Rumblings Draft Scouting: College Football, Week 1
by Brian Galliford on Sep 4, 2010 9:20 AM EDT
in 2011 NFL Draft
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PrintEvery Saturday during the college football season, we'll have an open thread for readers of Buffalo Rumblings to discuss college football games. The thread is open to any and all collegiate discussions, but the posts themselves will emphasize draft prospects. This is, after all, a Buffalo Bills blog.
A few games are already in the books, but today marks the first Saturday with a full slate of tasty college football for your consumption. The couch scouting staff of Buffalo Rumblings is watching, and we invite anyone interested in sharing your thoughts on college teams or players to do so here. There are four nationally televised games that I, personally, will be catching this weekend, with a few thoughts on the players involved added in.
Miami (OH) at Florida: Noon Saturday, ESPN. This is a get-it-while-it's-hot game, as this will be a blowout. There are plenty of Gators to keep an eye on early, however, including junior cornerback Janoris Jenkins, as well as three seniors: guard/center Mike Pouncey, pass rusher Justin Trattou and defensive lineman Lawrence Marsh (if he plays). Clearly, there are more Florida players that you can watch - their secondary is excellent, and the new QB is intriguing - but those four players are of particular interest to me.
Connecticut at Michigan: 3:30 PM Saturday, ABC. This one is local to me (or at least I'm guessing it will be), but ABC will have a bunch of national games to watch based on region. If this is the game I get, I'll be keeping an eye on Connecticut linebacker Scott Lutrus and Michigan junior defensive lineman Ryan Van Bergen. Not a ton of talent on display in this one, but I'll have plenty of opportunity to catch Notre Dame later this year.
Oregon State at TCU: 7:45 PM Saturday, ESPN. This is a nice little Week 1 matchup between two solid programs, and could be an entertaining game. Oregon State defensive tackle Stephen Paea is a poor fit for Buffalo's defensive scheme, but I'd still like to see him play a few times. I'll keep TCU prospects Jimmy Young (receiver) and Wayne Daniels (end/linebacker) on my radar, but I'm most excited to see mammoth tackle Marcus Cannon get some work in at his new home on the left side.
Boise State at Virginia Tech: 8:00 PM Monday, ABC. We'll have to hang in there until late on Labor Day to catch what is easily the best opening matchup of the season. I've got five Broncos to keep track of (receiver Austin Pettis, junior tackle Nate Potter, end Ryan Winterswyk, junior defensive tackle Billy Winn and corner Brandyn Thompson), and will try to focus on just two Hokies (junior tackle Blake DeChristopher and cornerback Rashad Carmichael). Forgive me, however, if I slide off the couch scout nerdiness and just enjoy what is sure to be a highly entertaining football game.
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Nice to see one prominent program...
…open their schedule with two ranked non-conference opponents in their first three games as BSU did instead of playing I-AA and II patsies like many SEC teams do.
Not like they’ll ever be permitted to play for the title, of course.
"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England
Seriously?
So, let’s say Ohio State and Boise State go undefeated this season. The next best team is Alabama, with one loss.
Boise State plays Virginia Tech, Oregon State, and 10 patsy football programs.
Alabama (or choose your own team from any BCS conference) plays Penn State, Arkansas, Florida, LSU, and Auburn, all ranked opponents. They also play South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Mississippi State, all programs that would dominant the WAC. Their only patsy games come against San Jose State, and Georgia State. Also, they’d have to likely play Florida again the SEC championship.
Who should play for the title, Alabama or Boise State? Boise plays 2….. exactly 2…. tough games against good opponents all season. Va. Tech is a top ten opponent, and Oregon State is decent, but might not be a top 25 team. Does that really put Boise amongst the like of team like Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida, who play 5-7 tough game against top 25 opponents?
I don’t buy the argument for Boise. Nice program, but not elite.
BTW, most CFB programs schedule a patsy early in lieu of a pre-season game, which doesn’t exist in CFB. The patsy team agrees because the payoff is huge and they get national exposure. It’s a great system that works for both sides.
Starting the official Buffalo "Draft Owen Marecic in 2011" campaign.
I don’t buy the argument for Boise. Nice program, but not elite.
And that’s why Utah should win their court case. Even if BSU does everything possible, goes undefeated and thrashes everybody by 40 points, they won’t be permitted to win the title because they don’t play in the “right” I-A conference while teams who pad their W-L records with games against the Citadel and Tennesee Tech and D-II opponents do because they have the media’s favor.
That is the very definition of institutionalized bias and it has destroyed the credibility of college football.
"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England
Boise Schedule.......
