College Football Season (2005-2006)

[Meilyn]

Who's your school? Just curious because I'm a Husky and I respect USC. That team has class. I mean, after they scored touchdowns and stuff, they didn't get excessive celebration penalties but would hand them to the referee. And even if it wasn't a touchdown, they would hand them to the referee (not on every play but at least they didn't knock the football away and have the refs chase after it).

I do hate how USC gets their top choices and UCLA gets second (and usually wastes their talent ;p) while the rest of the Pac-10 fights for third. I do like, however, how Pete Carrol is running the team and I hope more college football coaches are like him.

That would be one reason I also hate USC. Another (and probably the main) reason is I graduated from Notre Dame in May. I'm an Irish fan through-and-through. I've had to deal with three years of USC fans (and probably 10 high school friends who went there) ribbing on my team. Do I have respect for them? Yes. Do I have the kind of cross-rivalry bitterness that occurs when one team is being supremely successful and the other is trying to rebuild? Absolutely. It's just the same kind of animosity that exists between Michigan-Ohio State fans, Texas-Oklahoma, and all the other great rivalries out there. Teams that people love to hate keeps the drama alive.

I don't know how much class you can claim to have when you're ahead of a team by 30 points and still playing your starters in the fourth, but I guess thats just part of USC's mentality. In one way I'm glad they are being successful in bringing some light over to the PAC-10, I'm fairly sick of the "East Coast Bias," whether or not its true. I'm also a Ducks fan, so I'm hoping they can pull it together and stop choking when it matters. I was really happy to see Mike Hass at Oregon State finally get recognized though, I played with him in high school and he's a phenomenol athlete.

As far as Washington goes Avvesione, I'm hoping they can turn their program around and return to their glory days of the early 90s. I've met Tyrone a few times and he is quite the man, I'm hoping he is able to get things done up there in Seattle. Hopefully a few things go your way next year too, a few of the games I watched up there were heartbreakingly close (e.g. the Air Force loss).

You obviously have no idea about how many highly touted quarterbacks we've recruited lately, but it's not like our offense was ever good to begin with.

The main reason why it sucked this and last year? The man that called the plays, Steinspring. O.Coordinator sucks, doesn't know how to do his job, your whole offense suffers. Marcus is a quarterback with good talent but a horrible attitude (he had a class in the same room after one of mine; he was an asshole), and doesn't know how to stay out of trouble. Even then he doesn't tell people about it, and just lies.

Fuck him. We don't need him. We have defense; we have special teams. We have sooooo many talented players. Middle of the ACC pack? You don't know much about college football to be making that statement.

I will openly admit I do not follow the ACC very closely. Most of what I know about Va Tech comes from what I can read/watch on ESPN. Most of what I saw focused on Vick and how he was the ignitor of that offense. When I talked about throwing it all away, I was referring to Vick himself, who will now likely be a 2nd day draft pick (he announced his candidacy today). Had he behaved himself (something from your personal account sounds unlikely for him to do), he likely could have done very well for himself and for Va Tech next year. It seems wasted opportunity to me.

No, you're right, I don't have any idea how many highly touted qb's you guys have recruited. But when you lose an athlete who makes things happen on the field, especially in such a dismissal, is generally detrimental to a program. Take Texas--with Vince Young going pro (also announced), Texas will have to go with someone else. I believe they only have one other qb on scholarship, a player who redshirted this year and didnt take a snap. Will whatever qb steps up still have a terrific Texas offense to lead? Yes. Will Texas be a title contender without Young? Maybe, but much less likely then had he stayed.

Which is what I was ultimately saying with my "Middle of the ACC pack" comment. Its the difference between dominating the conference and being in the title chase with several teams of similar caliber. I don't expect them to fall far, but it will be a slight regression. Rather than being ranked number 3 nationally and dominating they will likely be 15-25 nationally and fighting for wins in closer games. I suppose by middle of the pack I should have specified middle of the leaders pack. Va Tech will be competing with Miami, Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Boston College for the title, and teams like Clemson, N.C. State and Virginia all have the ability to play hard and win an upset. Had Va Tech gone 6-2 in conference instead of 7-1, they would be right there (in the middle of the pack) with another 6-2 team (Miami) and three 5-3 teams (BC, FSU, Ga Tech). Here's to hoping you can see what I was trying to say, that there will likely be much more parity in that conference next year.

