The College Football Beat

Here are some thoughts on the college football season so far, including Chris Simms, Florida failure and Joey Heisman.

1. Simms should still start.

I am the first to be critical of Chris Simms the football player. I think he is overrated and has been hyped because of his father. I also have been saying that Major Applewhite should have been the Texas Longhorns starting quarterback all season. After Saturday the Simms critics definitely look like we are right.

With that being said, Simms should still start for Texas in the Holiday Bowl. Here's why: He will be the Longhorns starting quarterback in 2002. Does Mack Brown want his QB starting the 2002 season with his last memory being that horrible performance against Colorado?

Applewhite is the better QB but he is a senior and this is his last game. Simms is your immediate future. Texas is loaded with talent and should be in good position to make a run at a National Title in 2002. Brown should let Simms work out the kinks in a bowl game and pray he can learn to deal with big game pressure by next year.

2. What is up with Florida?

Saturday afternoon, shortly after Miami escaped in Blacksburg I was dreaming of a Miami-Florida Rose Bowl. All that Florida speed and attitude on the same field. Despite the Gators one loss they were still the most exciting team in the land and a worthy challenger to the Hurricanes. Right? Wrong!

Tennessee had to go and ruin everything. They had to go and expose Florida for what they are. A good team, not a great team. A pretty team, not a tough team. Upon further review, Miami would have probably pounded the Gators like they did last year. Florida is all finesse and just doesn't seem tough enough when push comes to shove.

Every year they steamroll through teams by an average score of 200 to 0 until they run into a team who starts to pound them a little, then they fall apart.

3. Ducks, not Huskers.

If the Volunteers falter on Saturday it seems that Nebraska has a good chance to play for the National Title. Does anyone want to see this? Nebraska lost by 26 points two weeks ago. They surrendered 62 points. No team that loses by 26 points on the last game of the year deserves to play for a National Title. They didn't even play for their conference championship. I would much rather see PAC-10 champ Oregon get a shot at Miami than a team coming off one of their most humiliating losses ever.

4. Joey Heisman.

Has any player meant more to his team than Joey Harrington? His team is 10-1 with their only loss being a close decision to a good Stanford team. He has a 58 percent completion percentage and has thrown for 2,414 yards and 23 TD passes with only 5 INTs. Harrington didn't have a good game on Saturday completing just 11-of-22 passes for 104 yards, and that will probably cost him the Heisman Trophy.

It's really unfair, those were not the best conditions for a passing quarterback, and Harrington is the most deserving of winning the award. 5. Has anyone seen UCLA lately?

I was with UCLA since the opening game victory over Alabama and the defeat of Ohio State. After the pounding of Washington I was already envisioning the UCLA-Miami National Title game. I was crying about the East Coast Bias, even though I live on the East Coast.

What a difference a few months make. Like most of us on the UCLA bandwagon the party ended at Stanford. Then the loss to Washington State, then the loss to Oregon, then the humiliation against USC. What happened to the defense? What happened to Bob Toledo's aggressive play calling? What happened to DeShaun Foster's leasing agreement?

6. Army-Navy, Still the Best.

The records may not be very good and the talent is not the best, but there is no better football game than Army-Navy. Two teams who play hard, desperately want to win and, get this, respect each other. The best moment in college football is when they sing each other's alma mater.