How many top schools do you see on the schedule…??
at Virginia_Tech 08:00 PM Fed Ex Field – Landover, MD
Sat, Sep 18th, 2010 at Wyoming 08:00 PM War Memorial Stadium
Sat, Sep 25th, 2010 Oregon_State TBA Bronco Stadium/Lyle Smith Fiel
Sat, Oct 2nd, 2010 at New_Mexico_St 08:00 PM Aggie Memorial Stadium
Sat, Oct 9th, 2010 Toledo 08:00 PM Bronco Stadium/Lyle Smith Fiel
Sat, Oct 16th, 2010 at San_Jose_St 08:00 PM Spartan Stadium
Tue, Oct 26th, 2010 Louisiana_Tech 08:00 PM Bronco Stadium/Lyle Smith Fiel
Sat, Nov 6th, 2010 Hawaii 02:00 PM Bronco Stadium/Lyle Smith Fiel
Fri, Nov 12th, 2010 at Idaho 09:00 PM Kibbie Dome
Fri, Nov 19th, 2010 Fresno_State 09:30 PM Bronco Stadium/Lyle Smith Fiel
Fri, Nov 26th, 2010 at Nevada 10:15 PM Mackay Stadium
Sat, Dec 4th, 2010 Utah_State
.
"The most beautiful things in life can neither be seen or touched. At least that’s what the restraining order says."
Kinky Freidman
Put it in a different way
…How may Top 25 programs do you see on their non-conference schedule (the ones their ADs actually have control over) as compared to what you see on a program like (for example) Florida’s?
BSU’’s non conference schedule is #10 Virginia Tech, Wyoming (who has three Top Ten teams on their schedule) and #24 Oregon State. Florida’s non conference schedule is Miami U (ranked 3rd worst in I-A), USF (decent but nowhere near as solid as they have been in recent years) and I-AA Appalachian State.
Sorry. Your entire arguments rests on the presumption of conference superiority. But conferences don’t win championships…teams do.
"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England
Florida doesn't have to schedule big out of conference
Why would they? They know they have LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, etc already. So why should they load up on top of that?
By the way, they play Florida State too.
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
You missed the argument
Florida does not have control over their in-conference schedule, just as BSU does not. It is not just biased but bigoted to laud Florida (and this is just an example, the vast majority of “Big Six” conferences have the same failing however no conference is as blatant about scheduling non-competitive non-conference schedules as the SEC is) for the part of the schedule they have no control over while at the same time dismissing BSU for the exact same thing.
It should also be noted that non-BCS conference teams are currently 3-1 in BCS bowl games, a better record than any BCS conference.
"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England
Nobody is "lauding" Florida for their schedule
I must have missed the argument then because Florida, Alabama, Ohio State and any other big BCS program doesn’t have to worry about the big name OOC opponents. Their strength of schedule is already built in. Not sure how that is “biased and bigoted”, its reality.
Boise isn’t being dismissed….are they not ranked in the top 5?
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
by Kurupt on Sep 4, 2010 11:42 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
BSU already HAS been dismissed
By being denied a national title that they won on the field of play. They should have hoisted the Crystal Trophy after the 2006 season. They weren’t permitted to largely because of the conference that they play in.
Of course the entire question may now be moot again as an established SEC school was just beat by I-AA opposition showing that the SEC as a conference may not be as good as they are advertised.
"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England
Boise State denied in 2006?
The chances of Boise State beating either Ohio State or Florida that year is next to nothing. Ohio State would have run for 250 yards against them, and Florida was the fastest team in the country with the best defense.
Boise was a nice story against Oklahoma, but they would have had their dreams crushed in the title game, if it came ot that.
Starting the official Buffalo "Draft Owen Marecic in 2011" campaign.
There is conference superiority
It’s why Nebraska would come out of the Big 8 every year and get stomped by Miami and Florida State. Nebraska won all their games, but played in the weak Big 8.
It’s exactly why the SEC is dominant right now. Winning the SEC is an act of survival. Alabama survived Tennessee and LSU back-to-back, outlasted Auburn, and beat Tebow and Florida, who were undefeated, to get to the National Championship Game. They also scheduled Virginia Tech.
Why schedule 2-3 tough games when most of your conference games are tough enough? Boise State schedules tough non-conference games because all of the conference games are a joke. Boise won their conference games by 23 points, 35, 18, 45, 28, 38, 31, 11, and 35. Their closest conference game was against La Tech, and they won by 10.
BCS Conference teams don’t need to schedule more than one tough non-conference game. Boise does it because it gives them legitimacy that the WAC does not.
Starting the official Buffalo "Draft Owen Marecic in 2011" campaign.
Yeah...the SEC just showed their dominance
By having one of their major programs losing to a mid-level program from the Ohio Valley Conference.
"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England
Major Program?
Alabama won. So did Florida and Georgia. LSU is beating UNC. Arkansas won and Auburn is winning. Tennssee won as well. So, none of the SEC major programs have lost.
