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College Football Top 25 QBs: Future NFL Star or Just Big Man on Campus?

August 23rd, 2010

For years, it has become common in college football for a quarterback to lead his school to double-digit win seasons, a BCS bowl victory, and gaudy statistics—only to either be completely ignored by NFL teams come draft time, or to be selected late and eventually spend a career stylishly holding a clipboard.

So how does that thought process translate to some of the best draft-eligible college quarterbacks today?

In particular, let’s say the top 25 draft-eligible quarterbacks according to Phil Steele—who, if you haven’t read him, is the best in the business when it comes to preseason college football rankings and projections.

Will each of these players be remembered for their time as an NFL quarterback, or instead, as just “Big Man on Campus?”

Certainly, with examples like Ryan Leaf at the top of an NFL Draft or Tom Brady near the bottom of one—it can be an inexact science predicting QB success—but let’s give it a shot anyway:

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Posted in College Football, Rankings/List

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Why Brian Stinespring Could Lead Virginia Tech Hokies to 9-0

August 23rd, 2010

Bryan Stinespring has been one of the most maligned offensive coordinators in the entire country.

Everyone I know, including myself, has at one point or another wished that Frank Beamer would cut ties with him.  Even Purnell Sturdivant, a linebacker for Tech in 2008, called his offense "pretty much predictable."

Yet for the 2010 season, I think Bryan Stinespring could be the best offensive coordinator for the Hokies.

Could.

The reason why is because of his stubbornness.  He simply refuses to stop running the football up the middle.  Last season he began opening up the playbook a little more and incorporated more play action.

That is the exact game plan we need against Boise State, Boston College, and Georgia Tech, the teams most likely to present problems for VT.

The Broncos, for instance, have a tendency to throw teams off their game.  TCU, the fifth best running offense in 2009, only ran the ball 20 times for 36 yards.

I don’t see that happening with Stinespring.  He has become notorious for persistently pounding the line when it’s working and when it’s not.  Even in bowl games, when teams have around a full month to prepare for one offense, the Hokies run the same plays.  Thankfully, the past two bowl games they have been enough to beat Cincinnati and Tennessee.

Virginia Tech is known for controlling the time of possession and Stinespring’s offensive scheme does exactly that.

It is not a coincidence that the three losses from last season occurred when Virginia Tech lost the time of possession.  With all of the returning talent on offense, the safe best is that the Hokies will be on the field more than their opponents.

But with a lack of starts on the defense, keeping the explosive Bronco offense off the field is a must.  Boston College’s only real offensive threat is Montel Harris.  The more we run the ball for first downs, the more Harris can’t.  And the same goes for Georgia Tech’s triple option.

The reason I stopped the streak at nine is because North Carolina’s defense has the talent to repeatedly stop the onslaught of runs and play action.  It did last year and Stinespring refused to change up the playbook enough to win the game.

Miami could also present that same problem because of their insane amount of depth.  Putting fresh legs on the field is the next best way to stop a run based offense. 

Alabama had the most balanced offense Virginia Tech faced all season and certainly had the best defense. The defense performed valiantly but when it stopped the run, Greg McElroy found a way to find a receiver.  Then in the fourth quarter, Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson ran over the exhausted defense. 

In a role reversal from last season’s opener, Ryan Williams and Darren Evans should be able to do the same thing to opposing defenses.  With Tyrod Taylor blossoming as a passer and his top 6 receivers returning, he should be able to extend drives.  Plus, he is a lot more mobile than McElroy, giving opponents one more thing to think about defensively.

If Alabama was any indication, the Hokies, under Bryan Stinespring, could run up to at least November without a loss.



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Posted in ACC Football, College Football, Opinion, Virginia Tech Football

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What Would’ve Happened If Colt McCoy Put a Little More Air on That Ball?

August 23rd, 2010

We were one second away from pure unadulterated BCS chaos.

One second!

Colt McCoy rolled right—six seconds, five seconds, tick, tick, tick. He fired a weak pass to the sidelines and the clock struck zero. Nebraska was victorious. Bo Pelini and the Cornhuskers raised their hands in celebration and disbelief as the victors of the Big 12 Championship.

Ah, but alas, it’s Texas, and we all know the clock winds longer for the Longhorns. They would be given that mythical second and Garrett Hartley saved us all from the “chaos.”

So what would have happened if maybe Hartley had missed the 46-yarder, or maybe if McCoy had floated the ball just a second longer? What would the chaos have looked like?

How would it have affected the bowls?



The National Championship

Alabama would have played Cincinnati, who was ranked No. 3 in the BCS standings after their earlier win over Pittsburgh to finish the season 12-0. The bowl game would have been marketed as the big, bad No. 1 team in America versus the feisty, abandoned underdog playing for ultimate pride.

Judging from Cincinnati’s performance in the Sugar Bowl—the game would have been a one-sided affair.

As for the other bowls? Well, now you have to realize that Nebraska is in play for a BCS spot, so that means one of the teams would have been bumped out.



Fiesta Bowl

The team pushed out would have been Boise State. The BCS only has to guarantee one non-automatic qualifying team a bid if they are high enough in the rankings. Boise State would have been the scapegoat even though they were ranked No. 6 in the BCS standings.

All the other bowls would have stayed relatively the same (Texas would have probably gone to the Sugar Bowl), but this would have raised a lot of hell from a Boise State point of view. This would have been a team that went 13-0 and would have still been denied not just a shot at a National Championship but a shot at any BCS bowl.

