Point One: The Florida Gators Are Two Plays From 0-3
Obviously, the Gators had no shot to win the opener vs. Michigan after 10 players were suspended for that game. The Qb situation was in flux, and still is. Take away the Michigan game, as that was an outright loss. That said, if Feleipe Franks' pass does not hit the target at the end of the Tennessee game, the Gators are 0-2. If Kentucky covers any receivers at all in the closing minutes of Florida's 28-27 win, the Wildcats get their first win against the Gators since 1986. If all of these tings come to play, we are looking at an 0-3 Florida football team, and two of the three state powers are a combined 0-5. It is possible that recruiting successes at UCF and USF are bleeding the talent pool a bit. It is possible that outside powers in other Power 5 conferences are raiding the talent vault as well. One thing can be certain, and that is that the power hold at Florida, and at FSU, in the State of Florida, has come to an end. Florida has now moved onto QB number 3 of the season for starts, and that will be Luke Del Rio against Vanderbilt.
Point Two: UCLA Is A Play From Being 1-3, and Everyone Is Done With It
Another football team that is completely adrift right now is UCLA. If the Bruins fail or come up short in any way in their rally against Texas A&M, you are looking at a football team that has a lone win against Hawaii in 2017. The Bruins, as it stands, look to be toast, and Jim Mora's record in his last 15 games vs. Power 5 opponents in just 4-11. It would seem that my article from last October: http://bilofootball.blogspot.com/2016/10/jim-mora-has-gone-stale-at-ucla-but-who.html is still holding strong. If the Bruins lose to Colorado this Saturday, and they might very well do so, the season can be stamped as being virtually over. At that point, does Dan Guerrero have the guts to fire a fourth football coach during his tenure, or should he even be allowed to make that decision on his own anymore? The fan base is done, the media is no longer buying in, and those are the facts. Look for a half empty Rose Bowl this week, and that alone should be the signal flare that Mora is done at UCLA.
Point Three: Oklahoma Is Dominant, Even When They Aren't
Oklahoma, by far, played their worst football game of the season last Saturday against Baylor. There were scuffles during warm ups, and Oklahoma seemed to take it all not entirely in stride, as even Baker Mayfield got into the mix. He, too, had his worst game of the season, but after all of that, the Sooners had more than enough to take down the hapless Bears on the road, and even at their worst, didn't look bad. The Sooners moved into our number one ranking this week, and appear to be a solid front runner in the Big 12, and nationally.
Point Four: Florida State Has Grown Into Irrelevance
The Seminoles are now 0-2 for the first time since 1989, when they lost to a Brett Favre led Southern Miss team. It would seem as if there are too many problems to count right now, and all it took was one loss and one injury to ensure that the Seminoles would not be part of the larger national conversation this season. The problem is that it should not have gone down that hard that fast. The talent level on offense is not great right now, as the Noles have been held to just 28 points in losses to Alabama and NC State. There has been no discernible depth at the QB position, and if James Blackmon goes down, God help them. Clemson has raced right by FSU in a very short amount of time, and for now, there may be no catching them.
Point Five A: Gary Patterson May Be the Best Coach In the Nation
TCU has had their ups and downs over the years, but Gary Patterson always gets it right in the end. Remember, they are in their third conference in the last two decades, and every time they changed leagues, there was an adjustment period. TCU has now firmly established themselves in the Big 12 as a dark horse contender for the crown after beating Oklahoma State. Patterson came in with a plan to control the offensive tempo, had a plan to get turnovers out of a highly efficient Oklahoma State offense, and has taken TCU right back to the top of the heap after one reloading season. There is a reason why Patterson has bene at TCU forever, and has done something that nobody before him has pulled off at TCU, and that is because he outsmarts everyone. Patterson is one of the top five coaches in the nation, and it's time he starts getting that respect.
Point Five B: Five Coaches Who I Would Fire Right Now
As early as it is in the season, it's never too early to start projecting who needs to go as head coaches all over the nation are floundering in failures. Here are five coaches who need to go right now:
Butch Jones, Tennessee: The locker room is a mess. Players are fighting with players. Coaches are fighting with coaches and leaking stories about each other. The media sees a massive mess, and it would seem that Butch Jones is willing to go Sean Spicer and start calling fake news about the imminent disaster that is coming up the road. He is done, he hs lost his team, and his staff, and it's time to call his tenure DOA.
Jim Mora: When Mora was hired, he preached consistency, discipline, and an improved physicality to this football program. Here is what he has delivered...zero consistency, a penalty ridden team that is annually high on the penalty leader board in college football, and a team that annually gets muscled around by just about everyone. Mora, as he was in the NFL, is all talk. He is all preparation and no H. He has brought nothing new to a program that has not seen a conference title since 1998. It's time for him to go.
