Oklahoma State to 3rd in BCS Behind, LSU and Bama

The Cowboys moved up to third Sunday in the BCS standings, replacing rival Oklahoma as the team behind LSU and Alabama best positioned to reach the national title game. It's Oklahoma State's best showing in the BCS standings.

Two championship contenders lost for the first time Saturday, when Oklahoma and Wisconsin went down.

That cleared some of the traffic atop the standings and left Oklahoma State, fourth-place Boise State, fifth-place Clemson and sixth-place Stanford in a tight race.

First-place LSU and second-place Alabama will play on Nov. 5 in Tuscaloosa. The winner will have the inside track to reach the BCS championship game in New Orleans.

The Southeastern Conference has had at least one team first or second in 26 of the last 27 standings, dating to Dec. 2, 2007.

Oklahoma, which lost at home to 41-38 to Texas Tech, dropped to ninth and Wisconsin, which lost on the last play 37-31 at Michigan State, fell to 15th.

The BCS standings use the coaches' poll, the Harris poll and a compilation of six computer ratings to determine which teams play in the five marquee bowls, including the championship game.

Oklahoma State was ranked first in the computer rankings, third in the Harris poll and fourth in the coaches' poll for a BCS average of .9240.

Boise State was at .8302, Clemson was .8240 and Stanford .8124.

For now, they are chasing the Cowboys, hoping for them to slip up.

Brandon Weeden, Justin Blackmon and the high-scoring Cowboys have already won three conference road games, including a 45-24 victory at Missouri on Saturday.

"I just think our team plays with a lot of confidence," coach Mike Gundy said after the Missouri game. "We have a number of guys that have been in battle and had success, and we've been fortunate."

The Cowboys return home for the next two weeks to play Baylor and undefeated Kansas State, which is eighth in the BCS standings heading into its next game against Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State also has road games at Texas Tech and Iowa State before finishing the season at home against the Sooners.

It's a schedule that looks strong enough to keep Oklahoma State ahead of Stanford, Clemson and Boise State, though if all of those teams finish unbeaten the BCS won't have enough spots in the championship game for all the teams that can claim to be worthy of being picked.

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AP Sports Writer RB Fallstrom in Columbia, Mo., contributed to this report.

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Chiefs Looking Fast to Put Opening Day Blowout Behind Them

If your scoring from home, count Chiefs coach Todd Haley as getting knocked down for an 8-count Sunday in the Chiefs 41-7 opening day home loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The Chiefs were the surprise team in the NFL a season ago, but Sunday at home they were surprised by the aggressive Bills attack that piled up 364 yards compared to just 213 for the Chiefs.

“It’s the coach’s job to have the team ready to go and we weren’t ready,’’ Haley said. “I’m taking 100 percent responsibility for our team not being ready to go. You can point the finger right at Todd Haley. That being said … I believe in my team and I believe we have a chance to do special things.”

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Packers: Behind Enemy Lines I

Senior writer jclombardi discusses Packers vs Vikings game.

Commentary: We had an opportunity to discuss the Packers vs Vikings game with Nick at MnVikingsblog.com, “Sitting Down With The Enemy–Green Bay Packers Edition.”  I repost our answers to questions:

Nick: This week I am exchanging a 5 questions and answer session with jclombardi.  With that said, let’s move on with the questions.

Nick: RB Adrian Peterson is the Vikings biggest threat to spoiling a Packers victory.  What needs to happen in order to stop AP from having a monster day this Sunday?

Jclombardi: RB Peterson continues to be one of the best runners in the NFL having both speed and power. He is the NFL’s No. 2 rusher.  However, although the Packers run defense has a poor 21st ranking (Football Outsiders), the Packers will focus upon limiting RB Peterson to less than 100 yards with no big plays.  The Packers are becoming healthy on defense as DE Pickett and DE Jenkins return to full health. Further, with the addition of DE/DT Green to play along with solid NT Raj and rookie backup DE Wilson, this front seven line is now returning to being a stout run defense as shown in the Jets and Cowboys games.

Nick: Chad Clifton did a great job one on one with Jared Allen the last time the two teams played each other. Jared Allen since has registered 3+ sacks, do you believe the Packers will double team him or give Clifton another opportunity one on one?

Jclombardi: After a shaky slow start, LT Clifton is back to his all-pro veteran self. The Packers will let Clifton handle DE Allen, while they focus on using maximum blocking formations to deal with the Vikings blitz schemes to limit the potent west coast Packers passing offense led by QB Rodgers.

Nick: The Packers run game has arguably been one of their biggest weaknesses this season.  Do you see the Packers abandoning the run in order to take advantage of a shaky Vikings secondary?

Jclombardi: The Vikings are the NFL’s premier run defense in the past four years ranking No. 10 now in rushing yards allowed and No. 7 in yards allowed per carry, but they are not great numbers. Teams are successfully running against DE Allen and slowing interior Williams Wall. After losing running back Grant, the Packers are satisfied with their pedestrian running game using RB Jackson and FB Kuhn. The Packers will run the ball when they feel that it helps their drives and game plan. RB Jackson has not gotten beyond 60 rushing yards in the last four games, but he is a big cog in the passing game with 17 catches for 143 yards in the past five games. RB John Kuhn had a big last game with career highs of 13 carries and 50 yards.

