College Football Week 10 discussion

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I think West Virginia's wild success can be largely attributed to Pat White, who pulled a lot of wins out of his ass for Rich Rod. Both WVU and Rodriguez look a lot worse without him.

This is it more than anything. Even with Rasheed Marshall, who was a Big East Player of the Year, WVU went 25-16 with him as QB.


EDIT: to correct the record to include 0-3 in bowl games.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

Okay I'll give you the BCS wins but you can't really compare other bowl games when the Big East is matched up against Conference USA, ACC, & MAC teams for the better part of their bowl games. Where as the Big Ten plays SEC and Big 12 teams.

Would you disagree that the Big 10 has a bigger media influence and better traveling fans. They have better bowl affilliations and that is a direct result of those two factors -- it has nothing to do with the Big Ten's on-field play.

Let's be honest here -- even you would have to admit that the Big 10 has been, by and large, on cruise control throughout the past few regular seasons, get nice looking records while playing jokes of OOC schedules, and then win a handful of bowl games and call it a year.

I'm not saying the Big East is superior, but it is laughable to call the Big East a horribly weak league and then tout the supremacy of a league whose best OOC wins this year have been over Temple, Arizona, Syracuse, and a loss to USC.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Hopefully this Devin Gardner guy will be Pat White 2.0.

Not to be a total downer, but I have heard that Florida is sniffing around Gardner. With things as they are at Michigan, that could be very bad news.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Not to be a total downer, but I have heard that Florida is sniffing around Gardner. With things as they are at Michigan, that could be very bad news.

Those rumors aren't anything new.

[Kodos]

I don't think anyone is claiming that the Big Ten is particularly good this season or in recent seasons.

[Dr. Sak]

With 8 teams in the Big East as compared to 11 in the Big Ten that means the Big East plays 7 conference games and has the ability to go out and schedule teams that will and can boost their winning records. Granted some of them go out and schedule one tough game like Pitt does with Notre Dame or West Virginia does with Auburn or Colorado but in the end they fill up the rest of their schedule with the likes of Buffalo, Liberty, Marshall, East Carolina...the list goes on and on.

And most people would agree (I'd think) that when you play a team year after year in a conference they tend to know your tendencies which can and will make up for a lack of talent when the teams play against each other.

I'm not saying that the Big Ten is vastly superior but I think those Sagaran ratings can be a bit misleading when you have such a disparity in number of teams in a conference.

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Would you disagree that the Big 10 has a bigger media influence and better traveling fans. They have better bowl affilliations and that is a direct result of those two factors -- it has nothing to do with the Big Ten's on-field play.

Let's be honest here -- even you would have to admit that the Big 10 has been, by and large, on cruise control throughout the past few regular seasons, get nice looking records while playing jokes of OOC schedules, and then win a handful of bowl games and call it a year.

I'm not saying the Big East is superior, but it is laughable to call the Big East a horribly weak league and then tout the supremacy of a league whose best OOC wins this year have been over Temple, Arizona, Syracuse, and a loss to USC.

I don't think the Big East is a horrible conference (they are in the middle IMO), but the bowl affiliations should matter a bit when you are pitting one conference against the other. You can't say that a 5-1 Big East Conference record is vastly better than a 3-5 Big Ten one when the teams they play are that much different.

And while you are jabbing at the Big Ten for their lack of OOC wins, the Big East's are nothing spectacular either. Oregon State, Notre Dame (which a 1 conference win Big Ten Michigan beat), Colorado, and Florida State? I don't think you can really beat your chest about any of those. Plus the team who is still in the hunt for your BCS bid lost to NC State.

Look at two years ago when USC blew out Illinois. By the BCS selecting Illinois to fill in the Rose Bowl void left by Ohio State playing in the title game. Well that shift hurt the rest of the conference (competitive wise) with the other matchups. Seriously how would the Big East fair if two of their teams made a BCS bowl game?

In all honestly I agree with you about the Big Ten. For the past few years (maybe more) they usually have 1 or 2 really good teams (not elite) and the rest are average (at best) or horrible. This year I think the entire conference could fall under the average to slightly above average ranking.

