Official College Football Week 1 thread

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by tarcone

According to Brent Musberger, its the most exciting 25 seconds in college football. He even said that in 1985.

Derp.

A former Tucker kid I knew very well (I officiated at his sister's wedding, played on a couple of church league b-ball games with his dad, and he was in my cabin on more than one YL trip in high school,) fell and broke his leg during "the most exciting 25 seconds in college football" one year.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The EWU QB running into the stands to hug what I presume was his mom ... that's what makes Saturdays >>> Sundays

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

...MNC game...MNC material...MNC material.

That's what makes Sundays >>> Saturdays.

[Ben E Lou]

Nope. Having a MNC that you can argue about for years is much more fun than having it settled.

[bob]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

As a UGA fan, I don't get the consternation at this point at all. The Dawgs didn't exactly look like a bad team last night. People need a little perspective: it's a 3-point loss to the #8 team on the road at night in Week 1 of the season. UGA has to win the SEC to get to the MNC game anyway. That hasn't changed. If the Dawgs are MNC material, then Clemson is a really good team too. (Lots of people think they are, and I tend to agree.) An SEC Champ with one loss to a Top 10 team is going to get to play in the big one. If the Dawgs are not MNC material, then there's even less reason to get worked up over a 3-point loss on the road at night to a Top 10 team.

I think it's as much about the 1-10 record Murray has as starting Qb against the top 15 as it is about losing to the inferior ACC.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by britrock88

I'm guessing nothing happened here, because Oregon-Nicholls State.

No, he was promptly ejected.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Congrats Husky fans, I know it must have felt great for that win.

Side note for Dawgfan, Myles Jack is going to be a beast

He played? Yeah, not getting Jack is going to sting.

[Logan]

The penalty/ejection in the Cal/Northwestern game was much worse.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

As a UGA fan, I don't get the consternation at this point at all.

Interestingly enough I haven't seen nearly the level of angst I expected (well, hoped for ). It's quite unusual to see the Dawg nation taking a loss anywhere near this well. If SC wins next week & NC State shocks Clemson, things might be a good bit different.

The Dawgs didn't exactly look like a bad team last night.

Except for the OL, which looked awful.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by bob

I think it's as much about the 1-10 record Murray has as starting Qb against the top 15 as it is about losing to the inferior ACC.

People don't realize that he's (until proven otherwise) the second coming of Eric Zeier? Lots of talent, great arm, flashes of brilliance, but for whatever reason, just not a winner.

[RainMaker]

Eastern Illinois beating San Diego State was a nice moment yesterday. Brother is an EIU alum and we were following the game as best we could on the Mountain West's horrible stream.

For those who don't follow FCS, EIU brought in a Baylor assistant over a year ago. He runs a Baylor style offense that is a ton of fun to watch. I know SDSU might not be good for FBS despite last year's showing, but I was surprised at how much EIU dominated them. EIU is by no means an FCS powerhouse and is coming off a 2-win season a couple years back. They did whatever they wanted offensively and had they had a respectable kicking game, would have won this by even more (missed some PATs and a short FG).

Anyways, I'd keep an eye out for Dino Babers in the next couple years taking over a head coaching job. Would not be surprised to see Illinois turn to him in a couple years if things don't turn around soon.

[britrock88]

The way FCS teams are competing with and defeating solid FBS teams, it wouldn't surprise me if, once the Big 5 conferences break off, the remainder of FBS and FCS merge. It'd be fun.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

People don't realize that he's (until proven otherwise) the second coming of Eric Zeier? Lots of talent, great arm, flashes of brilliance, but for whatever reason, just not a winner.

Matt Stafford didn't fall in that category too?

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Nope. Having a MNC that you can argue about for years is much more fun than having it settled.

Plus there's the fact that some of these Week 1 games might actually matter when it comes to deciding the national champion. Last year the Patriots started 1-2 (and 3-3), and it really didn't feel like a big deal. Meanwhile Notre Dame had like 7 nail-biters on the way to the title game. Some of the Pats games were definitely objectively better games (31-30 loss to the Ravens, 24-23 loss @ Seattle, 31-21 win vs Denver), but I really didn't have any emotional attachment - if they lost, who cares, use it as a mulligan and get them next week. If ND had lost, it's wait til next fall.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Vegas Vic

Let's take the remaining marquee games off of the table: Florida State and South Carolina.

