We are a little over a week into summer, the 4th of July is at the end of the week, and now is a great time to go to the beach. But for college football fans, July is a horrible month. Unless your team shows up in the police blotter, or gets a verbal commitment from an upcoming senior, this month is a slow crawl towards the start of fall camp.

Johnson wants to make it 6 years of bowling

If it isn’t already in your RSS Feeds, July is a great month to head over to Saturday Soundoffs. Eric, who has joined the ITB staff, has started his two-a-days which are excellent. Yesterday he took a look at Colorado State and North Dakota State.

Former Navy coach and new Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson has his hands full this year with the Yellow Jackets. Johnson will be installing a new offense, but is stuck with the talent left from Chan Gailey. Under Johnson, Navy went to five straight bowl games, but it looks as if his personal run will end this year…or will it.

As Adam and I talked about in the last episode of the In The Bleachers Podcast, we both think that BYU has a chance to crash the BCS Bowl party this year. The Mountain West Conference Connection has found some predictions that has said that BYU or Utah could end up in the top 5. BYU with their schedule and number of returning starters could finish in the top 5 after winning every game this year, but I think Utah has a little shot of finishing in the top 25, but will not finish in the top 5.

JayPa’s bocce outfit

USC is quickly piling up the blue chip recruits once again this year, and with the ongoing Reggie Bush investigation, there are plenty of rumors of possible violations by the Trojans. Over at the Barking Carnival TaylorTRoom looks at the history of college football recruiting cheating which he breaks into four parts.

Recruiting and Happy Valley are not mixing right now. If you are like me and a member of BWI’s Lions’ Den, you probably have noticed that there have been a lot of bickering and fighting over losing recruits to Rutgers and Pitt in the past few weeks. There is one person that is still the #1 lightning rod for the fans to pick on, Jay Paterno. Jay has been spending a lot of time blogging for Presidential hopeful Barack Obama, and word has gotten out that he played in a celebrity bocce tournament. Maybe if the younger Paterno spent more time on the recruiting trail or developing quarterbacks than playing with balls, he wouldn’t get such grief.

Kate doesn’t need coffee to make her hot

July also brings out my favorite…the preseason football polls. I have no problem with people voicing their opinions on who they think are the top 25 teams, but there should be no “official” polls till after the 3rd or 4th week of the season. On the Bleacher Report John Lynch takes a stab at his Top 25 preseason poll. As you can tell by some of the comments, they are not too happy who he has in it. My favorite argument is how certain fans always think their team(s) is overlooked or disrespected. Calm down people, let them play a game first before you flip out.

It has been a rainy end of June here in Pittsburgh, but it is nothing compared to what is going on in the Midwest. Head over to Mizzourah and find out how you can help people who have been victimized by the floods.

Finally, the Heisman Pundit is back with an improved, updated, new-looking site. He’s great as always, and I have an email in to him to come on the In The Bleachers Podcast (hopefully Wednesday) to talk about the Heisman hopefuls for 2008. While we are waiting check out his new article asking; Is it really that important to have a quarterback who is an elite NFL-prospect in your program?

No matter how good your are, there is usually someone out there who is better. That is however, unless your name is Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, or maybe even Tim Tebow. The world of College Football is no different than any other sport. Recruiting is year round and no matter how safe you think your job is, there is some young cocky freshman that think he can come in and take your job.

Looking through some of the teams this year, I have found some quarterbacks who might be looking over their shoulder this year at either a young freshman, or even a transfer that has to sit out this year.

Fans have Mallett not Dick on their mind

For the last two seasons, the Arkansas Razorbacks relied on the running back tandem of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones to carry their offense. They went even as far as to line up McFadden at quarterback in the Wildhog formation and let him run the offense. With new coach Bobby Petrino, he will bring a passing attack to Arkansas which should put more pressure on Casey Dick to get the job done. Dick was never a polished passer throwing for 1700 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 2007, and I think he will be a little over his head in Petrino’s system.

Casey Dick has been the brunt of a lot of jokes and criticisms from Razorback fans. In 2006 he split time with Mitch Mustain, and when Mustain transferred after the season, he was the full time starter in 2007. Casey is a senior this year, and the person directly behind him in the depth chart is his brother Nathan. No, Nathan is not going to take his job, but Razorback fans are already drooling for the 2009 season when Michigan transfer Ryan Mallett becomes eligible. When the Razorbacks struggle, and they will this year, Dick will once again hear the boo birds from the hometown fans which will not make his job any easier.

