Kudos to Creativity

In an adidas commercial from about five years ago, Kobe Bryant said, "I think that creativity comes from within." My buddies and I used to make fun of this statement for its apparent simplicity yet its valiant attempt at provoking something philosophic.

But you know what? Kobe may have been onto something profound. Creativity does come from within. It involves thinking outside the normal realm of thinking. It means refusing to conform. It takes a willingness to fail. It demands guts. Cojones. Bollocks. Huevos. Take your pick.

You know who's creative? You know's got a pair? Boise State coach Chris Petersen.

You know who's a gigantic sissy on the brink of expiration? Michigan coach Lloyd Carr.

For an exercise in perfect juxtaposition, let us examine Monday's Fiesta Bowl winner and Rose Bowl loser. Petersen and Carr. Boise State and Michigan. Creativity and predictability.

Football play-calling is one of the less discussed topics among prognosticators, analysts and the like. (Call them what you will, but I prefer: Run-Of-The-Mill Former Player Who Jumps On With Some Random Networks Once He's Washed Up And Spits Out Drivel Every Sunday. There are a few exceptions. I really like Mark Schlereth on ESPN. Not over the top like most everyone else. And Matt Millen was great back when he sat in the broadcast booth, where he belongs. In general, though, there's way too much football coverage on TV. Anyway, back to my point. I apologize for the digression.) But for all the talks that go on about matchups and personnel in football games, one thing matters most, and that's play-calling.

None of the big mouths predicted little Boise State to beat the tried and tested Oklahoma squad Monday. The Broncos were too slow, too weak, too inexperienced. Petersen found a way to trump that.

After squandering an 18-point lead and falling behind 35-28 on an interception that would have taken the wind out of most teams' sails, the Broncos persisted. Quarterback Jared Zabransky had just thrown one of the all-time worst passes ever in a pressure-packed situation. Then, he showed what true resiliency is all about, coming back to lead the Broncos to pay dirt with just less than a minute to go. The fashion in which they tied it is grabbing all the headlines.

Fourth and 18. Down seven. Half a field to go. Hook and ladder. Yep, the Broncos pulled out one of the greatest trick plays in the book, and it worked to perfection. But it didn't stop there.

The Sooners scored first in OT, on a 25-yard scamper from Adrian Peterson. He went in virtually untouched, almost as though the Broncos were conceding it to him. It didn't matter.

From the 25, Boise launched into a series where every play seemed like a trick play. Running backs looking to pass to the quarterback. Wide receivers taking direct snaps. Not exactly plays you see every day.

But what the Broncos did so well was recognize when the big strike was UNAVAILABLE, turning it down, and taking their medicine. It took eight snaps, and they eventually got their touchdown on an alley-oop pass from a receiver to a tight end. What guts.

Then came two more bits of courage. First, Petersen decided to go for two, to go for the win. Second, he did so by ordering up another trick play -- a fake screen, Statue-of-Liberty call that worked to perfection. Game, Boise. Kudos, Petersen. Without question, it was the greatest end to a football game I've witnessed.

Would I have said that if Boise's trickery had failed? Probably not. Some of what occurred in Glendale Monday was luck. But, to me at least, Petersen's inkling to go to all corners of the playbook gave his team its best chance to win. Not necessarily its only chance, but its BEST chance.

Now let's hop a few miles north to Pasadena, where the USC Trojans made the Big Ten team from the state of Michigan look more like Spartans than Wolverines. Michigan was out-run, out-tackled, out-jumped and, most of all, out-witted. Bill Plaschke of the LA Times called it the most "jangling, jitterbugging, joyous win" of the Pete Carroll era at SoCal. Really? After all, Carroll HAS won two national titles. Pretty high praise from one of the best sportswriters in the land.

Regardless of whether that's warranted, Carroll made one of the premiere defenses in the country look like hole-y socks. He, too, showed Petersen-like guts, going to the air time after time after time and tearing U-M's secondary to shreds. And ultimately, he shined a bright, Californian light on the only real weakness of one of the great college football coaches of the last decade.

Lloyd Carr's predictable play-calling has finally reached its last straw. For years, it's been lamented, but only halfheartedly. Michigan racked up enough wins to keep the majority of fans content and hungry for the possibility of a better season next year. Next year. How many next years can there be?

Too many for Carr. Year in and year out, Michigan has one of the two or three most talented teams -- from top to bottom -- in the nation. And to have only one National Championship and a bowl game record of 5-7 to show for 12 seasons at the helm is not good enough.

Now, it's unfair to say that Carr's conservative play-calling hasn't won him his share of games. Tailbacks galore have come through U-M and single-handedly won games by wearing down tough defenses to the point where they're ineffective in the second halves of ballgames. A steady dose of Michael Hart and Chris Perry and Tim Biakabatuka surely secured the Wolverines a few victories through the years.

But just imagine how fun a high-octane, innovative Michigan team would be to watch. The supreme talent gives Carr all the MORE reason to open up the playbook and let loose. You think Hart couldn't have done some damage on direct snaps or an option play with Steve Breaston as his QB or a few more screen passes on Monday? Of course he could have. Sure would have been more exciting than his runs to the short side of the field which were stopped repeatedly and without much effort on the part of the Trojans.

Not to take anything away from USC's defense, either. It was great, partly because its schemes were creative, as well. The Trojans blitzed with backers, linemen, corners and safeties. The patterns were random and kept Henne off balance all day. If only Michigan had done likewise.

So am I calling for Lloyd's head? Not unless he refuses to change. If he can recognize that the days of pounding the rock, regardless of the opponent, are done, and if he can borrow a few pages from Boise State's book, that would be a beautiful thing. Heck, bring in Petersen to run the offense. I'm sure he'd catapult us back to the top. Just leave the blue field in Boise, Chris.