Mississippi is not a major SEC program. Most have them as the 8th best SEC program, barely ahead of a complete rebuild in Tennessee, and Kentucky. They are only clearly better than Vanderbilt and MSU in the SEC.
Just because Jacksonville State beat a bottom feeder in the SEC doesn’t mean that the house has come tumbling down. I’ll take Alabama any day in the National Championship game against Boise State.
Starting the official Buffalo "Draft Owen Marecic in 2011" campaign.
Well to be fair....Ole Miss had won what.......9 games each of the past two years.......
and still you would think a Bottom Feeder SEC team could still run circles around a FCS team……….especially one that isnt considered an elite FCS school.
"I understand that's the way it is, You're just going to have to take that with a grain of salt and realize there's going to be people out there that aren't going to like the way you play and where you're from." - Trent Edwards
by norcaliangelsfan on Sep 4, 2010 10:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Mississippi is a bottom feeder this year
MCluster, Snead, Jerry, Hardy, and their receivers are gone.
The only NFL players on that roster right now are NT Jerrell Powe and maybe Masoli.
Starting the official Buffalo "Draft Owen Marecic in 2011" campaign.
It's not institutional bias
It’s reality. Boise State pads their schedule simply by playing in the WAC. Alabama might pad their schedule with San Jose State and Georgia State, but all their other games are tough. Their out of conference game is Penn State.
It’s not institutional bias. Put Boise State in a 16 team BCS playoff, and they’d win a game, maybe two. Simply going undefeated in a weak conference doesn’t mean they’ve “earned” the right to anything.
Starting the official Buffalo "Draft Owen Marecic in 2011" campaign.
As has been amply shown
A playoff system which allows a non-BCS team an opportunity to win the title on the field is the very last thing the BCS conferences want. They have fought it tooth and nail ever since the BCS was formed. That is the whole purpose of the BCS’s existence in the first place…to ensure their conferences financial profits, recruiting status and to monopolize the national title. They do not want a repeat of 1984 and so far they have been successful in doing so.
"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England
The BCS conference may not want it
But if it happened, Boise would be exposed. They’d win one, maybe two games. It would still boil down to the Alabama’s, Florida’s, Texas’, USC’s, and Ohio State’s of the world.
Beating TCU by seven in a BSC Bowl game isn’t proof to me.
Starting the official Buffalo "Draft Owen Marecic in 2011" campaign.
Wellll
You’re argument should be FOR a playoff, not dogging the teams who happen to be in BCS conferences… It’s not Florida’s fault they play in the SEC…
And besides, it seems as though all of the criers are getting their way this year anyway, Boise is ranked #3 right… if they go undefeated, then they’ll probably end up 1 or 2 and play for a title… so what the hell are you talking about?
"I don't agree with a damn thing you say, but I would die for your right to say it."
"If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it all over again."
by ForeignArrow on Sep 4, 2010 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions
I’m on the other side of this argument, but Boise St doesn’t dodge BCS conference teams. No one wants to play them (and I don’t blame those teams).
Formerly of thatguy34 fame.
"And the best decision of my life proved to be the day I signed with the Buffalo Bills." - Jim Kelly
by Jon Harrington on Sep 4, 2010 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Champ Game
I’d go with Boise-Bama, leave OSU to Rose Bowl.
I absolutely HATE having to watch so much Tennessee Oiler football.
by MtJulietTNBillsFan on Sep 4, 2010 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions
Games that I'm going to watch
I plan on watching FSU at 12:00. Watching: FSU QB Christian Ponder and FSU OG Rodney Hudson. I’m interested to see if Ponder’s arm strength improved. Beyond questions about his arm strength, he’s the complete package at QB. He’s a great leader, a good athlete, and he’s the most accurate thrower that I’ve seen in a while. Hudson is an undersized guard with a ton of talent. He’s somewhat of a modern day Randall McDaniel: power of a 325 man in the body of a 290 man.
3:30: Notre Dame vs. Purdue. Watching: ND QB Dayne Crist, ND TE Kyle Rudolph, ND WR Michael Floyd, ND OLB Brian Smith, and Purdue DE Ryan Kerrigan. I’m intested to see how Crist plays in Brian Kelly’s spread. He hasn’t played enough to accurately judge his ability as well. Rudolph and Floyd are legit first round talents. Don’t sleep on Kerrigan. He’s got a future playing OLB/DE for some NFL team, and might be the most talented player in this game. Somewhat of a Schobel clone.
