Boise State has its infamous "Smurf Turf," and Nebraska has what it likes to call the "Sea of Red" to describe the vast crowd inside Lincoln's Memorial Stadium. As of next fall, though, neither of them will have anything on I-AA Eastern Washington, which announced plans Wednesday to install an actual field of red:

Taking a cue from Boise State's famous blue turf, Eastern Washington is planning to install an artificial red playing surface inside its football stadium. The Big Sky program's official school colors are red and white.

Former EWU star Michael Roos, now in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans, has pledged $500,000 toward the "Red Turf Project.'' School officials in Cheney hope to raise additional private money and have the field installed for the 2010 season.
[...]
"There is no doubt that one of Boise State's claims to fame has been their blue turf and like it or dislike it, it has certainly brought them a tremendous amount of notoriety," EWU athletic director Bill Chaves said. "In a similar vein we have a tremendous opportunity at Eastern to do the same by differentiating ourselves with the red turf while providing a superior playing surface."

The NCAA has no provision addressing the color of playing surfaces -- at least not yet -- because it hasn't had to consider the issue outside of the relatively obscure venues at Boise State and Division II University of New Haven, which installed its own blue turf last year. If it goes through with it, then, EWU's lava motif will be breaking ground on what promises to be a run on multi-colored turf by publicity-starved schools across the country; eventually, somebody somewhere is going to with black. (I'm looking at you, Idaho.)

Until then, Woodward Field, thy name is "Blood."

- - -
Picture courtesy EWU Athletics. Hat tip: The Wiz.

Today is not the day to use the word "seismic," but there aren't many adjective too strong for the shift in college football over the last three weeks. If you fell asleep on the night that Alabama beat Florida and Texas beat Nebraska to end an unusually uneventful regular season on Dec. 5, and didn't wake up to survey the landscape until sometime next August, you'd think almost 10 years had passed.

Since Christmas alone...

Urban Meyer suddenly retired, then un-retired despite legitimate health concerns that could keep him from returning to the sideline this fall; Mike Leach was suspended and then fired by Texas Tech for allegedly isolating Craig James' concussed son in not one but two separate enclosed spaces; Adam James subsequently released a creepy, dubious cell phone video from inside the infamous closet, and pass-happy Texas Tech hired a coach with an old school philosophy based on running and defense; Jim Leavitt was fired by South Florida for allegedly grabbing and slapping a player who later admitted to lying on his coaches behalf to save Leavitt's job, which Leavitt immediately demanded back; Pete Carroll abruptly resigned to follow his NFL dreams, just days before news emerged that major NCAA sanctions against the program he led for nine years could be mere months away; within a few hours, Carroll had been replaced at USC by the sport's biggest lightning rod, Lane Kiffin, whose departure nearly sparked riots in Tennessee, and who immediately set about reassembling the regime that oversaw the scandal that put the Trojans in the NCAA's crosshairs in the first place.

Somewhere along the way, Bobby Bowden coached his 417th and final game at Florida State, Ohio State ended a decade-long Big Ten losing streak in the Rose Bowl, Boise State completed an undefeated season and Alabama won a national championship in a game in which a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist was knocked out on his team's fifth offensive snap. Lately, that's what qualifies as mundane.

I hesitate to predict an end to the thunderclaps, with the Tennessee and South Florida jobs still open and three frantic weeks to go until recruits officially sign on to their respective schools, but it's certain already that the first season of the new decade will kick off with a landscape reminiscent of the flattened tress following the Tunguska Event. The reigning juggernauts on either coast, USC and Florida, will both be wracked by major attrition, uncertainty and, if Meyer fails to return, a potentially crippling regime change; their mantle of sustained dominance has apparently been assumed by Alabama. The two most unique and consistently entertaining coaches in the country, Pete Carroll and Mike Leach, each vacated his post under wildly different circumstances within days of one another. The most feted quarterbacks of the last three years, Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford, will be struggling for respect in the NFL. Notre Dame's latest (and most promising) reclamation project is underway. Boise freakin' State has a significant chance to open the 2010 season ranked in the top five, and to close it at No. 1. So does Oregon, which not that long ago would have seemed every bit as awkward in the frontrunner role as Boise.

