College football mailbag: TCU is still a contender

Each week, during the college football season, national analyst Chris Dufresne will burn a timeout to answer questions and exchange opinions. You can email him at chris.dufresne@latimes.com and reach him on Twitter: @DufresneLATimes.

Unbuckling the mailbag:

Still comfortable about TCU winning CFP?

— Arnold Faigin

I haven’t been comfortable all week, with temperatures soaring to 105 in Southern California. Had the A/C cranked to 11 on Tuesday but was still cranky enough to pull the No. 1 College Football Playoff plug from Texas Christian after its 23-17 win at Minnesota.

It wasn’t the close-call win that bothered me as much as the increasing number of leaks sprouting on defense. TCU entered the season having to replace its entire linebacker corps and then lost two in the aftermath of Minnesota.

One starting linebacker, Sammy Douglas, suffered a season-ending injury early in the Minnesota game. Another starter, Mike Freeze, then announced he was taking a personal leave of absence with no time frame for return.

If that wasn’t enough, defensive end James McFarland may be lost for the season after breaking his toe on a sprinkler head during practice.

This doesn’t bode well for a team that was returning only five starters on defense.

I haven’t jumped ship on the Frogs — they’re still in my four-team playoff — but I clearly couldn’t leave them at No. 1 after the way Ohio State dismantled Virginia Tech on Monday night.

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I have no problem with your picking TCU No. 1. … However, ND No. 17? Irish appear to be a beast. Surely the best No. 17 team I have ever seen.

— Gib Gildea

I can’t make any sensible evaluation about Notre Dame based on a win over Texas, which is semi-imploding under Coach Charlie Strong and might be the seventh or eighth best team in the state (not counting 1-AA and high schools).

I’m not sure this Texas team could defeat the 1988 Permian High squad from Odessa that inspired Buzz Bissinger’s “Friday Night Lights.” Don’t forget, star running back Boobie Miles didn’t even play that year because of an injury.

Right now, I might rank Bevo U behind Texas Christian, Baylor, Texas A&M, Houston, Texas Tech and UT San Antonio, Rice and still undefeated North Texas (0-0).

Texas is probably better than Texas State and Southern Methodist, although the Mustangs scored 21 points against Baylor. That’s 14 more than Texas scored last season against Baylor.

Texas has an important home game this week against Rice.

In 1962, President John Kennedy gave an inspiring speech at Rice and wondered why man should to go to the moon.

Kennedy responded: “Why does Rice play Texas?”

Kennedy’s point was that people should aspire to long-shot goals that are difficult.

If Texas doesn’t get things turned around, the question in 2016 might be: “Why does Texas play Rice?”

Coach Strong shook up his staff this week by demoting co-coordinators Shawn Watson and Joe Wickline and promoting receivers’ coach Jay Norvell to primary play caller.

UCLA fans will remember Norvell calling plays for Coach Karl Dorrell in 2007. Dorrell was fired before the season ended.

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Love your annual Top 25 and usually agree and do this year for the most part. But how can you leave LSU out?

Your thoughts?

— Richard Fager

Realizing now it was a crime against humanity to not have at least 10 SEC teams in my top 25, I have added three more to this week’s poll.

I was skeptical of LSU after last year’s so-so season, but was really impressed in the five minutes the Tigers played last weekend against McNeese State before the game was canceled because of lightning.

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Thanks for EXCLUDING the LOCAL team UCLA as “not worth watching” in your weekend handicap. … Shameful.

— Gregory K Digiorgio

You’re … welcome?

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I guess UC Merced does not have a football team, otherwise SC would have scheduled them. But wait, Idaho is up next? Why no commentary on SC’s cupcake schedule?

— Jerry Guy, Westlake Village

Wrong: UC Merced’s intramural program offers “flag” football for men and women. Better act fast, though, because the deadline for sign-ups is midnight Sept. 13. The school’s website reports the games will be played on the lake field, with a maximum roster of 14.

Per your question, USC annually plays one of the toughest schedules in America, especially in years when Notre Dame is formidable (this year).

USC was supposed to play Texas A&M this year, but the Aggies canceled a home-and-home series after they joined the SEC.

So that’s how USC ended up with two Sun Belt teams.

USC remains one of three schools (Notre Dame and UCLA are the others) to have never played a 1-AA team.

Next year, USC plays Alabama and Notre Dame in non-conference matches and then a nine-game Pac 12 schedule.

If you think that’s cupcake, you’re at the wrong bakery.

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Three penalties for USC? Someone wanted to get home by 1 a.m.

— Mark Scott

There should be a penalty cap for any college football game that starts at 8 p.m. on a Saturday night. Even if the officials did swallow their whistles to beat a midnight deadline at the Coliseum — and I highly doubt that — it didn’t work for me. I got home at 2:30 a.m.

USC did play a very clean game, but it wasn’t the cleanest of the weekend. Florida and New Mexico State combined for only two penalties for 19 yards.

And Georgia Tech, somehow, played penalty-free against Alcorn State in a game where the Yellow Jackets scored 69 points and amassed 497 rushing yards.

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First day teaching a high school sports journalism class. Any key tips or advice for the students? Thanks, Chris!

— William Love

I’ve addressed some of these on Twitter, but these lessons are so important I feel they deserve mailbag attention.

1. Don’t get into this business to get rich unless you are already a trust-fund baby.

2. If you are covering college football, always find out where your boss attended college and make sure you tweak his alma mater every chance you get.

This is a risky career move, but worth it.

3. Assume everything you are told by coaches and players is a lie until it can be proved true. “To be honest with you,” is the big tipoff.

4. Journalism used to be all about the five Ws (Who, What, When, Where Why). Now it’s about being on Twitter and picking fights with SEC fans.

5. Never leave a high school football game early to beat traffic back to the office to write a story on deadline on a typewriter. A player might kick a late, meaningless field goal and make you look really bad. Wait, I’m dating myself. That was 1982.

6. Find a good mentor, with a rewards program, to get you through the tough times. Mine was J.W. Marriott, but Mr. Hilton and Mr. Sheraton are acceptable.

7. Avoid clichés at ALL costs unless “What a difference a year makes” pops into your head five minutes before deadline. Rule of thumb: If the “lede” you are considering has already been written by Dickens, think of something else.

8. Always ask someone how to get out of the ballpark or stadium. You are often going to be there late, after all the employees have clocked out.