Read the arguments from Loyal Homer and Bleacher Fan about which games they believe are the best of the upcoming pre-BCS bowl calendar.
Bowl games mean a great deal to football programs. While much of the national complaints about bowl games revolves around the relative irrelevance of various games, My chief complaint is that they are not shown on one day, allowing me to bask in the glory of so much great college football. Instead, the games are spread out over weeks to maximize ratings and exposure. This design while unfortunate for the diehard is good for sponsors, TV, and, of course, the actual football programs.
Many games come to mind when determining the best Pre-BCS bowl game. Loyal Homer picked the always entertaining Chick-Fil-A Bowl (a game I still call the Peach Bowl in conversation). The Holiday Bowl usually is the conveyor of spectacular offense, but is a matchup between defensive minded Arizona and Nebraska this year. I am seeking out a bowl game that features a can’t-miss matchup between to powerhouses, one that may be more subdued this season because of various difficulties the teams encountered on the path to the bowl game (see injuries, last second losses, etc.).
Enter the Sun Bowl, the BEST of the pre-BCS games by far. These are not the two most glamorous teams with the most glamorous players. Sure, Stanford has Heisman Trophy hopeful and running back Toby Gerhart, but he goes not play a glamorous style of football. He plays tough.
Gerhart’s toughness will be matched – and tested – by an extremely gifted defensive line at Oklahoma, a line that features All-American defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. Gerhart – and Stanford – prefer to run the ball up the gut. Against teams like Southern Cal and Notre Dame this strategy proved effective as it exploited one of the weaknesses of the team. Gerhart’s downhill running style benefits from having some holes in the line, and the Stanford line will be tested in this game more than in any other. Oklahoma’s rushing defense ranks seventh in the nation allowing just over 1,000 yards (1,063) in 12 games.
Stanford’s rushing offense ranks twelfth in the nation having racked up 2,692 yards rushing on the season with 36 touchdowns and 5.4 yards per carry. Gerhart is of course the focus of the offense. Gerhart also plays big in big games, leading his team to three wins against ranked opponents. Only three times this season have the Cardinal played ranked opponents, and Gerhart surpassed 175 yards per game in each game, including notching two 200 yard outputs.
Against Washington, a team that was ranked 24th at game time, Gerhart churned out 200 yards on 27 carries, finding the end zone once. Against the seventh ranked Oregon Ducks Gerhart toted the pill a whopping 38 times for 223 yards and three touchdowns. The Cardinal’s last game against a ranked opponent featured the then-eleventh ranked Trojans from Southern Cal. Gerhart ran for 178 yards on 29 carries and scored another three touchdowns. When the game is big, Gerhart plays his best. The offense, and freshman quarterback Andrew Luck will need his impact and leadership, too, against what is still one of the better defenses in college football, despite the five losses.
Oklahoma is a hot team defensively right now, too. The team played poorly against Texas Tech is the second to last game of the season, but the defense turned around the next week and put up a goose egg, holding one of the better offenses in the nation – Oklahoma State – to zero points. The Cowboys were playing for a BCS bowl bid, and Oklahoma completed dominated them in all aspects of the game, holding the offense to a total of 109 net yards – only 62 of which were rushing. Oklahoma has shown that it can control a game on defense even if the offense is not up to the same level.
Stanford has a freshman quarterback. It also has a questionable defense, just as Oklahoma has a questionable offense with a young, inexperienced quarterback and a cobbled together offensive line. While important, this is not the matchup fans tune in for. The big matchup is Gerhart v. McCoy/Oklahoma’s defensive line. The winner gets respect – and maybe even chosen in the top ten of next year’s NFL draft.
Plus, it’s the SUN BOWL. It’s not the Pepsi-Fritos-Snickers-Hungry Man-Bush’s Chili-Cisco-Charmin Bowl. It is the Sun Bowl. How nice is that? Sure, sponsors are present (Brut is actually the title sponsor), but they are not the awkward focus of the action. Brut’s name is in the title, but it is tough to find a website or television program listing that has the game as The Brut Sun Bowl. It’s just the regular old Sun Bowl – for now. It’s even played at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. Since 1935. It’s even older than the Sugar Bowl!
