In one manner of thinking, the BCS and the College Football Playoff transformed college football from a regional to a national sport. The outcome of the Michigan-Wisconsin game Saturday has an impact on the Stanford-Washington winner and every other school in the hunt for one of four playoff berths. But with so many of its heroes, college football remains regional. Witness the deaths this week of former Nebraska offensive line coach Milt Tenopir, 76, and Iowa quarterback Randy Duncan, 79.Tenopir was the foreman of the assembly line that cranked out one All-American after another during head coach Tom Osbornes glory years. Duncan led the Hawkeyes to the 1958 Big Ten championship and the Rose Bowl, and finished second in the Heisman vote to Army back Pete Dawkins. Green Bay selected Duncan with the first pick of the 1959 NFL draft. He spurned the Packers for three years in the CFL, after which he went to law school. But he was forever a Hawkeye hero.If you want to know how current and former Huskers players felt about Tenopir, read Dirk Chatelains story in the Omaha World-Herald about the coachs last days. Prepare to be choked up.1. It has been 14 years since weve had three games that matched AP top-10 opponents, and the list of those games illustrates how much the power structure has changed since 2002. No. 1 Miami defeated No. 9 Florida State, the Hurricanes 28th consecutive victory in a string that reached 34; No. 2 Oklahoma defeated No. 3 Texas 35-24, the third of five straight Sooner victories in that rivalry, and remember how Mack Brown couldnt win the big one? He put that canard to rest in 2005; and No. 6 Georgia, under second-year coach Mark Richt, beat No. 10 Tennessee 18-13 in a game that served as a springboard for the Bulldogs to end their longest SEC championship drought (20 years) in school history.2. Likewise, two of this weeks three top-10 matchups could have a lasting impact on this season. If No. 3 Louisville wins at No. 5 Clemson, the Cardinals will have beaten their top two competitors in the ACC Atlantic (they embarrassed Florida State 63-20 two weeks ago). Given Oregons struggles, the game between No. 7 Stanford and No. 10 Washington will anoint the front-runner in the Pac-12 North. But since No. 8 Wisconsin and No. 4 Michigan are in different divisions of the Big Ten, the outcome of their game will take a back seat to the teams head-to-head matchup against whichever divisional foe challenges them.3. One last note about the demise of LSU head coach Les Miles, fired because the Tigers couldnt keep up with the Alabama dynasty coached by his predecessor, Nick Saban. Contrast Miles unwillingness to change the Tigers offense to the evolution that the Crimson Tide has undergone during the Saban Decade. Saban has gotten smaller and quicker on defense. He has said that Terrence Cody, the 6-foot-4, 345-pound two-time All-American defensive tackle, wouldnt fit in the current Tide defense. And after beginning in Tuscaloosa with a pro-style offense, Saban and coordinator Lane Kiffin have spread the field with running-passing freshman Jalen Hurts in charge.4. As the Big 12 dithers over whether to expand, and it looks increasingly as if the league couldnt get eight votes to decide that today is Thursday, Houston is making a compelling case for an invitation. Members of a conference want a new member to carry its own weight in the marketplace. And Houston is doing that in its home TV market. Since Texas A&M bolted to the SEC, so has the Houston TV market. SEC games made up six of the top 10 football telecasts last season in Houston. But this season, the Cougars game against Oklahoma on Sept. 3 had a 12.8 rating in Houston, and the Thursday night game against Cincinnati on Sept. 15 had a 6.78. Those are big numbers.5. The top talents among the 156 semifinalists for the Campbell Trophy, the Academic Heisman awarded by the National Football Foundation, include at least three compelling stories: BYU sixth-year, oft-injured quarterback Taysom Hill, Duke corner DeVon Edwards, who just tore his left ACL and MCL on Saturday, and Syracuse tight end Cameron MacPherson, the grandson of College Football Hall of Fame coach Dick MacPherson. The NFF will name on Nov. 1 the 12 to 14 finalists, each of whom will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. The Campbell Trophy winner, named at the Hall of Fame dinner on Dec. 6, receives an additional $7,000 grant.6. Penn State is still suffering the effects of the NCAA scholarship penalties. You can judge that by the scoreboard, where the Nittany Lions are 0-2 against Power 5 opponents, including a 49-10 loss at Michigan on Saturday as one-sided as it appears. Or you can judge that by the comments of Penn State head coach James Franklin at his weekly media conference on Tuesday. Their (\[defensive] front is big, strong and physical, and we did not handle that well, Franklin said. Defensively, I think were playing hard; however, we need to be more physical up front. To paraphrase Franklin, Penn State isnt as talented as Michigan. And undefeated Minnesota (3-0) comes to State College on Saturday.7. Georgia Tech (3-1, 0-1) already has won as many games this season as it did last, but the 26-7 loss at Clemson last Thursday night, when Tech gained only 124 yards, illustrated how head coach Paul Johnson hasnt solved his offensive woes. Johnsons option attack at its best chews up yardage and clock in big chunks, which is to say, the statistic that most reveals Georgia Techs struggles is time of possession. The Yellow Jackets rank 61st in the FBS, averaging 29:38 per game. 