How did the Colts win? Beat up on Peyton

So every team in the AFC will want to find out what magic formula the Colts used to throw off Peyton Manning’s practically perfect offense and hand the Broncos their first loss of the 2013 NFL season on Sunday right.

Looking back on everything Indianapolis did right in a 39-33 victory— and it was a lot—there was nothing special about it: just simple, aggressive, physical, defensive football buoyed by a talented quarterback, Andrew Luck, who could stand just as tall as Manning.

There were no exotic blitzes or fancy coverage. The Colts manned up against Manning’s receivers and plastered them so they would struggle to get separation. They trusted their best 3-4 edge rusher, NFL sack leader Robert Mathis, to lead the charge on hitting Manning. They dared Denver to run, and their linebackers and safeties showed their quickness in plugging the holes in run support.

There’s no doubt Colts coach Chuck Pagano and his defensive coaching staff watched tons of film of Manning playing his best football. They should have noticed the Jaguars had a similar approach last week in making him look like a mortal passer again.

The difference is, the Colts are much more talented AFC team, with a stronger physical identity. There are no superstars in their secondary, just well coached, disciplined cover men who don’t mind mixing it up.

For the first time this season, Manning lost control of the game, and with their leader frustrated, the Broncos’ bigger issues of a porous pass defense and some undisciplined play came to light and prevented Manning from completing one of his classic comebacks.

The Broncos got a monstrous challenge two weeks ago from the Cowboys, but that was a pure shootout where Manning was never quite slowed. The Jaguars could hang for only a half before fading quickly. On the road facing Pagano’s pressure scheme, Denver saw its first true test against an above-.500 opponent that could stand in its way in getting to the Super Bowl.

Looming on the regular-season schedule are a couple of dates with the only undefeated team left in the AFC, the solo West-leading Chiefs. The Chargers, who beat the Colts last week, are also playing some improved defense under another Pagano, John, and have a red-hot QB, Philip Rivers. And as Manning knows, the Patriots (Bill Belichick) and Texans (Wade Phillips) have schemers who have gotten the better of him and his supporting cast with similar in-your-face defensive plans in the past.

Put Kansas City and New England right up with Indianapolis as significant obstacles to making this the dream late-career, second ring for Manning. That’s before mentioning that young, well-rounded, passing/pass-rush team that keeps growing confidence in Cincinnati.

The Broncos hadn’t lost a game going into Indianapolis, but it was clear they were far from perfect, and the Cowboys and Jaguars exposed cracks in the Super Bowl window; a window the Colts just smashed to pieces. Given how the receivers, offensive line and defense let Denver down just as much in Week 7, it will take a lot more than Manning to pick them all up.

Buying the ‘Boys

The Cowboys look like a middling NFC team on the surface, but they should be considered as dangerous as the other division leaders—Seattle, New Orleans and Green Bay.

Dallas didn’t embrace any kind of “moral victory” after a 51-48 loss to aforementioned Denver, but there’s no doubt they have played with a different swagger in taking down division foes Washington and Philadelphia the past two weeks. If you’re keeping score, the 17-3 road dominance of the Eagles made Dallas just 4-3, but 3-0 in the NFC East.

Skeptics will say this is Dallas, and it will still come down to the Week 17 rematch with the same Eagles for the East title. But in a disappointing division, the Cowboys haven’t been disappointing at all, considering their three losses have come against three strong teams in the AFC West (Denver, Kansas City and San Diego are a combined 18-3).

The remaining slate isn’t exactly easy. The Saints and the entire strong NFC North are ahead. But the Eagles, Redskins and Giants have a lot more problems in contrast, and have to deal with similar scheduling obstacles. Although Tony Romo, as usual, is getting too much of the credit/blame for everything good/bad the Cowboys do, there’s a new sense of resiliency. They’re finding ways not to blow games and fight through injuries (see no DeMarcus Ware and DeMarco Murray on Sunday).

Backup plans

Three starting quarterbacks who were on the upswing from last season got knocked out on Sunday. While the Eagles saw Nick Foles (head) join Michael Vick (hamstring) on the shelf and may need to give a rookie the start in Week 8, more concerning injuries to Jay Cutler (groin) and Sam Bradford (knee) may require the Bears and Rams to go with their No. 2 for the longer term.

Here’s breaking down whether the backups give their team any chance:

— Josh McCown, Bears. Two seasons ago, Chicago was 7-3 when Cutler broke his thumb, but freefell with Caleb Hanie playing awful in relief. Although they found McCown too late in 2011, they saw his value behind Cutler. He can keep Marc Trestman’s offense humming with both his arms and legs in defeat at Washington. The real question is, just how much does he need to produce vs. Green Bay, Detroit and Baltimore the next three weeks with the defense  struggling?

— Kellen Clemens, Rams. Let’s start with the good news. Clemens has plenty of experience in Brian Schottenheimer’s offense dating back to their days together with the Jets.  The bad news, the team’s offensive supporting cast has been inconsistent in helping Bradford, and will offer even less chemistry with Clemens.

