, Indiana found its niche behind the savvy scoring of Blackmon, who had 20 points in the first half.Indiana outscored UMass Lowell (1-2) 32-15 during the final 8 minutes of the first half. The Hoosiers went into halftime having shot 60 percent from the field (21 of 35). Once Indiana returned true to form, resembling the same team that kicked off the season with a big win in Hawaii, the Hoosiers dominated for the remainder of the game. The Hoosiers had an assists on 23 field goals.Big men OG Anunoby and Thomas Bryant contributed to Indianas onslaught. Anunoby scored 15 points and Bryant added nine and the two combined for nine rebounds. The Hoosiers outrebounded UMass Lowell 46-24. Of the 46 rebounds, 19 were on the offensive end, leading to 15 second-chance points.Crean praised his squad for establishing physicality and speed, rather than attempting to establish their jump shots, or an offensive presence. And in doing so, it led to a defensive effort that contributed largely to the turning point of the game. Robert Johnson echoed his coachs sentiments.I think it all starts on defense, Johnson said. Once wwe get stops, defensive rebounds, we can get out in transition and play.ddddddddddddJohnson scored 16 points, grabbed five rebounds and had five assists for Indiana. The Hoosiers led by as many as 29 points half way through the second half.Jahad Thomas finished with 16 points and Tyler Livingston had 14 for the River Hawks.Despite the 22-point loss, UMass Lowell coach Pat Duquette found very little to be disappointed about.I dont think we were too affected by the atmosphere. We dont play in arenas like this. We dont play in front of a crowd like this. I was happy that our guys didnt get distracted by that and stuck to the game plan, Duquette said. For us to score 78 points against a really talented Indiana team on their home court, thats a great sign. I think they are a legitimate top five team.BIG PICTURE: Indiana will have three more games to build on the big win over Kansas. The Hoosiers next three games are against mid-majors before they host North Carolina on Nov. 30. The Hoosiers other notable non-conference game comes on Dec. 17 when they face Butler at Bankers Life Fieldhouse before kicking off Big Ten Conference play against Nebraska on Dec. 28. Indianas final non-conference game is a showdown with No. 12 Louisville at Bankers Life on New Years Eve.CENTURY CLUB: With Indianas 103-99 win over Kansas and its 100-78 beat down of UMass Lowell, the Hoosiers scored 100 points in consecutive games for the first time since 2005. Wednesdays game marked the first time Indiana opened the season with back-to-back games with at least 100 points since 1992-93.TURNING POINTS: With 8:24 to play in the first half, Indiana opened a 14-2 run that would give the Hoosiers a comfortable halftime lead. And with 17 minutes left in the second half, the Hoosiers ignited an 18-2 run that ultimately put the game out of reach.UP NEXT:UMass Lowell travels to IPFW on Saturday.Indiana hosts Liberty on Saturday. ' ' '