The game’s title is befitting of its classic style. Woody Hayes would watch this game with great interest, and so will I. Afterall, it is the BEST game of this pre-BCS bowl season.
Read the arguments from Bleacher Fan and Loyal Homer about which coaches they believe will replace Charlie Weis as the head coach at Notre Dame.
Don’t look now, Brian Kelly, but you are being followed. No matter where you go, which program you build, which team you coach, or which players you recruit, it seems like success follows you. If Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick is smart, he will invite you – and your fortuitous shadow – to South Bend.
There are many reasons why Brian Kelly makes sense as a head coach for Notre Dame. Irish? Check. Catholic? Check. While neither of those traits are considered mandatory at Notre Dame (Ara Parseghian was Presbyterian), they sure make a decision easy for Swarbrick and company.
More than any conceivable ancillary trait, Kelly has a career full of success. It’s hard to think of a better indicator of future success than past success.
Brian Kelly joined the staff of little known Division II school Grand Valley State in 1987 as a graduate assistant. In two short years he moved his way up to defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. Two short years after that Kelly became the team’s head coach. In 13 seasons as head coach Kelly led the team to five conference titles and six playoff appearances, won two national championships and two coach of the year awards in Division II. In the final three seasons as head coach Kelly’s team only lost two games. Two. Games. Total.
After leaving Grand Valley (a school in Michigan), Kelly took the reins of Central Michigan University. When Kelly arrived the team averages just three wins per season for the previous four seasons. Kelly’s stint as head coach began with a four win season, then a six win season. During the offseason after the six win season Kelly recruited a quarterback named Dan LeFevour. LeFevour quickly won over his teammates as a freshman passing for well over 2,600 yards and throwing five touchdowns. LeFevour ended the 2006 season ranked fourteenth in the country in total offense, and is currently one of the top NFL quarterback prospects to enter the forthcoming 2010 NFL draft.
Kelly is currently at another Midwestern school, Cincinnati. In his first full season with the school in 2007 Kelly secured a ten win season with a bowl victory. The next season Kelly coached the Bearcats to a Big East championship and a BCS appearance in the Orange Bowl, a loss to the strong ACC champion Virginia Tech.
Kelly can coach. Kelly can also recruit quite well, especially in the Midwest. He also has some familiarity with Notre Dame. When Charlie Weis first recruited Demetrius Jones to Notre Dame it was believed that Jones would be the next great Irish quarterback. However, Jones and the head coach did not get along very well (hard to imagine it was all Jones’ fault…). Jones began the 2007 season as the starting quarterback in a loss to Georgia Tech, and so Weis replaced him. Jones demurred, but rather than fight Weis he walked in to Brian Kelly’s office and announced he wanted to play for the Bearcats. Kelly listened to the frustration Jones encountered in South Bend and gave Jones a safe place to land. Kelly convinced Jones to switch from a quarterback to a linebacker (it is tough to image Weis convincing Jones of the same thing). Jones is now an outside linebacker and working his way up the draft board.
Kelly has proven he can coach X’s and O’s and relate to players. Combine those rare traits with the Irish Catholic traits and Notre Dame and Swarbrick are staring at a no brainer decision.
The one mark – potentially – against Kelly is that he has not coached at a school with very strict academic requirements like Notre Dame. This is no small consideration, either. It is possible that coaches that do well relating to and coaching up student athletes that struggle academically will not do as well at Notre Dame given that most football player at Notre Dame are already scholastically strong. However, Kelly has displayed a history of recruiting and coaching smart players, especially at quarterback.
Is Brian Kelly, a coach that has never won a BCS game, ready for the prime time spotlight and unending scrutiny of coaching at Notre Dame? Perhaps not… but is any coach ready? Is it possible to properly prepare for a job like Notre Dame? No. The only preparation a coach can make is to build a successful career. Kelly has done that. More, he has run three successful programs, one for many, many years. As risky coaching hires go, Kelly is low risk. If Urban Meyer fails to win a championship in three seasons at Notre Dame it will be reported that he has lost his touch. If Bob Stoops fails it will be because he lost his touch years ago and Oklahoma fans will be breathing a sigh of relief. Kelly has nothing but upside and potential. Oh, and that success, too.
Read the debate intro and the argument from Loyal Homer that no matter what the circumstances a student-athlete should complete their education.