When I attended the 2006 Orange Bowl between Penn State and Florida State, I thought I saw a glimpse of the future for Seminoles fan with the way Drew Weatherford played. At that time he was a redshirt freshman and I thought he had the arm and the mobility to be a top notch college football quarterback. Combined in 2006 and 2007 he has thrown for 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while having his best completion percentage year his redshirt freshman year.

Now it is 3 seasons and a few injuries later and Weatherford is hoping to make it through the 2008 season as the starting quarterback. Drew is coming off a knee injury that had him miss the entire spring. He no longer has to worry about Xavier Lee, since he has transferred, but if Weatherford struggles the Seminoles could look to the future and play a younger quarterback. Fans are already wondering if Christian Ponder or incoming freshman E.J. Manuel should get reps.

I have been a big fan of Stephen McGee ever since he had that gutsy performance against the Longhorns back in 2005. He’s a polished runner of the option with good smarts and a decent arm. So why is he on this list? McGee was a big supporter of former Aggie coach Dennis Franchione and he made it pretty clear that he wasn’t happy when Franchione left. And why would he? He was the center piece of his offense.

McGee’s backing of Franchione could be his undoing

Now new head coach, Mike Sherman, comes to College Station and things could be different for McGee. After two solid seasons, his job was opened up and now could be in jeopardy. Sophomore Jerrod Johnson, a speedy big quarterback with a strong arm has been challenging McGee for the starting job. All signs right now point to McGee keeping the job, but don’t expect it to be set in stone. A slip up here or there and Johnson could see the field for good.

In my opinion, a two quarterback system is only good if the quarterbacks are of the same breed and similar skill set. If you have a guy who is a slasher like say Tyrod Taylor, and another who is a passer, like Sean Glennon, I don’t think it is good for your team. It is too easy for teams to predict what you are going to do as an offense when you have either quarterback in. But whoever is the #1 quarterback at Virginia Tech is not going to feel safe at all in that position.

Last season, Glennon lost his job to Taylor after his poor performance against LSU and expressed it to the media that he was not happy with Coach Beamer’s decision. He later won his job back and led the Hokies to an ACC Title and an Orange Bowl apperence. Many Hokie fans think that Glennon doesn’t have what it takes to win the big game in their minds. But he did win the ACC Title game against Boston College, and if not for a defensive breakdown in the last 4 minutes of the game, they would’ve beaten Boston College in the regular season also.

Tyrod reminds Tech fans of the past…of Michael Vick. They see the explosiveness and the creativity he brings to the field since he can make plays with his feet. But in the Orange Bowl he looked lost and it wasn’t his fault. Quarterbacks need to get in a rhythm and by swapping the two in and out, that does not allow them to get in a rhythm in the offense. But I have a feeling that we will be seeing both of them play this year, and I can promise you that both will be out there afraid of making mistakes and getting pulled.

I saved the most surprising candidate for last. In 2007 this quarterback led his team within 14 points of a BCS National Title, and most pundits (myself included) thought that coming into the 2007 season that Todd Boeckman was going to be the weak link on the Buckeye offense. Not only was he not the weakest link, Boeckman was one of the most effiecnt passers in all of the NCAA for a good portion of the season but struggled down the stretch throwing 6 interceptions to only 2 touchdowns in his last three games against Illinois, Michigan, and LSU.

I suspect Boeckman will bounce back, but there is a huge shadow lurking behind him. It is the shadow of the #1 recruit in the nation Terrelle Pryor. Buckeye fans are already licking their chops at the mere thought of Pryor taking the field. Many know that Pryor still needs to polish his passing game, but won’t hesitate to wonder and possibly call for him if Boeckman struggles. Plus, it has already been speculated that Pryor will see some time ala Tim Tebow and his freshman year. So if he does well, that will only help his case to get on the field earlier.

The Buckeyes have a lot of talent returning and fans are expecting another Big Ten title and possibly a 3rd straight shot at a BCS title, but will it be Boeckman behind center at the end of the year? I would bet so…but you never know.

Like it or not, some teams’ win-loss record rides on the shoulder of the man under center. If he gets hurt or has a bad year, that team could go from having 10 or 11 wins to only 7 or 8 wins. Looking through the teams, I have found at least 5 quarterbacks who have to stay healthy all year if their teams want to have a chance at success this season.

Gator Fans cringe at the thought of a hurt Tebow

Question, how do you go and find a replacement for someone who threw for 3200 yards, 32 touchdowns, ran for 895 yards and 23 touchdowns? The answer is you don’t. With an improved defense, the Gators have all eyes set on the SEC Championship and another BCS Championship. The one person that could derail all of those plans is the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.

