2009 NCAA Football Thread

[Jigga]

Sorry, but it needs to be said.

EPIC FAIL LSU!

No, it doesn't need to be said. In fact, the term, "epic fail" never needs to be uttered, typed, or even thought ever again.

[dfwabel]

Sorry, but it needs to be said.

EPIC FAIL LSU!

No, it doesn't need to be said. In fact, the term, "epic fail" never needs to be uttered, typed, or even thought ever again.

+1.

[infrared41]

Sorry, but it needs to be said.

EPIC FAIL LSU!

No, it doesn't need to be said. In fact, the term, "epic fail" never needs to be uttered, typed, or even thought ever again.

Au contraire my friend. We both know that there is literally no better way than "EPIC FAIL" to express one's thoughts on the LSU - Ole' Miss game. Yes, we could certainly resort to overused methods like writing an actual sentence or two in order to effectively convey our thoughts on LSU's defeat or, depending on your perspective, the Ole' Miss victory but what good would come from it? Let's face it, this in an internet message board. Why would we depend on something as hopelessly futile as writing sentences to express our opinions? Especially in a medium where communication via the written word is as pointless as it is outdated.

C'mon guys. GET WITH THE PROGRAM!

[dfwabel]

Harbaugh must really like is custom restroom in Palo Alto.

[jkrdevil]

Cal-Stanford has been a real good game.

[NEW.ERA]

Toby Gerhart is a beast.

Edit: And Andrew Luck just ruined Stanford's shot at the Roses.

[jkrdevil]

Luck throws a pick on the Cal 3 yard line and that is game. Cal wins.

Good game.

[dfwabel]

Toby Gerhart is a beast.

Edit: And Andrew Luck just ruined Stanford's shot at the Roses.

There was no need for them to go endzone. Kevin Riley is horrible.

[dfwabel]

10 minutes left, but the UGa AD was asked questions about Mark Richt. They may still have to swirl.

[NEW.ERA]

Toby Gerhart is a beast.

Edit: And Andrew Luck just ruined Stanford's shot at the Roses.

There was no need for them to go endzone. Kevin Riley is horrible.

Exactly and Gerhart was running possessed a screen would have been fine or he was wide open between the Safety and Luck.

[logodawg]

As I'm sitting here watching Oregon-Arizona, I keep thinking, "Wow, Kirk Herbstreit is a really annoying color commentator." Am I alone in thinking this?

[GFB]

You don't blame Rich Rodriguez, yet it seems that just about every other college coach who comes into a big-time school by year two has improved the record of the previous year with his and the prior coach's players. It's always said that when a new coach wins, that he's winning with the prior coach's players and let's wait and see until his players come in. Well Rich Rodriguez has looked pathetic in two years. His offense and play calling is questionable. You say the talent level is bad, but have you ever thought that the coaching is just that bad? Rich Rodriguez dominated at Tulane and then left for West Virginia where he did pretty well in a second rate conference, but when he coaches in a big-time conference and the Big Ten isn't the best, he's proving that he's a second-rate coach at best. He is to Michigan what Gerry Faust and Ty Willingham are to Notre Dame, just a coach who is over his head.

Maybe. Coaching definitely hasn't won them any games. But can you name any NFL-caliber players on Michigan's offense or defense not named Brandon Graham in the last 2 years? I certainly can't. In my opinion, Michigan was going to have to go through a retooling no matter who they hired. After that 2006 season with that nasty defense (Lamaar Woodley, Leon Hall, David Harris, Alan Branch) Lloyd Carr's recruiting went in the absolute toilet. Not necessarily rankings wise, but if you look at the prospects, they would only hit on 4 or 5 guys out of 23 or 24.

Take a look at the 2005 class, or the senior class Rich Rod took over. I've highlighted the prospects that Michigan "hit" on. This was the 6th ranked class in the nation, btw.