In respect of the impressive debut from TSD’s newest contributor, Babe Ruthless, I decided to use a classic rock song lyric in my title, too. While my chosen lyric is appropriate, it does boil down a complex issue a little too simply. Encouraging a college player to leave the college environment early is a little bit of a stretch for the Sports Geek (given, ya know… the GEEK part). But, a full analysis of the situation does lead me to believe that a critical point can be reached where an athlete must choose the best use of their time. Sometimes, the best use of time is playing professional sports.
I have incredible respect for former Florida State college football star defensive back Myron Rolle. The New York Times did a substantial story on the scholar athlete and recipient of the Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford across the pond. Rolle intends to become a neurosurgeon after he completes his education (and professional football career, he hopes). He has already started a foundation that is going to build a medical clinic near the Bahamas. Rolle’s scholastic aptitude and ability to juggle the intense lifestyle of a top tier athlete and a top tier academic load is impressive. Still, few athletes approach the type of academic ability that Myron Rolle has.
However, for Rolle, the best use of his time is in scholarship to further his education and prepare for life after football and his ultimate goal of neurosurgery. Rolle is the rarest of rare examples.
Let’s examine two normal, contemporary scenarios (of which Rolle is not) and determine the best course of action.
Scenario 1
You are an unprivileged scholarship athlete in your junior season at a state university. You have worked hard to get good at football in order to create the opportunity for a shot at the professional leagues. Your stats are solid and your grades are not. Is their value in staying in school and completing your education?
No. Take the professional money and develop your career. Many non-athletes do not have college degrees but have gone on to be successful in their chosen career path because of hard work. See Michael Dell and that Bill Gates fella for two examples.
Scenario 2
You are a redshirt junior at a major national university. You are smart, an above average student with an actual major like Finance. You have also completed 69.4 percent of your passes for 2,453 yards and 13 touchdowns. You are the fourteenth most efficient passer in the country, and ranked fourth in completion percentage. Professional scouts are giddy over your potential claiming you are first or second round draft pick material. Do you come back for your final year of eligibility?
No. Despite your college success both on the field and in classroom, Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder, the best use of your time, talents, and resources is to continue to develop your craft at the professional level. While it may not be easy, it is not impossible to suspend a college learning career and come back to it later. It is impossible to suspend an athletic career and come back to it later in hopes of outstanding results.
Most college athletes are not geniuses. For example, Sam Bradford is a football player. He is not the Rhodes Scholar type. Attending another year of class and tip-toeing around strange NCAA rules that dictate who can and cannot purchase you and your roommate dinner is not going to do Bradford any good. The best use of his time is preparing for the draft. Sam Bradford could have received a headline like, “Sam Bradford First Quarterback Taken” or “Sam Bradford Hopes to Rejuvenate the [Team Name]s.” Instead Bradford’s headlines read “Oklahoma’s Bradford Should Have Gone Pro Earlier” or “Sam Bradford Plans to Enter Draft After Surgery.” When a primary job skill is sound decision making, it is fair to query Bradford about his insistence on staying in college. If he has another year of eligibility, but does not have his degree yet, what did this one extra, injury riddled season accomplish for him? Nothing. In fact, the season was a loss. He did not do anything to build his resume for professional teams and he managed to injure his throwing shoulder twice, requiring surgery after the second injury.
Welcome to The Bradford Effect. Any impressive and highly regarded college athlete who chooses to go pro instead of arbitrarily sticking things out in college has learned from The Bradley Effect.
Athletes, what is the best use of your time? Is finishing your education for an advanced post-football career that requires a great deal of training necessary and important? Or, like 99.9% of student athletes, is your education not the primary focus of college, but a hopeful jumping off point to a career in professional sports. The majority of athletes must make the intelligent decision and maximize their potential by aligning their capabilities with their priorities. In other words – Go on, kids… take the money and run.
I have already spent some time this week researching and writing about how I believe the Big XII is a better overall conference than the SEC. Surprisingly, many of our readers did not agree (please take note of the heavy sarcasm). College football fans do not have to wait long to recharge this conference debate, as high rankings and expectations invade Stillwater, Oklahoma Saturday as #13 Georgia visits #9 Oklahoma State in the best game of the upcoming weekend.
