So this weekend I've been house sitting for my parents and taking care of our dogs, so knowing that I would be staying at home most of the day I decided I would dedicate this Saturday to college football, and so far it has been a great day. I even woke up at 8am this morning to watch ESPN's "College GameDay". Its a good show that talks a little bit about each big game that will happen today. For those of you that know me know that I love sleep, so 8am on a Saturday morning is early, that is how dedicated I am today.
The day has not disappointed my expectations, as the first game I watched was (12)Arkansas and Georgia. This is a good ole SEC game and it ended up with the Razorbacks of Arkansas winning thanks to a last minute touchdown throw by quarterback Ryan Mallett, who had three touchdown passes. Mallett has been getting a lot of hype during the offseason about being a possible Heisman candidate and first round draft pick in the NFL draft in April. I had my doubts about Mallett, he has a very strong arm, but last year his accuracy seemed suspect, however after watching him today he looks way good. He will be in the Heisman talk all season long and has a good shot at being a first round pick in the draft. Mallett will have his toughest test of his career as they host (1)Alabama. Bama's defense looks pretty good, but the offense looks even better. Last years Heisman's winner Mark Ingram came back from knee surgery against Duke and looked great. Next week should be a good game in the SEC West.
Speaking of people who have been in the Heisman talk, Washington's QB Jake Locker looks awful. In fact he hasn't really ever looked all that great. ESPN has him highly rated and as the preseason favorite to win the Heisman. I have never, ever for one moment thought that Locker is a Heisman candidate or should be a top draft pick in the NFL draft. Maybe ESPN has been seeing something that I haven't, but I am not drinking that kool-aid, I'm sorry. Even before his horrid game today against (8)Nebraska I have not been impressed with him. He started last year for the Huskies and here are his stats, 2,800 yards passing, 58% passing, 21 TD, 11 INT. Now those numbers aren't bad at all, especially when you consider that Washington doesn't have a lot of talent of the team. But those aren't numbers that I would associate with a top QB. 58% seems pedestrian to me, its not awful, but it isn't good. This year he hasn't done a lot, he struggled against BYU, who is 1-2 right now and not looking like anything special this year. Locker did decent against Syracuse, but I could play on Syracuse's defense if I tried out. Today he was pathetic, I'm actually searching for a more pathetic word than pathetic, he was that bad. His stats, 4 for 20 passing for a total of 71 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT. Now granted Nebraska's defense is really, really, good. But for a QB to complete just 20% of his passes is awful. Locker looked bad and played bad. There is no way right now that he should be in the Heisman conversation, its done, he lost his chance to win the award. His stats are not impressive and he can't get his team to win. The Heisman award is giving to the best college football player, even if Locker could put up good stats, he can't win games. To me he is not a Heisman candidate. And for all the NFL scouts that have him projected to be the #1 pick in next years draft, let me give you a warning. He doesn't look good at all! Just because ESPN likes him, and he has the build of a NFL quarterback, does not mean you should pay him a huge amount of money with the first pick. He just looks dazed and confused on the field. People may say that his stats are bad because he played against a good defense on a bad team. My response is, he will be playing against even better defenses, so if has a hard time with a good college secondary, imagine how much he will struggle against a normal NFL secondary, let alone an elite NFL defense. NFL scouts probably won't read this, but I hope they do, DO NOT DRAFT JAKE LOCKER #1.
One thing that really upset me while watching ESPN this morning was listening to Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso. I normally really like both of them but what I heard today upset me. It was of what Lee Corso said and what Herbstreit reported. Herbstreit reported that in the coaches poll, that most coaches will not rank (3)Boise State above 3 for one reason. Va Tech lost to FCS James Madison(for those of you who do not know what FCS means, it is what used to be called DIV 1-AA, it is a lower division than what most schools are, and usually has really weak teams) However James Madison is a very good team in the FCS. What infuriates me is the ignorance of the coaches. The fact that most coaches are saying that no matter what happens, Boise State will not be ranked higher than 3rd, and that it would take some of the top teams, such as (2)Ohio State or (1)Alabama to lose two games for Boise State to play in the title game. This is what is wrong with college football. The coaches are being prejudice against Boise State. They are ignorant and are only pointing to one aspect of the game. The strength of schedule. Boise State plays in the Western Athletic Conference(WAC) and it really is not all that good of a football conference. Boise State has to play those teams, they chose to leave the WAC for the Mountain West which will happen next year. Boise State can't help that it has to play teams like New Mexico State and Utah State. However critics are also saying that Boise State does not play a tough non-conference schedule. Well Boise State tried to schedule as many tough opponents as it can. The problem is, no one wants to play Boise State. The know that if they play Boise State that they will likely lose. Boise State is doing everything they can to win, the system is just set up for them to fail and it needs to change. The coaches prejudice and ignorance pisses me off beyond words.
Lee Corso said this morning(something to the affect of) "Boise State got lucky against a Va Tech team that is overrated. Put them in any of the other BCS conferences and they will be average. They cannot beat any team on a neutral field" Corso you ignorance upsets me. Boise State just beat Va Tech, who is one of the best teams in the ACC. BSU has also beaten (5)Oregon twice, and Oregon looks like the best team in the PAC-10 again. The Big East is so awful, that Boise State would hardly be challenged during conference play. If BSU played in the Big 12, Big Ten or SEC, they probably would not go undefeated, but would be very competitive and win the conference most years. Maybe not in the SEC, the SEC is a very tough conference, but it is still overrated. BSU can compete with anyone, they have been doing so for a long time, the people that are complaining about BSU winning need to get over themselves and realize the the Broncos have a legit program and can play with the big boys.
Well I am done ranting and raving about how stupid some reporters and coaches are. I'm going to go back to watching some good college football
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