Official College Football Thread

[thedoctor]

as an illinois fan, it's difficult to be happy after yet another loss, but i saw a lot of encouraging signs yesterday. with this team's history it would be easy for them to go in the tank down 37-13, but to see them rally and threaten a win against a quality opponent was encouraging. in the end i think the team's inexperience is what cost it, but there were still positive signs.

 

a few observations:

 

-we finally have wide receivers who can catch the ball. the fact that our best receivers yesterday were morgan (a true sophomore), benn (a true freshman), and gamble (a true freshman) bodes well for the future. hudson played a nice game as well.

 

-juice look shaky at first but his throw to gamble was . it sucks he got hurt when he did, because it looked like he was just getting in a groove.

 

-mcgee did everything you expect out of a quarterback playing his first collegiate football. he turned it over, made bad decisions, and had a few questionable throws. that said, he also showed some things and i now feel a heckuva lot better about our total qb situation. mcgee can play and i feel really good about our quarterback situation for the next three or four years. add charest to the mix and i'd be really stoked.

 

-i thought the offensive line's pass blocking was much improved, but the run blocking sucked. pretty much a reverse of last year. mendenhall had two touchdowns but his game was meh to me. i was more impressed with dufrene.

 

-chase daniel just completed another pass to a wide open receiver.

 

-special teams again look to be a problem. the punting was crap, we missed an extra point, gave up punt return touchdown, and fumbled a kick-off. the only thing that keeps that unit from getting an F was vontae's punt block and subsequent touchdown recovery.

 

-our defensive line and linebackers have the potential to be really, really good. they'll need to be considering how thin the team is in the secondary. losing vontae for any extended period if time this year would be almost crippling to the defense, imo.

 

-zook's coaching was mixed. i don't know what the delay was later in the game on getting the plays into the huddle. that was unnecessary. however, last year illinois started strong but would fade. this was the opposite of that and you have to at least give a bit of credit to the staff. you could see the team's confidence growing snap-by-snap in the second half. zook gets some dap for that.

 

 

[bmags]

eh, we had some weird calls yesterday. Like when mcgee goes to call time out, doesn't get it, oh, and also, play clock had expired, refs don't call that either, then the pass for 20 yards. Then Chase's non fumble fumble. A silly pass interference penalty. Oh well, jeremy macklin's a stud and our two TE's are still friggen awesome. I just hope we can outscore everyone and never have to punt with the worlds worst punter™. Also pinkel still makes so many dumb game time decisions.

[WhiteSoxfan1986]

And it was about 2/3 Iowa fans today at Soldier Field, but they were so drunk and tired from the Cubs game the day before that they weren't very loud.

 

How many of the NIU fans were actually students? From what they were saying on the NIU board pretty much all of the NIU fans were alumni, which doesn't suprise me one bit.

 

[IlliniKrush]

eh, we had some weird calls yesterday. Like when mcgee goes to call time out, doesn't get it, oh, and also, play clock had expired, refs don't call that either, then the pass for 20 yards. Then Chase's non fumble fumble. A silly pass interference penalty. Oh well, jeremy macklin's a stud and our two TE's are still friggen awesome. I just hope we can outscore everyone and never have to punt with the worlds worst punter™. Also pinkel still makes so many dumb game time decisions.

They never had any angle that showed his arm was for sure going forward along with the ball, I honestly thought they got that right. Of course Mizzou and Illini fans are gonna see that play differently, though.

[Palehosefan]

As for those that don't, as Tru said, a lot of these teams have more dominant linemen and running backs as well as stronger defenses, so it doesn't make as much sense for them to spread the ball around and sling it with regularity. If you can keep the ball on the ground and still move the sticks while keeping your opponents off the scoreboard you don't need to take as many risks in the passing game.

 

People get the misconception that the TTU RB's don't get the ball very often when in fact the leading TTU RB each year runs for between 900-1,000 yards and also catches between 500-700 yards. In some cases the spread offense is used to offset recruiting struggles, but that's not a problem at Tech. TTU has pulled in top 20 recruiting classes every other year for a while now. Here's a typical TTU offensive line size, using this years starters for example.

 

LT: 6'7 314 (Rylan Reed, White Sox former pitching prospect)

LG: 6'6 335

C: 6'4 303

RG: 6'7 374

RT: 6'7 355

 

The main asset to a spread offense such as Tech's, Hawaii, West Virginia, Florida etc is of course an aggressive, talented defense. Florida managed to put it all together and won it all, West Virginia is still struggling with the defense, but has an unstoppable offense. Hawaii has a great offense, but not much on the defensive side of the ball. Texas Tech has a great offense, and a mediocre defense which leads to a mediocre 7-8-9 win season each year. We(TTU) have been upgrading the defensive speed each year, and hope that it will finally be enough to push into the Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska company of the Big 12, but we will see.