This game is important for many reasons. First, one of the biggest stories for college football this season involves which conference is the best conference, and the only two legitimate participants in that debate to begin the season are the SEC and the Big XII. Last season the SEC was a touch better than the Big XII, especially in bowl games as Ole Miss defeated Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl and, of course, Florida crushed Oklahoma in the BCS national title game. But, 2009 is a new season and fans and pundits alike are focusing on this game as the first impression and benchmark to judge if the balance of power in college football has begun to shift.
But this game is more than just conference versus conference. Each team is also struggling for recognition within their respective divisions and conferences. Georgia is living in the shadow of their cocktail cohorts, Florida. Oklahoma State is overshadowed not only by their intrastate rival Oklahoma, but by virtually every other team in the Big XII South (sorry, Baylor). A win for either team changes the way their opponents and the media perceives them. For Georgia, it would be a significant road win against a tough opponent to start the season. There may be more pressure on Oklahoma State to win this game since it is a home game, and since the Cowboys return a powerhouse trio of skill players in junior wide receiver Dez Bryant, senior quarterback Zac Robinson, and junior running back Kendall Hunter.
While Oklahoma State returns important skill players, Georgia is looking to replace several. Gone are starting quarterback Matthew Stafford and starting tailback Knowshon Moreno. Enter Joe Cox and the oft-injured running back Caleb King battling with the impressive new name running back, Richard Samuel.
In short, Oklahoma State – and by extension the Big XII – is expected to win the first big contest of the season. The most pressure is on the Cowboys, and it is becoming obvious. Head coach Mike Gundy this week banned his players from speaking to the media. While I believe sometimes the media gets more bent out of shape that they should about a coaching decision that limits their access, the story does give some insight into the mindset of the coach steering the program. Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples called Gundy’s decision a “classic pucker move.” The decision places even more public pressure on Gundy. Fans do not mind odd behavior from their coach – as long as the team is winning.
Each team shares the spotlight on the first afternoon of college football in the 2009 season. A win is important for the immediate future of each program. If Oklahoma State wins, they are considered legitimate contenders in the Big XII, and Oklahoma is a little more concerned about Bedlam. If Georgia wins in an upset the team gains much needed confidence, not only in more experienced offensive in defensive lines, but also in a new starting quarterback. Winning an important road game against a major conference opponent is a big deal, and a very good way to start the season.
Each program has the opportunity this Saturday to set the tone for their teams, their conferences, and their seasons. Not only will this be the best game of the weekend, it will be the most interesting when considering the far-ranging conference versus conference implications.
It is only day two of football week here at The Sports Debates, and my mouth is watering like my five month old when I get the spoon full of sweet potatoes near his mouth. It is hard to believe that competitive football that counts is just two more agonizing days away.
What a great time to discuss the best college football team of the last decade to NOT win a championship. When considering the many options with my usual historical eye (and the frustration of not being able to select such historical sleepers as the 1981 Pittsburgh Panthers and the 1981 Georgia Bulldogs, for two quick examples), my mind is stuck on the injustice served up to the 2004 Auburn Tigers. With the many political behind the scenes influences that surely berthed the BCS title game of Oklahoma and Southern Cal, Auburn was left on the outside looking in despite finishing their season as division champions, undefeated, and as one of the best college football teams in modern – or any –history.
Auburn finished second in the Associated Press poll in 2004. They leapfrogged the humbled Oklahoma Sooners, who received a severe beat down at the hands of the USC Trojans Auburn even garnered three first place votes to go along with their 13-0 record. What further legitimizes the frustration of Tiger fans around the country is that they WERE in the coveted number two spot in the polling in the middle of November. Normally, if a team is ranked second in the country on November 14, does not lose another game the entire season, AND wins its conference championship game in the unanimously determined toughest conference in college football, they are sure locks for at least one of the two spots in the national title game. For whatever reason, the voters felt Oklahoma should surge ahead of the Tigers just before Thanksgiving in 2004. The shift in voting that put the Sooners ahead prevented the Tigers from having their legitimate shot to prove they were the best team in the country.
