NCAA Football, 2014-2015

[Admiral Yi]

Washington's new textured alternate helmets are weird.

Spackling is a cheap way to boost resale value.

[grumbler]

I might be getting senile.

I was going to make the suggestion that Denard Robinson games should be played at night, without lights, and in the nude. He would be naturally camouflaged. Maybe that would give him a competitive advantage, maybe not. But at least it would keep Brady Hoke from having a stroke from seeing him throw another interception.

And me from having a stroke when he decides to have his one good quarter of downfield passing in his whole college career against the ND defense.

Robinson was 16-4 as Michigan's QB under Hoke.  Hoke hasn't done nearly as well since he left.  Robinson certainly wasn't the best passing running QB the game has seen, but he wasn't awful.    He's the only running QB to get 1500 yards through the air as well as 1500 on the ground in a season.

[alfred russel]

Robinson was 16-4 as Michigan's QB under Hoke.  Hoke hasn't done nearly as well since he left.  Robinson certainly wasn't the best passing running QB the game has seen, but he wasn't awful.    He's the only running QB to get 1500 yards through the air as well as 1500 on the ground in a season.

The game has changed to be a lot more passing oriented. And also now there are 12 games, and bowl games now count for stats. 1500 yard passing isn't too much more than 100 a game. Unless you play for a military academy or Georgia Tech etc., getting 1500 yards passing should be a function of being named starting QB and not getting injured. Checking his numbers, he completed under 60% of his passes and threw 49 TDs and 39 INTs. Not good.

1500 yards rushing is awesome--even for a RB. No doubt he was a phenomenal when running. If he didn't have the option to run, and defenses didn't have to account for that even on 3rd and long, you can imagine how shitty his passing numbers would have been. It really highlights just how bad ND's secondary was a few years ago when he had the big 4th quarter comeback (3 years ago?).

[MadBurgerMaker]

He had 2500 yards passing and 1700 yards rushing that year.

[grumbler]

The game has changed to be a lot more passing oriented. And also now there are 12 games, and bowl games now count for stats. 1500 yard passing isn't too much more than 100 a game. Unless you play for a military academy or Georgia Tech etc., getting 1500 yards passing should be a function of being named starting QB and not getting injured. Checking his numbers, he completed under 60% of his passes and threw 49 TDs and 39 INTs. Not good.

1500 yards rushing is awesome--even for a RB. No doubt he was a phenomenal when running. If he didn't have the option to run, and defenses didn't have to account for that even on 3rd and long, you can imagine how shitty his passing numbers would have been. It really highlights just how bad ND's secondary was a few years ago when he had the big 4th quarter comeback (3 years ago?).

No question his passing was his weakness (which is why he isn't a QB any more) but in college the key stat is yards per attempt (passing or running) and he was actually pretty decent there in the passing game, with an 8.4 ypa.  You'd like to see closer to 10 ypa in a QB, but 8.4 is decent.

[sbr]

The NCAA has passed a new rule allowing UConn to feed Shabazz Napier (and all other athletes) as much food as they want/need during the entire school year.

They also endorsed a plan that would make the 65 "BCS Conference" schools "more autonomy in how to fund scholarships, handle health care and decide other increasingly hot-button issues involving their athletes."

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/ncaa-board-endorses-power-big-schools-23459721

The NCAA's board of directors took the first step toward shifting power to the five largest football conferences on Thursday, endorsing a 57-page plan that calls for giving 65 of the nation's biggest schools more autonomy in how to fund scholarships, handle health care and decide other increasingly hot-button issues involving their athletes.

If approved later this year, schools in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC could implement some rules on their own and would get more voting power over legislation that would affect every NCAA member school.

A formal vote on the recommendations is tentatively scheduled for the board's August meeting, and if it passes then, the transition could begin this fall.

Supporters insist the changes are long overdue.

"We (the big schools) have some issues we've got to deal with, but you've got to get a way to get the issues into the process," Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke said. "We've got enough flashpoints out there that we need to build some credibility with the fan base. We've just got work to do and if the governance system is impeding these issues, we've got to overhaul the governance system."

The endorsement came one day before Northwestern football players were scheduled to vote on whether to create what would be the first union for college athletes in U.S. history. NCAA President Mark Emmert this week suggested the changes within the NCAA will address some of the issues raised by those backing the unionization effort.

Burke and Missouri athletic director Mike Alden spent months before reaching a consensus on the plan among the roughly 350 Division I athletic directors.

Even lower-profile conferences believe in the general outline, though they acknowledge some additional details still need to be worked out.

"Do I think it can work? Probably," Horizon League commissioner Jon LeCrone said. "Is it perfect? Probably not. But I think it's going to work better than what we've got now."

If approved, the 65 schools in the five big conferences would be granted autonomy to implement some of the most dramatic changes in college sports — though it would require a two-thirds majority for approval.

While the list of autonomous items has not been finalized, it is likely to include issues such as providing money to students that goes uncovered by traditional scholarships; expanded insurance, including coverage for pro prospects; more resources for academic and career counseling; and funding to help athletes' families travel to NCAA tournaments. Other components that could be added include creating mandatory break times from sports, a change that would allow athletes to pursue careers away from the playing field and still maintain their eligibility and even transfer rules.