Actually, the idea of a Ducks-Broncos rematch for the 2010 title would be all too appropriate: They kicked off last fall with the only moment of the regular season that matched the last few weeks for surprise and sheer unbelievability, and would make it abundantly clear to the world how thoroughly the old order has been overthrown. Maybe we're not there yet -- the other likely favorites will be more familiar powers Alabama and Ohio State -- but the changing of the calendar has done a remarkable job of reminding us to check our assumptions at the door.

Bowl Championship Series coordinator Bill Hancock was a guest of Adam Gold and Joe Ovies earlier this week on 620 The Buzz in Raleigh. Hancock made it clear he is against expanding the current system into a plus-one format, where the top four teams would play with the winners squaring off in a title game.

"Here's their problem with the four-team playoff," he said. "It would not stay at four. Every bracket has grown ... Pretty soon you'll have eight. Pretty soon, somebody whose No. 5 will say, 'Wait a minute, that's not fair, we need in.' And they would change it to an eight-team playoff."

My question: What's wrong with that?

You can listen to the interview by clicking here.

In recent weeks, Hancock has surrounded himself with former members of the George W. Bush Administration to help defend the indefensible system. This includes the high-profile hiring of the communications firm owned by Ari Fleischer, the former White House Press Secretary.

Late last month, there was the launch of the website Playoff Problem. According to domain records, Playoff Problem is registered to Trent Duffy of HDMK.

Duffy held several positions in the Bush Administration, including Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief Deputy Press Secretary. He did not answer our email for comment.

The site's pitch includes this: "We have decades of experience working in the White House, Capitol Hill, national political campaigns and the private sector, and we have been engaged in hundreds of high profile public policy battles."

Nothing like getting Washington insiders to help do the dirty work. ...

While Hancock and his former Bush cronies continue to lobby for the status quo, this year's lineup of BCS games is already running into trouble. First came the curious pairing of BCS outsiders Texas Christian against Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Instead of having David vs. Goliath matchups involving say, Boise State-Iowa and TCU-Georgia Tech, the BCS decided to go for a David vs. David matchup of the Horned Frogs and Broncos.

This, of course, was a way to sidestep controversy should the Davids beat the Goliaths.

Other problems are cropping up. The Florida-Cincinnati matchup in the Sugar Bowl lost its luster Thursday when Brian Kelly decided to become Notre Dame's coach. He won't be around for the bowl, meaning he values his new gig more than coaching an undefeated team in a lousy BCS game.

One has to wonder if Kelly would have coached the Bearcats if they were playing in the BCS title game.

Texas, of course, was a questionable choice to play Alabama in the BCS title game. As John Feinstein wrote in the Washington Post, the Longhorns did not beat a team that finished in the top 20. In the Big 12 title game against Nebraska, Texas managed only 18 rushing yards. Hardly the stuff of a champion.

It's clear the little guys will never be on equal ground in this corrupt system. The Mountain West and Western Athletic conferences hit the jackpot this year, but the leagues would have been off as forces of change. Last July, they had a chance to stand up to the BCS but backed down. Huge mistake. Imagine the outcry today had TCU and Boise State been prohibited from competing in the top tier of bowl games simply because they didn't believe in a rigged system.

Feinstein writes that "there's no one out there willing to stand up to the BCS bullies."

He's right.

