NCAA Foootball 2017

[MadBurgerMaker]

Yup - the "hiring" lasted less than 24 hours.

You know, I've long said the CFL should go out and hire more NCAA co-ordinators, rather than keep recycling the same-old CFL coaches time after time.  But surely they could have done better than Briles.

Now this is part of a hiring of a new head coach - June Jones - most recently of Hawaii.  Now I'm not exactly clear why someone would willingly go from Hawaii to Hamilton Ontario, but I'm curious to see how he does.

June Jones went to SMU after Hawaii.  They actually did fairly well while he was there, relatively speaking, before cratering again (he bailed during his last season IIRC).  I think he's still using that same run and shoot offense.

[Barrister]

Yup - the "hiring" lasted less than 24 hours.

You know, I've long said the CFL should go out and hire more NCAA co-ordinators, rather than keep recycling the same-old CFL coaches time after time.  But surely they could have done better than Briles.

Now this is part of a hiring of a new head coach - June Jones - most recently of Hawaii.  Now I'm not exactly clear why someone would willingly go from Hawaii to Hamilton Ontario, but I'm curious to see how he does.

June Jones went to SMU after Hawaii.  They actually did fairly well while he was there, relatively speaking, before cratering again (he bailed during his last season IIRC).  I think he's still using that same run and shoot offense.

Okay, last from me - I didn't mean this to be a CFL hijack.

June Jones is going to be... interesting in Hamilton.  The Ti-Cats have some talent, but they're dead last in the league at 0-8 this year.  They had a head-coach/GM Kent Austin who was a former successful QB in the league, then a successful coach, who actually went back and became an OC at Ole Miss, and Head Coach at Cornell, before being lured back with the joint GM/Head Coach job.  After going 0-8 though he stepped back from being the coach.

As for June Jones... the CFL is just similar enough to US rules that there is significant cross-over, but different enough you can't just walk into one league from the other.  3-down football is different enough that someone like Jones is going to have to adapt his game (even though if he's pass-happy he's halfway there to being used to 3-down ball).

Anyways whatever.  My Blue Bombers are doing really well this year at 6-2, so what happens in Hamilton isn't all that interesting to me anyways. This weekend is the legen (wait for it) dary Labour Day Classic against Saskatchewan, which is what I'll be focussing on.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Okay, last from me - I didn't mean this to be a CFL hijack.

June Jones is going to be... interesting in Hamilton.  The Ti-Cats have some talent, but they're dead last in the league at 0-8 this year.  They had a head-coach/GM Kent Austin who was a former successful QB in the league, then a successful coach, who actually went back and became an OC at Ole Miss, and Head Coach at Cornell, before being lured back with the joint GM/Head Coach job.  After going 0-8 though he stepped back from being the coach.

As for June Jones... the CFL is just similar enough to US rules that there is significant cross-over, but different enough you can't just walk into one league from the other.  3-down football is different enough that someone like Jones is going to have to adapt his game (even though if he's pass-happy he's halfway there to being used to 3-down ball).

Anyways whatever.  My Blue Bombers are doing really well this year at 6-2, so what happens in Hamilton isn't all that interesting to me anyways. This weekend is the legen (wait for it) dary Labour Day Classic against Saskatchewan, which is what I'll be focussing on.

Meh, I don't think it's a hijack to talk about NCAA coaches moving up into a pro league and how well they'll do.  I wish I knew more about how the offenses in the CFL work though.  Hell someone up there might already be using some version of the run and shoot. 

[Berkut]

So I am not refffing college ball this year. Might be done with that for good.

Kind of looking forward to just relaxing and actually WATCHING some football this year.

Although the Wildcats are going to be bad again, I am pretty sure. RichRod will probably be gone after this year.

He cannot seem to recruit.

[grumbler]

Michigan should be a wild ride this year.  They are the youngest team in Div 1A, but have more speed and talent than they've had since the early 1990s.  They've got a returning QB for the first time since 2012. 

The strength of the offense has shifted from the H-backs and tight ends to the wide and slot receivers.  The consensus #1 WR recruit in the country last year isn't even the best freshman WR on the team.   Expect a lot of 4-wide spread sets (and a lot of shifting from I-form to spread and vice-versa just before the snap, because the backs can catch and the WR can block).  The weakness on offense is still the line.  They should be okay at run blocking but they'll probably have to roll the pocket on a lot of plays to keep the QB upright.

