The Official 2008/2009 NCAA Football Thread

[titsrock]

Is Notre Dame's broader problem the fact that there aren't enough "academically strong" high school football players anymore?

Notre Dame lowered requirements for Lou Holtz and brought in Tony Rice, Chris Zorich and others and that brought them their last National Championship.

They lowered their standards again in the late 90s...and that brought about the Kim Dunbar scandal.

They are at the level of Vandy, Duke, Stanford, Northwestern and have to scrap with these schools for most of their players.

Notre Dame could lower their standards and "help" Charlie Weis but next year they will benefit greatly from one of the easiest schedules in the nation.

http://www.uhnd.com/football-items/future-notre-dame-schedules/

It will be a joke if they end up in the BCS next season (which they will based on that schedule)....

The other factor is maybe Charlie Weis is a terrible evaluator of high school talent. Jimmy Clausen looks a complete bust and I can't say it's because he has crappy players around him. Shouldn't he "elevate" the team somehow?

 

[D-rock]

Is Notre Dame's broader problem the fact that there aren't enough "academically strong" high school football players anymore?

Notre Dame lowered requirements for Lou Holtz and brought in Tony Rice, Chris Zorich and others and that brought them their last National Championship.

They lowered their standards again in the late 90s...and that brought about the Kim Dunbar scandal.

They are at the level of Vandy, Duke, Stanford, Northwestern and have to scrap with these schools for most of their players.

Notre Dame could lower their standards and "help" Charlie Weis but next year they will benefit greatly from one of the easiest schedules in the nation.

http://www.uhnd.com/football-items/future-notre-dame-schedules/

It will be a joke if they end up in the BCS next season (which they will based on that schedule)....

The other factor is maybe Charlie Weis is a terrible evaluator of high school talent. Jimmy Clausen looks a complete bust and I can't say it's because he has crappy players around him. Shouldn't he "elevate" the team somehow?

I think the fact that other colleges can compete on an unfair field as far as academics (or at least what the institution is supposed to teach) is one of the main reason the military academies haven't done well in over half a century. They used to be good.

 

[Skyraider22]

Weis still has a job how do you guys feel about that should he keep it or should they let him go. I think they did right by keeping him until the end of next season. He seems to have the talent but not the coaching,but hey that is what I think.

 

[LUVbigboobs]

^
Oh I agree without question that Crabtree would be the most coveted one of all of them. The QBs you mentioned are all pro prospects....just not sure how high they would go. If McCoy comes out, I say he is a 2nd or 3rd rounder right now. As senior, he should go higher (especially if he adds to his outstanding performance this year). Bradford may be the best of them all. Harrell? Hard to judge him....QBs from Tech historically haven't done well in the NFL. Will Tebow's ability translate to the NFL? Hard to say. Robinson is a solid passer who should also be a good prospect for the pros.

I say whichever QB wins the National Title game will likely get the Heisman if it includes either Oklahoma, Florida or Texas. If not, it's up for grabs.

Yeah, I often hear it stated about Texas Tech quarterbacks that their college success is more the product of Mike Leach's system than of them being bona fide NFL prospects. Kinda like guys like Andre Ware and David Klingler from Houston in the early 90s. Those guys broke all kinds of records in college but neither one of them ever amounted to much in the pros (though Andre Ware, at least, now seems to be doing pretty well as a TV color commentator for college football ). But a similar thing has happened to OU quarterbacks of late, has it not? I can't think of a single Sooner quarterback from the last decade who has gone to the NFL and done particularly well there even though most of them were pretty well thought of as collegians. As for Tim Tebow I heard a discussion about him just the other day that he isn't quite ready for the NFL, yet (if he ever will be), and that his talents are better suited to the college game. I guess we'll find out someday. Not that I care all that much - I rarely watch the NFL these days so once a player leaves college I don't really pay a whole lot of attention to how he's doing the next level up. But with all the talk about those guys this year I was just curious about what you people feel about them as potential pros.