 

 

 

 

 

[ZoomSlowik]

People get the misconception that the TTU RB's don't get the ball very often when in fact the leading TTU RB each year runs for between 900-1,000 yards and also catches between 500-700 yards. In some cases the spread offense is used to offset recruiting struggles, but that's not a problem at Tech. TTU has pulled in top 20 recruiting classes every other year for a while now. Here's a typical TTU offensive line size, using this years starters for example.

 

LT: 6'7 314 (Rylan Reed, White Sox former pitching prospect)

LG: 6'6 335

C: 6'4 303

RG: 6'7 374

RT: 6'7 355

 

That's not quite true. No Tech runningback has cracked 900 yards since Kliff Kingsbury took over the spread offense, and the high carries total in that period was 162. That's around 14 carries per game or less, compared to at least 40 attempts per game for their quarterbacks since 2000 (I'm not arguing their efficency in the passing game). They run it enough to keep teams honest, but power running isn't a major part of their game.

 

The key part of that phrase was "dominant". Obviously they don't have total scrubs with the success they had, but they're not consistently turning out NFL-level prospects at those two spots. If they tried to run a more traditional attack like many of the powerhouses do things would likely go much worse.

[Palehosefan]

Actually Shannon Woods rushed for 926 yards and 10 TD's last year,

http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/...e.html#TEAM.IND

 

Taurean Henderson rushed for 872 yards and 17 TD's in 05

http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/...e.html#TEAM.IND

Taurean Henderson rushed for 840 yards and 16 TD's in 05

http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/...e.html#TEAM.IND

 

2003 was more of a RB by committee with Henderson getting 700 yards and 9 TD's, but they still built up over 1200 rushing yards total from the RB's alone. Heck Taurean Henderson ended his career in 05 with 3,241 rushing yards, 2,058 receiving yards, and 69 total touchdowns. Shannon Woods is doing even better.

 

Tech hasn't had any household names from the Leach era group, but the guys have all been getting looks in NFL training camps and several have stuck around. Wes Welker earned himself a very nice paycheck, Manny Ramirez as a rookie is challenging for the starting guard spot for the Lions, Dylan Gandy, OL, is challenging for a starting role in Indianapolis, Daniel Loper, OL, is challenging for the starting role for the Titans. Others like Joel Filani, Gabe Hall, and Jarret Hicks who were rookies this year were among the last cuts last week on the Titans, Jets, Chargers etc.

 

TTU has never had a pro potential QB in the Leach system, until Graham Harrell now. It will be interesting to see how much of a look the NFL gives him in a few years.

 

As for the system making the success, not quite. Spike Dykes won 7-8-9 games a year at Tech for the 12 years prior to Leach using a basic, bland style of running the football. Texas Tech seems to be stuck in a 7-8-9 win monotony for eternity, though it could be worse.

Edited September 3, 2007 by Palehosefan

[SnB]

that was a tough loss to take on saturday. It was the same thing as the past couple years, way too many turnovers takes away a good performance from everyone else.

 

I was sitting in the UD so I don't know about alot of those calls that everyone else is talking about.

 

All i remember is screaming "NOOOOO", as soon as mcgee lofted that ball with 50 seconds left.

[knightni]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...6/70902026/1054

 

Heh.

 

I guess that Ann Arbor security would have arrested them.

[whitesoxfan101]

Almost all the fans period, NIU and Iowa, were alumni's Saturday. The ticket prices and distribution, even towards both schools students, made it clear that both parties considered this an alumni gathering session in their largest alumni base city. The only reason I even was able to get tix is my Dad is an NIU alum actually .

[Heads22]

[Brian]

I usually shout the F word at Kansas people as well.

[whitesoxfan101]

That video just reminds me how supposedly NIU is the 5th best team in the MAC West, yet the great CMU got blown out 51-7 at Kansas, Toledo got pantsed at home I believe 52-17 to Purdue, WMU gave up 62 points (to West Virginia, but still) and Ball State lost at home to Miami of Ohio who went 2-10 last year. At least my squad put up a fight against a good team and showed a defense, lol.

[whitesoxfan99]

Florida St. looks awful. I'm still amazed that Drew Weatherford is the best QB that a program like Fla. St. can find. Between him and Rix it is incredible how poor their QB play has been recently.

[Rowand44]

Really Clemson fans?

[IlliniKrush]

RUSH THE FIELD AGAIN

[CWSGuy406]

Not that FSU deserved to win, but they got jobbed on that last call. His right foot came down in bounds and his left foot (toe) hits the out-of-bounds line, rendering the hit (and consequential fumble) meaningless. And even if they called it incomplete, the person running the clock was in no hurry to get that thing to 0:00.

Edited September 4, 2007 by CWSGuy406

[Buehrle>Wood]

Not that FSU deserved to win, but they got jobbed on that last call. His right foot came down in bounds and his left foot (toe) hits the out-of-bounds line, rendering the hit (and consequential fumble) meaningless. And even if they called it incomplete, the person running the clock was in no hurry to get that thing to 0:00.

