What are your thoughts
about the new clock rules implemented this year? More to the point,
what are the chances the NCAA will re-consider the rule about starting
the play clock on 1st & 10 after every change of possession? I feel
this is the NCAA's version of "new Coke" & I'm sure the coaches aren't
too happy with the rule changes either. If Coke can admit their mistake
& go back to Coca Cola Classic, can the NCAA wise up and scrap this
system for the 2007 season? Or at least severely modify it? Your
thoughts please.
– JB, Dallas
A: I don’t like the time changes, but I think this thing is getting way,
way, way overblown. I equate it to golfers who whine about a course
being too hard. Everyone is playing on the same field with the same
rules, and it’s not like the game has changed from four quarters to
three. Understand that no one likes change less than coaches, and they
really, really, really don’t like being told what to do. They said they
didn’t want these changes, they were made anyway, and now they’re
ticked. If this helps anyone, it helps the little guy. If you shorten
the game by 10-15 plays, it’s a little bit harder for the behemoth BCS
school to wear down the smaller, undersized team. In the end, this won’t
matter as much as you think unless a coach like, Nevada’s Chris Ault
against Fresno State last week, don’t realize how quick the final three
minutes are going to fly by.
After the first weekend with Montana State beating Colorado, Duke
losing to Richmond, and other D-IAA teams playing tough, why are they
considered to be minor league ball? Really, what’s the difference
between D-I and D-IAA? –Austin S.
A: Depth. The starters of some D-IAA teams can certainly hang with the
lesser D-I squads, but they have no backups to count on because of
scholarship limitations. D-I programs can have 85 players on full
grant-in-aid scholarships, while D-IAA teams can only have a maximum of
63. Recruiting is a contact sport; the more contacts you make, the
better you can do, so it you can get 22 extra prospects, you’re going to
have more chances to find some top players. There’s also a big
difference in overall funding on sports at each school.
As a die hard Auburn fan, I fear that the nightmare could
happen again. I hope and pray that OSU beats Texas simply for the fact
that they actually have to play a decent schedule with potential
landmines. If Texas wins, they have smooth sailing to another perfect
season along with USC who plays absolutely nobody the entire year.
Surely they will split up the National Championship and dismantle the
BCS if this not so far fetched scenario occurs. Could they actually
shut out a team who went 12-0 in the brutally difficult SEC in two of
three years? I'm afraid it could happen.
- Will, Auburn
A: There’s no such thing as a split national title. Either you win the
BCS title, or you don’t. You’re dead on right in that USC, Notre Dame,
Texas, and Ohio State control their own destinies, so if, say, Ohio
State and Notre Dame go unbeaten, everyone else will be on the outside
looking in. Since there’s a feeling that Auburn got hosed a few years
ago (which it really didn’t since someone had to be left out of
the mix), I think Auburn would get the benefit of the doubt if almost
everything else is equal. Forget about the Tigers if, say, Texas and
Notre Dame are in the mix. The public would clamor for the Longhorns to
be able to defend their title (which isn’t really fair since it’s a new
year with new teams), and Notre Dame is Notre Dame.
Short and sweet – are the Colorado
Buffaloes finished? I guess I can always start going to
home-town favorite Temple Owl games – NA
A: Shorter and sweeter: no. The Buffs just need to get the quarterback
situation in order. James Cox isn’t the answer. Dan Hawkins is too good
a coach to let things slide any further.
What do you think the chance are that the BCS Championship game is a
rematch of this weekend's Texas/Ohio State tilt? (Or a rematch of any
regular season game (USC/ND for example.) Do you think the BCS would try
to avoid a rematch of a regular season game? Do you think something like
this would be good/bad for college football in general? Bad for the BCS
(we can hope)? Do you think a rematch would favor the winner or the
loser? What if they were to split the series? – KC
A: I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate rematches. Hate them. I
hate them in the conference title games, and I hate them even more in
the bowls. Remember that 1996 Florida national title team under Spurrier?
It got a rematch against Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, and all of a
sudden the 24-21 regular season loss to the Noles was meaningless. Yes,
if OSU and Texas play a close game and that’s the only loss of the year
for the loser, it’s very possible. It’s bad for college football because
it renders the regular season a little less meaningful. I don’t think it
would happen in the case of Notre Dame and USC since it’s so late in the
year. The Florida-Florida State example happened before the new BCS
system.
One of the things that I like about the Notre Dame offense is their
willingness to throw the bomb. It seems to me in college that this is a
higher percentage pass than in the pros because the safeties are slower
and a poorly thrown pass can still be effective due to the receivers
being better able to adjust to the ball. Granted it helps when you have
a cannon armed QB and a freakishly tall WR like Notre Dame but I think
all college teams should try the deep ball more. – Alex
A: God bless Notre Dame for throwing the ball more than six yards down
the field. It’s nice to have a quarterback like Brady Quinn who can
chuck it, but if I have to watch one more spread attack with its dinky,
dunky, three-yard passes, I’m going to scream. I agree with you. If you
can properly teach your quarterback to not stare down his main target,
then the safety will almost always be too slow to react and you should
be able to make some big plays. I always think a team should push it
deep at least once every third drive just to keep the safeties from
cheating up. If you factor in the unfair pass interference rule in the
NFL, it’s not necessarily a higher percentage play in college.
With regard to the first weekend of college football, season-ending
injuries to several key players has already occurred. What would you
consider to be the TOP 10 college players who would cause the biggest
impact to their teams' success if lost for the season? If this question
sucks, it's not my fault. – JS
A: Put together based on a combination of what the player means to the
team with what the depth is like (Troy Smith isn’t on here because
Justin Zwick isn’t all that bad), my ten unaffordable losses would be
...
1. Brady Quinn, QB Notre Dame
2. Adrian Peterson, RB Oklahoma
3. Pat White, QB West Virginia
4. Rudy Carpenter, QB Arizona State
5. Chad Henne, QB Michigan
6. Drew Tate, QB Iowa
7. Zac Taylor, QB Nebraska
8. Darius Walker, RB Notre Dame
9. Kenny Irons, RB Auburn
10. Erik Ainge, QB Tennessee (who’d have thought that a few weeks ago?)
