Post by cviller on Sept 18, 2007 16:50:39 GMT -5
Posted By John Antonik: September 18, 2007 (9:45 am)
Having grown up in Tennessee in a small town outside of Knoxville, WVU sports marketing director Matt Wells was raised on SEC football. Having seen the ebbs and flows and the ups and downs of a long football season, Wells will be the first to tell you that in the SEC you don’t make any plans until all of the games are played.
He made that point once again yesterday at lunch as we munched on our Chick-fil-A sandwiches. “Don’t worry about the rankings because it’s only September,” he told our small group between bites. “Just go back and look who Tennessee played in 1998 for the national championship game?”
Our department Yoda is wise beyond his years.
Tennessee faced Florida State that year for the first BCS national championship game. Tennessee was ranked fourth after the third week of the season and Florida State was only 10th.
Both managed to navigate the hazards of a long season to make hard charges at the end.
West Virginia slipping from No. 3 to No. 5 in the polls is not that big a deal. Just chalk it up as a simple market correction. USC, LSU, Florida and Oklahoma have all been impressive so far this year. But keep in mind that LSU and Florida still have to play each other, Oklahoma has to face Texas and there is always an Oregon State lurking on USC’s schedule.
All West Virginia can do is simply take care of business and let the chips fall where they may.
As a point to note, only three times since the Bowl Championship Series was created in 1998 has the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the final regular season poll gone on to play each other in the national championship game.
No. 1 USC played No. 2 Texas in 2005, No. 1 Ohio State faced No. 2 Miami in 2002 and No. 1 Florida State squared off against No. 2 Virginia Tech in 1999. Except for Texas, the one common trait among all of them is that those schools didn’t have to play a conference championship game.
Last year, Ohio State was No. 1 in the polls on Nov. 26 and wound up making it to the national championship game. No. 2 USC and No 3 Michigan slipped on banana peels, making room for No. 4 Florida to get into the national championship picture.
In 2004, Oklahoma was ranked third on Nov. 28 but was able to get past undefeated Auburn with the help of the BCS computers.
In 2003, the top-ranked team on Nov. 30 didn’t even make it to the title game. That is the year we had the split national champion with LSU beating Oklahoma in the BCS title game and USC sharing the title with the Tigers.
In 2001, Nebraska was fifth in the rankings on Dec. 2 and was able to leap past Tennessee, Oregon and Colorado to meet Miami in the national title game. The same scenario took place in 2000 with No. 5 Florida State jumping Miami, Washington and Oregon State to meet Oklahoma for the big game.
Just listen to our department Yoda and don’t worry about the rankings on Sept. 16. Let’s wait and see how all of the games play out. The only ranking that really counts is the one at the end of the year.
Offensive Evolution
Posted By John Antonik: September 17, 2007 (3:23 pm)
Rich Rodriguez
It's difficult to flip through the channels on Saturdays and not see at least one team using some form of the spread offense made popular by West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez. What was once utilized as a means of competing against teams with far greater talent has now become the norm in college football.
“The defenses have become so much more athletic really in the last eight to 10 years. You’re seeing so much more team speed at every position defensively that it forces the offense to be a little more creative,” Rodriguez said.
The spread, like any other offensive system, must be able to adapt to what the defense is trying to take away, according to Rodriguez.
“You can still run a traditional offense. I’ve always said that you’ve got to have a system whether it’s an I-back, West Coast, spread -- whatever you’re system -- you’ve got to have some built-in answers. If they do this, this is how you answer it,” Rodriguez said. “If you have a system and you have players that can adjust to all that speed on defense at least it gives you a shot.”
The best offenses always have one thing in common: good football players.
“It’s always the players first,” Rodriguez said. “Everybody will tell you it’s the Jimmies and Joes before the Xs and Os. But I also think the system plays a part from the standpoint of putting them into a position to make plays or at least them knowing where to go.
“That to me is the coach’s responsibility,” Rodriguez said. “If they do something to stop you what is your next counter to that? That chess match obviously more involves the coaches than the players but if you can get your players to understand that as well it’s easier to adjust.”
Random Thoughts
Posted By John Antonik: September 16, 2007 (10:40 am)
Some random thoughts after spending Saturday afternoon on the couch with the remote …
USC, LSU, Florida and Oklahoma are terrific football teams. The Gators have reclaimed the Swamp by winning their 18th straight home game in impressive fashion against Tennessee, gaining 554 yards and scoring the most points in SEC play since beating Kentucky 59-31 in 2000.
