A New FAU Era In Conference USA

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The last time the FAU Owls opened the season at home against Middle Tennessee was a day that Michigan Wolverines Football fans certainly would like to forget.

On September 1, 2007, Appalachian State stunned the Wolverines 34-32 in front of 109,208 shocked fans at The Big House.

The rematch will be August 30, 2014.

This same day, I was covering My first FAU contest against Middle Tennessee at Fort Lauderdale's Lockhart Stadium. The Owls defeated Middle Tennessee 27-14. Since that win, FAU has lost five straight games to Middle Tennessee and trail the series 7-3.

Six years later, the Owls have opened at home again against Middle Tennessee, but two major things have changed.

FAU has moved from the Sun Belt Conference to Conference USA.

Three years ago, FAU moved into it's beautiful on campus stadium that faces the Atlantic Ocean. You can see the ocean from the Sixth Floor at FAU Stadium in the Press Box.

Four teams made the switch to Conference USA. Florida International University and North Texas were the first to make their announcements. Months later, FAU and Middle Tennessee followed them.

For the last few years we've seen a lot of conference realignment. Schools like Colorado, Utah, Texas A&M, Missouri, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, West Virginia and TCU are acclimating to their new rivals. The Big Ten will add Maryland and Rutgers next season while Louisville is headed to the ACC.

How have the Owls adapted thus far?

After FAU's 42-35 overtime loss to Middle Tennessee, the Owls are 1-3 and 0-2 in the conference. The Owls have now lost six in a row to the Blue Raiders and trail the all-time series 8-3.

FAU's only victory occurred September 14, as the Owls defeated My Alma-Mater the University of South Florida Bulls 28-10 in Tampa.

It's hard to win committing five turnovers as FAU did, in addition to allowing Middle Tennessee to amass 446 yards in total offense.

It's rare to see a team compile 503 yards in total offense and lose. But that's what happened to FAU.

Wide Receiver, Daniel McKinney, a senior from Detroit was FAU's leading receiver. He had nine receptions for 82-yards and a touchdown. This was a career high for McKinney.

Sophomore QB Jaquez Johnson threw for 321 yards, three touchdowns but also had two interceptions.

When the game was over, FAU Coach Carl Pelini said despite the close loss, he's said there is no such thing as a moral victory.

"You're not going to beat a good football team like Middle Tennessee when you constantly shoot yourself in the foot," Pelini said. "I don't think we were very disciplined on the defensive side of the ball, and I think we made a lot of mistakes on the offensive side of the ball. You can't have five turnovers in college football and expect to win games. It shouldn't have come down to overtime."

Pertaining to the turnovers, Pelini added, "they're tearing at the football. You know you saw it, and we just got to be stronger. We practice ball security everyday, so it's unacceptable."

FAU returns to action on Saturday, September 28 at 7 pm as it hits the road to play in the first "Owls Bowl" visiting Rice in Houston, Texas.

There is one thing FAU didn't have to deal with that two other Florida schools had to face Saturday.

The Florida A&M Rattlers were ripped by the Ohio State Buckeyes 76-0 in Columbus.

FAU's rival Florida International University went to Kentucky and was crushed by Louisville 72-0.

After today's offensive display, I'll be curious as to see what's ahead in the coming weeks for FAU. I find it hard to watch a team score 35 points and lose.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.

Public Relations Debacles

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The FAU Owls and FIU Golden Panthers have more things in common besides being rivals in the
Sun Belt Conference and being small mid-major schools in South Florida.

Over the past few months, both schools have made changes with their revenue producing sports where each have taken a hit in the Public Relations Department.

On December 1, 2011, Carl Pelini became the successor to Howard Schnellenberger as he hopes to revive a 1-11 program. This is Pelini's first head coaching job and FAU is paying him $375,000 to rebuild the program. When Pelini was hired, his introductory press conference was handled poorly. He told the university's Sports Information Department to hold an impromptu Press Conference and gather as many media as possible regardless of how many didn't make it without knowledge.

I was told later by the FAU Sports Information Department that Pelini's accessibility would be far less then Schnellenberger, who would be extremely accommodating realizing how necessary it was to gain the free publicity to promote his program.

Pelini is due to have his first spring game soon and although I've never met the guy, he isn't going to get much of a honeymoon period if the Owls continue to lose over the next few years.