— Matt Barkley, Eagles. Don’t judge the 2013 fourth-rounder on the situation he was put in, down 17-3 in one-dimensional desperation mode against Dallas. The two interceptions didn’t look good, but if better prepared to start with a more balanced game plan (the Eagles didn’t run LeSean McCoy enough), Barkley has the potential to make a lot of the opportunity.

Game balls

Andy Dalton, QB, Bengals. Dalton (24-of-34, 372 yards, 3 TDs) outdueled the Lions’ Matt Stafford (28-of-51, 357 yards, 3 TDs) in a pass-happy affair in Ford Field, and most important, got Cincinnati its second last-second road victory, 27-24. It helped that Dalton’s explosive big-play receiver, A.J. Green, matched Stafford’s, Calvin Johnson, with 155 of those yards.

Tamba Hali, OLB, Chiefs. Hali made it two consecutive games with 2.5 sacks, this time terrorizing Texans first-time starter Case Keenum with half of Kansas City’s total in the second half. His second forced fumble on Houston’s final drive locked up the Chiefs 17-16 victory.

Le’Veon Bell, RB, Steelers. There weren’t many pretty offensive stats as Pittsburgh edged archrival Baltimore 19-16 in the typical defensive struggle, but Bell kept grinding out the tough yards (93 on 19 carries) as his team had a rare, strong rushing performance against the Ravens’ defense (141 in all).

Harry Douglas, WR and Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Falcons. Douglas played the part of a No. 1 wideout for Matt Ryan with both Julio Jones and Roddy White out, burning Tampa Bay’s secondary for 7 catches and 149 yards, including a 37-yard TD. Rodgers caught Ryan’s other two scores in a much-needed 31-23 post-bye win.

Captain Munnerlyn, CB, Panthers. Munnerlyn set the early tone of a physical, 30-15 beatdown of the Rams with a 45-yard pick-six of Sam Bradford on the quarterback’s initial pass attempt. Later in the quarter, he recovered a fumble from wide receiver Tavon Austin to set up a field goal.

East TN football player breaks neck during Friday's game

A Kingston High School football player is recovering at the hospital.

Seth Haynes underwent surgery on Saturday after breaking his neck during Friday night's game against Sequoyah.

Kingston Yellowjacket Head Coach Brian Pankey said the sophomore broke his neck during the opening drive.

"It was on kickoff. He was going for a tackle, the kid was about to go down and Seth, when he led on his shoulder, it looked like it hurt him and he went to the ground and hit his head... He just laid there," described Haynes' teammate, Dustin Kitts.

At first, the team and doctors thought he pinched a nerve. When doctors took him to UT Medical Center, Pankey says they discovered Haynes broke his neck and shattered his number three vertebrae.

"This was his first game back after a hiatus from a knee injury and so for him to put it all out there and then to be laying there when the play was over, for all of us, was very devastating," Mae Ann Shillings said, a friend of the family and Haynes 'former teacher.

Pankey said Haynes was able to move his fingers and toes after the injury.

"I talked to him last night at the hospital and he said he felt like he was paralyzed," said Paul Bolden, Haynes' teammate and best friend.

Doctors told Haynes he will never be able to play football again.

Bolden went on to say, "He's always liked sports growing up. When he heard he wouldn't be able to play sports anymore, it kind of hurt him because he's always loved football."

"I think what's most important is that he's just okay. We all love football, we all love to play sports, but the big thing is that he's just okay," said Jamey Davis, who has known Haynes since he was a child.

Former teammates are sending well wishes to Haynes, including Ryan Wormsley who said, "When I was there we were all extremely close. It's a big family. I knew Seth and you couldn't tell who was a senior and who was a sophomore. We were all brothers."

A Facebook group, in support of Haynes, is growing in the hundreds each hour.

Grambling officials meet, hoping to solve football dispute

GRAMBLING, La. — Two Grambling band members marched down Central Ave. on Grambling's campus Saturday, one's trombone slide gliding back and forth as notes bellowed in the afternoon air.

On a normal fall Saturday, the pair would be two of several hundred members of The World Famed Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band blasting fan-favorite music.

But Grambling forfeited Saturday's football game against Jackson State as the Grambling football team continued its protest of what it says is mistreatment by the university's administration. Grambling players refused to travel from their Louisiana campus for Saturday's game because of issues they have with leaders of the athletic department and the university.

Across the street, one Grambling freshman missed a fadeaway jumper at the outdoor basketball courts.

"I think it's embarrassing for the university," said the freshman, who declined to give his name because he said he wanted to keep a low profile. "I'm just a freshman so I don't know a lot of the details ... and I understand a lot of the students feel a certain way.

"I know that certain things needed to be done ... but I don't think it was a reason for the (football team) to quit like that."

Grambling officials are meeting this weekend in an effort to reach a resolution with disgruntled football players and avoid any more forfeits. Some of the players have demanded the resignation of university president Frank Pogue, but school spokesman Will Sutton said Saturday, "that's not going to happen."

Sutton said that players were given the weekend off but that officials were in touch with some of them by phone. He added that a practice is scheduled for Monday, though it is unclear if players will show up.

The university plans to play next Saturday's scheduled game at Grambling against Texas Southern. It is the school's annual High School Day, which draws in many prospective students from around the region.