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PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger understands the irony in suggesting the Pittsburgh Steeler practices might be too rough. The $20 million franchise quarterback, after all, is off limits.Still, a quick scan down his teams crowded injury list left him wondering if its time for the coaching staff to ease up just a little bit.I will stand up for the guys up front and running backs, guys who take a pounding every day during a long season, Roethlisberger said. The season is super long as it is and very physical. And when youre doing it over and over and the guys shoulders are getting sore, knees start getting sore, and hips and hamstrings and quads and things, and then, they re-occur, you have to take a look at maybe what youre doing.Five weeks into the season, the Steelers already have seen a series of bold-faced names miss time, including right tackle Marcus Gilbert and guard Ramon Foster, the guys who are in charge of keeping Roethlisbergers jersey clean when it counts. Defensive end Cameron Heyward will miss the first game in his career on Sunday when Pittsburgh (4-1) visits Miami (1-4). Linebacker Ryan Shazier and his sprained MCL are out for a third straight week, and Markus Wheatons shoulder continues to bother him.While Roethlisberger allows that coach Mike Tomlin has to walk a fine line about the tenor of practice, hes also wary of the possible toll it could take over the long term.You see those pads on top of lockers being worn all year long, he said. Like I said, for me, I cant complain too much because Im not the one getting hit. But, I will stand up for the big boys.Its a gesture center Maurkice Pouncey appreciates, even if hes not completely sure where he stands. Pouncey stressed, Im following Ben, baby, but also understands he gets paid a lot of money to do what the coaching staff asks.Im a lineman, he said. I go get it every day and I eat afterward. But nah, its cool. Weve got a physical camp man and its paying off now.In reality, practices are as gentle as theyve ever been. The collective bargaining agreement signed in 2011 outlawed two-a-days during training camp and limits teams to one fully padded practice over the seasons first 11 weeks and three over the final six. Thats in contrast to early in Tomlins tenure.Our first year we were hitting every day, said cornerback William Gay, a rookie when Tomlin took over in 20007.ddddddddddddYou cant get no more than that.The Steelers like to thud up on Wednesdays, meaning defenders will wrap up ball carriers but dont take the hit all the way to the ground. On Fridays, the first-team offense faces the first-team defense in the seven shots drill from the 2, whichever side getting to four stops or four conversions first claiming bragging rights for the week. And it gets pretty heated. Thats kind of the point.Its a very competitive thing, defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. We talk a lot of mess.What they dont talk about, at least not in public, is easing up. Tomlins training camps can be a six-week battle of attrition, particularly this summer when he tried to help toughen up a defense that finished 30th in yards allowed. The early returns are mixed. Pittsburgh is 25th in yards but ninth in points in large part because of better play in the red zone. Tackling is a vital part of that equation, one that needs to be practiced to be perfected.You cant get in shape hitting until you hit, Butler said. When you stress muscles for the first time in trying to hit early in games and preseason, early in the season sometimes and you havent hit then, sometimes youll have injuries.Heywards tweaked hamstring had nothing to do with getting overworked in practice and everything with landing awkwardly in the second quarter last Sunday against the New York Jets. He understands Roethlisbergers role as a captain speaking up for the benefit of the team. He also understands that hitting is a necessary part of the game and with that comes inherent risk.We dont even get that much in as it is, Heyward said. You want that hardening so when you get down the road, you want to use that as an asset.Roethlisbergers words might not have fallen on deaf ears. On Thursday, the Steelers wrapped up practice five minutes early, a rarity.Game notes WR Sammie Coates (finger), Gilbert, Heyward, Shazier, Wheaton, C Cody Wallace (knee) and S Shamarko Thomas (groin) did not practice on Thursday. ... Shazier was limited while CB Justin Gilbert (knee), S Robert Golden (hamstring), RB Roosevelt Nix (back) and WR Eli Rogers (toe) were full participants.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL China Womens NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys China Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Black Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '