Boston College wins the National Title, and other things that won’t happen this College Football season
By Bo Vandy | July 28th, 2008
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All apologies to a friend of mine, who inadvertently gave me the idea for this article. I informed my friend that I was stuck on what my initial writing should be for the NCAA Outsider, and being the Boston Sports Homer that he is, his reply was a suggestion to call it “How Boston College will shock the World and win the National Title.” I replied that I didn’t want people to think I was a drooling mouth breather right out of the gate, and surely such an article would convince people that’s exactly what I am. (At least those outside the New England area.)
So now that we’ve established, in no uncertain terms that B.C. will not be hoisting the BCS National Championship Trophy, here are five other happenings you can take to the bank as things that will not occur during the upcoming season.
1. Tim Tebow will not win the Heisman:
It has become incredibly difficult for an underclassman to win College Football’s most coveted individual award. It will prove impossible for one to win it two years in a row. Tebow will most likely put up big numbers in Urban Meyer’s spread offense, but can you imagine the kind of numbers he would have to have in order to impress the Heisman committee enough to give him the award again? It simply won’t happen.
2. LSU will not repeat as National Champions
Yes, LSU always comes stocked with a ton of talent, but the bottom line for the Bayeux Bengals is that they have a ton of question marks on both sides of the ball this year, the biggest being at quarterback after heir apparent Ryan Ryan Perrilloux was booted from the team. Whispers are circulating that in the long run, his replacements may be better than he was, but there is still going to be an adjustment period.
Another strike against the Tigers is their loss of one of the top defensive coordinators in the country in Bo Pelini. LSU fans claimed to be relieved when he left, saying his defenses weren’t all that great. In order to say that they had to ignore the fact that his defense ranked 2nd in the SEC in points per game allowed, 1st in the SEC in yards per game (3rd in the nation) and 1st in interceptions made. (7th in the nation) His presence will be missed.
3 . Bo Pelini will not return Nebraska to the top of College Football (yet)
Bo Pelini is a very good defensive coordinator, and eventually he’ll be a very good head coach, but for this season, I’ve heard far too many Husker fans who think NU has a legit chance at 10 or 11 wins. Pelini and his staff don’t have a bare cupboard on offense, and assuming Joe Ganz is really as good a quarterback as he showed at the end of last season the “O” will be able to put up some points.
However the defense right now is a mess, and it’s one that will take some time to clean up. Pelini is the man for the job, but Nebraska should consider this season a success if it wins 8 games, especially with a brutal schedule that has four pre-season top 10 teams on it.
4. Illinois will not a be one hit wonder
Ron Zook seems to finally have his Fighting Illini going in the right direction after woefully bad records in his first two seasons in Champaign. If Illinois can find someone to replace last year’s “out of nowhere Heisman candidate” Rashard Mendenhall, than the Illini offense will again be formidable.
It doesn’t hurt that after Missouri, Illinois’ non-conference schedule is made up of teams the Mormon Tabernacle Choir could take out most Saturdays, or that the Big 10 in general is going through a bit of a down cycle after the usual biggies like Michigan and Ohio State. A spot in the upper half of the Big 10 standings is ripe for the Illini’s taking
5. Paul Johnson’s Triple Option offense will not lead Georgia Tech to an ACC Championship
I like Paul Johnson, and I like his Triple Option offense, if for no other reason than it hearkens back to the day when teams like Nebraska, and Oklahoma were running some variation of the option. Truly the golden age of College Football.
However, there is a reason why almost no other team in football today runs the triple option. Defenses are faster, bigger and stronger than they were 10 years ago. Linebackers run 4.4 forty times, and defensive ends aren’t much slower. Sure there will be some team that gets upended by it this season that shouldn’t have, but I think the Yellow Jackets will be hard pressed to win many games in a very tough ACC.
There’s also the little detail that no one on his current team has ever run anything close to this type of offense at the College level.
So that my friends are five (or six if you count my assurances that Boston College will not win a National Title) things that will not occur during the College Football season which is so rapidly approaching. Tell your friends, pretend like you came up with them, and at the end of the year, look like a genius, I won’t be offended.
