NCAA College Football 2007 (1 Viewer)

[KevinGress]

I can totally understand Michael Warner's feelings. As a Nebraska fan, I went through that 4 years ago with the hiring of Callahan. To me, the smashmouth run game, coupled with the option and play-action pass was as much a tradition as the Blackshirts are to the defense. I was angry and sad at the same time, full-well knowing that Callahan would not have anywhere near the success that the previous 3 HCs (Devaney, Osborne, and Solich) had.

What I find the most ironic is that at the time of Callahan's hire, it was said that the WCO was the way to go, pro-style offenses, drop-back QBs, short passes, fast-track to NFL; option's outdated, no place for mobile QBs, blah, blah, blah! But where are we now? Spread offenses, mobile QBs, option tossed in.....seems to me that Nebraska threw away a majority of the winning formula that teams are using today.

So, Michael, I totally understand where you're coming from, but to me, seeing a QB running wild, and smacking defenders around like a RB, is a thing of beauty!

 

[Dome Vongvises]

One of my roommates is a Michigan football fan, and I think his reaction is pretty typical. My thoughts are basically that Big Ten football is afraid of recruiting team speed for some strange reason. The rest of the country figured out that speed does not equal weak. This sort of thinking reminds me of Nebraska back in the day when they first tried out weight lifting. I think it was Bob Devaney who scoffed at the notion of lifting, thinking getting stronger would slow his players down. The story goes that somebody convinced the guy to give him a chance. The rest is history. Now everybody has a weight lifting regiman in their football programs.

Now it seems like the reverse is happening, but only at the Big Ten. Every time I try to watch a Big Ten game, it's like watching guys run in molasses.

I've got nothing against the Big Ten. Well, except maybe Ohio State because one of my friends and all of the fans I've ever met shove it in my face how great they are or the fact they continue to correct me by saying I need to add the word "the" in front of their school name.

So what does this have anything to do with Rich Rodriguez? I love his offense and welcome to the 21st century, Michigan.

 

[SethH]

The only thing that bothers me about Rich Rodriguez going to Michigan is that it has been said that Bud Foster (defensive coordinator at Virginia Tech) is very interested in the position.

Foster has long been one of the top DC's in college football, and I think he deserves a head coaching job, but it would be very painful to see him go to a team that was one of our biggest rivals. We played more dirty, nasty games with WVU when we were in the Big East than we ever have with UVA or any of our other rivalry games.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Kentucky's chances of losing have lessened somewhat.

ESPN - Twenty or more FSU players might be pulled from bowl - College Football

 

[DavidJ]

Not so fast...I hear FSU has a great intramural team.

And on to the Michigan stuff...

I almost don't want to comment since there are too many thoughts running through my head, but I tend to agree with Michael's thoughts. I'm not ecstatic over the hire and I have a few reservations. I am also willing to concede that I am hopeful that it could turn out to be a great hire. It's too early to tell.

Scott I too am concerned about the defense. It is a gimmicky defense that I have seen fail miserably other places and I agree that it is not well suited to the B10. I actually don't think it is well suited to much except maybe the Big East. I might feel different if West Virginia was a defensive powerhouse, but they have been average at best.

Dome, I think the lack of speed in the B10 is a myth. As evidence I would point to their overall record against the "faster" SEC in bowl games. There are several places to look it up online and it often surprises people. I would also point to all the NFL talent from the B10. The B10 has plenty of speed. What some of the coaches do with it is another matter...

From a Rosenberg article in the Free Press:

"The Wolverines had the seventh-best record in the country under Lloyd Carr, without any major scandals, and that didn't happen by accident."

Lloyd got bashed a lot more by fans and media than he ever should have. This is the kind of success I still want at Michigan and I hope Rodriguez can deliver (with many more wins over that other school to the south). BTW, Lloyd lost some of his shine with me by the way he handled his retirement. If you believe the rumors and they seem credible, he didn't want Miles and his timing made it nearly impossible for it to work out. I still like the guy though.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

David,

I agree that Lloyd was a class act, but also was a little disappointed in how he handled his retirement, too. I don't know what Carr has against Les Miles, but there's something there.

Carr did run a clean program in the best tradition of Bo, and he had a lot of success in the first half of his career. The last few years have been a struggle against top opponents, though -- meaning against Ohio State and the bowl games. This season has probably been his most disappointing. It's time for him to step down, and I'm glad to see Carr offer complete public support for Rodriguez. That also shows class, since you know that Lloyd would have loved to have one of his assistants get the job (even though neither are really qualified).

 

[Michael Warner]

You're right on that point Scott -- they couldn't hire a "Michigan Man" because there aren't really any left who are qualified to be head coach. The whole we promote from within tradition was started under Bo and it's past time that we let that go.

And the team speed issue has always seemed like a red herring. I'll admit that Michigan has often had a glacially slow defense but as a conference we've held our own against the so-called speedsters.

It all leads back to my Rodriguez misgivings. When you run a pro-style offense you wind up with a pro-style defense. If they're not well coached then you can get burned by spread offenses but if they're a solid group then the spread is fairly easy to shut down. There's a reason they don't run the spread in the NFL and I fear that by the time Michigan recruits the type of player to run that offense then the college defenses will have caught up as well and then what?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Michael,

If Rodriguez is as innovative as publicized, I would hope that he will be able to adapt his offensive schemes as defenses evolve in college football. If he cannot, then he's really not as good as advertised. Only time will tell on that side of the ball.