• Sixth-year senior defensive back Josh Pinkard, then a freshman, saw action in the 2005 Orange Bowl, recording two tackles and a fumble recovery in USC's 55-19 title-clinching victory over Oklahoma.
• Sixth-year senior offensive lineman Jeff Byers appeared as a backup freshman center in the 2005 Orange Bowl as the Trojans stormed to the BCS championship.
• Senior kicker Jordan Congdon played in bowls during both his freshman and sophomore seasons at Nebraska. In the 2005 Alamo Bowl, Congdon hit three extra points and a field goal and in the Cotton Bowl following the 2006 season, he connected on two extra points. Congdon transferred to USC in 2007.
• Junior quarterback Mitch Mustain came off the bench in the 2007 Capital One Bowl as a freshman QB at Arkansas, completing 5-of-10 passes for 41 yards. Mustain transferred to USC in summer 2007.

For the first time since 2001, the Trojans are not playing its last regular season game for the right to go to a BCS bowl. A Trojan win over Arizona in the Coliseum on Saturday puts them in the Holiday Bowl, most likely against Nebraska. A loss and they fall from a tie for 2nd in the Pac-10 standings to 6th and most likely a Poinsettia Bowl Bid which would represent a significant fall from the top of college football world.

4 keys to a Trojan victory:

Trojans must tackle well and get hands up against quick hitting offense: Arizona has the most dynamic offense in the Pac-10. It is a combination of offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes pure aerial Texas Tech style offense (former Texas Tech offensive coordinator) combined with Head Coach Mike Stoops smash mouth style of football.

The Wildcats loves to dink and dunk in a passing game that features tons of screens, bubble screens, swing passes and quick reads while also balancing the attack with a power run game behind a veteran offensive line. Arizona has 5 Wide Receiver with more than 30 catches and has adjusted to a 4 wide receiver set very well after losing All-American Tight End Ron Gronkowski to a back injury before the season.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Nick Foles, who took over starting duties in the Wildcats' fourth game has been outstanding throwing for 17 scores and just seven interceptions, while completing more than two-thirds of his passes in the Wildcats' short-game passing attack. Arizona's quick-hitting style has kept the sack totals down - the Cats have allowed just 11 sacks in 2009.

keys to victory continued after the jump...

• The hot post-game talk has been about Jeremy Bates/Pete Carroll's decision to drop a bomb on the Bruins after Slick Rick called a useless time-out late in the game.  All I gotta say is, if you take a jab, especially when it's in a RIVALRY game on the opponent's HOME turf, you better expect to get mollywhopped in return. Can't believe I'm quoting Bill Plaschke, but he puts it best:

The conclusion here was that Neuheisel's pettiness in the face of Carroll's professionalism was wrong.

In the end, while his players deserved better, Neuheisel got exactly what he deserved.

I'm laughing at these people getting all butt-hurt over the play ending in a TD.  I'm guessing a 15-yard throw would have been more classy?  At the end of the day, there is no excuse for letting a hobbled Damian Williams straight moss your secondary on a basic post-route.

• Moving onto recruiting, the big news from the game was Tony Jefferson sporting SC gear and jawing at UCLA players during the pseudo-brawl.  No surprise that Tony decided to decommit today.  He provided some interesting quotes with the news:

"The UCLA players really disrespected me before the game," Jefferson said. "When they saw me, they were all cussing at me, telling me to never come around Westwood again and things like that. These were guys that I had hung out with before and it was a lot of the team. I guess I kind of see it since I was committed there and was wearing USC gear before their big game but I still didn't appreciate it."

So now it's down to USC and Oklahoma.  Following up from my official visit breakdown on Friday, it's pretty clear now that if SC makes a strong push, Tony will be a Trojan.

• No other big recruiting news from the game.  There have been rumors circling around ND that they'll steal Kyle Prater away, but it all seems like a bunch of junk at this point.  I believe Kyle will stay committed.  I just can't see him flipping his commitment, especially as a Spring enrollee, with all the uncertainty at ND.

• The latest bowl projections have us going to the Holiday Bowl to play against Nebraska with a win next week.  Decent match-up.  If Zac Lee's knee injury ends up being more serious, then it will be pretty lackluster.

