Sidelines
BYU’s Staley leaves
the stage to Lelie
LUKE Staley is out for BYU's return to Aloha Stadium, and I for one am very disappointed. Who wouldn't want to see the best running back in the country play live and in person?(He's not? Well then who is? Name somebody. Name anybody. Can we come up with a big-time running back in the college game this season? DeShaun Foster doesn't count. Chance Kretschmer? Well, OK.)
No, it was Staley, Mr. Touchdown, Mr. Team, Mr. ESPN2. He's as good as it gets this year, he's been amazing, especially in the clutch. How good? He must be good. June Jones actually knows his name.
For those of you who don't get that, get this: He took over games at the end. He was BYU's Ashley Lelie.
It looks like it is possible to outscore BYU if you counterpunch, if you make it a shootout. Wyoming almost did, Utah almost did, Mississippi State almost did. But you can't beat Staley. In the fourth quarter, with the game on the line, he is the guy to make a great play (or two, or more) to keep the Cougars alive. Like magic, it just happens. Staley streaks down the sidelines, and BYU is unbeaten still.
Did you see the Utah game? Did you see last week? It looked like his leg was already broken the way he ran, but he kept moving the ball, somehow, setting up another win.
We'll miss seeing a great player, but for a team looking to outscore BYU, things just got very interesting. The way Hawaii's run-and-shoot is clicking, the way Nick Rolovich is picking apart defenses, the absence of the other offense's playmaker is huge.
And in the fourth quarter, if it all comes down to one moment, there is no Staley. There is only Lelie.
>> Mike Bellotti is not going to leave his powerhouse at Oregon to jump into that frying pan at Notre Dame. He's not, no matter what ESPN says. He'd have to be nuts.
"I think that is typically speculation by people who really don't know what they're talking about," Bellotti told the Oregonian. "I don't have great interest in that job, and that's very honest."
I believe him. (Why would he?) He's already got a better job as the coach of the Ducks.
But ... and it's a big "but," but if he did -- IF -- well then, that opens up some intriguing possibilities, if you know what I mean (and I think you do).
>> But don't worry.
>> Ho, ho, ho, it's December 4 and the Wahine are still playing. And it has to be more fun than it's been in years.
>> The state's most underrated football player: Kahuku's Darrell Tachibana. He won't get much postseason attention because he won't be a Division I defensive end. But in high school, he could play.
>> Please, please, KCCN-AM, bring back my favorite ESPN sports radio program, "The Tony Kornheiser Show." It was one hour once a week, now it's dropped entirely in favor of campaign infomercials?
>> The NCAA is brilliant. Suspending Savo by not announcing a suspension. Hmmmm ...
>> Four days to BYU.
>> I don't want football season to end.
Kalani Simpson's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com