LSU blanked a Middle Tennessee team that scored 42 points against Louisville, Oklahoma has scored 79, 51 and 54 points in three season-opening wins against North Texas, Miami and Utah State, and USC was in complete control of Nebraska in Norman on Saturday night.
Despite its 17-13 loss at Michigan State there appears to be a ray of hope at Pitt with freshman running back LeSean McCoy, who gained 172 yards on 25 carries including a 64-yard touchdown.
In the second half McCoy was taking direct snaps from the center because of the problems redshirt freshman quarterback Kevan Smith was having moving the Panther offense. The long-term solution for Pitt is to use true freshman Pat Bostick but Wannstedt has been reluctant so far to burn Bostick’s redshirt.
Pitt also looks to have an active defense holding a Spartan team that scored 83 points in wins over Alabama-Birmingham and Bowling Green to only 17 points and 327 total yards.
If Pitt can sort through its quarterback situation the Panthers are going to give some teams problems this year. They look to have enough athletes despite enduring some critical season-ending injuries to key players.
Where was the secondary for Louisville on Saturday? The ESPN Classic television cameras weren’t able to uncover who exactly was responsible for the blown coverage on Kentucky’s game-winning 57-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left, but it was a fatal error that has cost the Cardinals the opportunity to play for a national championship.
In reality, the Cardinals don’t have a championship-caliber defense this year having given up 42 and 40 points in consecutive games to Middle Tennessee and Kentucky, but the Cardinal offense is as good as ever. Brian Brohm has completed 69 of 103 passes for 1,142 yards and 11 touchdowns and Harry Douglas is as reliable as any receiver in the country catching 26 passes for 474 yards and four touchdowns. Louisville can score on anyone at any time.
Louisville is finding out what it’s like to have every team on its schedule gunning for them. You could tell by watching the Kentucky sidelines just how badly the Wildcats wanted to win the game – much like Marshall and Maryland did against West Virginia in successive fashion.
Look out for Cincinnati. The Bearcats (3-0) are flying under the radar and they now have a dynamic offense to go with an aggressive, playmaking defense. Cincinnati beat Miami, Ohio, 47-10 after its big 34-3 victory over Oregon State last Thursday night. Cincinnati has scored 59, 34 and 47 points in three games and showed great focus in a 37-point road victory against its biggest non-conference rival. The result won’t register to Top 25 voters but it’s a clear sign that Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly has the Bearcats headed in the right direction.
Plus, Cincinnati could be 5-0 with games coming up against Marshall and San Diego State before its big showdown with No. 13 Rutgers on Oct. 6.
Speaking of No. 13 Rutgers, Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano took a little heat on Saturday after calling three time outs at the end of the first half trying to pad his team’s 45-0 lead over Norfolk State. Rutgers scored 42 points in the second quarter and rolled to an easy 59-0 victory. Running back Ray Rice carried just 12 times for 72 yards with three touchdowns before heading to the showers early.
We are going to get a better read on Rutgers in two weeks when the Scarlet Knights take on Maryland on Saturday, Sept. 29. Rutgers has scheduled its first five games at home before traveling to Syracuse on Oct. 13.
Connecticut had to hang on by the skin of its teeth, but the Huskies are now 3-0 after their 22-17 win over 0-3 Temple in Storrs on Saturday. The Owls were leading the game 17-16 heading into the fourth quarter.
Connecticut and Pitt square off at Heinz Field next Saturday to christen the conference portion of their schedules.
It’s dangerous when a team circles one game on its schedule and then loses it. Marshall fans are realizing that hard fact Sunday morning after the Herd dropped a 48-35 home decision to New Hampshire yesterday afternoon. New Hampshire, ranked 12th in this week’s NCAA Championship Subdivision Poll, scored the first 24 points of the game before the Herd finally woke up.
New Hampshire has done this before, knocking off Rutgers in 2004 and beating Northwestern last year.
A staunch Notre Dame supporter once told me when Charlie Weis was hired that it was going to be impossible for college defensive coordinators to stop his offense. Well, it looks like the impossible is happening. Notre Dame has scored 13 points in three blowout losses to Georgia Tech, Penn State and Michigan and not a single point has come from the Notre Dame offense. Only two Irish teams have scored fewer than 13 points in its first three games – 1901 and 1933.
Notre Dame has only started the season 0-3 one other time in its well-chronicled history and that came in 2001 under Bob Davie. Even Tyrone Willingham and Gerry Faust were able to avoid 0-3 starts.
Notre Dame looks to snap its five-game losing streak that spans two seasons at home next Saturday against 3-0 Michigan State.
I heard that Charlie had trouble getting into his house last night. Apparently a disgruntled Notre Dame fan painted a goal line outside his front door.
