Is Booty Heisman worthy? Is Les Miles a good coach? Is USC really a dynasty? These questions and more in the latest ASK CFN.
By
Pete Fiutak
Fire over your questions to me at
pete@collegefootballnews.com. I might not be able to answer them
all, but I promise they're all read. Any e-mails sent to this
address may be published or edited unless requested otherwise.
(Please put ASK CFN in the subject line, and PLEASE keep the
questions short ... it makes my life easier.)
Was just reading
an article on LSU fans griping about USC and its dynasty status (and of
course, the '03 title) and it got me thinking … Do you feel USC is
really a college football dynasty? I don't hear anyone claiming dynasty
status for the Hurricanes from 00-03, and yet the accomplishments are
almost identical, except in 2000 FSU lost to Oklahoma whereas in 2003
Oklahoma lost (twice) giving USC the shared title Miami would have
gotten in 2000. Would Butch Davis never going to the NFL led to him and
Pete Carroll being pronounced East/West rulers of college football
recruiting and program building? – JC
A: Let’s put it all on the table here … USC has only one real national
title under Pete Carroll. I don’t care about 2003. We live in a BCS
world, like it or not, and anyone else named a national champion is just
for show. However, yes, this is absolutely a dynasty under Carroll. You
go 69-6 over a five-year span, and you’re doing something right. There
are two other ways of looking at what a monster the program has become.
First, of those six losses, all were by less than a touchdown. USC is 22
points away from winning 75 straight. Second, USC is roughly three plays
away from being the undisputed four-time national champion. Knowing that
this will open up the floodgates of e-mail, I’d take last year’s USC
team over Florida.
Why does Boise State
seemingly get more credit for their undefeated season/BCS run than Utah
did in 2004? All Utah did was blow everyone out that stepped on the
field against them. Maybe if Utah had blown leads and had more near
misses, they would have been regarded a bit higher. I mean, San Jose
State? Are you kidding me? So what's the deal? Why is BSU's win
considered a "landmark" win when Utah wiped the floor with everyone on
their slate?
– NS
A: Utah didn’t beat the Big 12 champions. Look, no one trumpeted that
Ute team more than I did, and I still believe it could’ve given Auburn,
USC and Oklahoma a major run for their money, but the best win came over
an average Big East champion (Pitt). The 2004 Utes only beat four teams
that finished with a winning record. Boise State not only beat a great
Oklahoma team, it also obliterated an Oregon State team that went 10-4,
beat a Hawaii team that went 11-3, and blew out Utah and Nevada, who
each looked great in bowls. The other part of the equation is the
history. Boise State has been a major producer for years, and the 2006
season took things to another level. By the way, that San Jose State was
good. It beat two teams from the Mountain West (San Diego State and New
Mexico).
Please forgive my ignorance, but could you please explain to me what
exactly an H-back is? From what I can gather it's some sort of
combination tight end/running back, I think. – AM
A: It stems from the Washington Redskins' Joe Gibbs and a role he
created in the 1980s for Clint Didier. You’re right; it’s a combination
of running back and tight end, or most specifically, a fullback and a
tight end. It’s a hybrid position, hence the H, and it requires a
versatile player who can line up in several spots. More than just a
blocker and more than a receiver, he’s required to be a more dangerous
target than most tight ends, while being able to handle speed rushers
coming off the edge. In some offenses, he’s called an F-Back.
Can a mid-major ever play for a national championship? Will an
undefeated mid-major team ever be seen as 'worthy' of being in that
spot? This year, for example, Hawaii looks like they have the
combination of talent and schedule to be a favorite to win every game-
but even if they were the only undefeated team in the country at the end
of the year, would it be enough for a spot in the championship? -
Mike M.
A: A “mid-major” won the national title in 1984, though don’t get me
started on that BYU team. Hawaii has a nice set up, but the schedule
isn’t good enough to get it past a one-loss team from power conferences
like the SEC and Big Ten when it comes to the national title discussion.
The “mid-major” to watch out for is TCU. If it can pull off a win at
Texas early on, it’ll generate a major buzz. If it’s as good as it’s
supposed to be on defense, and if the offense comes around, it has a
great chance to go unbeaten. Of course, a loss in Austin says bye-bye to
that.
It's so painful to see the bowl games listed on your site with
the sponsor's name sullying them. Rose Bowl Presented by Citi?
Barf. Allstate Sugar Bowl? Gag. I guess you're trying to be accurate,
but just because a corporation pays millions to put their name before
a traditional bowl name doesn't mean you have to go along. They're
not paying you, are they? Some sponsors have bought the entire name,
and that leaves no choice. But if you use Rose Bowl, I don't think
anyone is going to be confused: "Is that the one presented by Citi?"
- John, Austin
A: Yeah, I know, but at the end of the day, does it really matter? The
corporate dollars that flow into the bowl games help make them bigger,
more prominent, and stronger overall, even if the names suck. For the
most part, we always refer to the bowl games by their normal names, we
don’t mention Citi every time we write about the Rose Bowl, but now,
with a bowl like the Chick-fil-A Bowl making it impossible to call it
the Peach, it’s getting harder and harder. I have a bigger problem with
the ultra-obtrusive in-game advertising for the bowl sponsors, hitting
rock bottom with the inevitable interview with some CEO or marketing
executive. Usually, once the game starts, you don't care about the
naming rights.
