This can make any fan of Division 1A (yes I still call it Division 1A, not that stupid title Football Bowl Subdivision) puke.
According to virtually every expert, pundit and BCS guru, even if Ohio State loses to USC on September 13th by a ridiculously wide margin, they’re still “very much title contenders.”
I can’t say I’m even remotely surprised with this statement, but the thought of another National Championship Game featuring the ****eyes is enough to make me consider blogging about lawn bowling. Over and over we hear about Ohio State’s “great” defense and talented offense that tears through its conference on an annual basis. Yet for the past two years, the “top-ranked” team in the nation has had their butts kicked in the BCS Title game. If the BCS Gods had any sympathy for college football fans starving for another Matt Leinart-Vince Young showdown, then Ohio State would immediately become BCS ineligible. Had to get that off my chest.
The good news out of USC-land is that “Oh No Here’s” Joe McKnight will be academically eligible to play this year. He’s also bulked up to about 200 pounds after weighing in somewhere around 180 as a true freshman last year. I expect McKnight to be as damaging between the tackles as he is versatile to the outside. If he continues to progress and doesn’t accept gifts and bribes like a certain running back who will remain nameless (but to give you a hint, he has the same last name as a certain idiotic president), he will undoubtedly be one of the biggest stars we have seen in quite sometime at Troy.
I’m also pleased with the progression of Mark Sanchez at quarterback. Earlier on, I was skeptical about his touchdown-to-interception ratio and even went as far as favoring Mitch Mustain, on the basis that Mustain had incredible success at Arkansas in the unforgiving SEC. However, Sanchez appears to be finding his targets and I fully expect him and Patrick Turner to form the kind of connection that Leinart and Dwayne Jarrett had three years ago.
On the defensive side, the departures of Keith Rivers and Sedrick Ellis to the NFL will hurt, but as always, there’s so much returning talent in the front seven that I highly doubt they’ll miss a beat. Rey Maualuga will once again be the focal point. If he stays healthy, opposing offenses will feel his wrath – guaranteed! Fili Moala is better than Sedrick Ellis…yes you heard it here second!! (I’m not the first person who said this). In the secondary, Josh Pinkard will have one last opportunity to stay healthy and potentially play a full year. He’s not going to start at left corner on opening day – that job belongs to fellow senior Cary Harris, but he’ll have plenty of third down opportunities to work his way back into the scouts’ favor – a position he was in when he was a sophomore.
The countdown continues until USC’s opener at Virginia on August 30th, but the one everyone’s talking about is still the September 13th game – the Trojans home opener against those slugs from the Big 10.
Bring it on!!
DC
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9 Responses to “Will Someone Please Buck The Trend??!!”
Posted: 07/11/08 at 7:49 am
Nice blog Dave, I have another Eagles blog to put up next week before I put up my “NFL Draft Watch 2009″ and it will feature 4 Trojans in it.
To save you the time of asking who they are Rey Maualuga, Brian Cushing, Taylor Mays, & Fili Moala.
Posted: 07/11/08 at 7:55 am
Not surprising that you chose their four best defensive players.
By the end of the season, Jeff Byers will be added to that list. He’s a little undersized, but his versatility reminds me of those great Denver Bronco lines that could open holes for anybody.
Posted: 07/11/08 at 7:59 am
I wouldn’t be suprised by Byers either but I am just going with the players I have right now which is 64. I fully expect some to drop off for a variety of reasons and other to jump on to the scene who weren’t on there at the start of the season.
This is more or less to give some people a list of people to look out for and maybe get them more into college football along with who they could be soon watching on sunday’s.
Might not be a suprise but I do not have and Hurricanes on my list.
Posted: 07/11/08 at 8:08 am
Can’t say I’m surprised about that at all. That program’s in the tank, while Florida and FSU are still very competitive. Moreover, I would think recruits would choose SEC schools over Miami, for the sheer fact that they’ll get significantly more exposure on the CBS weekly games.
Posted: 07/11/08 at 8:20 am
I have 2 Gators & 1 Seminole in it.
I am going to be upset sept 20th, I will miss Auburn vs. LSU & Tennessee vs. Florida.
I will be attending University of Houston @ Colorado St and straight from there heading to see the Diamondbacks @ Rockies……and if I am lucky to score Denver Broncos tickets see them the next day.
Posted: 07/11/08 at 8:34 am
That’s a pretty sweet few days.
As of now, I’m going to see the Niners play in Buffalo and if all goes well, I’ll be at the National Title game this year.
Posted: 07/11/08 at 8:47 am
That will be a very sweet few days!
Posted: 07/11/08 at 8:49 am
It will be a great game for sure! As for OSU, I respect their program a ton but I too will lose my mind if they end up on the BCS title game even after a loss at USC. Problem is, if you lose early in the year you have enough time for the voters to forget about it and allow you to climb up the charts!
Posted: 07/11/08 at 9:19 am
I hope it is, only problem will be i have to leave the college football game early to make the hour long drive in time to make the rockies game.