Vintage Programs Are Now Back in Fashion

The academy of punts and sciences hopes you enjoyed “welcome back old friends” weekend, an 8-track cassette whiff of nostalgia that college football fans might favorably compare to “That ‘70s Show.”

Alabama, Penn State, Notre Dame and Nebraska, places that talk football breakfast, brunch, lunch and supper, are a combined 18-1 after a long spell of not being part of any kind dinner-table conversation (the schools finished 21-25 in 2004).

Ongoing developments have caused outbreaks of “nuts-o” fever in Tuscaloosa, State College, South Bend and Lincoln.

The Big Four have won an aggregate 20 Associated Press national titles, but it has been a decade since Nebraska, in 1995, won the last one.

It sort of even feels like 1973, when you think of the gas shortages and the fact that was the year those four schools finished in the top 10, with the Irish claiming the outright national title.

College football has gone completely retro if you consider nine of the 10 winningest programs of the 1970s -- Alabama, Nebraska, Michigan, Tennessee, Penn State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, USC and Texas -- are ranked in this week’s Harris Interactive College Football poll. The only team missing is 2-2 Oklahoma, which did receive 24 points.

Some have considered dissertations about whether Alabama, Penn State, Nebraska and Notre Dame would ever bounce back after periods of despair, yet these giants of gridiron industry are suddenly among the 12 unbeaten schools left.

Let’s go inside the locker room.

* Alabama:

What went wrong -- Gene Stallings won a national title in 1992, but the program has really struggled since Bear Bryant’s death. Bouts with the NCAA infractions committee have slowed player procurement and there have been questionable hires: Ray Perkins, Bill Curry, Mike DuBose, Mike Price and Mike Shula.

What’s gone right -- Well, let’s start with Shula, who is only 15-15 in his third year but scored a tailgate-party breakthrough with Saturday’s 31-3 undressing of No. 5 Florida in Tuscaloosa. Quarterback Brodie Croyle has became Alabama’s all-time touchdown leader and the defense is simply nails.

What’s to come -- Alabama jumped to No. 8 in Sunday’s Harris poll and thinking-way-too-ahead fans are already worried that what happened to Auburn last year -- finishing 12-0 but third in the BCS -- might happen to them.

You know what? It might.

* Penn State:

What went wrong -- Big Ten coaches, for years, have been telling recruits that Joe Paterno was going to retire -- and many of them believed it! Penn State turned into Tailspin U, with four losing seasons since 2000.

What’s gone right -- This 5-0 start was fashioned years ago in the athletic director’s office with three home games against South Florida, Cincinnati and Central Michigan. After a close call at Northwestern, Penn State returned home to score a solid victory Saturday against Minnesota. Paterno also landed the recruit of a lifetime, freshman do-everything Derrick Williams, who is so good you wonder why he’s not playing for USC.

What’s to come -- The hard work starts now, with consecutive games against Ohio State and Michigan, and Wisconsin and Michigan State also on the docket.

* Notre Dame:

What went wrong -- Lou Holtz left, Bob Davie wasn’t the answer, the school should have joined the Big Ten, George O’Leary, Tyrone Willingham ...

What’s gone right -- First-year Coach Charlie Weis, the longtime guru play-caller with the New England Patriots, appears to be a man among boys when it comes to taking what he knows and game-planning it. The Irish offense already has scored 40 or more points in three games, and quarterback Brady Quinn had 283 passing yards Saturday against Purdue ... in the first half.

What’s to come -- With Notre Dame off this week and USC playing host to Arizona, the Oct. 15 arrival of USC in South Bend could be this season’s signature snapshot.

* Nebraska:

What went wrong -- Tom Osborne burned out; successor Frank Solich wasn’t Tom Osborne.

What’s gone right -- Two weeks after a pitiful, joke-producing, 7-6 home win against Pittsburgh, second-year Coach Bill Callahan’s “West Coast offense” finally emerged from the storm shelter as quarterback Zac Taylor attempted 55 passes and threw for a school-record 431 in a double-overtime win against Iowa State.

What’s to come -- This is still a wait-and-see proposal. The AP and USA Today coaches’ polls did not include 4-0 Nebraska in their top-25 rankings this week.

Weekend Wrap

Somebody talked to somebody and the first-week glitches in the Harris Interactive poll have been ironed out, although not without embarrassment.

As expected, 0-4 Idaho, which laughably received five votes in last week’s inaugural poll, dropped out after the school scored its first win of the season. Also purged from the “others receiving votes” scrolls was Arizona, which is still seeking its first win against a Division I-A program.

Valuable USC and UCLA viewing timesaver advice: Tape the games, skip the first half (just as the teams do) and move directly to fourth-quarter action. It’s easier that way.

Temple has been outscored, 259-56, in five losses and hasn’t even gotten to the meat of the schedule. Remaining games include Maryland, Miami, Clemson and Virginia.

For what it’s worth, when you added up the points, and the schools combining for 84 pass attempts, and the clock stopping to reset the chains on first downs, and the addition of instant replay, is it any surprise Saturday’s USC-Arizona State game lasted 4 hours and 3 minutes?