Sutton said officials meeting this weekend include Pogue, athletic director Aaron James and coach Dennis "Dirt" Winston, the team's third coach this season. Former Doug Williams was fired after just two games, and Winston replaced interim coach George Ragsdale on Thursday.

Sutton confirmed one of the players' concerns was about travel. The team recently took buses to games in Kansas City and Indianapolis.

"When you have your budget slashed by 57 percent, you have to make choices," Sutton said, adding that the school would "love" to fly the team to distant road games, but that Grambling was contractually obligated to take its band, cheerleaders and dance team on those two trips. He said those obligations led to the difficult choice to put everyone on buses.

Sutton specified that the 57 percent cut in state funding, which has occurred over the past several years, has affected the entire campus, and that athletics was spared significant cuts until this academic year. The athletic department was asked to cut $335,000 from its overall department budget of $6.8 million. Sutton said football was cut by $75,000 to about $2 million.

More than 100 students attended an on-campus rally Thursday to show support for the football team and to voice their own grievances.

Former Grambling offensive lineman Herman Arvie said in a telephone interview Saturday he initially shared the freshman's sentiment until he said he learned more about the players' situation by talking to alumni closer to the program.

"I'm on the players' side now," said Arvie, who played four NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens from 1993-96. "I didn't realize what these players were facing, and I am proud of these guys for taking a stand.

"In retrospect, we didn't have anything in terms of facilities. Twenty years later, what they have has improved drastically from a visual standpoint, but if the conditions are what they say they are, then (Grambling) has taken a step back. Sometimes you have to do things that may be considered detrimental to the history and the program itself. In order to take a step forward, you have to take a couple steps back."

ESPN reported Saturday that it had obtained a letter detailing player complaints, which included mold in the locker room and improperly cleaned uniforms contributing to an increased likelihood of staph infections.

Sutton said that local health department inspectors, acting on an anonymous tip, recently visited Grambling athletic facilities and recommended changes to improve conditions, but did not deem those facilities a health hazard.

Sutton added that buildings throughout campus, including the library, have similar problems because of neglect, and that the conditions football players have complained of are symptomatic of problems campus-wide stemming from substantial budget cuts.

"If people want to get this fixed, there are two things they can do: Make a donation to the Grambling Foundation and the other is lobby legislators to fund Grambling at the level it should be funded," Sutton said.

With the forfeit to Jackson State on Saturday, Grambling has now lost 18 consecutive football games against NCAA opponents.

But Sutton said Williams' dismissal was not related to his "wins or losses, or Xs and Os. Not at all." When asked to clarify why Williams let go if not because of his record, Sutton said, "We don't discuss personnel matters."

Sutton added that the recent change in interim coaches was a move the AD felt needed to made in order to move closer to resolving the impasse with players, who Sutton said supported the decision to promote Winston.

The ongoing chaotic situation first drew public attention on Tuesday, when players angrily walked out of meeting with administrators. Players then refused to practice Wednesday and Thursday, then did not show for buses Friday to travel to Mississippi for Saturday's game.

Pogue released a statement Saturday apologizing to Jackson State, who highlighted its homecoming festivities with a scrimmage instead of a game against Grambling.

"It was with deep regret that I called Dr. Meyers and told her what had happened," Pogue said. "We have had our financial challenges this year, and unfortunately too many of our players don't understand the degree of our fiscal challenges. We are sorry."

"We share many of the frustrations of our players and we continue to work to balance those concerns with the financial restraints that have been placed on our institution by the state. However, though recent events have resulted in an unfortunate homecoming gap in the always exciting JSU homecoming weekend of activities, we ask that JSU alumni and fans respect the right of our football players to freely express their concerns as we do."

10 college football programs facing pressure in Week 8

UCLA has gone into Lincoln, Neb., and rolled past the hometown Cornhuskers, scoring the game's final 38 points in a breezy 41-21 win. The Bruins have tripped to Salt Lake City and sneaked past Utah, taking advantage of six interceptions to eke out a 34-27 victory. Through five games, UCLA holds two of the more impressive road wins in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Another formidable pair of road trips stands ahead: UCLA ends October with trips to Stanford and Oregon, games that will decide whether the Bruins remain among the nation's surprise teams – if not move all the way to No. 1, atop the heap in the Pac-12 and elsewhere – or slide outside the championship picture.

Saturday's game at Stanford marks the third time these two teams have met in 11 months. Stanford beat UCLA 35-17 in the Rose Bowl on Nov. 24, 2012; a week later, the Cardinal beat the Bruins in the Pac-12 title game. If nothing else, Saturday's game might provide evidence of just how far UCLA has come under second-year coach Jim Mora.

A win would also be the first step toward securing UCLA's first January postseason appearance since the 1999 Rose Bowl. In the interim, the program has used through seven full-time and interim coaches, gone up, gone down, lost control of Los Angles to rival USC and, finally, regained some footing under the current staff. While winning at Nebraska and Utah remains noteworthy, the one item still missing from Mora's résumé is a road win against a top-flight Pac-12 opponent.