With the type of offense that Urban Meyer runs, Tebow takes a lot of hits. Luckily last season, when Tebow had his broken, non-throwing hand, the Gators had a few weeks off before their Bowl Game. I suspect this year, Meyer might not be as liberal with Tebow late in games with the lead. He might come out and rest because as Gator fans know, he is the horse that will pull Florida’s buggy this season.

On the same lines as Tebow, this player led his team in both rushing and passing in 2007. Pat White threw for 1700 yards and 14 touchdowns while running for another 1300 yards and 14 touchdowns. Under new head coach Bill Stewart, the Mountaineers can expect to run the same type of offense as in years past with the coach whose name I will not mention. West Virgina did lose Steve Slaton to the NFL draft, but expect Noel Devine to pick up on his missing productivity.

Now if you take a look at the two losses West Virginia had last season, South Florida and Pittsburgh, there is one thing that stands out in each of those losses. In both of those games, the Mountaineers lost Pat White for the majority of that game due to injury. That right there tells you how important he is to their offense. In those two games they combined to score 22 points. So needless to say, Patrick White must stay healthy this season if West Virginia wants to go BCS bowling and possibly play for the BCS Championship.

One final, dual threat quarterback that has to stay healthy this season is Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour. The Chippewas were the 2007 MAC Champions and it was due mainly to the play of LeFevour. In 2007, like Pat White, he was the leading passer and rusher for the team throwing for 3600 yards and 27 touchdowns while rushing for 1100 yards and 19 touchdowns.

The Chippewas have three decent BCS teams on their schedule, at Georgia, at Purdue, and at Indiana. If LeFevour can put a good showing up against those teams, he will get some serious main stream media attention. Even so, with him in the lineup, one would have to expect that CMU is one of the favorites to win the MAC this year and head back to the Motor City Bowl. Without him and his offensive production, Central Michigan will be lucky to get the needed 6 wins to become bowl eligible.

Tech fans hope Harrell’s arm doesn’t fall off from all the passing

Moving away from the running and passing quarterbacks, to the traditional drop back quarterbacks, the first person on this list is Texas Tech’s record setting passer Graham Harrell. Harrell’s passing numbers last season are seriously mind boggling. In 2007, he threw for 5700 yards, 48 touchdowns, and a 71% completion percentage. It helps to have a great go to receiver like Michael Crabtree who caught 134 balls for almost 2000 yards.

It isn’t a secret that the Red Raiders are going to air the ball out when you play them. Sometimes Harrell will put the ball in the air upwards of 70 times in a game. They use the short passes to supplement their lack luster running game. This will be Graham’s 3rd year as starter for Texas Tech, and it would be hard to believe that their backup could put up numbers half as good. The Red Raiders are on a lot of lists to be a surprise team this year, and the only way they will do that is if Harrell stays healthy all season.

Moving from a possible surprise team of 2008 to one of the surprise teams of 2007, the Arizona State Sun Devils. It was a big joke around the college football world when former coach Dirk Koetter listened to his players and named Rudy Carpenter the quarterback in 2006. Koetter got fired after the season, but Carpenter continued to shine. In 2007, Rudy threw for 3200 yards and 25 touchdowns for an Arizona State team that went 10-3.

Carpenter is back for his senior season and the Sun Devils are hoping not to repeat the end of the 2007 season where they lost 3 of their last 5 games. One can’t really blame Carpenter for those losses because he played well in all of those games. He brings 3 years of starting experience to the table for Arizona State and with a schedule that has Georgia coming to town and traveling to USC and California, Carpenter has to stay healthy for the Sun Devils to come close to repeating what they did last season.

A special Hat Tip to Greg Gowins, runner up in the 2007-08 ITB Bowl Bonanza for this little gem.

In a current lawsuit between Walmart and the people of Texas, there has been some disagreement on where the court proceedings would be held. One group wants the proceedings held in San Antonio, Texas and the other wants it held in Bentonville, Arkansas. So the honorable United States District Judge James R. Nowland chose the site of this proceeding. His reasoning for his choice is as follows:

“The Court is sympathetic with the Defendant’s argument. Sure the Defendant’s Corporate Representative, a resident of Arkansas, would feel great humiliation by being forced to enter the home state of the University of Texas, where the legendary Texas Longhorns have wrought havok on the Arkansas Razorbacks with an impressive 55-21 all time record.

On the other hand the court is sympathetic with the Plaintiffs’ position. Plaintiffs might enter Arkansas with a bit of trepidation as many residents of Arkansas are still seeing retribution for the “Game of the Century” in which James Street and Darrell Royal stunned the Razorbacks by winning the 1969 National Championship.”