Schnellenberger is an icon and built the program from scratch while Pelini has more recruiting tools to work with, in addition to the new stadium. It's his job to win and put rear-ends in the seats to pay for his salary.

Speaking of putting rear ends in the seats, down in Miami, Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas averaged 1,071 for the Golden Panthers in three seasons while attendance was four times that amount on the road.

However, Thomas, who was hired in 2009 to a five-year contract, never had a chance to see his rebuilding project through. He was fired after three seasons posting a 26-65 record.

Prior to Thomas arrival, FIU's last winning season was in 1999-2000 and its winning percentage of .315 since, according to STATS LLC, is 329th Out of 344 Division I Men's programs that competed over the last 12 years.

I've known Thomas since the late 1980's and I know that he wouldn't have taken this job if he didn't have a chance to see it through.

This is a guy that loves basketball and didn't take a base salary his first year agreeing to a deal where he would receive nearly half of any gross revenues from ticket sales, commissions collected on food and beverage concessions and sponsorships.

Thomas put FIU on the map and the average college coach usually gets five years to recruit his players and institute his philosophy.

The timing couldn't have been worse for FIU to make this change and I do believe it will backfire. It's not like the university is a cash cow since it's football stadium holds 20,000. There will be a small budget and Thomas controversial firing only puts a stain on the program. What reputable coach would come to FIU with a sub-par basketball stadium?

Thomas will likely land back in the NBA while FIU will go back to being an unknown commodity that is the Miami Hurricanes infant brother.
FIU's Football Program is best known for a controversial brawl that it had with the Hurricanes at the Orange Bowl on October 14, 2006.

As for Pelini, I hope his second impression is better than his first. There is no doubt that both situations are under a major Public Relations Microscope and we'll see how they both play out.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.

A Humbled Announcer

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I rarely watch ESPN's College Football Game Day because of my busy schedule.

But because Nebraska was facing the Michigan Wolverines in "The Big House," this was a great opportunity to hear the crews prediction.

Longtime analyst Lee Corso, 76, seemed quite decisive predicting the visiting Cornhuskers. Corso's famous line "Not So Fast, My Friend" bit him good as Michigan crushed Nebraska 45-17 in front of 113,718, the largest crowd to ever see a Cornhuskers contest in this storied program's rich history.

Not only did Corso look bad with with this prediction, his use of the expletive that begins with an "F" as he was ending his show turned out to be a disaster. Even his sidekick Kirk Herbstreit wondered where the delay button was.

But I'm going to give Corso a pass for this mistake. His public on air apology looked sincere, he showed tremendous remorse and he was very humbled by his actions.

If the former 1985 USFL Orlando Renegades Coach loses his job, he could go back to work for the Indiana Hoosiers, whom he coached from 1973-1982 and compiled a 41-68-2 record. The Hoosiers are 1-10 and were hammered by Michigan State 55-3 Saturday in East Lansing.

Guest predictor Carl Lewis also picked Nebraska while Herbstreit, a former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback, did pick his former rival U-M to defeat Nebraska.

The Wolverines, which improved to (9-2, 5-2 Big 10) officially welcomed Nebraska to the conference with this beating....

Michigan State was glad that Herbstreit's prediction came to fruition because they'll play in the inaugural Big 10 Championship Game on December 3 in Indianapolis, Indiana., as winners of the Legends Division. It must have very difficult for the Spartans (9-2, 6-1 Big 10) to root for U-M, but if it made conference history and earns them a trip to a BCS Game, Rose Bowl, I'm sure no one in East Lansing is complaining....

A few years ago, I was angry that the Delaware Fighting Blue Hens and in state rival Delaware State never played at all. But the two schools finally met in the FCS Playoffs and now face each other regularly.

This time, the focus is on the Arkansas Razorbacks, who refuse to play the Arkansas State Red Wolves of the Sun Belt Conference. This season Arkansas State is (9-2, 7-0 Sun Belt) while the Razorbacks are (10-1, 6-1 SEC).

I don't know what the problem is with Arkansas, but this meeting could only bolster the enthusiasm in that state. The Razorbacks should change their name to the "Arkansas Chickens."

There are lots of other great in state rivalries.

Why should an SEC powerhouse even worry about facing a Sun Belt Conference school when most of these games guarantee big pay days for the underdog schools, and seldom do you see wins from these institutions when they play?

