College Football Corner... dirty laundry...

Sports, as Jerry Seinfeld once said, is merely rooting for laundry. It pains me this fall to see a wide variety of alternate, special, turn back the clock as well as turn your head and cough unis early and often. This isn't baseball where if you wear an alternate home jersey 12 times fans get to see your actual home uni 69 times. In theory a school has 12 chances to establish and build on its brand each year-- and this fall there have been more than a few strayings and violations:



1--Fade to black. I had no idea that Tennessee also boasted black as a primary color... or that Georgia's black helmets were possible. Did schools not learn anything from Happy Days when Fonzie started wearing black t-shirts? We know wearing black is slimming as well as trendy-- but when everybody does it it's not cool.



2--Contrasting Opinion-- nothing says uniform laziness more than wearing the same color pants and jersey (white on white an exception)... while nothing is sharper than color contrast done well.



3--Special Situations?-- Ohio State wore vintage uniforms for its game at Michigan... granted, these Wolverines finished last in the Big Ten--but should a school wear secondary (turn back the clock) unis for its primary rival?



4--Horsefeathers! I saw feathers on the shoulders of Florida State last weekend (along with maroon on maroon) and my stomach turned-- although it's not as trendy as the horned frog on TCU's "alternate" jerseys.



5--Oregon's dilemna-- it's nice to be outfitted by NIKE, but at what price do you sell dignity... at last calculation the Ducks have 1,187 different potential uniform combinations... 1,184 of which are ridiculous. I can only imagine Eugene is a dumping ground for other school's rejects.



Alma Mater Update-- Syracuse upset #25 Rutgers 31-13 for the Orange's first Big East win of the season...notching nine sacks and giving the Carrier Dome faithful reason to celebrate-- especially off the heels of basketball's 87-71 thumping of #6 North Carolina.




MARYLAND saw the autumn of its discontent continue with a 29-26 come from ahead loss to Florida State. Allowing a game-winning drive with 90 seconds left was the latest twist and turn of 2009... the only thing that could still happen to this team would be if the new press box collapsed Saturday. Terrapin Triumphs-- the one-two backfield tandem of DaRell Scott and Davin Meggett combined for 142 yards on 32 carries... showing a flash of what could have been had Scott remained healthy. Terrapin Troubles-- the defense gave up not one but two desperation drives for fourth quarter touchdowns. A lot was made about the new-look defense at the start of the season-- and a lot will be made about a new defense in 2010.

VIRGINIA was unable to keep up with Clemson after putting 21 points on the board in the first half; the 34-21 defeat assured the Cavaliers of a last-place finish in the Coastal Division. Cavalier Congrats-- the defense held Tiger tailback CJ Spiller to just over three yards a carry... Cavalier Catastrophes-- 40 yards after halftime... 7 sacks allowed and 2 fumbles diminished what could have been a heck of an afternoon.



VIRGINIA TECH continued its November tour through the league's bottom-feeders... ripping North Carolina State 38-10. While an ACC title is out of reach, a ten win season isn't-- and it's a testament to what Frank Beamer's built that double digit victories get "yes, but" status. Hokie Highlights-- holding the Wolfpack to 14 yards rushing... while notching four takeaways and committing just a pair of penalties... Hokie Humblings-- I'm still burned up at VT for wearing those maroon jerseys with one orange shoulder... what was that for? Hunting?