 

[E-Ann-Hilden]

My criticism is on point. I have nothing against Ohio State or Oklahoma. If I had to live in Buckeyeville or Okieland I would pick Buckeyeville.

My main criticism with Ohio State football is that for all the talent it has, they play a very boring game. They pound the ball and throw it around (when they have to). I'd prefer to see some creativity out of them. They did go with 4WR sets when they had Gonzalez and other WRs in recent times, but this year it was hand the ball off to Beanie and play Defense. Part of that reason is because Terrell Pryor is still a freshman who can't throw the ball at the Div1 level yet. He will improve in time. I'm patient enough, as a general CFB fan, to wait around for him to develop.

Okie is a creative offense. They go with the no huddle and they have a spread the ball ******. I don't think they have the Defense to win the National Championship this year. ALthough, they might be able to simply outscore their opponents now. They are an interesting team right now.

I believe Florida is the best all-around team right now. I think USC is second. USC's offense is "fragile" imo. Yes they put up 30+ on Notre Dame but it was a sloppy performance offensively. Their D is so dominating that it can cover up mistakes on offense which Okie, Florida, Bama, Texas don't make.

Ohio State didn't do enough this year to warrant a place in the BCS. USC graduates 7 and might lose 9 Defensive players to the NFL. They will be a 10 point underdog in the Shoe next season and Ohio State will be able to get revenge and make a big early statement in 09.

They of course dont throw the ball all the time like the spread crazy NCAA. The Buck's use a pro-style offense base, strong ground game with Wells and rely on their strong defense, which is there strongest suit. Boeckman had two lead feet and Pryor is still learning. You always play to your teams talents. This is same format that won them the 2002 BCS title.

The only way they would make the BCS, is if a bowl wants a big draw and all the other prime teams have commitments. Again, I am a Buckeye fan and they should not been the BCS, but they are a two loss team. Dont forget everyones favorite SEC hype team last had 2 losses as well and made it to the BCS. So it would not be crazy if they did. But other teams are more worthy like Utah.

 

[E-Ann-Hilden]

I find your criticism of the Buckeyes interesting. As I recall, the Oklahoma Sooners lost in both the 2004 and 2005 national championship games (in the 2005 one by 36 points to USC in a game that wasn't even that "close") and they haven't actually won a bowl game in several years, and yet I don't see you criticizing the Oklahoma Sooner football team. Why not? Is it because you have some kind of vendetta against the Ohio State Buckeyes, or because you're an Oklahoma Sooner football fan, or what?

Thank you! :glugglug:

 

[LUVbigboobs]

Is Notre Dame's broader problem the fact that there aren't enough "academically strong" high school football players anymore?

Notre Dame lowered requirements for Lou Holtz and brought in Tony Rice, Chris Zorich and others and that brought them their last National Championship.

They lowered their standards again in the late 90s...and that brought about the Kim Dunbar scandal.

They are at the level of Vandy, Duke, Stanford, Northwestern and have to scrap with these schools for most of their players.

Notre Dame could lower their standards and "help" Charlie Weis but next year they will benefit greatly from one of the easiest schedules in the nation.

http://www.uhnd.com/football-items/future-notre-dame-schedules/

It will be a joke if they end up in the BCS next season (which they will based on that schedule)....

The other factor is maybe Charlie Weis is a terrible evaluator of high school talent. Jimmy Clausen looks a complete bust and I can't say it's because he has crappy players around him. Shouldn't he "elevate" the team somehow?