Which one of these games will Clemson lay an egg?

1. at North Carolina State
2. at Syracuse
3. at Maryland
4. Georgia Tech

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'd figure Syracuse on the road or against GT.

I think this is a bit of a dated misconception. It was certainly true of Bowden's teams, not so much under Swinney's. Especially in the last two years (this is the start of year 5 or the first with all of his recruits) in fact Dabo even addressed tis last night post game.

“People need to start writing something different and whoever covers us need to start asking different questions,” Swinney said. “The bottom-line is this program has been as consistent as any program in college football over the last 30 something weeks. There are only 6 teams in America that have been ranked 30 something weeks in a row or more. There is only six. There are 125 teams.”

“How come they don’t say where is all these others,” Swinney said. “Because the only ones on that list [teams ranked last 30 weeks] are LSU, Alabama, Oregon, Stanford, South Carolina and Clemson. There are a whole lot of other great programs that are not on that list. So why don’t y’all write about them? Because Clemson has been as consistent as anybody in the country. We haven’t won them all but them other teams haven’t won it all either. But that seems like that always wants to come up. People always bring up something that happened from five years ago. We need to move on. Let’s get a different storyline. Let’s talk about what we have done, not what we haven’t done. We are beyond that. Our players deserve better than that.”

With all the comparisons of the ACC to SEC, Swinney said that he respects the SEC, but he is really just worried about Clemson.

“We got all the respect in the world for the SEC and all that stuff, but it is not about a league,”Swinney said. “ It’s about a program. It’s about a program.. bottom-line. Hey we love being in the ACC. We are very proud of all that stuff but we are worried about Clemson and being the best Clemson we can be. These guys don’t feel like they take a backseat to anybody.”

...........

While I am clearly a fan and huge homer, I think my posting history will pretty wclealry support I'm not a blond fan boy, and often critical of Clemson.

But I think this story is a tired carry over from the Bowden finesse days that Coach Swinney is clearly trying to distance himself from.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

A former Tucker kid I knew very well (I officiated at his sister's wedding, played on a couple of church league b-ball games with his dad, and he was in my cabin on more than one YL trip in high school,) fell and broke his leg during "the most exciting 25 seconds in college football" one year.

It's unfortunately happened several times. The hill is surprisingly steep and I remember clearly fearing the first time I ran down it being up at nice nervous I'd trip and cause a clown pile up.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Matt Stafford didn't fall in that category too?

Heh. Interesting thought. Off the top of my head, I'm guessing he gets a pass in my mind because he did actually make big plays late to win some big games, though no SECCG. I'm sure beating Florida, Auburn, and Tech in the same season helped frame my opinion of him, too. It just seemed like Zeier never showed up big in the fourth quarter with an important game on the line.

[Thomkal]

Speaking of FCS, Coastal Carolina was ranked in the top 25 in the two polls this preseason, and started off on the road at South Carolina State with a win, but it wasn't easy-had to come from 14 down to win 27-20. Blocked a punt and ran it in for one of the late TD's then held strong on a goal-line stand to prevent SCST from scoring. Then had a 99 yard TD drive. New QB (well he started one game last season) Alex Ross has a lot of potential, but wasn't particularly sharp for this one. Lots of new starters on defense too, so could be in for some rough games against the better teams on the schedule. Next up are the mighty Furman Paladins in the home opener. It won't get any easier for SCST-they travel to Clemson next. Ouch.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

You gotta think South Carolina & LSU are watching this UGA line with their mouth's watering.

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Except for the OL, which looked awful.

I suspect that the year will bear out that Clemson's DL is much better than you suggest.

Remember this is the same DL that stuffed LSU 6 times in the Peach Bowl on 3 rd and shorts for no gain or a loss.

The line is young, but they have some very strong developing kids and one of the top DL coaches in the country in Dan Brooks.

They don't have the star power that SC has in Clowney....but their front four two deep is very very good.

[Ben E Lou]

Yeah, there's not a compelling reason to worry about the UGA o-line long-term just yet imho. It's an experienced squad with talent. I think it'll serve as a wake-up call to them, even if it turns out that Clemson's d-line is just better than anyone had guessed.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

I suspect that the year will bear out that Clemson's DL is much better than you suggest.

On that point, eh, I'm a long way from sold. Nothing personal, I'm just not.