Agreed.

[Palehosefan]

It's a tradition at Clemson for the students to rush the field after wins and "mingle" with the players.

 

ACC most likely isn't going to have a top 12 team to finish the year, it's pretty evenly bad.

[zenryan]

I thought Jimbo called a horrible game tonight.

 

I cant believe he didnt try to run A.Smith one time when they got inside the 30 with under 3 to play.

[ZoomSlowik]

Actually Shannon Woods rushed for 926 yards and 10 TD's last year,

http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/...e.html#TEAM.IND

 

Taurean Henderson rushed for 872 yards and 17 TD's in 05

http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/...e.html#TEAM.IND

Taurean Henderson rushed for 840 yards and 16 TD's in 05

http://texastech.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/...e.html#TEAM.IND

 

2003 was more of a RB by committee with Henderson getting 700 yards and 9 TD's, but they still built up over 1200 rushing yards total from the RB's alone. Heck Taurean Henderson ended his career in 05 with 3,241 rushing yards, 2,058 receiving yards, and 69 total touchdowns. Shannon Woods is doing even better.

 

Tech hasn't had any household names from the Leach era group, but the guys have all been getting looks in NFL training camps and several have stuck around. Wes Welker earned himself a very nice paycheck, Manny Ramirez as a rookie is challenging for the starting guard spot for the Lions, Dylan Gandy, OL, is challenging for a starting role in Indianapolis, Daniel Loper, OL, is challenging for the starting role for the Titans. Others like Joel Filani, Gabe Hall, and Jarret Hicks who were rookies this year were among the last cuts last week on the Titans, Jets, Chargers etc.

 

TTU has never had a pro potential QB in the Leach system, until Graham Harrell now. It will be interesting to see how much of a look the NFL gives him in a few years.

 

As for the system making the success, not quite. Spike Dykes won 7-8-9 games a year at Tech for the 12 years prior to Leach using a basic, bland style of running the football. Texas Tech seems to be stuck in a 7-8-9 win monotony for eternity, though it could be worse.

 

My bad, was editting and screwed up my wording, forgetting about Woods in the process.

 

Still, are you really trying to say that Texas Tech is a balanced offense?

 

1200-1400 rushing yards a year for the entire team isn't all that many. Even in a DOWN year Northwestern rushes for about 1700 yards total, and they're not exactly a power running team either. In the last 5 years TT has finished 108th, 99th, 105th, 101th, and 98th in total rushing yards. It's pretty clear that the passing game carries the vast majority of the load. Granted in a different system they'd likely put up better numbers and recruit a bit differently to bolster the running game, but that's not the case. Their bread and butter recently is the passing game with the running game being more of an afterthought, I don't really see how you could argue otherwise. They can run effectively when they do it, but that's not really what I was debating earlier (actually, not really debating, more like using them as an example. Not that there's anything wrong with that, my guys run the same kind of system, and Tech has had success that way.

 

Yeah, before this stretch they did have some pretty solid runningbacks and pounded the ball in the running game a bit more. The other Ricky Williams, Byron Hanspard, and Byron Morris all did some damage. Henderson still could have thrived in that setup, but I'm not as sure about Woods. He's a smaller guy that could struggle in a power running game, much like Tyrell Sutton (which is a major reason that NU was able to get him).

Edited September 4, 2007 by ZoomSlowik

[thedoctor]

looks like clausen gets the call for notre dame.

[Palehosefan]

Still, are you really trying to say that Texas Tech is a balanced offense?

 

Nah, I'm just saying it's not all passing or nothing like Hawaii etc. You can play in a system like Tech and rush for a 1,000 yards, especially as the talent has been improving around the system each year. I just get the feeling that a lot of people around the nation seem to think it's a gimmicky offense that only works against crappy teams. To me the spread offense is the future of college football.

Edited September 4, 2007 by Palehosefan

[RockRaines]

So....How many more days till Lloyd Carr gets fired?

[ZoomSlowik]

Nah, I'm just saying it's not all passing or nothing like Hawaii etc. You can play in a system like Tech and rush for a 1,000 yards, especially as the talent has been improving around the system each year. I just get the feeling that a lot of people around the nation seem to think it's a gimmicky offense that only works against crappy teams. To me the spread offense is the future of college football.

 

Okay, we basically agree then. The spread offense definitely can create a lot of advantages for the offense, it helps create a lot of one-on-one matchups and lets you spread the ball around to your playmakers at wide receiver a bit more effectively than a traditional set. Plus you still have the flexibility to run out of it with regularity like NU usually does, and with the defense spread out more there are a lot of creases for a speedy RB. It's getting a lot harder to just line up and pound the ball on every play like Nebraska did so well for so long, though obviously some teams can still do it.