*Official* 2007 College Football Thread

[Mandrel]

Juicy rumor:

One of the intarweb boards I frequent had someone posted that Nebraska AD Steve Pederson and the entire Husker coaching staff except for Callahan are fired effective immediately. Supposedly a 10AM news conference tomorrow morning to announce this.

As always, take it fwiw but after Nebraska was fucking humiliated in front of Tom Osborne and the 1997 team on Saturday I could believe this.

And what coaches will they use for the rest of the season?  Not exactly the best time of year to be looking for assistants.  I wonder if they long for the days of 10-2 "mediocrity" under Solich.

[Montague]

Juicy rumor:

One of the intarweb boards I frequent had someone posted that Nebraska AD Steve Pederson and the entire Husker coaching staff except for Callahan are fired effective immediately. Supposedly a 10AM news conference tomorrow morning to announce this.

As always, take it fwiw but after Nebraska was fucking humiliated in front of Tom Osborne and the 1997 team on Saturday I could believe this.

And what coaches will they use for the rest of the season?  Not exactly the best time of year to be looking for assistants.  I wonder if they long for the days of 10-2 "mediocrity" under Solich.

That's kinda what I was wondering. I reread what the guy posted and I guess I read it wrong, it just said assistants, not ALL the assistants.

From reading the Nebraska boards this morning it seems the rumor is all over the place but nothing official has happened yet. They've possibly made a decision that was going to happen at the end of the season but it got leaked. The one question is will Big Red pay Callahan 6 million to hit the bricks.

[Montague]

Offensive PI on a 30 yard pass on 4th and 22. Ouch.

USF goes down.

[Nevermore]

Well, there's a lot I could say about this game but rather than indulge in sour grapes, I'll just say Rutgers played a great game.  A National Champion should find a way to win a game like that, even when things go against them.  It's still going to be an outstanding season for the Bulls, so there's no shame in losing one in a season like this.  An Orange Bowl berth against the ACC Champ will still be a great cap to a great season, if they can regroup and get back on track.

[Abagadro]

I'll refrain from posting a Nelson pic.

I'm not sure I've seen a game that had more impact plays in the special teams. That Rice kid is a stud.

[Nevermore]

Rice is an outstanding back.  I knew this would probably be the toughest game of the season for the Bulls after Auburn, no offense to any West Virginia fans.  The Bulls play a speed defense that matches up extremely well with WVU style spread offenses but the way you kill a speed defense is keep hitting them up the middle with a power runner.  I'm not going to get into the officiating because in the end, bitching and moaning about stuff like that is taking the easy way out.

Hats off to Rutgers for excellent execution on the two fakes and for their defense making great adjustments at halftime and sticking to their rushing lanes to not let Grothe get outside of containment.  Rutgers won that game because their defensive coordinator made some great adjustments and the Bull's offensive coordinator never made any adjustments to take the pressure off of Grothe.  Apparently there are no screens or rollouts in the Bull's playbook, which honestly surprises me given how banged up the offensive line has been all season.  I hope when the coaches go back and review the game film they recognize that and work some of those types of plays into the gameplan.  You'd think Grothe would be tailor made for a rolling pocket type play the way he can throw the ball on the run like he can.  This is the first game all season that I can say South Florida was outcoached.

If there's one silver lining, at least now the team can forget about rankings and just concentrate on winning the Big East.  The Bulls control their own destiny this season so now we'll see if they can suck it up and finish off the season the way they started it.

Edit: I'll say this much, too.  This was nothing if not an exciting game!  Sucks to be on the losing end of it but it was still a great game to watch.  And you gotta love Jim Leavitt with all his intensity and obvious love of the game.  He might not have the number one team this year but he definitely has the number one scowl!    Y'all haven't heard the last of the Bulls!

[Paelos]

I wanted to see the Bulls do well this year, and they will. They honestly didn't need to be in the national title game just to get slaughtered by a more established program. Perhaps in the coming years they will jump up as a contender, or perhaps not. The Big East is definitely in the public eye now after WVU and USF. I think they are on the rise as a conference, while teams in the ACC are on the decline.

[cmlancas]

Tough game. Was good all the way down to the wire, and I definitely agree that there should have been more bootlegs/waggle type plays to get Grothe out of the pocket. How many times was he pressured/hit/sacked inside the pocket as compared to outside? Really disappointed that USF couldn't make the adjustment in the fourth quarter.

Anyway, still a good chance to win out if we can stick it out with Cincy.


This is as close as I will get to eating my words. Rutgers looked pretty damn good last night.

[Paelos]

And Vandy upsets South Carolina, so another Top 10 is gone. The SEC is now completely up for grabs. Alabama beats Tennessee to maintain a top spot in the West with LSU, and should Kentucky lose, almost the entire SEC East will have 2 losses.

[Abagadro]

Goofy football season.

[Montague]

Goofy football season.

Very much so, that we can agree on.

We could have a team with two losses in the title game.

[Triforcer]

And Vandy upsets South Carolina, so another Top 10 is gone. The SEC is now completely up for grabs. Alabama beats Tennessee to maintain a top spot in the West with LSU, and should Kentucky lose, almost the entire SEC East will have 2 losses.

