ABCDE SPORTS sunday, october 17, 2010 COLLEGEFOOTBALL
Another high-drama rally Against SMU, Navy scores in the final two minutes for the second week in a row in a 28-21 win. D9
Early, often for Hokies Virginia Tech scores on seven of its first eight possessions and rolls up 605 yards of offense, beating Wake Forest, 52-21. D9
Redskins vs. Colts 8:20 p.m. at FedEx Field. TV:WRC-4,WBAL-11.
‘WHAT IS OUR IDENTITY RIGHT NOW?
COLLEGEFOOTBALL
Kentucky 31, [10] S. Car. 28 [11] Utah 30, Wyoming 6
Coverage on Pages D9-12
[18] Wisconsin 31, [1] Ohio St. 18 [7] Auburn 65, [12] Arkansas 43 [13] Mich. St. 26, Illinois 6 [4] Texas Christian 31, BYU 3 Texas 20, [5] Arkansas 43
[15] Iowa 38, Michigan 28 [16] Fla. St. 24, Boston Coll. 19 HOCKEY
Capitals play late Washington’s game at Nashville ended too late for this edition. For full coverage, visit
washingtonpost.com/capitals
He’s always been a redneck, an egomaniac, an addict and an eternal child. Those shocked by the allegations haven’t been paying attention.” Stephen Rodrick on Brett Favre. Outlook, B1
This time, Rangers make lead stand up
Bullpen helps Texas beat Yankees, 7-2, in Game 2 of ALCS
BY ADAM KILGORE
arlington, tex.—Late Friday night, in the quiet of their home clubhouse, Texas Rangers players vowed, with nonchalant certainty and no trace of panic, that they would bounce back. “There were no pep talks,” reliever Darren O’Day said. “We know we’re better than we were yesterday.” They promised, after the New York
Yankees stole Game 1, that it would not happen again. Saturday afternoon, they provided themselves an opportunity to prove it. Again, the Rangers seized a big lead in the opening innings. Again, they sent the Yankees starter to an early shower. Again, Manager Ron Washington called for new relief pitchers like a blackjack player pulling 2s and 3s from the deck. “You can obviously feel the same
situation,” Rangers reliever Clay Rapa- da said. “Yesterday was a different game. Today was another different game.” And the Rangers were right. They
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST “We’re working to get that identity, if it’s a running team, if it’s a throwing team,” DonovanMcNabb said, “whatever itmay be.”
WELL, IT’S NOT VERY GOOD.’
Redskins are struggling to figure out who they are on both sides of the ball BY BARRY SVRLUGA
ball more. When Gibbs returned for a four-year stint from2004 to ’08, only two teams attempted more rushes. The Red- skins, whether they had old-school John Riggins or modern-day Clinton Portis, had an offensive identity: They ran the ball. What, then, tomake of theseRedskins,
W
100 200 300 400 500
0
henJoeGibbs coachedtheWash- ingtonRedskins from1981 to ’92, only one team, Chicago, ran the
the 2010 version? They have thrown the ball as few as 19 times in one game, as manyas49theverynextweek.Fivegames intohis first seasonas thecoachofGibbs’s oldteam,MikeShanahan—repletewitha reputation as a run-first coach — is still waiting for the identity of hisRedskins to take shape. “I thinkifyoutakealookat theoffenses
I’ve run, I think you know the identity,” Shanahan said immediately after last week’s overtime victory over Green Bay, the game that begat 49 pass attempts. “What is our identity right now?Well, it’s
notverygood,becausewe’renotasconsis- tent as I’d like to be.” When the Redskins take the field Sun-
day night against Indianapolis, they will be facing a teamwith a clear sense of self. Since he entered the NFL in 1998, Colts quarterback PeytonManning has thrown more passes than anyone else, and India- napolis’s fortunes—though the teamhas boasted stars at defensive end in Dwight Freeney and safety in Bob Sanders—are carried capably by Manning’s right arm.
redskins continued onD6
In Mike Shanahan's first five games as head coach, the team has struggled for consistency. Alook at how the Redskins have fared, offensively and defensively, in each game this season:
526 353 Yards allowed
18 27 36
0 9
NFL WEEKS
Rushing plays 17
35
10 20 30 40 50
0
12345 12345 12345 NFL WEEKS
NFL WEEKS THE WASHINGTON POST
THIS YEAR’S EARLY THEME? PARITY Several weeks into the NFL season, no teams have established themselves as clearly dominant
BYMARKMASKE It is supposed to be an annual rite of
the first couple of months of an NFL season: anointing a Super Bowl favorite or twoand identifying which team might make a run at joining the 1972 Miami Dolphins with the sport’s second unbeat- en season. Those Dolphins continue to stand alone, but usually there is a team, sometimes two, that make things some- what interesting.