• For the 5000th time, ALLEN BRADFORD NEEDS MORE CARRIES!!!

• Outside of SC, the SEC has some stud freshman running backs.  Trent Richardson from Bama beast on Friday with Mark Ingram looking out of it all game.  Georgia's Washaun Ealey is no slouch either; kid has nice vision.  When it comes to frosh RBs though, all conversations end with Dion Lewis of Pitt.

• From the list of players SC truly missed out on, anyone catch Chad Jones murdering Joe Adams (former commit) of Arkansas on Saturday?  Can you imagine if SC got Chad Jones and Patrick Peterson?  A Chad Jones/Taylor Mays and Patrick Peterson/Shareece Wright combo would have been murderers row.

• My favorite Nike Pro Combat jersey goes to Florida State for the garnet jersey/pants combo with black helmets.

Let's finish the regular season on a high note.

1. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama–56 (9)

2. Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame–26 (1)

3. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas–25

4. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida–23 (1)

5. Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska–15 (1)

6. Golden Tate, WR, Notre Dame–10 (1)

Case Keenum, QB, Houston–10

8. Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon State–8

Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State–8

10. Eric Berry, DB, Tennessee–4

Others receiving votes: Noel Devine, RB, West Virginia–3; C.J Spiller, RB, Clemson–2; Ryan Williams, RB, Va. Tech–2; Zac Robinson, QB, Oklahoma State–1; Dion Lewis, RB, Pittsburgh–1; Matt Barkley, QB, USC–1

About the Poll
 
The HeismanPundit.com Heisman Poll is made up of 13 Heisman voters from across the country. They vote for five players each week. Tabulations are made on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis, with five points awarded for a first-place vote, four points for a second-place vote and so on.  Last year’s final Heismanpundit poll was the most accurate in the country, picking five of the top six finishers in the Heisman vote, including the winner.

Members of the panel include: Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, Teddy Greenstein and Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune, Olin Buchanan and Tom Dienhart of Rivals.com, Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman, Bruce Feldman of ESPN.com, J.B. Morris of ESPN the Magazine, Austin Murphy, B.J. Schecter and Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated, plus Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News. 

Chris Huston of HeismanPundit.com coordinates and also votes in the poll.
 
HP’s Thoughts
 
Mark Ingram has taken a commanding lead in the race and he should stay there for at least another week as Alabama uses a bye in preparation for LSU on Nov. 7.    It appears Tim Tebow’s quest for a second Heisman is in major jeopardy unless he can turn things around soon.  In the meantime, Colt McCoy and Jimmy Clausen have gained ground and one of them should emerge as the quarterback alternative to Ingram.  October has been a rough month for most of the Heisman field and, as a result, it looks like this race could go down to the wire.
 
Heisman Game of the Week
 
No. 3 Texas at No. 13 Oklahoma State–Preseason favorite McCoy had a strong outing against Missouri last week and might be back on track after a rather erratic first half of the season.  The Cowboys are the last ranked team on the Texas schedule, so it’s vital that McCoy play well–Heisman voters will be watching.   It’s also a golden opportunity for McCoy to whittle away at Ingram’s lead while ‘Bama is on that bye week.

Player to Watch

Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska–It’s been 18 seasons since a defensive tackle finished among the top five in the Heisman vote.  That player was Steve Emtman of Washington.  Suh has a chance to join him in that elite group if he keeps playing like he has been.  Suh is amazingly active for an interior player, leading the Cornhuskers (or tying for the lead) in 10 defensive categories, including tackles (44), tackles for loss (10), sacks (4), pass breakups (7), interceptions (1) and blocked field goals (2).