Georgia's OL looked awful to me, guys who looked like they had never seen anyone make an outside move before.

Remember this is the same DL that stuffed LSU 6 times in the Peach Bowl on 3 rd and shorts for no gain or a loss.

Also not a selling point for me I'm afraid, not much about the LSU offense impresses me.

They might very well be better than expected, that's for sure. Last night did little to convince me of that, I've seen too many units (in every position group at various times) look completely lost at UGA.

[CU Tiger]

I'll say it this way, and time will certainly bear it out one way or the other, at a high school coaching clinic this summer Brent Venables said it was the best complete front four two deep he has ever had. His quote "we are going to shock some national people with our sack and Tfl numbers this year"
The context was in relation to the importance of hand placement technique for d linemen.

Frankly I didn't buy it at the time, and totally discounted it as coach speak. Last night I was impressed.

And Jon to your point about LSU's offense...any time you push an oline around that trains with Tommy Moffitt...you have done something in my book. The best S&C coach in America (on any level) and has been for nearly two decades.

Btw can we talk about the UGA defenders getting signs from the sidelines and laying down on key third downs only to return one play later two or three times last night. That has to be addressed by a rules committee either with unsportsmanlike penalties or loss of time outs

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Btw can we talk about the UGA defenders getting signs from the sidelines and laying down on key third downs only to return one play later two or three times last night. That has to be addressed by a rules committee either with unsportsmanlike penalties or loss of time outs

And here I was thinking I was the only one who noticed the frequency that happened (didn't know anything about any signalling, it just sure seemed convenient at times)

[flounder]

[Butter]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Btw can we talk about the UGA defenders getting signs from the sidelines and laying down on key third downs only to return one play later two or three times last night. That has to be addressed by a rules committee either with unsportsmanlike penalties or loss of time outs

My entire family was booing every time... so I apologize to any UGa players that were actually hurt. But we were getting some smiles and looks from the older fans in front of us when we were yelling "faker!" and booing on every Georgia "injury", most of which I suspect were not all that injurious.

[bhlloy]

Seems pretty simple - come out injured, stay out until the next change in possession. Solves the issues of players being rushed back into a game with a concussion or an injury they might aggravate, seeing as the emphasis is on safety these days as well.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

My entire family was booing every time... so I apologize to any UGa players that were actually hurt. But we were getting some smiles and looks from the older fans in front of us when we were yelling "faker!" and booing on every Georgia "injury", most of which I suspect were not all that injurious.

Haha us too!
Btw it was great to meet you and the family yesterday.
Sorry y'all couldn't hang around longer!

Although it bordered on non kid friendly by game time

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Btw can we talk about the UGA defenders getting signs from the sidelines and laying down on key third downs only to return one play later two or three times last night. That has to be addressed by a rules committee either with unsportsmanlike penalties or loss of time outs

WVU has run into it and the fans have gotten some flack for booing "injured" players. It's getting so blatant that the NCAA really needs to look into it.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

He played? Yeah, not getting Jack is going to sting.

He played pretty great last night

[SirFozzie]

Here's the payouts for the FCS teams that beat FBS teams this week:

Eastern Washington, $450,000 from Oregon State;

• McNeese State, $400,000 from South Florida;

• North Dakota State, $350,000 from Kansas State;

• Northern Iowa, $350,000 from Iowa State;

• Eastern Illinois, $325,000 from San Diego State;

• Towson, $275,000 from UConn;

• Southern Utah, $225,000 from South Alabama

[TroyF]

Decided to watch the CSU/CU game today. I'm still a fan of CU and it reminds me of home.

First series or CU, they throw a long pass to Richardson. . . and there is no CSU player within 45 yards of him. I doubt I will see a worse blown coverage in any football game the rest of the year. This wasn't a trick play either.

Yikes, if CSU's defense is that bad, it will be a long year for the lambs.

[Julio Riddols]

Bridgewater looks like Peyton Manning with athletic ability. His talent pops off the screen. I feel like there are guys you wonder about whether they have it or not, and then there are guys like Bridgewater. He's about as can't miss as I have seen since Manning. Gonna be fun to see what kind of noise Louisville can make this year.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Seems pretty simple - come out injured, stay out until the next change in possession. Solves the issues of players being rushed back into a game with a concussion or an injury they might aggravate, seeing as the emphasis is on safety these days as well.