It is important to keep from concentrating solely on how the Tigers were wronged. They were also really, REALLY good. The 13-0 record was no joke, as they navigated a very difficult SEC schedule. The first tough game of the season they defeated LSU at home 10-9. The next few tough games were not as close, traveling to Knoxville and beating a very good Tennessee team 34-10, then defeating other SEC West foes Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi by a combined 115-44. Then they ended the season with three consecutive pressure-packed, all or nothing games. First they dominated Georgia 24-6, then traveled to beat hated rival Alabama 21-13 in the Iron Bowl before knocking off Tennessee for a second time 38-28 in the conference championship game.
Conventional thinking about an SEC team (and I am writing this from Ohio, so there is no pro SEC bias) is that SEC teams do not have to take on a tough non-conference schedule because they play eight of the toughest conference games of any team in the nation. I agree completely, and it was true in 2004, as well. The best team in the toughest conference that gets an added bonus of a win in the conference championship game should play in the national title. That simply was not the case in 2004.
The talent on the Auburn Tigers in 2004 was remarkable as well. A record four Auburn Tigers were drafted in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft. In fact, Auburn was the first program in the history of the SEC to have four players drafted in the first round of the NFL draft in the same season. Must have been a good team, eh? The players included three in the top ten: running back Ronnie Brown second, running back Cadillac Williams fifth and cornerback Carlos Rogers ninth. Quarterback Jason Campbell was also taken at pick number 25. The team had other good players, but the offense dominated and hogged the ball while the defense hit hard and held down some potent offenses. (Some people might forget that current New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs was also recruited to this Auburn team, but transferred to Southern Illinois because he could not find playing time.)
The 2004 Auburn Tigers are the best team never to win a national championship because they were penalized for their style. They were not a flashy team that ran up the score like the pass-happy Sooners or a nationally famous showy team like the Trojans. They were from a state that, at the time, had one AP vote (the AP used to comprise a third of the BCS formula in 2004). They did not have the pull to get in the title game, even if they did have the record and the talent.
When chatting with Bleacher Fan about the subject of my article there was some disagreement. Bleacher Fan seems to think that my argument must prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Auburn WOULD have beaten Southern Cal if the title game included those two teams. While I do concede that the BCS failed to properly award a true national champion that season, I refuse to accept the idea that I must prove that one way or another. While I believe that Auburn’s prowess on the ground would have helped them control the clock and keep USC’s explosive offense on the sidelines, and that the Auburn secondary’s hard hitting and penchant for playmaking would have been difficult for USC to score 20+ points on, the fact that Auburn never even got to play in the game is indisputably the most overt injustice toward any team in the history of college football. They were never even afforded the opportunity to prove they belonged on the field – when they very much DID belong with the top programs in the country.
Perhaps a reason the Tigers are not top of everyone’s mind for this dubious moniker is because they were not in the championship game. However, their dynamic offense and fierce defense prove they were a good enough team to compete and win that game. The talent on the team is one of the best collections of offensive talent in the history of NCAA football. They were an undefeated team, an increasingly rare accomplishment in the modern era of college football. They were defeated by politics, not pigskin, and they were the best team never to win a title.
Every year there are surprise Heisman Trophy candidates. We have already debated which of the “Big Three” of 2009 will win the Heisman Trophy this season. Now it is time to debate which sleeper could spoil the year end party at the Downtown Athletic Club. There is a huge list of potential sleepers. The list includes Tennessee defensive back Eric Berry, Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead, Ohio State quarterback Terylle Prior, Penn State running back Evan Royster, Penn State quarterback Daryl Clark, Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant, California running back Jahvid Best, Clemson running back C.J. Spiller, and Georgia Tech running back Jonathan Dwyer. They are all good possibilities – but one stands above the rest, patiently waiting at the intersection of patience and ability. The award is easier for a quarterback to win, and the sneakiest of this sleepy bunch is Ole Miss’ Jevan Snead.
For Jevan Snead to get on the radar of the 870 Heisman Trophy voters, all he has to do is do something he has already done – win. Snead delivered a masterful performance in last year’s Ole Miss-Florida game, outdueling Florida’s Tim Tebow (a athlete Percy Harvin, perhaps a primary reason why Tebow has been as successful as he has been) by throwing for two touchdown passes and running for one more. In the 2008 season, Snead threw for 26 touchdowns in a pro style offense, and ran for three others. He enters this season no longer as the new kid on the block (he transferred out of Texas after losing the quarterback duel to that Colt McCoy guy), having gained the respect of his peers as the undisputed leader of the team.