Here are another nine teams with something to prove this weekend in college football:

Texas Tech

That 6-0 Texas Tech is the lowest-ranked undefeated automatic-qualifying team in the FBS comes as a result of the Red Raiders' smooth first-half schedule: SMU, Iowa State, Texas State and Kansas don't exactly impress the voting public. The second half begins with a trip to West Virginia, which has been woeful on the road – losing to Maryland and Baylor by a score of 110-42 – but solid at home, as evidenced by September's win against Oklahoma State. With Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas still to come, the Red Raiders must show an ability to win games in hostile road environments against Big 12 competition.

Florida

The defense remains elite even as the SEC moves toward a more offensive mindset: Florida's group allows only 4.17 yards per play, by far the top mark in the conference, and has held all four league opponents to 17 points or less. Unfortunately, the Gators' offense – now led by quarterback Tyler Murphy – remains a significant nuisance. After last weekend's loss to LSU, the Gators' only hope at remaining in the SEC East Division race demands a win at undefeated Missouri. The defense should make life miserable for Maty Mauk, the replacement for James Franklin, but the offense needs to step forward while dealing with its own rash of injuries.

Auburn

Auburn has already exceeded its win total from all of last fall, that lost final season under Gene Chizik, and seems poised to make a run at eight or nine wins despite a difficult road through the SEC West Division. Why is Saturday's game at Texas A&M the biggest game of the year? Because with Florida Atlantic, Arkansas and Tennessee up next, a win places Auburn and coach Gus Malzahn on the road toward a 9-1 mark heading into games with Georgia and Alabama to end the regular season. Last year, the Tigers barely sniffed A&M in a 63-21 defeat.

Houston

Houston has opened 5-0 due to the aggressive and opportunistic play of its defense, which has helped the Cougars lead the FBS with a plus-14 turnover margin. At the same time, the offense has cut down dramatically on its own missteps: UH has only four turnovers through five games after committing 35 giveaways a season ago. One thing about that, however: Houston has played the easiest schedule of any undefeated FBS team at the midway point. It's one thing to push past Temple; it's another to do the same against Brigham Young, Saturday's opponent.

Duke

Reaching a bowl game? That's rare: Duke did it once in 1994 and not again until last season. Back-to-back bowl games? Well, that's unprecedented. After dominating Navy in last weekend's 35-7 win, the Blue Devils can move one step closer to securing a second postseason berth in a row with a win against Virginia – a team descending almost in direct correlation with Duke's rise. Now 4-2 with the chance to be 5-2, a win might not merely solidify Duke's bowl hopes; it could make the second half very interesting in the ACC Coastal Division.

USC

It's one thing to be reenergized for the first game after a coaching change, as was USC in its 38-31 win against Arizona on Oct. 10 – the Trojans' first game under interim coach Ed Orgeron. It will take more than just energy to beat rival Notre Dame, which views Saturday's game with USC as a stepping-off point for a charge toward the BCS during the second half. Beating Arizona takes technique, in a sense, since the Wildcats' spread-based offense tests a team's ability to corral players in space. Taking on the Irish demands toughness, however, and could strain the Trojans' already thin level of depth on defense.

Florida State

What's one difference between Clemson and Florida State? Both are ranked in the top five of this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. Both are led by a Heisman-contending quarterback – Tajh Boyd for Clemson, Jameis Winston for the Seminoles. Both teams have the speed on the edges and size inside to compete with the upper tier of the SEC, should push come to shove in January. The one difference, perhaps, may come from Clemson's 60-minute tests against Georgia, North Carolina State and Boston College. In comparison, each of FSU's five wins has been decided long before the fourth quarter.

UNLV

To put UNLV's 4-2 start into perspective, consider two facts: UNLV had won a total of six games the past three years – since coach Bobby Hauck replaced Mike Sanford – and has not won six games in a single season since 2003. How are the Rebels doing it? Well, the current four-game winning streak hasn't come against a murderer's row: Central Michigan, Western Illinois, New Mexico and Hawaii. But with the offense on pace to obliterate school records, UNLV might just have enough punch to secure bowl eligibility in the Mountain West. Whether the team can do more hinges largely on Saturday's visit to Fresno State, the prohibitive conference favorite and an at-large BCS bowl candidate.

Utah

Last weekend's win was Utah's coming-out party as a member of the Pac-12. But beating Stanford – as big as it was in and out of the standings – will be for naught if the Utes can't carry it into a road trip to Arizona, which is reeling after back-to-back losses to open conference play. How crucial was Utah's offseason addition of ex-Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson to the coaching staff? The offense seems tough to stop when avoiding turnovers, but Utah needs to score in bunches to hang with the Wildcats' potent running game.

Bum Phillips, Colorful Football Coach, Dies at 90

Bum Phillips, the homespun Texan who was caricatured as a cowboy but possessed a keen football mind that built the Houston Oilers into one of the N.F.L.’s leading teams of the late 1970s, died Friday at his ranch in Goliad, Tex. He was 90. Outfitted in a white Stetson, work shirt, jeans and cowboy boots — including a powder-blue pair to match the Oiler colors — Phillips was a square-jawed, buzz-cut outsized character with a host of one-liners.