Nick: Assuming Sidney Rice plays this weekend what do the Packers have to do to prepare for this play maker? And do you see him as a viable threat coming off his hip surgery.

Jclombardi: If WR Rice plays, he will be rusty. Besides, the Packers have a 1st ranking in pass defense (Football Outsiders). They are led by all-pro defensive cornerbacks Williams and Woodson along with safety Collins to deal with the Vikings wide receivers. WR Harvin is QB Favre’s favorite target, but he has an injured ankle.  Depending on the health of Harvin, Berrian and Rice, the Vikings may lean heavily on WRs Lewis and Camarillo who are pedestrian possession receivers. Finally, QB Favre is playing behind a struggling offensive line meaning he is going to have a long, long day against the rebuilt healthy Packers defense.  LB Matthews, LB Bishop, and DE Jenkins will have a field day chasing QB Favre.

Nick: Do the last four games including this Sunday have an effect on whether or not Brett Favre officially retires as a Packer?  What is your view and the general fan opinion on this matter?

Jclombardi: If the Vikings cannot get motivated against the Bears, how are they going to be motivated against the Packers? Typically, it is just pride, but the writing is on the wall for Favre and Childress for their final Vikings season. Fans are calling this big game against the Vikings to be either Favre’s “last harrah” or “super bowl” final game against the Packers. We agree, but we know that history says he will be forgiven by the fans just like Lombardi and Hudson. After all, the facts are that the Packers will retire his number four as one of the greatest Packers players in NFL history and he is a future NFL Hall of Famer.

Nick: Thanks JC for your great answers and for participating in our first ever ‘Sitting Down With The Enemy’ .  While we may have a different opinion on which team will prevail this Sunday we both can probably agree that it will be a fun filled game full of uncertainty.

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Hawkins leaves behind legacy of losses

Dan Hawkins came to Colorado after racking up 45 wins and four conference titles in his last four years at Boise State, helping lay the foundation for the unprecedented success the Broncos have enjoyed since his departure.

"I thought he would bring that same level of play to Colorado," said Colorado chancellor Philip P. DiStefano.

[+] Enlarge John Rieger/US PresswireCoach Dan Hawkins was never able to find consistent success at Colorado.There weren't many mile-highs over Dan Hawkins' four-plus years at Colorado. The highest was a win over then-No. 3 Oklahoma in 2007 that keyed off the only season under Hawkins that ended with a bowl.

Any glimmer of hope that win provided was snuffed out by a mountain of 16 losses over the next two seasons.

They hoped he'd at least near the heights former coach Bill McCartney once did as coach in the early 90s. Hawkins never did.

Even that 2007 season ended with three more losses to unranked teams, including an Independence Bowl loss that denied Hawkins his best opportunity to secure a winning season in Boulder.

His one big high was far outweighed by numerous lows, beginning with an embarrassing loss to FCS opponent Montana State in his first game as Buffaloes coach. Last year, his team went on national television and fell behind Toledo by 30 points to begin 0-2 in a season that Hawkins said would feature "10 wins and no excuses." The Buffaloes finished 3-9.

If he didn't regret his "Go play intramurals, brother!" rant at the 2007 signing day news conference, he should have. It did nothing but provide an embarrassing YouTube moment for a coach short on success at the major level. And as another coach in the Big 12 can attest, YouTube fame never dies. For better or worse, that might be his most lasting moment as Colorado coach.

But no low was more spectacular than the one he treated Colorado fans to on Saturday, a loss like no other. He refused to run the ball consistently ("We just didn't want to be one-dimensional," he said.) with a four-touchdown lead against a team that previously had a strong case as the worst team in a BCS conference, and the only team in the Big 12 worse than Hawkins' squad.

He provided Kansas with its biggest comeback in school history, and the largest blown lead (28 points) in the 121-year history of Colorado football. Worse, he allowed it to happen in just over 11 minutes.

Give Hawkins credit: He went out with class. Ten minutes of Tuesday's farewell was spent thanking any and everyone for the time he'd been given to lead the Buffs.

"They, like the rest of us, wish we had more wins," Hawkins said.

By now, everyone knew those wins weren't coming under Hawkins, who also wished the program well, alluding to the "national championship chapter that's right around the corner."

Hawkins replacement, interim coach Brian Cabral, emotionally thanked the coach as well.

"There's no question Hawk gave us everything he had," he said. "No question. It wasn't for a lack of trying."

But despite those efforts, Hawkins never even came close to the success everyone in the program hoped. He never reached the heights of former Kansas coach Mark Mangino or the popularity of former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, but neither went out with the panache of Hawkins' blazing fiasco.

That capped off a string of 17 consecutive losses outside Colorado, and the program's first-ever 0-5 start in Big 12 play, and the loss to the Jayhawks leaves the Buffaloes alone at the bottom of the Big 12 totem pole.

A reporter asked Hawkins on Monday how you come back from a loss like that.

Truth is, you don't.

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