Not this season. When the Kansas City Chiefs, after a surprising 3-0 start, lost in Indianapolis last weekend, it meant that this NFL season failed to produce a team that started even 4-0, a first for the league since 1970.As the sixthweekendofgames begins Sunday, no dominant team has emerged league-wide. Good luck trying tocomeupwith a consensus about which club is the Super Bowl front-runner in each conference. “The parity is certainlysomething that
you can see,” said Colts Coach Jim Caldwell. “It’s quite evident just in the records of the teams. It’s going to be . . . a very, very close race, I think. Somebody is going to get on a roll here and reel off a fewin a row and get themselves in pretty good position. Usually it happens in the second quarter [of the season], so it just depends onwhothat team is going to be.” The two teams that played in last
season’s Super Bowl, the Colts and New parity continued onD6
49 Pass attempts 19
were better, and they toppled the Yan- kees, 7-2, at Rangers Ballpark in Arling- ton to even the American League Championship series at 1-1 and capture their first victory ever in ahomeplayoff game. And so onMonday, inNewYork, the Rangers will send Cliff Lee to the mound with a chance to take the series
Game 1 of the NLCS goes late STEPHEN DUNN/GETTY IMAGES
Things are looking up for reliever Neftali Feliz and the Rangers after evening the ALCS at one win apiece.
lead. The Rangers pounded 12 hits and
knocked out theYankees’ starter— this time Phil Hughes — in less than five innings for the second straight game. Most important, their bullpen, the one the Yankees thrashed the night before, recorded 10 outs and allowed no runs. About 15 hours after they blewGame 1, the Rangers showed up Saturday after- noon and played like it never hap- pened. How did they know they would?
Well, these Rangers have played through worse. In spring training, they digested the revelation that their man- ager failed a drug test with cocaine in his system. In May, the team declared bankruptcy amid a drawn-out owner- ship change. InSeptember, JoshHamil- ton, their best player, got hurt and
rangers continued onD3 D EZ SU
CHRIS MCGRATH/GETTY IMAGES 6
The Giants-Phillies game ended too late for this edition. For the full story and commentary from Thomas Boswell, go to
washingtonpost.com/sports.
Friedgen is left boiling after Maryland gets routed
Coach lashes out at team after 31-7 loss at Clemson
BY ERIC PRISBELL
clemson, s.c.—For 14months,Ralph Friedgen rationalized his team’s strug- glesby citing inexperience, injuries,bad luck, bad breaks and weather patterns that he half-jokingly said brought rain onlywhenMarylandhadthe ball. That patience vanished Saturday. Af-
terMaryland’smistake-filled31-7 loss at Clemson, Friedgenlit into his teamdur- ing ananimatednine-minutenews con- ference that followed the Terrapins’ 10th consecutive road defeat. Itwas the most visibly frustrated Friedgen has beensinceFloridaState routedhis team late in2008. Instead of the breakthrough he had
envisioned, Saturday brought special teamsblunders, threesecond-half inter- ceptions and a rashof penalties that left the 63-year-oldcoachsteaming.He said some players are treating road games like an “amusement trip” rather than
RICHARD SHIRO/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“It’s really amatter of getting it done and not getting it done. And it’s not getting done,” said exasperated Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen.
business. He said players started the second half “flat as hell” and “just kind ofdead.” Friedgen repeatedly said his players
did not play smart. Evenwith his job on the line the next six weeks, Friedgen vowed to sit banged-up players — even wide receiver Torrey Smith, his most
terrapins continued onD12 l No. 18Wisconsin deals No. 1 Ohio State its first loss. D9
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