We all know you give the most analytical
answers to college football questions, but now it's time to step up to
the plate with a gut feeling... What was Les Miles thinking last week
when he fired off those volleys at the Pac10 and Big12? No coach-speak
there! I'm really starting to warm to the guy, who is "only winning with
Saban's talent,"etc. I remember a clip on U-Tube of him blowing off a
female on-field interviewer prior to the Oklahoma/Boone Pickens U game,
so excited he just told her he had a game to play, (then whipped OU, as
he did 2 of 4). Then there is the infamous adjective applied to Alabama
at the LSU recruiting bash this past February. So Pete, what is your
take on this guy? - Stader,
Franklin, TN
A: If I can get one thing across to fans when it comes to coaches, it’s
this: when push comes to shove, they’re all, ALL, flaming bags of
jerkweed. I actually prefer the ones that don’t hide it and play up the
part (Bob Stoops and Charlie Weis are front and center here) because you
know what you’re dealing with. Of course, 93% of them are great guys
(Stoops and Weis included) and good to talk to, but you don’t get to
become the head coach and top figurehead of a major university without
being a world-class butt-kicker. Just because coaches don’t act like
Bobby Knight in his heyday, that doesn’t mean most aren't cut from the
same mold. Therefore, when a coach acts like a dink from time to time,
don’t be shocked. They’re the most myopic people on the planet and they
often blow up when they’re out of their element, pushed to far, or
challenged. They're under enormous pressure and stress 24/7. The SEC
will always be snobs when it comes to schedules, and more often than
not, rightly so, but when it comes to Miles, he’s just saying what he
feels. Whatever. I think he’s growing into a whale of a coach who did a
brilliant job of navigating the team through the Katrina season two
years ago. As I keep saying, Nick Saban only had one year with fewer
than three losses while at LSU. Miles has gone 11-2 and 11-2.
With the departure of JaMarcus Russell to the NFL, I was
wondering your opinion on this year's top SEC QB. As an LSU fan, I can
clearly say that Andre Woodson is the top returning QB in the SEC. If
he can do what he did last year at Kentucky, which is maybe the 9th or
10th most talented team in the SEC, how can he not be considered the
best returning SEC QB? Put him on a team like Florida or LSU and he's a
Heisman frontrunner. Your thoughts? – Alex
A: I’ve asked around on this, and it’s hard to come up with a better
time for SEC quarterbacks than now. Woodson certainly is a major-league
talent, at least the pro scouts think so, while Georgia’s Matthew
Stafford, Florida’s Tim Tebow, and Tennessee’s Erik Ainge are all
high-level pro prospects. Throw in veterans like Auburn’s Brandon Cox
and South Carolina’s Blake Mitchell, rising stars in Alabama’s John
Parker Wilson and Vanderbilt’s Chris Nickson, and a tremendous prospect
in LSU’s Ryan Perrilloux backing up Matt Flynn, there’s a slew of
excellent talent. Woodson has the perfect convergence of being able to
bomb away with great skill players around him, while playing along with
a defense that can’t stop anyone and forces shootouts. Yeah, he’s the
best returning SEC quarterback, but very soon, Stafford will change
that. Does John David Booty really deserve to be atop the Heisman list? I
mean I haven't seen him do anything yet that Matt Leinart, Vince Young,
Troy Smith and Brady Quinn (who I think was harshly underrated) did.
Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to bash him, he's a really good QB
(Anybody is a good QB to start at USC). But he did have two really good
wide receivers to throw to. I just haven't seen that WOW factor out of
him that those others had. Is it possible that it's just the USC jersey
he is wearing that is swaying people? - Paul
A: Salute the rank, not the man. If you’re named the starting
quarterback on the nation’s number one team, you’re a Heisman
frontrunner by default. No matter what your talent-level, if you put up
big numbers and your team wins (cough, Jason White, cough), you have an
honest shot to win the award. No, Booty hasn’t become the be-all-end-all
star he was supposed to be when he skipped his senior year of high
school and was supposed to take over for Carson Palmer, but he’ll get
his chance. The key to Booty this year, and his chance to win the
Heisman, will be if the voters look past his lack of big stats. With the
D the Trojans have, Booty won’t have to throw for 375 yards a game to
win. He’ll have to limit his mistakes, make the right reads, keep the
chains moving, and win the big games against teams like Nebraska and
California. However, the problem will be the stats. How do you vote for
Booty and his game management skills if Colt Brennan throws for a
bazillion yards and leads Hawaii to a 12-0 season?
I know this is a football site but I have a question tied to one you
answer quite often. I think you have settled the "who would win ...
college football national champ or worst NFL team?" question. But, the
question came up at work about a small high school in Indianapolis -
Lawrence North. Could their team of two years ago (with a senior class
starring Greg Oden and Mike Conley) beat a college basketball team? Or,
the question might be, how many could they beat? – DH
A: Absolutely. Obviously it depends on the league North would play in,
but Oden and Conley, who could’ve played in the NBA coming out of high
school, would’ve been enough to win at least ten games at the D-I level.
I’d even say more would be possible. However, it might be a stretch to
even think about a winning record considering the defensive problems of
the supporting cast when compared to D-I athletes.