Antonio Bass ATH 6-1 194 4.44 6.0 Jackson, MI

Carson Butler DE 6-6 235 4.6 5.5 Detroit, MI

Andre Criswell RB 6-1 240 - 4.9 Detroit, MI

Jason Forcier QB 6-2 205 4.55 5.6 San Diego, CA

Eugene Germany DE 6-4 250 4.65 - Pomona, CA

Kevin Grady RB 5-10 230 4.5 6.1 East Grand Rapids, MI

[b]Brandon Harrison DB 5-8 190 4.3 5.8 Dayton, OH

Brandon Logan LB 6-1 195 4.5 5.6 Lexington, KY

Mario Manningham WR 6-0 174 4.4 6.0 Warren, OH

Tim McAvoy OL 6-6 270 4.8 5.6 Bloomington, IL

James McKinney DT 6-2 277 4.94 5.9 Louisville, KY

Chris McLaurin DE 6-4 217 4.84 5.5 Orchard Lake, MI

Zoltan Mesko K 6-4 230 - 5.5 Twinsburg, OH

David Moosman OL 6-5 270 - 5.8 Libertyville, IL

Mark Ortmann OL 6-6 270 5.06 5.5 Klein, TX

Chris Richards ATH 5-10 155 4.44 5.5 North Hills, CA

LaTerryal Savoy WR 6-2 195 4.6 5.7 Mamou, LA

Justin Schifano OL 6-5 300 5.02 5.8 Webster, NY

Johnny Sears DB 6-1 175 4.4 5.6 Fresno, CA

Mister Simpson RB 5-10 195 4.55 5.7 Cincinnati, OH

Marques Slocum OL 6-4 331 5.06 6.0 Philadelphia, PA

Terrance Taylor DT 6-1 285 4.95 5.9 Muskegon, MI

Cory Zirbel OL 6-7 301 5.1 5.9 Murray, KY

That's with giving Harrison and Taylor as "hits" who are very iffy. Go look at the Michigan recruiting classes. From 2005-2008 every class was very similar to this.

The fact is, the Michigan program was already in decline before the Rodriguez era began. The Appalachian State loss was under Lloyd Carr. The disappointing 8-5 2005 season was the beginning (If you look at the talent on that roster, 8-5 was poor).

I guess the point I'm making is that I'm not going to hang a coach by the failings of another. When he took over, he had to rebuild the entire team. Are going to tell me that if Urban Meyer or Bob Stoopes coaches these Michigan teams they would have had significant better records? I just can't see it. Let me break it down this way:

Blame for the 2008 season:

90% Lack of Players

10% RichRod

Blame for 2009 season:

65% Lack of Players (Mainly on defense)

35% RichRod

Like I said before, I'll give him next year to show significant improvement in the team on both sides of the ball. 8 or 9 wins is the minimum. If he fails, then by all means fire him, hang him, burn him at the stake, you get the idea. But I'm not going do away with the man for something that isn't primarily his fault. This was coming no matter who was coaching Michigan.

[jkrdevil]

Can I laugh at the Arizona students who jumped down to rush the field while Oregon was driving to tie the game in the 4th? Oregon ends up winning in two ot's.

[-(dp)-]

Can I laugh at the Arizona students who jumped down to rush the field while Oregon was driving to tie the game in the 4th? Oregon ends up winning in two ot's.

Yes, after seeing that, I really wanted Oregon to win. I am glad they did.

[jkrdevil]

You don't blame Rich Rodriguez, yet it seems that just about every other college coach who comes into a big-time school by year two has improved the record of the previous year with his and the prior coach's players. It's always said that when a new coach wins, that he's winning with the prior coach's players and let's wait and see until his players come in. Well Rich Rodriguez has looked pathetic in two years. His offense and play calling is questionable. You say the talent level is bad, but have you ever thought that the coaching is just that bad? Rich Rodriguez dominated at Tulane and then left for West Virginia where he did pretty well in a second rate conference, but when he coaches in a big-time conference and the Big Ten isn't the best, he's proving that he's a second-rate coach at best. He is to Michigan what Gerry Faust and Ty Willingham are to Notre Dame, just a coach who is over his head.

Maybe. Coaching definitely hasn't won them any games. But can you name any NFL-caliber players on Michigan's offense or defense not named Brandon Graham in the last 2 years? I certainly can't. In my opinion, Michigan was going to have to go through a retooling no matter who they hired. After that 2006 season with that nasty defense (Lamaar Woodley, Leon Hall, David Harris, Alan Branch) Lloyd Carr's recruiting went in the absolute toilet. Not necessarily rankings wise, but if you look at the prospects, they would only hit on 4 or 5 guys out of 23 or 24.

