The Old Way and the Neuheisel Way

Mark these words: Washington will win eight or more games this year. Six will be fourth-quarter comebacks. Expect a field goal to carom off an upright to produce one victory, an opposing quarterback to fall down on a fourth-down naked bootleg to save another and one win to come after Coach Rick Neuheisel sprinkles magic dust on the kicker’s foot.

Or, maybe, just maybe, this is the year Neuheisel’s luck runs out.

Three years at Washington have produced a 19-5 record, a Rose Bowl championship, nothing lower than second place in the Pacific 10 Conference and, inevitably, some backlash.

Last year’s 8-4 Holiday Bowl team went 5-1 in games decided by five or fewer points. The squad that won the 2001 Rose Bowl game trailed in eight of its 11 victories and pulled off five consecutive fourth-quarter comebacks in one stretch.

Washington opens Saturday, at Michigan, with every intention of further milking this combination of talent and trickery.

Last year, Michigan had the game won in Seattle before Washington blocked a field-goal attempt for a score and ran back an interception to pull out a 23-18 win.Yet, despite the usual high expectations, the feeling in Washington is not as happy-go-lucky. Neuheisel, not close to his prime at 41, has gone from an offensive coach into defensive mode.

He started it, instigating an off-season squabble among Pac-10 coaches over recruiting that ended with Neuheisel begging forgiveness and conference Commissioner Tom Hansen calling for a truce.

“I regret it got personal in the papers,” Hansen said. “I certainly don’t expect to have that happen again.”

In August, Neuheisel was summoned to Philadelphia to answer for 51 alleged NCAA violations during his four years as Colorado coach.

Although the potential infractions are considered secondary, they do cast a shadow.

“It’s never been my intention to be ‘slick’ or ‘shady,’ ” Neuheisel explained recently.

No one has come out and called Neuheisel a cheater. Rather, the complaint is that he interprets the NCAA rule book sort of the way Bill Clinton interprets the definition of “is.”

A UCLA graduate with a law degree from USC, Neuheisel does not deny using his legal mind to navigate prickly NCAA issues.

Hansen, whose conference monitors its institutions on rules issues, says he does not expect Neuheisel to become a serial infractions offender.

What Hansen did say was, “Rick is trying to see where the edge is all the time.”

Colorado Coach Gary Barnett, who inherited most of the NCAA mess of his predecessor, doesn’t think Neuheisel is a scoundrel.

What Barnett said was, “Rick does it by the letter of the law, but not the spirit.”

Most of the charges levied against Neuheisel at Colorado could be considered garden variety, mostly unauthorized contacts with recruits--they’re known in the Southeastern Conference as parking tickets.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the situation is the depths to which educated men will go to beat the recruiting pants off other educated men.

Example: NCAA rules prohibit a head coach from visiting a recruit off-campus more than once, yet the coach can make phone calls.

Neuheisel says he would get around this rule by parking his car across the street of a recruit and then having the player look out his window. Then, Neuheisel would flash his car lights to let the recruit know he was there.

The NCAA called him on this one, yet was it technically a violation?

“I read the rules,” Neuheisel said.

Neuheisel says, in recruiting, there is nothing wrong with taking every available advantage.

“I’m not going to curtail creativity,” he said. “That’s our culture. That’s who we are. That’s our country, people trying to get better.”

Where does it end?

There may come a point, maybe soon, when Neuheisel grows tired of answering rule-book questions and seeks the next logical challenge. Terry Donahue, his old college coach, is general manager of the San Francisco 49ers and an executive who does not always appear in harmony with Steve Mariucci.

The 49ers are only one team that might solicit the services of a 41-year-old coach with a Midas touch.

The NFL may not be the end-all for Neuheisel, but the upside in pro ball is no NCAA committee on infractions and no need to flick on your high beams.

Pac Bits

If you can’t qualify for a bowl game out of the Pac-10 this year, you’re not trying. The conference now has six ties to bowl games with the addition of the Insight.com and Silicon Valley bowls. What hasn’t changed: The conference champion will play in the Rose Bowl, which returns to the traditional format after last year’s bowl championship series title game, with the No. 2 and No. 3 schools going to the Holiday and Sun bowls.

The Insight.com Bowl will pit the Pac-10 No. 4 versus the Big East No. 3, the Las Vegas Bowl will match the Pac-10 No. 5 with the Mountain West No. 2 and the Silicon Valley Classic will feature the Pac-10 No. 6 versus Western Athletic Conference’s No. 2.

Don’t try to purchase tickets for the following games this year: Arizona-USC, Arizona State-UCLA, California-Oregon, Oregon State-Washington State or Stanford-Washington. These games are “misses” on the 2002 Pac-10 schedule.

Looking for a positive note to usher in the Jeff Tedford era at Cal? The Golden Bears have a good shot to extend their winning streak to three games. After starting 0-10 last year, they closed with a victory at Rutgers and open the 2002 season at home against Baylor and New Mexico State, which combined to go 8-15.

Schools were allowed 12 games this year because of an extra Saturday in the fall, yet Stanford has elected to stick with its 11-game schedule. Give the Cardinal credit for keeping its priorities straight, although lost revenue isn’t as much of a concern in Palo Alto as other places. Also, not playing an extra game early in the season gives Stanford an extra week to figure out a way to finally beat San Jose State.