It would have been two years in a row that Boise was screwed by the BCS gods. The controversy would have been fun.

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Posted in Boise State Football, College Football, NCAA, Opinion, WAC Football, colt mccoy

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West Virginia Football: One More Key To Victory

August 23rd, 2010

In the past few weeks, you have read a multitude of opinions regarding the things West Virginia must do in order to win the Big East title. A number of columnists, including myself, have listed our “keys” to the Mountaineers’ season.

Therefore, at the risk of adding one more key to West Virginia’s season, I am compelled to mention one more.

The Mountaineers have recently been cursed with positively abysmal kick return coverage.

Actually, to use the word “coverage” in regards to the Mountaineer kickoff unit is giving them way too much credit.

The last two seasons, this missing component of the sport has cost West Virginia several football games and at least one league title.

In fact, there is no question that West Virginia’s football team would have been better off had they chosen to kick the ball out of bounds every time. Even after the penalty was tacked onto the play, the Mountaineer defense would have played with their backsides facing the 50-yard line instead of their rears sticking into the end zone.

The Mountaineers, one of the country’s best in punt return coverage, were one of the worst in covering kickoffs, ranking 104th out of 119 teams in Division I.

This is clearly one of life’s greatest mysteries to me.

If your football team can consistently tackle people on punts, then they should be able to tackle people on kickoffs as well. However, for the past couple of seasons, it has often appeared that Mountaineers feared the opponents’ kick returners were radioactive.

Fortunately, coach Bill Stewart has wisely chosen to fire the special teams coach—also coach Bill Stewart.

His duties will now be handled by Steve Dunlap, a change of pace that is sure to be a welcome relief to Mountaineer fans across the nation.

Any improvement in kickoff coverage would be warmly embraced by Mountaineer fans. In addition, it would also increase the odds the Big East Championship would return to its rightful home in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Particularly last season, the Mountaineer prevent unit played remarkably well, especially considering how often they were placed in the hole by poor special teams play. However, the propensity to give your opponents’ offense a short field will inevitably result in a number of cheap touchdowns being scored against even the best defenses.

If Coach Dunlap can plug the holes in the West Virginia kickoff unit, instead of chasing opposing kick returners on their way to glory, then the Mountaineers could be the team that is finally off and running.

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Posted in Big East Football, College Football, NCAA, Opinion, WVU Football

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KU’s Toben Opurum Trade-Off Takes A Twist With Rell Lewis Injury

August 23rd, 2010

Ahh injuries.  They can really change the look of a team, can't they?

Pardon my chronology, because I don't remember this all particularly well, but I believe Angus Quigley joined the Jayhawks with a decent chance to play early on in his career. 

The depth chart opened up a bit when fellow running back John Randle tried valiantly to injure a non-football player at a bar and was removed from the team for doing so.

Jon Cornish took over and Quigley went on to spend a season redshirted and another on the injured list.

After recovering from his injury and spending one season as a wide receiver then the next back at running back, linebacker Justin Springer's injury issues helped indirectly lead to Quigley's switch to defense in 2009. 

Ironically, an 'injury' to fellow linebacker Arist Wright's chest (caused by a stubby finger and a foul mouth from Mark Mangino) combined with a lingering ankle injury to running back Toben Opurum both had a part in Quigley's opportunity not only to re-become a  running back, but to become the Jayhawks' starting running back as well.

Now that Quigley is a runningback, injuries to Huldon Tharp and Ed Fink really weakened the linebacker position.  I know Quigley didn't want to be a linebacker, but he certainly would've had the opportunity to play had he stayed there.

The need for depth at the linebacker position led to Opurum, recently recovered from his ankle injury, switching to linebacker (a temporary move in my mind, yet others are seeing it as a move for the future). 

Ironically enough, he'll be playing behind Justin Springer (playing at an injury free 100 percent for the first time in two years), Steven Johnson (whose scholarship offer was repealed by KU after knee injuries in high school, but who decided to walk on anyway) and Drew Dudley (whose injury during spring ball paved the way for Steven Johnson).

Now comes the most current happening; runningback Rell Lewis recently suffered an injury to his knee that will keep him out of action for awhile.

In my mind, with Lewis healthy, true freshmen James Sims and Brandon Bourbon probably would have redshirted the season.  Now with Rell lost to injury and Toben on the other side of the ball, it may not be so easy.

I think for the moment we can assume that Turner Gill will be more than happy to suffice with Quigley and number-two back Deshaun Sands getting all the carries.  It probably would've worked out that way anyway.

Still, keep an eye out on the runningback corps because if there's another injury before Lewis is able to return we could quickly see another back in the mix.

Rivals.com is pretty high on Bourbon's mix of size and speed, while ESPN.com's scout pages favor Sims who was an extremely successful high school back in the great football state of Texas.

It may be the least likely scenario, but depending on the situation I'm sure walk-on redshirt freshman Ryan Burton would love to be the emergency number three back.  (There's a little bit of a personal bias here, though).

Whatever it may be, I can't wait for this horrendously unfortunate and injury-plagued offseason to just be over.

Hopefully there will be no need for yet another back to step up, but best of luck to whichever guy may have to.

And thank goodness Mark Mangino poked Arist Wright hard enough in the chest to get himself fired or Angus Quigley wouldn't still be around, either.

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Posted in Angus Quigley, Big 12 Football, College Football, College Football Predictions, Humor, Justin Springer, Kansas Jayhawks Football, NCAA, Rell Lewis

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