Arkansas is coached by a man that didn't have the guts to finish an NFL Season with the Atlanta Falcons named Bobby Petrino. If Petrino had the guts to schedule Arkansas State, I might not be as critical of him. But I know he doesn't have the courage to face the Red Wolves.

Years ago, the college basketball rivalry which reminded me of "Dodgeball" was Kentucky VS Louisville. They were forced to face each other in the NCAA Tournament and that sparked the beginning of a rivalry which is going strong.

The folks in Arkansas should have former President Bill Clinton mediate this boneheaded impasse....

Two major droughts ended on Saturday.

Baylor University, a private Christian institution of 15,000 students located in Waco, Texas., went into Saturday's home game against the No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners 0-20 all-time against their rival from Norman. Most of these games weren't even close.

The No. 22 Bears (7-3, 4-3 Big 12) finally ended years of misery thanks to the performance of Robert Griffin III by improving to 1-21 as the quarterback threw for 479 yards, four touchdowns including a 34-yarder to Terrance Williams with eight seconds left in the game ending Oklahoma's chances of winning a BCS Championship.

The Virginia Cavaliers (8-3, 5-2 ACC) snapped Florida State's five game winning streak with it's fourth straight win in this 14-13 road triumph.

The Cavaliers had never won in Tallahassee going 0-8 in their previous trips to the Florida State Capital. Virginia is now 1-8 in the Panhandle.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.

Bad Boys Reunion?

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When I heard reports on ESPN that former Bad Boys Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer were being considered as possible replacements for the fired John Kuester, as I was tossing and turning in bed, I warmed up to the idea.

When the Pistons won their titles in 1989-90, these two policed the locker-room and made sure that there would be no distractions to reach their goal. Just ask Thomas' best friend Mark Aguirre, who was acquired in a trade that sent Adrian Dantley to the Dallas Mavericks. Aquirre had a track record for being outspoken in the locker-room but Thomas and Laimbeer made sure that wouldn't occur in Detroit.

As executive of the New York Knicks, Thomas thought about the possibility of hiring Laimbeer as his head coach, but wound up luring Larry Brown to coach in Madison Square Garden. This move turned out to be a major disaster.

But if either of these guys gets selected as coach, lets make it clear that it should be based on their performance on the sidelines.

Thomas did a fine job as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 2000-2003 by leading the franchise to three consecutive playoff appearances. He helped develop Jermaine O' Neal, Jalen Rose and Ron Artest into stars.

The 50-year old Hall of Famer, who is regarded as the greatest player in Pistons history, has done a solid job the past two years with Florida International University. I have watched Thomas' teams the past couple years and his records of 7-25 and 11-19 are very deceiving.  Last season, the Golden Panthers lost several close games due to poor free throw shooting and Thomas quipped during his press conferences that he'll take suggestions from the media to fix the problem.

FAU Coach Mike Jarvis told me that the Golden Panthers are loaded with talent and if Thomas returns for a third season at FIU, they'll be one of the best teams in the Sun Belt Conference.

As for Laimbeer (54), he is responsible for five of the six championships at the Palace of Auburn Hills. He won two as a player and three more as head coach of the Detroit Shock of the WNBA. He was WNBA Coach of the Year in 2003 and took a franchise that was on the brink of extinction and talked late owner William Davidson into allowing him to save it.

Three titles later, it's safe to say the move worked out. I don't care what level of sports you're in. To win a championship is something to be proud of so Laimbeer can take pride in that. On the court, he was a hard-nosed player that was hated by all.

Yet one of his biggest rivals Charles Barkley has always endorsed him as a possible head coach and went on ESPN's Outside The Lines and expressed his support wondering why the former Bad Boy never received more consideration for other positions. This attention enabled Laimbeer to land an assistant coaching job with former Los Angeles Lakers rival Kurt Rambis of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Laimbeer has been instrumental in the development of Kevin Love and is working with Pistons draft choice bust Darko Milicic to make him a better player.

The commonality between Thomas and Laimbeer is the fact that they have worked with younger players and the Pistons are indeed a young team. When these players look up in the rafters and see their jersey's retired, they'll know the men teaching them to be professionals have excellent credentials.

Even if one were to get hired, the other should be the lead assistant.