As for the defense, I'm hoping for a similar evolution, because I think his current scheme will struggle in the Big Ten. However, if his defensive coordinator is better at teaching the fundamentals (i.e. tackling) than Ron English, they may still be improved. While I liked English's simple, aggressive schemes, his players (David Harris excluded) have demonstrated some of the worst tackling skills I've ever seen at Michigan.

Anyway, overall I am happy that UM was able to get a top level coach. It shows the school is willing to make a commitment to improve the program. After getting turned down by Miles and Schiano, I was getting concerned that they would end up with a lesser coach -- something like a modern Gerry Faust.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I've been watching college football for 11 years, which isn't much by any stretch of the imagination. However, I can say I follow what I like and pay close attention. In that sense, I've watched a lot of West Virginia football, and I've seen bits and pieces of Tulane and Clemson football (while Rodriguez was OC)

It's often said that Rich Rodriguez is one of the main architects of the spread offense (IMO more specifically the spread option). He got it started around the time he was offensive coordinator for Tulane under Tommy Bowden. They took the scheme to Clemson later on before Rodriguez finally got the job at WVU. As far as the stories go, several coaches over the years have basically picked Rodriguez's brain about the offense, the most successful is obviously Urban Meyer.

All the spread option basically is is the wishbone reborn in shotgun form (I forgot where I read that, but it was attributed to Rich). Quarterback makes a pre-snap read before he decides to either handoff, run, or run and pitch. Variations obviously involve the ratio of pass to run. I really don't buy the idea of the spread being gimmicky at all considering you still need a damn good O-Line to block for you (although speed AND mobility are requisites).

As someone who follows this kind of offense (in other words, I love watching the spread option so I will watch but not necessarily cheer for Florida and West Virginia), it's very, very hard to defend, but the way Rich ran it at WVU it has some glaring weaknesses. It's tough to run against even faster and more mobile defensive lineman, and very aggressive defenses.

The funny thing about WVU in recent years is that it's very rare for them to get beat outright. I say this because most of the defeats I've seen mostly involve WVU beating themselves. Slaton always seemed to fumble the ball at inopportune times, and Pat White has an arm almost weaker than Josh Heupel's. Pat White got hurt twice this year to my recollection, and both times it was in games they lost (though honestly I don't think that would've made much of a difference as they were playing badly in addition to South Florida and Pittsburgh playing really hard). It's easy to load up on them at the line of scrimmage. Pat White's stats will say he's accurate, but you'd be accurate too if you only have to throw screens and ten yard patterns.

So how does this translate to Michigan? Rich Rodriguez uses fast and mobile lineman in his blocking scheme. Given that Michigan (Scott can clarify this one) used a zone-blocking scheme the past few years, this translates fairly well although the lineman will have to be more nimble on their feet. If Rich uses any variation of his offense, it'll probably be more close to the Clemson/Tulane variety initially (lots of runs and PA's out of shotgun) than what he ran at WVU (which given time the offense will eventually evolve into). Think Urban Meyer's spread with Chris Leak minus the trick plays. Which will come later obviously.

So if Michigan fans have anything to fear, it's probably the defense. Granted the 3-3-5 scheme worked alright this year, but it will get demolished by Big Ten offenses.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

You are correct, Dome. Michigan has been running a zone blocking scheme under offensive coordinator Mike DeBord.

 

[Dheiner]

Bowls start tonight. Still time to show off your expertise.

Anyone interested in joining a College Bowl Game "Pick-'em" contest???

Group Name: htf
Password: oar


http://football.fantasysports.yahoo....ID=37934&P=oar

 

[Shane Martin]

Interesting Bowl games so far.

BYU wins a nailbiter by blocking UCLA's field goal to prevent them from winning. The ball nearly went in after it was blocked as well.

New Mexico wins it's own bowl game.

Utah edged Navy in the Poinsetta bowl

Boise State goes from cinderella ,we took down the giant of the Big 12, to gah we lost to East Carolina in the Hawaii Bowl..

Nothing of a program Florida Atlantic wins the New Orleans Bowl.

The Las Vegas Bowl has been the most entertaining so far.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I'm going to the Music City Bowl. What's there to do in Nashville besides country music?

 

[Marty M]

There is a lot of different music in Nashville. A singer/songwriter from my hometown of Champaign-Urbana, IL is now performing in Nashville. He is more in the blues genre.

His name is Keith Hardin. If you see his name appearing at any local places, I highly recommend checking him out. He has been playing here for the holidays, so I am not sure when he is returning to Nashville.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

never mind

 

[Adam_S]

I've gotten crushed in my bowl pick em. it doesn't help that I didn't realize I was supposed to be picking against the spread not just straight up either.

 

[Shane Martin]

Entertaining Motor City Bowl last night. Purdue goes up 34-13 and Central Michigan ties it up with around 1 minute to go in the 4th at 48-48 only to let Purdue march down the field and kick a field goal. They just couldn't get any pressure on Purdue's QB.

 

[ThomasC]

You won't see me saying this very often...

GO BLUE! BEAT FLORIDA!

 

[Chris]

Well, Missouri decided to show up and play hard.

Tony Temple is apparently thinking of trying to upgrade his draft status from oh, 4th round to a first day (prob like a 2nd rounder). Not a bad bump in pay.

Hell, Big12 in general playing hard today. Texas Tech nods it up at 21 it appears, and Missouri is beating Arkansas brains in.

 

[Patrick Sun]

The UM-UF game has been pretty entertaining. Lots of offense and lots of defensive take-aways in the red zone to keep the scoring from really getting out of hand.