MY
TAKE
So when I took last week off from my blog, I did it
for 2 reasons. 1) Because I wanted to get a better look at a few more teams
before giving such defined opinions on them. 2) Because I figured halfway
through the college football season, a story or 2 may drop. And break they
did!! Several things I’m going to touch on with this blog, as there was major
news on and off the football field. So much happened that I won’t even get to
speak on how Arkansas coach Bret Bielema continues to embarrass himself and
again show how much of a classless individual he is. Another time and place for
that. ANYWAYS, here’s my take….
ON
THE FIELD
Michigan
Could Michigan be the best team in the BIG 10? I'll admit, I didn't see this coming. My co-worker Cori did, and now she won't let me hear the end of it. Yea, I know that Ohio State and Michigan
State are both undefeated and NFL talent all over the field, but if you’re
simply looking at who’s been most impressive, it’s CLEARLY Jim Harbaugh’s
Michigan Wolverines. Now they haven’t gone out and beaten any highly ranked
teams or anything, but the way they’re playing certainly makes me believe they
wouldn’t have any problems doing so. I don’t care if you’re playing Michigan
State Community College, 3 straight
shutouts is extremely impressive and shows a level of defensive dominance we haven’t
seen in years. Now there is plenty of room for offensive improvement, but for
now it’s enough to help stack up the W’s! They say a team takes on the
mentality of their head coach and you can see the toughness of Harbaugh all
over this team. So now we have a primetime matchup against Michigan State this
Saturday. In my opinion Conner Cook is the best QB in the country and I am
looking forward to seeing him matchup with that Michigan defense. It’s been
awhile but Saturday night, all eyes will be on the state of Michigan.
Oregon
What the hell happened to Oregon? They’ve been a
title contender for several years straight. In fact, from 2007-2014, they won
89 games. They have 3 losses midway through the year, which is crazy
considering they haven’t had 3 losses in an entire season since 2009 and that
included a bowl loss. Transfer quarterback Vernon Adams was solid early on, but
since his injury Oregon has been a disaster. From losing by almost 50 at home
to Utah, to losing at home to Washington State, it doesn’t look like it’s
getting any better. The crazy part is they have a lot of talent on this roster
on both sides of the ball. To me, this is simply a coaching issue. Last year’s Heisman
winner Marcus Mariota covered up a lot of their flaws but now it’s more revealing
than ever. It’ll be interesting to see how they finish the year, because if
things don’t turn around soon there will be changes in Oregon. That area has
gotten so used to winning, they won’t accept anything less.
Georgia
Another big game for Georgia, another loss for
Georgia. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mark Richt the man, and he’s
a good coach but it feels like every year he loses games he NEEDS to win.. This
past weekend was no exception. Losing to a reeling Tennessee team when you are
still competing for the SEC East title, is crippling to their chances. Yes, Heisman
contender Nick Chubb got hurt but as I believe and the Georgia coaches say,
Sony Michel is their best pure football player and he stepped in and played
well despite a fumble late. I can’t give them any more excuses, I can’t give
Richt any more excuses. There is too much talent on that team and in that state
for them to not be in thick of the championship race every year. Georgia needs to
finish the year strong or Richt’s seat will continue to burn.
OFF
THE FIELD
USC
In a day filled with news, the biggest came from the
news capital of the world, Los Angeles. USC fired head coach Steve Sarkisian.
Now at the preseason kickoff banquet, Sark showed up under the influence of
alcohol and made crazy comments and acted in a very unprofessional manner. I
personally gave him a pass, thinking it was a one-time thing and that wouldn’t happen
again. But apparently I was very wrong. Reports have surfaced of him showing up
drunk to practices, meetings, and even appearing to be under the influence of
alcohol while coaching against Arizona State. Ironically, that was their best
game of the year. Now don’t want to focus too much on his issues at this time.
It’s a major problem and hopefully he can get the help he needs to become a
better person. I want to look at the initial 5 names that jumped out to me as
possible candidates to replace him at USC.
1) Kliff Kingsbury – Before USC hired Sark
to begin with, it was reported they were turned down by Kevin Sumlin. If they
want to follow that mold and go with a similar coach, Kingsburg is the guy.
Young, exciting offense, competitive, and seemingly meant for Hollywood, I feel
he could get the job done in recruiting and win over the city. He hasn’t won
any major titles at Texas Tech, but I thinks that’s more so personnel rather
than his coaching ability. I truly feel he would be a GREAT fit at USC.
2) Art Briles - Big personality, and done a
lot of winning at Baylor but maybe he’s ready for a new challenge. Also, I
think LA would like seeing their team score 60 every night.
3) Gary Patterson- Similar to Briles, a
very confident and outspoken coach who would embrace the challenge of a
premiere job in college coaching. When he’s had good defensive personnel, he’s shown
what he can do.
4) Kyle Whittingham – An up and coming
coach pro style coach who would be a great fit to lead this program. He has
made Utah a winner and very competitive the last several years and his star
will only get brighter. But after being a part of the Utah program for 20
years, I think it’ll be tough to get him away.
5) Sean Payton – Definitely my dark horse
pick, Sean Payton has the kind of personality and attitude I think would make a
great college coach. I think he can recruit the West Coast and has that big
name USC is looking for. It’ll be tough to get him out of the NFL, but it’s
definitely worth reaching out.
Florida
“It was all good just a week ago”!! A week ago, Florida
was coming off a dominating win against Ole Miss and not only making themselves
a pick to win the SEC East, but a trendy pick to win the SEC Title. Gainesville
received bad news today when starting quarterback Will Grier was suspended for
ONE FULL YEAR, after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. Will
Grier was finally living up to his potential and showing promise for the Gator
offense, so this is definitely a tough blow for him and first year head coach
Jim
McElwain. The defense is good enough to where they still have a shot to win
the East but Treon Harris steps in and I have zero faith in him to lead this
team. We’ll find out very quickly how this will go as they get ready to face
LSU.
Spurrier
The “Head Ball Coach” also made headlines Monday
nights as he announced his resignation from South Carolina. Steve Spurrier is a
college football legend and icon and it take a while to list all of his
accomplishments to this point. But this is a guy who won at Duke which no one until
recently has done before. He basically made Florida what it is today, and made
South Carolina relevant. Though Spurrier made it clear that he wasn’t retiring
officially, I don’t see him coaching again. I’ll remember him for being one of
the realest coaches to ever do it! He always kept it real with the media and
told it like it was. He was never afraid to say what he felt, rather that was
taking shots at other teams, or even other coaches. I’ll never forget him
throwing shots at Georgia, Clemson, Florida State and others. Spurrier is truly
one of a kind, and I hope in some capacity he stays around the game of football…its
simply better with him in it.
TOP 6
1)Baylor
2)Utah
3)Alabama
4)Clemson
5)LSU
6)Michigan
Wow, that’s enough news to last me a week but its
only week 6 and I think it’s only getting started! As a Miami fan, I hope we can makes some news
soon as well! A great week ahead though with several bigtime games as the
season continues to take shape. Teams we thought were good will show their true
colors and teams we thought were underrated will show that they belong. It’s
week 6 and I don’t think there is a single GREAT team in the country. Several
good teams, but no teams that’s great and has truly stood out among the
country. 2nd half of the season will be great though and I’m
interested in seeing how the teams that made news today end their year. Maybe
this will be a spark for someone and they carry it all the way to the playoff,
maybe not. Either way, we are all witnesses.
This
is “My Take”
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