You don't know much about college football to be making that statement.

Obviously. Let's be civil shall we? Football discussions are almost always fun, biased, and heated lol. I'm sad the season is over...

[Cleveland]

Say goodbye to Texas.....Vince is going pro. While Texas is a good team, I think the loss of Young is going to hurt them badly next year. Does anyone even know who the back-up QB for Texas is? Has he even played a down?

Endo..I wouldn't worry too much about our Buckeyes. Since he took over, Tressel has not had a productive offense to work with, and relied heavily on a very strong defense. Sure, we lose some linebackers and DB's, but we also have something that we didn't have before...and offense. I expect Smith, Ginn and Pittman to put up big numbers, and allow our offense to get some press time for a change. As far as replacing Hawk and company....not gonna be an issue for Tressel. Every highschool linebacker in the country is going to have OSU on the top of his school choices. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere Ohio, a future OSU linebacker noone has heard of his is studing for his highschool math final. Keep in mind, Hawk was expected to replace Keller at fullback, not play linebacker. The oh so brilliant college scouts and writers didn't think he had the size or mobility to make it as a college linebacker when he started as a fresheman. We all know how that turned out.

USC..oh USC. Carrol is a good coach,.and he runs a clean program. He has been living off his offense for the past 3 years. Petey isn't going to have that luxury this year. Sure, USC will have talent on offense, but they are losing the big guns. Carrol is going to have to beef up or adjust his defense. First step: fire the defensive coordinator. USC's defense has been sub-par all season, and really out did themselves as far as crappiness in the Rose Bowl. I don't blame the players....USC has some talent on the D-side of the ball. I blame the coordinator. How do you not have a spy on VY all game? How do you have your entire defense end up on the left side of the field, leaving the entire right side exposed to the scramble. If Bernie Kosar was QB for Texas, this would be perfectably acceptable, considering he would fall down before he crossed the line of scrimmage. But Bernie wasn't the QB...it was Vince Young, and you cannot leave 50% of the filed open for him to scramble.

And then there was the PAT. Dear god...I almost pissed myself laughing. USC blew there only shot of taking the game to OT before they even got the ball back. How in gods name do you not know Texas is going for 2? Up by 1 with a minute left....going for 2 and missing is just as good as kicking for 1...either way, a field goal beats you. Might as well try for 2 so a field goal will only tie it. My 2 year old daughter knew that Texas was going for 2. So did my dog. In fact, the only person in the world who did not know Texas was going for 2 was....Pete Carrol. Here's a hint Pete:

VINCE YOUNG NEVER LEFT THE FIELD!

Not good enough..try this:

TEXAS'S KICKER, PLACEHOLDER, AND LONGSNAPPER NEVER GOT OFF THE BENCH!

Kinda obvious Texas is going for 2....don't you think. Nope, USC sends the kick blocking team on...and has to waste their only time out to get the defense back ont he field. A TO that might have given them 1 or 2 more plays to get into field goal range. Well done, Pete.


My pick for National Titale Game:

Oregon Vs Ohio State

Oregon is just due. They will beat USC, and face nothing much else as far as competition. They have a good O-line..and that will help get them to Arizona in January.

Ohio State's offense will have too many weapons for the Big Ten (and Texas) to stop. Although the linebacking core of legend will be gone, OSU's defense will still be top ranked and hard to score on.

Winner: Ohio State.

Nothing against Oregon...but the game is in Arizona. Ohio State flat out owns Arizona, In fact, OSU has a better record there than the Cardinals.

[Byrd]

My pick for National Titale Game:
Oregon Vs Ohio State
Oregon is just due. They will beat USC, and face nothing much else as far as competition. They have a good O-line..and that will help get them to Arizona in January.

Wow. What? The Ducks are losing Haloti Ngata and a fewer others, not to mention Belotti needs to pick a QB. They open against Oklahoma at home, then have Fresno State, Arizona State, Cal, Washington State, USC (Nov. 11) and Oregon State on the road. Even if they are as good as you think they are (which I doubt), that's a tough damn road.

