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CNN Live At Daybreak
First Big Weekend of College Football Season Kicks Off
Aired August 29, 2003 - 06:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to sports. The first big weekend of the college football season kicked off with a shocker. Maryland, the pre-season's top 20 team, was upset by Northern Illinois 20-13 in overtime. And, oh, yes, you can almost smell college football in the air now.
Our old friend Chris Cotter, of Radio 790 The Zone, is here with a pigskin preview.
We'll start with the national champions, the Buckeyes and Maurice Clarett.
CHRIS COTTER, AM 790 "THE ZONE": Well, I'll tell you what, I mean all the chores you did this summer, the mowing the lawn, the taking out the garbage, the tarring the roof, whatever you did, Saturday you get a reprieve. Saturday you just, all you've got to do is just sit on the sofa and watch football.
And Maurice Clarett, you're right, Ohio State, they get a chance to start their defense of the national title against a very good Washington team. They're going to have to do it without Maurice Clarett.
He's a Heisman trophy candidate, or was before he ran into all of these problems in the off season with the, you know, the loaner car. He was test driving a new car with stereo equipment and TVs and CDs inside and they were stolen and he falsified a police report and then he didn't have to take a test, a written test like the other students. He got to take one -- an oral exam, etc., etc.
So the NCA is coming down...
COSTELLO: Well, the question is...
COTTER: ... hard on him now.
COSTELLO: Right. And how many games exactly will he be out?
COTTER: We'll find out this week. It should be, we've heard rumors, anywhere from six to eight games.
COSTELLO: Six to eight games.
COTTER: And if it's six games, I mean that -- first of all, his Heisman trophy campaign is out the window. Second of all, Ohio State is going to have a hard enough time winning the national championship again anyways, repeating, because the margin of error is so small. I mean if you lose your best player, there are plenty of other teams right there behind Ohio State that can win it.
COSTELLO: Yes, and if you lose one game, you could be pretty much out of it.
COTTER: Yes, unless you lose a game very early and the disadvantage that Ohio State has, if they lose a game, they don't have a conference championship game, like they do in the big 12 and they do in the SEC, to where they can make up for it later on in the season.
COSTELLO: Well, Maurice Clarett just wants to turn pro. He's just waiting for his opportunity anyway.
COTTER: He's going to have to wait, yes, a couple of more years, because you've got to go three years after your high school senior class graduates before you can go to the NFL.
COSTELLO: Maybe he'll go to Canada and play.
COTTER: Maybe, but, boy, some other players have done it in the past and it hasn't really worked out too well for them.
COSTELLO: No.
Tell us which teams we should be looking at this year.
COTTER: Well, I love Miami. They played last night, too, and looked very good. And they don't have to have that extra conference championship game. So Miami looks really good to get back to the national championship game.
I like Oklahoma, too, very good defense in Oklahoma.
Texas could be a sleeper team, as well. If they beat Oklahoma this year, they could be the team coming out of the big 12.
And don't overlook, also, a team like Auburn or maybe even N.C. State, because, look, the ACC, like the Big East, they don't have to play that championship game.
COSTELLO: Wow.
COTTER: So N.C. State could be a surprise team, too. But they have to play Ohio State in a couple of weeks.
COSTELLO: I'm still thinking of pro-football. I can think of nothing else, Chris.
COTTER: Well, if this isn't heaven for you, this weekend, next weekend, pro football starts.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
COTTER: The NFL.
COSTELLO: OK, we have to mention one more thing about college football, though, the Heisman trophy. Who are the best candidates now that Maurice Clarett is out?
COTTER: Well, you know, it's been, it's almost always a running back or a quarterback. And last year, Carson Palmer at USC won it as a quarterback. But this year I like a couple of sleepers, maybe even a wide receiver, Reggie Williams out of Washington or Roy Williams out of Texas. Both of these players could have easily gone to the NFL last year. They decided to stay. So keep an eye on those two.
Two other quarterbacks, as well, Philip Rivers, a senior. He's been very productive all four years at N.C. State. And Eli Manning.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
COTTER: That's a familiar name to you. Peyton Manning's younger brother and Archie Manning's younger son, now at Old Miss. He's going to get an opportunity to put up some big numbers down there.
COSTELLO: Is he better than Peyton?
COTTER: No, I don't think he is. He's good, though, and Peyton Manning, great collegian. He didn't win very many big games in college, hasn't won any big games at the NFL level. So if Eli Manning can lead Old Miss. to an SEC championship, then I think people might start looking at him as being THE number one Manning.
COSTELLO: THE Manning.
COTTER: THE one. And that's saying something, because that's a serious lineage right there.
COSTELLO: How many games will the Detroit Lions win this season?
COTTER: More than they won last year.
COSTELLO: Four.
COTTER: I won't to give you a complete total on that because it isn't going to be a pretty sight.
COSTELLO: Steve Mariucci, it might be very pretty.
COTTER: That's, well, Mariucci is going to help them. Still very young, a couple of years away.
COSTELLO: I know.
COTTER: Watch Detroit maybe in '95. That might be the year for them.
COSTELLO: Well, I'm a true fan. I'm watching them this season.
COTTER: I give you credit.