I like this, but is it effective enough? The above posting mentioned key third downs -- one good defensive play, and there's your change in possession.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Bridgewater looks like Peyton Manning with athletic ability. His talent pops off the screen. I feel like there are guys you wonder about whether they have it or not, and then there are guys like Bridgewater. He's about as can't miss as I have seen since Manning. Gonna be fun to see what kind of noise Louisville can make this year.

I want the Raiders to get the 1st pick to get Bridgewater. Best way to turnaround the franchise.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Talk about a costly celebration. UGA loses WR Mitchell for the season to an ACL injury suffered when he landed wrong after a "three amigos" leaping chest bump celebration of Gurley's 75 yd run.

http://onlineathens.com/breaking-new...son-acl-injury

[Logan]

Go back and check the tape of what Bridgewater did against Rutgers last year in the de-facto Big East Championship game with a bum leg and a bum arm. He's awesome, and also seems like a great kid.

[MrBug708]

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by britrock88

I like this, but is it effective enough? The above posting mentioned key third downs -- one good defensive play, and there's your change in possession.

Then make it four plays or change of possession, whichever comes first. The real downside is who keeps track of it and whether it impacts the flow of play but if we're serious about this problem, the solution seems pretty simple.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by Logan

I can't believe I stayed up until 3:05am watching my NJ-based team play a game.

I can't believe my wife and I drove 16 hours from Seattle to Fresno in a day and a half to watch the game in person (though we did meet AD Julie Hermann who was impressed with our efforts and got to see Napa on the way back).

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Jon

I can't believe my wife and I drove 16 hours from Seattle to Fresno in a day and a half to watch the game in person (though we did meet AD Julie Hermann who was impressed with our efforts and got to see Napa on the way back).

Okay you win.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by flounder

Here is a slo-mo video of the play before:
VID_20130901_185634_827.mp4 - YouTube

He got leg-whipped in the groin. The reason he is told to go on the ground instead of just coming off the field is because of the up-tempo offense. Richt statement on the play:

"When a guy is injured he needs to just stay down and not try to drag himself off the field," Richt said. "In the past you'd say, 'be brave and be and be tough and try to drag yourself off the field.' But what happens is when you do that you're giving the other team the advantage. So if you are hurt just stay down until the officials stop play and then you can come off the field and we can put the next guy in. So he was injured. And if a guy's injured now we're just telling him to stay down and don't come off until the officials stop play.
"Yeah, he got hit in his privates real hard. Actually it was a leg whip. I don't think it was intentional but it was a block, an across-body block and the leg kicked up and got into him. He was trying to figure what to do there but it was better off that he not play that next snap."

So, no fake injury. Just a change in how the players are told to react when they need to come off the field, so the defense has a chance to replace them.

[lungs]

The other problem with the injury thing is that I don't know how many times I caught myself flipping the channel on Saturday because of an injury time out. Football is already bad enough with all the commercials (I'm not dumb, I know they are necessary), but the injury timeouts can make some games unwatchable if there isn't a compelling reason for me to watch the game. I'm not singling out Clemson vs. Georgia either, just talking in general.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Just a change in how the players are told to react when they need to come off the field

If they're telling them to go down like they've just been shot, might ought to rethink that.

edit to add: On the general subject, I will note that I see this sort - clock management injuries that is - of thing fairly frequently at the high school level & it's increasingly common. It definitely isn't something that starts when they get to college, I'd say most arrive with a working knowledge of the tactic.

[JPhillips]

This is one area where I agree with Saban. This is bigger than injury stoppage. Football rules makers need to decide if football is going to become a continuous action game.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

This is one area where I agree with Saban. This is bigger than injury stoppage. Football rules makers need to decide if football is going to become a continuous action game.

When you say you agree with Saban, does that mean you think fast paced offenses are dangerous to Defensive players?

If so a few points:
1- The offensive gusy are on the field the same amount of time/plays
2- What is more dangerous running a defensive linemen a bunch of times or lineing up the biggest O linemen in the country and pummeling him over and over straight ahead
3- If they are so worried about player safety, they do get 3 timeouts to use as they see fit. This is not basketball where you must have possession to call a timeout.

