Category: College Football (Page 257 of 296)

Some observations from college football Saturday:

– Not to take anything away from Jake Long, Matt Ryan or Glen Dorsey, but Darren McFadden is the best player in college football. To me, he’s the only sure thing right now in next April’s NFL draft. He’s Adrian Peterson, only bigger, more durable and possibly even faster. Check out this stat line from Arkansas’ 48-36 victory: 35 carries, 323 yards, one rushing touchdown. He was also 1 for 1 passing for 23 yards and a touchdown. The guy is amazing.

– Oregon is flat out fun to watch. Even though he missed most of the fourth quarter due to a knee injury, Dennis Dixon looked fantastic in the Ducks’ 35-23 victory over No. 4 Arizona State. I’m still not sold on him being a productive pro quarterback due to the system he runs at Oregon, but nevertheless, he’s exciting when he gets outside on an option run.

– Les Miles should go out and buy a lotto ticket with the string of luck he and LSU has had this year. That’s not to say that they don’t deserve the wins they’ve totaled to this point, but boy, if it weren’t for last second touchdowns (touchdowns, not field goals) in victories over Florida and Alabama, the Tigers are sitting at 6-3 right now and nowhere near a title appearance. Although hey, with how nasty the SEC is, every week is a tough week.

– Even though Boston College is set to plummet in the polls after being upset by FSU 27-17, people shouldn’t cast aside quarterback Matt Ryan. His Heisman chances might have dropped, but he’s got bigger and better things ahead of him in the NFL. There’s just no other quarterback prospect in the country with Ryan’s intangibles, fundamentals and arm strength. Right now, he’s a better pro prospect than Brian Brohm, Colt Brennan and Andre Woodson.

– What a catch by Brian Robiskie in the fourth quarter of Ohio State’s 38-17 victory over Wisconsin. He was absolutely hammered in the end zone, but give him credit for hanging onto the ball.

– What in God’s name happened to Nebraska? Remember when they used to be a perennial powerhouse every year? They gave up 48 points in the first half of a 76-39 loss to Kansas. Forty-eight points in one half! Seventy-six points in all! Holy crap – the Jayhawks offense is sick…76 points!

Charlie Weis is obviously smarter than the rest of us. That’s the only way to explain the bone-headed decision he made at the end of the fourth quarter in the Navy-Notre Dame game.

With 52 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the scored tied 28-28, Weis and the Irish faced a 4th and 8 at Navy’s 24-yard line. So, with the probability of making a first down in that situation being very low, Weis obviously attempted the field goal right? Wrong. Instead, Weis decides to go for it and his quarterback Evan Sharpley is sacked by Ram Vella (what a name by the way) for a seven-yard loss. Vella made a hell of a play by leaping over a blocker and sacking Sharpley in midair, but the bottom line is that Weis had no business going for it in that position. Even if ND misses the field goal, it’s highly unlikely Navy scores and the game would have went to overtime.

Navy eventually won 46-44 in triple OT, and snapped a 43-game losing streak against the Irish. Good call Weis – what, were you trying to cover the spread?

It’s become common knowledge that backers of the SEC have little to no respect for the Big Ten, so it’s not surprising to hear that some college football pundits are complaining about a potential Ohio State-Boston College national championship match up.

“I’m a huge college football fan,” said Paul Finebaum, a columnist and sports talk radio host based in Birmingham, Ala., and one of the most influential college football voices in the South. “If it ends up Boston College and Ohio State, I’m getting a movie on pay-per-view that night. I’m not watching that game.”

“I don’t think anyone in Baton Rouge would take Ohio State and Boston College seriously,” said Josh Innes, a co-host in LSU’s hometown on The Score 1210. “People would think it’s bogus. People think Ohio State is a complete fraud.”

It’s hard to blame SEC enthusiasts for not wanting to see Ohio State or any other Big Ten team reach the title game after last year’s debacle. However, the problem lies with the BCS system, not OSU. The Buckeyes play whoever is on their schedule, as do teams in the SEC. Obviously the SEC and Big Ten are two completely different brands of football, and yeah, the SEC is arguably faster, more exciting and produces better overall talent. However, don’t hate a conference because it’s weaker, hate the broke system that leaves everything to a debate every year.

Regardless of the BCS system, do SEC fans (or college football fans in general for that matter) have the right to be upset if OSU potentially makes it to the title game without facing a rigorous schedule like SEC teams do? Or is this the year a Big Ten team earns respect by knocking off a top SEC team like LSU?

What was Mark Richt thinking when he allowed his entire team to celebrate a touchdown in the first quarter of Georgia’s 42-30 victory over Florida on Saturday? It was obvious that Richt was dying for a win and was trying to motivate his team, but it was ridiculous to see the entire UGA squad flood the field after just one touchdown in the first quarter.

“Oh, Coach Richt told us during the week that, after we scored that first touchdown, you can have an excessive celebration,” said Georgia defensive end Marcus Howard, adding that Richt informed the team that he didn’t care about the 15-yard penalty that always comes from such an action. “That’s what everybody did [after Moreno’s touchdown]. They just ran out there and formed a big, old Dog Pile.”

Some are going to look at this situation as a brilliant move by Richt, because it obviously inspired his team. However, there’s nothing genius about trying to humiliate your opponent in the first quarter after just one score. Win or not, the move was classless and it’s too bad the Gators didn’t win so Richt and Georgia would look even more ridiculous than they do now. What, you can’t win unless you celebrate like a bunch of Pop Warner players after just one touchdown?