Mind Over Matter: 10 Intangibles That Will Affect 2008
Mental toughness continues to be a grossly underappreciated element of the college football world. After a 2007 season in which every team had at least one really bad day at the office, it's worth wondering if fragility between the ears will continue to produce uneven and erratic performances that create multi-car BCS pileups when early December rolls around. Here are ten factors that will shape the 2008 season.
Intangible Factor No. 1: Ohio State's Will
The Buckeyes will have the talent. They'll receive sound technical instruction and guidance from their position coaches. The question is, "Can Ohio State use yet another BCS title game loss as a source of positive, forward-moving motivation?" The answer to that query will tell you more about the trajectory of OSU's season than anything else, barring a slew of injuries.
Intangible Factor No. 2: West Virginia's Focus
Did the Mountaineers roll over Oklahoma because they were ticked off by a whole host of controversies and disappointments, or will WVU continue to play well for new head coach Bill Stewart throughout the 2008 season? The nation will anxiously wait to see if this talented crew can sustain what it unleashed on the Sooners in early January.
Intangible Factor No. 3: John Parker Wilson's Intestinal Fortitude
Alabama's up-and-down quarterback alternates between deer-in-the-headlights shakiness and strong, commanding excellence. If this Jekyll-and-Hyde signal caller can mature in 2008, the SEC West could be painted Crimson. In a conference where several quarterbacks are squarely--and prominently--under the gun, Wilson leads the list.
Intangible Factor No. 4: Virginia Tech's Consistency
The Hokies, even while winning the ACC (a very weak ACC, it should be noted) last season, found it hard to display the same level of performance on a weekly basis. At multiple positions but especially at quarterback, Tech teased its fans with a maddening propensity to abruptly glide in and out of brilliance, sometimes in the same game. With steadier snap-to-snap results, the kinds of results borne of an even keel and a levelheaded temperament, this program can add some Zen to its BeamerBall religion... and build on last year's success.
Intangible Factor No. 5: Clemson's Ability To Not Be Same Ol' Clemson
If you've been a Clemson fan in the Tommy Bowden era, you don't need an explanation. If you're not a Clemson fan and need an explanation, simply know this: The Tigers are the kind of team that's great at avoiding disastrous seasons but is horrible at winning championships. Clemson players are gifted at scoring touchdowns when down by nine points, but not when trailing by four; awesome at kicking field goals when down by five, but not when down by two (except against rival South Carolina, a team with numerous mental toughness issues in its own right). This program has to find the mental mojo that can turn other teams into Charlie Brown; Tommy Bowden needs to become Lucy at the end of a big game.
Intangible Factor No. 6: Michigan State's Battle With Its Own Version of the "Clemson Complex"
Everything that applies to Clemson applies to Michigan State on a slightly smaller and less dramatic scale. If the Spartans could ever stand prosperity in the third quarter (or early fourth quarter) of significant games in which they solidly outplay their opponents and amass a multi-possession lead, they'd be a nine- or 10-win program. All that's left for this school is to do the deed, and do so repeatedly.
Intangible Factor No. 7: Arizona State's Humility
The Sun Devils, like so many non-USC teams from the Pac-10 in recent years, got snubbed for a BCS at-large bid, and then got smacked in the second-tier bowl game they didn't want to play. Not coincidentally, the other Pac-10 teams who failed in these bowl games have failed to become regular annual powers in the sport of college football. Like Oregon and California in previous seasons, Arizona State will need to redouble its level of commitment and avoid things like the trash talking quarterback Rudy Carpenter displayed before the beatdown suffered at the hands of Texas in the Holiday Bowl. With a little more humility and a lot more hard work, this team could do something big and bold in the Pac-10. Attitude, however, doesn't grow on the palm trees you'll find in the Valley of the Sun. The Dennis Devils will have to earn their ascendancy.
Intangible Factor No. 8: Rich Rodriguez's Mind
It's impossible--and entirely legitimate--to wonder out loud: Will Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez have his mind fully focused on football come this fall? Much as a besieged and hounded Bill Belichick (according to many reports) appeared to be body-snatched during Super Bowl XLII, it seems that Rodriguez--immersed in controversy and under enormous pressure from multiple sources--will have a tough time blocking out the stacks of distractions that have only continued to accumulate since he came to Ann Arbor. Precisely because he represents a break from Michigan's past--represented by old-world football men such as Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr--Rodriguez is under the gun in ways few of his colleagues have ever been, or ever will be. The 2008 season could be a soaring success or a dark disaster for Rodriguez, and the composure of Rodriguez himself might very well be the key indicator of the Wolverines' level of fulfillment.
Intangible Factor No. 9: Kansas's Courage
Kansas, welcome to the land of the hunted, a most unfamiliar place. If the smart and resourceful Jayhawks--the best-coached team in America in 2007, hands down--can add extra measures of grit and new proportions of poise, they could follow up their arrival season with another stellar campaign that will cement their status as a legitimate college football power.
Intangible Factor No. 10: Florida's Maturity
Maturity is a word that's easy to overuse, especially in collegiate athletics, when--frankly--every athlete needs to mature in order for his (her) team to be successful. But with the 2008 Florida Gators, the "M" word legitimately applies. Last season, this very young ballclub--particularly on defense--reacted poorly to each of the major crucibles it faced, especially against Georgia and, later, in the Capital One Bowl against Michigan. Those two contests--one in which the Gators witnessed a dance on a painted logo, the other in which the Gators themselves did the dancing--revealed a team that didn't know how to effectively channel its energies and hungers into the flow of a football game, with all its attendant emotional and psychological tension points. If Florida responds to adversity with resilience and quiet determination (not the overhyped and penalty-prone immaturity that marked the 2007 team), this upcoming season should see the Gators challenge Georgia for both SEC and national supremacy.