Bowl Chat 05-06

[Rasix]

Funny that of my 4 points, you all choose to focus on that one.

Your first 3 are no-brainers, IMO. I'm not sold on Vince Young as a NFL quarterback. Then again, I'm still not sold on Ron Mexico as one either.

[Nebu]

Your first 3 are no-brainers, IMO. I'm not sold on Vince Young as a NFL quarterback. Then again, I'm still not sold on Ron Mexico as one either.

Being an ex-DB myself, I derived all of my personal enjoyment of the game watching the Texas DB's last night.  I'd be happy to go over my disgust with the USC defense, but I'm not sure anyone cares to hear about it.

Note: I hate seeing officials make such a terrible call as they did with the Texas TD.  You're all right in suggesting it had little impact on the outcome... it just ruined some of the fun.

[HaemishM]

The officiating was pretty odious, especially considering they have the use of replay. But I take it that someone somewhere has to initiate the replay, since the coaches can't like in the NFL. The Texas DB's did pretty well, especially in comparison to the USC DB's, who couldn't cover a tight end.

[Hoax]

Some things from the Rose Bowl:

1) Defense needs more attention at the college level.  Texas has one of the best defenses in today's college football and I was left unimpressed by what I saw last night.  At least their DB's could tackle in the open field... USC looked terrible on defense.

I agree, there are some people in the sport's world who do as well.  But they were wrong in what they said.  I read several articles that wanted to see USC vrs Ohio State because they didn't realize how good Texas' D was.  Me personally I thought the OSUvTexas game was a better game then the Rose Bowl because it matched two great D's and if that fucking booster hadn't given Smith $500 we would have won and then everything would have been different.  I love what ifs   

[Nebu]

I had to see for myself... I'm glad that Texas played USC.  I'm not a huge fan of the Big 12 and felt that much of the success of the Texas defense was merely a result of there being mostly subpar offenses in that conference.  I played in the Big 10 and realize that it too is a conference that suffers from the same lack of a powerhouse offense.  Matching up the Texas defense with a legitimate powerhouse offense really showed off how good the Texas defense was (though it also clearly demonstrated their lack of linebacker talent.)

Of course, ex-players often make for lousy analyzers. I may be guilty of that.

[Jacob0883]

God damn what a bowl season. 

I know everyone here will say WVU didn't deserve to win and blah blah, but I watched every game of theirs this season and I had good hopes going in.  Steve Slayton might be a hiesman contender in a couple of years.  He put yards up against every team he played this season and he is a freshman.  Pat White also has potential as a QB once WVU gets some receivers for him to throw to too.  You noticed WVU only scored 10 points in the second half and the reason was because they stopped giving the ball to Slayton.  The touchdown and fieldgoal can be credited to him because he drove the ball down the field on those drives.  Say what you will, but he is a damn good back and will bring WVU success for a couple of years.

Ohio and the Dame was a worthless match-up.  ND sucked so bad it wasn't even fun to watch.

Penn State and Florida State was exciting.  Penn State either played bad, or is not as good as many people expected.

Rose Bowl.... USC is overrated DEAL WITH IT.  When they come play the ACC and Big Ten I will give them props, but until then, the rose bowl for me this year was Ohio State and Texas....  Which if was replayed would be a even better match-up than before.

[Rasix]

Rose Bowl.... USC is overrated DEAL WITH IT.  When they come play the ACC and Big Ten I will give them props, but until then, the rose bowl for me this year was Ohio State and Texas....  Which if was replayed would be a even better match-up than before.

Overrated? They lost in the last 20 seconds to one of the greatest single game performances by a college football player, ever.  Bad defense, sure, but offense could probably put up more points than some pro teams.  It was a great game, I'd leave it at that.  Texas could have easily lost.

[Paelos]

A half yard going USC's direction, and Texas was done. I don't see how that qualifies as an asskicking or USC being overrated. It was probably one of the best national championship games you'll ever see in your lifetime.

[Triforcer]

A half yard going USC's direction, and Texas was done. I don't see how that qualifies as an asskicking or USC being overrated. It was probably one of the best national championship games you'll ever see in your lifetime.