I am indifferent to Michigan so as an outsider let me give you the biggest issue I see with Rich Rod. He is completely inflexible as a coach. I think the argument that one has to wait until he gets all the players in place to fit his system is complete bull . A good coach knows how to taylor a system (or use a different one) to fit the talent one does have. He didn't take over a poor team, outside the :censored:up at the beginning of the Applaichain State their other three losses were not bad and against good teams (Oregon, Wisconsin, Ohio State all finished ranked). They rebounded and went 9-4 including a bowl win over Tim Tebow and Florida (In between 2 Florida BCS champions, and maybe a third this year). That isn't a team that should be blownup and win 3 games the next year. Was it a bad year by Michigan standards? Yes. Did changes need to be made? Perhaps. Did everything need to be blown up? No. Instead they bring Rich Rod in, who leaves in the worst possible fashion from West Virginia, and he blows everything up chasing away much of the remaining talent that didn't graduate because of his inflexibility as coach. That leads to a 3 win season, and then a 5 win season (tied for last in the conference). On top of that he is probably going to bring sactions against Michigan for perhaps one of the dumbest reasons.

So from the outside I think Michigan should fire Rich Rod. Why? Because I just don't think he actually that good of a coach (and this is coming from someone who goes to a school Rich Rod destroyed at WV). There is no reason why one of the top historic football programs should go from 9 wins one season to 3 and 5 wins seasons in over the next two. A good coach would at least be able to scratch out 6 and 7 wins in the same situation.

[B-Rich]

If I was an LSU fan, I would've thrown a table. Seriously, Verne's reaction to that game is probably 1/16th of how some random LSU fan may have felt watching that game.

That'd be me.

This was, without a doubt, the worst example of coaches failing the players as I've ever seen. And by coaching I mean both head coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Gary Crowton.... And the worst clock management EVER:

LSU is down by 8, scores a touchdown, goes for two and benefits from a pass interference call, but still passes? They miss the 2 pt conversion so they are donw by 2 with a little over a minute left. So they perfectly execute an on-side kick, run a play or so and get the ball to the thirty with a 1st down, about a minute left to play, and a kicker who can drill it from 50. So the coaching geniuses call a play with a 5 step drop. Sack. Then they call a play with a little outlet pass behind the line of scrimmage. Another loss, the ball is now at midfield-- no hope for a field goal, and the coaching braintrust finally decide to call timeout after twenty-some odd seconds run off. So they line up for the Hail Mary on 4th down, complete the ball to within the ten, with one second left(I think it was on the five). It's already been timed by those with TiVo or DVRs; it took 31 seconds for the crew to move the chains and put the ball back in play for that one second run-off. And what does the coaching staff do during that time? Have the kicking team ready for a game winning chip shot field goal? Have a quick option, run or pass play play ready to run? NO. Video is out there that shows that LES MILES and the staff were signalling to the QB to "clock" the ball. With one second left. Which is exactly what he did. I don't fault him or his teammates one bit, this loss is CLEARLY on the coaches.

The folks down here are not happy. And I'm sure we all will be hearing more about this game, and the fate of Gary Crowton and perhaps Les Miles, in the days to come.....

[Jigga]

If I was an LSU fan, I would've thrown a table. Seriously, Verne's reaction to that game is probably 1/16th of how some random LSU fan may have felt watching that game.

That'd be me.

This was, without a doubt, the worst example of coaches failing the players as I've ever seen. And by coaching I mean both head coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Gary Crowton.... And the worst clock management EVER:

LSU is down by 8, scores a touchdown, goes for two and benefits from a pass interference call, but still passes? They miss the 2 pt conversion so they are donw by 2 with a little over a minute left. So they perfectly execute an on-side kick, run a play or so and get the ball to the thirty with a 1st down, about a minute left to play, and a kicker who can drill it from 50. So the coaching geniuses call a play with a 5 step drop. Sack. Then they call a play with a little outlet pass behind the line of scrimmage. Another loss, the ball is now at midfield-- no hope for a field goal, and the coaching braintrust finally decide to call timeout after twenty-some odd seconds run off. So they line up for the Hail Mary on 4th down, complete the ball to within the ten, with one second left(I think it was on the five). It's already been timed by those with TiVo or DVRs; it took 31 seconds for the crew to move the chains and put the ball back in play for that one second run-off. And what does the coaching staff do during that time? Have the kicking team ready for a game winning chip shot field goal? Have a quick option, run or pass play play ready to run? NO. Video is out there that shows that LES MILES and the staff were signalling to the QB to "clock" the ball. With one second left. Which is exactly what he did. I don't fault him or his teammates one bit, this loss is CLEARLY on the coaches.

The folks down here are not happy. And I'm sure we all will be hearing more about this game, and the fate of Gary Crowton and perhaps Les Miles, in the days to come.....