Don’t get me started on the 1969 National Champion Texas Longhorns (thank you very much Tricky Dick), but the Judge closes with ordering the proceedings to take place on June 11, 2008 at 9am at the location of Texarkana Federal Building on 500 State Line Avenue, TX/AR 71854. You can read the entire document here.

Last week I talked about some quarterbacks that can use the 2008 college football season to take the next step from good to great. In this segment I am going to look at six quarterbacks that are going to be under the spotlight this year. Whether it be because their team has high expectations, or that they slid a little under the radar last year and won’t take anyone by surprise this season.

Stafford plays with a chip on his shoulder

With the preseason magazines set to come out this month and next, you will be hard pressed to find a top 5 without the Georgia Bulldogs in it. Their junior quarterback, Matthew Stafford, is one of the main reasons why the Bulldogs are ranked so high. If he progresses this year like he did between his freshman and sophomore year, Stafford has a chance to get some Heisman consideration. In his freshman year, Stafford threw for over 1700 yards with 7 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, then improved last year throwing for 2500 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. In all the important categories his stats improved; interceptions went down, touchdowns went up, and completion percentage went up (52% to 55%). Now he has the weight of the world on his shoulders with the Bulldogs being National Title favorites. He will be under the microscope each week, and the Bulldogs have one of the toughest schedules in the nation.

Since Pete Carrol has come to USC, they have been national title contenders pretty much every season. This year is no different, even with the Trojans losing their starting quarterback from last year. Some thought that the 2008 season would be the start of the Mustain train in Southern California, but the experience of Mark Sanchez was too much for Mitch Mustain and Sanchez will be the starting quarterback this fall. Sanchez did well filling in when Booty was hurt last season, throwing for almost 700 yards with 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. It is a good thing he got his feet wet because the Trojans don’t start out the year with any warm up games. Game one has them traveling to play at Virginia, and game two is when the Ohio State Buckeyes come to Southern California. Luckily for Sanchez, he has a 5-star studded backfield and wide receiver core to support him, but that might put a little more pressure on him because if USC struggles, all fingers are going to be pointed squarely at him.

Last season in the Big 12 North, Kansas and Missouri took the division by storm. They even set up an end of the year match up between the two teams for the Big 12 North title. Chase Daniel and Todd Reesing were main reasons why their teams faired so well during the season. Both quarterbacks are undersized as far as the protypical quarterback is concerned, but their heart and determination make up for it. Reesing’s stats last year had him throwing for 3400 yards with 33 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions. One big knock against Reesing and the Jayhawks was that they did not play either Texas or Oklahoma in 2007. Kansas’ only loss was against Missouri and in the Orange Bowl, Reesing played superb against a tough Virginia Tech defense. With Oklahoma and Texas on the schedule this year, as well as a trip to South Florida, teams will be well prepared for Reesing this year, so it will be interesting to see if his play will continue to soar.

Harper hopes to take pressure off the running game

Daniel’s stats in 2007 are almost mind boggling. He threw for 4300 yards, 33 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a whopping 68% completion percentage. Chase is on a lot of short lists for the Heisman Trophy award this year, which he finished in the top 3 in 2007. There is no Oklahoma on the schedule for the Tigers this year, but a game at Texas and starting the season against Illinois should be tough tasks for the Tigers. The Tigers lost Tony Temple to graduation as well as their talented TE Rucker. Stopping Daniel will be task #1 for all defensive coordinators, but the question is, can it be done?

Not a household name, but Rutgers’ senior quarterback Mike Teel will be entering his third year as starting quarterback of the Scarlet Knights. In those few seasons, Rutgers went from the laughing stock of college football, to a top team in the Big East Conference. So I am sure you are asking, why the heck is Mike Teel on this list? Plain and simple, the Scarlet Knights no longer have Ray Rice to carry the load for them. Mike Teel will be asked to do a lot more with the football than in years past. He has to make the difficult throws and protect the football if Rutgers want to challenge for the Big East title. In his two years as starter, his touchdown, passing yards, and completion percentage has grown, but his interceptions has stayed the same (13 each year). He has to get that number under 10 and get that completion percentage over 60%. Their first game should be a fun test for Teel, with the Fresno State Bulldogs coming to New Jersey. All eyes will be on Teel and the Knights to see if they can derail this year’s version of the Hawaii Warriors.