I don't like Jimmy Clausen, either. I've mentioned before that I'm actually a Notre Dame football fan. I've also mentioned that even though I am, I am not one of these people who believes that every Notre Dame football player is a future NFL Hall-of-Famer. I actually liked Notre Dame's last quarterback (shoot, I've forgotten his name already), but Jimmy Clausen? He sucks, as far as I'm concerned. As to why Notre Dame hasn't won a national title in football in two decades and hasn't even won a bowl game in over a decade, now, and generally doesn't really even excel all that much at football, at least when compared to how Notre Dame used to do in football? I'm sure one could point to many factors, but I think two of the biggest ones are A) that in college football there's much more of a "level playing field" than there used to be when it comes to obtaining top high school football talent, and (this is one that can apply to ANY team, ANYWHERE, in ANY sport) B) coaching. I wasn't sure how Charlie Weis was going to do when Notre Dame hired him after the 2004 season, but after a fairly impressive start there it's obvious that he's tailed off somewhat. What I CAN state with a fair amount of certainty is that Notre Dame probably would have been better off with the guy they wanted but did not get - Urban Meyer. I think Urban Meyer's results, both at Utah and at Florida, speak for themselves. As, for that matter, do Charlie Weis'.

My criticism is on point. I have nothing against Ohio State or Oklahoma. If I had to live in Buckeyeville or Okieland I would pick Buckeyeville.

My main criticism with Ohio State football is that for all the talent it has, they play a very boring game. They pound the ball and throw it around (when they have to). I'd prefer to see some creativity out of them. They did go with 4WR sets when they had Gonzalez and other WRs in recent times, but this year it was hand the ball off to Beanie and play Defense. Part of that reason is because Terrell Pryor is still a freshman who can't throw the ball at the Div1 level yet. He will improve in time. I'm patient enough, as a general CFB fan, to wait around for him to develop.

Okie is a creative offense. They go with the no huddle and they have a spread the ball ******. I don't think they have the Defense to win the National Championship this year. ALthough, they might be able to simply outscore their opponents now. They are an interesting team right now.

I believe Florida is the best all-around team right now. I think USC is second. USC's offense is "fragile" imo. Yes they put up 30+ on Notre Dame but it was a sloppy performance offensively. Their D is so dominating that it can cover up mistakes on offense which Okie, Florida, Bama, Texas don't make.

Ohio State didn't do enough this year to warrant a place in the BCS. USC graduates 7 and might lose 9 Defensive players to the NFL. They will be a 10 point underdog in the Shoe next season and Ohio State will be able to get revenge and make a big early statement in 09.

Okay, fair enough. But I still disagree with you 100% that the Ohio State football team doesn't deserve a spot in a BCS bowl this season. They finished 10 - 2 in a BCS conference that is recognized as one of the keystone football conferences in all the land and their two losses were to Penn State and USC, two teams that won their respective conferences this year and that are traditional football powers in their own right. Whether you like Ohio State's style of football or not, those facts mean the Buckeyes should be in a BCS bowl this season, in my book.

 

[Baill Inneraora]

My main criticism with Ohio State football is that for all the talent it has, they play a very boring game. They pound the ball and throw it around (when they have to). I'd prefer to see some creativity out of them. They did go with 4WR sets when they had Gonzalez and other WRs in recent times, but this year it was hand the ball off to Beanie and play Defense. Part of that reason is because Terrell Pryor is still a freshman who can't throw the ball at the Div1 level yet. He will improve in time. I'm patient enough, as a general CFB fan, to wait around for him to develop.
.

If you play in the mid-west in November, you better be able to run the football, because that through the ball all over spred doesn't work in the cold, know and howling winds you get off the Great Lakes.

 

[LUVbigboobs]

I think the fact that other colleges can compete on an unfair field as far as academics (or at least what the institution is supposed to teach) is one of the main reason the military academies haven't done well in over half a century. They used to be good.

You have to remember that almost all the players who play football at any of the military academies didn't go there to play football. They went there with the goal of becoming officers in the military and in someday serving their country. The kinds of players who really excel in sports generally don't choose that path in life. They'd rather make big bucks in the NFL or the NBA if they can. So it shouldn't come as any great surprise that the best high school football players aren't exactly beating the door down to go to school in Annapolis, West Point, or Colorado Springs. Those teams, when they win, do so with structure and with discipline 'cuz, generally speaking, they SURE aren't gonna beat your team with TALENT.