You have GOT to be kidding me. Somebody put some crazy pills in y'all's jambalaya? Don't get me wrong, it was horrible clock management. However, if y'all want to run The Hat, then y'all deserve nothing better the second coming of Gerry DiNardo or Curley Hallman. The Lord will not have mercy on your souls, and neither will the SEC.

[rams80]

You don't blame Rich Rodriguez, yet it seems that just about every other college coach who comes into a big-time school by year two has improved the record of the previous year with his and the prior coach's players. It's always said that when a new coach wins, that he's winning with the prior coach's players and let's wait and see until his players come in. Well Rich Rodriguez has looked pathetic in two years. His offense and play calling is questionable. You say the talent level is bad, but have you ever thought that the coaching is just that bad? Rich Rodriguez dominated at Tulane and then left for West Virginia where he did pretty well in a second rate conference, but when he coaches in a big-time conference and the Big Ten isn't the best, he's proving that he's a second-rate coach at best. He is to Michigan what Gerry Faust and Ty Willingham are to Notre Dame, just a coach who is over his head.

Last I checked 5 wins is an improvement over 3 wins.

And being able to coach successfully dealing with the Looney Toons in Morgantown in a Conference with several good teams and coaches indicates to me that he can handle the Big Ten just fine. It's not exactly hard to outwit half the coaches in the league if you can actually match them in talent.

And my general understanding, at least in regards to the defense, is that Lloyd Carr left the cupboard barer than the food pantry of the local charity the day after Thanksgiving.

-----------------------------------------------------

At least they got people to attend the Indiana football game. Now, let's see some assistants get fired. Special teams, I'm looking at you.

---------------------------------------

Nebraska "wins" the Big XII North. Hooray, we're dead.

[HedleyLamarr]

Ever noticed how Rich Rodriguez looks a lot like Hoss Cartwright from Bonanza?

[TFoA]

If I was an LSU fan, I would've thrown a table. Seriously, Verne's reaction to that game is probably 1/16th of how some random LSU fan may have felt watching that game.

That'd be me.

This was, without a doubt, the worst example of coaches failing the players as I've ever seen. And by coaching I mean both head coach Les Miles and offensive coordinator Gary Crowton.... And the worst clock management EVER:

LSU is down by 8, scores a touchdown, goes for two and benefits from a pass interference call, but still passes? They miss the 2 pt conversion so they are donw by 2 with a little over a minute left. So they perfectly execute an on-side kick, run a play or so and get the ball to the thirty with a 1st down, about a minute left to play, and a kicker who can drill it from 50. So the coaching geniuses call a play with a 5 step drop. Sack. Then they call a play with a little outlet pass behind the line of scrimmage. Another loss, the ball is now at midfield-- no hope for a field goal, and the coaching braintrust finally decide to call timeout after twenty-some odd seconds run off. So they line up for the Hail Mary on 4th down, complete the ball to within the ten, with one second left(I think it was on the five). It's already been timed by those with TiVo or DVRs; it took 31 seconds for the crew to move the chains and put the ball back in play for that one second run-off. And what does the coaching staff do during that time? Have the kicking team ready for a game winning chip shot field goal? Have a quick option, run or pass play play ready to run? NO. Video is out there that shows that LES MILES and the staff were signalling to the QB to "clock" the ball. With one second left. Which is exactly what he did. I don't fault him or his teammates one bit, this loss is CLEARLY on the coaches.

The folks down here are not happy. And I'm sure we all will be hearing more about this game, and the fate of Gary Crowton and perhaps Les Miles, in the days to come.....

You have GOT to be kidding me. Somebody put some crazy pills in y'all's jambalaya? Don't get me wrong, it was horrible clock management. However, if y'all want to run The Hat, then y'all deserve nothing better the second coming of Gerry DiNardo or Curley Hallman. The Lord will not have mercy on your souls, and neither will the SEC.

Despite the fact that Les Miles absolutely lost his football mind by with his playcalling on that final drive and then ultimately (and stupidly) calling a spike with ONE SECOND ON THE CLOCK, I agree with jigga. Like Mangino, IMO, has earned career amnesty in Kansas for winning an Orange Bowl at freakin' Kansas, the Hat gets at least gets a pass for this based on the fact that the man's won 2 national championships there, compared to before he got there, which was IIRC one since 1958. I mean, his mistake today was damn near indefensible...but he shouldn't be fired for it, hell naw.

But yet and still..wow, that was godawful coaching at the end. If people raise hell for a week about Belichick's 4th and 2 decision, they had better just run all sorts of stories about how Les Miles wanted to spike the ball with 1 second left.