Quick, can you name me the quarterback who played the best in the ACC in 2007? I bet many of you think it is Matt Ryan, but you are wrong. CJ Spiller and James Davis get all of the press clippings, but it is Cullen Harper who should be getting some attention. Last season Harper threw for almost 3000 yards with 27 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, and a completion percentage at 65%. Harper has the luxury of having two great backs behind him to take some of the pressure off of the passing game, but at the same time it is up to him, to keep up the good play so that the running game works so effectively. Clemson is a favorite to win the ACC and opens up at home against Alabama. Teams might load up in the box and force Harper to air it out, which leaves the team’s hopes of a BCS bowl bid, square in his hands. I think this is a guy you could possibly see at the Heisman Ceremony come December.

A special thanks to Adam Nettina for keeping this blog afloat for the past few weeks. Even though he has a strange infatuation with Phil Steele, he does great work and is a big asset to In The Bleachers. You will see Adam hopefully throughout the offseason and into next season. I apologize for my lack of writing, the NHL Playoffs have been keeping my mind off of college football, but I am re-energized and ready to start talking more about the 2008 season.

My favorite position to analyze is the quarterback, they are the ones that are either the heroes or the goats of the game. If a quarterback is lucky enough to start as a sophomore or freshman, they are given a little more leeway since they are younger and are more prone to mistakes. But what makes them an elite quarterback is their ability to take the “next step” to that higher level. I have identified 7 quarterbacks that have the talent, started early, and now it is time for them to take the next step.

Deacon Fans have high hopes for Skinner

In 2006, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons were the feel good cinderella story of the year and one of the big reasons why was the play of their freshman quarterback Riley Skinner. Skinner had a good year as freshman quarterback throwing for over 2000 yards with 9 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions. In his second year his passing yards went up a little, as did his completion percentage, but his interceptions went up to 13, and he missed two games in the 2007 season. He did have 12 touchdown passes, but you always want your QB to have more passing touchdowns than interceptions. For Skinner to make that next step, he has to improve on those interception numbers and not turn the ball over as much.

The next person on my list, might be a bit of a surprise, but if you look at his play from one season to the next you will understand why he is on it. Colt McCoy had a stellar freshman season with the Longhorns, which landed him on many lists for Heisman hopefuls in early 2007. But McCoy’s play early on in 2007 was very much less than stellar. In his first 5 games against less than average opponents, McCoy threw 8 touchdown passes and 9 interceptions. He ended the season with 22 and 18, and with a lower completion percentage than the year before. With the losses in the skill positions on offense, the pressure is going to be even greater on McCoy to protect the ball and produce points. So we should find out early if Texas will get back the McCoy of his freshman year or not.

Matt Grothe has been a big pain in the neck to Big East coaches his first two years at South Florida. Each of his first two seasons he has hovered around the 1 to 1 touchdown to interception ratio, which as I stated earlier must improve for him to become elite, but also Grothe disappeared down the stretch for the Bulls in the later half of 2007. Teams have focused on him and now it is up to the Bulls coaching staff to become creative and find ways for Grothe to exploit opposing defenses. USF has the chance to vault to the top of the Big East, but the Bulls will only go as far as the arm, and legs of Matt Grothe take them.

Ty’s job is riding on Locker’s shoulders

Some call him the savior, some call him the second coming of Ron Paulus, but any way you put it Notre Dame is excited to have Jimmy Clausen under center. I will be honest here, I was not a big Clausen fan, but he did well in his first season under center considering the fact that Notre Dame had no rushing game and their offensive line had more holes in it than a cheese grater. But as we all know, Domer fans are not patient, they want results now. Hopes are high for Clausen after his lack luster performance (10-of-27 passing for 183 yards) in the Irish’s spring game. Clausen has a strong arm and the toughness to be a good quarterback, but whether he takes that step up this year or next is another question. If the Irish are going to go bowling this year, it will be because of this man.

At 6 foot 3 inches and 225 lbs, Jake Locker has a big frame which he needs to play quarterback the way he does. In his first season as Huskies quarterback, Locker threw for over 2000 yards and ran for over 900 more. The two glaring bad points with him are that his completion percentage was below 50% and he threw one more interception than touchdown. Not bad at all for a freshman, so why is he on this list? Well his coach Tyrone Willingham, the guy who recruited Locker, is running on borrowed time. He needs to win now to keep his job for another season, and for that to happen Locker has to improve his offensive output, and decrease his turnovers. That is not going to be an easy task playing in the Pac 10 where the Huskies won 2 games last year, and 4 overall.

