COLLEGE GRID
Rivalries and tradition are the lifeblood of college football, which makes Saturday’s titanic clash between Southern Cal and Notre Dame almost as good as it gets.
The Trojans are undefeated and reigning two-time national champs. The Fighting Irish are 4-1 and enjoying a renaissance under coach Charlie Weis. Notre Dame leads the series 42-29-5, but Southern Cal has won the last three by a combined score of 130-37.
“Growing up here in California and always watching it, it was a special, fun matchup and I always anticipated that it would be one of the real special rivalries and that it would be fun to be apart of something like,” said Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll. “Well, it’s been nothing short of that.”
The 42 wins by Notre Dame are the most by any USC opponent. The 29 wins by Southern Cal are the most by any Notre Dame opponent.
As great as ND-USC is, it’s not our favorite rivalry. That honor goes to Army-Navy. The service academies have played 105 times, with each winning 49. There have been five ties.
This game no longer has national significance. It has international significance. Just think of servicemen and servicewomen huddled around TV’s or radios on bases or ships around the world.
Second-best rivalry? Michigan vs. Ohio State. The Big Ten title seemingly always is up for grabs. It’s the last regular-season game of the season. Bo vs. Woody. They don’t even call it The Big Game. Just “The Game.”
Notre Dame vs. USC is third. This all started in 1926 when Knute Rockne took the Fighting Irish west and came back with a 13-12 victory.
Texas vs. Oklahoma is fourth because unlike Auburn vs. Alabama, they play at a neutral site, smack dab in the middle of the Texas State Fair. The Cotton Bowl is split at the 50-yard line so you have a Texas fan, wearing burnt orange and white, sitting right next to an Oklahoma fan, wearing crimson and cream.
For pure passion, no rivalry tops Auburn-Alabama. The Iron Bowl because it used to be played in Birmingham, famous for its iron ore mines.
After 1907, the teams didn’t play for 40 years because Auburn’s football manager, as coaches were referred to at the time, requested a $3.50 stipend per night for each of his 22 players for two nights. ‘Bama countered at $3 for 20 men. It took 40 years to resolve that dispute. Yikes!
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Northwestern’s Tyrell Sutton had a monster game against Wisconsin, rushing for 244 yards and three touchdowns. He might not even be the best back in his family.
His cousin, Brandon Sweeney, rushed for 205 yards and four touchdowns in a win over Morgan State. Sutton’s older brother, Tony, was a former Division III All-American running back at Wooster, who rushed for 2,240 yards last season.
In order to determine the best runner, we propose a one-on-one competition. Each gets to go against Northwestern linebacker Tim McGarigle. He had 25 tackles in the Wildcats’ 51-48 upset of Wisconsin. In three years, McGarigle has had 56 tackles against the Badgers.
