The College Football thread

Well, well, well, guess what time it is?

It's time for the greatest sport in the world - College Football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Starting a week early in my book; thank you Jesus!

Here we go ladies.

Go Buckeye's!!!!!!

Going to be an interesting season for The Tide, as once again there are so many unknowns.

Lots of SEC on the rise!

The standards of success for the true Tide fans are still there: Beat Tennessee. Beat Auburn. Win the SEC. Maybe go to the Natty as a bonus.

[edit]

How many of y'all are team fans versus fans of the sport? Clearly I'm in the former, but I know folks that just watch football in general, regardless of teams playing.

UM lost.


Oh well.

Bucs play Saturday !!! Foe me it's the only games I watch either college or Pro

Duke came to play, and the Tide showed it was ready to get to work with solid, non-fancy performances.

Loads of first game jitters for yet another young team to get past for the rest of the stretch.

As a college student who works his butt off for his grades...

I might actually care if more of the players could pass basic college entrance tests without tutoring/cheating or however they do it. Pretty much a joke as it is. Many functional illiterates in sports programs and for "other reasons" graduate from college every year.

Sorry, not a fan.

Level the playing field.

edit: sorry if PWEC but a serious pet peeve. College sports should not be "free minor leagues" for pro sports.

I hate to break this to you, but thanks to grade inflation and the SAT "adversity dashboard," on paper, there's really no need for cheating to gain admission to a public college.

Tutoring programs and remedial classes for Freshmen are no longer the exception, sadly enough. Even some really great colleges have a summer prep program for students that otherwise wouldn't cut the mustard, and they're not limited to sports related people.

The upside is that the NCAA has really cracked down on accepting sub-standard students to college football programs, leading to a lot of guys either attending community colleges to up their GPA's or being forced to leave the program.

The days of going to a college and getting a degree in football are pretty much over.

When I went to High School there were a few of our football "stars" that couldn't string together a sentence on paper if their life depended on it - but today that is now the exception rather than the rule.

More cynically, college football is good for universities - rather than being a drain on resources, they bring in far more funding than is spent on them, even in less successful programs.

Yeah Nixer I feel the same way, but most student athletes can read and write now.
Maurice Clarett, star running back for Ohio State on 2002 National Championship team, flunked
African Studies..... But it's different now, right?

Anyway a great first week in College Football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's mostly pre-season where most teams play pansies, but still exciting - except for Tennessee...

Ohio State won big, but I was not impressed. Big first quarter, but not much after that. They need
to get that O-line practicing run blocking or it's going to be a long season in the BiG10.

And to Dart - hard to second guess Saban, but letting Hurts go.... Can't stand Oklahoma, but will
be watching just to see him play. I think he's special and will be a first rounder in the NFL.

It wasn't Alabama's choice.

As a graduate, Hurts can transfer at will.

What I don't like is the hero-or-zero press coverage he's gotten.

Freshman year - total hero! Guy just walked on water. Not Heisman good, but close.
Sophmore year - "game manager" who was entirely one dimensional, and was propped up by a great team around him. Couldn't cut the mustard in the National Championship game. The press was pretty merciless as they jumped the Tua bandwagon.*
Junior year - Somewhat maligned in being put second string behind Tua, but deserving of it as he just couldn't go through pass progressions. Until the SEC championship game, where suddenly he was a hero again.

Now, as a fourth year player suddenly he's a hero again, but this time they're already talking Heisman.

The truth is a bit more complex than that, and the wife and I would routinely shout at the television analysts for going too far one way or the other.

Jalen was solid as a passer close in, especially with guys like Stewart making circus catches his first year, and the offensive scheme didn't really stress the long ball in the air his Freshman year - and he did have a helluva O-line in front of him.
His second year he did about the same, with some flashes of talent further down the field, but again the scheme didn't demand much more from him; UGA just had his number in the Championship game and he was a bit beat up.
His third year he saw the coaching tools laid out in front of him and took the long view - Alabama poured resources into him and he was treated with due respect even as Tua took the starter position. When he took the field the difference in his reads and patience in the pocket were obvious.

This is why Alabama fans admire him so much; he could have transferred away under the new rules last year, but didn't. He self evaluated, swallowed a bunch of pride, and went to school on how to go to the next level. In every conversation (barring one outburst just prior to Spring Camp where his uncertainty showed through), it was clear that his teammates had a lot of respect for him. Heck, Tua stood second behind him in line at practice our of deference, and his seat in the quarterback coaching room remained unchanged.

Indeed, Tua let it slip that this year it's a bit easier for him in that he's the undisputed leader at the quarterback position.