When he became the Oiler coach and general manager in 1975, replacing Sid Gillman, who was long renowned as a master of passing attacks, Phillips was charged with rebuilding a downtrodden franchise. He did just that, developing an outstanding defense anchored by Elvin Bethea at end and Curley Culp at nose tackle, and an offense spurred by the brilliant running of Earl Campbell, all of them future Hall of Famers. And he made astute pickups of unheralded players in twice bringing Houston to the brink of the Super Bowl.

Making the playoffs as a wild-card team, the Oilers lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers — the eventual Super Bowl champions — in the 1978 and ’79 season American Football Conference championship games. When they came home on Jan. 7, 1980, after the second of those losses to the Steelers, a capacity crowd welcomed them at the Astrodome in the late night hours.

“Last year we knocked on the door,” Phillips told the fans, wiping back tears. “This year we banged on it.”

He promised to kick the door down the following season, and went on to trade quarterback Dan Pastorini to the Oakland Raiders for Kenny Stabler, hoping that would bolster the offense.

“Me and Bum are as alike as two piles of cow manure,” Stabler, a native of small-town Alabama, was quoted as saying by Sports Illustrated upon joining the Oilers. “The guy is just an unpretentious cowboy who happens to be a football coach.”

But the Oilers were beaten in a December 1980 wild-card playoff game by the soon-to-be Super Bowl champion Raiders. K.S. (Bud) Adams Jr., the Oilers’ founder and owner, fired Phillips on New Year’s Eve, a few days after that loss, citing his refusal to hire an offensive coordinator, thus ending the Phillips era that Oiler fans called Love Ya Blue.

In 1981 Phillips was hired as coach and general manager of the New Orleans Saints, who had gone 1-15 the previous season. The Saints nearly made the 1983 playoffs, but Phillips could not produce a winning team in his four-plus seasons.

When his Saints were dominated by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth quarter of their Nov. 12, 1985, game, suffering their fifth consecutive loss, Phillips remarked how “the harder we play, the behinder we get.”

He resigned later that month with three years left on his contract and the Saints at 4-8. His son, Wade, his defensive coordinator, finished out the season as head coach.

“There’s two kinds of coaches,” Phillips once said. “Them that’s fired and them that’s gonna be fired.”

Oail Andrew Phillips was born on Sept. 29, 1923, in Orange, Tex., the son of a truck driver. “My name’s pronounced ‘Awl,’ but no one could pronounce it right,” he once told The New York Times. “Even in school, I answered to the name Bum. Oail was my daddy’s first name, too. But he went by the nickname Flip.”

Bum Phillips got his nickname when a younger sister, Edrina, tried to say “brother,” only to have it come out as “bumble” and later “bum.”

“I don’t mind being called Bum,” Phillips once remarked, “just as long as you don’t put a ‘you’ in front of it.”

Phillips played football at Lamar College (now Lamar University) in Beaumont, Tex., served in the Marines during World War II, then played for Stephen F. Austin State College (now Stephen F. Austin State University) in Nacogdoches, Tex. He graduated in 1949, then coached football at Texas high schools.

“‘If you grow up in Texas,” Wade Phillips once recalled, “and your dad is a head coach at the high school, and really successful, he’s the big man in town. You’d go to the barber shop or wherever, and: ‘Ol’ Bum’s a great guy, boy. We all love him.’”

Phillips coached as an assistant at colleges in the Southwest, including a stint under Bear Bryant at Texas A & M, and he was head coach at Texas Western (now Texas-El Paso) in 1962.

He was hired as a defensive assistant with the San Diego Chargers in 1967 when Gillman was their head coach, and became Gillman’s defensive coordinator with the Oilers in 1974.

When Phillips succeeded Gillman as head coach and general manager a year later, his 3-4 defense — three down linemen and four linebackers — proved effective against the run as well as the pass. Wade Phillips became his assistant in charge of the defensive line and linebackers.

Phillips was popular with his players, keeping them fresh by shunning overly long practices and encouraging camaraderie. He had a record of 55-35 with the Oilers, who became the Tennessee Titans in 1997, and he was 27-42 with the Saints. He was later a TV and radio analyst for the Oilers and owned a ranch in south Texas near Goliad.

He is survived by his wife, Debbie, whom he married in 1990, and six children from a previous marriage. His only son, Wade, is the defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans and a former head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, the Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills. His other survivors include five daughters and nearly two dozen grandchildren.

Phillips could be generous with praise for a fellow coach. Perhaps his best-remembered line came when he saluted Bear Bryant or Don Shula — perhaps both — depending on the version cited.

“He can take his’n and beat your’n,” Phillips said. “Or he can take your’n and beat his’n.”

For Jewish School’s Football Team, It’s Thursday Night Lights

NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Early Thursday morning at a Jewish high school here, Elan Kainen donned the prayer shawl that had been a gift from his maternal grandfather and recited the prayers of the Shacharit service. Nine hours later, he went through another ritual, one involving pads, cleats and a helmet, as he suited up for what might be the final game of his high school football career.

The Hurricanes of Scheck Hillel Community School were going up against a conference rival, the Berean Christian School Bulldogs, with a spot in the postseason playoffs hanging in the balance. For Elan and his teammates, who attend one of the only Jewish religious schools in the nation to play varsity football, Friday evening is for Shabbat dinner. Their gridiron action takes place under Thursday night lights.

