Official College Football Thread

[zenryan]

I could care less about all of these scheduling arguments.  I honestly believe if you watch Notre Dame play and have an ounce of an open mind, you will see them to be an extremely exciting team to watch and one that finds ways to win. 

 

They do it differently every week.  They find ways to beat you and Quinn has stepped right into the role of the guy that can do just that.

 

Notre Dame's defense isn't great, I don't think that is a secret.  But I do believe their offense has shown it can score against anyone.  I have no doubt that playing OSU in the Fiesta Bowl will make for an outstanding game, regardless of which team you foot for (or against as many here seem to do).

 

 

I use to hate watching ND play b/c they were boring. I think they are an exciting team to watch nowadays. interesting match up against OSU b/c they can score now and play great D. should be a fun game

[J-MAN]

What is your definition of "kill them"?

 

I have been out of town and not able to check soxtalk so I quickly skimed over this thread.  So forgive me if I mention something that has already been brought up and/or discussed.

 

It seems there is a lot of talk about ND being a great team and individuals having a false sense of what ND is as a team.  They simply have a good offense and best an average defense.  When you let Navy put up 21 points on you AT HOME that is not impressive.  I also saw something about marque players for ND on offense.  I will give you Brady Quinn, but who else sticks out at a national level?

 

Also I support ND, I am not "anti-ND".  I just dont think they are as good as everyone wants to believe.

 

AMEN! Great post!!!

[Fotop]

What is your definition of "kill them"?

 

I have been out of town and not able to check soxtalk so I quickly skimed over this thread.  So forgive me if I mention something that has already been brought up and/or discussed.

 

It seems there is a lot of talk about ND being a great team and individuals having a false sense of what ND is as a team.  They simply have a good offense and best an average defense.  When you let Navy put up 21 points on you AT HOME that is not impressive.  I also saw something about marque players for ND on offense.  I will give you Brady Quinn, but who else sticks out at a national level?

 

Also I support ND, I am not "anti-ND".  I just dont think they are as good as everyone wants to believe.

 

Not once during a game this year, in which ND was the decided favorite, did I ever think there was a possibility we would lose. That's the difference between this year's team and team's from the davie/willingham eras. And this is what makes ND fans so optimistic, we don't expect everything to fall apart anymore. We actually expect to win and get disappointed about things like "Hey Brady threw 1 pick today, that's horses***" instead of "Man why the hell did we punt on the opponent's 38?"

 

You know why Navy puts up 21 on us? Or why we didn't hang 60 on Pitt? Because of a thing called class. I forgot that in the new age of college football, everyone runs playaction bombs up 35 or fake punts up 28 in the 4th quarter. I mean most of you probably write me off as a pompous ND fan/student, but have you REALLY watched this team in the second half of these games? Teams we're throwing on will against, we run middle for an entire half. We put our second team offense and defense in at the end of the 3rd quarter. Please, don't talk about scoring margins.

 

Also, did you see the entire Irish team and staff stand with the Navy players during their alma mater? On top of that, have you ever seen an ND player resort to the thuggery of other programs? Not that that stuff really matters in determining how "good" a team is, nor is it relevant to the debate, but I think a lot of people fail to understand the quality of men on the field that are so hated by a large amount of people for no specific reason. I understand a lot of you, if not all of you, don't like ND for other reasons, but there's a lot of things about this program that college football "fans" don't see. Just thought I'd point it out a bit.

 

Back to how this ND team stacks up. I've attended every home game in person, and was at Pitt for the game to open the season...so as much as people want to try and nail me on the bias, I know this team inside and out. Also, as many have seen here, I'm the first guy to point out the weaknesses on the team: no pass rush, linebackers at safety aka safeties who cant cover, a thin secondary and a weak kicking game. However, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that this team is one of the five best teams in this country, with the others being USC, Texas, Auburn, OSU. You can argue a handful of other teams, but it's really splitting hairs...much like talking about schedule strength.

 

Is this being biased, highly optimistic, or overconfident? No. This team is two plays away from being in Pasadena, and I'm not using this as a crutch or an excuse. In fact, if Wooden doesn't hustle to tackle Jarrett and let him score, USC would have one loss right now...I firmly believe that. However, losses are losses, but you can't take away many of the intangible aspects of this team that I wish I could define, that make them so good. And as I've said all year, they'll prove their worth on the field.

 

 

I didn't mean ND deserved a bid at the exclusion of OSU, sorry that wasn't very clear. Out of OSU, ND, and Oregon, I think the choices are clearly ND and OSU. Picking ND over OSU isn't really an issue in my mind.

 

Scary thing about ND: their offense could be even better next year. They've got a 5-star RB coming in via early enrollment that might be even better than Walker.