This Week in Heisman History
 
Unbeaten Ole Miss held a 3-0 lead over unbeaten LSU five minutes into the fourth quarter on Halloween night, 1959.  A Jake Gibbs punt was fielded at the LSU 11-yard line by Tiger halfback Billy Cannon, who proceeded to wiggle his way through numerous tacklers en route to a miraculous 89-yard return for a touchdown.  The score turned out to be the difference in LSU’s classic 7-3 victory and it clinched Cannon’s eventual Heisman triumph.

A look at how prognosticators from around the country view this week's games.

Tim Sullivan, New York Post: Texas keeps plodding along. Oklahoma is 0-2 in its only true tests. Yes, Sam Bradford is back, but that's not enough for the Sooners. Take the Longhorns and give the points in the Red River Rivalry.

Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News: Idaho can become bowl eligible with a victory against Hawaii. Don't worry about the points because the Vandals are going to cover with ease. In the Pacific 10, watch out for those Washington Huskies at Arizona State.

Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: Hlastradamus loves friendly Pete Carroll more than surly Charlie Weis, but business is business. Take Notre Dame and the points against USC.

Double D, Boston Herald: The conservative playcalling of Jim Tressel is to blame for Terrelle Pryor falling way short of expectations. Nonethless, Ohio State is overdue for an offensive explosion. Take the Buckeyes and lay the points at Purdue.

John Werner, Waco Tribune-Herald: Baylor's offense is still trying to find itself without Robert Griffin. Playing Iowa State should help. The Bears win, 27-24.

Chuck Carlton, Dallas Morning News: Texas Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield is mobile, just maybe not enough to avoid Ndamukong Suh. Nebraska wins, 41-36.

Phil Steele: The top 25 forecast calls for Virginia Tech to defeat Georgia Tech, 34-27. In Madison, look for Wisconsin to edge Iowa, 24-23.

College Injury Report: A look at who is hurt and who is healthy.

Get the latest college numbers from Doc's Sports. Also check Doc's for the latest NFL numbers.

For complete TV listings, check Matt Sarzyniak's Sports.

Visit the Wiz's Resources page for all your reference needs.

On Wednesday, Boise State is at Tulsa. This could be one of the last major challenges for the Broncos, who are trying to go undefeated and earn a berth in a Bowl Championship Series game. Boise State is favored by 8.

Cincinnati and South Florida square off Thursday in the biggest game of the season thus far in the Big East. The Bulls are favored by 1.5 points.

On Friday, there's another Big East game between Pittsburgh and Rutgers. The visiting Panthers open as 3-point favorites.

Saturday's games of note: Texas (-1.5) vs. Oklahoma in Dallas; Iowa (-2) at Wisconsin; South Carolina at Alabama (-17); USC (-8) at Notre Dame; Texas Tech at Nebraska (-6); Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech (pick); Stanford at Arizona (-4); and Arkansas at Florida (-22).

For the latest numbers, visit Doc's Sports.

A quick review of the keys to victory:

1- Contain Cal's running game: The Trojans held the vaunted Cal rushing attack to only 86 yards. Former Heisman Trophy candidate Jahvid Best was held to 47 yards rushing and only 5 yards receiving. The Trojans forced Kevin “I don’t like big games and throw a high ball” Riley into passing situations that he is not equipped to handle which allowed the Trojans to dominate the Time of Possession 36:46 to 23:14.

The game was basically over when Trojan Safety Taylor Mays ran down Jahvid Best from behind in the backfield in the second quarter. The statement was made that USC’s best defensive player was not going to let Cal’s best offensive player get loose.

(More analysis and some team notes after the jump)

T-Wire's BetUS PICKS is back!

We would have scratched last week, but in the words of Bobby Bowden, Gah dammit, we just couldn't lay off and lost $50 on Florida State.

Here are our picks after 5 minutes of thought before we head to the airport for Columbus.

Three Team Parlay $25 to win $150
Notre Dame (-4) over Michigan
USC (-7.5) over Ohio State
Nebraska (-22) over Arkansas St

If you care to join us, or show how much better you are at this than us, sign up with BetUS... they've got our game.