I save the best for last, well the quarterback with the best name. John Parker Wilson will be a three year starter when the 2008 season begins for the Crimson Tide. It will be his second year under Nick Saban. Unfortunately for him, he will no longer have his favorite target DJ Hall to throw to, but with the way the Tide have been recruiting, there will be some young freshman ready to step in. The main problem with Parker Wilson is his consistency. He will go stretches of games where he is just plain lack luster, even against team where he should be padding his stats. The past two years Alabama snuck into bowl games with a 6-6 record, and I don’t think Tide fans would be happy if they had anything less than 9 wins this year. Parker Wilson is a senior now, the leader of the team. He needs to completed over 60% of his passes and keep his interceptions below the double digit mark. If he does that, you will see the Tide challenging for the top of the SEC West, if not, no New Years Day bowl for Alabama.

Just to get you in the correct mood for this post, watch this first:

First we start in the nation’s heartland where new coach Bo Pelini has visions of bring back Nebraska football to the way it was in the mid 90s, but don’t expect any miracles to happen for this year. That doesn’t mean there is not optimism for the Husker fans. There have been reports that fans have paid in excess of $95 to see a practice game. Seriously, we’re talking about practice here, not a game, but practice. Corn Nation has a list of the teams for the practice game over on his site. Sometimes I wonder about that guy, he would rather watch how the hogs are doing up front than the skilled guys.

Mitch couldn’t beat out Sanchez

Keeping in the Big 12 North, the Missouri Tigers might not even have enough players to field a team for their spring game. The latest is backup O-Lineman Austin Wuebbles got arrested when the cops found marijuana and a metal marijuana smoking pipe. It doesn’t end there, Wuebbles also had a fake ID and beer in his car. Instead of having football practice, maybe the Tigers’ coaching staff should hold practice on how to act like a normal adult. But I got to hand it to Big Head, even when faced with all this trouble for his team, he still knows how to rub one in on his rival.

The players over at UCLA must have a little bit of Allen Iverson syndrome since the seniors thought they were too good to practice. Actually it is a time honored tradition where the Seniors skipped a practice, but most of Bruin Nation, including offensive coordinator Norm Chow, isn’t laughing at all. I thought all that Senior skip stuff was only done in High School? Maybe it is a sign to Bruins fans that this year’s team might resemble a high school one. But even with the missed practice. head coach Rick Neuheisel has seen enough of the quarterback battle to name Patrick Cowan the starter over Ben Olson.

One way to get out of practice is to not attend class and get ruled ineligible to participate in practice in the Spring. That was what happened to USC’s Joe McKnight. McKnight dropped a class in the Spring and that put him below the 12 credits needed to participate. This should have no bearing on his fall eligibility though. Unlike McKnight, Mark Sanchez took full advantage of his time on the field last year and in spring practice this year. So much so that Pete Carroll named Sanchez the starter for the fall over Mitch Mustain. I don’t think this is much of a surprise given that Sanchez has been with the program for awhile, and has game experience. But one has to wonder if Mustain is second guessing his decision to transfer to USC and not another team with a quarterback situation that would’ve better suited him.

Ryan doesn’t need practice!!

If you are envious of Joe McKnight not having to go to class and therefore forfeiting his right to practice, Ryan Perrilloux has one upped McKnight. Not only did Perrilloux not practice with LSU much (if at all) this spring, he got in trouble at a local bar, he was suspended due to violating team rules, and has academic problems (says Miles). One writer says that LSU should dismiss Perrilloux for these violations, but we all know that won’t happen, especially in the SEC. One would think that a player that has gotten into so much trouble would either have to work in practice to get his job back, or be off the team all together. No way, Miles tells us that it was all a misunderstanding, no one knows what is going on inside his team but him and that Perrilloux is key to the success of the Tigers.

In Hawaii I am sure they are longing for Yesterday, but without Colt Brennan and his cast of characters, including June Jones, the Warriors are trying to find out in practice what kind of team they will have this year. This team will have to travel to Florida to play the Gators early in the season, ouch! This Hawaii football blog is a good source of info for the Warriors and how they are progressing through the 2008 Spring practice drills.

Finally, I will be heading up to State College to watch the annual Penn State Blue and White practice Game. One of the battles I have been watching closely is the quarterback one. Both Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin have looked good in practice, and even though many think it is Clark’s to lose due to Paterno’s allegiance to the older one, I think this will continue into the fall. And maybe into the season. This is a case where I believe we could seen another two quarterback system in Happy Valley, like in 1999 with Kevin Thompson and Rashard Casey. For more coverage of the happenings in the Valley, check out the Blue and White Roundtable.

Well all in all I got 18 practices in, not bad but no where near as good as Mr. Iverson.