 

Hell, Travis Thomas, at times has looked better than Walker. But really, Aldridge (the RB recruit you speak of) is going to be a stud. Personally I'm much more excited for Darrin Walls, 5star cornerback prospect. ND hasn't landed a top DB recruit since Bobby Taylor, and we sorely need help there. And the rest of the class ain't too shabby either, probably anywhere from #1-#3 when recruiting is all said and done. It truly is a new era

[Wedge]

Hell, Travis Thomas, at times has looked better than Walker. But really, Aldridge (the RB recruit you speak of) is going to be a stud. Personally I'm much more excited for Darrin Walls, 5star cornerback prospect. ND hasn't landed a top DB recruit since Bobby Taylor, and we sorely need help there. And the rest of the class ain't too shabby either, probably anywhere from #1-#3 when recruiting is all said and done. It truly is a new era 

 

Yeah, I get some goosebumps thinking about this incoming class. Can you imagine it when it's in its 3rd, 4th, and 5th year (with actualy player development!)? Aside from Aldridge (who I was referring to) we also have Prince who could be an outstanding runningback in his own right, featuring great breakaway speed. There's the two top-10 QB prospects coming in that should be lights out and I've also heard rumors that Clausen (the top QB for 2007's class) is a silent commit. We've got something like 5 top defensive backs coming in? Sure as hell beats the days of trying to convert "leftover" receivers. You're right about Walls, I think he's going to have an immense impact right away. He should at least be the nickleback starting out. ND just needs to get some more defensive linemen (I think they have quite a few strong prospects on the o-line finally). If you think ND has star power/marquee players now, just wait until 2007 when these guys are getting into the line-up regularly. Damn, ND is going to be really, really good. After the USC game this year, I predicted we wouldn't lose again until 2008 at the earliest, except to a potential BCS opponent this year. I think my prediction is going to stand-up. The team with the best shot to beat ND next year might be Georgia Tech, but after that I really don't think any team has a very good shot except for perhaps USC if Bush returns.

[Mplssoxfan]

I find it intriguing that through this BCS discussion, many of you are discounting PSU. I don't get that at all. They have an excellent defense, a decent offense, they are one play away from a 11-0 season, yet they get no love here. I don't get it.

[Palehosefan]

I find it intriguing that through this BCS discussion, many of you are discounting PSU. I don't get that at all. They have an excellent defense, a decent offense, they are one play away from a 11-0 season, yet they get no love here. I don't get it.

 

Its because we don't have any resident PSU fans that I know of. Everyone here is into hyping their own team. Can't blame them. But PSU definitely belongs in the BCS with the group of teams just below USC and Texas. I think PSU has the next Reggie Bush in Derrick Williams, too bad he's hurt. He's amazing.

[Wedge]

I find it intriguing that through this BCS discussion, many of you are discounting PSU.  I don't get that at all.  They have an excellent defense, a decent offense, they are one play away from a 11-0 season, yet they get no love here.  I don't get it.

 

What's to discuss? They have a locked BCS berth, end of story. My guess is they play the ACC winner in the Orange Bowl. There isn't too much more to talk about, really.

[knightni]

What's to discuss? They have a locked BCS berth, end of story. My guess is they play the ACC winner in the Orange Bowl. There isn't too much more to talk about, really.

ND vs Miami would be a nice game.

 

Catholics vs. Convicts was always spirited.

[Heads22]

So, Houston Bowl.

[Mplssoxfan]

What's to discuss? They have a locked BCS berth, end of story. My guess is they play the ACC winner in the Orange Bowl. There isn't too much more to talk about, really.

My point was more that a few people are asserting that OSU>PSU. I've seen both of them play a couple of times this year, and I see it as PSU>OSU. In fact, from what I've seen of USC, I think PSU would give them all they could handle.

 

I haven't seen a down of Texas this year, so I can't really comment on them.

[THEWOOD]

My point was more that a few people are asserting that OSU>PSU.  I've seen both of them play a couple of times this year, and I see it as PSU>OSU.  In fact, from what I've seen of USC, I think PSU would give them all they could handle.

 

I haven't seen a down of Texas this year, so I can't really comment on them.

 

 

What games have you seen of OSU and PSU....and yes I know PSU beat OSU, so please spare me that harp. I am just curious what games you are using to make your judgement.

[Mplssoxfan]

What games have you seen of OSU and PSU....and yes I know PSU beat OSU, so please spare me that harp.  I am just curious what games you are using to make your judgement.

PSU: Minnesota, MSU, some of Michigan, some of OSU.