For Scheck Hillel’s team, the fall football schedule bends in deference to the string of holidays that run from Rosh Hashana to Simchat Torah. Before getting the usual locker-room exhortation from their coach, players hear a d’var Torah, a sermon about the week’s Torah portion, from a rabbi. At home games, the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikvah,” is played over the stadium loudspeaker.

“Football requires a lot of discipline, not giving up, pushing yourself,” said Elan, 17, who plays both fullback and linebacker. “In Judaism, I feel like the discipline I’ve learned on the field helps me follow the rules.”

His teammate Nathaniel Rub, a wide receiver, drew another parallel: “Going to a Jewish school, you’re put into a community of friends you’ll know the rest of your life. And football is just another kind of team.”

That team effort has a larger, more historic dimension. The Hurricanes represent a continuation, albeit in a form Theodor Herzl never could have predicted, of the Zionist ethos. It held that the oppressed Jews in the ghettos and shtetls of Eastern Europe had to reinvent themselves as robust, physically capable beings as part of their emancipation.

The early waves of settlers to Palestine, and then the nascent Israeli state, adopted the archetype of the “New Jew” grasping a plow in one hand and a rifle in the other. Amid the material comforts of America, young athletes like Elan have chosen to take on a sport of surpassing bodily risk, from torn ligaments to concussions.

For Jeffrey Gurock, a professor of American Jewish history at Yeshiva University who has written widely about Judaism and sports, a team like the Hurricanes embodies both cultural assimilation and Zionist tradition. Its players are taking part in a consummately American sport, and in the football-obsessed state of Florida at that. Yet they also embody a modern variation on Zionism’s mandate that, as Mr. Gurock put it, “the role models for Jews had to be either the victorious Maccabees or at least the courageous Bar Kochba, who fought against the nations of the world.”

Be that as it may, perhaps because of a certain communal (and parental) devotion to what is lovingly called the “Yiddishe kup” — the Jewish brain — varsity football has not been the favorite athletic expression of Zionism in America. While the numbers fluctuate a bit from year to year, for most of the last decade no more than five and sometimes as few as two Jewish day schools have fielded football teams. The day school near Fort Lauderdale that used to be Scheck Hillel’s rival in the annual “Kiddush Cup” game, wryly named for the ritual cup used for the blessing over wine, gave up the sport this season.

Instead of playing tackle football in youth leagues, Elan and his future teammates participated in flag football — a pale imitation with 5 players on a side instead of 11, a field about half the size, and no real hitting. When Alex Froimzon, now a senior quarterback, raised the prospect of trying out for a varsity team in high school, he recalled, “My parents at first were like, ‘Can’t you play baseball or something else?’ ”

Several years before, a former football player and coach from upstate New York moved to the Miami area to escape the harsh winters. That man, Mike Norman, found an online job listing from Scheck Hillel, saying the school was interested in starting a football team. He was soon hired to help David Fried, who until then had been running a flag-football program at the local Jewish community center

“There was a lot to learn,” recalled Mr. Norman, who is Roman Catholic. “No Friday practices. No Saturday games. The first two or three years, there was a lot of naysaying that Jewish kids wouldn’t do it, that the program won’t last, the kids will be too wimpy, they won’t be committed. So we put that out there to the kids, and we went out there with a chip on our shoulder.”

After becoming head coach in 2009, Mr. Norman posted a cumulative record of 19-10 heading into this year. Playing in a league for small independent and religious schools, the Hurricanes had a couple of secret weapons, like calling plays in Hebrew. And, when the team still had the David Posnack Jewish Day School as an opponent, the many Latin American immigrants on Scheck Hillel switched the signal count and audibles to Spanish.

This year, the Hurricanes have struggled at times. The team entered Thursday night’s game with a 2-4 record. Through every game, though, Elan’s grandfather, Dr. Henry Clayman, sat in the bleachers. At just 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds, Elan was the leading tackler on the Hurricanes.

Dr. Clayman had inspired Elan with family stories about Jewish toughness, stretching back to when his parents were raising him in England. His father, a soldier in the British Army, was a regimental boxing champion. One time, his mother heard a bus passenger make an anti-Semitic comment. She pulled the man’s derby over his eyes, clouted him with her umbrella, and said, “Now you have a reason to hate Jews.”

On Thursday night, Scheck Hillel jumped out to a 12-0 lead over Berean Christian, then fell behind. Finally, with less than 30 seconds remaining, Alex connected with Lior Barhai, a junior playing wide receiver, for a long touchdown pass. The Hurricanes won 32-28, earning a playoff spot.

Dr. Clayman was waiting outside the locker room for Elan, so he could take some pictures on the field to commemorate the night. “I was schlepping naches,” he said, using the Yiddish term for deriving pride or satisfaction. “As we always said at Oxford.”

Eastern Michigan Football Player Found Slain

Demarius Reed played prep football at Chicago's Simeon Academy, carefully avoiding any run-ins with the gangs on the city's South Side.

He left his hometown to play ball at Eastern Michigan University, where he was a Communication, Media and Theater arts major. But the 20-year-old receiver dreamed of playing professional football before he was found shot to death Friday in what police believe was a robbery.