I think all this dick wagging about which conference is better is pretty stupid. We all have been brainwashed by ESPN that the SEC Conference is amazing and all the rest suck ass. But in all seriousness, the SEC has been the best and the rest of the 5 have each taken their turn moving up and down between 2 and 6 (or 7 if you include the Mountain West).

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I think West Virginia's wild success can be largely attributed to Pat White, who pulled a lot of wins out of his ass for Rich Rod. Both WVU and Rodriguez look a lot worse without him.

I'll agree with this too, but think the league has something to do with it as well.

Plus the fact that his offense might even be a bit outdated.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Maybe West Virginia's wild success can finally be partially contributed to that horribly weak league they played in for years.

Or rather Steve Slaton (who is succeeding in the NFL) and Pat White... but let's not pass up a chance to unfairly slam the Big East.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Not to be a total downer, but I have heard that Florida is sniffing around Gardner. With things as they are at Michigan, that could be very bad news.

Always will be around when Michigan is struggling, but Gardner keeps reiterating he's coming to Michigan because he feels 100% certain he'll be the QB next year.

[DeToxRox]

I just wanted to add that I find it funny for people who want Brian Kelly at Michigan (of which there are many) when he and RichRod have almost identical resumes at this point.

[DeToxRox]

Just to chime in on the Michigan offense also:

Listen, year one was a travesty with two QB's who had no business running this offense, a patched together OL and no healthy RB's.

This year, it's two true freshman QB, an improved OL, but not to the point of being where it needs to be (And it should be noted when our best OL, C David Molk went down, the offense really hit a nose dive) and once again, no healthy RB's, and this is why the offense has sputtered going into OSU.

That said, there have been moments every game the O looks unstoppable, but then Tate hits a wall and it stalls out. Yes, some of it is coaching, but a lot of it is on the players. Lots of missed blocks, dropped passes and most importantly, Tate is still not very good at the reading the zone option which is obviously the focus of the offense.

Now if next year comes, when the O should be far improved, and it still is stagnant, then sure, it needs to be time to part ways, but until then I still think it's a little early to say it's time to end the experiment.

[Atocep]

What Rich really needs to do, I can't see him doing it, is upgrade his staff. His staff wasn't good for WVU and it's terrible for Michigan considering what they're being paid.

Tony Gibson has been mentioned a few times in this thread, but he has no business coaching in D1. The players at WVU hated him, he's a terrible coach, and the only thing he has going for him is he's an ok recruiter. However, if he hadn't stumbled into Pacman Jones he really wouldn't have anything to sell to recruits.

It's been said for several years by those who know Rich that he'd likely look at other jobs if it came down to firing Tony Gibson. I'm interested to see if he's pressured to overhaul his staff, especially on the defensive side after this season.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Atocep

What Rich really needs to do, I can't see him doing it, is upgrade his staff. His staff wasn't good for WVU and it's terrible for Michigan considering what they're being paid.

Tony Gibson has been mentioned a few times in this thread, but he has no business coaching in D1. The players at WVU hated him, he's a terrible coach, and the only thing he has going for him is he's an ok recruiter. However, if he hadn't stumbled into Pacman Jones he really wouldn't have anything to sell to recruits.

It's been said for several years by those who know Rich that he'd likely look at other jobs if it came down to firing Tony Gibson. I'm interested to see if he's pressured to overhaul his staff, especially on the defensive side after this season.

I don't exactly know what Tony Gibson does or what he coaches, but I agree, they should fire his ass.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I don't exactly know what Tony Gibson does or what he coaches, but I agree, they should fire his ass.

He's your secondary coach.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Atocep

What Rich really needs to do, I can't see him doing it, is upgrade his staff. His staff wasn't good for WVU and it's terrible for Michigan considering what they're being paid.

Tony Gibson has been mentioned a few times in this thread, but he has no business coaching in D1. The players at WVU hated him, he's a terrible coach, and the only thing he has going for him is he's an ok recruiter. However, if he hadn't stumbled into Pacman Jones he really wouldn't have anything to sell to recruits.

It's been said for several years by those who know Rich that he'd likely look at other jobs if it came down to firing Tony Gibson. I'm interested to see if he's pressured to overhaul his staff, especially on the defensive side after this season.