OSU: Minnesota, some of Michigan, some of OSU, *clanging my memory banks*... maybe I haven't seen as much of OSU as I thought.

 

Just using the two Minnesota games as examples, PSU was dominant for 60 minutes, OSU was dominant for 20 minutes. Perhaps if the venues of the two games were different, the domination factors would be different. I dunno.

 

Note that I'm not saying I think OSU is a poor team. I think they deserve a BCS at-large bid over Oregon and I also think they'd give USC all they could handle. OSU and PSU are both excellent teams, there might not be a dime's worth of difference between them. It's just that, from what I've seen, my nickel goes to PSU.

[Rowand44]

Colorado starts off the game with a nice drive, they fumble on that drive and Texas strikes with the first score. 7-0 UT.

[White Sox Josh]

Sorry but the Big 12 Championship is going off on my TV and I am watching the Tulsa-UCF game. Yikes. You have 2 pretty good games IMHO in Florida State and Va Tech. The best game is Georgia vs. LSU.

[Chisoxfn]

Prediction:

 

Long of the Year...take the points and UCLA (21 point underdogs).

 

Final Score: UCLA 49 USC 46

 

I expect a total shootout and a close game. I'm picking UCLA because I'm biased. UCLA has a dynomite offense, USC has no defense. UCLA has no defense and will not be able to stop USC's offense.

 

Turnovers will be the difference and if UCLA wins it will be because USC lost the football (uncharacteristic of them).

 

In all honesty I think USC will win (but I'll make my prediction of UCLA anyway) but its going to be close and it will be a fun game to watch (total shootout).

[Rowand44]

Prediction:

 

Long of the Year...take the points and UCLA (21 point underdogs).

 

Final Score: UCLA 49 USC 46

 

I expect a total shootout and a close game.  I'm picking UCLA because I'm biased.  UCLA has a dynomite offense, USC has no defense.  UCLA has no defense and will not be able to stop USC's offense. 

 

Turnovers will be the difference and if UCLA wins it will be because USC lost the football (uncharacteristic of them).

 

In all honesty I think USC will win (but I'll make my prediction of UCLA anyway) but its going to be close and it will be a fun game to watch (total shootout).

Didn't you predict UCLA to finish outside the top 25 a few weeks ago?

[Chisoxfn]

Didn't you predict UCLA to finish outside the top 25 a few weeks ago?

Twas the same person

 

I like making ridiculious predictions.

 

Damn Texas is freaking romping CU. I wonder if this would have been more fun for Heads than the prior week. Damn Texas looks good. I'm starting to think they will win it all. Still USC has an amazing offense.

 

If USC wins tonight I think we will be in store for the best national championship game since the OSU/Miami game (where everyone in the world wrote off OSU only to see them beat the so called greatest team in college FB history).

[Chisoxfn]

How crazy would it be if USC lost tonight? I'm assuming PSU would get into the national championship game against Texas but just think about how out of whack the whole picture would be.

 

All of a sudden the Pac 10 gets two teams (or I'd assume two of USC, UCLA, and Oregon would get in) while the Big 10 or ND would get hosed out of one game and there would be at least a few teams that could make claims of being worthy to play in the national championship game (I'm biased though cause I have my belief that there are at least a few teams better than PSU).

[Rex Hudler]

How crazy would it be if USC lost tonight?  I'm assuming PSU would get into the national championship game against Texas but just think about how out of whack the whole picture would be. 

 

All of a sudden the Pac 10 gets two teams (or I'd assume two of USC, UCLA, and Oregon would get in) while the Big 10 or ND would get hosed out of one game and there would be at least a few teams that could make claims of being worthy to play in the national championship game (I'm biased though cause I have my belief that there are at least a few teams better than PSU).

 

I don't see how the PAC 10 would get two bids. It is my understanding that USC would win a three way tiebreaker for the BCS bid even if they lose today.

 

Not that it matters. How is this for a prediction..........

 

USC by 3 touchdowns today!

[Gene Honda Civic]

I wonder if Heads is mad that he can't watch his team get beat down on a national stage today.

[White Sox Josh]

I wonder if Heads is mad that he can't watch his team get beat down on a national stage today.

Did the Longhorns 2nd string play well. That is really the most important question. How many points did the Longhorns 2nd string put on the board.

[WHarris1]

UCLA has no shot if they punt from the USC 40 and play 0 rush defense.

[Rowand44]

Reggie Bush has 105 yards rushing with 3 minutes left in the first quarter.

[WHarris1]

Think UCLA knows you can't keep punting in USC territory when you play garbage f***ing defense?

[whitesoxfan99]

Reggie Bush has 105 yards rushing with 3 minutes left in the first quarter.

Reggie Bush>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>the god you worship