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December 12, 2007
College Football Notebook
There is still a little over a week to go until the bowl games, but I thought I would run through a couple of the top stories in the college football world.
- Tim Tebow Wins the Heisman: I thought this was going to be the case. It would not have been such if Dennis Dixon had not gotten hurt, or Darren McFadden hadn't disappeared for an entire month. However, it came to pass and Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win the award.
I will say it now. He will not win again next year.
This is mainly because he had the perfect confluence of events in order to get the award this season. Not only was there not a front running team with a single main contributor, but Florida was without a featured running back, leaving Tebow to rack up numbers unlike we have seen in the scoring column.
Next year, Florida should be good again, but Tebow should go back to having numbers in the mortal range. I would look for numbers similar to what Dixon had done, or would have been projected to do with a full season.
There will also be some strong competition from a true running back on a contending team next season. Should Texas contend, Jamaal Charles will be a major part of that, however, it might be situation like Pat White and Steve Slaton, if both are healthy and contributing, with Colt McCoy potentially bouncing back from a poor season (I might go out there and say that McCoy will not bounce back. I think those concussions and other injuries have really shook him to the point where he can't produce anymore at the college level.) Pat White should also still be around and contending (he has to stay healthy!). And of course, Chase Daniel, will again be among the contenders after he had such a run near the end of this season. Beating Oklahoma will be a huge necessity for him to win though.
So with the number of good to great players going into next year, and the expected fall off of Tebow, you will not get an Archie Griffin-experience next year. Although, with the way this season went, you never know what to expect next year.
- Paul Johnson to Georgia Tech: If there is one team that can win Johnson's triple option offense, it is Georgia Tech. I think they are perfectly set up for it, with the number of strong backs they get to the school. Plus, they have never really been a great passing offense with Chan Gailey, despite all the attempts with Reggie Ball and Calvin Johnson. In the ACC, a league with less speed than an SEC, or Big XII on defense, I see success, and a chance to return Georgia Tech to the success they should be having.
I know the ACC likes to think of itself has a big time conference. That was why they added Virginia Tech, Boston College, and Miami into the league. Before those three got there, the league was Florida State, maybe 2 teams a year that were OK, and then everyone else. Those two "OK" teams rotated every year, but were mainly North Carolina State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, or Virginia. Every blue moon a team like a North Carolina or Maryland could jump up and win at that top level, but there was little consistency outside of Florida State every year. Therefore it should be no surprise that two of the top teams they brought (bought?) from the Big East are now the powerhouses in the league.
With a situation like that, there is no reason that Paul Johnson can't take Georgia Tech to a 9-3 record every season, and some years, a 10-2 record, with his offensive style. The ACC is not as competitive overall nor does it have the stopping power defenses.
- Bobby Petrino to Arkansas: Given his situation in Atlanta and the success he had at the college level, it was only a matter of time before Petrino would be back. Arkansas is a nice program, although in a very tough coaching division in the best football conference in the country. I still think there will be a few seasons before Arkansas is where they think they should be with Petrino at the helm. The main reason is that they need to find someone to quarterback that offense if they are going to play the Petrino way. There is nothing left in the cupboard for him to start with at that position, and he likely loses McFadden to the draft (although Felix Jones is nothing to cough at). Again, good hire (albeit a little shady, but what hire isn't in college football these days), but Arkansas fans better give it time to succeed.
- Big Ten to Grant Bye Week: With the expansion to a 12 game season, the conference affected the most had to be the Big Ten. With a "tradition" of being done with their football season prior to Thanksgiving, squeezing in an extra game meant losing their bye week. It also meant that without a week off, scheduling went downhill. This is because teams were so worried about injuries, they stopped facing bigger and stronger teams, while the MAC and Division 1-AA got a few more shots.
I am not so down on teams like Michigan State and Michigan, who consistently play against tough opponents, like Notre Dame and teams from other BCS conferences. Ohio State tries to do the same, although they spent three of their games on the other schools in Ohio this season. They should go back to a schedule like 2006, when they played Cincinnati, Texas, and a good Northern Illinois (although they lucked out on the last one). Then playing a team like Youngstown State or Akron is a little more palatable. The rest of the Big Ten is a joke when it comes to scheduling.
This ruling changes that. It allows an early bye week, which could be placed after a tough game against a team from the SEC, or PAC-10. Even a game against a tough Big XII foe would be acceptable (not a Baylor, or Iowa State). Teams would not be beaten down so badly after 12 weeks that they would have nothing left at the end of the season. Teams would not be out of the public eye for so long while other conferences might have two or three games still remaining. Teams would be more competitive come bowl season, because they will have been tested during the year with the tougher scheduling, and will be playing later and be focused longer.
The Big Ten needed this, and probably could have gone further to allow games until the final week of the season. But this is the right step. Now the individual teams need to do the necessary things to make the league a powerhouse in college football again.
Ben Miraski writes for MRISports.com and is a featured blogger on FanIQ. Readers can contact Ben at bmiraski@mrisports.com
Posted by bmiraski at December 12, 2007 3:50 PM
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