By Bo Vandy | July 28th, 2008
E-mail | Print | Share
All apologies to a friend of mine, who inadvertently gave me the idea for this article. I informed my friend that I was stuck on what my initial writing should be for the NCAA Outsider, and being the Boston Sports Homer that he is, his reply was a suggestion to call it “How Boston College will shock the World and win the National Title.” I replied that I didn’t want people to think I was a drooling mouth breather right out of the gate, and surely such an article would convince people that’s exactly what I am. (At least those outside the New England area.)
So now that we’ve established, in no uncertain terms that B.C. will not be hoisting the BCS National Championship Trophy, here are five other happenings you can take to the bank as things that will not occur during the upcoming season.
1. Tim Tebow will not win the Heisman:
It has become incredibly difficult for an underclassman to win College Football’s most coveted individual award. It will prove impossible for one to win it two years in a row. Tebow will most likely put up big numbers in Urban Meyer’s spread offense, but can you imagine the kind of numbers he would have to have in order to impress the Heisman committee enough to give him the award again? It simply won’t happen.
2. LSU will not repeat as National Champions
Yes, LSU always comes stocked with a ton of talent, but the bottom line for the Bayeux Bengals is that they have a ton of question marks on both sides of the ball this year, the biggest being at quarterback after heir apparent Ryan Ryan Perrilloux was booted from the team. Whispers are circulating that in the long run, his replacements may be better than he was, but there is still going to be an adjustment period.
Another strike against the Tigers is their loss of one of the top defensive coordinators in the country in Bo Pelini. LSU fans claimed to be relieved when he left, saying his defenses weren’t all that great. In order to say that they had to ignore the fact that his defense ranked 2nd in the SEC in points per game allowed, 1st in the SEC in yards per game (3rd in the nation) and 1st in interceptions made. (7th in the nation) His presence will be missed.
3 . Bo Pelini will not return Nebraska to the top of College Football (yet)
Bo Pelini is a very good defensive coordinator, and eventually he’ll be a very good head coach, but for this season, I’ve heard far too many Husker fans who think NU has a legit chance at 10 or 11 wins. Pelini and his staff don’t have a bare cupboard on offense, and assuming Joe Ganz is really as good a quarterback as he showed at the end of last season the “O” will be able to put up some points.
However the defense right now is a mess, and it’s one that will take some time to clean up. Pelini is the man for the job, but Nebraska should consider this season a success if it wins 8 games, especially with a brutal schedule that has four pre-season top 10 teams on it.
4. Illinois will not a be one hit wonder
Ron Zook seems to finally have his Fighting Illini going in the right direction after woefully bad records in his first two seasons in Champaign. If Illinois can find someone to replace last year’s “out of nowhere Heisman candidate” Rashard Mendenhall, than the Illini offense will again be formidable.
It doesn’t hurt that after Missouri, Illinois’ non-conference schedule is made up of teams the Mormon Tabernacle Choir could take out most Saturdays, or that the Big 10 in general is going through a bit of a down cycle after the usual biggies like Michigan and Ohio State. A spot in the upper half of the Big 10 standings is ripe for the Illini’s taking
5. Paul Johnson’s Triple Option offense will not lead Georgia Tech to an ACC Championship
I like Paul Johnson, and I like his Triple Option offense, if for no other reason than it hearkens back to the day when teams like Nebraska, and Oklahoma were running some variation of the option. Truly the golden age of College Football.
However, there is a reason why almost no other team in football today runs the triple option. Defenses are faster, bigger and stronger than they were 10 years ago. Linebackers run 4.4 forty times, and defensive ends aren’t much slower. Sure there will be some team that gets upended by it this season that shouldn’t have, but I think the Yellow Jackets will be hard pressed to win many games in a very tough ACC.
There’s also the little detail that no one on his current team has ever run anything close to this type of offense at the College level.
So that my friends are five (or six if you count my assurances that Boston College will not win a National Title) things that will not occur during the College Football season which is so rapidly approaching. Tell your friends, pretend like you came up with them, and at the end of the year, look like a genius, I won’t be offended.
ope: the savior or een the pope