Critics contend the NCAA is only starting to move on these issues now because players are threatening to unionize.

But Burke, Emmert and others have repeatedly noted these issues have been on the agenda for months or years and had gotten bogged down in the NCAA's cumbersome approval process.

"I only wish the association could move that fast," Emmert said when asked if this was a response to the union movement. "It's taken longer than anybody wanted, but we got it done and that's a good thing."

What's still unclear is how well this plan will work.

Still to be determined is how, or if, the other 27 Division I conferences might apply measures approved through the autonomy rules.
"If it's approved by the five conferences, the Horizon League should decide if it wants to adopt that approach," said LeCrone, whose league approved providing the full cost-of-attendance for its athletes after the measure initially passed in October 2011.

Board Chairman Nathan Hatch, the president at Wake Forest, said even if the new governing structure does pass in August, the current committees will remain in place until the NCAA's annual convention in January to ensure a smooth transition.

In other moves Thursday, the board approved a measure to give a small group of students who receive "hardship waivers" to transfer to a new school one additional year to complete their eligibility and to provide unlimited meals and snacks year-round to all athletes — an issue that drew national attention when men's basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player Shabazz Napier of Connecticut said he sometimes went to bed "starving."

But the bigger focus Thursday was finding a way to make the NCAA work more efficiently.

"To do nothing is absolutely wrong and to make a good faith effort is the absolute right thing to do," Burke said. "So let's put the best minds around it, give it time and let it work."

[Valmy]

The NCAA has passed a new rule allowing UConn to feed Shabazz Napier (and all other athletes) as much food as they want/need during the entire school year.

They also endorsed a plan that would make the 65 "BCS Conference" schools "more autonomy in how to fund scholarships, handle health care and decide other increasingly hot-button issues involving their athletes."

Good, these reforms are long overdue.

[grumbler]

Good, these reforms are long overdue.

Emmert has been trying to get those reforms passed for years. 

I must admit that I am enjoying the whole media circus of the "starving" Shabazz Napier more than any media myth of the last year or so.  It is so pervasive and so obviously untrue.

[Valmy]

Emmert has been trying to get those reforms passed for years. 

I must admit that I am enjoying the whole media circus of the "starving" Shabazz Napier more than any media myth of the last year or so.  It is so pervasive and so obviously untrue.

Hey three meals a day is not enough for growing college men.  Admit it you would have been starving to without access to snacks.

[grumbler]

Hey three meals a day is not enough for growing college men.  Admit it you would have been starving to without access to snacks.

Hey he gets an allowance on top of the three meals a day.  If he wants to spend money on snacks, he is entitled to.  The idea that he is "starving" because he "only" eats three meals a day is an insult to people in the world who really do starve, and who would be glad to have as much food as Napier gets.

Unless you were being sarcastic, in which case, yeah, man.

[derspiess]

I must admit that I am enjoying the whole media circus of the "starving" Shabazz Napier more than any media myth of the last year or so.  It is so pervasive and so obviously untrue.

Sports media is/are becoming worse than regular media for stuff like this.

[alfred russel]

I wish college athletics would stand up for themselves with a bit of passion rather than being weenies about it.

It would be awesome if Emmert would say, "Lets get real for a moment. College sports don't turn a profit at most schools. That is because a lot of the money goes to support women athletes and men's sports that can't pay their own bills. If we are going to pay athletes, we either need to stop supporting these other athletes, or have significant funding come from the educational side of institutions. Otherwise, we are going to have only a handful of schools competing at the highest level. Plus, without serious salary restrictions, there won't be anything resembling parity, as revenues dramatically differ between universities.

So that is a future where a few guys get paid money, and dramatically fewer people get the chance to play college sports. Playing college sports kicks ass. College athletes usually come to their schools less prepared than their fellow classmates, but graduate in higher numbers. The graduate without student debt. They get free meals and to travel around the country. They get way more than their fair share of hot college pussy. We have even had scandals where schools send hot college pussy to high school athletes to try to get them to come to their schools. There are guys that have a chance to make millions in the NFL but come back to school anyway. Why? They say it is to be a part of a team, to stay with their teammates. You know and I know that is bullshit. They want to stay because there is no one on earth better positioned to score a shitload of hot 18-22 year old ass than a star college football player.

Almost every guy on campus wishes he was on the football team. These guys aren't exploited. Lets not screw this up for them."

[alfred russel]

I wasn't sure where to post this article,

The NCAA college football thread 2014 - 2015 that was already started was one option you had. 

[Ed Anger]

I rewatched the U yesterday. And thought of Valmy when the Hurricanes raped Texas in the cotton bowl.

Hook 'em horns.

[Valmy]

I rewatched the U yesterday. And thought of Valmy when the Hurricanes raped Texas in the cotton bowl.

Hook 'em horns.

If it makes you enjoy it any more I cried at the time.  Man I loved that team but they were completely intimidated by Miami.  I have a deep hatred of the Hurricanes down in my DNA to this day as a result.  Texas never got revenge for that but I felt like Alabama did it for all College Football in 1993.