Edinboro 6-foot 9-inch  junior center Bryan Theriot had the support of his parents Curtis and Cheryl, who for two years would make the drive from Middleburg, Ohio, to see the Fighting Scots men play at home or at some reasonably distanced sites on the road.

Enter sister Rachel, who like her older brother starred at Midpark High School in the Cleveland area. Rachel accepted a scholarship to Division I Nebraska, where the 6-foot point guard has started 25-of-31 games as a freshman for the 25-9 Cornhuskers of coach Connie Yori, who contended for the Big 10 regular season title and lost in the semifinals of the tournament, then reached the Division I Sweet Sixteen before falling to No. 5 Duke 53-45.

The folks have been putting on the miles to watch both of their younger children. Two older boys did not pursue athletics.

“They have been hopping in rent-a-cars and driving where they can to see both of us play,” said Bryan, who i averaged 18.4 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Division II Scots. Edinboro finished 18-10 in the PSAC West, losing to champion Indiana 89-87 in overtime in the second round of the playoffs. Theriot missed five games with a knee injury. Theriot played three seasons for coach Greg Walcavich, who resigned after 24 seasons at Edinboro. Assistant Pat Cleary, who helped recruit Theriot, was elevated to head coach.

“The nice thing is, we play Wednesdays and Saturdays, and they play Thursdays and Sundays,” Bryan said. “I’m able to live-stream their games, and Nebraska played Purdue on a CBS game that went overtime that I was able to watch. You can also see games on the  Big Ten Network.”

Rachel, with imposing size for guard, averaged 6.2 points, 2.8 rebounds,and 3.0 assists. She had 12 points and 3 assists in a 77-59 win over Tennessee-Chattanooga in the first round of the tournament, and 7 points and 3 assists as the Huskers, a  No. 6 seed, upset 3 seed Texas A&M 74-63. She had 7 points and 2 assists in the loss to powerhouse Duke.

“She had offers elsewhere, but she picked Nebraska (under 11th-year coach Connie Yori), and luckily they moved to the Big Ten. Lincoln (Neb.) is a long haul, but they can easily make it to places like Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State and even Penn State,” Bryan Theriot said. “Our parents just love to follow us, and we’re grateful for that.”

– Bob Jarzomski

Let’s recap Week 12, shall we?

Game of the week: No. 14 Stanford at No. 1 Oregon

Final score: Cardinal 17, Ducks 14 (OT)

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Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 12.

Game of the week: No. 14 Stanford Cardinal (8-2, 6-1 Pac-12) at No. 1 Oregon Ducks (10-0, 7-0 Pac-12), Saturday, 8 p.m., WJET (ABC)

Pregame rant: The Ducks are No. 1 in both national polls and second in the BCS standings, but all that will mean nothing if they fall to Stanford.

They won’t, though. The Cardinal aren’t going into Eugene with a redshirt freshman quarterback and beating the Ducks in their final regular-season home game.

Don’t get me wrong. Kevin Hogan is good. Real good.

He was clutch in last week’s win against Oregon State in his first collegiate start. In addition, Stanford is first in the nation in rushing defense.

The Cardinal are allowing 58.60 yards on the ground. So they’re up to the challenge of stopping Heisman candidate Kenjon Barner, who is second in points with 120 (20 TDs) and fourth in rushing (136 ypg.).

Barner had what looked like a right hand or wrist injury against Cal. He’ll likely play Saturday, but if it keeps him from being the difference maker he is, the Ducks could be in the trouble.

The problem for Stanford is it will have the same problem every other team has had against the Ducks. You fall behind early and can’t go score for score with them.

Say Stanford trails 14-0 or 17-3 or 21-10 by the midway point in the second quarter. It will be down 42-20 going into the fourth.

No one can go score for score with the Ducks. No one.

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Let’s recap Week 11, shall we?

Game of the week: No. 15 Texas A&M at No. 1 Alabama

Final score: Aggies 29, Tide 24

Pregame rant: Texas A&M has won seven of its last eight games since losing its opener. The Aggies’ two conference losses are to Florida and LSU.

Those defeats aside,  Texas A&M has made a better adjustment to SEC football than Missouri has. So the Aggies will be ready Saturday. The question is will that matter against the Tide?

Alabama is No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (9.11 points allowed a game), but LSU exposed that D a little bit. The  Aggies are fourth in the nation in scoring offense (44.67 points a game).

If freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel is on his game, the Tide will have their hands full. One of the most exciting players in college football, Manziel has 2,527 yards passing, 922 yards rushing and 31 total touchdowns (16 passing, 15 rushing).

Post-game commentary: Johnny Football was on his game as was his teammates.

As a result, No. 1 is no more for Alabama.

Manziel threw for 253 yards and two scores, ran for a game-high 92 yards more and was the difference Texas A&M stunning the defending national champions.

The Crimson Tide can still play for an SEC title if they take care of rival Auburn at home in two weeks. With the Tigers being 2-8 and coming off an embarrassing 38-0 home loss to rival Georgia, the Tide shoudn’t have a problem with them.

If somehow ‘Bama  blows that game and Texas A&M gets in that conference championship game, the Dawgs will have their hands full.