I was going to watch North Carolina and LSU, since the teams combined could field an NFL team, but with all the suspensions, I’m going to switch over to Washington and BYU at 7:00PM. It’s on channel 613 for all of you that have direct TV. It’s an easy but important game to scout: Washington QB Jake Locker and BYU OT Matt Reynolds. The storyline are if Locker’s footwork have improved his accuracy, and if he’s reading the defense. Reynolds is a mauler of a RT that could be a 2-3 round pick.
Starting the official Buffalo "Draft Owen Marecic in 2011" campaign.
by Der Jaeger on Sep 4, 2010 9:28 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Go Gators
As a Gator Fan and a SEC fan Der Jeager makes excellent points, in that conference the teams beat the hell out of each other then have to play a championship game. So what if they open up with a lesser opponent the teams will be running the gauntlet of SEC games soon enough.
I’ve been to many Gators games at the Swamp and I have to say the 12p start times are brutal it is like sitting in an inferno. I’m thrilled that ESPN is carrying the game today.
Gators 41 Miami of Ohio 16
.
"The most beautiful things in life can neither be seen or touched. At least that’s what the restraining order says."
Kinky Freidman
I’m stuck with whatever the ESPNs are playing, so it’ll be Florida vs. Miami at noon. I’m excited to watch both QBs, even though it’s unlikely that John Brantley heads into the draft this year and Zac Dysert is only a sophomore. Dysert is a name to keep an eye on though as he had a decent freshman season and supposedly has all the tools necessary to grow into an early round pick. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that talented Florida receivers like our own David Nelson and Philly’s Riley Cooper are excelling moving into a more pro style offense. I think Deonte Thompson does the same this season. He’s had his struggles, but I have the feeling he’s going to break out this year with Brantley running the show. Florida is just loaded with talent in general.
I’m probably flipping around at 3:30 with UCONN v. Michigan and Notre Dame v. Purdue. I’m going to try and check out UCONN OG Zach Hurd and LB Scott Lutrus, Michigan’s OG Stephen Schilling, DT (and ideal fit as a 3-4 DE) Ryan Van Bergen and LB Obi Ezeh, Notre Dame’s talent on offense (especially new guy Crist) and sophomore LB (and supposedly soon to be superstar) Manti Te’o and Purdue’s DE Ryan Kerrigan (does he fit in the 3-4?) and WR Keith Smith.
And Brian, Boise St. has inexplicably moved Potter inside to guard. They believe they are very deep at tackle and Potter at LG gives them the best 5 man line.
I’m DVR’ing the night games because I’m planning on over consumption clouding my judgement and I want to just sit back and watch some big games in a casual way.
SFC: Were you excited about Clausen dropping to the Bills pick? Or did you have a feeling that the Bills wouldn’t pick him anyway?
Galliford: Both, like when that hot chick waves at someone she knows standing behind you.
Manti Te’o was all over the field in every ND game I watched last year. I will be surprised if he doesn’t shine this year.
by TedWashington'sRobotDance on Sep 4, 2010 1:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Scott Lutrus
would look nice at either MLB spot on Buffalo’s D
"I don't agree with a damn thing you say, but I would die for your right to say it."
"If I had to do it all over again, I'd do it all over again."
UCONN
What about Jordan Todman from UCONN? Mocking the Draft did a piece on him the other day.
by TedWashington'sRobotDance on Sep 4, 2010 12:57 PM EDT reply actions
I’m not going to pay attention to too many running backs this year, to be honest.
by Brian Galliford on Sep 4, 2010 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, super aggressive and plays at top speed all the time. Really impressive so far this game.
SFC: Were you excited about Clausen dropping to the Bills pick? Or did you have a feeling that the Bills wouldn’t pick him anyway?
Galliford: Both, like when that hot chick waves at someone she knows standing behind you.
Christian Ponder
He’s being Christian Ponder. Mechanically sound, smart decisions, great accuracy.
I’m still waiting for him to gun the ball into a tight window.
Rodney Hudson, Greg Reid, and Bert Reed have looked good. The FSU defense looks mid-90’s fast. It’s against Samford, but considering that most of the FSU defense consists of sophomores or youngers, they are looking very good.
Starting the official Buffalo "Draft Owen Marecic in 2011" campaign.
Penn State
Steve Wisniewski (OG #61) is the best player I saw from the Nittany Lions at the half. Great base, strong, mobile. Has center ability as well.
Evan Royster (RB #23) reminds me of Fred Jackson… not that big or fast, just shifty, effective, and gives great effort.
Starting the official Buffalo "Draft Owen Marecic in 2011" campaign.
Michigan has some stud Offensive Linemen........
they just abused UCONN’s defense today.
"I understand that's the way it is, You're just going to have to take that with a grain of salt and realize there's going to be people out there that aren't going to like the way you play and where you're from." - Trent Edwards
by norcaliangelsfan on Sep 4, 2010 7:47 PM EDT reply actions
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