Ole Miss has a favorable schedule, too. They host Alabama and LSU and play their toughest road game at a rebuilding Auburn. Early in the season they face their toughest road tests of the season against South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Ole Miss could be a surprise undefeated team. We all know how college football poll voters love surprise undefeated teams. The opportunity to play the underdog role in a nationally televised SEC championship – perhaps against Florida, again – is ideal. Then Snead would only need to do something ELSE he has already done – beat Tebow.
Besides his great statistics, Snead also has earned the respect of coaches within his conference. South Carolina head ball coach Steve Spurrier voted Jevan Snead as his top quarterback in the conference over Tim Tebow (… don’t tell me you believe that hogwash that Spurrier made a “mistake” on his ballot?).
Plus, Snead comes from a school that is no stranger to Heisman candidate quarterbacks… though he will be the first one with Manning on the back of his jersey. And, it sounds dumb, but Jevan Snead is a memorable name. The sound of it… it is one of a kind. The kind of name that is hard to forget.
It is much easier for a quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy. While Snead is facing an uphill climb against three other established quarterbacks in college football, there is a path for him to win the trophy. If he can outplay Tebow heads up (like he did last year), match him in statistics (despite Tebow’s softball schedule), and sit back and watch Same Bradford and Colt McCoy split votes, Snead could win the 2009 Heisman Trophy. It is not a sure thing – but I would not count him out.
If you’re a loyal reader of The Sports Debates (and why wouldn’t you be?) you may recall our recent questioning of the Big East as a football conference and whether or not they deserved an automatic BCS bowl game for their conference champion. That topic generated a great deal of additional debate after the verdict was rendered, and the primary argument from those defending the honor of the Big East was that the ACC sucks too, so, lay off the Big East. While I still do not believe that is a valid argument within the context of the Big East-BCS debate (e.g. “that other guy punched someone in the face so I can punch someone in the face, too”), it is fair to call into question how deserving the ACC is. The facts indicate that the ACC has struggled for respect as a football conference. They have performed below expectations in BCS games, selecting the conference winner is not important enough for fans to actually attend the championship game, and since Florida State’s precipitous fall from grace (both on and off the field) the conference has lacked true leadership from a dominant team.
This season, 2009, is the season that turns that around for the ACC. That’s why the most important game in college football’s 2009 season is on October 17th when Georgia Tech hosts Virginia Tech. These two teams are the best in the Coastal Division, with the best offense and defense in the entire league, respectively. In fact, Georgia Tech’s offense and Virginia Tech’s defense were the talk of the ACC’s media week… and with good reason.
The Rambin’ Wreck are destroying defenses with a “fresh” offensive look, as engineered by second year head coach Paul Johnson (you know, the coach that turned Navy into a respectable team). When executed properly, it is a very difficult offense to stop – especially with all-ACC running backs like the stocky and powerful Jonathan Dwyer and the lightning fast Roddy Jones. Bruising backups Anthony Allen and Lucas Cox, combined with the quick Marcus Wright and Embry Peoples, make for the deepest backfield in all of college football. Any combination of those runners may be in the game at the same time, and all have big play potential. Plus the triple option is a tough offense to prepare for (especially considering I did not even mention quarterback Josh Nesbitt). The media writes entire articles only on a team getting READY to play this offense. (Something to watch for: the triple option may be to the ACC what the spread offense is to the SEC. If teams have a hard time stopping it, look for more teams to run it in the near future.)
The decidedly unenviable task of stopping this multi-faceted attack falls to the Virginia Tech defense, led by the great defensive coordinator Bud Foster. Foster’s defenses are known for toughness and discipline (that whole lunch pail thing), and he’ll need to coach up every last element of each for the Hokies to outlast the Yellow Jackets. The inclination to make a play on defense is a sure-fire way for a player to overrun an option play. Foster must teach discipline and focus in addition to the usual toughness that all of his defenses have. Last year’s defense finished the season with a BCS bowl win over Cincinnati and ranked seventh overall in team defense (ninth in scoring, 14th in rushing and 16th in passing). If any defense can take on the increasingly seasoned triple option attack at Georgia Tech, it’s the Hokies’.
