Harvard’s Perfect Season Cuts Straight to the Core

It was a week when bowl games and bowl championship series rankings took a backseat to bragging rights.

Rivalry week.

From the Iron Bowl (Auburn-Alabama) to the Apple Cup (Washington-Washington State) to the Big Game (California-Stanford) to The Game (Havard-Yale)--not to mention UCLA-USC, Florida-Florida State and Clemson-South Carolina--there was plenty of college football pomp and circumstance to go around Saturday.

And nowhere did the pure tradition sparkle more than a place like the Ivy League, especially in this season’s Harvard-Yale matchup.

Harvard completed its first perfect season since 1913 with a 35-23 victory against Yale at New Haven, Conn.

“It’s a perfect end to a perfect season. For how well Yale played and how hard Yale played, we had to give it our absolute best effort,” Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said. “I think I exhaled for the first time since September.”

Harvard (9-0, 7-0 Ivy League) never trailed in the 118th playing of The Game, which drew more than 51,000 fans to the Yale Bowl.

Afterward, Murphy mused on the possibility of postseason bowl games for the I-AA Ivy League. At times, he said he thinks it may be worth pursuing but wondered how much better things could get.

“Anything beyond this--the Harvard-Yale game--is really anticlimactic,” Murphy said. “Fifty-thousand to watch a championship football game ... the end to a perfect season.”

A Bit Too Mouthy

Utah defensive back Arnold Parker committed the cardinal sin of rivalry week: Don’t give the other team bulletin board material.

After an emotional victory against San Diego State two Saturdays ago, Parker couldn’t help himself when looking toward the game against Brigham Young, which is led by offensive standouts Luke Staley and Brandon Doman.

“We’ve got something for them,” Parker said. “We’ve got a whole nasty defense and nasty offense. They’d better watch out. Luke Staley, and what’s his name, Domanator? He’s going to get dominated.”

When it counted most, BYU put Parker in his place as Staley scored two touchdowns and a two-point conversion to keep the Cougars’ dream for a perfect season alive with a 24-21 victory.

Coker and a Smile

Should Miami Coach Larry Coker win the national championship, he would become only the second rookie to do it. Michigan’s Bennie Oosterbaan did it in 1948.

And a 12-0 mark? That would be an NCAA record for most victories by a first-year coach. The record of 11-1 is shared by Gary Blackney (Bowling Green, 1991), John Robinson (USC, ‘76), and Bill Battle (Tennessee, ‘70).

At Big East Conference media day in July, Coker thought about what he was about to undertake.

“It’s a little intimidating to think about it in those [record] terms,” Coker said then, “but we have to make sure we stay focused on what we have to do week to week.”

Nine wins down, three to go.

Senior Snubbed

Saturday was “Senior Day” at Ohio State, but quarterback Steve Bellisari was nowhere to be found.

Early Friday morning, Bellisari was arrested on two counts of drunken driving and two minor traffic violations. Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel suspended Bellisari indefinitely and he missed Saturday’s game against Illinois.

In a mutual decision between Tressel and Athletic Director Andy Geiger, Bellisari did not participate in the ceremony, nor was he present at the game.

“We both agreed that with 104,000 people and national television, the focus of the day ought to be on the game and people playing in the game,” Geiger said. “We did not want to have distractions.”

So much so, that Ohio State didn’t even announce Bellisari’s name to the Ohio Stadium record crowd of 104,407. He’s the same Bellisari who started the last 31 games and was a two-year captain.

Looking Quite Grand

In what otherwise has been a miserable season for Oregon State running back Ken Simonton, the senior had something to smile about during the Beavers’ 45-10 victory against Northern Arizona.

With a six-yard gain on his first carry, Simonton, who had 151 yards, moved past Marcus Allen into second place on the all-time Pacific 10 Conference list with 4,960 yards.

Simonton needs 113 yards to become the first Pac-10 player to gain 1,000 yards four times.

Other players to do it are: Pittsburgh’s Tony Dorsett (1973-76), North Carolina’s Amos Lawrence (1977-80), New Mexico State’s Denvis Manns (1996-99) and Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne (1996-99)

Fit to Be Tide (Coach)

On the coaching front, Dennis Franchione hasn’t exactly brought the same magic to his new job at Alabama compared to what he did at Texas Christian.

While the Crimson Tide still face possible NCAA sanctions, a 31-7 victory against No. 17 Auburn certainly did wonders to salvage the season. Alabama (5-5) would even become eligible for a bowl game with a victory in two weeks against Southern Mississippi.

Franchione, meanwhile, became only the third coach to win the Iron Bowl--the yearly Auburn-Alabama grudge match--in his first try since 1948, joining Alabama’s Gene Stallings (1990) and Auburn’s Terry Bowden (1993).

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Compiled by Jim Barrero