I don't think USC will fall as much as people think they will -- the recruiting classes the last couple of years have been unbelievable, and by November, I would expect them to be back to Top 10 form.

Nothing against Oregon...but the game is in Arizona. Ohio State flat out owns Arizona, In fact, OSU has a better record there than the Cardinals.

Doesn't pretty much everyone have a better record in Arizona than the Cardinals? :D

[Avvesione]

I don't see the Ducks going to the national title game when you think about teams like West Virgina and Notre Dame. Personally, I think it West Virginia will go untested because of how dominate they will be over the Big East next year and ultimately go undefeated. My friends have also said good things about Norte Dame. Ohio State is pretty much a given unless the Big 10 can pull out some upsets.

And for Oregon, I feel they won't be as good as they were this last year. I'm not sure of who will be #1 in the Pac-10 but USC still has some great athletes and UCLA is up near the top. But I don't see Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl next year.

[Yummy]

ohio state will have no defense... we were already losing 7 seniors and now 2 juniors to the draft...

[joft]

why are there 13 pages in a post about stupid sports?

i mean, how can anyone care enough about this shit? i don't get it

[Endo]

ohio state will have no defense... we were already losing 7 seniors and now 2 juniors to the draft...

I pray that the Browns can get Hawk and Carpenter With Vince Young going into the draft it should bump hawk down to a few teams who are not looking for a linebacker.

[Byrd]

ohio state will have no defense... we were already losing 7 seniors and now 2 juniors to the draft...

I pray that the Browns can get Hawk and Carpenter With Vince Young going into the draft it should bump hawk down to a few teams who are not looking for a linebacker.

Not to rub things in, but having been a lifelong Seahawks fan, it's never been this late in January before that I haven't started looking forward to the draft.

Go Hawks!

[Endo]

ohio state will have no defense... we were already losing 7 seniors and now 2 juniors to the draft...

I pray that the Browns can get Hawk and Carpenter With Vince Young going into the draft it should bump hawk down to a few teams who are not looking for a linebacker.

Not to rub things in, but having been a lifelong Seahawks fan, it's never been this late in January before that I haven't started looking forward to the draft.

Go Hawks!

If you search ESPN they did a thing on which fans have it the worst you know who #1 was in the NFL? Thats right the Cleveland Browns Guess who was #2 in MLB Cleveland Indians I thank god for OSU football

[Byrd]

If you search ESPN they did a thing on which fans have it the worst you know who #1 was in the NFL? Thats right the Cleveland Browns Guess who was #2 in MLB Cleveland Indians I thank god for OSU football

I saw that, and completely agreed. The Browns have had the worst luck between the Drive, the bad teams of late and the whole Art Modell debacle. The Seahawks being 8th sounded about right to me, too.

The funny thing was, if you go to the Chat Wrap on Page 2 for that article, there are a ton of people bitching that their misery index wasn't high enough. There were fans bitching because the Seahawks, Chargers and Cardinals were too high because they had no real fans, and a Giants fan bitching that his team wasn't high enough, despite having two Super Bowl titles in the last 20 years. It was funnier than the usual bunch of chat wrap whining.

[Avvesione]

Going back to college football, who do you think will be in the national championship game next year?

[edgarfigaro]

If you search ESPN they did a thing on which fans have it the worst you know who #1 was in the NFL? Thats right the Cleveland Browns Guess who was #2 in MLB Cleveland Indians I thank god for OSU football

I saw that, and completely agreed. The Browns have had the worst luck between the Drive, the bad teams of late and the whole Art Modell debacle. The Seahawks being 8th sounded about right to me, too.

The funny thing was, if you go to the Chat Wrap on Page 2 for that article, there are a ton of people bitching that their misery index wasn't high enough. There were fans bitching because the Seahawks, Chargers and Cardinals were too high because they had no real fans, and a Giants fan bitching that his team wasn't high enough, despite having two Super Bowl titles in the last 20 years. It was funnier than the usual bunch of chat wrap whining.

