Welcome to another edition of TWIN wherein I discuss the college football stories that I found to be the most interesting that week. Starting elsewhere and ending in South Bend I will get right to it.
The University of Texas has scheduled a home and home with USC to be played in 2017 and 2018. This news comes on the heels of home and home deals with Notre Dame that are slated for 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020. This sets Texas up with a six year run with a marquee non-conference opponent. Are the Horns positioning themselves for independence or just bolstering their non conference schedule to compensate for the diminished strength of schedule presented by the Big 12-2? For the Texas perspective just scroll though the comments under this post from Huckleberry on Barking Carnival.
A little over a week ago it looked like BYU was headed towards football independence. Then on Thursday the Denver Post reported that the Cougars may be staying in the Mountain West after all. Stand by to stand by, this might get interesting.
Texas Tech fans have been waiting for a verdict from Tommy Tuberville on which quarterback would be under center when Tubs rolls out his new version of the "Air Raid" offense. Tubs made a decision this week to go with Teen Wolf lookalike Taylor Potts over fan favorite Sticks Sheffield. Tubs responded to a disgruntled fan base with an eloquent "Get over it." Life after Leach might be more entertaining than previously expected.
The Butch Davis hole at UNC is getting deeper by the second. Dr. Saturday has the details on his latest headache. I felt like Davis was on the Pete Carroll plan but it would appear he is going to skip the part where you win a bunch of games and end up with a fresh new NFL parachute. Like Scip pointed out, I suppose that’s what happens when you hire John Blake.
On the Notre Dame front Subway Domer concluded the 36th Chamber of his Wu Overview and has a recap posted for those interested in his take on the 36 players that he believes will make the biggest impact on the 2010 season.
Clashmore Mike concluded a great series titled Blueprint for BCS National Championship Success by Measuring how the Fighting Irish stack up. It is well worth the read.
Over at NBC Keith Arnold wrote a great story on senior cornerback Darrin Walls and his continued mentorship from former Irish great Shane Walton.
Over at HLS The Biscuit astutely summed up Brian Kelly's MO. Do Better.
Speaking of Coach Kelly his media session on Thursday provided us with a few interesting tidbits.
Freshman linebacker Justin Utopo has been cleared to participate by the NCAA. Utopo sat out a few days this week while the NCAA ensured that he is a full qualifier. Utopo's high school was apparently less than stellar in the records department.
E.J. Banks has also returned to the scout team. He is no longer on scholarship and is paying his way at Notre Dame. While details surrounding Banks sudden departure at the beginning of camp remain nonexistent it would appear that he is working his way back towards being a scholarship player.
In response to being asked whether or not he could handle Notre Dame as his first head coaching job Coach Kelly simply stated "I could not do it." Hmmmmmmm.......
Have a great Sunday. Kickoff is less than a week away!