A Grip on Sports: Halfway through the most-transformational college football season in more than a century, we’re still arguing over the rules

A GRIP ON SPORTS • We’re basically at the halfway point of college football’s regular season. Let’s amend that. The halfway point of college football’s most transformative regular season since 1906, when the forward pass became legal. This seems like a good point for the word version of those drone overviews TV directors love so much.

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• What do we see? Everything has changed. And, really, nothing has.

Sure, playoff expansion means there are about three dozen schools still in the hunt, instead of 10 or so. And realignment has given us more regular season intersectional showdowns than ever before. But each weekend is still exciting in its own right for those who love the game. As is every individual matchup for your school, whatever that might be.

• Let’s start with the playoff contenders. Half the SEC and Big Ten, fair or not, are still in the running. Pretty much the same can be said about the Big 12, though the chaos that lives in the conference will limit the final number to one. Maybe two, but one seems more likely. The ACC, with a huge gap between the top two, Miami and Clemson, and the rest, have a better chance at a couple. Everyone else? Notre Dame, the Group of Five’s best and no one else. Which isn’t fair at all but, hey, what is?

• One thing. If realignment has taken away games we have looked forward to for decades like Washington’s annual upset in the Arizona desert, then it is only fair that we have been given such matchups as last weekend’s Oregon win over visiting Ohio State, a game that never would have been played – at least never in October. That’s a good thing, as is this week’s Georgia at Texas brouhaha, a matchup that never would have been played – at all, before realignment.

• Such Top 10 faceoffs are fun and all, especially for the casual fan, but they have never been the be-all and end-all for most. Your school’s game. That’s the crown jewel each week. For more than a century no one ever imagined the University of Hawaii serving as Washington State’s homecoming opponent. Bowl game, maybe. Or Thanksgiving host. But homecoming? Cal. ASU. Maybe UCLA in an odd year. But not Hawaii. Welcome to 2024 folks.

And yet, it seems appropriate. The Cougars, along with Oregon State left for dead by its former Pac-12 conference “friends,” have risen. At 5-1, are still rising. Have a chance to have their best regular-season record ever. An 11-1 mark seems possible. At the very least 10-2 with a shot to match 2018’s school-best 11-2 overall mark with a bowl win.

If that happens, this Cougar squad earns the imaginary trophy for best season. Mainly because the mark would include taking possession of the Apple Cup hardware, something even Gardner Minshew could not claim.

None of this happens, presumably, if we weren’t in the middle of a college football transformation. An evolution, if you will. Survival of the fittest. No one knows how it will end. Of if it ever will. All we can do is take it as it is. A few great games. A postseason tournament unlike any other. And each school’s team doing the best it can each week, maybe with nothing more at stake than pride.

At least that last part has not changed.

• You know what will change this week? The timing rule Dan Lanning’s staff at Oregon exploited in the final seconds of the 32-31 win over the Buckeyes. The high-profile exposure – and Ohio State’s fans’ crying – has ensured taking a 12-men-on-the-field penalty to kill clock will never happen again.

Every part of the NCAA’s organization acts quickly when embarrassed on nationally, and only then. The football rules committee is no different. Turns out, the rule has been exploited before – former UCLA, Colorado and Washington coach Rick Neuheisel spoke of it being used against one of his teams years ago – but never when the college football world was watching.

Predictably, the committee will not change any rules. Too hard to do that mid-season. Instead, it is set to give a new interpretation of the substitution rule to officials. Have 12 men on the field late, earn a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. And the clock reverts back to the previous time.

That should end that.

Until some smart 24-year-old graduate assistant discovers another loophole that helps long-downtrodden Indiana upset Penn State in the Big Ten title game.

Imagine the uproar then. We can. And hope for it. It is, after all, college football.

