college
By Trevor Freeman
With March Madness right around the corner….God Bless the NCAA Tournament, we decided to do a little preliminary analysis for those of you pining for the moment that the bracket is revealed. Over the past month, I have sat down and watched as much college basketball as humanly possible. I formulated the sixteen teams that I think look Sweet Sixteen worthy.
Signing day has come and gone and it is time to look at the future of Penn State’s offense. Nittany Lion fans should be happy with where the team is heading as the Class of 2009 is one of the finest Penn State has had in a while, and the offense may have the corp of a future offensive attack that will be a threat in the Big Ten.
Kevin Newsome is already enrolled at Penn State so his story was already written before signing day. Newsome was recruited by offensive line coach Bill Kenney, swaying him away from Michigan and Virginia Tech. With the departure of Pat Devlin the addition of Newsome eased the concerns of many Penn State fans. At 6 foot 3 inches and 217 pounds Newsome is in the same mold as Daryll Clark and Michael Robinson. We all have seen the success those players have had running the offense and Penn State fans are anxious to see how Newsome does in the same offensive scheme.
Penn State is introducing a talented recruiting class this year even without Jelani Jenkins, one of the top linebacker prospects available who chose Florida over Penn State. Penn State may not have the top caliber players for the defensive positions they need to fill but with some time to mold this could be a vastly improved unit.
While the focus of Penn State’s recruiting class was largely on offense in the class of 2009 there was still an emphasis on the secondary. Of the eleven defensive recruits Penn State is bringing in seven of them are in the defensive backfield.
And the future stars of college football are….
By: Maurice K Dixon
It’s nice to know when some pick your team, but it makes me a little uneasy when all pick my team as the next one to cut down the last arrangement of nets. Honestly, I don’t have an issue with the experts’ opinions. I have issues with the increasing expectations because they add to the pressure, which if mishandled could evolve into shortcoming.
The North Carolina Tar Heels (college basketball’s outright No. 1 at the start of the season) or “my boys” – the group of talented ball players I have repeatedly referred to in first person (we) over the years – are expected to win it all. The analysts have all said it. The columnists have all written it. The magazines have all printed it on the front pages.
The only thing more disastrous than Bob Stoops’s red-zone offensive playcalling Thursday night was Fox’s coverage of the Bowl Championship Series. And it was disastrous.
Starting with the obvious, Thom Brennaman proved that he makes Al Michaels and John Madden appear intelligent.
Take, for instance, in the pregame show, when he introduced us to “Dolphins Stadium,” even though there’s no such place as “Dolphins Stadium.” For those who care for accuracy, the game was played in “Dolphin Stadium.”
Or, in the first quarter, when Brennaman said the Gators had third down and 10, even though it was only second down. Of course, he would later top this gaffe when he would mess up the down six times in one series.
Last night Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators won the second BCS championship for the school in three years, bringing home a third straight BCS title to the SEC. The Gators defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 24-14 with the leadership of Tim Tebow, who should run for President some day if you listened to all of the praise the Fox broadcast team delivered last night when it was not butchering the rest of the game.
Congratulations to Florida. Even though Utah is the only undefeated team in college football’s top level, the Gators are your national champions. Much was made about how the once relevant Associated Press poll could make a statement at the conclusion of BCS championship game by voting for another team at #1. Perhaps USC or Texas could gain enough votes for a split national title was the talk of the town. Utah made its statement but failed to gain enough support from the media to earn a so-called split national championship. Utah, you are MY national champion.
Now the time has come for me to put myself in the awkward position of defending Ohio State. What? Allow me to explain…
In what was arguably the best bowl game of the season in college football, West Virginia escaped North Carolina with a 31-30 victory to capture the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. and spoiled what was basically the Tar Heel fans’ home game.
Senior quarterback Pat White threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Alric Arnett midway through the fourth quarter and the victory was sealed for the Mountaineers by a Pat Lazear interception. White eclipsed his previous highest passing yards of 222 yards against Louisville in 2006 with an astonishing 332 yards and completing 26 of 32 passes as well as adding three touchdowns to the cause.
The fact that Georgia was number one in the preseason polls got Georgia fans excited about a national title hope. This was supposed to be a year that meant so much to so many people.
Another 3-3 week for me as I still remain one game below the .500 mark. Only a few complaints from the excuses department this week. USC blew it! How in the world do you let Stanford score a touchdown on the final play from scrimmage? This cost them the spread as they only won by 22 (instead of 23). On top of that, I will never pick a UNC football game ever again. I feel like Butch Davis reads this column every week and tells his team to go out and make (amsteffe) cringe. Due to time constraints this week I am going to be a little brief, so bare with me. I owe RJ Warner a pick between the Oklahoma/Texas Tech game this week, and will hold true to my promise.
Come with me on my quest to get above .500…