The Long Snapper (8/25/08)

I’ve decided to go ahead and keep the title of this column as a dedication to the man it was named after. For those of you that don’t know, the title is in honor of Florida Gator’s long snapper James Smith (pictured to the right). If you know me, you know why I’m a big fan of his. I did decide to drop the “Monday Afternoon” from the title, because let’s be honest, getting stuff done on time is not my thing. The column will continue every Monday (fingers crossed) throughout the season providing my thoughts on various college football items not necessarily related to the Bulls and Gators. Enjoy.

3 days and counting. There are a few good matchups this weekend, as we get the pleasure of televised games on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

I’ll get the full experience on Saturday, starting the day with ESPN College Gameday before heading to One-Eyed Willy’s place (no it’s not the pirate ship from the movie, although that would be awesome) to watch the Gators start their season against Hawai’i and then do a quick outfit change before making my way to Raymond James Stadium as the Bulls host Tennessee-Martin. Needless to say, I’m excited!

On Thursday, Wake Forest heads to Baylor to kick off the 2008 college football season. Stating the obvious, I’d go with the Demon Deacons in this one. Jim Grobe has put together a great program in recent years and made Wake competitive. I can’t see Baylor giving them too much trouble. South Carolina hosts NC State. The Gamecocks’ defense should be tough this year, but it’s hard to get a read on their offense. Either way, I’m not sure if the Wolfpack have enough to pull out a win.

Although I’m far from being a June Jones’ fan, I might check out SMU taking on Rice on Friday to see if he can get his high-octane offense going with the Mustangs. I have no idea who to pick in this one, but let’s be honest…it really doesn’t matter.

On Saturday, there are two matchups between top 25 teams as #20 Illinois heads to #6 Missouri and #24 Alabama visits #9 Clemson. I’m going to go with the higher ranked team in both cases. I am not completely sold on Missouri – or Big 12 rival Kansas – being as good as they were last year, but I think the Tigers have better all-around talent than the Fighting Illini and should be able to get the win. I’m probably riding the hype, but I’m one of the believers that this is Clemson’s year and I’m also in the camp that thinks the Crimson Tide are not ready to be ranked. Nick Saban will be back in the NFL before Alabama returns to national prominence. Utah/Michigan and Michigan State/Cal might be better than people think, and could be worth checking out. I want to take Utah, but regardless of all the changes, it’s hard for any team to come into Michigan. Michigan State has a great run game this year and should be able to get past Cal.

The Kentucky/Louisville rivalry takes place on Sunday, but outside of the state of Kentucky, I doubt there’s much interest in this one.

Monday, we get Tennessee at UCLA, which looked to be a decent matchup before the Bruins lost practically every quarterback on the roster. The Vols should have little trouble running the ball and be able to keep it out of reach.

Here’s what’s going on in the rest of the college football world…

• Not only is the possibility of a SEC network dead, but so is the conference’s relationship with Raycom. The SEC has signed a 15-year, $2.25 billion deal with ESPN for the television rights to any program not covered by the conference’s existing deal with CBS.

• Former Seminole Brandon Warren has resurfaced at Tennessee where he will be eligible to play this season. Amid controversy, the highly touted tight end left FSU after his freshman year in 2006 to return to his home state. There were a number of rumors at the time of Vols’ head coach Phillip Fulmer even sending recruits on visits to FSU to help entice Warren to come to UT, although reality points to him wanting to go home to be with his sick mother. Whichever is the truth, Warren did leave FSU and has now been officially cleared to suit up for the Vols this season. Fulmer has mentioned using Warren on both sides of the field.

• Florida State running back and junior college transfer Tavares Pressley was cleared to play this season and will compete with Antone Smith for the starting position. If there’s one thing the Noles need, it’s a solid running game. FSU hasn’t had a 1,000 yard rusher since 1996 and has been extremely inconsistent at the position during their fall to mediocrity.

• Miami has suspended quarterback Robert Marve for the season opener but has said he will start the next week against the Florida Gators. Randy Shannon took an interesting approach by waiting until now to inform Marve of a suspension for something that occurred 10 months ago.

Aaron Murray better be careful to not follow in the footsteps of other former Tampa star QBs. Both Marve and Stephen Garcia have been suspended from their respective teams since going to college.

• Matt Simms – son of Phil and brother of Chris – has been suspended for Louisville’s first four games of the season. Simms was said to have violated team rules, but it is unclear as to exactly what he did. The redshirt freshman quarterback was set to start the season as the backup behind incumbent starter Hunter Cantwell.

I can’t remember big brother Chris getting into any trouble during his college career (someone can correct me if I’m wrong), other than facing the boos of Texas fans after he was named the starter over Major Applewhite.

• Head coach Rocky Long was given a 5-year contract extension to remain at New Mexico through 2013. Although Long has had some recent success – New Mexico has played in a bowl in five of the last six seasons – he is 61-61 over his 11-year career. His new contract will pay him $750,000 a year – up from $439,000 – to win just as many games as he loses. I know if I accomplished the main goal of my job only half of the time, I would be fired, not given the 71 percent raise Long received.
• June Jones is already making waves at SMU. The Mustangs’ 2-year starter at quarterback is now officially the 3rd-team signal caller. Jones has announced the QB race doesn’t include Justin Willis – the 2006 Conference USA Freshman of the Year and SMU’s all-time leader in touchdown passes. Instead, Bo Levi Mitchell and Braden Smith will vie for the starting job.

• Oregon QB Nate Costa will miss at least eight weeks after injuring his knee. Sophomore Justin Roper – who was last seen shredding the Bulls’ defense for four touchdowns in the Sun Bowl – will start in his place.

• In other Pac-10 QB news, Kevin Riley was named Cal’s starter. Many remember Riley running around like a chicken with his head cut off instead of throwing the ball away during the final seconds of the Golden Bears’ loss to Oregon State. If Cal had won that game, they would’ve been the #1 ranked team in the nation the following week.

• Torn ACL watch: Notre Dame tight end Mike Ragone, Purdue running back Jaycen Taylor.

• The best nickname I’ve heard in a long time: Coach Front Butt – referring to Notre Dame head man Charlie Weis.

• A few things I like during college football season: a cold beer in a bottle, a cold beer in a can, and a cold beer in a mug. A few things I don’t like during college football season: Lou Holtz, Lou Holtz, and Lou Holtz.

• Football on the Web: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution lists the new rules going into effect for the 2008 season.

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