One of my favorite things about blogging is making predictions, then when they come true I can brag about them. If they don’t come true, I can pretend they never occurred but still boast about the ones I got correct or nearly right. In the second part of MIZZOURAH’s bold predictions, we predict the 2008 BCS Games, Heisman Winners, Surprise teams, and teams doomed to disappoint us. Below I will lay out my thought process for my choices for the BCS games and potential Heisman winners. Next week I will talk about my picks for Surprise and Disappointing teams in 2008.

Get use to the name Cullen Harper

It’s April and spring time, time for new beginnings and fresh starts. So here is my first crack at who will be in the BCS Games come January of 2009.

BCS Title Game
USC vs Georgia - No surprise here if you followed who I voted in the top 2 of my Top 10 in Bold predictions. Both teams return a lot of talent, although USC will be a little green at quarterback, but both Sanchez and Mustain have a lot of potential. I really like the duo of Stafford and Moreno to be one best in the country. Also when you have defensive lineman that can run down WR, it can’t hurt either (See 2008 Sugar Bowl).

Rose Bowl
Ohio State vs Arizona State - As you can see I like Ohio State to win the Big Ten and keeping with the Tradition, I expect the Rose Bowl committee to pick the #2 team in the Pac-10 to replace USC in this spot. I like what the Sun Devils have coming back and think they have a good shot at finishing up high.

Sugar Bowl
Missouri vs Florida - Since the Sugar Bowl lost Georgia, they easily replace it with the Gators who boast the 2007 Heisman winner and possibly the 2008 one too (see Heisman predictions below). Missouri once again should finish at the top of the Big 12 North, but once again will fall to Oklahoma in the title game. However, unlike in 2008, the Tigers will get a BCS bid in 2009.

Orange Bowl
Clemson vs West Virginia - The best quarterback in the country that no one is talking about is Cullen Harper of Clemson. Harper along with the backfield tandem of CJ Spiller and James Davis is going to make Clemson a favorite in the ACC which does not look that tough. West Virginia who returns Pat White and Noel Devine on offense should be the favorites in the Big East.

Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma vs Wisconsin - I already stated before that I believe Oklahoma will beat Missouri in the Big 12 title game. The second pick was a little tougher since the BCS rules state that no conference can have more than 2 teams in the BCS. I gave Fresno State a little thought as an at-large, but settled with Wisconsin. I think the Badgers are the second best team in the Big Ten and could be the Buckeyes’ biggest obstacle in capturing their 3rd outright Big Ten title in as many years.

Heisman Trophy

Harvin: Running through a defense near you in 2008

I am going to follow one of the Heismandment which state no more two-time winners, and eliminate Tim Tebow. But I do think someone from Tebow’s team will be in the race for the Heisman. Percy Harvin is an amazing athlete and does something extraordinary every time he touches the ball. Even in the Capital One Bowl loss to Michigan he did well, and it still baffles me why he didn’t get more touches in that game. Harvin is a running back/wide receiver hybrid and will take some of the load off Tebow this year.

My next thought for Heisman is from THE Ohio State University, Mr. Chris “Beanie” Wells. He had 146 yards in the title game and nice 65 yard run where he outran everyone in the speedy LSU defense. Wells not only has speed but has the power to punish defenders who try and tackle him. With those two things going for him and the fact that the Buckeyes have a strong offensive line, Wells’ rushing number will be close to 2000 in 2008.

Finally I am going to go with Chase Daniel of Missouri for a 3rd pick. Chase was already through this last year and is a known commodity (see McFadden 2006/07). What Daniel has going for him is that Missouri should have another good year and he will put up some big numbers. For him to win, however, he must have that one huge game against an Oklahoma or a Texas.

A lot of teams up north are only beginning their spring drills, but for Miami, Texas, Mississippi State, and Auburn, last weekend was finale for their 2008 spring campaigns with their spring scrimmages. For the most part these games are just glorified practices put on for us, the fans, as a way to drum up interest for the upcoming season. Rarely does a game like this tell anything about how the team will fair in the fall…but since it is the last day of March, and we haven’t had football for almost two months, let’s pretend like it matters.

Marve looks to be the Canes’ QB

Freshman quarterbacks are what is left for the Hurricanes to choose from and from everything I am reading, they did look like freshman. Robert Marve, who was expected to have the edge going into spring practice, kept that slight lead on the others, but it is by no means safe. And for those Hurricane fans thinking that they were going to work their way back to the top of the ACC in 2008, they might want to hold off their celebrations for another year. With up to 10 freshman going to start the season for the Canes this fall, growing pains will happen early and often for this team. But before you jump off the bridge, Miami has a ton of young talented players, especially at tailback, quarterback, and linebacker, so once these players get some game experience, this team will be dangerous once again. Speaking of tailbacks Graig Cooper was the star of the spring game running for 91 yards. The defense defeated the offense 32-29.