They have carolina at 21...even though we've had our career leading rusher (at the time) shot to death by his wife, another player pay to get his girlfriend carrying his child killed (even set her up by driving in front of her), a quarterback tell racist jokes in the locker room and then quit in the middle of the season...and somehow a player getting arrested for picking up a prositute is a more miserable moment >.> The Rae Caruth incident wasn't even mentioned...just showing that Page 2 has gone straight down the drain. I only read Jason Whitlock, the Sportsguy if he's not whining about a Boston team (so...1 article a month from him), and the List.

Anyways, ND will lose to 2 terrible teams next year, but beat someone supposedly good (who will turn out to be wildly overrated) and get whooped in an undeserved BCS bowl. Texas and USC will reload, but won't win their conferences. Michigan will start out in the top 10 for some reason, and then struggle to be in the final top 25. Penn State will regress slightly, but still be in the hunt in the Big Ten. West Virginia will run rampant over the Big East, but it's the Big East, so they'll get shafted. People have already started talking about Clemson as a sleeper pick pointing out that they won 6 of their last 7 games...even though that's been the case for the past 3 years and Clemson will lose to at least 3 teams they shouldn't have.

PICKS:
ACC: FSU
Big East: WVa
Big Ten: Northwestern (I don't care, so I'm just making a random pick...fuck the Big Ten)
Big 12: Oklahoma
Pac 10: Whoever learns how to keep the opposing running backs below 150 yards (umm...let's go with USC)

Title: Oklahoma and FSU, with OU winning the rematch.

[Meilyn]

Hmm, gutcheck reaction I'd say Notre Dame vs. Ohio State/Penn State.

Will be hard to tell though...

Notre Dame should continue to improve, and with Young/Bush/White/Drew declared for the draft, Quinn will likely be the preseason favorite for the Heisman. While the loss of Fasano at TE hurts, the offense should only get better. If the defense can develop some fast DBs to help their coverage, then the Irish stand a good shot. Biggest obstacle will be getting past their traditionally tough schedule.

Ohio State might move up to preseason number 1 with Vince Young leaving Texas, and Troy Smith will likely also be a frontrunner for the Heisman. As a few here have mentioned they are losing a lot on defense, so they will have to outgun more teams then they are used to next year.

Penn State has a lot of momentum carrying into the 2006 season, and as long as JoPa can keep his new attitude and stay healthy this team will stay strong. Their QB Michael Robinson could also emerge as a Heisman candidate. Ultimately, if a team can make it through in what will likely be a brutal Big Ten conference next year undefeated, I'd expect them to go to the championship game.

Other teams likely are Texas, Oregon, USC, and West Virginia. Maybe an SEC team like Georgia, LSU, or Auburn, but they always seem to beat on each other enough to keep themselves out of the title game. Same with the ACC, as I mentioned previously.

It will be interesting to see what happens for the Texas-OSU game, right from the first game of the season one of those teams is getting a loss and will be playing catchup for the title game for the rest of the season. Texas does have a lot of momentum and the longest current streak in college ball, but without Young I'm calling an OSU victory. If Texas doesn't beat OSU to start the season, I don't think any BigXII team goes unless Oklahoma can go undefeated.

For Oregon to go they need to beat USC, and vice versa. I'm not sure Oregon would have gone as high this year had they played UCLA, but its hard to know. It will be interesting to see how things work out when the PAC10 goes to a complete round robin next year (every team plays every team).

West Virginia will have the inside track at going BCS simply because the Big East conference is pretty weak right now, but if they want to go for it all they need to win convincingly.

Basically I think there will be a lot of very good matchups next year, and who ends up in the national title game will be the 1 or 2 (or oh noes! 3) that manage to get through their schedule undefeated. Should be a good year, though I don't see a one-loss team making it to the championship unless they 1) lose early (Texas-OSU comes to mind) and/or 2) get lots of loving from the pollsters/computers.


PS - an NFL aside, if Hasselbeck gets all excited and says 'we want the ball, and we're gonna score!' again this year, he'd better actually do it this time. Go Hawks!

[Okan]

I'm sorry, I read all that and it could have just said "TEXAS".