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ASK CFN - Who Is Ryan Williams?
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Virginia Tech RB Ryan Williams
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CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Oct 2, 2009
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Who is Ryan Williams and why is no one talking about him? Does Boise State belong in the BCS Championship discussion? Explaining E.D. ads to your kid, the Big 12's rough start, the best way to watch the NFL, and much more in the return of ASK CFN.
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ASK CFN ... October 2
By
Pete Fiutak
Fire over your questions, comments, and baskets of
mini-muffins to
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.)
The Prevent Defense (aka the soft zone) - Good strategy to prevent a big play and save your lead or bad strategy because it allows the opposing offense the chance to carve out 10 yard chunks down the field in a short period of time? – MM
A: I’ve never liked it, but not because a defense is getting out of its normal style and comfort zone. In the final few minutes in desperation comeback mode, offenses get sharp, they almost literally don’t think and just throw, and they play in a nothing-to-lose mode that forces them to take chances that they’d never take in the normal course of the game. That’s why teams don’t go into “two minute mode” during the game; it’s not the same because there isn’t the same reckless abandon and there isn’t the same mindset. The problem, then, with the prevent defense is that it lets quarterbacks get into a rhythm, and worse yet, it allows offenses to get into scoring position. I’d much rather take my chances and get beat by a big play for 70 yards then let a team dink and dunk its way into a position to try for a 20-yard touchdown throw. I’m a big fan of blitzing late, especially in college, and forcing quarterbacks to only have time to hit his first option. Most college quarterbacks can’t find a No. 2 man even when they get time, much less under pressure in the final few minutes.
I have an seven year old son and every Saturday in the autumn we watch Ohio State Buckeyes and Cincinnati Bearcats football games. My son looks forward to it all week long and every Saturday morning he wakes me up at 7:00 am to watch ESPN Gameday. My problem is with some of the television advertising that accompanies college football broadcasts. How do I explain to him what erectile dysfunction is? At this point he thinks that it an ailment of older men who ride motorcycles, play in country music bands or own corvettes but he is a smart kid and I suspect that he will soon start questioning this answer. You watch televised college football for a living and have kids. You too must have encountered this problem. What do I say? – Barry
A: I have two young girls, and while that’s a problem on a whole other level, as I like to nudge my friends who have young boys, at least I don’t have to have the Internet porn discussion.
If you’re not ready for the birds and the bees talk and he actually asks what erectile dysfunction is, look him square in the eye, just like you would when he asks you about Santa Claus, and tell him it’s a problem for boys who don’t eat their vegetables, don’t exercise, don’t go to bed on time, smoke, and play too many video games (and you’d actually be right).
Does your kid really wonder what those ads are for or are they simply white noise? Remember when you were a kid and there were all those ads for MetLife or Prudential or for a financial services company? Remember how those all just went right over your head (and for many, still do)? I still don’t know what AFLAC is for, and I’ve seen those ads a million times. You might be uncomfortable with the Cialis and Viagra ads while your son is in the room, but he might not have the first freaking clue, or care, what any of it means. Does he ask about ads for cholesterol medicine? Just say it’s all medicine for old guys and that should end the discussion. Or, you could use it as a teachable moment and steer him away from riding a deathcycle, listening to country music, and driving a Corvette. To be honest, I have a bigger problem with kids seeing all the beer ads.
Note: I’ve receiver a TON of angry e-mails all year from Boise State fans. This one sums most of them up.
It just kills you that Boise State is good again, doesn’t it? We Boise State fans are so sick of your obvious bias when you refuse to give credit when we win every year. When will you finally learn? When will you finally stop hating and admit that you just don’t know anything when it comes to good football? Or better yet, why don’t you just go off and keep sucking up to your beloved SEC. Your awful and you make us sick. We deserved to be in the BCS last year and we belong in the national championship and you know it. – BB
A: C’mon, BB. We’re all adults here. You know the answer before I have to write it.
I’m not sure what you’re whining about. Boise State will get a BCS bid this year unless it falls on its bells against Nevada, Hawaii or Louisiana Tech, and that’s fine. If your Broncos go unbeaten, they absolutely should get one of the ten coveted spots and will almost certainly be in automatically by finishing in the top 12. (Houston and TCU won’t finish unbeaten). I was chirping all December that Boise State deserved a BCS slot over Ohio State, and while the loss to TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl basically answered that debate, that doesn’t mean your team didn’t deserve the bid. However, there’s a big difference between talking about the BCS and a national title shot.
The WAC is awful this year. Fresno State plays big name teams well, but isn’t winning. Louisiana Tech and Nevada have been disappointing, and there’s no one else in the conference doing anything in non-conference play. I’m sorry, and it’s not fair that the Broncos don’t have anyone of note on the schedule, but beating Oregon at home in the season opener isn’t enough to get them in the national title discussion.
Your team is three minutes into the 3rd quarter of a tight game. It's 2nd and 2 near midfield. The play clock is running down, and you're not going to get the play off in time. Just about everybody calls timeout to avoid delay of game. Why don't teams ever take the five yards on purpose and save themselves a timeout that they might need later on? 2nd and 7 isn't the worst thing in the world. Sometimes those timeouts seem like a panic move to me. Your thoughts? - SW
A: I’m more with you if you’re talking about the NFL, but with the way the clock stops in the final minutes in college, there are built in stoppages in play. 2nd and seven is a big deal compared to 2nd and two, especially at midfield, and no one wants to give away a shot at points in a tight game. I’m not a believer that time outs are necessarily gold if a team has a smart quarterback who can down the ball when needed and can get it out of his hands to stop the clock.