Joe L. Reed said he found irony in the tragedy of his grandson's slaying: Demarius was able to survive the dangerous streets of Chicago only to become a victim in an off-campus apartment building in the perceived safety of a university community.

"He was an outgoing, beautiful kid. He wasn't associated with no gang or anything," Joe L. Reed said. "I would say, 'Hey man. Don't go outside.' I wouldn't let him associate with anybody over there."

Over there, he said, is the area near Simeon. Many young people, including prominent athletes, don't make it out.

Prep basketball standout Benji Wilson was shot to death in 1984 after bumping into two gang members near Simeon. In 2002, Englewood High School basketball star and honor student Maurice Davis was shot to death outside that South Side school after an earlier confrontation with other teens.

On Friday, hours after Reed's family learned of his slaying, Joe L. Reed reflected on grandson's gridiron success in high school and most recently at Eastern Michigan, located about 35 miles southwest of Detroit in Ypsilanti.

The NFL often was on Demarius' mind.

"I told him 'Man, you have to stay in that gym,'" Joe L. Reed told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Chicago. "He would say 'I'm good enough.' He loved the game."

The elder Reed did have reservations about his grandson moving into an off-campus apartment.

"He was on scholarship," he said. "He could have stayed on-campus."

Demarius' roommate found his body about 7:15 a.m. Reed had been shot multiple times and some of his personal items were missing, Ypsilanti police said in a release.

No arrests were made as of late Friday afternoon.

"The circumstances involving his death remain under investigation at this time by the Ypsilanti Police Department," school President Susan Martin said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, and his teammates on the football team."

She said Eastern Michigan public safety officials were in close contact with Ypsilanti police. Grief counselors met Friday with Reed's teammates, other students and faculty. An afternoon forum was scheduled at the Student Center Auditorium to discuss the case with the campus community.

A Saturday home game against Ohio University will be played as scheduled.

The 5-foot-10, 161-pound Reed played in six games this season, catching 15 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown. He made 18 receptions for 171 yards and scored a touchdown in nine games last season.

Heather Lyke, vice president and athletic director at the school, said Eastern Michigan had suffered "an unbelievable loss."

"Demarius was an influential leader who thrived in the classroom and on the field," she said. "Everyone gravitated to him and often described him as the 'life of the locker room.'"

Current football players at Simeon — perhaps best known as the high school of NBA star Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls — had little to say as they arrived for Friday afternoon's game against Foreman High School.

Before the game, they gathered around his jersey, which was hung on a fence near the end zone. They said a prayer and dedicated the game to him.

Others expressed sympathy for Reed's family and his younger brother, who now plays for Simeon.

"You're thinking about his family," Halethia Jones, a parent of a Simeon football player, told WLS-TV. "I'm thinking especially about his younger brother, who is my son's friend. And I know his family's hurt, and we just want to send our prayers and condolences out to them."

Does Louisville's loss to UCF improve Rutgers' hopes of a BCS berth?

Well, UCF did what Rutgers could not: It went to unbeaten Louisville, on a weeknight, on national TV, and left with a dramatic victory.

The Cardinals were up 28-7 in the third quarter when the Knights rallied in stunning fashion to take the lead. Even then, the visiting team still needed a late touchdown drive to pull out the 38-35 victory -- which allows Rutgers fans to ask a familiar question today:

Does it help the Scarlet Knights' hopes of landing in a major bowl?

Simple answer: Yes, but they'd likely need even more help. And that doesn't look very promising.

UCF is now in control of the American Athletic Conference title race and the automatic BCS bid that goes with it. Assume -- and this is a big assumption given the offense's struggles last Thursday night -- that the Scarlet Knights win their final six games. That would include a road win at UCF on Nov. 21.

So if Rutgers, UCF and Louisville all finish tied for the conference lead at 7-1 in league games, the tie breaking procedures go like this:

1. If one team defeated both other teams, then that team would be the representative. That wouldn't apply here, since all three would have a 1-1 against the other two. 

2. If still tied, and if two teams defeated the third team, the third team is eliminated. The remaining two teams revert to the two-team tie procedure. Again, this doesn't apply based on the head-to-head records.

3. If still tied, the highest-ranked team in the final BCS standings will be the BCS representative. This would be the tiebreaker in this scenario.

Rutgers would somehow have to leapfrog Louisville in the BCS rankings to get the berth in a three-way tie. The first standings won't be released until Sunday, but in one projection, Louisville was ninth and Rutgers 45th before last night's game. In other words, that isn't going to happen.

So what Rutgers really needs is another Louisville loss. This is the Cardinals remaining schedule:

Oct. 26 at South Florida (2-4)

Nov. 8 at Connecticut (0-5)

Nov. 16 vs. Houston (5-0)

Nov. 23 vs Memphis (1-4)

Dec. 5 at Cincinnati (4-2)

Anything is possible. But does anyone want to bet on that? 

Chargers top Colts with long drives

It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline.

Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night.

''I wasn't sure who the Colts were playing this week all the ads I saw,'' Rivers said, noting that all the pregame buzz surrounded the Colts (4-2), not the Bolts (3-3).