EDIT: Removed overly aggressive SEC v. Big 10 trolling.  I don't know why I'm so prickly this season.  Perhaps its compensation for a subconscious fear that Ohio State IS overrated 

[Abagadro]

EDIT: Then I retract my snarky reply.

BTW, the Fla/Kentucky game is pretty entertaining if you want to switch over. I had no idea that freshman for Kentucky was such a stud tailback.

[Montague]

Back to back defensive touchdowns for Michigan State. 24-14 late 3rd. Ugh.

[Abagadro]

If that yutz hadn't tried to flip that one, the D would have had another possession.


EDIT: Heh, they are lucky that Mich St.'s offense is so woeful.

EDIT: Wells has some moves for a guy his size.

[Montague]

If that yutz hadn't tried to flip that one, the D would have had another possession.


EDIT: Heh, they are lucky that Mich St.'s offense is so woeful.

EDIT: Wells has some moves for a guy his size.

Wells (Beanie) has good speed, he could be a Heisman contender next year if he can stay healthy. Mo Wells is terrible.

Here's Ohio State's weaknesses on offense being shown. The line gives up pressure to fast, undersized pass rushers, and it's all or nothing. Long bombs or short tosses, no reliable intermediate routes like last year. That and 2 straight turnovers means Tressel buttons it up.

[Triforcer]

Tressel went ultra-conservative after those two disastrous fumbles...not a good idea, now 3 min left and OSU has the ball up 7.

[Montague]

Tressel went ultra-conservative after those two disastrous fumbles...not a good idea, now 3 min left and OSU has the ball up 7.

Well, it worked out. They rode Beanie to run out the clock. I'll take a sloppy win over a loss

[Abagadro]

The Penn State/OSU game should be a good one. Penn State didn't look super impressive against Indiana today but they will be at home.

[Montague]

The Penn State/OSU game should be a good one. Penn State didn't look super impressive against Indiana today but they will be at home.

Yeah, Penn State can shut down Wells. I expect Morelli to struggle and it's going to be a low scoring game.

UCLA takes out California. The hits just keep on coming.

[Abagadro]

Cal isn't the same team without Longshore.

[Abagadro]

Michigan's QB goes down in the first quarter.

[cmlancas]

So who is #1/#2 if everyone loses?

I keep thinking USF might not be in such bad shape if they win out (granted there are other teams who will be ranked higher due to the loss at RU)....

[Abagadro]

Well OSU is #1 until the drop a game as I don't see BC taking it away.  BC will drop a game, they aren't that good. I could see OSU winning out. As for #2, Oklahoma was a good shot of winning out although they didn't look good today. This season is so nuts though that I'm done predicting much of anything.

[Triforcer]

So who is #1/#2 if everyone loses?

I keep thinking USF might not be in such bad shape if they win out (granted there are other teams who will be ranked higher due to the loss at RU)....

As you said a page or two ago, USF will be punished for this MUCH more harshly than an "established" program.  Winning out maybe should put them back in the picture, but it won't.

[Abagadro]

Heh, we used to run that huddle up and hide the ball play that Auburn used back in the sand lot.

EDIT: That was the stupidest attempt at a reception I have ever seen. Wide open and not only do you not catch it, you fling it over your head into the arms of a defender.

EDIT2: Unbelievably dirty block on Dorsey by Auburn.

[Paelos]

Ohio State had some trouble with Michigan State, but nothing serious. They passed the first of increasingly harder tests at the end of the year. Penn State won't be easy, but I think they'll win. Wisconsin is where I think they will screw up. I think the Badgers' rushing game will control too much of the clock for the game to turn into a shootout.

Also, Auburn isn't going to win this game in Death Valley at night. It's simply not doable.

[Abagadro]

Only a true dope like Gary Crowton would keep throwing Perilleux in when LSU is marching the ball down the field so he can run up the middle for no gain.

EDIT: In fact, in all my puffing of LSU I forgot that Crowton is their O coordinator which dooms them to mediocrity regardless of talent level.

[Triforcer]

Wow.  Auburn's squib kick to LSU when they were up by 1 with 3:30 left had to be the most retarded play I've seen in college football this year.  Why start them 35 yards from FG range?

[Abagadro]

Wow, ballsy call that worked out.

[Triforcer]

Christ, this will have the football critics that temporarily semi-closeted their absolute belief in LSU's superiority back out in the open.  We'll be lucky if they aren't #1 tommorow.

That being said, really gutsy call, although I'm betting Les Miles MEANT to leave time for a timeout and a FG in the case of an incompletion.

[Abagadro]

For all the hyperventilating the commentary guys did on the clock, there was 3 seconds on the clock when that play ended. The clock operator was a bit slow on the stoppage.

[Triforcer]

For all the hyperventilating the commentary guys did on the clock, there was 3 seconds on the clock when that play ended. The clock operator was a bit slow on the stoppage.

I'd say the majority of the time, on an incomplete pass, the clock doesn't stop the very instant it slips an inch from their fingers.  If he had bobbled that at all and then dropped it, they wouldn't have got a timeout off.

[Rasix]

Doesn't the clock stop on an incomplete pass? 

[Abagadro]

Exactly, it was close but I don't think the ball hangs in the air for a three full seconds. Worst case scenario it gets reviewed and 1 or 2 seconds gets put on the clock.