In 2002, the whole of the Pac-10, WAC, and M-West complained about a "West Coast Bias". Since then, they have had 3 Heisman winners, 2 National championships and 4 BCS appearances for the non-BCS schools. This bias is now against the Big Ten. After clunking in recent bowl games and in big games, Ohio State bears the brunt of this. What else could explain tOSU dropping 2 spots in the polls after a 38-0 "road" win? - Bryan in Columbus
A: Actually, USC only has one true national championship since 2002, but I get your point. There’s a bias against the Big Ten for one reason: USC. Take the yearly Trojan blastings of the Big Ten and the perception might be better. The Ohio State inability to beat the top teams is a relatively recent thing, and overall, the conference has done a better job than it gets credit for. But to address your beef, you know I hate the Coaches’ Poll and think it’s full of beans, but I get it. After USC lost to Washington, the Ohio State home loss to Matt Barkley and the boys looks worse. Other teams had to move up a few weeks ago.
I’m so sick of you not giving credit for USC having two national titles under Pete Carroll. The AP national championship counts. Just accept it already. - Tom G.
A: If USC had won the 2004 Sugar Bowl to earn the BCS Championship and if LSU had earned the AP national title, you’d be on the other side of this. As I always say to USC fans in this debate, and to Auburn fans in the 2004 debate, and to Utah fans in the 2008 argument … Poof! Your team is the national champion for that year. Just ignore the system that’s in place and go ahead and consider your respective teams the champions in the years in question. Yay! You did it! Feel better?
What kind of season is to be expected of the Big 12? Could this season have started off much worse? OU loses Bradford and the game to BYU. Oklahoma State gets respect in its only marquee win of the first 2 weeks and then promptly loses to Houston. Texas Tech loses to Houston. Dark horse North pick Colorado looks abysmal. Iowa State has less success against Iowa than Northern Iowa did. KSU looks terrible. Missouri gets itself ranked and then barely beats Bowling Green. – LR
A: It hasn’t been a great start, but outside of the top teams in the SEC (Florida, Alabama, and Auburn), who has looked great? The Big East has done a nice job so far highlighted by Cincinnati’s start and the USF win over Florida State, but the league never gets the credit it deserves. Missouri is still rebuilding and is still unbeaten, Kansas hasn’t played anyone, but it hasn’t lost, Texas has been more than fine in the No. 2 spot, Texas A&M has been explosive (even though it hasn’t played anyone with a pulse), and Nebraska has looked good and shouldn’t get knocked for losing late at Virginia Tech. So far, the SEC is still the top conference because of the superpowers and the decent midsection and competitive bottom-feeders, but the Big 12 is still second with, at the moment, the Big East third. The Big 12 isn’t having the season it enjoyed last year, but it’s still solid.
Why is it that I can love a sport so much that I would literally dump a girlfriend just so I could watch USC @ Ohio State....but when it comes to the NFL, the exact same sport, with nearly the exact same rules, I just CAN'T watch it? I try SO hard to get into the games, but they bore me to tears. And I love to watch 9 innings of baseball. I can't explain this! Help! – Brad in LA
A: I’d have a better answer if it wasn’t for your baseball comment. As a college fan, I love watching the NFL because the skill level is so much higher, and despite what you say, it’s a different game. But the problem is that the NFL regular season games don’t really matter. The NFL Network has a hard time pitching the “classic NFL games” because there aren’t many in the regular season that anyone remembers. Part of the joy of college football is that every game defines the season (sorry for sounding like an ESPN promo ad), while the NFL is a grind leading up to the post-season payoff. However, I have an answer for you: the NFL RedZone channel. It’s worth the cost (an extra $100 on DirecTV if you have the Sunday Ticket, but I’m not sure what it is on Comcast). If you’re a fantasy football fan you can’t survive without it, and if you like the NFL at all, it’s a dream world because there are no ads, it does the channel surfing for you, showing all the interesting moments in every game, and when a team isn’t in the red zone, it’s showing the most compelling game of the moment.
Ryan Williams, RB at VT, is a Freshmen sensation. He's rushed for almost 500 yards, against 4 teams, 3 of which are ranked top 25. He has 5.9 average yards per carry. Why is no one talking about him? - PK
A: Because Virginia Tech is still considered Tyrod Taylor’s team. Give it time. Williams has the look of a special back, but so did Darren Evans. Evans was about to blow up and become a national star before getting hurt, and as the season goes on, the buzz will start to build around Williams and he’ll be the hot back of the 2010 offseason.
When you translate the term "Beamerball" from ACCspeak in to english does it mean "Nothing special"? I'm not an SEC fan trying to ride Bama's coattails or anything, I'm just trying to wonder what it is that's supposed to be so spectacular about what Frank Beamer does at Virginia Tech. In the last couple years I've seen his teams embarassed by LSU, USC, East Carolina and now by Alabama. What is it I have been missing that led to all the hype? Do I need to watch Va. Tech beat up on some lower tier conference opponents before I get to see what the big deal is? - JM
A: Beamerball usually refers to a big special teams play changing the outcome of a game in Virginia Tech’s favor. Winning two straight ACC championships, beating Nebraska in each of the last two years, beating Cincinnati in the 2009 Orange Bowl, and being the only team to beat a Sugar Bowl-winning West Virginia is impressive. Throw in last week’s shellacking of Miami, and Tech deserves more respect
than you're giving it. You wouldn’t want your program to have some of the same level of success? And by the way, there’s no reason to dog the Hokies
for losing to this year’s Alabama team or to a
national-title winning LSU team in 2007.
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