Power in the ACC will shift with the outcome of this game. If Georgia Tech wins, the triple option is the story of the season in the ACC and Georgia Tech is positioning itself as the conference superpower. If Virginia Tech wins, they will further cement their status as the ACC’s benchmark for success and the league’s domain team.
Last year Virginia Tech hosted the game in Blacksburg and won by a field goal. This year the Hokies must go on the road and play in Atlanta in the thick of their ACC conference schedule. This crucial game is sandwiched between Boston College and North Carolina. If the Hokies win, it is a big time, legitimate win on a national scale.
Not only will this be an excellent and compelling matchup within the first six weeks of the season, this game has extremely important ramifications. The winner could go on to dominate the conference and win a BCS bowl game. For the ACC to regain a modicum of respect amongst the college football elite teams and talking heads, they need to field at least one dominant program. No pundit or fan buys the idea that the ACC suffers from excessive balance. The oft-talked balance looks a whole like mediocrity. This game could change the critical tone.
Bottom line, if the ACC proves itself worthy, college football as a whole improves. Sure, Texas will be good, Florida will be good, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will draw attention, BYU could spoil the BCS party, and Ohio State or Penn State could earn respect this season. But, we all know those teams are good, and will be good for years to come. This is a pivotal year for the ACC as a football conference. They need to earn respect now. Planting the seeds of respect this year will catapult the ACC to respectability. That’s why the “Battle of the Techs” is the most important game in college football this year. It may potentially sound the football death knell for a long established conference, or bring the fight back to the ACC, and respect back to the gridiron – instead of just being the South’s OTHER conference.
Read Sports Geek’s argument that a pre-season poll should forecast how the season will end and Loyal Homer’s argument that it should provide a real-time snapshot of the best teams in college football.
Football is just around the corner. As we wait with bated breath for the release of the college football preseason top 25 rankings, questions abound regarding where the each team will fall.
Florida is a likely candidate for the number one spot, but what about Texas, or Oklahoma? Where does the Pac-10 or the Big Ten come into the equation? How do you rank Southern Cal and Ohio State when they will be playing each other early in September?
With all the speculation swirling around, it makes me wonder how to interpret the pre-season polls once they are released. For example, if Florida does in fact receive the number one ranking, does that mean that the pollsters feel that the Gators are pre-season favorites to win the BCS National Championship, or does it mean that they are just ranked as the best team TODAY, and we’ll have to wait and see if they still are the best team tomorrow?
For the 2008 season, Georgia was named the pre-season number one team, but they finished the season without even making a BCS appearance, instead facing Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl. Does that mean the pollsters were wrong when they filled out their pre-season ballots, or were the Bulldogs in fact the best team in the country at the time of the polling?
In fairness, no one possesses the clairvoyance of Carnac the Magnificent, so predicting the future is impossible. Does that mean that the pollsters get a bye if their preseason pick for number one loses the first three games of the season?
It is for this reason that I look to my esteemed colleagues for assistance.
What is the better philosophy to employ when a developing a college football pre-season poll?
Obviously these are consensus polls, so opinions will differ from one voter to the next. However, shouldn’t the general principle on who to vote for be the same, regardless of the person voting?
With that thought in mind, Sports Geek will argue that the best philosophy when constructing a pre-season poll is to rank the teams in order of which is most likely to win the National Championship. After all, isn’t that who the number one team is at the end of the season?
On the other hand, Loyal Homer will argue that the best philosophy is to vote based on the current state of the teams. Rather than attempt prognostication, a pollster should rank the teams based solely on who they feel the best team is TODAY, understanding that circumstances arise which may change the status of who the best team is TOMORROW.
Read the Bleacher Fan’s argument that Penn State is the team most that will most likely be undefeated at season’s end and Loyal Homer’s argument that the Florida Gators will go undefeated.
We have a format we write to here at The Sports Debates. Without our format we would each write 2,500 word articles that would bore the crap out of our readers. And, we could do that every day. So, we had to throw in some guidelines to prevent things from getting out of hand. Therefore we try and keep each article we publish between 750-1000 words.