Ohio State/Miami was the best national championship game in the history of the universe and all other universes, but this one came close.

[Nebu]

A half yard going USC's direction, and Texas was done. I don't see how that qualifies as an asskicking or USC being overrated. It was probably one of the best national championship games you'll ever see in your lifetime.

I'd have to disagree.  I was really anticipating this being an outstanding game, but other than it having a close score it was a pretty poorly played game.  The USC defense was a no-show.

[Rasix]

It was a no-show all year. I don't see how people were expecting different.

Edit: Watching either their ASU, Fresno State, or Notre Dame games you could see that the defense was just nothing special. 

[Nebu]

Great players rise to the occasion in great games. I had high expectations and they were dashed on the rocks.

[Rasix]

Heh, the thing is, USC really didn't have any great players on defense.  Don't they have a true freshman starting at OLB? They didn't make the stops when it counted.  That's pretty much why USC had to go for that last 4 and 1, Carrol had no confidence in his team to stop Vince Young given any sort of time left.  Edit: I just can't see how anyone could have had expectations for this unit, they were mediocre and unspectacular all year. 

Texas made a few key stops when it mattered but they had some of the best defensive players in the country (Huff) and still managed to give up 38 points and 574 yards of offense. Still, 4 and 1, game on the line, and they held.  One play between chumps and champs, eh?

And yah, I like the Miami-Ohio State game better on my list of all timers for the sole reason of Miami losing.  Anytime Miami loses a major bowl game is a good day for humanity. 

[Nebu]

I'm wasn't emotionally invested in the game and really didn't care who won.  I expected USC to outgun Texas, but USC just couldn't do anything to stop Young.  Texas also won the openfield tackling war.  Their better defensive backs made the difference.

Overall, I was pretty unimpressed by the game given all the hype.  It's pretty obvious who the talented players are though I doubt many will fluorish in the NFL.  If anything, the game should elevate the value of LenDale White and Huff.  I guess it's tough to elevate Huff... he was already projected in the top 10 and it's tough to take a DB early unless they're something really special.  It's likely Huff will get moved to CB after being drafted making his first NFL season something of an adjustment. He'll have to deal with NFL speed on faster fields with a bump and run style.  He's up for it and has all the skills to do well. 

Dwayne Jarrett really impressed me as a sophomore and he could develop into something special.  I also liked the Texas TE.  I imagine that Leinhart and Young will go high in the draft, but neither sees the field well.  Young lacks the athletic ability and the accuracy of Vick and will have a tough time with his playing style working in the NFL.  As for Bush, he has incredible athletic ability.  If he learns to be more patient, he could really do well at a higher level.  The guys I'm keeping my eye on are the USC linemen and the Texas defensive line.  Those guys were the unsung heros over the season.

[El Gallo]

The USC offensive line is just stupefyingly good as a unit.  So good that I sometimes wonder how good Leinhart, White and Bush will be, because there is no way they'll see protection/holes like that in the NFL.

[Nebu]

The USC offensive line is just stupefyingly good as a unit.  So good that I sometimes wonder how good Leinhart, White and Bush will be, because there is no way they'll see protection/holes like that in the NFL.

Considering where Bush and Leinhart are projected to go in the draft, they are indeed going to have a rude awakening.  Barry Sanders overcame it, but Bush is no Barry Sanders.

LenDale White could be the one to succeed here.  He'll go late enough in the first round that he may end up on a team with a solid offensive line.  It's quite likely that this could give him a better rookie year than Bush given the right situation (i.e. he isn't in a platoon).

[Paelos]

I'm wasn't emotionally invested in the game and really didn't care who won.  I expected USC to outgun Texas, but USC just couldn't do anything to stop Young.  Texas also won the openfield tackling war.  Their better defensive backs made the difference.

Overall, I was pretty unimpressed by the game given all the hype.  It's pretty obvious who the talented players are though I doubt many will fluorish in the NFL.  If anything, the game should elevate the value of LenDale White and Huff.  I guess it's tough to elevate Huff... he was already projected in the top 10 and it's tough to take a DB early unless they're something really special.  It's likely Huff will get moved to CB after being drafted making his first NFL season something of an adjustment. He'll have to deal with NFL speed on faster fields with a bump and run style.  He's up for it and has all the skills to do well. 