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WSU: Looking forward to homecoming? To Washington State winning its final six games? Then read Greg Woods’ story this morning. It’s about the Cougars’ defense and what is trying to improve. The rush defense. So the pass rush can be more effective. Read the story. It will all become clear. … Hawaii is worried about the Martin Stadium noise. … Would a visit to San Antonio in early winter be OK for you? Jon Wilner sees WSU as the current frontrunner for the Alamo Bowl. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, we predicted the NCAA would turn what Lanning did Saturday into an unsportsmanlike penalty. Even though, as John Canzano points out, using unintended consequences of the rules for an advantage is as traditional as homecoming and cheerleaders. … Wilner returns with looks at the Big Ten and Big 12 races. … Funny thing. Trent Bray is a defensive coach. And yet his first Oregon State squad is deficient defensively and starting to come into its own offensively. … The Ducks are trying their darndest to ascend to blue blood status. Winning against Ohio State helps that a lot. So does the publicity concerning how they won. Can Oregon turn the page to Purdue, et al? And will it get a couple key players back? … Washington’s success – or failure – will be measured in more than dollar signs. … Coaching your sons at the college level brings in a bunch of tough scenarios for guys like Deion Sanders and Colorado. The Buffs are headed to Arizona this week. … Utah can do nothing but rally around its freshman quarterback. … The defense is not the star at USC. But it has been better this season. A couple injuries, though, may derail that. … UCLA is rebooting its NIL efforts for football. … Though Arizona State is doing well, the Sun Devils will be hard to watch this weekend. … In the Mountain West, New Mexico’s coach does not feel Utah State is as bad as its record. … Ashton Jeanty is as good as his records show he is. … Hawaii is getting quite a break from the Mountain West to become a full-time member. … San Diego State has lost some offensive line depth. … Air Force is not sure who its quarterback is right now. … The loss of Troy Horton is huge for the Colorado State offense. … In basketball news, Oregon State and Gonzaga will start at 8 p.m. Both times. … Former WSU starter Andrej Jakimovski may be doing the same this season at Colorado. … Former Gonzaga Prep standout Liam Lloyd has four years of D-1 basketball experience. But he is now a backup on his dad’s Arizona squad – for deep family reasons.

Gonzaga: For this Jim Meehan story, we should change the section label to “Gonzaga and WSU.” Jim went through the TV times the WCC and others announced a bunch of them yesterday. It does seem a little odd with GU and the Cougars in the same basketball conference but, hey, that’s the present and the future.

EWU and Idaho: Dan Thompson took some time this week to examine playoff possibilities for the conference in his Big Sky notebook. The schedule makes an Idaho run to the promised land possible. Likely even, if the Vandals can field a healthy quarterback. But the Eagles? It’s going to take a memorable run to get there. … The Eagles are dropping men’s tennis but bringing back golf. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, UC Davis is headed north to face Eastern this week. … Montana should improve its resume with a win over Portland State this week. … Weber State just gave away its game against Northern Colorado.

Preps: We mentioned last night’s Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony more than a few times recently. Even in-depth yesterday, before the event took place. We have this Greg Lee story on Colfax coaching legend Sue Doering, one of the eight folks honored at the Spokane Memorial Arena last night. … Dave Nichols has this roundup of Tuesday’s prep action.

Chiefs: Dave returns with this coverage of Spokane’s 7-4 road victory at Moose Jaw. The Chiefs are on their longest road trip of the season, which finishes up tonight at Brandon.

Seahawks: When the run defense is bad, it is really bad. … Seattle is lacking in real stars. In every sport.

Mariners: Two M’s earned Gold Glove finalist honors, though third baseman Josh Rojas, the darling of the modern defensive metrics, was not one of them. Cal Raleigh will win. Dylan Moore won’t. And Rojas, who is a liability at the plate but the best the game offers at the hot corner these days, was ignored completely. The ugly truth about the award? It’s not only about defense. Never has been. … There was one playoff game last night. The Yankees, for some odd reason seeming to benefit from every close ball/strike call, held off the visiting Guardians 2-0 to take a 2-0 ALCS lead.

Kraken: A blowout win over the Predators helped Seattle end its road trip in style. … Shane Wright is settling in.

Sounders: Seattle will host a half-dozen World Cup matches next year. The city is a soccer town. … Mauricio Pochettino’s record as USMNT’s coach is 1-1. His squad, without many top players, lost 2-0 in Mexico last night.

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• If we painted with oils instead of words, we would have pulled out a canvas this morning and set it up in front of our living-room windows. The ensuing piece of art would have been titled “Mid-October Autumn Morning in Spokane.” A terrible title, we know – hey, in this scenario we’re a painter, not a wordsmith – but today’s view, with the clouds and rain and multi-colored leaves everywhere, would illustrate the title perfectly. Until later …