2021 NCAA Football Thread

[buddha]

15 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Agree. We'll see if this new Jim Harbaugh can keep resisting that temptation to go off the script that is working for his team. You've got the horses Jim, you don't need anything cute in this one. Save it for Georgia if you get there.

they saved it for ohio state and whupped em.

[lordstanley]

2 hours ago, RandyMarsh said:

With Michigan being in the 2 spot I think it's safe to assume that if they make the CFP they will end up in the 2 or 3 spot and avoiding Georgia in the first game.

Unless Bama upsets Georgia, in which it will be Bama vs Oklahoma St/Cincinnati and Michigan vs. Georgia.

I think if Georgia, Michigan, Cincy and Oklahoma St all win they'll give Cincy to Georgia as an opponent because they think that's easier for Georgia. Oklahoma St will move up to #3 to play Michigan. 

[buddha]

47 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

Unless Bama upsets Georgia, in which it will be Bama vs Oklahoma St/Cincinnati and Michigan vs. Georgia.

I think if Georgia, Michigan, Cincy and Oklahoma St all win they'll give Cincy to Georgia as an opponent because they think that's easier for Georgia. Oklahoma St will move up to #3 to play Michigan. 

i think the 2/3 game is in dallas, which would be an incentive to out ok state in the 3 spot.

[casimir]

Helluva week for Michigan fans.  The victory against Ohio State.  Now turmoil at Notre Dame.  First appearance in the B1G championship game coming up this weekend.

[romad1]

7 hours ago, buddha said:

i think the 2/3 game is in dallas, which would be an incentive to out ok state in the 3 spot.

Are you saying the entire Oklahoma State team are gay? 

[casimir]

On 11/30/2021 at 7:01 AM, buddha said:

fickell could go to the pros too.

I'm not so sure now that taking the ND job would be a slam dunk for him.  Cincy is a real chance at the playoffs.  While there is quite a bit of bluster about expanding the playoffs, I'll believe it when I see it.  It took this long to get to 4, heck, how long did it take to get #1 vs 32 together in the same bowl before that?  There are no guarantees that he gets ND into a playoff.

Plus, there's the BS of being the head coach at ND, and dealing with all of the faux holier than thou stuff that comes along with it, and the alumni, and the academics, and yada, yada, yada.  It ain't for everyone.

It'd be a bigger paycheck, sure.  We can agree on that.

[buddha]

51 minutes ago, casimir said:

I'm not so sure now that taking the ND job would be a slam dunk for him.  Cincy is a real chance at the playoffs.  While there is quite a bit of bluster about expanding the playoffs, I'll believe it when I see it.  It took this long to get to 4, heck, how long did it take to get #1 vs 32 together in the same bowl before that?  There are no guarantees that he gets ND into a playoff.

Plus, there's the BS of being the head coach at ND, and dealing with all of the faux holier than thou stuff that comes along with it, and the alumni, and the academics, and yada, yada, yada.  It ain't for everyone.

It'd be a bigger paycheck, sure.  We can agree on that.

i cant imagine he would stay at cincy and spurn nd unless he thinks the osu job is coming open soon.

[gehringer_2]

 

5 minutes ago, buddha said:

i cant imagine he would stay at cincy and spurn nd unless he thinks the osu job is coming open soon.

Day's NFL resume is thin and it was not with particularly successful regimes but I suppose if there is an owner out there who is an OSU fan....

[buddha]

48 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

 

Day's NFL resume is thin and it was not with particularly successful regimes but I suppose if there is an owner out there who is an OSU fan....

bears nation is all about him.  "he knows justin fields!"

[gehringer_2]

56 minutes ago, buddha said:

bears nation is all about him.  "he knows justin fields!"

so the Lions may have cost Day a job the same weekend M cost his team a championship? Kewl.

[gehringer_2]

Notre Dame promotes their DC to HC. Marcus Freeman is in.

Probably saved some $$ there.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/2021/12/03/notre-dame-promotes-freeman-35-replace-kelly-coach/8851561002/

Edited December 3, 2021 by gehringer_2

[4hzglory]

46 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Notre Dame promotes their DC to HC. Marcus Freeman is in.

Probably saved some $$ there.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/2021/12/03/notre-dame-promotes-freeman-35-replace-kelly-coach/8851561002/

He was always expected to be the HC in waiting, just no one thought it would be this soon.  He's elevated their recruiting in the year he had been there.  Players wanted him, recruits wanted him.  He will be learning on the job coaching, but the program would have taken a significant step back in talent with early signing day in 2 weeks as well as the transfer portal if they didn't make this move.  He is the main reason they actually have a couple 5 stars in the 2022 and 2023 class and are getting some recruits from Ohio that Ohio State wants.  IMO a great hire, al be it one with risk.  A soon to be 36 year old head coach along with a 29 year old offensive coordinator both who are great recruiters.  Keeping almost all of the staff (even though Kelly tried to give them huge raises to follow him).  There will definitely be mistakes on game day, but it definitely brings new blood and energy into the program.

[Hongbit]

I hate this move.     Fickell, Campbell, and even Kiffin are all out there.   They should’ve at least delayed the decision until Sunday to see if they are in the playoff.   Rumors are that Duke had interest in Freeman as their HC and maybe that forced their hand to make the call now.  

They better get into the 4 since its not going to look good if ND aren’t in the playoff and end up with a 35 year old first time head coach while passing up on the top available candidates.   