In Arizona, former Tiger Kirk Gibson has led to the revitalization of the Diamondbacks. The fiery Gibson reminds me so much of Laimbeer. Both were hated by the media in their playing days but I remember seeing Gibson as a coach during spring training and he toned down and was enjoyable to deal with. I hope for Laimbeer's sake, he's mellowed because he needs the media to put people in the stands.

Nonetheless, Gibson has his Diamondbacks in second place in the National League West a game behind the World Series champions the San Francisco Giants with a 33-28 record. His bench coach is former Tigers Manager Alan Trammell. The roles were reversed when Tramnell and Gibson were running the Tigers earlier this decade. Yet, the lessons learned by Trammell working with Lou Piniella had to only enhance Alan's development in the dugout. Now the two have fans in cactus country talking about a return to the post-season. The Diamondback players know that their manager has two memorable World Series home runs and titles on his resume.

There is no reason that a Thomas and Laimbeer reunion can't produce similar results. Do you think Pistons Owner Tom Gores was a passionate fan during the Bad Boys era? Gores does live in Los Angeles and has watched the Pistons defeat the Lakers in the NBA Finals on two occasions.

If Thomas didn't burn his bridges with Davidson, who knows, perhaps we could have seen this tandem together much sooner. But Dumars did manage to win an NBA title on his own and is smart enough to know that the slate is clean between Thomas and Gores. Dumars sees there are some intriguing possibilities here. Dumars also knows that his next hire better be a good one because he know longer has the safety net of the Davidson's to cushion his next fall. Even though he was retained by Gores doesn't mean that he won't be under a more intense microscope that falls under the category, what have you done for me lately?

With the Pistons set to pick eighth in this month's draft, Greg Monroe, Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko are a good foundation, but there is little margin of error to make more roster mistakes. It's time to get it right so that the team can finally work it's way back into the playoffs.

More importantly, with the NBA heading towards a hard salary cap, Detroit could land a player or two in free agency because there will be more available as Commissioner David Stern watches his league become more balanced. There is talk that a hard salary cap could force the Miami Heat to break up their big three of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. If that happens, one of these players is going somewhere.

With Gores in charge, I'll be curious to see what indeed transpires with the Pistons. If Thomas and Laimbeer don't return to the Palace either together or individually, at least the thought of it happening was enough to get me out of bed during the middle of the night to just examine the possibilities based on the developments in Arizona with Gibson and Trammell.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.

FAU QB Rusty Smith's Name Is Everywhere

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
FAU senior quarterback Rusty Smith seems to have his name everywhere.
He has been named one of 21 nominees for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. The recipient of this award will be announced in November.
Smith is the current record holder for passing attempts (1,073), completion's (603), yards (8,197), touchdowns (62), and rushing and pass total yards (7,930).
He was the 2007 New Orleans Bowl MVP and the 2008 Motor City Bowl Offensive MVP. He is a two-time Palm Beach County Amateur Athlete of the Year and the 2007 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, as well as the 2008 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
Smith is 15-11 over the last two seasons, helping guide the FAU football program to its first bowl game, as well as back-to-back bowl victories. FAU was the only team in the state to do so.
On Friday, Coach Howard Schnellenberger made certain that he would do everything possible to see Smith's name would be connected to the new on campus stadium in Innovation Village which is now expected to open in 2011.
“I'll lobby that if Yankee Stadium is the house that Ruth built, then Innovation Village is the house that Rusty Smith built,” Schnellenberger said. “There aren't enough words that can tell you what he's meant to building this football program.
“Rusty is at a point where he is fundamentally sound at everything he does. He just needs to work on refinements of what he's done.”
At the press conference, Smith tried to deflect all of the praise that he's been getting at the progress of the football program and focus on the upcoming season.
He noticed one major difference between the expectations of the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
“This year our team is used to the attention we're getting now then we were last year,” Smith said. When you're the favorite, you have a bullseye on your back and your game is circled. Being an underdog is something we like.”
When asked if his leadership role will increase because he's in his final season, Smith added, “Just because I'm a senior doesn't mean anything. I felt I was a leader when I stepped on campus. It's a character trait where you either have it or you don't. If you're a leader, you're a leader.”
There is only one thing left for Smith to accomplish at FAU. In April of 2010, he could be the first Owl to be selected in the NFL Draft.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com