The defense should keep them in every game while the offense sorts itself out.  last year's #1 defense is largely in the NFL now, but the new starters played a lot last year (Don Brown likes to rotate the defense) and will probably be as good on the line as last year (which is to say it's probably the best d-line in the country) and the linebackers will be a lot better.    The defensive backfield, though, will be... exciting.  Whether exciting for the Michigan fans or the opponents' fans is hard to say.  The players are big and fast but young (all 4 DBs are new starters, and the replacements don't have nearly the experience the replacements on the line have), and Don Brown's defense asks the DBs to do a lot.  You may see a lot of opposing bombs go the distance early on.  Luckily, they don't play anyone capable of throwing those consistently until the seventh game of the season (Penn State), so the rooks should be settled in before they face game-changing challenges.

The schedule is favorable.  They face Florida in the first game, and Florida has pretty much the same problem with new starters as Michigan.  This is definitely a game that Michigan is better off playing early rather than late.  The challenging games (@PSU, @Wisky, OSU) are the 7th, 11th, and 12th games of the year, which  mitigates a lot of the youth issues. 

I reckon that Michigan probably won't beat both Wisky and Pedo State on the road, but will beat OSU at home, to finish 11-1 and Big Ten east champs.  I can't see them losing to a west team in the championship, and so I believe they will not be exposed until the playoffs.  They'll lose in the first round there, but will be back the following two years in which they'll win it all at least once.

[Eddie Teach]

They'll lose in the first round there, but will be back the following two years in which they'll win it all at least once.

It's too bad Raz doesn't follow college football, since nobody else will remember to call you on this in three years. 

[grumbler]

They'll lose in the first round there, but will be back the following two years in which they'll win it all at least once.

It's too bad Raz doesn't follow college football, since nobody else will remember to call you on this in three years. 

If you cannot grossly exaggerate in the college football thread, you can't do it anywhere. 

[alfred russel]

grumbler should admit one thing that he was wrong about. James Franklin is a hell of a football coach. He won the Big 10 last year, in just his third year at the school, and Penn State is pre season #6 in the AP.

[CountDeMoney]

And fuck Notre Dame, while we are at it.

Any team tainted by Tim deserves that.

And Seedy.  Not sure why anyone really cares about a sub-average ACC team, but fuck 'em.

Eat shit, I stopped following ND a while ago.

[Valmy]

What? Why?

[dps]

You know, I've long said the CFL should go out and hire more NCAA co-ordinators, rather than keep recycling the same-old CFL coaches time after time.  But surely they could have done better than Briles.

There probably aren't a dozen active coaches who are better coaches than Briles, so no, they probably couldn't have done better in that regard.  Given what's alleged to have happened at Baylor, though, any coach they could have hire is likely a better person than Briles (or at least is better at not getting caught).

[grumbler]

grumbler should admit one thing that he was wrong about. James Franklin is a hell of a football coach. He won the Big 10 last year, in just his third year at the school, and Penn State is pre season #6 in the AP.

This season will tell us something about Franklin.  He certainly has impressed few as a game day coach so far (though he is a hell of a recruiter, and that's a key to success), and he needs good assistants.  If he really has them, then Pedo State will go far this year (though they are certainly no better than the third-best B10 team, and maybe isn't even the fifth-best).  He'll not win games this year just chucking the ball 40 yards downfield.  And he has to hope that, against Michigan, homefield advantage is worth 38 points. 

The schedule sets up PSU prety well:  their non-conference schedule is feeble in the extreme, and the conference schedule has nine almost-certain wins.  He'll probably win the Nebraska game, but that's likely it, and that won't win him the B10 East.  10-2 will leave him in the top ten, maybe, but the preseason #6 is over-rated by a mile.

[CountDeMoney]

What? Why?

Like my fondness for Canadians, support for the LGBT community, and sympathy for autism spectrum disorders, it's just one more thing that Languish has drained from me.

[Ed Anger]

What? Why?

Like my fondness for Canadians, support for the LGBT community, and sympathy for autism spectrum disorders, it's just one more thing that Languish has drained from me.

wound my heart with a monotonous languor

[Valmy]

What? Why?

Like my fondness for Canadians, support for the LGBT community, and sympathy for autism spectrum disorders, it's just one more thing that Languish has drained from me.

I never wanted that for you CdM. It is all Tim's fault.

Well you will always have Towson.