Hurts will do very, very well in the Big 12, as it's not known for stiff defenses (a hallmark of the SEC), and it wouldn't surprise me to see him on the opposite side of the Tide on the field at the end of the year. If he winds up in Heisman contention it may be in part a reflection on Big 12 football in addition to his own abilities.

It's interesting that the various Alabama sports outlets are covering and beaming with pride at his opening performance at Oklahoma - the cries of "traitor" or "mercenary" just don't exist.

* For us Bama fans, it was no surprise that Tua came out and rocked in that game; the rumblings on why they weren't playing Tua more through the season were more than just a low murmur.

Pretty much...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjHr3mhVLzA

So, Clemson is for real. LSU is for real. Hard to judge the rest as they are still playing high school teams.

Seems Mack Brown is back at UNC. And, once again, michigan is just an embarrassment to the BiG10.

Next week, division play. Go Bucks!

Yay!!!! UM is 0-2 now.

I'm glad LSU is stronger!

It's still too soon in the season to make predictions, but it sure looks like a lot more parity this year.

First SEC opponent for my Tide today!

Will the o-line finally jell as a consistent, coherent unit? Will the defense tighten up to put real pressure on South Carolina?

Will AT&T come to an agreement with Disney to keep ESPN, SEC Network, etc., in time for next week's game (because they may blank out this weekend; fortunately the game is on CBS so we won't be affected)?

Are Jalen Hurts' skills being overstated by weak Big 12 defenses, or did he really improve as much as we think in his last year under Alabama's coaches?

Hurts hasn't even played a Big 12 team yet, so I am not sure how his skills are being overstated. Hurts really has improved and the Alabama offensive coaching staff weren't blowing smoke. Hurts even struggled to throw to the left side of the field (in comparison to the middle and right side of the field) against lesser opposition in his first 3 years at Alabama and has been markedly improved in that area through the first 3 games so far. Riley is just an excellent QB coach that can clean up a lot of mechanics in terms of passing the football.

We shouldn't forget, Hurts was a highly touted dual threat QB that was in the top 5 in every recruiting publication coming out of the prep level. I'm not sure where is final passing numbers will end up, but right now he is completing 80% of his passes and he's going to blow away every QB this season in terms of rushing yards. He will definitely be a Heisman finalist and will have certainly earned it because of his capabilities, not because of him being a product of the schedule.

I think the most intriguing story so far has been Trevor Lawrence. So far he has 5 TDs and 5 INTs. Sophomore slump or defending national champion that doesn't have the same level of drive as the prior season? It's tough to repeat as champions because you don't have the same level of luck (i.e. injuries and how the schedule breaks) and having the same level of fire for each and every game week-in/week-out is very difficult.

Good analysis on Jalen Hurts there. Still think he'll look good in a Miami Dolphin's uniform next year. ....poor #%&*$#....

And concerning schedules....although I just love watching Ohio State cranking on all cylinders and destroying an opponent - it's boring.
I propose the AP Top10 just play King of the Hill against other teams in the Top10. Get knocked out, you go back to division play, and
#11 advances. End of season, the Top 4 battle for the Championship. Traditional Division winners go to Bowl games (but only if winning record...).

It's the best game in the world, gotta keep it going

I just wanted to add that the Michigan State loss was just an absolute embarrassment to the school. They set the program back ten years with that one. Who the hell would want to play for a program with a coaching staff that inept.

The Gator game last weekend was a close one.. but good golly it felt great winning in the end. Let's see if we can restart that 31 year record!

A lot of good games played yesterday! Unfortunately, I didn't see them..
Was Parents Day at ECU.. They played William AND Mary and had a tough time.
Had to support my daughter though. The sunset was nice though :-)

Georgia played a ranked opponent. UCF lost on the "Philly Special" play - love it!
App St. beats another FCS opponent! And michigan still (really) sucks. Badgers rule the BiG10 right now.

As always,

Go Bucks!

The Hurricanes are now 2-2 after defeating "powerhouse" Central Michigan University 17-12

Dream big Miami.....dream big...

Bama did what Bama does. Still a bunch to clean up, though.

But I did actually watch another game - UGA vs. Notre Dame.

1) The Irish put up a lot more fight than I thought they would.
2) Georgia played traditional SEC ball - grind the crap out of the other team until they're gassed and then seal the deal.
3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fdBZcn3FP0 So sad it was parodied by SEC Shorts.
4) Looks like we know who's going to Atlanta to represent the SEC West at the end of the season.

Well, another great week for college football!!!!!!!!!

Bama puts on another clinic. But hasn't really played anyone.
Ohio State rolls! But hasn't really been tested.

We need the Power5 to play the Power5 to see who's who.

Best games I watched: Hogs played A&M down to the wire. Mack Brown is now golden in NC.

PS California just ruined college football with their governors recent legislation.

LSU vs. Florida


Who will win?