All Eyes on Colt this Fall

Defense, was the talk at the Longhorns spring game. The Texas defense only allowed the offense to score 7 points the entire game. I’ve said this a few times in the offseason but let me reiterate it again, this is an extremely important year for Colt McCoy. He has started two years now and must learn to protect the ball. McCoy’s touchdown to interception ratio was not good last season and in this game he went 4 of 9 for 20 yards. New defensive coordinator Will Muschamp made a name for himself already with his first team defense mustering up two sacks in the game. The “Pride” beat the “Tradition” 14-10 in front of 43,000 fans.

Auburn is a team who could put a scare into many SEC defense coordinators hearts come this fall. The Tigers are charged up with a new offense that ran six plays in under 2 minutes and at one point had 11 straight passes. Kodi Burns and Chris Todd both looked good at quarterback, and from what I am hearing, Burns could end up being a stud. The Blue beat the White team 30-14.

Finally in Starkville, where the 2007 season began, the Mississippi State Bulldogs concluded their spring drills. 6,000 fans came out to see a scoreless regulation and Co-Eric Riley catch a 25 yard touchdown pass in overtime to lift the Maroon team to victory in overtime 6-0. Wes Carroll expected to be the starter went 2-for-6 for 16 yards and an interception. Robert Elliott (Meat Market star) led State’s running backs with 15 yards on six carries.

First drill…the fumble drill

Nothing says spring football like a cold-snowy day in the northeastern portion of the United States. Well we all know that isn’t true, but there is one team that does start spring practice today and that is the Texas Longhorns. The have their first scheduled practice today at 3:45 pm and it all concludes on March 29th with their spring scrimmage. I think that is about the time most of the teams up in this region will be starting their spring practices. Today and tomorrow’s practice will be open to the public.

It is also a time honored tradition by the bloggers to pay homage to the Fulmer Cup. As we all know, the Fulmer Cup was invented by Orson of EDSBS and it involves a scoring system for schools based on the trouble that their players get in. Since Tennessee notoriously would be near the top of this list (see this year), their coach would take a lot of grief from the media about their off the field behavior. Well Phil Fulmer has had enough and fired back at a local reporter with a letter to the editor.

For anyone out there wanting to get away from this horribly snowy weather, I suggest a little place called Hawaii. Great weather, beaches, and I hear the women are nice there too. The Hawaii Fan Blog (one of my favorites) has the itinerary for the 2008 “Football `Ohana Festival” Schedule. It involves meeting the players, photos with them, autographs, and watching a scrimmage and a practice. Did I mention that you will be in Hawaii where the weather is nice?

High 5 for spring football & since the strike is over

Bloggers aren’t the only ones who are bored during the offseason of college football, the mainstream writers feel the same way. But unlike the Bloggers, mainstream media members have access to a lot of information and people that bloggers aren’t so they can write some good articles…like predicting the 2008 Big Ten standings. I don’t know about you, but everyone has trouble enough doing that in August and September, but it is only February! Well that ESPN article struck a nerve with a particular Iowa Blogger and he had a few nice words to say.

A website to keep an eye on during the offseason is BCS Busters. Ben is currently putting the finishing touches on a book called The Grass Ain’t Blue In Georgia - The Story Behind the BCS Controversy. Ben is a very knowledgeable person on this topic and in college football in general. So far since the BCS title game he has written two posts Sizing Up the SEC and talking about the history of the conference. Part one talks about Alabama and Auburn, while Part two discusses Georgia and Florida.

28th Anniversary of The Miracle on Ice

Right now I am half way through breaking down the six BCS Conferences and what they key battles and improvements that each team needs to work on during spring practice. If you happened to have ESPN Insider, check out Bruce Feldman’s latest blog on the Top 8 Quarterback battles this spring. I was surprised to see Nate Longshore’s name on this list, but I guess when your team crashes like Cal did at the end of last year, no position is safe. Other teams he talks about and predicts winners of the QB battles are LSU, South Carolina, Auburn, USC, Penn State, Miami, and Michigan.

This is not college football…or even football related, but today is the 28th Anniversary of the greatest upset in the history of the world…the Miracle on Ice. On that chilly night in Lake Placid, New York, a squad of mostly college students took on the best professional team in the world, the USSR. As we all know they won the game 4-3…and the next game beat Finland to capture the Gold Medal. It was a great boost for a country, that at the time, was in maybe it’s darkest days morale wise. I was only a little over a year old at the time of the game, and still to this day, if there were a sporting even I wish I would have attended live…The Miracle on Ice would be #1 on my list.