COSTELLO: Chris Cotter, many thanks for joining us.
Yes. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 29, 2003 - 06:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to sports. The first big weekend of the college football season kicked off with a shocker. Maryland, the pre-season's top 20 team, was upset by Northern Illinois 20-13 in overtime. And, oh, yes, you can almost smell college football in the air now.
Our old friend Chris Cotter, of Radio 790 The Zone, is here with a pigskin preview.
We'll start with the national champions, the Buckeyes and Maurice Clarett.
CHRIS COTTER, AM 790 "THE ZONE": Well, I'll tell you what, I mean all the chores you did this summer, the mowing the lawn, the taking out the garbage, the tarring the roof, whatever you did, Saturday you get a reprieve. Saturday you just, all you've got to do is just sit on the sofa and watch football.
And Maurice Clarett, you're right, Ohio State, they get a chance to start their defense of the national title against a very good Washington team. They're going to have to do it without Maurice Clarett.
He's a Heisman trophy candidate, or was before he ran into all of these problems in the off season with the, you know, the loaner car. He was test driving a new car with stereo equipment and TVs and CDs inside and they were stolen and he falsified a police report and then he didn't have to take a test, a written test like the other students. He got to take one -- an oral exam, etc., etc.
So the NCA is coming down...
COSTELLO: Well, the question is...
COTTER: ... hard on him now.
COSTELLO: Right. And how many games exactly will he be out?
COTTER: We'll find out this week. It should be, we've heard rumors, anywhere from six to eight games.
COSTELLO: Six to eight games.
COTTER: And if it's six games, I mean that -- first of all, his Heisman trophy campaign is out the window. Second of all, Ohio State is going to have a hard enough time winning the national championship again anyways, repeating, because the margin of error is so small. I mean if you lose your best player, there are plenty of other teams right there behind Ohio State that can win it.
COSTELLO: Yes, and if you lose one game, you could be pretty much out of it.
COTTER: Yes, unless you lose a game very early and the disadvantage that Ohio State has, if they lose a game, they don't have a conference championship game, like they do in the big 12 and they do in the SEC, to where they can make up for it later on in the season.
COSTELLO: Well, Maurice Clarett just wants to turn pro. He's just waiting for his opportunity anyway.
COTTER: He's going to have to wait, yes, a couple of more years, because you've got to go three years after your high school senior class graduates before you can go to the NFL.
COSTELLO: Maybe he'll go to Canada and play.
COTTER: Maybe, but, boy, some other players have done it in the past and it hasn't really worked out too well for them.
COSTELLO: No.
Tell us which teams we should be looking at this year.
COTTER: Well, I love Miami. They played last night, too, and looked very good. And they don't have to have that extra conference championship game. So Miami looks really good to get back to the national championship game.
I like Oklahoma, too, very good defense in Oklahoma.
Texas could be a sleeper team, as well. If they beat Oklahoma this year, they could be the team coming out of the big 12.
And don't overlook, also, a team like Auburn or maybe even N.C. State, because, look, the ACC, like the Big East, they don't have to play that championship game.
COSTELLO: Wow.
COTTER: So N.C. State could be a surprise team, too. But they have to play Ohio State in a couple of weeks.
COSTELLO: I'm still thinking of pro-football. I can think of nothing else, Chris.
COTTER: Well, if this isn't heaven for you, this weekend, next weekend, pro football starts.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
COTTER: The NFL.
COSTELLO: OK, we have to mention one more thing about college football, though, the Heisman trophy. Who are the best candidates now that Maurice Clarett is out?
COTTER: Well, you know, it's been, it's almost always a running back or a quarterback. And last year, Carson Palmer at USC won it as a quarterback. But this year I like a couple of sleepers, maybe even a wide receiver, Reggie Williams out of Washington or Roy Williams out of Texas. Both of these players could have easily gone to the NFL last year. They decided to stay. So keep an eye on those two.
Two other quarterbacks, as well, Philip Rivers, a senior. He's been very productive all four years at N.C. State. And Eli Manning.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
COTTER: That's a familiar name to you. Peyton Manning's younger brother and Archie Manning's younger son, now at Old Miss. He's going to get an opportunity to put up some big numbers down there.
COSTELLO: Is he better than Peyton?
COTTER: No, I don't think he is. He's good, though, and Peyton Manning, great collegian. He didn't win very many big games in college, hasn't won any big games at the NFL level. So if Eli Manning can lead Old Miss. to an SEC championship, then I think people might start looking at him as being THE number one Manning.
COSTELLO: THE Manning.
COTTER: THE one. And that's saying something, because that's a serious lineage right there.
COSTELLO: How many games will the Detroit Lions win this season?
COTTER: More than they won last year.
COSTELLO: Four.
COTTER: I won't to give you a complete total on that because it isn't going to be a pretty sight.
COSTELLO: Steve Mariucci, it might be very pretty.
COTTER: That's, well, Mariucci is going to help them. Still very young, a couple of years away.
COSTELLO: I know.
COTTER: Watch Detroit maybe in '95. That might be the year for them.
COSTELLO: Well, I'm a true fan. I'm watching them this season.
COTTER: I give you credit.
COSTELLO: Chris Cotter, many thanks for joining us.
Yes. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