Rivers expertly guided a balanced offense on three scoring drives of at least 74 yards while rebounding from a three-interception performance in a dismal loss at Oakland.

That, and a lot of dropped passes by Colts receivers, kept Indianapolis (4-2) from taking a two-game lead over Tennessee in the AFC South.

The Colts didn't even score a touchdown. All their points came on three field goals by Adam Vinatieri.

A week earlier, Luck helped rally the Colts to a 34-28 victory against Seattle.

''We knew if we didn't turn the ball over and we sustained drives, which we did — we had some 12-, 14-, 16-play drives — that we'd give ourselves a chance to win,'' Rivers said.

''We didn't go into the game saying `Let's play ball control,' Rivers added. ''We wanted to score as many points as we could. We didn't score that many, but we did sustain drives. I thought Keenan Allen stepped up big. They were doubling Gatesy (Antonio Gates) a lot, and Danny Woodhead stepped up big. The offensive line was great. That's the way we need to be able to run the football. If we can mix the run in, we got a chance.''

Luck had no real chance against the Bolts because of two long drives in the second quarter that helped contribute to the Chargers dominating the time of possession 38 minutes, 31 seconds to 21:29.

Allen got behind safety Delano Howell and cornerback Vontae Davis on a post route for the TD, completing a 12-play, 74-yard march that took 6:14 and gave San Diego a 7-3 lead. It was Allen's second TD catch of the season.

Novak's first field goal capped a drive that went 79 yards in 17 plays in 7:58. The drive was kept alive when cornerback Greg Toler was whistled for illegal contact for pushing receiver Lavelle Hawkins out of bounds on third-and-6 from the Chargers 45.

Luck then completed four straight passes to move the Colts into Chargers territory before Coby Fleener dropped a pass at the 25. Luck scrambled for 6 yards and threw an incompletion before Vinatieri kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired.

On the Colts' only other possession of the second quarter, Darrius Heyward-Bey dropped what likely would have been a long touchdown pass down the right sideline.

''We stunk on third down today,'' Luck said. ''A lot of credit to their defense. I think we made our fair share of mistakes, but I think it's what they did. If we can't convert third downs and drives continually stall like that, it's a short rest for our defense and no points for us, so it's a bad combination.''

Novak also had field goals of 33, 34 and 50 yards, with the final one coming with 1:55 left. Vinatieri had kicks of 30, 50 and 51 yards.

Chargers cornerback Derek Cox snuffed out Indy's final chance when he intercepted a pass that was tipped by receiver Reggie Wayne with 1:07 to play.

Rivers was 22 of 33 for 237 yards and no interceptions. Luck was 18 of 30 for 202 yards.

Wayne got his 1,000th career reception in the fourth quarter on a 21-yard pass from Luck. Wayne had five catches for 88 yards, giving him 1,001 for his career. He passed Hines Ward (1,000) for eighth place on the NFL list.

''It's a great honor,'' Wayne said. ''It's a humbling experience to be in an elite class with a bunch of guys who have helped pave the way for guys like myself. I wish it was more of a greater celebration. I would rather take the `W' than any accolades.''

The Colts opened the game with a flea-flicker, with Trent Richardson taking the handoff and tossing the ball back to Luck, who completed a 35-yard pass to Wayne. The drive bogged down at the Chargers 11, leading to Vinatieri's 30-yard field goal.

San Diego established its running game with 147 yards. Ryan Mathews ran for 102 yards on 22 carries for his first 100-yard game of the season.

There were family ties in this one: Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano beat older brother Chuck, the Colts' coach.

''Give John Pagano the credit he deserves,'' Chargers coach Mike McCoy said. ''He did an outstanding job of getting these players ready. It's him and the rest of the whole defensive staff.''

Power Rankings Week Seven: The best conference in college football is …

We can all agree on this, even if we disagree on most everything else: The gap between the Pac-12 and the SEC – or the SEC and the Pac-12, depending on your conference allegiance – is far slimmer than the gap between these two conference powers and, say, the Big 12 and the Big Ten. 

In other words, we all agree that the Pac-12 and the SEC are the two top leagues in college football, even if we might disagree on the order. For The Win’s conference power rankings has the Pac-12 first, followed closely by the SEC. But it’s close! After Week 7, here’s how we rank the six major FBS leagues:

Pac-12: Stanford’s loss hurts, obviously, but Utah’s win helps support the contention that the Pac-12 is the deepest conference in the country. Make sense? Oh, and Oregon’s pretty solid, I guess.

SEC: It’s all a bit jumbled, but one thing seems certain: If not as deep as it has been in the recent past, the SEC is still pretty good.

Big 12: Oklahoma falls, so Baylor is now officially carrying the flag for the entire conference. (Go back in time and say that sentence to your 2004 self and take a picture of your reaction.)

Big Ten: Only one title contender, Ohio State, but the Big Ten has several teams jostling for 10 wins during the regular season. These teams will then lose to an SEC opponent in a series of January bowls.

ACC: Three really good teams, maybe another one or two good teams and then a bunch of teams that have winning or average records only because they are playing each others.

AAC: The American has Louisville, which is just great. (Though Louisville heads to the ACC in 2014.) Here’s a question: Is the American better than the Mountain West Conference?