Weis still has a job how do you guys feel about that should he keep it or should they let him go. I think they did right by keeping him until the end of next season. He seems to have the talent but not the coaching,but hey that is what I think.

Even though I am a Notre Dame football fan I really don't care what happens to Charlie Weis. Did Notre Dame do the right thing in keeping him for next season? I really have no idea, but I will state that with all the talk the last few days about his fate in South Bend I thought that they would keep him for next season, mostly because of the amount of money they invested in him when they signed him to that big contract. I tell you what, though - with 15 losses the last two seasons, more losses than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have EVER previously had over the course of two seasons in football in their entire history, I think that Charlie Weis will be on a VERY "short leash" for next season and if they put in the kind of season next year that they have the last couple of years, it's then when I think the Golden Domers might just pull the plug on Mr. Weis' career there.

If you play in the mid-west in November, you better be able to run the football, because that through the ball all over spred doesn't work in the cold, know and howling winds you get off the Great Lakes.

Thank you. That's something I should have mentioned in my post. The weather later in the season in the midwest isn't conducive to fancy, high-flying offenses like you see in warmer weather areas of the country. As the other poster stated, if you know what you're doing you play to your strengths - Ohio State's are, and always have been, a strong running game and tough defense. I have no problem with the way Ohio State plays football. Matter of fact, the slugfest the Buckeyes lost to Penn State this year will probably go down as one of my favorite football games of all time. Hard hitting, tough defense, give-no-ground football. THAT'S the kind of football a player from just about ANY era could love!!

They of course dont throw the ball all the time like the spread crazy NCAA. The Buck's use a pro-style offense base, strong ground game with Wells and rely on their strong defense, which is there strongest suit. Boeckman had two lead feet and Pryor is still learning. You always play to your teams talents. This is same format that won them the 2002 BCS title.

The only way they would make the BCS, is if a bowl wants a big draw and all the other prime teams have commitments. Again, I am a Buckeye fan and they should not been the BCS, but they are a two loss team. Dont forget everyones favorite SEC hype team last had 2 losses as well and made it to the BCS. So it would not be crazy if they did. But other teams are more worthy like Utah.

See my post, above. Utah will probably get a BCS bowl bid this season, and so should Ohio State. So should Texas (assuming Oklahoma beats Missouri this Saturday) and the loser of this upcoming Saturday's SEC Championship Game (unless, possibly, it's a COMPLETE beat down by 40 points, or something like that). I'll be surprised if any other teams make the "at-large" list for the BCS bowls this season.

 

[rwill25]

I can't wait to see my Sooners blowout Mizzou in the Big 12 Championship game. Oklahoma has about 4 guys on offence that will go in the first round in the NFL draft next year.

Just hoping they can beat the SEC winner in the BCS championship game. I know we will be able to beat Bama easily, but I don't know a out Florida. The Gators play such good defence and have a very explsive offence.

My prediction is Oklahoma vs Florida in Championship w/ final score 45 to 42 Oklahoma.

...but that might be my Sooner bias

 

[titsrock]

If you play in the mid-west in November, you better be able to run the football, because that through the ball all over spred doesn't work in the cold, know and howling winds you get off the Great Lakes.

You have to throw the ball in today's College Football or you won't get skill position players. The spread is the perfect offense for Big11 teams PROVIDED they actually throw the ball downfield rather than a simple dink or doink to the TE in the flat or a 10 yrd out pattern to the sideline...

If Big11 teams run the ball in mid-November, how does that help them win BCS bowl games? It doesn't. Therefore, they need to break out of the stoneage or they'll just stay in the routine of getting hammered in the BCS.

Penn State has a nasty defense and solid ground game. But does anyone here think they will beat USC in the Rose? I don't. Maybe if they come out in a no huddle offense with 5 WR for the first half to try to wear out that SC defense...maybe they'll have a chance.

Nebraska plays in crappy weather too. Same with Okie. Nebraska shitcanned the ground ****** for a West Coast offense (which didn't pan out) and now they're going with the spread + I formation. I think they will slowly climb back to relevance. They saw the need to modernize. And I am rooting for Dan Hawkins to bring Colorado back with his creative offense.

