CFB '08 - A midseason reflection
Oct 24th 2008 - Written by: David Grooms
It’s now week 9 of the 2008 College Football season and we’re a little over half way through the season now. Clemson and South Carolina both have off weeks (Clemson’s second bye week of the season). This is a perfect opportunity for me to take a step back and stroll down memory lane of the season that is.
Clemson Football: Let me start with a hat tip to the Elephant in the room…Clemson Tiger Football. We were preseason ranked #9 and just about every pundit’s pick to be the hands-down favorite to win the ACC. 7 games into the season and that’s all but mathematically impossible. The Tigers are 3 and 4 with only 1 win against Division 1-A (I refuse to use the new NCAA acronym for the football division) competition. To say that the season is a disappointment is a huge understatement. In a recent ESPN poll Clemson was picked as the biggest disappointment this far in the season by 40% over 4 other schools. The next closest vote getter was at 23%. However, the administration is looking to address the issues. Tommy Bowden is no longer at Clemson and Terry Don Phillips has promoted a fiery leader and disciplinarian to the interim head coach position. This move has galvanized the fan base and hopefully, Dabo can make the best of what is left of the season.
The ACC in General: There are no ACC schools ranked in the top 15 of either the AP or BCS rankings. The highest ranked ACC team in the BCS is Georgia Tech coming in at #18, while Florida State has snuck in quietly at #25. For a conference that went out a few years ago to swell its member ranks in the hopes of creating a power conference to rival that of SEC and the Big 12, I would have to say that this season is real egg on the face of Commissioner John Swofford. This brings up my next reflection…
2008 Worst BCS Conference: A lot is mentioned in the media over the past few years about the weakness of the Big 10. Most of this is due to the relative cake walk Ohio State has had in reaching the BCS Championship game the past 2 years. However, currently the Big 10 has 3 teams in the top 25 BCS rankings and 2 of those (Penn State and Ohio State) in the top 10. I can’t wait to watch the PSU vs. OSU match-up this weekend. I am anything but an OSU fan, so GO Joe PA. As previously mentioned, with no ACC teams in the BCS top 15 and ugly football being played by those that are ranked in the top 25, I have to admit that the ACC is truly the weakest BCS conference of the 2008 Season.
Michigan: Raise your hand if you thought that Coach Rich Rodriquez would be 2 and 5 at this point in his first season at Michigan. Those of you that have your hand up put it down now because you are lying to yourself. As disappointed as Clemson fans are, be thankful that you aren’t a fanatic of the Big Blue.
Colt McCoy and Texas: Texas is ranked #1 in both the BCS and AP polls. At this point in the season I have to say that is rightfully so. Texas is 7-0 against some very stiff competition. I think Colt McCoy is the top college QB in the country but according to what I’ve heard recently, isn’t considered the top QB draft pick by the NFL scouts. How can that be? Let’s take a look at Colt’s numbers to this point in the season. Colt has 160 completions on 197 attempts for 1894 yards. That is a completion percentage of 81.2%. He has thrown 19 touchdowns to only 3 INTs and has a passer rating of 190.76. Colt has contributed to 25 TDs on the season, 19 passing and 6 rushing. Speaking of rushing, he had 371 rushing yards on 70 attempts for an average of 5.3 yards per carry. The impressive part about his rushing stat is that sacks in the college game count against rushing numbers and not passing numbers like in the NFL.
All this brings us full circle to today. A lot of questions are still out there for this football season…which coaches will be let go at the end of this season? What teams will play in the BCS Championship game? Which team (Utah, Boise State, Tulsa) may be the BCS buster this year? And I am sure the “NCAA playoff debaters” will start their stump speeches soon. So hang in there Tiger fans, I am really looking forward to seeing how our Tigers respond and play the next 5 and hopefully 6 games.
Until next time, remember TigerNation, wear your orange proudly and GO TIGERS!
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