Sean Kugler, UTEP: Have you seen the Miners play? He has had long enough now to get the Miners competitive at the very least, but instead, he loses to New Mexico State 40-14 last weekend. Hey, at least they didn't give up 60 again. UTEP is currently our worst ranked team in the nation in FBS football, and the program has bottomed out.
Steve Addazio, Boston College: Listen, since Gene DeFillipo retired as AD, that job has been a rotating door at BC, a school that virtually gets very little love in their own market for athletics. Coverage of BC is horrible, at best, in Boston, and there has never been much in the way of buzz around the athletic department. The reality is, like most places, that if you win, it changes things, an BC has never gone all in on anything. That said, a move away from the failing Addazio is the right thing to do with yet another AD in place to make the move. Addazio was never the right fit for the program, and his move to a spread option look from a pro set has been abysmal. BC has never really struggled to get QBs (Matt Ryan, Doug Flutie, an even Paul Peterson was salvageable and mostly solid), but under Addazio, it has been an impossible task to find one that is credible. His ACC record is a train wreck, and his record against Power 5 opponents in general is downright laughable. Move on, make a splash the next time out, or be irrelevant forever. Those re the options.
David Beaty, Kansas: There is no movement in the right direction, no matter how people are trying to sell it in the media. Everyone keeps trying to sell it, but when you deliver the product that Kansas has given, the story on the field is a completely different thing than what has been sold, and it continues to fester in the basement of the Big 12.
Point Six: St. John's and St. Thomas Break All-Time D3 Attendance Record
Congrats to these two Minnesota schools for breaking the all-time D3 attendance record for football with over 37,000 in attendance last weekend for a game at Target Field, the home of the Minnesota Twins. It is encouraging that people will support D3 football. which is one of the purest forms of the game. By the way, these two teams shattered the old record, which they also held in unison.
Point Seven: FCS Coaches Who Deserve FBS Shots
There are a few FCS coaches who look ready to take shots at the uppermost floors of the college football tower. They are as follows:
Mike Houston, James Madison: Winner of the national title last season at JMU, he also got the Citadel into winner territory. A solid coach, with a solid reputation, he may be able to make some magic somewhere in FBS football next season.
Rod Broadway, North Carolina A&T: Broadway has had a dominant program at A&T for the last couple of seasons, and the program looks to be staying on top for some time. He may get on the radar at a school he just beat in Charlotte if they move on this off-season.
Brock Spack, Illinois State: I figured he'd already have a job by now, but he is still waiting on the FCS level, and still winning. He took the Redbirds to back to back NCAA finals appearances, and has ISU moving towards a playoff birth this season as well.
Chris Klieman, North Dakota State: I am not certain what more he has to do with the Bison to get an FBS gig, bcause all he does is win. He took the torch from Craig Bohl and made it his own, and looks primed to move up any time.
John Stiegelmeier, South Dakota State: If he didn't have NDSU in his way in the Missouri Valley, I am not sure how high the Jackrabbits could be flying. Still, this program is one of the most underrated in FCS football, and Stiegelmeier looks like he can coach just about anywhere.
Bo Pelini, Youngstown State: Despite his infamous attitude, all Pelini does is win. He never won fewer than nine games at Nebraska, yet he is now coaching FCS football. I would tell ADs, boosters, and fan bases to check your fragile egos at the door and hire this guy yesterday.
John Grass, Jacksonville State: Grass is 33-6 at JSU. It's time for him to get a move up. With some potential movement down south this off-season, I can see him getting some calls in either the Sun Belt, or even in some lower tiered SEC job that may open. He is rock solid.
Mike Ayers, Wofford: If any of the triple option coaches move on this year, Ayers should be the first guy to get a call, as that is his specialty. I could see him at least being considered for OC if Georgia Southern makes a move, and they certainly seem to be leaning that way.
KC Keeler, Sam Houston State: He has been at the FCS level forever between stints at Delaware and now Sam Houston State, and he has been known to have his limitations, but all he is doing is winning at Sam Houston State, and there has to be a place for a guy like him somewhere.
Stay tuned for the Power Rated Football Podcast: Episode 7, coming up tomorrow (Wednesday) night, and don't forget to subscribe to the Power Rated Premium Picks letter that releases every Wednesday throughout the football season, and continues into the off-season with more college football and NFL draft coverage! Just $19.95 per year!
No comments:
Post a Comment