Dwayne Jarrett really impressed me as a sophomore and he could develop into something special.  I also liked the Texas TE.  I imagine that Leinhart and Young will go high in the draft, but neither sees the field well.  Young lacks the athletic ability and the accuracy of Vick and will have a tough time with his playing style working in the NFL.  As for Bush, he has incredible athletic ability.  If he learns to be more patient, he could really do well at a higher level.  The guys I'm keeping my eye on are the USC linemen and the Texas defensive line.  Those guys were the unsung heros over the season.

Let me just see if we're on the same page here. You played football and you have a thing for defensive games. You didn't like this game because the defense on one side was a no-show. You were unimpressed with the game given the hype. You said you believe that great players should rise to the occasion in great games, but you were disappointed.

Well, to start, nowhere in any of the hype did anyone talk about defense. The over/under in Vegas was 69.5 points. And they beat the over. That's ungodly high for that kind of bet even in college. As far as the great players not rising up, I just have to say I totally disagree. Vince Young was a great player going into the game, but he was absolutely god-like for 60 minutes of football. The man put up 200 yards of rushing on his own. That's essentially the same amount as both of the other RBs on USC. Leinert had a 70%+ completion rate and threw for over 350 yards. The game was decided on gutsy 4th down calls and incredible late drives.

I'd really like to know what the expectation was here. If you were hoping for a defensive struggle, there was no hope you'd ever love this game as that is not the style of either team.

[Nebu]

I'd really like to know what the expectation was here. If you were hoping for a defensive struggle, there was no hope you'd ever love this game as that is not the style of either team.

I do enjoy a defensive struggle, but didn't expect one here.  A good game to me is when all players are playing at or near the peak of their ability.  Players making good decisions and rising to the occasion.  Watching an underappreciated player really show their worth.  Though this was the case for a few of the players on the field, I felt that many have shown better during the course of the season.  Texas gave up too many points given their talent, Young ran amok, and there were NUMEROUS mental errors by players on both sides of the ball.  I wish I had recorded the game so that I could cite specific examples.  It's playing on ESPN Classic, so I may watch it again and give you more of my views. 

Don't get me wrong, it was a very fun game to watch.  I just found myself a bit disappointed.  Too many mental errors and too many players underperforming left me cold.  I'm sure some of that was due to my own inflated expectations. 

[HaemishM]

I really hope the Texans don't fall into the trap and draft Reggie Bush first. I really do. That would be a disaster of epic proportions. Bush would get creamed, Carr would continue to lead the league in being sacked, and the Texans would suck even worse. They should trade Bush for like 5 picks and draft an entire O Line, maybe USC's O line. They have the offensive talent to win, just not the line to block for it.

I also hope New Orleans doesn't draft Vince Young 3rd. He would be completely wrong for that team, but he'd make a big splash given the media hype about him. They spent years sucking with Aaron Brooks, they don't need years more trying to teach this guy how to QB in the NFL.

[Hoax]

We should do mock drafts or something, that would be cool.

Also I'd love to have the time to analyze all these coaching changes, and think about what 32 QB's will be starting where next season.

[Paelos]

I really hope the Texans don't fall into the trap and draft Reggie Bush first. I really do. That would be a disaster of epic proportions. Bush would get creamed, Carr would continue to lead the league in being sacked, and the Texans would suck even worse. They should trade Bush for like 5 picks and draft an entire O Line, maybe USC's O line. They have the offensive talent to win, just not the line to block for it.

I also hope New Orleans doesn't draft Vince Young 3rd. He would be completely wrong for that team, but he'd make a big splash given the media hype about him. They spent years sucking with Aaron Brooks, they don't need years more trying to teach this guy how to QB in the NFL.

You couldn't pay me enough to go to NO right now. That team has issues well outside of football. They are dreaming if they think the Saints shouldn't be moved out of that market now.