 

[rwill25]

If you play in the mid-west in November, you better be able to run the football, because that through the ball all over spred doesn't work in the cold, know and howling winds you get off the Great Lakes.

The temp in Norman Oklahoma when Texas Tech and Oklahoma played was somewhere in the 30s and that didnt stop Oklahoma from putting up 65. Plus the National Championship will be in Miami where i currently live now, so i doubt cold weather will effect any spread team.

 

[Jason z]

So anybody heard the news about tuberville?? Who's going to replace him at Auburn? Just shows that you can be very sucessful and beat your rival 6 years in a row but the one year you go 5-7 you lose your job. That's how it works in the SEC. Just so competitive.

 

[assholebythedoor]

So anybody heard the news about tuberville?? Who's going to replace him at Auburn? Just shows that you can be very sucessful and beat your rival 6 years in a row but the one year you go 5-7 you lose your job. That's how it works in the SEC. Just so competitive.

I still believe they should give me another chance to explain himself and prove his methods really work, because there may be hope after all. When ever they let someone go too soon that person usually show up some where else and do a better job. Its not the coaches fault. Although it may be

 

[D-rock]

I'm a proponent that you never just run a system that you think is good. That will always lead to problems sooner or later. Good coaching staffs have the ability to see what type of talent they have and then to adjust their play style and system based off of that not ***** a round peg into a square hole because you think you can coach them up all the time. I never got why some college systems just try to run a spread offense or a tradition ground game because that's what they have always done. Good systems can continuously adapt when needed. The only time I can see always going with a system is if it's rarely used and then You Might be able to more easily pick up players better suited for it instead of fighting all the other places for people that use everything else.

 

[assholebythedoor]

A lot of times the players made changes while on the field without the coaches consent which leads to the coaches vulnerability for criticism by who so ever chooses to do so. well, that's just how I understand it

 

[Magnet]

I still believe they should give me another chance to explain himself and prove his methods really work, because there may be hope after all. When ever they let someone go too soon that person usually show up some where else and do a better job. Its not the coaches fault. Although it may be

Didnt he resign?

 

[assholebythedoor]

he may be looking forward to coaching for another assist position. He was just tired of hearing the players back talk him and not getting work done. He was there following the endless efforts. There is not a coach that would tell you they like to lose they enjoy the ride. Once you have it figured out, you get a conscious. That conscious that sticks with you will tell you different things. We'll what has been said and done is over with. Now there's not to much you can do about it. At one point I guess he could of returned. It just wouldn't of been the right choice. Well, for a better understanding, if he coaches again, watch what will be different. There won't be much missing from the memory. As once being a coach I know how that would be.

 

[maildude]

You have to remember that almost all the players who play football at any of the military academies didn't go there to play football. They went there with the goal of becoming officers in the military and in someday serving their country. The kinds of players who really excel in sports generally don't choose that path in life. They'd rather make big bucks in the NFL or the NBA if they can. So it shouldn't come as any great surprise that the best high school football players aren't exactly beating the door down to go to school in Annapolis, West Point, or Colorado Springs. Those teams, when they win, do so with structure and with discipline 'cuz, generally speaking, they SURE aren't gonna beat your team with TALENT.

Tell that to Roger Staubach. AFA Notre Dame: Weis wasn't even their first choice. That was Urban Meyer. Regarding their slide into mediocrity, coaching isn't gonna solve the problem. Just ask Davie and Willingham. Recruiting is the answer. AFA Auburn: I guess the SEC is pretty unforgiving. Last year the Tigers finished a respectable 9-4 with a bowl win over Clemson. Tuberville led the team to a perfect season in 2004. His overall record speaks for itself: 85-40. Now he's gone. Why? Because the spread offense didn't work?

 

[Red001]

tuberville tried to change a power team like Auburn to a spread team without the right players. also the big money booster at Auburn dosen't like him at all.

red001