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Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 11.

Game of the week: No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies (7-2, 4-2 SEC) at No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0, 6-0 SEC), Saturday, 3:30 p.m., WSEE (CBS)

Pregame rant: Texas A&M has won seven of its last eight games since losing its opener. The Aggies’ two conference losses are to Florida and LSU.

Those defeats aside,  Texas A&M has made a better adjustment to SEC football than Missouri has. So the Aggies will be ready Saturday. The question is will that matter against the Tide?

Alabama is No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (9.11 points allowed a game), but LSU exposed that D a little bit. The  Aggies are fourth in the nation in scoring offense (44.67 points a game).

If freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel is on his game, the Tide will have their hands full. One of the most exciting players in college football, Manziel has 2,527 yards passing, 922 yards rushing and 31 total touchdowns (16 passing, 15 rushing).

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Let’s recap Week 9 shall we?

Game of the week: No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 8 Oklahoma

Final score: Irish 30, Sooners 13

Pregame rant: This is the Irish’s toughest test yet. Oklahoma’s lone loss was to No. 4 Kansas State, which has risen to the top of the Big 12.

It’s a classic match-up. Oklahoma is averaging 488.17 yards and 44.67 points a game. Notre Dame is allowing just 280.71 yards and 9.43 points a game.

Something has to give.

Post-game commentary: The Irish didn’t give.

Oklahoma rushed for just 15 yards on 24 rushing attempts in falling to Notre Dame at home. The Sooners may have given up on the run too early, but they couldn’t have expected the Irish’s offense to hit them so many big plays last week.

Before this game, I thought all the talk about Notre Dame senior linebacker Manti Te’o winning the Heisman Trophy was a bit much.

After seeing how he leads the best defense in the nation outside of Alabama’s, I’m rethinking my votes. He had 11 tackles, a sack and an interception last week. Great player.

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Here are three college football games worth watching in Week 9.

Game of the week: No. 5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-0) at No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners (5-1, 3-1 Big 12), Saturday, 8 p.m., WJET (ABC)

Pregame rant: This is the Irish’s toughest test yet. Oklahoma’s lone loss was to No. 4 Kansas State, which has risen to the top of the Big 12.

It’s a classic match-up. Oklahoma is averaging 488.17 yards and 44.67 points a game. Notre Dame is allowing just 280.71 yards and 9.43 points a game.

Something has to give.

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Let’s recap Week 7, shall we?

Game of the week: No. 17 Stanford at No. 7 Notre Dame

Final score: Irish 20, Cardinal 13 (OT)

Pregame rant: The Irish have an offensive-minded coach in Brian Kelly, but have relied on their defense to win games. Allowing 7.78 points a game, Notre Dame is second only to top-ranked Alabama in scoring defense.

The Irish are first in touchdowns allowed with three.

However, Stanford has the type of offense that can grind it out and impose its will on a defense. Stepfan Taylor is 15th in the nation in rushing with 560 yards and five touchdowns. If the Cardinal can consistently block Irish senior stud linebacker Manti Te’o, who has 48 stops, Taylor will have room to run.

If not, it will be business as usual for Te’o and the Irish defense.

Post-game commentary: The debate over whether Taylor scored or not from the 1-yard line in OT is a valid one, but someone explain how you run the same play, bad weather or not, on 3rd and 4th down out of a tight formation with everyone in the box to stop the run.

What this game tells me is if you’re playing Notre Dame, better put them away early. The Irish have won three games by seven points or less. They beat Purdue 20-17, Michigan 13-6 and Stanford in overtime.

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Here are three games worth watching in Week 7.

Game of the week: No. 17 Stanford Cardinal (4-1, 2-1 Pac-12) at No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, (5-0), Saturday, 3:30 p.m., WICU (NBC).

Pregame rant: The Irish have an offensive-minded coach in Brian Kelly, but have relied on their defense to win games. Allowing 7.78 points a game, Notre Dame is second only to top-ranked Alabama in scoring defense.

The Irish are first in touchdowns allowed with three.

However, Stanford has the type of offense that can grind it out and impose its will on a defense. Stepfan Taylor is 15th in the nation in rushing with 560 yards and five touchdowns. If the Cardinal can consistently block Irish senior stud linebacker Manti Te’o, who has 48 stops, Taylor will have room to run.

If not, it will be business as usual for Te’o and the Irish defense.

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Let us recap Week 7, shall we?

Baylor (4-2, 1-2 Big 12) at No. 17 Texas A&M (4-2, 2-1)

Pregame rant: The Bears have a quarterback in junior Robert Griffin III who is flat out one of the best players in the nation. Check the numbers: 114-of-142, 1,520 yards, 19 touchdowns and just ONE interception. Once you get in conference play, teams do start to figure guys out, but A&M has its hands full with this guy.

Postgame commentary: Griffin threw for 430 yards, three touchdowns to one interception, but Texas A&M got an even better performance from its quarterback – senior Ryan Tannehill – and walloped the  Bears, 55-28. Tannehill threw for 415 yards and six touchdowns to one interception. The Aggies helped their cause by rushing for 266 yards.

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