Monday Afternoon Long Snapper (8/4/08)
It’s August and we are 24 days away from the start of the 2008 college football season, which means all is well in the land of The Bull Gator. If there’s one sport that reigns supreme in my world, it’s clearly college football. I watch a good amount of NFL games and have been a longtime Bucs’ fan. I am glued to the television set during March Madness. I’ve enjoyed watching the Rays lead the AL East this far into the season. And I keep myself knowledgeable about what the Lightning and Magic are doing. But nothing…NOTHING…compares to college football.
The 2008 season kicks off on Thursday, August 28th. There aren’t a great deal of must see matchups that day, but a few worth turning on. North Carolina State heads to South Carolina to take on Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks. And the mighty Beavers of Oregon State travel to Stanford to battle the weird, tree-like creatures (or whatever Stanford’s mascot is). Not great, but not a horrible way to start the season either. The rest of the weekend gives us some better-than-usual first game matchups, but we’ll get into those as the season approaches.
Here are some thoughts about what’s going on in college football…
• The preseason USA Today Coaches’ Poll has been released and it looks like the Georgia Bulldogs are the top team in the nation. UGA was 1 of 6 teams that received at least 1 first-place vote as 22 coaches thought the Bulldogs were the top team in the land. The others included: USC (14), Ohio State (14), Oklahoma (3), Florida (5), and LSU (3). You could make a strong case for any of those teams being ranked #1 to start the season except for LSU in my opinion. The Tigers quarterbacks have attempted a grand total of 2 passes in live games. That’s right 2 – both by junior Andrew Hatch. I think it’s a little much to pick a school with such little experience at QB to be the #1 team in the nation.
I’ve already given some thoughts on where the Gators and Bulls were ranked. #5 is reasonable for UF going into the season. The main question marks are on defense, but even with a young (albeit improving) defense, the Gator offense will put up a lot of points, keeping them in every game.
USF is ranked in a preseason poll for the first time ever, coming in at #21. This is a perfect spot for the Bulls to start the season and it’s nice to see the program get respect for the jump made last year. Get used to this college football fans; USF will become a top 25 mainstay.
The Big 12 appears to be the darling conference of the coaches with 5 schools in the top 14. I can get onboard with #4 Oklahoma and #10 Texas, but just can’t see #7 Missouri and #13 Kansas having the success they experienced in 2007. Both programs return a lot of their key players, but no one will be taking them for granted this year. Ending the season in the top 25 is not out of the question for either school, but I’ll be very surprised if both finish in the top 13. Missouri might have the easier path though. The Tigers face 3 teams ranked in the preseason coaches’ poll while the Jayhawks face 5. Tune to ESPN2 at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 12th as Kansas heads to USF.
The absence of Florida State and Miami is interesting, but not the least bit surprising. FSU would be #30 if the poll went that far, while Miami didn’t receive a single vote. The Seminoles have lost 5 or more games for 3 straight seasons and the Hurricanes finished last year 5-7. One of these schools will eventually turn themselves around – and my money’s on FSU – but don’t expect big things from either in 2008.
Not that I hold any weight in college football at all, but look for the first Bull Gator poll in the near future.
• Two former Gator coaches are on opposite sides of the news. One kicked a prize recruit off the team while the other let one come back.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops decided enough was enough and has dismissed incoming wide receiver Joshua Jarboe from the team. Earlier this year, Jarboe was sentenced to probation and community service after carrying a gun on his high school campus. Then came a video of Jarboe rapping about guns and violence. The decision was an easy one for Stoops and Jarboe is no longer a Sooner. Great way for a young man to start his college career. I’m sure he’ll land on his feet though. I heard Ryan Perrilloux is looking for another receiver.
On the other side, Spurrier has reinstated quarterback Stephen Garcia. Garcia was one of the highest rated high school QBs in the nation coming out of Jefferson High (Tampa, FL). He graduated early and arrived in Columbia in January 2007. That’s when the fun began. Garcia had run-ins with the law on 3 separate occasions and was suspended from the team until August 15th. Apparently the school thought he was ready to rejoin his teammates as Garcia was approved for early reinstatement.
• If you’re a Florida State or Penn State fan you might not like this, but deep down inside a small part of you might agree. It’s time for Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno to step aside. The 78-year-old Bowden led FSU to a 0.884 win percentage from 1987 to 2000, but from 2001-2007 that has dropped to 0.644. The 81-year-old Paterno has fared worse. Penn State won 10 or more games 13 times in his first 21 years as head coach. In the 21 years since then, the Nittany Lions have only accomplished that 6 times, including only 1 in the last 8. I know it’s hard to tell a legend when to hang it up, but in the case of these 2, it’s definitely time.
• There are rumblings Reggie Bush could be found retroactively ineligible. This would mean USC would have to forfeit games he played in and Bush may lose his Heisman Trophy. The case against Bush – citing that he received improper gifts during his time as a Trojan – will be heard in open court beginning at the end of August. Bush himself will be deposed on September 9th. It’ll be very interesting to see how this plays out and if USC keeps their record intact.
• Is SMU finally on the way back? Since being the only football program ever placed on the death penalty, the Mustangs have only had 1 winning season and finished last year 1-11. Along comes June Jones and the offense he perfected at Hawaii. Can SMU return to dominance? Will Jones be able to recruit the right players to perform in his offense? Can the Mustangs convince Texas high school players to come to SMU? Does anyone care?
• Brett Favre has been reinstated and will…wait…sorry…Favre’s been in the news so much over the last month; I just assumed he played every sport at every level.
• There is no difference between an incidental facemask and an intentional facemask anymore. The rules have been changed, meaning any facemask is now a 15-yard penalty. I am not a fan of this as sometimes it is just an accident. I’m sure this was done with the players’ safety in mind, but we’re talking football here where even the most legal of hits can cause serious damage.
• A few players I’m getting sick of: Missouri’s Chase Daniel, Georgia’s Matthew Stafford, and West Virginia’s Pat White. And a few I’m really starting to like: Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, Oregon’s Jairus Byrd and Patrick Chung, Michigan State’s Javon Ringer.
• Football on the Web: I came across this site while debating whether or not I should change the name of this column. Patrick Mannelly has inspired me to keep the name for at least another week.