The follow could easily be a 4,000 word post. But, because of our stupid format (which was actually my idea… dang), I’m forced to limit my litany of reasons that the University of Texas Longhorns are the team most likely to undefeated and win the 2009 BCS National Championship. Perhaps it would have been smarter to not waste a bunch of space explaining how I didn’t want to waste space. Oops, did it again.
Here are five reasons why the Texas Longhorns have the best shot to finish the 2009 season undefeated.
Schedule
With respect to the non-conference teams on Texas’ schedule this year, Texas has a weak schedule. The four non-Big 12 teams are Louisiana-Monroe, Wyoming, UTEP, and Central Florida. Not impressive at all. Normally this is not a good point to raise about a team. But, when judging which team is most likely to end 2009 undefeated, a weak schedule sure helps. The Big 12 is believed to be good again this year, but Texas Tech – the lone blemish on their win-loss record last year – lost their top receiver and nation-leading quarterback from last season. While Oklahoma State and Oklahoma both present a challenge this season, the Longhorns handled them last year and bring a more balanced, experience offense to the field this season.
Players
Texas is always long on talent at the skill positions, and 2009 will be no exception. Sixth year wide receiver Jordan Shipley – roommate to quarterback Colt McCoy for several seasons – returns again to provide McCoy with his favorite receiving target. Shipley delivered 89 catches for over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns last season… and showed plenty of toughness when fighting for extra yards. McCoy obviously has skills too, throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 34 touchdowns against just eight interceptions. The forgotten McCoy fact is his rushing ability. He scampered for nearly 600 yards last season on 136 carries, scoring 11 touchdowns on the ground including a long of 35. He can run the ball and presents a real dual threat that opens the field up for the spread offense he runs so adeptly. Sophomore running back Cody Johnson returns from last year where he notched a team-high 12 rushing touchdowns and 4.4 yards per carry. The running game remains explosive and is poised to give McCoy’s passing attack the balance it has lacked in recent seasons.
Leadership
While Texas has plenty of leadership at in the coaching ranks, they have a good bit of leadership on the field. Shipley and his sixth year of eligibility are obviously part of that equation, but the biggest leader in the locker room for Texas is newly insured quarterback Colt McCoy. His statistics are obviously very good and he is a legitimate Heisman Trophy front runner before we crack August on the calendar. But, he is also the consummate leader on the field given three consecutive years of starting experience. There are few defenses McCoy hasn’t seen, few huddle questions he won’t know the answers to, and few surprises awaiting McCoy between the hashes. His competitive nature and physical ability only strengthen his emerging vocal leadership presence. Oh, and he LITERALLY saves kids from danger without a thought to his personal well being. Sure, Tim Tebow has deservedly earned a lot of press, but McCoy is understated with the media and respected by his teammates. He shows poise under pressure on and off the field, and is the right leader to understand past mistakes and take the necessary measures to keep from repeating them.
Coaching
Mack Brown has coached Texas for 12 seasons and only lost 26 games, including a 12-1 record in 2008. Brown is known for his incessant clapping and seemingly weird times AND for knowing which buttons to push on his team. He places a special emphasis on limiting turnovers on offense. Brown told The Sporting News, that limiting turnovers was “a true emphasis” in the Spring. This, from a coach who placed a similar emphasis on limiting turnovers last year and ended with a team that allowed a mere 14 turnovers all season in 2008. Offensive coordinator Greg Davis, in his 12th year in Austin, is guiding a very experienced QB-WR tandem that was seventh in the nation last year in passing offense thanks to over 4,000 passing yards and 36 touchdowns. “Head-coach-in-waiting” (which is another debate in and of itself) and defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has been impressive in guiding a defense that only allowed two teams – high-powered offenses from Oklahoma and Texas Tech – to score more than three touchdowns all season.
Wild Card Stat
The most important AND overlooked reason Texas will go undefeated this year – the offensive line, which has 90 combined returning starts. An experienced offensive line is crucial to winning the battle at the line of scrimmage and allowing McCoy to have the time necessary for the spread offense to get receivers open. The better the offensive line is, the better the running game is. Barring injury (which can happen to ANY team), a strong offensive line blocking for a four year starting quarterback is hard to beat, no matter how good a college defense is (read: Florida).
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