Yup. He was secondary coach but about a month ago Greg Robinson took over coaching Safeties. Robinson also coaches our outside backers, which are the only LB's we have worth a damn. I think the pressure will really come to get Gibson out of town, but I think he might end up Recruiting Coordinator and then they'll let Robinson do what he must with the staff.

The safety play doesn't directly fall on him, it's been really bad as long as I can remember, but yeah the progress isn't good at all with him coaching the DB's.

And I wanted to add before I forget, my approval rating of RichRod was about 90% going into the year, stayed even after the nice start, but it's around 70% now after a horrid stretch.

We'll see how this all shakes out but it's looking more and more likely that next year, with a new AD looking to start their legacy, that 9-10 wins will be an absolute must or else he'll be elsewhere.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Atocep

He's your secondary coach.

We have a secondary coach? There's someone actually coaching those guys? His ass should most definitely be fired.

[bhlloy]

What happened to Donovan Warren? He looked pretty good as a freshman IIRC and is still one of the biggest misses USC has had since Pete Carroll has been coach

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

What happened to Donovan Warren? He looked pretty good as a freshman IIRC and is still one of the biggest misses USC has had since Pete Carroll has been coach

He's actually played very well. He and Brandon Graham have been the best defensive players, by far, on Michigan's defense. One good player in the secondary, unfortunately, is not enough. He did have a bit of a rough go in Wisconsin against Al Toon's kid, but other than he's been pretty solid.

Depending on what he hears about where he will end up in the draft, he may very likely enter the NFL after this year.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

I think all this dick wagging about which conference is better is pretty stupid. We all have been brainwashed by ESPN that the SEC Conference is amazing and all the rest suck ass. But in all seriousness, the SEC has been the best and the rest of the 5 have each taken their turn moving up and down between 2 and 6 (or 7 if you include the Mountain West).

Those Sagarin ratings are interesting - if you go by those ratings (using the Simple Average), the SEC is tops but only by a small margin over the Pac-10, then a small drop to the Big-12, ACC, Big-East and Big-10, then a notable drop off to the rest:

	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005		
SEC	79.39	79.08	81.83	81.23	74.92	396.45	79.29
PAC	78.73	75.39	79.63	79.15	78.65	391.55	78.31
B12	74.75	77.80	78.35	74.01	80.02	384.93	76.99
ACC	76.90	77.67	74.98	73.79	78.26	381.60	76.32
BE	76.76	74.11	77.12	79.90	72.42	380.31	76.06
B10	73.38	73.49	74.17	75.62	80.55	377.21	75.44
MWC	69.95	71.72	70.84	69.30	69.58	351.39	70.28
CUSA	64.54	65.75	60.06	64.00	64.69	319.04	63.81

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi has surgery on ankle. Listed as Doubtful.

Uh-oh.

So, uh, how's that undefeated season going?

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

So, uh, how's that undefeated season going?

In the toilet.

Good news though. Vandeberg will push Stanzi for the starting job next season and Im hoping Vandeberg wins the job. Much more consistent.

Also, Iowa is young. Not many seniors on this team. Watch out for them next season. They should start the season ranked in the top 15. If not the top 10.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by flounder

"(Paul Johnson's) turned it around in two years. I expect you’ll see that same situation.”

(Michigan AD Bill) Martin grew angry when a reporter reminded him that Johnson is in his second season as Georgia Tech coach. The Yellow Jackets are 10-1 this year. In Johnson's first season at Tech, he went 9-4 and played in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

“I know it is,” Martin said. “I can count, too. So what’s your point?”

With an attitude and grasp of the facts like Martin's, no wonder he chose RichRod as HC.

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I'm not saying the Big East is superior, but it is laughable to call the Big East a horribly weak league and then tout the supremacy of a league whose best OOC wins this year have been over Temple, Arizona, Syracuse, and a loss to USC.

I know we're not where I wanted to be, but Syracuse over us? Come on!

Originally Posted by tarcone

Also, Iowa is young. Not many seniors on this team. Watch out for them next season. They should start the season ranked in the top 15. If not the top 10.

Undefeated so far for 2010. 0-0

[DeToxRox]

Just one more thing, right now out of an 85 schollie limit, Michigan only has 68 players who are on scholarship.

I don't think any team in America is going to be that good with that kind of deficit.