[CMRivdogs]

They could have hired a high school coach instead....😉

[casimir]

5 hours ago, Hongbit said:

I hate this move.     Fickell, Campbell, and even Kiffin are all out there.   They should’ve at least delayed the decision until Sunday to see if they are in the playoff.   Rumors are that Duke had interest in Freeman as their HC and maybe that forced their hand to make the call now.  

They better get into the 4 since its not going to look good if ND aren’t in the playoff and end up with a 35 year old first time head coach while passing up on the top available candidates.   

It sounds like Fickell wasn’t entertaining anything right now.  Maybe it’s different for him if Cincinnati isn’t in the playoff hunt.

Or he’s just extremely quiet about it.  I know a MAC school had interest in him and interviewed him while he was still at OSU and he was adamant about interviewing only in absolute secrecy.

[Hongbit]

6 minutes ago, casimir said:

It sounds like Fickell wasn’t entertaining anything right now.  Maybe it’s different for him if Cincinnati isn’t in the playoff hunt.

Or he’s just extremely quiet about it.  I know a MAC school had interest in him and interviewed him while he was still at OSU and he was adamant about interviewing only in absolute secrecy.

It’s Notre Dame.  He would’ve entertained it.   I think Campbell was even better for them and he supposedly wanted it. 

[Hongbit]

4 hours ago, CMRivdogs said:

They could have hired a high school coach instead....😉

Gerry Faust jokes never get old (even if we do).  

[romad1]

Currently not looking like OSU will be playing Oregon again.  Utah is trucking them in the Pac-12 championship

[RandyMarsh]

After seeing Oregon get embarrassed I'm starting to wonder if perhaps OSU isn't as good as we all though. They dominated MSU and Purdue back to back but aside from that they played a bunch of close games and that loss to Oregon suddenly doesn't look so good. 

Edited December 4, 2021 by RandyMarsh

[casimir]

22 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

After seeing Oregon get embarrassed I'm starting to wonder if perhaps OSU isn't as good as we all though. They dominated MSU and Purdue back to back but aside from that they played a bunch of close games and that loss to Oregon suddenly doesn't look so good. 

I think both the OSU offense and OSU defense were still trying to figure things out earlier in the season.  The defensive coaching changed was helpful, but I don't think they were a great unit.  Stroud had a lot of overthrows in the first few games, and it seemed like he was a much better QB after he came back from injury.

The formula for OSU was pretty simple, try to outscore teams.  The MSU game was an outlier as the OSU offense (and MSU coaching staff) took Walker's running out of the game early.  OSU was susceptible to the run game all season.  And like all defenses, if they can focus solely on either the run or the pass it helps them out.  So score early and often, try to put the opponent in pass only mode, and on the flip side have the offense burn the scoreboard.  That's essentially the 2021 OSU team.

So, depending upon what you think of OSU, sure, they could be overrated this season.  I think part of the over/under ratings (in general) goes back to assuming everybody has carryover from the previous year(s) and way to early in the season rankings.  

[casimir]

10 hours ago, romad1 said:

Currently not looking like OSU will be playing Oregon again.  Utah is trucking them in the Pac-12 championship

Oregon goes from the Rose Bowl to the Alamo Bowl.  And sounds like a coaching change could be occurring as well.

[casimir]

Wait a minute, has someone hacked CBS Sports college bowl prediction page?  When did this new addition hit the bowl season?

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, casimir said:

So, depending upon what you think of OSU, sure, they could be overrated this season.

Football is a game of unit to unit match-ups, and for all the reasons you describe, this M team was a bad match-up for OSU. Especially when M was able to score first. 

What I wonder is whether Harbaugh and his staff sat down last off-season and decided to design a team that could defeat a Ryan Day squad (OSU has been going with pretty much the same game plan for a few years now), or whether they dumb lucked into it.

The other factor is that M stayed relatively healthy this year  - esp on the D side. I was not fan of his, but in fairness to Don Brown, IIRC one of his teams that got torched by OSU throwing crossing routes over the middle had lost 3 or 4 LBs from opening day.

[buddha]

43 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Football is a game of unit to unit match-ups, and for all the reasons you describe, this M team was a bad match-up for OSU. Especially when M was able to score first. 

What I wonder is whether Harbaugh and his staff sat down last off-season and decided to design a team that could defeat a Ryan Day squad (OSU has been going with pretty much the same game plan for a few years now), or whether they dumb lucked into it.

The other factor is that M stayed relatively healthy this year  - esp on the D side. I was not fan of his, but in fairness to Don Brown, IIRC one of his teams that got torched by OSU throwing crossing routes over the middle had lost 3 or 4 LBs from opening day.

they sat down and brought in a defense designed to beat osu.

the offense is a return to "pure harbaugh."  power run game.

theyre running some of the same stuff his brother is running for the ravens...only without lamar jackson at qb.  in fairness, michigan's rbs might be better than the ravens rbs.

i think osu's offense is the best offense in college football, by far.  michigan didnt "shut them down," they got 500 yards on them.  but they made them drive the field and take a lot of time off the clock and made them kick a couple field goals instead of getting tds.  the josh ross stop on 3rd and 2 to start the 3rd quarter was the play of the game.  osu only down 1 at that point.

the real surprise to me was michigan's offense being unstoppable in the 2nd half.  i did not see that coming.

[gehringer_2]

4 minutes ago, buddha said:

the real surprise to me was michigan's offense being unstoppable in the 2nd half.  i did not see that coming.

maybe that is part payoff from some of those early wins when we all expecting them to start working on the passing game but they just kept pounding the rock. Maybe their approach was that an O-Line gets more out of running the ball in live games than they could get ever get in practice.