Irish Might Wake Up in Pasadena

As a 1968 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Mitch Dorger was among the jet-setters cheering last weekend for the Falcons to upset Notre Dame.

As Rose Bowl chief executive officer, however, Dorger might have come away a winner either way, because Notre Dame’s 21-14 victory over the Falcons kept alive the back-door possibility of the Irish playing in Pasadena on Jan. 1.

This was supposed to be a return-to-normalcy campaign for the Rose Bowl, which last season broke its Pacific 10 vs. Big Ten covenant for the chance to host the bowl championship series national title game -- and what a game that was.

Yet, while it seems a cinch the Pac-10 will take its traditional place in the Jan. 1 game this year, the Big Ten’s situation remains clouded.

Should Ohio State, 8-0 and No. 6 in this week’s first BCS rankings, secure either the first or second spot in the BCS, the Buckeyes would play for the national title in the Jan. 3 Fiesta Bowl.

Under BCS guidelines, the Rose Bowl would not have to take the Big Ten runner-up. In fact, the Rose Bowl could not take another Big Ten school unless it had a top-12 BCS ranking.

Enter the Irish wild card.

Notre Dame, at 11-1 or even 10-2, might fill the Big Ten’s spot and make its first appearance in the Rose Bowl since 1925.

That game marked the farewell ride for Knute Rockne’s “Four Horsemen” as the Irish claimed their first of 11 national titles with a 27-10 victory over Stanford.

It was the 1924 Notre Dame team that inspired sportswriter Grantland Rice to write, after the Irish defeated Army at the Polo Grounds, “Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again.”

It has been 77 years since the Irish hitched a post in Pasadena, but Dorger says the Rose Bowl is exploring all scenarios.

“It would be an interesting dialogue,” he said of the Notre Dame question.

The Irish-to-Pasadena plan only works under specific scenarios. It requires a 12-0 Ohio State having to vacate the Rose Bowl to play for the national title.

It also requires 6-1 Iowa to stumble. If Iowa, currently No. 13 in the BCS, finishes 11-1 but second in the Big Ten, the Rose Bowl would be obligated, if only morally, to take the Hawkeyes over Notre Dame.

Dorger says the Rose Bowl would do nothing to damage the long-standing relationship with the Big Ten.

“If Iowa runs the table, and is a fabulous top-10 team, then I mean it’s a pretty easy decision,” Dorger said.

Things could get interesting, however, if the at-large Rose Bowl spot comes down to a choice between two-loss Michigan and Notre Dame.

This assumes Michigan’s second defeat comes next month at Ohio State and the Wolverines play well enough against the Buckeyes not to drop out of the BCS top 12. Michigan made its debut at No. 8 in the first BCS rankings.

The Rose Bowl could make the case that Notre Dame defeated Michigan this season, but also is aware of the politics involved.

Michigan and Notre Dame are fierce rivals and some in the Big Ten still are miffed Notre Dame rebuffed a chance to join the conference a few years ago.

“Everyone’s aware of Notre Dame’s draw, and what it would do to the ratings of the game,” Dorger said of the Irish playing in the Rose Bowl. “But we’re also very mindful how successful a highly rated Big Ten team that might be second would be. We are first and foremost a partnership.”

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany told the Chicago Tribune this week he would lobby hard on behalf of his conference.

“They had two visitors last year,” Delany said of the Rose Bowl’s hosting Miami and Nebraska.

If Ohio State goes to the Fiesta Bowl and neither Iowa nor Michigan is BCS eligible, Notre Dame becomes the Rose Bowl’s no-brainer choice.

The Irish question becomes moot if Ohio State doesn’t finish first or second in the BCS.

Chances are, the Big Ten will send either Ohio State, Michigan or Iowa to the Rose Bowl, but in the bowl business you always have to plan for “what if?”

Dorger: “We are cognizant of all the possibilities and are watching them very closely.”

Wanted: Heisman Candidate

We’re starting to seriously wonder if anyone wants to win this year’s Heisman Trophy. Voters would have been glad to hand Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey the hardware as a lifetime achievement award, but his numbers are only so-so and he might only be the third best player in his huddle.

Iowa State quarterback Seneca Wallace emerged as a clear-cut front-runner in last week’s Rocky Mountain News weekly Heisman survey but got the trap-door treatment after his abysmal showing Saturday against Oklahoma.

Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich probably blew his chance with a loss against Virginia Tech, Ohio State freshman tailback Maurice Clarett fumbled three times against Northwestern, Washington State quarterback Jason Gesser has been brilliant except for that Heisman-killer loss against Ohio State. Oregon tailback Onterrio Smith seemed like an interesting alternative before the Ducks lost to Arizona State last week.

North Carolina State quarterback Philip Rivers leads the nation in pass efficiency but also in victories led against second-rate competition.

So what are we left with? Probably Willis McGahee, a Miami sophomore tailback and a man about whom the nation knows zilch.

Florida State’s freight train tailback Greg Jones, who reminds some of Earl Campbell, could get a front-row Heisman seat if he can run over Notre Dame this week the way he ran through Miami two weeks ago.

Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach was furious on the Big 12 Conference call this week about the lack of publicity afforded his quarterback candidate, Kliff Kingsbury, who has thrown for 2,916 yards and 28 touchdowns.

“I feel like it’s irresponsible on their part,” Leach said of the media.

The problem, coach, is that your team has lost three games against top-25 teams -- Iowa State, North Carolina State and Ohio State.

That said, Kingsbury can be an instant player in this anyone’s-guess campaign if Texas Tech wins this week at Colorado. It doesn’t help Kingsbury’s cause that Red Raider fans reportedly returned 1,748 of their allotted 3,850 tickets for this weekend’s game.

Could this be the year the Downtown Athletic Club gives the Heisman to that consummate team player, “None of the Above”?

Hurry-Up Offense

BCS nuts-and-bolts: You may wish to spew venom on the system, but it does make for strange bedfellows. Miami fans, for instance, need rival Florida State to defeat Notre Dame this weekend to improve Miami’s national title chances. Why? If Florida State, No. 13 in the BCS, finishes in the BCS top 10, Miami receives quality win points for having defeated Florida State. Same story for Oklahoma as it relates to Texas. The higher No. 10 Texas finishes in the BCS, the more quality-win points Oklahoma receives. “That’s the thing about the BCS,” BCS coordinator Michael Tranghese said. “Games that otherwise would not have attracted peoples’ attention really have bearing.”

Good thing Miami and Virginia Tech didn’t debut as No. 1 and No. 2 in the first BCS standings or else Tranghese, the BCS chief and Big East Commissioner, would have had to answer charges that the fix was in, right? “Some people asked me about that last week and I laughed at them,” Tranghese said. “I said ‘I hope they’re No. 1 and No. 2, because it helps our conference.’ ”

There has been a major power outage at Brigham Young, which has scored only 12 points in its last two games. The Cougars needed Matt Payne’s 24-yard field goal last week against Nevada Las Vegas to extend the school’s NCAA record for consecutive games scoring record to 345. Arizona State, in 1975, was the last school to hold BYU scoreless. And no, all you Mormon mission wise acres out there, not even BYU has a player on its current roster who was alive then.

If you don’t think Notre Dame football sells soap, think again: Saturday night’s rating for Notre Dame vs. Air Force was ESPN’s highest for college football since a 1999 broadcast of Notre Dame vs. Tennessee. Never mind that because of the 10 p.m. Eastern start, Notre Dame players didn’t return to campus in South Bend, Ind., until 6 a.m. Sunday. Remember, though, it’s all about the student athletes.

To give you another idea about how television calls the shots, Virginia Tech played its first home Saturday game of the season last weekend.

Remember when Florida State used to fill the air with footballs? Oddly, the story line entering Saturday’s showdown is how Florida State’s No. 15 rushing attack will fare against Notre Dame’s No. 6 rushing defense. The Seminoles’ passing game ranks 70th nationally. If Florida State can manage a few completions this week, it might be able to overtake 0-7 Army, which ranks No. 69.

Jeff Faine, Notre Dame’s senior center, grew up in Florida and attended Seminole High, but said the lure of the Golden Dome made him choose Notre Dame over Florida State. As for Notre Dame being double-digit underdogs this week, Faine quipped, “Coming into this season we were supposed to lose seven games, so it doesn’t surprise me.”

In a bit of directional school news, No. 88 Northwestern inched ahead of No. 89 Northeastern in this week’s Sagarin Ratings.

Notre Dame Coach Tyrone Willingham claims not to know much about Notre Dame’s storied rivalry with Florida State -- memo to coach, the 1993 matchup was billed “The Game of the Century” -- but he does say this about the Seminoles: “The football team is, in my estimation, two points away from being No. 1 in the country.”