What Saban and Bielema are crying about is they have one philosophy and it has served them well. Saban , so much so that given his resources at his disposal it is nearly unstoppable. So when someone else invents a scheme to shift the balance of power away from his preferred style of play he wants to ban their style. How about this, "I think giving Running Backs a head start and running right into interior defensive linemen is dangerous, we should ban all runs between the tackles." Its really a stupid argument.

This whole debate is cyclical. Remember Super Bowl 20?
The rough and tough NY Giants against the No Huddle Fast Break K-Gun Bills?

[JPhillips]

Nothing that specific for me. I think there needs to be a clear and conscious decision to change the way the game has been played or to keep it the same. I'm fine either way, but the current offensive trend, especially at the HS and college level really is making it a different game.

And the K-Gun Bills were copying the Bengals. The first time I remember injuries being used to stop play was in one of the Bengals-Bills playoff games.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Nothing that specific for me. I think there needs to be a clear and conscious decision to change the way the game has been played or to keep it the same. I'm fine either way, but the current offensive trend, especially at the HS and college level really is making it a different game.

And the K-Gun Bills were copying the Bengals. The first time I remember injuries being used to stop play was in one of the Bengals-Bills playoff games.

Interesting discussion.
But we arent talking about a forward pass that literally had to be legalized as no one had ever thought of it. There has never been a rule that teams had to wait X amount of time between plays, now we want to introduce one artificially?

I just dont understand it. Should the fast break be outlawed in basketball to allow teams time to set up offenses?

I just shudder at the thought of QBs having routines prior to stepping under center a la baseball players.

[JPhillips]

Over the history of the game the defense has had the ability to substitute for 80-90% of the plays. Now teams have figured out they can run a tempo for the entire game that greatly limits the ability of the defense to substitute. That changes the nature of the game whether or not new rules need to be added to allow it.


Basketball is an interesting comparison. Teams exploited the lack of shot clock to a point where the game was fundamentally different and a shot clock was added to return it to closer to what was envisioned.

Again, I'm fine either way as teams and the game will evolve, but IMO there's no question that the game is changing at a rather fundamental level. I'd like to see that change discussed.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Over the history of the game the defense has had the ability to substitute for 80-90% of the plays. Now teams have figured out they can run a tempo for the entire game that greatly limits the ability of the defense to substitute. That changes the nature of the game whether or not new rules need to be added to allow it.


Basketball is an interesting comparison. Teams exploited the lack of shot clock to a point where the game was fundamentally different and a shot clock was added to return it to closer to what was envisioned.

Again, I'm fine either way as teams and the game will evolve, but IMO there's no question that the game is changing at a rather fundamental level. I'd like to see that change discussed.

The bolded part is where we differ. The "nickel" defense didnt exist until the early 90s. Heck as recently as the late 70s it was fairly common for players to play not only every down on defense but also play both ways and on special teams.

Finally the shot clock analogy is interesting because the play clock was added in football to speed it up after teams tried to slow it down.

Again, I suppose we just will agree to disagree, at my position has little to do with the way Clemson chooses to play call Offense the last 2 years.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

The bolded part is where we differ. The "nickel" defense didnt exist until the early 90s. Heck as recently as the late 70s it was fairly common for players to play not only every down on defense but also play both ways and on special teams.

Finally the shot clock analogy is interesting because the play clock was added in football to speed it up after teams tried to slow it down.

Again, I suppose we just will agree to disagree, at my position has little to do with the way Clemson chooses to play call Offense the last 2 years.

I honestly think that the defense should be allowed enough time to substitute in any given situation. Even if it is a 15 second dead time reset or something. This situation is a high-light of why it is needed. If the player had simply ran off the field after getting kicked in the nuts, it would have been near impossible to get a sub in for him. This created the whole "dive" controversy. A up-tempo offense shouldn't set up a situation where a team is playing 11 on 10.

[CU Tiger]

or he could you know, suck it up and play through it.
He came back in the next play.

BTW Herrera had to be helped off the field 3 times and missed one play each time. Did he get hit in the nuts every time.

Should the Offense also tell the Defense where they are running?
The defense has as much opportunity to sub as the offense does.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

The bolded part is where we differ. The "nickel" defense didnt exist until the early 90s. Heck as recently as the late 70s it was fairly common for players to play not only every down on defense but also play both ways and on special teams.

At one point the offense was limited by how fast they could get the plays into the huddle. Without radio communication, you had hand signals. Before hand signals (or for teams that couldn't master them), you had rotating guards (or WR or whomever).