Monday Musings -- Oct. 9

Washington coach Chris Petersen wishes his team's games would start earlier (Sporting News)

There is no doubt about it -- Chris Petersen is one of the best college football coaches in all of the land.

He took Boise State to untold heights, winning a couple of BCS bowl games, and has revitalized a Washington program that was spinning its wheels for many of the last 10 years.

Petersen is no-nonsense, preferring to work instead of making small talk or impassioned pleas in the media.

But he had finally had enough of his Huskies being ignored, and couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"I just want to say something to our fans: we apologize for these late games," he said at a recent weekly press conference. "And I'd also like to reiterate it has nothing to do with us or the administration. We want to play at 1 p.m. It hurts us tremendously in terms of national exposure. No one wants to watch our game on the East Coast that late, and we all know it. We haven't had a kickoff before 5 p.m. this season."

It makes sense, to hear him say it.

But it isn't correct.

Think about this -- the only real national program in the Pac-12 is USC. The Trojans move the meter, have history galore, and fans know the brand. That's not the case for Washington, which is why playing games at 1 p.m. -- 4 p.m. Eastern -- would actually be a bad idea.

You see, that window is typically when Alabama and Ohio State and Michigan and Clemson and a host of other national programs are playing. Washington would get lost in the shuffle, and would probably have fewer eyes watching than it does now.

In television, execs talk about potential viewing opportunities, about potential eyes on a program.

What Petersen doesn't get is that Washington, and the rest of the Pac-12 for that matter, can run games basically unopposed, which would mean more potential viewers, not fewer. Less competition means more of an ability to plant your flag, grow your brand, and that's what the Pac -12 is doing.

ESPN -- specifically GameDay staple Kirk Herbstreit -- added to the debate that basically said Petersen should be thanking the network for even televising Huskies games, a completely wrongheaded answer. But not unexpected from the network, which believes it  can do no wrong and that people value its opinion -- even though subscribers are leaving in droves.

Petersen was merely stating something that bothered him. He didn't call out a specific network or entity and say they were the problem. But it must have hit really close to home for ESPN to act like a petulant eight-year old in its response.

While I disagree with Petersen's premise, he is to be applauded for bringing attention to something that seems to bother more than a few Pac-12 coaches. Stanford's David Shaw has mentioned it before, yet it's hard to remember ESPN going out of its way to post catty little graphics on air about Stanford, or have the announcers talk about it in editorial fashion.

Not sure why the Worldwide Leader decided to pick this fight, but it's just another reason why fans are leaving the network like rats deserting a sinking ship.

Petersen took the high road and didn't fire back at ESPN, preferring to "move on to a new topic." It's a fight he wouldn't be able to win, so he's staying out of it.

He comes out looking like the better party in this whole dust-up, and that's just one more reason to admire the guy.

Wolverines Woes
Full disclosure -- I believed the hype about Jim Harbaugh, and thought that he was just the guy to fix Michigan's woes.

I mean, look at the resume -- dyed in the wool Wolverine, big time player, wildly successful at every coaching stop he's made -- including making Stanford relevant, which is no small task. Yes, it would be just a matter of time until he brought in his culture, his players and started racking up the victories.

Um, it hasn't happened yet, and now there is a question about whether it ever will.

Harbaugh is 24-7 in his first 313 games in Ann Arbor -- the same record held by Brady Hoke through that span. While it isn't horrible, it hasn't been good enough to even contend for the East Division crown in the Big Ten, and after a 14-10 loss to Michigan State on Saturday night, there are questions just how the rest of this season will go.

There are big time concerns around the offense, which will now be without Wilton Speight for the rest of the season. That means the offense is in the hands of John O'Korn, who has been a turnover machine, throwing four interceptions in four games. Michigan lacks dynamic playmakers, and the stubbornness of sticking with the physical, pro style offense could be the Wolverines undoing. While Ohio State and Penn State dazzle each week with playmakers and points, Michigan does it with will and determination. Harbaugh would have been perfect in the Woody Hayes era, but right now Michigan doesn't scare anyone offensively.

Now, to be fair, it hasn't been Harbaugh's fault that the quarterback situation has been a mess. He had Jake Ruddock in for a year after he finished at Iowa, and then went with Speight last season, which was fine. He didn't really scare anyone, but wasn't bad.

Michigan needs more than "not bad," though, if it's going to get back to the upper echelon of college football.

The defense is scary good, which means that Michigan should win every game in which it has a talent advantage. But the Wolverines still must face Wisconsin, Penn State and Ohio State, teams with as much talent and coaching prowess as they have. So far, Harbaugh hasn't shown the ability to adapt, or to beat UM's biggest rivals.

The loss to Sparty dropped Harbaugh's mark to 1-4 against Michigan State and Ohio State in his tenure, and natives are beginning to get a little nervous. The quirky personality, the rah-rah platitudes, the khakis, the sticking it to the Buckeyes whenever possible -- that's all well and good, but it loses its charm if you can't win the big games.

And right now, Michigan is just another program in the Big Ten.

That's something I never thought I'd be saying.

Falling By The Wayside
More teams have been pushed to the sideline after suffering a second loss, and that means they begin experimenting for next season, using younger players more, maybe work on a golf game. Because they aren't going to the College Football Playoff, and if you aren't going there, you really aren't going anywhere.

Louisville, it's been fun -- we really enjoy watching Lamar Jackson and his sometimes inhuman escapability. But that defense? Yeah, might wanna work on it, because it's keeping you from getting where you want to be.

Wake Forest, your ascent to almost relevance has been fun to follow, and your defense is enjoyable to watch. Let us know when you get an offense to match, and we might just pay attention to you again. Or maybe not.

Duke, for all of the offensive genius head coach David Cutcliffe supposedly brings to the table, it's amazing that you average just 4.85 yards per play, near the bottom of the barrel nationally. The defense, like Wake Forest, is cool to watch, and Mike Ramsay is a beast up front. But that defense is going to sue for non-support, and you'll be watching from the sidelines of some minor bowl game.

Kansas State, it was fun while it lasted, but your offense is too one-dimensional to really be a factor in any national race. Bill Snyder is still the coolest old guy around, and we would love to sit down and join him for a beer. But watching your team play? Sorry, we'll pass. It's just too boring.

West Virginia, it's cute how your fans are up in arms about a couple of officials calls going against you -- even though they were the correct ones -- especially the juggling non-interception on the sideline. But digress. Having to rely on a defense that ranks 106th in the country is just too much for any team to overcome, and you found that out against TCU.

Maryland, we're sorry about your quarterback woes because you looked like you were emerging as a team to watch. There isn't much there defensively, but if DJ Durkin keeps recruiting the way he has, you should be good enough to compete in a couple of years.

Oregon, we are pretty confident that Willie Taggart will end up being a good hire, and will have you back in the fast lane pretty soon. It just isn't going to be this year, especially not with the injury issues that have cropped up.

Florida, really? You couldn't muster up enough offense to knock off an LSU team that was circling the drain? It's interesting that, for all of the quarterback acumen Jim McElwain has, you guys haven't had a real live quarterback in his tenure (well, unless you count the first six games with Will Grier). That will need to change if you want to get past Georgia, a team that's stockpiling quarterbacks like they're going out of style.